#what's weird is I'm actually doing better than at any previous job

[the-most-adorkable-smile]

It's WILD trying to explain to neurotypical ppl how neurodivergence affects me at work

Like

I've had meetings with my manager about why work stresses me out, and I just tell them I don't know because I legitimately don't. I... have no idea why work fucks me up but it does. My two thoughts are:

1) Too many people hnnnng

2) Too much thing hnnng

And they're trying to figure out how they can help me and asking me what I need, and I'm just 🤷‍♂️ idk what to tell you. I just need a break

Like, maybe going 💯 every weekday for two months straight is not a strategy for a healthy workforce?

[lanshappycorner]

Recently I saw people slandering Ace for what he did in the last few chapters of ep 1 to Riddle and because I am petty and salty, I'm going to defend Ace to the death here like my life depends on it

*I've posted this before but this time I'm going into more detail so yeah. Also this is written with spite I am going to be so passive aggressive sorry

why ace demanding a tart and a party from riddle is not bad, you guys just cant read, an analysis:

Let us begin by establishing what happens on the surface of the last few scenes of ep 1.

Riddle has just come back from overblotting. He begins to admit to the things he always wanted as well as the things he cared/didn't care about. For example, he lists that he wanted to eat the chestnut tart that Ace and friends prepared. He likes milk tea better than lemon tea, he wants to hang out with his friends and talk to lots of people after a meal.

After saying these things, he promptly breaks down, crying. However, the moment is ruined as Ace tells him that he won't forgive him, just because he's crying, and he promptly demands a party and a tart.

To some, this may be seen as an assholish move. Riddle has finally admitted to his wrongs, and yet Ace has the audacity to see this broken kid in tears and go "I still don't forgive you". That's terrible right?

WRONG.

Now that we have established what happens on the surface, let us establish reasons as to why Ace may be upset at Riddle, just to have everything on the table first because there is a lot to unpack here.

First off, Riddle kicked Ace out of his own dorm. This issue was brushed over, as Ace went to Yuu for shelter, but let's really stop to consider how ridiculous this is. Riddle, a dorm head, whose job is to care for the students in his dorm, kicked Ace out of the dorm without knowing if he would even have a place to sleep at night...because he ate his food.

If Ace had no friends at the time, he would have no where to sleep, and considering this is a magical school, there might be weird shit crawling around at night and idk about you but the prospect of it is completely terrifying to me. Not to mention, Ace is a first year. Everything on campus is new and unfamiliar to him. This has got to make things at least a good percentage more terrifying.

Secondly, Riddle threw away the tart that Ace made for him. At this point, Ace has come to the conclusion that he idk needs a place to sleep at night and he needs to be able to use magic (Riddle's collar is still cancelling Ace's magic...in a magic school. This is objectively detrimental to his studies). And so he makes Riddle a tart, not even being sassy about it, like the guy genuinely is offering this hoping to be forgiven. And what does Riddle do? Throw it away.

Working hard on something, and having someone badmouth it is one thing. To have the person you made said thing for PHYSICALLY DESTROY IT right in front of you...is probably not a good feeling. Ace is stronger than me I would've cried but anyways

Thirdly, in case you guys forgot, Ace was pissed but still kept his calm until Riddle insulted Yuu's lack of education, as well as the fact that their parents could not use magic. Despite everything that had happened to him, Ace did not snap and resort to violence until his friend was insulted. The only time he actually lost it was when he became angry on behalf of his friend, as well as the only person that would let him stay over after Riddle had kicked him out of his dorm.

I don't know if this particular fact plays any part in Ace's anger, but it's something to note that Riddle calls out Yuu for having parents who cannot use magic, and Ace has mentioned that his father cannot use magic either. It's possible that he may have taken it personally as well, but that fact was not revealed at the time of Episode 1's release, so I won't go into it much.

Fourth and lastly, putting aside all previous offenses, Riddle straight up nearly killed Ace. Yes, Riddle was not in the right state of mind and yes, going through overblot is extremely stressful and damaging to him. But the one being attacked was Ace. Overblot is exceedingly rare, and there were a variety of ways this could have gone badly had they not had the power of plot armor. Honestly, the fact that Ace wasn't angrier with Riddle is commendable because how do you respond to someone apologizing for almost killing you like.

C'mon now. Be honest how many of you guys would be willing to forgive and forget. Would you not feel a little wary? Or upset? Because I guess now you can't even be properly angry because he apparently wasn't in the right state of mind when he tried to kill you. I'm sure it was probably complicated for Ace but he handled it like a champ tbh. Anyways

Now we have established all the reasons why Ace is, (hopefully by now you guys understand) understandably angry, I hope you guys keep these things in mind as we continue forth.

Since we have now laid out the facts, let us finally dive into the actual analysis.

Regardless of how we feel about Ace's alleged insensitivity and demands, we can all agree that what Riddle did to Ace was in no way okay right? It was straight up shitty. And what did Ace ask for as compensation for 1) kicking him out of his dorm 2) throwing away his hard work 3) insulting his friend and 4) nearly killing him? A redo party and a tart.

My guy could've asked for anything in the world, anything at all. Riddle knew his faults, and he probably knew that Ace had every right to embarrass him, punish him, or ask something outrageous of him.

And yet all that he asked for was a redo party and a tart that Riddle himself baked. It almost sounds too simple, too easy really. This is the first sign that what he asked for is not as simple as what it may seem on the surface.

But before we talk about that, let's loop back to the whole point of this chapter. Riddle was a tyrant because he never faced any consequences for his actions. There are two sides to this. The first side is as mentioned above, he was a tyrant because no one ever thought to berate him for his actions.

Riddle overblotting and nearly straight up killing people is by far the biggest mistake he could have ever made. It's not something small, it could actually end someone's life. If you don't enforce some consequences then, when will you enforce consequences? Until someone actually dies???

That is precisely why Riddle needed to face some sort of consequence for his actions. In this case, what the consequences were did not matter. What mattered was that he needed to know "What you did was wrong and when you do this shitty thing, something is going to happen".

Now, the second side to Riddle's complex is the fact that Riddle may be an absolute tyrant now, but in his childhood, he was reprimanded and punished for the smallest of mistakes. Being punished is a large part of his trauma, which is exactly why I mentioned above "something is going to happen" instead of "there will be punishment for bad behavior". Because what Riddle needs is not punishment, and Ace knows this.

Ace knew full well that Riddle was in a rough spot, and he saw Riddle breaking down in front of his eyes. He could've humiliated Riddle as punishment, kick him out of the dorm, make him face the same things Ace himself went through as a result of Riddle's actions. However, he asked for a redo party and a tart, neither of which Riddle associates with "punishment". On the contrary, these are things Riddle likes.

Moments before Riddle cries, he admits that he wanted to eat the tart Ace made for him, and that he wanted to hang out with friends too.

What Ace requested of Riddle was less for himself and more for Riddle. He gave him a consequence that would require hard work, but did not have any traumatic or negative associations tied to it. If anything, it would be something Riddle enjoyed doing. It was not punishment, it was a consequence. It's much more gentle than any consequence Riddle had ever faced in his life.

This is also further demonstrated when Ace was able to laugh off his tart tasting horribly. If he really cared about the party, if he really cared about the tart, if any of his demands meant anything personally to him, Ace would've been more upset. But he wasn't.

When Ace refused to forgive Riddle as he cried, many characters called him out for being a jerk. However, Yuu comments after Ace demands a redo party and a tart, saying that Ace isn't very honest. They know that Ace's way of saying things may be rude, but he truly does have Riddle's best interests in mind.

Also side note but I think it's really funny how Ace gets so much shit for interrupting Riddle and saying he won't forgive him, when TREY was also part of the conversation. Riddle started crying, Ace says he won't forgive Riddle, and Trey comes in and says no what you did was wrong and you need to apologize rn 💀

Only after that did Ace demand a redo party and yet people are out here bitching about Ace being terrible to Riddle and not forgiving him instantly while he's crying.

Trey interjecting to tell Riddle off is like a key point in his character arc too because he finally stepped up to say something when Riddle was in his right mind so idk how u guys just conveniently forgot Trey's involvement in Riddle's post overblot and pin everything on Ace.

However TO CONCLUDE, the party and tart that Ace asked for was very much a form of symbolism and a chance for Riddle to start over with a clean slate.

(Also last minute adding this in but having a redo party is a great idea because things may still be tense between Riddle and his dorm mates, and if Riddle is now hosting another party without all the strictness, it will show to his previously angered dorm mates that he has changed and they have no need to be wary of/continue to hate him.)

It is not just Ace being selfish or Ace being mean and I'm going to bite the next person that says so. Thank u for coming to my ted talk

[ketchup-chup]

Not the same anon, but why do you not consider the arcobaleno trials canon? Amano wrote them

Hello! So I first wanna preface this by saying that this is no hate to anyone who enjoys the fillers. While I personally do not like the arcobaleno trial fillers I do enjoy the one focusing on the Primo Gen! And to be frank a lot of this is just my personal opinion!

Now, onto the reasons I don’t consider them canon! Which is actually quite a few reasons but I’ll just discuss the major ones.

First, Amano did not write them! In fact, the rumour that Amano approved or had any direct hand in making them is just that. A rumour. This post by boxanimal does a lot better of a job at explaining it than I ever could so I highly recommend reading that.

But essentially. At most Amano may have given the anime staff some info about the arcobaleno’s personalities (and in the Primo Gen case probably info about Daemon’s whole thing) but there is no actual evidence to point to the fact Amano wrote or gave the fillers their stamp of approval to be considered canon.

(putting the rest under a read more since it got quite long)

Second: the characterizations are awful. I'm just gonna talk about Reborn here because he's my favourite because it's the most obvious and it directly contradicts what he’s said previously. I would make the argument the fillers write him very out of character.

What I mean by this is that during Reborn’s trial he says the following to Tsuna:

“The world’s done for if you don’t clear this trial. Don’t you care about what happens to Kyoko, Haru, and your mother?” He mentions saving the world a little later on in this battle as well.

THE THING IS!!! REBORN WOULD NEVER SAY THAT TO TSUNA!! He does not want Tsuna to play the “hero”! It was never about saving the world! This directly contradicts what he tells Tsuna at the start of the Future arc!

“Don’t try to act cool, Tsuna. You’re not the hero type, are you?” “Your reasons for enduring this training, to bring everyone back to the past, or whatever- they’re not you at all.” “Your feelings were a lot more simple at the time, weren’t they?”

Reborn knows Tsuna and knows better that this type of argument/encouragement(?) would not work! Being the hero is not what Reborn wants of Tsuna!!! it's not what he's been trying to teach him or to ever use as his main source of motivation!

So yeah. The characterizations are just. Not good.

Which brings me onto my last point. Which is the most “this is just my personal opinion” of the whole thing.

I do have the belief that the fillers are a large part the reason for many of the most common misconceptions of the arcobaleno. It goes into my previous point where the characterizations are just… not that great.

I do believe it’s why the headcanon that Luce is extremely manipulative and led the other arcobaleno (purposefully) to their doom is so popular and where it initially comes from. When we just don’t see that at all in canon nor do we see any hint or sign that the other arcobaleno hold a grudge against her.

And listen! I am a Luce defender till the day I die, I will admit this!! And I do also have the headcanon as well that she was aware of their fate. But to just water it down to “she misled and lied to the others therefore she is an awful person” does such a disservice to her and the tragedy that is being a Sky arcobaleno (and by extension the "curse" of having divination powers).

There are a lot of other weird things the filler implies (like Luce being pregnant as a baby) that I also won't get into. but yeah, I am just not a big fan of all the implications you get from fillers about these characters.

So yes. This is all to say you will never see me point to the fillers or use any information from them for any discussion regarding the arcobaleno.

If you enjoy the fillers and would like to consider them when you build your headcanons I think that's totally fair and great! You just won't see that from me personally, and I just ask that people don't point to it when discussing canon!

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

Changes chapter 32

< Previous chapter

Series masterlist

The lights in the comic book store were off still, despite it already being past ten in the morning. A young teen, clad in jeans and a hoodie pounded on the glass doors, but even after waiting for a minute or ten, he got no response.

The comic book store in Santa Carla did not open today.

The alleyway that the store was in used to be quite busy during the day, parents with children, comic enthusiasts, and teens coming in to check out the wares the store had to offer. Today, however, the street was empty.

When Edgar and Alan, the two sons of the owner of the store, walked home from school, they heard the whispers. They heard the buzz. Something had happened. As they entered their street, seeing that the store was still closed, Edgar's mind went to the worst scenario possible.

His parents were dead.

Alan, a year older than his brother, but just as quick to jump to conclusions, had concluded that it must have been drugs. Their parents had been hippies, had loved to smoke weed and other stuff - he never cared to remember the details - so it wouldn't be that weird if they started using again, right?

But when the boys entered their home, and found their parents in the living room, sitting on the couch looking sickly pale, staring at the wall in front of them, both realised that their conclusion had been wrong.

"We need to call 911..." Alan said after a moment, already walking to the phone. Edgar stopped him.

"If we call 911, then where will we go?"

Alan shrugged. "They need help."

"They're breathing," Edgar shot back, "and if we get those tube feeding things and a catheter then they will be fine."

"No." Alan didn't even need to think about that. "I am calling 911. We will check them out of the hospital but we can't leave them like this."

Edgar sighed before nodding. It didn't take long, or an ambulance appeared, the paramedics taking their parents to the Memorial Teaching Hospital.

That whole week, the comic book store didn't open until a dreary Sunday afternoon when it did. The owners were there, sitting in the corner, not much live in either of them. Instead of an adult, the customers now had to deal with two teens running the store. It was messier than before, comics not always laying in the right place.

But even if some visitors thought it weird, no one said anything.

All that mattered was that the store was open again.

"Do you think you can work the counter?" Maria gave Julie an encouraging smile. It was her very first shift, and Max had asked Maria to teach Julie the ropes. Julie nodded but didn't seem to be certain.

"You got this! And if not, I am only a scream away." Maria smiled, checking if the returned tapes had the tape in it and if they had been set right again.

"What can I do for you?" Julie asked as a young boy stood in front of the counter, looking a bit uncertain as to where to go.

"Do er - do you guys have any scary movies?"

Julie nodded, pointing him in the right direction before helping a woman check out three romantic movies.

As Maria had promised, at the beginning of her shift, it was quite easy to work here. The beginning of the evening was when the store was the busiest, so when the early evening rush died down, the two girls got the chance to actually chat and get to know each other. Maria had made them both some coffee, before sitting down on the counter. She looked around to see whether the store was empty, before looking at Julie.

"How have you been doing after everything?"

Julie thought for a moment, before answering. "I don't know. I'm doing better than that I was."

"Max rescued you from that place before, didn't he?"

Julie nodded. "I don't think I'd be here without him."

"He's good like that. He offered me a job when I came in. I was homeless, hadn't showered in over a week, I was certain I looked more dead than alive - and i didn't even need to ask. He just told me I had a job."

"How long ago was this?"

"I don't know, four years, maybe? A while ago, anyway. He even helped me buy my first flat, making sure it was a good place."

"Was it?" Julie asked, a small smile on her face. It did sound like something Max would do. She had noticed this, more clearly now than she did in the beginning of staying with him, back when she had still been terrified. Where the boys killed freely and didn't really care about who they fed on, Max had morals. For those few mortals he did care about, he would do a lot. Maria was one of those mortals, and Julie was quite glad that this woman was protected from any vampiric harm. She had the feeling the two of them would become great friends one day.

"Besides the cockroaches and the faulty power, it definitely was! I live in a better flat now, though, with more space and no faulty wiring."

Julie chuckled before looking up as the doorbell rang. A man stepped in, a stern look on his face. She froze, her face slowly morphing into a neutral mask, not giving anything away as she looked at him.

Maria didn't notice, welcoming the customer and offering her help. All Julie could do was just stare, hoping he would leave soon.

"Julie, do you want to help with the check out?"

Julie didn't hear Maria, as she tried not to remember the man. The chuckles, the rough ess when he moved her body as if she was a ragdoll. The countless hours of him poking needles and knives into her body just to see what would happen... Had he been there that night, he would have been dead. She was certain he would be dead. He had never left the building when she was there. Why hadn't he been there on the night that everything went down?

Maria shrugged as she noticed something was off about her new coworker. She quickly helped the man check out some tapes before closing the store. Max would understand that the store closed earlier. Sure, she didn't know why Julie was unresponsive now, but she was certain it was because of the man.

"He's gone," Maria said quietly as she sat down in front of Julie, carefully taking her hand in her own. "I locked the doors. It's just us. You knew him, didn't you?"

Julie nodded quietly, not able to speak.

"And he hurt you?"

Once again, she nodded, tears forming in her eyes. Maria nodded, pulling her close carefully. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Was he - did he do the experiments in you?"

"How-"

"I was with a doctor in a room once, and he just kept poking me with needles. He said it was necessary. "

"He-" Julie shook her head, the tears now falling down her face. "He cut me up. He injected stuff into me. I- one time he cut me open and-" she shivered just thinking about it, "he sewed me up, purposely leaving maggot eggs in the wound, just to see what would happen..."

Maria looked at her with shock. "That- how on earth did you survive that?"

"He said I screamed too much," Julie continued quietly, "so Luc- his boss, he took my voice."

"Took your - that's why you didn't talk when I first met you!"

Julie nodded. "I'm sorry they got you too..."

"Sweetheart, that's not your fault!"

"It feels like it is, " Julie said quietly, as she looked at her newfound friend. "If I hadn't gotten away, if I hadn't been able to break away from his control for a bit, you wouldn't have to go through what you did."

"You're not making any sense..."

It took a moment, Julie taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she began to talk.

Slowly but surely, every single piece of the story came out. How they hurt her, how they changed her, and forced her to do their will. How she had to fight for her own survival. How bit by bit COL took everything, and she felt that all that was left was an empty shell that used to be Julie. An empty shell that didn't truly remember her past and had been forced to become a vampire.

"Vampire?"

Julie nodded.

"They are not real, though."

"They are." Julie said quietly, morphing her face, vamping out. "He forced me to be one."

"You're freaking me out." Maria stepped away from Julie, creating a distance between the two of them. "This is a sick trick or something, this is a -"

"I'm sorry," Julie whispered quietly, tears streaming down her face. "I don't want you to be scared. I - I'm just glad Max found you before they could do this to you."

Maria, who had been ready to run out of the door any second now, stopped in her tracks. "You're- this is not a joke?"

Julie shook her head.

"And you are a vampire?"

The younger girl nodded.

"You kill people?"

"Sometimes," she answered truthfully. "I try to sustain myself with donated blood."

"Why?"

"I don't want others to hurt like I did."

The two of them looked at each other, Maria slowly sinking down to the ground, sitting on the floor. "This is a mess."

Julie nodded, not knowing what to say. It was like Maria had stated a mess.

"Though I am thankful you told me the truth," Maria said after a while. "Does this mean Max is one too?"

"Yeah."

Maria nodded, quietly reasoning with herself. She had known Max for at least four years, and in all that time, he never hurt her or indicated to her that she was in any danger. Julie was in his care, and she, too, had said that she didn't want to scare and hurt Maria. So, despite the revelation of vampires being real scared the living shit out of her, the two vampires she did know all but said that she was safe.

"Does this mean I am safe? I- I don't want to die."

"I won't kill you. I won't let you get hurt."

Maria nodded thankfully, wondering why the girl sounded so determined.

Next chapter >

[dazzle02]

9-1-1 Love Interests

I've decided I'm just gonna write a total defence of all of Buck and Eddie's previous love interests because the amount of hate they get is insane. I will go in order of appearance. I will not be including Tommy as this is more about the Misogyny towards the female love interests. But I love him and his relationship with Buck...

Abby Clark

Now, she was NOT perfect and I'm not gonna pretend she was. But she wasn't a monster either. First of all, contrary to what people love to claim, she was not a paedophile or predator. Buck was an adult even in Season 1.

Getting Buck's number from the system was weird, I'm not going to deny that. But let's not pretend she was just getting it to try and get a hook-up or anything, the first time she calls him is to check in after his first loss on the job.

All through their relationship she was dealing with her Mothers sickness and then her death. Buck was great through it all, and it really sucks for him that she left after all that, but she desperately needed to find herself and get out of LA.

I will forever be mad at her for not just ending things with him the second she knew she wasn't coming back though. She shouldn't have ghosted him like that. As soon as she realised she wasn't going back, she should've called him up and said so. Instead she just slowly stopped replying to his texts and calls and left him to figure it out on his own.

She didn't do anything wrong with the train stuff though. Of course she was worried about her fiancé! It sucks that Buck had to be the one to be faced with that, but she didn't call him up and ask him to come save her fiancé. He saw her, she admitted what was going on and then he went to do his job. (And of course he went further than just doing his job because he refused to let Abby's fiancé die. But she didn't ask him to do that...)

I didn't like her "apology" though. I wish she actually acknowledged what she actually did wrong, and that is not communicating and just ghosting him instead of ending things like the adult she is.

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of her. But some of the takes I see make me uncomfortable.

Ali Martin

Now Ali really did nothing wrong. This will likely be the shortest part as we didn't see much of her. Which I think is a shame...

She had every right to break up with Buck when she realised she couldn't handle his job. But not only that, she waited until he was out of Hospital. She came to see him at the Hospital, she brought him home.

She ended things with him because she wasn't going to ask him to give up his job but she also knew that she couldn't handle a life of constantly worrying that her partner might not come home from work.

And that is okay.

Taylor Kelly

This will probably be the longest as she was around the longest...

Now obviously Taylor did some messed up stuff. In her very first episode she was more than happy to use the footage of Bobby nearly killing himself while drugged to get herself a better job.

But onto Season 4.

Honestly, she had every right to be upset with Buck for the whole "double date" thing. Do I like that she called him needy? Of course not. I hate when any character has their biggest insecurities thrown at them like that. But of course she was upset. And then later in the episode, she was grateful to him for helping out when she needed it. That story wasn't supposed to be a "oh no, mean Taylor called Buck names!" it was a story of Buck realising that he'd messed up and fixing it. And before all that she willingly listened to Buck's whole story about Albert and Veronica.

She helped Buck out with finding out the truth behind Sue's hit and run.

When Eddie was shot she came to the Hospital just to be there for Buck. She didn't do any story on the shooting because someone she cared about was involved and she was just there for him instead. And sure, we could say that's just human decency, but it IS her job. She was likely told to do a piece on it. But she didn't.

I don't like their first(ish) kiss. (I mean, it's a good kiss, but the circumstances aren't ideal...) I don't like that it was while Buck was clearly going through the trauma of seeing his best friend get shot, and Eddie wasn't even awake yet. And it was right after Buck's climb up the crane definitely hoping he'd get shot (we've all seen the smile on his face as he sees just how exposed he is). And I don't like that she then left. I think that scene could've been a really good scene if they hadn't kissed. She was understandably upset with Buck for risking his life like that. Showing she cares.

But she came back. And she clearly was sorry for leaving like she did. And then she was at Eddie's Welcome Home Party!

And now onto Season 5.

She was very understanding when Maddie and Chimney were gone. She reassured him that everyone at work likely weren't actually mad at him. She knew he missed them and that he was hurting due to everything that happened. And she was the one he felt able to be open about his feelings on being the only one who didn't get to say goodbye to Chim.

She was constantly there for Buck while he was struggling due to a tough case or personal stuff.

She had her story with her Dad, and understandably needed to handle that her own way. Like she said, this was HER childhood trauma not Buck's. Of course he was concerned when he felt like she was pulling away, he also has his own issues. But she had every right to deal with her stuff with her Dad in the way she was comfortable with.

And people love to say she was being rude during that dinner scene at Eddie's. But Buck literally told her to eat before they got there because he didn't trust Eddie's cooking. She genuinely wasn't hungry. And she was polite about it too!

And then HE CHEATED ON HER! And then asked her to move in instead of telling her the truth. I'm glad he eventually told her, but that was after she'd already moved in and so she didn't have her own place to go to.

And I can believe Taylor being able to forgive the cheating. One drunken kiss in my opinion can be forgivable. But I don't know that I would've been able to forgive the position he put her in of finding out after she'd already moved in. (I understand Buck's side to all this, but Taylor did NOT deserve any of it...)

Also, he never told Taylor that he was now working with the woman he kissed. She figured it out herself, yes, but he didn't tell her. (Again, I can understand that he probably didn't want her to feel uncomfortable or anything, but I think that was something she deserved to know...)

Taylor never had a problem with Buck's friendship with Eddie either, or his relationship with Chris. That's all totally made up. In fact she literally helped Buck find Charlie to help Eddie start to heal. And this was after he said no to getting her in touch with Lucy for her story. Yes, he offered her other intel, but he refused what she'd actually wanted.

She also totally understood Buck's dynamic with the 118. She had her whole speech to Lucy about it in May Day. Talking about how when things are bad at the 118 he falls apart and how she would hate for that to happen again. Yes, this was due to her figuring out Lucy was who Buck had cheated with and she was upset. But that scene completely proves that she understood and respected Buck's dynamic with the 118...

And now we get onto the Jonah stuff. To be clear, I do not like that she did what she did here. She promised she wouldn't. She didn't just promise Buck either, she also promised Hen and Chim. And by doing her report anyway, she not only betrayed all their trust, she also put people at risk and also as we later learn she risked Buck's job.

She was right when she said that Buck knew who she was from the start. And of course she didn't wanna be something he learns to live with. That's not what anyone would want out of a relationship.

And they actually ended on good terms.

The whole book thing that was revealed in Season 6 was just weird, but we don't have enough information on that to really judge one way or another. I do generally dislike people writing books about other people without their permission though...

Shannon Diaz

I will defend Shannon forever! She was treated so unfairly and it makes me so angry!

I will get this out of the way. No, I don't like that she left Christopher.

Now into my defence!!!

She was a kid when she got pregnant. Just like Eddie was. Only, she was the woman. She was the one who likely got slut shamed and ridiculed. She was also the one who had to go through the actual pregnancy and child birth.

Men get away with these things. Sure, Eddie was very likely ridiculed too, growing up Catholic and all. But he wasn't getting called slurs. Shannon more than likely was.

And as a result of her pregnancy, she is now getting married. And she loves Eddie, so she probably thinks that it won't be too bad. They'd probably get married eventually anyway.

Only he enlists into the Army in order to provide for her and the baby. And she's left having to deal with everything without him. The pregnancy was likely rough, she would've had her In-Laws smothering her and telling her how to do everything even before Chris was born.

And it doesn't seem like her Mum was in Texas at this point? Her arriving at the Hospital surprised everyone. So it seems she'd already moved?

So basically Shannon was dealing with it all alone.

Then Chris was born and Eddie was almost immediately gone again. And I truly believe she likely had PPD.

So she was raising her son alone. With her overbearing In-Laws who didn't believe she was capable of taking care of her own son. Who clearly didn't like her much either.

But there's a silver lining. Eddie's Tour was almost over. Only Christopher got diagnosed with CP and Eddie reenlisted without even discussing it with her! Again, leaving her to raise their son alone. Again, leaving her alone with his parents. Leaving her to deal with this diagnosis alone.

So she's basically raising Chris all alone. And Eddie even admits to Buck that he'd reenlisted because he was scared and was running.

But then hey, Eddie's home after being discharged. And he's traumatised. And she understands that, she does. But she's going through stuff herself.

And then her Mum was DYING and she asked Eddie to go with her so she could take care of her and he refused. Her Mother was literally dying.

So of course she left to do it herself. And she shouldn't have left Chris. He didn't deserve that at all, he was a kid and she was the only constant parent he'd had.

But I totally get it.

And she felt that she was the reason Chris had CP and that she did something wrong, and it's so unlikely she was ever told otherwise until that moment in S2. In fact, it's more likely she had all that confirmed for her by others. (This is one of the main things that makes me think she might've had PPD she was never treated for...)

She was alone in everything.

And her asking Eddie for a Divorce. THAT WAS NOT HER LEAVING CHRISTOPHER AGAIN! I see so many people say that she was about to leave Chris again before she died, but that's just NOT true.

She literally said she wanted the Divorce to make sure she didn't. Because she knew she needed to focus on being a Mother to Chris, and that also trying to focus on a marriage that was never really good was just going to make that harder.

She wanted to be there for Chris. She knew Chris needed to be her number one priority, and she didn't want anything getting in the way of that. And the number one threat to that was her marriage to Eddie.

And maybe they would've eventually found their way back to each other if she'd lived. Maybe a Divorce would've been exactly what they needed to learn to truly be coparents and partners and they could've started their relationship up again in a much healthier way. Who knows.

And let's not forget that it's not just Eddie's parents who clearly hated her. Abuela and Pepa were clearly not fans of her either. I hope that they weren't that way with her before she left and that it was just anger over her leaving. But no one really ever tried to understand what was going on with her.

Eddie says it himself that they both ran, but he got to hide behind being a Hero fighting for his Country and she just got called a terrible mother and wife. And yes, he still had contact with them while he was gone and Shannon didn't. But that doesn't mean he was there for either of them during that time.

And I'm not saying Eddie is a bad Dad or anything. But his story is literally him learning how to be a good Dad. Learning it's more important that he's there.

And Shannon's death. She deserved better! I hate that they killed her just as she was back in Chris' life and coming to terms with what she needed for herself in order to be the Mother Chris deserved.

Shannon Diaz, I love you!!!

Ana Flores

She was done so dirty!!

Yes, she should've been paying more attention to the kids on the playground. The incident with the skateboard wasn't good and teachers need to pay attention to their students or they could get seriously hurt. But it was a mistake and Chris was okay and she had no way of knowing one of the kids had brought a skateboard. And most of all, she completely acknowledged her fault in the whole thing.

And when was she Ableist? I'm sorry. I see this often and I just don't get it. Was it what she said to Eddie about limitations? Sometimes we have got limitations. Everyone does. Yes, Buck and Eddie found a way to get Chris on a skateboard, but not everyone is going to be able to do that. She was literally saying what Eddie had been saying to Chris earlier in the episode. That sometimes someone can do something that someone else can't, but then there could be something that first person can't do that the other person can. Idk, that's just how I read that. If I'm wrong, tell me.

Then in S4 they ran into each other again and they were both happy to see each other. Eddie was flirting! It wasn't like she was aggressively hitting on him while he was totally uninterested and telling her to stop. And they went out, because Eddie decided he was ready to try.

And she never pushed for Eddie to tell Chris about them. The opposite in fact! she offered to come by and help with his homework if he needed it, but she also said she understood him not telling Chris they were dating yet. She would've just gone by to help out as his old teacher. Then when Eddie did tell Chris he was dating someone and he reacted badly, she offered to take a break from the relationship until he was ready. Because she understood that it was a sensitive subject!

And Chris very much adored her. Idk where people get the idea that he hated her from. He was very happy to see her when Eddie invited her over to tell Chris who he was dating. He was constantly happy to be spending time with her.

She was the one who figured out there was something going on with Charlie and his Mum. She literally found out through trying to donate to help them out. She literally figured it out through being a good person.

When Eddie was shot she didn't leave his side. And she CALLED BUCK WHEN HE WOKE UP! Like Taylor, people have this weird idea that she had a problem with Buck's place in Eddie and Chris' lives, but she so clearly didn't. In fact it seems like she and Buck likely communicated quite a bit when Eddie was shot, with him staying with Chris and her with Eddie. I highly doubt she didn't check in to see how Chris was doing, and Buck also would've checked in with her to see how Eddie was doing. And she also didn't seem to have any problem with Buck being the one to get Eddie from the Hospital.

And onto Season 5...

She invited Eddie and Chris to a family event. She wasn't pressuring him into going or anything, she invited her boyfriend and his son to a Christening and they said yes.

She was the one to correct that she wasn't Chris' Mother, because she knows that's not a place that can just be filled. She knows no one can replace Shannon, and she was never trying to. (Which is something I've seen people say she wanted to do...)

It was NOT her fault Eddie had a panic attack. It wasn't actually about HER. It was about the idea of someone replacing Shannon and the idea of actually being a family.

And all through the Blackout she was with Chris. She brought Eddie food and brought Chris by to say hi. She was great.

But Eddie clearly isn't all in with her. He admits that. And let's do some calculations here... Carla could see this at the end of Season 4, she could see that he wasn't all in on that relationship. In 5x01 Ana says that Eddie was shot 4 months ago, which happened like the day after he and Carla had that conversation. So that's 4 months of her basically being led on. Most likely taking care of him after the shooting, helping with Chris, all this stuff.

And it's not like she just showed up at his work to demand to be introduced to everyone. She was bringing his son by with food. (Another thing I have seen people claim...)

Buck and Eddie's conversation about Ana. That was NOT Buck telling Eddie to break up with Ana for the sake of it, or because Ana wasn't good or anything. That was him saying that ANA deserved better. Because he understood Ana from his relationship with Abby. That conversation was Buck telling Eddie that HE was in the wrong here and that it wasn't fair to Ana for him to stay with her.

And the breakup! No, that was AWFUL!

She'd been there taking care of Chris for DAYS! And she and Chris are bonding over the baking they'd been doing and talking about what they should make next and Eddie just kicks her out.

It was all overwhelming for him, I get it. And when you're overwhelmed things can come out in really awful ways. But she did not deserve that!

So she goes to the kitchen so they can talk without upsetting Chris. And she starts trying to clean up the mess from all the baking. But Eddie stops her and she knows it's over. She's not stupid. She knows Eddie doesn't feel the same way about her as she does him.

Her line "I'm sorry about the mess, but I guess it's your mess now." Is NOT her being evil! She tried to clean up, but Eddie stopped her and then broke up with her. What was she supposed to do? Stick around in the house of the guy that just dumped her and clean his kitchen? Hell no!

And then she goes to say bye to Chris because she cares about him and he really liked her.

Oh, and the Edmundo thing. Eddie never told her not to call him that. He never seemed to have a problem with it either. It was literally the thing they first bonded over. Her correctly guessing his full name first try when most people don't. So I'm pretty sure that her calling him that was a reference to that.

She did nothing wrong.

Marisol

Let's just start with the fact that she didn't even have a last name! She deserved a last name.

Okay. She was introduced to the show for a call where her brother nearly died. She didn't do anything wrong there. Buck and Eddie bring a few other guys over at the end of the episode so they can all fix up her house. Because they destroyed it. (That should be a thing. Is that a thing? A service that will clean up and fix things that Emergency Services have had to destroy? It should be...)

Then she and Eddie run into each other, they flirt, she likes him and he likes her. Things are fine. He's excited to get a date with her. (Yes, it was all rushed due to outside forces... But still...)

Into Season 7 they're dating. Things are apparently going well. She's chaperoning Chris' date with Eddie, she's literally not doing anything wrong. He invited her, this is their date too.

She is CONSTANTLY being used as free childcare (Chris is a teen, but for some reason childcare sounds less infantilising that babysitter...) while Eddie goes to hang out with his new friend.

Then Eddie asked her to move in with him. Little early, but sure. So she does, she moves all her stuff in. Then Eddie finds out she used to be a Nun and freaks out.

Used to be. As in not anymore. She decided that's not what she wanted.

And okay, that can still bring stuff up for Eddie due to his own Religious upbringing, but she did nothing wrong.

He was avoiding her. He'd just asked her to move in with him, and now he's immediately avoiding her.

And she explains that she's very used to people having negative reactions when finding out she was a Nun. Which, yeah. And the sexualisation stuff is AWFUL!

Then Eddie doesn't want her moving in with him and so she moves back into her house. Meaning she has to take everything back and unpack it all over again there.

And now we really get into it. Eddie starts seeing his dead wife's doppelganger behind her back! He claims he wasn't cheating because there was no sex, but it was emotional cheating. Which can be so much worse.

And she walks in on them together. She had been spending time with HIS SON, and gets back to find him cheating on her.

And I bet that if we saw the aftermath of that with Marisol ending things and being angry at him, people would somehow vilify her for it.

Marisol did nothing wrong. Was she particularly interesting? No. But she wasn't some evil witch either.

Natalia Dollenmeyer

Okay, I think she might actually be the one I struggle to defend the most. Mostly due to how little we actually saw her.

I don't like her reaction to Buck's death all that much, I do think it was uncomfortable and inappropriate. But I don't think it was quite as awful as people make it out to be. That was what Buck was looking for at that point. He didn't wanna face the trauma part of it, and so he jumped at the chance when he found someone who was intrigued by it. If she'd been talking about how cool it was and Buck had told her it made him uncomfortable and yet she kept going, then it'd be a bigger deal.

Her reaction to people from Buck's life showing up was a bit extreme. They ran into one person he'd kissed once, saw his ex on TV (due to her being a reporter) once, and Kameron showed up. I can understand everything feeling a bit much though. Kameron showing up was definitely the nail in the coffin in that moment, but then Buck apparently just like told her his whole dating history and everything about Conner and Kameron? Which I think was kinda unnecessary. But hey.

But she came back. She wanted to apologise because she'd had time to really think about everything and knew she'd possibly overreacted. She didn't freak out over Buck having to deliver the baby on his couch, she did what she could to help.

And hey, Buck broke up with her because they just weren't clicking. It just wasn't working.

In Conclusion...

You can dislike these characters. You can dislike the ships. But a lot of the hate comes from Misogyny. None of these women were evil monsters who abused Buck or Eddie. They were human beings who were going through their own stuff. And a lot of the things people hate about them isn't actually even canon. I'm not saying they're perfect and never did anything wrong ever, but come on...

[mauesartetc]

Thoughts on Helluva Boss 206 ("Oops")

Holy shit, is this episode... kind of okay? It still has issues and weird quirks that hold it back from being truly good, but I'd say this is one of the better Season 2 entries. At least it's good enough that I have a sufficiently-sized, dedicated "pros" list again. Let's get into it.

Pros:

-FINALLY, we have an mlm couple worth rooting for in this show. Fuck that Stolitz bullshit; Fizz and Ozzie are where it's at. ("Fozzie"? Yeah, that works.)

They're actually kind and caring with each other, they're playful and know how to laugh together, and they treat each other like equals rather than one partner fetishizing and sexually harassing the other. Hell, Ozzie even tends to Fizz's wounds at the end of the episode, and it's powerful to see a high-ranking demon in this society show tenderness and concern for a lowly imp. In a previous post, I expressed my doubts that Fizz and Ozzie's relationship would be any good, but I'm glad to report I was wrong.

-I liked seeing a glimpse of what one of these characters outside of the IMP team does for a day job. Approving designs at the dildo factory? Ehh, it's a livin'. (Though this once again begs the question of why demons live in a capitalistic society nearly identical to that of the US in the human world. Why do they need money to reinforce the social hierarchy when the larger, more powerful demons have special abilities and can just crush the smaller ones like bugs?)

-The heart-shaped flames in Ozzie's fireplace were a nice touch.

And they actually referenced Asmodeus' traditional fire-breathing ability at the end. Neat!

-Oh wow, one of the characters is finally floating the idea of Blitzo using an Asmodean crystal for transportation instead of the grimoire! THANK you!

And at the episode's close, Fizz permits Ozzie to give Blitzo a crystal, meaning he won't be dependent on Stolas anymore. Possible plot progression? How will this affect Stolas and Blitzo's relationship in the future? Would they still be in each other's lives even when the book isn't a factor? I hesitate to get my hopes too high due to the worrying possibility of Blitzo's crystal getting lost or damaged and forcing him to use the book again (though as to why he can't just steal a crystal and use that, I haven't the faintest idea). But I'm cautiously optimistic.

-I liked Stolas getting a chance to show some brain power in helping Ozzie negotiate the contract. This also gave us a nice tidbit of worldbuilding that states any contract signed by one of the Seven Sins is eternally binding. Is this foreshadowing? Will this information come up again in the story? Probably not, but it's fun to dream.

-It was interesting to see Blitzo, Fizz, and Striker have a conversation about each of their relationships with Hell's upper class, though it had potential to be SO much deeper and more authentic (which I'll get into momentarily).

-This is where I learned the white bits on Blitzo and Fizz's skin are actually burns. I always thought Fizz was wearing face paint and Blitzo had some form of vitiligo or something, but the reason he's burned on that side of his face is that it's where the explosion hit him. And Fizz's entire face is white for the same reason, except for his nose, since he was wearing a fake clown nose at the time. It's nice that they kept those details consistent in the flashback.

-Look, I know it's a low bar for most shows, but I appreciated how the story actually gave Blitzo a chance to apologize and redeem himself at the climax rather than making Fizz just forgive him apropos of nothing.

-Oh hey, one of Blitzo's relationships has actually progressed. He and Fizz, after hating each other for years, have made amends. I really hope this friendship doesn't revert to what it was before, like Blitzo and Moxxie's relationship did. But I don't think that'll be the case since Fizz isn't the story's designated whipping boy.

-It was nice how Fizz and Ozzie's respective interactions with Blitzo and Stolas helped them grow and change. I mean, Ozzie still isn't comfortable with anyone outside the palace having definitive knowledge about his romance with Fizz, but baby steps, y'know?

Cons:

-So Crimson's aware he just showed his face to an extremely high-ranking demon, right? He comments that Ozzie is the "weakest" of the Seven Sins, but he's still goddamn royalty, and Crimson is an imp. What's stopping him from sending someone to wipe out Crimson's entire gang after getting Fizz back, or doing it himself like it's implied he did with the lawyer? Crim really couldn't have disguised his voice and stayed in the shadows? Rookie mistake.

Come to think of it, Striker was in that video too, and it never occurred to Stolas, "Oh shit, that's the guy who almost killed me"? Again I have to ask, why isn't Stolas sending people after him? He's a prince, after all, and canonically commands multiple legions of demons. Why the fuck are you allowing this guy to run free, dude?

-I was kinda looking forward to seeing Crimson again, but his reintroduction would have been much more emotionally powerful if it involved getting revenge on Moxxie, which is what the ending of Exes and Oohs implied he now wants. And I know I've said before how going too many episodes without a mention of Striker diminished his menace, but did he have to show up just two episodes after his last appearance?

In general, Oops feels like it has too many returning "guest stars", if that makes sense. Fizz, Ozzie, Crimson, Striker... that's a lot to pack into one episode. Maybe instead of Crimson and Striker, we could have a new villain holding Blitzo and Fizz hostage.

-Speaking of the villains, MAN are they shoveling handfuls of Stupid Pills into their mouths. When Fizz sings his little distraction musical number, they just stand and watch instead of, oh, I don't know, trying to capture him?! Like damn, Crimson and Striker used to be credible threats. This is just embarrassing.

-Also, I know they need to keep Fizz alive until the ransom money comes through, but what reason do they have not to immediately waste Blitzo? Striker hates him for thwarting his assassination of Stolas, and Crimson hates him for crashing his son's arranged wedding. Are they trying to get Stolas to cough up some dough as well? Because that's a pretty major plot development that the script should have made clear to the audience. Basically, the only reasons Blitzo lived through this ordeal are that he has main character plot armor and the villains are being uncharacteristically dumb.

-As expected, in Stolas' subsequent appearance following Western Energy, he's out of the hospital. But I didn't predict he'd be completely recovered from his wounds. Seriously, not even a limp.

Stolas getting hurt was a consequence that impacted absolutely nothing outside of that episode. Are we going to see any scars later on, or perhaps Stolas getting uncomfortable at the sight of knives? Because of how wildly inconsistent this show's continuity can be, I'm guessing no. (And since we don't know how long it normally takes for demons to heal from angelic weapon-inflicted injuries, it doesn't help us get any sense of how much time has passed in the story.)

-Actually, if a royal fucking an imp is such a taboo in this world, why did Ozzie agree to meet with Stolas at all, let alone act so hospitable toward him? If Ozzie's so concerned about his own image regarding imps, wouldn't allowing a known imp-canoodler into his home raise a few eyebrows? More importantly, why in the actual hell does he have a giant, sexy painting of him and Fizz on display in his office where anyone can see it?

And that brings up another question: Why is Ozzie's relationship with an imp being covered in the tabloids, but Stolas' relationship isn't? You might think, "Well, he's a lower-ranked noble, so it's not as newsworthy" but if that's the case, why was there a crowd of reporters snappin' pics when he arrived at the hospital?

"Well y'see it's not really the imp-fucking that's frowned upon; it's the imp romance!" Then why did everyone at Ozzie's club make such a huge stink about Stolas coming there with an imp? The club is located in the Lust ring, where romance is seen as disgusting, so we can safely presume the vast majority of the couples at that club are just fucking. It would be bad form to take someone you're openly romantically involved with to a Lust ring establishment (lookin' at you, Moxxie). Therefore, the patrons and Ozzie himself had every reason to presume Stolas and Blitzo were having sex, and just happened to be right. (Also, if nobles fucking imps were actually no big deal in this world, Stella probably wouldn't have an issue with it either.)

The worldbuilding's an inconsistent mess, is what I'm saying. And Beelzebub's relationship with a hellhound is also strangely unaddressed, making that episode feel even less connected to canon than it already did.

-Man, Stolas is kinda oversharing here, isn't he. It'd be fine if a character who's already been established to let their mouth wander were doing this, but Stolas hasn't previously shown any signs of that.

He reveals he has feelings for Blitzo, to the ruler of a ring whose culture frowns on romance. And... he just expects him to be cool with that, for some reason. At this point he doesn't have solid proof that Ozzie is in love with Fizz; those are just rumors. So this is an extreme lack of tact he's displaying. Also, Ozzie ain't your therapist, dude. And as far as we know they're just acquaintances, not close friends. He could have just skipped to requesting the favor; Ozzie didn't need to know his reasons. Sure, tell him if he asks, but he didn't ask. Or maybe just hint at Stolas' feelings through subtext: His expressions, body language, and all the words he can't say. Visual medium, people.

-For that matter, why is this seemingly the first thing on Stolas' mind right now? "Oh, y'know, I'm going through a very messy divorce and my wife sent a hit man to kill me, and he's still on the loose, probably killing other people as we speak, but can you do this wittle favor for my fuckbuddy, pwease?" We could have just had a quick scene outside Ozzie's office where Stolas communicates with one of his lieutenants regarding updates on the search for Striker. And the reason he's not searching with them? He's still recovering from his injuries. Give him a wheelchair, a cane, a cast, just something to show he's not physically up to it yet. Without this information, where in the actual fuck are his priorities.

-"I know your demons are some of the only ones who can traverse freely and legally." Y'know... This is Hell... Why is legality even an issue in this setting? I think I touched on this for Exes and Oohs, which revealed the existence of Hell Jail. But why is there a Hell Jail? Why are there (presumably) Hell Cops? How does any of this make sense in an environment that thrives on chaos and discord? Oh, and Hell Lawyers are apparently a thing too, because of course. This is why you don't want to build your fantasy world with too many elements that exist in the real one unless you have airtight logic for it.

-When Ozzie tells Stolas Fizz hates Blitzo, his response is, "He does?" The fuck do you mean, Stolas. You were at the club. You witnessed Fizz point out Blitzo in an effort to humiliate him, call him a "total disgrace", and refer to his love life as a "pile of shit". You should already know he hates him. Sure, Stolas doesn't know why yet, but this is why you need editors to cut the parts of your dialogue that don't make any sense.

-I'm not sure what this show's actual stance on the ultra-wealthy is. Fizz tells Blitzo, "Sounds like you just hate him for being a prince", as if princes are a group that's commonly discriminated against-? Sure, a person has no control over being born into extreme wealth and privilege, but they can control how they use it. And when they don't use it to make society better for everyone (opting instead to hoard all the resources for themselves), that will naturally breed resentment in the lower classes.

Another odd thing I noticed about this conversation: You know that one rule in the Bechdel-Wallace test that states a work of fiction's female characters must talk about something other than a man in order for that work to pass? This instance makes me think we need a similar media test regarding class, because here we have three lower-class characters talking only about rich people. Not the societal systems and personal histories that led them to rely so much on rich folks just to get by, but about the rich folks themselves. Hell, Blitzo even says "Royal demons don't give a shit about guys like us", clearly more concerned about wealthy people's opinion of him than the untenable situation their complacence and wealth-hoarding has caused for countless imps. In this scene, the "haves" are very much at the center of the have-nots' universe, and it puts me in mind of a male writer who assumes the only things women discuss with each other are their relationships with men.

Now let's talk about Striker. Time and time again the show has painted him as unreasonable for hating royals, and while his methods are extreme, there's probably a rational explanation for why he holds the views he does (at least if he's being written in a thoughtful, realistic way, which is a MAJOR stretch for this show. But for the sake of this discussion, let's say he hypothetically is). The average imp in this world would have good reason to hold a vague dislike for the royals, but hatred? Passionate hatred? That comes from a deep, personal place. At least one "blue blood" must have done something unforgivable to Striker specifically, and I wish the show would properly explore his motivations. Maybe drop some hints about his backstory once in a while, perhaps in this very conversation? Because this show's villains are really hurtin' for some nuance, and Striker's the one with the most potential for it.

It feels like the writers were trying to say something about real-world issues here, but the message got muddled. Part of it seems to be "don't make broad generalizations about people", which... Okay, nice thought, but if Stolas isn't using his power to improve life for all imps, not just Blitzo, Blitzo has no reason to believe his affection is genuine. For all he knows, imps are still just a fetish to Stolas, and he's only acting nice to keep him around. His love, to Blitzo's mind, is entirely conditional, and until he sees evidence that nobles contribute anything of substance to society, he's not wrong in thinking they don't care and "They're all the fuckin' same". Maybe he'll change his mind if Stolas calls off their deal and offers to hang out with no sex and no strings attached. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

-Also, this was an unintentionally-hilarious gem:

CRIMSON: Hey, hick-for-hire! I said watch 'em, not fuck 'em!

STRIKER: (Immediately leaves)

Great watchin' there, bud. And Crimson is smiling despite Striker going against his orders-? I mentioned in the Exes and Oohs review that there was a disconnect between Crimson's dialogue and what was actually being shown on screen. Old habits die hard, I guess.

-"Everlastingly binding", Stolas? You can't just say "eternally binding", which has the same meaning and would flow more naturally? Under normal circumstances this would feel like a nitpick, but Stolas' phrasing was weird in Western Energy too. He told Blitzo he was "stolen" when "kidnapped" would have been more fitting, seeing as he's a person, not an object. (Hell, he could've just said "spirited away" if they wanted to be fancy with it.) This is a character who's supposed to be well-read, being written by someone who thinks this is how bookish people talk. An abundance of syllables doesn't equal eloquence.

-So if we take a closer look at what Blitzo is holding in the flashback, we see he has a flower and an envelope sealed with a heart sticker, with "For Fizz's eyes only" written on it. This implies he was about to confess his love for Fizz. And in Fizz's flashback, we see Blitzo's dad handing him a card that says "Wish You Were My Son", which I guess is what upset Blitzo and made him storm off, causing the fire.

But those important details are very "blink-and-you'll-miss-it". I didn't catch the card at first, so Blitzo's angry reaction left me very confused. It looked like he saw Fizz being happy on his birthday and just left in tears for no reason. Yes, a good show trusts the audience to piece things together themselves, but we shouldn't have to pause the episode and play it back to see if we missed some crucial element that flashed on screen for two seconds.

-Also, like... Why does romance need to be a part of it. These two have known each other and worked closely together since they were kids, so isn't that kind of like Blitzo having a crush on who was essentially a brother figure? I don't know, it just felt shoehorned in, like Blitzo needs some kind of flirtation or dalliance (or good ol' sexual harassment in Moxxie's case) with every single man in his life except his dad.

-I'm getting tired of these flashbacks dialing the angst and trauma levels up to 11. "This kid was horribly burned... ON HIS BIRTHDAY!" "This kid's best friend was horribly burned... AND HE LOST HIS MOM!" For fuck's sake, it's like these writers are brainstorming what the grimmest possible outcome could be in a given situation, and using that to ostensibly wring some tears out of the audience. Here's the thing, though: We never knew Blitzo's mom. We never saw what her personality was like or what their relationship was like, therefore we can't get nearly as sad as the writers want us to be when she dies.

Think back to past animated stories that did this right. You know why the deaths of Bambi's mom, Littlefoot's mom, and Mufasa were all so heartbreaking? Because we got to know them. We saw how joyful they were in life. How strong, how wise. So it stung all the more deeply when we knew what their children lost.

Blitzo's mom isn't even a character, really. She's a prop the writers are using to exploit the audience's emotions, which is even more unfortunate when you realize that's what Moxxie's mom was, too.

So let's say you're a writer and you want a character to feel guilty about a horrible accident they caused, so horrible that it almost killed their best friend. Okay... It almost killed their best friend. That should be more than enough to make anyone feel guilty, right? Well apparently the Spindle crew felt the need to heap even more guilt onto Blitzo by making that accident also kill his mom. Why wasn't Fizz enough? Why did yet another nameless female character have to lose her life? If Blitzo needed something to distract him from Fizz's pleas for help, you'd think trying to put out the massive fire would suffice, but apparently not. It's all just so forced and manipulative.

-"You're all I had left, Fizz." Wow, so Barb's just chopped liver, huh? Jesus, Blitzo. No wonder she hates you.

-This drawing of Striker's face foreshortens his snout way too much, making it look a lot shorter than it really is.

And for those who haven't seen the episode, this is a held frame, not an inbetween or smear or anything like that, so there's really no excuse for it to look like this. Let's try to suggest more length and structure in the snout, and eliminate the tangents in his smile while we're at it.

I know drawing characters with long snouts can be tricky in a front view like this, but that's what turnaround sheets are for.

-What's ironic about the song "Look at This" is that it's a perfect analogy for how this show uses slick, flashy animation to distract its audience from the amateurish writing. Just an observation.

-Fizz goes on WAY too long about how big Ozzie's dick is. Yeah, great, we get it. Move on, show.

-"Why is it always a sex thing?!" I'm with Striker on this one. Almost every queer male character on this show is preoccupied with sex to an unreasonable degree. I mean Fizz is boinking the actual embodiment of lust and has had sex robots made of himself, so the horniness kinda makes sense for his character, but Blitzo? Stolas? Even Moxxie had his moment where he said "Harder..." to Striker, though that was just to get his guard down. Still, though. It's excessive, guys. It's tired. Come up with some new material.

-FIZZ: You blew me up again, you fuckin' prick!

BLITZO: I did. But this time I stuck around.

Ehh, feels like those lines would have been much stronger if Fizz said them both. Here it sounds like Blitzo's just defending himself, as if he saved Fizz not out of the goodness of his heart, but because he wanted to score brownie points with him. Just feels a little manipulative of him, and out of sync with the more genuine moments the episode showed us earlier. Maybe something more like this:

FIZZ: You blew me up again, you fuckin' prick! (Blitzo looks down, ashamed. But then Fizz realizes something.) But... I'm glad you stuck around this time. (He smiles and hugs Blitzo.)

Allowing Fizz to come to that conclusion on his own is so much more powerful than Blitzo spoon-feeding it to him. Oh, and by the way...

-"Would it fuck up the moment if we made out right now?" Yeah, Blitzo. Yeah it would. Much like how this show can't allow an emotional scene to breathe without making a joke. It's not quite as bad as the tone whiplash with Crimson's wall dildos, but it does spoil the moment a bit.

Overall, not the worst Helluva Boss episode. Not the best, but not the worst. I fully expect the next one to be pointless filler that doesn't advance the story, though, so I might skip it. The problem is, this show's quality boomerangs from bad to okay to bad again in the span of a few episodes. One episode might get my hopes up, the next might dash them, and then there's this morbid curiosity in wondering if the next one might be the one that I finally love. I wanted to like this show so badly (gotta support that indie animation and all), but dear God, this writing.

It's still possible the series could evolve into something great, but my patience in waiting for that is very nearly worn out. Maybe (and that's a GIGANTIC maybe) I'll stick it out to the end of the season, but if the finale sucks, I'm done. Anyway, I need a palate cleanse, so here's more Fizz and Ozzie to end this on a positive note.

[snuurp]

i made more of them whoops. six wasn't enough apparently.

also i don't normally draw fluffy dogs or long face dogs because both of mine are short haired BRICKS so any advice is appreciated :) i love Scratch so much. more info and plain text under the cut again

i will draw Halsin and Jaheira eventually i swear. the diner doesn't have a name yet either, but it WILL. one day. i kinda want Astarion to work there in the future, his cafe job is a different, worse one. Halsin lovers i need your feedback because i do not know much at all about this man.

and thank you for the support on my first post!! i've never gotten this many notes before lol

sidenote: Fennel is a drow. she's just got that dragonsblood sorcerer thing going on and also i like horns. (she IS lolthsworn in game, i'm still debating how to include that here. is three characters with religious trauma too many??)

FENNEL

5'9"

works at Halsin's coffee shop/diner as a line cook.

first stable job she's had in ages because she has no tolerance for rude customers and kept saying things that got her fired.

adopted Scratch after his owner passed away, does everything to improve herself for his sake.

met Jaheira through the diner as well, who recommended the support group to her.

this was 90% because Jaheira likes collecting these nonfunctional gay losers to watch the drama unfold in ways better than any sitcom, but she (probably) actually cares at least a little.

hates the idea of going until something (or someone) suddenly motivates her ooOOOo what could it beeeeee........

coffee order is a plain americano until she gets introduced to sweet drinks and realizes life is worth living.

it's hot chocolate now, caffeine doesn't do anything for her anyway.

favourite board game is phase ten, but she never wins. just happy 2 be there.

absolute beast in mario kart tho, matches Karlach's competitive streak.

SCRATCH

best boy!!!!!!

used to be a drug sniffing dog, VERY task oriented. Fennel has to hide things for him to search for daily or he gets antsy.

he's shockingly intelligent, knows more than a dog should.

misses his previous owner a lot. has to be walked to the cemetary weekly for visits.

likes all foods, but LOVES fruit a weird amount.

blueberries are his high-value treat.

calm in thunderstorms but can't handle fireworks. howls at sirens because that's the noise that took his best friend away :(

his previous owner was a handler for a different dog. he knew Scratch wouldn't hurt without a good reason, so when Scratch attacked a TSA agent, he took Scratch with him and left the job.

this saved Scratch and he knew it, was extremely loyal. the other dog got moved to a new handler, no harm done.

very protective little guy, he loves the gang. sees them all as his responsibility.

those losers are HIS sheeps, and he is a VERY GOOD GUARDIAN.

can his sheeps stop being sad please. also stop having "jobs". walk him instead.

[mllemaenad]

Right, well, I wanted to write, so I'm going to do that, even if my wrists hurt. Things I will pay for later, but make me feel better now.

Have now listened to episodes 1 and 2 of The Magnus Protocol.

My first impression is that this is much worse than what was going on in The Magnus Archives.

The Magnus Institute was a private institution with no obvious access to other people's information (Magnus's occasional psychic spying notwithstanding). Most information it received seems to have at least been given willingly. There are a handful of instances of John forcing people to talk, yes, but not so many that I am constantly concerned for the privacy of London's citizens. Gertrude is said to have disliked compelling people to talk (Family Business), so while her tally very likely exceeds John's purely due to the length of time she was in the job, it's still probably not very high. It's impossible to account for the behaviour of previous archivists of course but, well, the whole place is set up to entice people in to tell their tales. I would hazard that most of the materiel in the archives was volunteered.

Even in cases where someone was forced – at least they knew about it, because they were there. The lady in Scrutiny who was so deeply disturbed by John's behaviour was also able to make that behaviour stop just by rolling up to The Magnus Institute and reporting it – which is a reasonably straightforward outcome, given the general weirdness of their world.

I don't mean to say that The Magnus Institute didn't do harm – it very obviously did. But even in terms of its final apocalypse, we're looking at a horror that lasted mere months (assuming a passage of time that broadly corresponds to the broadcasting schedule) before a group of disgruntled employees (and Georgie) burned the nightmare tower down, stabbed Magnus and reset reality. There were limitations to The Magnus Institute's reach, and Jonah Magnus's personal ambitions concluded with an utter, embarrassing flop by any reasonable estimation.

Here, though, you're looking at a government department with truly concerning access to people's data. The forum-based statement in First Shift is perhaps not too awful (forum threads can often be read by anyone, even if actually posting requires an account), but the earlier piece regarding the bereaved woman was a private email thread, and the story in Making Adjustments is drawn from a recording of a woman's session with her therapist. Sam calls out the massive invasion of privacy this sort of thing entails, but is shut down on the grounds that it's fine because they "work for the government".

Alice Ok, so looks like it's an email. Sam And I just… read it? Is that even legal? Alice Probably. We do work for the government. Sort of. Sam What about GDPR? Alice Look, Sam, I don't know what to tell you. This is the job. I've been doing it for years and there's never been any problems. Maybe ask Lena? She’d probably know. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

While it is too early to definitively establish the worldbuilding rules here:

In The Magnus Archives, giving a statement was functionally feeding an eldritch power

Gertrude Robinson took statements, but kept the archives themselves in a state of disarray, to impede Magnus's plans (Dwelling)

Much of The Magnus Archives played on the difference between knowing a thing and understanding it

The characters in The Magnus Protocol are not just collecting, but blindly categorising statements – they are organising them by keyword, but not encouraged to analyse what they see or hear – Alice notes that they are paid not to care (Making Adjustments)

At least in The Magnus Archives, making a statement tended to come with consequences: typically horrifying recurring nightmares

So you have to wonder – what consequences will there be for these people, who have had their stories stolen from them?

In terms of workplace horror, this is very much coming at it from the opposite direction. The Magnus Archives was about the horrible job you couldn't quit. Most people find themselves stuck in these for economic reasons rather than supernatural ones, although in fairness both Martin (Children of the Night) and Melanie (Dig) are explicitly called out as very much needing the work, but the characters are nevertheless stuck and constantly call back to the fact that they would absolutely quit – if only they could.

It ran on punishing hours and constant exhaustion, the expectation that you would take on tasks you were in no way qualified or trained for (this started with "archiving" and escalated quickly to "apocalypses"), the boss who expected you to "just know" things you couldn't possibly know at all, and a soul destroying amount of responsibility with little hope of advancement. The same person ran the institute since its founding, literally consuming his employees along the way, and if you wanted, say, to be Head Archivist, you were very much stuck waiting for the current occupant of the role to die.

It is significant that, with the noted exception of Eric Delano, all of Gertrude's assistants died on the job (some of them by her hand), and tallying John's assistants is a bit like listing off the wives of Henry VIII: dead, dead, dead, divorced, survived, status unknown. While the story leans on deaths for drama, it gets a lot of mileage out of using historical data, so characters stick around. It's weird for them to be actually gone.

The Magnus Protocol opens with Teddy quitting the OIAR to take a job in insurance. The very first thing you learn about this place is that people leave, and this idea is reinforced a number of times even in the first two episodes: Gwen is pressured to resign by Lena because she is "difficult", and Lena notes outright that, for most people, this job is strictly short term:

Lena Hmmm. I’ve always known you thought you were slumming it down here, but I never actually considered you might think of this as the first step of a career. Most people simply move on within 12 months or so. Gwen I’m not most people. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Moreover, Making Adjustments concludes first with a fraught conversation about possible redundancies and then with Alice accusing Sam (however playfully) of looking to "jump ship" when he's seen researching The Magnus Institute.

This is the horrible job you might lose tomorrow. While the threat in The Magnus Archives was that you were probably going to die in this job, here it leans more toward – if you didn't show up tomorrow, who would question it? People leave.

It is a night shift, for no clear reason – they're doing data entry on what definitely looks like non-essential information so why the hell can't they do that in the day? Employees are not encouraged to think about their work, and Gwen is criticised for favouring accuracy over speed. It is grimly impersonal, and what little solidarity there is appears to be hard won; it's noted, for instance, that Colin is really only social with Alice, and Alice seems committed to team camaraderie.

But above that is the sense that the employees are considered too insignificant to participate in what is really happening here. I mean, among other things, Colin seems to be having a wildly different workplace experience to everyone else.

Alice postulates that they are a fossilised department – one that only really exists because it's been forgotten – although even she notes that the theory only works if you don't poke at it too hard:

Sam I've no real idea what the OIAR even is. Alice You and everyone else. I’ve checked and there's not really much info on it. My current working theory is that maybe it got set up in the 70s, back when everyone was off their tits on LSD and giving ghost-hunters massive grants to wave crystals in graveyards. I reckon at some point they must have put together a small government department to, like, oversee the spending and monitor this stuff and no-one's noticed it's still going. Sam Makes sense. Alice As long as you don’t pay too much attention. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Even if that is a bit extreme, the general consensus is that their work goes nowhere and does nothing. Which fits broadly with the general lack of action and urgency in the department ... unless you happen to be Colin.

Alice Colin! There’s my guy! How's it hanging? Is it an app yet? Do we have a minimalist logo? I assume you’ve finished all the social features? Colin Don't you start. I swear I'm going to shove a cable down that prick's throat, pull it out his ministerial anus and floss him to death. ... Teddy Colin, mate, you know you’re never getting out of here. Colin Christ, don’t say that. Teddy Even if his nibs lets you off the hook, which he won’t, you couldn’t bring yourself to just leave. Not 'til you’ve figured out all these fun little errors. Colin Or they finally kill me. ... Colin I already have to explain to some chinless inbred politician that we’re running on something as old as the goddamn Atari Falcon, now I’ve got some green little smartarse giving me lip for it too? Well you can take your funny little lines and shove them up – – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Colin, specifically, is suffering from ministerial oversight. A lot of it, apparently. Departments that only continue to exist because they've been forgotten don't typically have the responsible minister leaning on the IT manager. Not even on the boss – the IT guy. It's interesting because his specific level of stress and frustration seems more consistent with what was going on in The Magnus Archives than here.

And then, of course, there are the stories themselves. It's impossible not to note that the text-to-speech programs sound an awful lot like the protagonists of the previous series. Presumably this is plot relevant, or else it's a really distracting choice. It's impossible to state at this stage whether that means it actually is them or not, but assuming for the moment that it is (because it is not interesting to discuss other possibilities until they become interesting) then what they have to say seems noteworthy.

They are presumably reacting to Sam specifically (welcome to the cursed protagonist club, new guy!), possibly to the box he ticked during onboarding, and likely to whatever past trauma led him to this job in the first place. And both seem to be issuing a warning.

Norris/Martin tells a story that Gwen classifies as "reanimation", but I admit I'm not sure I agree. The thing sounds like an iteration of the Anglerfish monster.

Norris/Harriet Winstead “Arthur? Is that you?” And that voice I have loved for twenty years answered: “Some of him.” – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Archivist Are you the same Sarah Baldwin that disappeared in Edinburgh in August 2006? Sarah Some of her. Skin. A few memories. Not on the inside. – The Magnus Archives: Return to Sender

That feels at least in part like an Easter egg – no newcomer is going to recognise the Anglerfish – but it is the crossing of the boundary: this is the first true story they heard, and proof that there is something very wrong with the world. And presumably the themes of grief and loss that pervade the story would relate pretty strongly to Martin's whole ... situation. I'm assuming nobody here chose to be a text-to-speech program.

Chester/John, meanwhile, issues a fairly stern warning about The Magnus Institute. The canary in the coal mine is a bit on-the-nose as a metaphor, sure, but if I were trying to explain to someone what was wrong with that place, I would likely also be blunt. The rough thing, though, is that quite explicitly no one heeds the warning: while the "removed" image is not described it pretty clearly illustrated RedCanary's fate. It's not just that the canary died down the mine. It's that it died in vain, because no one understood what killed it. And of course, it does pique Sam's interest to the point that he starts digging in to what happened. I'm disinclined to believe that curiosity is bad in these stories – if anything, John's issue was that he could never find out the things he needed to know fast enough to make a good decision. But there is a point there ... if you start looking into things, you have to be prepared to deal with them.

The third one, in Making Adjustments seems to be playing somewhat on The Picture of Dorian Gray: Sam and Gwen start the episode by doing practice runs on classification using classic horror, and the story, when it begins, draws on that confusion between art and subject. You can line Dorian up beside Dracula and Frankenstein any day. But the bigger point seems to be that the catalyst for this happened on camera:

Daria Before I could reply they hit a button on their set-up and suddenly we were live streaming with lights in my eyes and their arm tight around my shoulders. I don’t remember much of what they said to their viewers, but they kept telling everyone how lucky I was whilst they dragged me into the chair. – The Magnus Protocol: Making Adjustments

There are nested violations in this story: Daria expected a photo shoot, but at no point agreed to be tattooed on camera. Beyond that, the story she told in private to her therapist is now being recorded and catalogued by the OIAR. And whatever happened to Daria, this "Ink5oul" person seems to have profited by it, and by things like it.

I must admit, I'm not much of a "what entity is this" person, because as far as I could tell the general consensus on that in general fell between "that's arbitrary" and "all of them, probably, if only by their conspicuous absence". That sort of thing is very useful when talking about the people and their particular obsessions – if Simon Fairchild turned up, for example, you knew exactly what sort of aggravating bullshit you were in for – but worrying too much about the exact nature of a supernatural manifestation rarely leads anywhere useful.

I am more interested in the broader implications of how the story is told. In The Magnus Archives, the characters read the stories aloud – and usually adopted the persona, and sometimes even the accent – of the original statement giver. That had supernatural implications, of course, but also played into the broader themes of the story: John is very much invested in the individuals. The tragedy of Jane Prentiss, the mystery of Gertrude Robinson – these are his obsessions. Pretty much the only point he scores in his conversation with Leitner (The Librarian) is being able to instantly spot a passing reference to Gerard Keay: John is crap at the cosmology, but he's been paying attention to the people. Many of the recurring characters are very dead by the time the story starts, but they are kept alive in the narrative because the living characters step into their shoes, and care about what they did and what became of them.

Here, though, there is built in distance between the active protagonists and the individual horror stories. They largely don't even read them – Alice says she "skim(s) the case for keywords" (Making Adjustments) and otherwise tries to ignore what is happening. When a story is read aloud it is done by the text-to-speech programs, and they, as John and Martin did, adopt the personas of the authors in a way that sounds much more fluid than software from the 90s should be capable of. When the story comes straight from the source, it is not told to Sam or Alice or Gwen, but to someone else entirely. There is a reason for the audience to connect with the stories – from that external perspective you're getting pretty much the same thing you did in The Magnus Archives – but the actual characters have no reason to connect, or even to truly listen or empathise with what they're hearing, and doing so is regarded as a mistake.

Which makes you wonder – what might you miss when you're not paying attention to the people?

[onebadpunspoilsabunch]

And the way awhuizotl and garble were redeemed in season 9 didn't make any sense at all, since it contradicts things from the previous seasons

Oh yeah, that too. Just more to add to the pile, haha 😄 

I don't hate the idea of Garble being reformed, I just hate the execution. It was weird… I actually really like the idea of Garble and Spike being friends again :)

They said that he acted like a delinquent so he wouldn't get bullied by his friends, and he was peer pressured into it. You can say that about teenagers in real life.

I think it was supposed to be a contrast to Spike's character, because in Dragon Quest Spike almost succumbed to the same peer pressure but decided to be better, because of the positive influence his pony friends had on him.

The implication being that Garble succumbed to peer pressure because unlike Spike, he didn't have any positive influences at all, whether it be family, friends, etc.

But he has a really good relationship with Smolder, who never judged him or treated him harshly for being soft. So Smolder's existence as his supportive sibling doesn't make any sense when you think of the way he's acted the entire show.

I think a better idea for Garble's redemption is that it could've been a Cutie Map mission. Fluttershy and Spike could've been called to the Dragon Lands to solve a friendship problem that involved Garble. Not only because Spike and Fluttershy were the two main characters involved in that episode, but because it makes sense for it to be them.

Spike because he has more of a personal relationship with Garble than any of the others. Also Garble is technically the first dragon friend Spike ever made (until they fought), so wouldn't it be a fitting bookend for Spike to help turn Garble around and the two can be proper friends again?

Fluttershy because before she hated dragons (specifically older ones), but she learned to not be afraid of them. Garble hated ponies, so Fluttershy would've been a perfect 2nd choice to help redeem him.

I'm just throwing out ideas lol

The Ahuizotl one made less sense to me, because again they retconned what we've seen of the character in order to make him a misunderstood character. They said that Ahuizotl was protecting the artifacts of his forest from being stolen from Daring Do and Dr. Caballeron.

I actually like the idea of Daring Do taking the artifacts to be put in a museum being seen as bad by the jungle inhabitants, and I like the idea of Ahuizotl having more to him. But retconning Ahuizotl's character doesn't make much sense. 

In one episode, Ahuizotl tried to use the artifacts to cause a heatwave in the jungle for eight hundred years. Seems pretty evil. Maybe because he was created to make sure the artifacts stay in their place and do their intended job, he didn't see a problem with it? Idk.

Maybe they could've said that Ahuizotl was preprogrammed to act in this way? Idk

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S04E09 - Impawster Syndrome - Part A

I like this one better than the previous one but... I disagree with a lot of the things Jesse says, and mainly with how he thinks his coworkers should have treated him in this case.

Black letters in quotes: Actual show quotes.

Green letters in quotes: What I come up with my twisted brain.

I wonder if they had Justin Kelly voice the criminal in the opening scene to throw us off.

Wait, I take it back. They probably did because they already had him play that scene.

Oh, that rascal.

Remember when we thought that the worst thing to come out of technology the last decade were deepfakes? Good times.

Dear Hudson and Rex, I think your actors are suffering from the cold again.

lol why is Rex the most annoyed that Jesse stepped on evidence? Everyone else is pretty chill.

I bet this won't come up later as sketchy behavior.

Sarah: "Wait, I need Charlie to translate Rex-speak for me." Rex: "I wait for no one. Follow me."

That's what they all say.

Why would he not assume that since his car was stolen (crime) it was used in the robbery (also crime)?

I wish. What I mean to say is that they took a long time to actually act like they should impartially investigate this.

I'm sorry but Jesse's acting like a child. He knows the procedure, he should know that if this case went to court and he was on it without having been cleared beforehand, he would be the one to blow it and create doubts for the court. He should know that it doesn't have anything with his friends not trusting him. Which, later, they will actually have ample reasons not to.

On my first watch I'd actually thought she had something to do with this.

Dude, you stepped on evidence and your face is on camera committing a crime, and there's currently no explanation for why this isn't your face. You can't be surprised they don't want you anywhere near this case.

Oh my god stop! I mean the thing with the tongue, I can't concentrate. Also, stop joking around because we definitely will be doing the "I'll hear something my friends are saying about me out of context and take it the wrong way" trope.

What did I say?!?! Jesse, this is just how they do foreplay, I promise. It has nothing to do with you.

Charlie is actually doing his job and entertaining the possibility that Jesse might have had something to do with this, even as a joke.

Yes, guys, after all this I, too, would assume that Jesse's car was used in the robbery. I'd bet on it before finding it.

I'm not sure what joking about Jesse having many action figures achieves when the house does look geeky. A loading bar on the wall? An entire gaming installation in the living room? That's how I'd imagine it. Does it have to have action figures? Not to mention that I don't remember Jesse mentioning action figures a lot. I'd love to go to Comic Con too but I don't want to buy action figures.

Not sure they should have done this. Then again, if it was any other case, they would have done this. They have had Rex sneakily search again and again. And I think they mostly did this because they thought that would at least clear Jesse.

Not Rex too!

Sarah is the one who's supposed to clinically examine the evidence, how did we get to that point?

Oh, he was. Which definitely didn't make all this any better.

I'm not sorry for suspecting Imari. She was the red herring, anyway. She always popped up at the right time. And was too chipper for this job.

I think the most clear sign that Jesse hadn't done this would be the fact that he wouldn't be so stupid to deposit robbery money into his own account. He's worked so many cases. Although that's not exactly a defense and they'd still have to keep searching.

I'm sorry, you're interrogating him and you say "We're on your side"? This is insane. Will IA review the interrogation tapes?

Jesse plays online poker. That's not as weird and out there as they make it seem.

Crypto again. I know that in my country most of the gambling websites that gave winnings in crypro have been banned. Probably in the EU (although the law here has a pretty funny idea of who is and who is not allowed to run a gambling website).

"Are you doing a search of my apartment?" Shocked Pikachu meme. Are you serious right now, Jesse? Yes, of course they are! The evidence is piling up.

All this is because you were gunning for Charlie's job in the previous episode, Jesse lol

Aaand, they found a shotgun.

"Nice find, Rex." May I ask how you humans were searching Jesse's apartment all this time? Because it was literally on the chair under a blanket.

Sarah: "If I take your approach forgetting we're talking about Jesse and just looking at the evidence..." The investigative, approach, yes.

Indeed. At this point, the frame-job is getting way too obvious.

I got to the image limit in 16 minutes of episode runtime. This is not good.

To be continued in Part B.

[astrologycharts242]

Me reading Jungkook's Tropical chart 2nd house (Part 2)

I'll upload the video and the transcript of it. At the end I added the wrong chart but it is what it is.

Something I forgot to mention in the previous video. With Jupiter being in aquarius 2nd house. This made Jungkook had a very weird or unusual childhood than the average person. Not in a bad way because his Jupiter is more so positive. His Jupiter makes him want to speak about trying to make society a better place.

All because aquarius is about humanitarianism and environmental science. Moving along his Jupiter aspects the 8th house of in laws (any in laws), not just the spouse's family, but Spouse's money, gifts, unearned money, inheritance etc. Perfect in regards to money because now Jupiter increases the amount of unearned money and gifts Jungkook obtains in his lifetime. Yeah he would be one of those types of people that would have other people willingly give him money and gifts. Gifts for particularly birthdays and Christmas. I wonder if his fans send him gifts?

A way he gets unearned money can happen is through inheritance. Keep in mind too 8th house is the spouse's finances so if he gets married or engaged We can easily assume he ends up with a spouse that has slightly above average income than the average individual. Since Jupiter increases the spouse's finances. He might have a spouse that comes from a big family background.

Here's the thing though since Jupiter in aquarius is giving its energy to the 8th house.Jungkook would have weird inlaws. Any in laws not just the spouse's family could be a sister in law.Another too whenever Jupiter influences the 8th house regardless of the sign a person becomes heavily involved. Involved with occult sciences like astrology.

Jungkook is definitely willing to pay an astrologer or a tarot/psychic reader. His views on things like astrology are kinda unusual. He wants scientific proof or a legitimate reason to believe in things like astrology. When he does indulge in those mystical things he won't do it the traditional way that it is practiced. People like to say Jupiter expands things and the 8th house represents genitalia but I'm not gonna get into that discussion. 🤣🤣

Things of the 2nd house like money sources go into the 4th house. This means 4th house stuff like homes, vehicles, the mother etc become reasons for Jungkook gaining money. Then I remembered reading on my Twitter show picture of someone saying the 4th house represents our birth place. Turns out that might definitely be true for Jungkook. As we know he made lots of money from performing in Korea. This 2nd house placement that he has shows a person making money from local governments too.I wouldn't know how the local government stuff works for him though. His role would be to administer things. Which if he was to ever work a local government job or a partnership with the local government. Then Jungkook is doing something upper management related because Saturn is in the 4th house.

I could go on forever about this placement like how homes can make him money. Obviously most would say that's real estate. I think it's more so construction and him selling land rather than actual homes. 2nd house is family right? Connected to the house of homes or birth place. This means most of his family members stay in Korea and that's where his family lineage is from. Additionally family members stay in his homes. With Saturn in the 4th house either Jungkook's family members are restricted from going into residences that he stays in.

Now which family members? Only he or his family would know 🤣

Regardless if they do Jungkook doesn't like family members being in his home or vehicles. This shows family events happens in the places he lives. The house of savings is connected with the mother. I wouldn't know how that works but I don't think he would be a fan of his mother managing his savings. Which his mother doing so is very likely.

2nd house shows what we speak about so he speaks about local governments, what's going on his home environments. From the perspective of how it affects him rather than others. For example the local government implements a new law. Rather than Jungkook talking about how it affects the citizens of South Korea. He instead talks about how it affects himself. Since Saturn is in Aries. Aries represents the 1st house which is yourself.

This could show he keeps his savings in South Korea as well because the 4th house is birth place.

Follow me on the other apps I'm out.

[f0point5]

The only thing I find weird about Rebecca is her mouth. Like it doesn't match the rest of her face for me. But that said she's incredibly beautiful and I wish I was half as beautiful 😂

I remember seeing you say in a previous post that all the fic hate comments are irl based and I still come across hate comments about Rebecca. I'll admit I was sceptical at first but then I took a step back like whoa, it's non of my business. But what irks me to no end is how she's scrutinized for allegedly being an escort (back in the day with Scott Disick) but like be for real. Who wouldn't want to be paid to hang onto the arm of some dude? What if she's a clout chaser? What if it's pr? Who wouldn't jump at the chance.... And at least it's not some ugly 80 year old grandpa but Carlos Sainz and Scott Disick. These people act like they're holier than thou but it's so clear they're just jealous.

We need to normalize women taking advantage of their looks, why shouldn't life be easier for us? Men already treat us like some play things why can't we make a profit off that? I say good for her. I do think their relationship ship is genuine but even if it's not, good. For. Her. I'm not a work boss bitch girlie if I looked hot enough I'd 100% be doing the same thing. Work is just not it for me.

I think she’s done a lot of filler. I don’t think it looks bad at all but I think because how we all see filler now that it does kind of take away from the elegance of her face. It doesn’t make her any less beautiful but I think it kind of makes her look a bit more…commercial? I think that’s how they’d say it in modelling terms.

You know, everyone’s a girl’s girl until she’s pretty. Everyone supports sex workers until they’re not standing on a street corner in ripped fishnets risking their lives. The Pearl clutching over how women maintain their lifestyle will never end, especially when these women actually manage to do better out of it than people working a 9-5. I could go for hours on that topic but my point is…they only “support” a woman’s right to do what she wants if they can still feel superior about it. It’s the vestige of bitter people. It’s the same people who will call wags “jobless” while sitting at their desk at the job they hate and are resentful that they have to do in the first place.

And this is resentment because the genetic lottery didn’t swing their way. Because their “principles” would evaporate real quick with a winning lottery ticket I’ll tell you that.

I do think Carlos and Rebecca are “genuine” in the sense that they aren’t a PR set up. I do think it’s a relationship of convenience for them, just from the vibes, but that’s their private business. It only bothers people who know he wouldn’t look at them twice.

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay-adjacent Visuals: Jack's Lament

Can you feel me practically vibrating out of my skin???

On one hand, I'm a little sad because this is the last video I'll probably be making a post about for a while (though by the time you see this, Geoff might have uploaded a new video that I can actually talk about the visuals for (EDIT from future me: he did!), and if so, you'll be seeing a post for that one tomorrow), but on the other hand, this is my third (though in no particular order/ranking) favourite Geoff video on his channel so far, and I am so excited to finally be able to make a post for it!

Geoff's cover of Jack's Lament debuted on the 8th of October, 2023, though I didn't see it pop up in my YouTube recommended until the 29th (if you remember from my Hellfire post, I wasn't initially subscribed to Geoff or Voiceplay, and both channels somehow ended up dropping off my radar for a while. Jack's Lament was the first from either channel that I had seen in at least a year, and as soon as I saw that thumbnail, I knew it was going to be amazing, but oh my GOD it was even better (and with me stumbling upon Hellfire the very next day, well let's just say I was pulled even deeper down the Geoff/Voiceplay rabbithole than I had been the first time around 😅).

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll hit image limit on this one, or how much actual commentary I may have, but regardless, let's freaking go!

One hell of an opening shot, not gonna lie. Geoff's very-skeletal-looking hands playing the piano (in a beautiful way, might I add), immediately sets a very spooky/eerie vibe!

And this is one hell of an establishing shot! I mean goddamn there is a lot to take in here! Though one thing I will point out (that I actually only just noticed myself ^^;) is the Haunted Mansion headstone on the left, memorialising Madame Leota!

(Also shoutout to Pattycake Production Studios where this was filmed!)

I of course have to give a MASSIVE shoutout and kudos to Rick Underwood for the makeup job in this one, like holy christ he really outdid himself here! (and I can't thank him enough)

Ngl, if I don't come up with any other ideas between now and October, then I kinda wanna dress as "Jack Skellington Geoff" (Geoff Caskellington? 🤔), makeup and all (or just attempt the face makeup at least)

And seriously take a look at his hands! If it weren't for the super-high-definition closeup of his hands on the piano at the start, you'd be forgiven for thinking those are just really well-fitting gloves, but nope! An amazing airbrush job from Mr Underwood!

Also, if you look at his neck and chest in both this image and the previous one, you'll notice that he's got airbrushing going on there too, highlighting (or more accurately, shading) his ribs and other bones!

Finally, on the subject of the body paint job, if you've been paying attention to some of my other Geoff posts (and some of my Voiceplay posts), you might notice what's missing...

No necklace, and no rings! Had to remove them for costume/makeup/character purposes, rip. Must have felt a bit weird without them, but all that paint must have felt weird too, so maybe the weird feelings cancelled each other out? 😅

(His acting in this is of course 10/10 👌)

This video is one that I do actually know involved Geoff deliberately colouring his hair to make it grey, and it still looks as lovely as ever!

(Also this picture is a better one to check out the airbrushed detailing on his chest! (if you're gonna leave a couple of shirt buttons undone and your chest exposed, might as well take advantage of it! 😁))

The "moon" in this video is apparently just some big spotlight with a moon cover on it or something? Apparently you can fairly easily find them online or something, and you can in fact see the pole it's attached to underneath in this image here, but you likely wouldn't notice the pole if you weren't looking for it, and the usage of the moon is 100% perfect! (I've seen/heard one or two people wishing the moon was yellow like in the movie, but eh, it probably wouldn't have fitted the overall colour scheme of the video as much)

I had to include the "jumpscare" of course I had to! 😁

Also I can't get any good screencaps of it, but the way Geoff shifts from sombre on "a longing that I've never known," to more theatric/dramatic on "I'm a master of fright, and a demon of light" is so good, and the acting/choreography is absolute chefs kiss

"Bonjour!"

(For those of you not familiar with the original, the line "and I'm know throughout England and France" is part of the original song, but the "bonjour!" bit is not 😆)

A Geoff head not connected to the body! It's happened again! 😂

Also it's cool the way Geoff is quickly jumping/flashing from one point to another, reminds me of his Headless Horseman video

"No animal, nor man, can SCREAM like I can!"

What can I say, it's a very cool effect! Really ups the "oomph" factor of the little belt moment!

Tiny pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns in his eyes!!

"But who here, would ever understand..."

(I'm not even at half the maximum image limit yet, so I'm 100% just throwing in an extra screencap (or two) just because 😁)

Geoff pats the side of his leg to call for Zero the ghost dog, just in in the scene in the movie! (Also shoutout to Kathy, who I believe helped with puppeteering for this bit?)

"...that the pumpkin king, with the skeleton grin,"

(Freaking obsessed with this video, I tell ya!)

"The fame and praise, come year after year, does nothing for these empty tears"

This is the last shot before we see the gramophone logo (a very gorgeous shot btw), but there's a little bit of a bonus bit for those who stick around for the Patron credits!!

It starts to snow! Like at the end of the movie! It's a sign of hope and good things to come! <3

The original song is good for the movie, sure, but Geoff's cover feels like it has so much more depth (in more ways than one!) and emotion! And his vocal range is ugh god absolutely stunning and mindblowing! I cannot get enough, can never get enough!

But anyway, I hope you've been enjoying my Voiceplay/Voiceplay-adjacent posts! If there are any videos I've skipped over that you actually would like me to make a post on, please let me know! (And don't worry, I am planning to do all the 2017-onwards Christmas videos for both channels eventually - maybe as a Christmas In July thing?) I'm typing this on the 22nd of February, and if Voiceplay uploads a video in March that I wanna make a post on (nope), well you reading this will have already seen that post, and if Geoff uploads something in March that I wanna talk about (he did), then you'll see that post tomorrow (you will!). But otherwise, thanks for reading!

[scienceoftheidiot]

I've grown way too unhinged with these "asks", but I've been meaning to send you this one for a while, so please indulge me!

From what I've noticed, a lot of the Royai fan artists I follow tend to prefer drawing Riza, when they're not portraying her with Roy. But I've noticed that a number of your pieces focused on Roy only, which I find very interesting! Would you say that his character inspires you more than Riza, artistically/creatively speaking? If so, in what ways?

Please tell us more! And thank you, as always <3

Lol not unhinged at all I love to receive asks, I just always forget to reply 🥲🥲 sorry 🥲 so, first, thank you very much for asking ! 🥰❤️

And lol yeah, sometimes I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb among the Royai people. But eh, healthy ecosystems need biodiversity 🤣

I hope my answer isn't too long.

I do have a preference for Roy in drawing, for a number of reasons.

I precise in drawing, because I do love writing Riza, not more than I do writing Roy, but they're relatively even for me - even if, yes, I tend to favour Roy because he's easier for me, there, too.

I like to draw him, because I like his face, expressions and postures, and I like to explore them. He's a fun little guy to draw, when I think Riza is cool AF (and I have a lot to say about her character, too!) but she's not as fun to draw for me (once again I love her and she's in fact the female character I have drawn the most I think, because I have a hard time drawing women, but still, if I'm looking for a quick doodle, I'll go towards Roy).

But yes, they're more or less indissociable for me, and for proof my first fan art for FMA was indeed Royai (here!).

Anyway. While Royai is my favourite ship and I love Riza to bits, my favourite character in FMA is Roy. Roy first. (And my husband has understood that well, he's calling me when we do a rewatch and Roy appears on screen and I'm not watching. Like HURRY ROY IS THERE).

Now, if anyone who knows me from earlier than my FMA obsession reads this, and I describe the utter mess that is Roy, they'll understand that it couldn't have gone any other way. Here's a man in a position of power, who hides everything behind a façade, who's a nerd and highly intelligent (I admit I'm often irked by some posts in the royai fandom. This guy is smart. He's goofy, he's a dork, but he's smart. Book smart, he's a fine tactician, and he can command. Erasing that is erasing part of his identity, and I'm sure part of why Riza loves him, too), has a weird sense of humour even though he can also be intense af, is crushed by unbelievable guilt from his past actions (I admit Roy and Roza both beat all of my previous fixations in that, good job being war criminals, guys 🙃) and intends to repair what he's done as much as he can, one way or another, whose sole goal is to make things better for others/his place/his country, whatever he has to give up for it to work, who inspires others doing that, and who gets badly injured/disabled during the story and keeps going and fighting teeth and nails through it and beyond?

WELL. There is no question I will fall for this dude instantly. This is like. Checking all the boxes for me to be instantly in love with this guy. Like. I think he's actually the only one who checks ALL of my boxes.

I do think however that Roy isn't complete without Riza, and that it's the same on her side (like. I've only tagged my current fic with "codependency" but that's how I write them whatever I write). I'm just fixating on him first, but I still find Riza an awesome character, there's no debate there 😊

Here you go! I've written a novel again lol but I hope I've replied to all your questions. I can talk more about how I see Roy and Riza, I always have more to tell, but really that would just make this even more unpalatable 😅 thank you again for asking 😊

[grison-in-space]

Okay, so: I've mentioned that I have service oriented tasks in mind for Matilda, but I haven't actually talked a bunch about what I'm aiming for. In part this is because one of the biggest things I would find supportive doesn't seem to be a Thing at the moment.

Generally speaking, I need an executive function support dog. I think I can make this happen without overtaxing my dog, but I'm getting stuck thinking about what I want to teach and how to chain it, so I'm going to think out loud for a minute.

So: autism, ADHD, constant masking, and an objectively stressful ten years in Texas (fire! flood! school stabbing! literal abandonment! we have them all!) has left me with some burnout problems. I dissociate a lot and I need to figure out how to train that as an alert, but especially in the evenings I tend to get stuck. Most of my coping techniques relied on either stores of energy I largely just don't have or on anxiety over consequences to serve as a motivator. While I can still do my job pretty well (thanks, hyperfocus!), I miss a lot of care opportunities (things like: consume lunch. Drink liquids. Take afternoon meds). And I can tune out anything at this point.

I have found that there's a distinct sensory component to this, though: visual and especially tactile stimuli work way better than auditory ones. It's just that there isn't really anything that can do a mix like that right now. I've rigged some things to help but it's not ideal, and I've passively/accidentally trained every previous dog I've had to sit outside flailing distance and subvocalize until I get up anyway; surely it should be possible to teach a dog to help with this. Say, by progressing from a touch or lick to a nose punch to crawling into my lap to lick my face on a timed cue.

By the way, friends, you lose shit in burnout. Learn from my mistakes; try to mask less, fuck. I have a lot of grief I'm still processing over things I did ten or fifteen years ago that I can't do today; my capacity is just so much lower than it used to be. I am on an upswing--the move helped a lot, just getting away from Texas, and the new job environment has been helpful, and so have some med adjustments... but I'm not as fast or as hard driving as I used to be, and there are some things I won't get back.

Anyway. Plans. Public access groundwork is actually not worrying me too badly at this stage: we're working on dog reactivity, foundations, and settling, and she sees enough weird places I'm not too concerned about now. But it's the tasking pieces I'm hung up on. I have thoughts, at least, for the dissociation alerts and grounding part of the problem: I know how I hold myself and how I don't move in certain ways when I'm dissociated, and "touch" shaped into licking my hand or nudging me is something I can use for that.

But what would be really helpful is setting alerts for Tilly to go into Pester Mode on a timer. I think I can use a phone timer for this, probably, although I would really like it if I could make Gcal notifications work as a cue to set timers to. I can use "human stands up" as my stop cue for the behavior, and the start cue is of course the timer itself. Once summoned by the timer, I know what I would like her to do.

I'm just sort of stuck on how to go about starting this. I do not want to invoke Pester Mode without the timer, and I would ideally like Pester Mode to be reliably turned off if I stand up. I do not want to trigger Pester Mode for anyone but me. I can think of like half a dozen ways this task could go hideously wrong.

It's just that it would be so helpful if I could program a bunch of very specific reminders based on my Gcal schedule and then have a stubborn little dog break any hyperfocus and help me transition into a new behavior at those periods. Unfortunately, now that Matilda is old enough to begin thinking about beginning to shape the beginnings of this, I find myself stuck. What would you do, dogblr?

[itsclydebitches]

We can agree that the tonal dissonance is the worst part yes because why did they come out of that good ass smoke confront yourself scene with Ruby making a hilarious meme face at us 😭 can they decide if they want serious or slapstick or at least make said slapstick feel more cruel/surreal, like go for a tone where the characters are suffering but the inherently ridiculous world is constantly fucking with them. I feel like that'd land better than 'hehe Weiss is going grrr and making anime bubbles! Ignore Ruby having a panic attack! This is irrelevant!'

Thanks for responding to the other thing as politely as you did and I hope it didn't come off as a personal attack. You do seem nice and you make a good point I just kind of feel bad for you slogging through this show you hate KSHSKSHS

Nah don't worry about it, anon. Idk how to really explain it, but for me a "bad" show isn't necessarily a "slog" show. I like waking up Saturday morning to watch RWBY, knowing I'll get to write a recap later, engage with other fans throughout the week, etc. It could feel overwhelming at times given the previous one day pace I had set, but not a slog (no matter how much it might sound that way in recaps because, as established, there's A Lot of problems to cover that obviously color my tone). But the moment this project actually becomes an uninspiring slog I'd just... drop it? I mean, no offense to anyone here who likes keeping up with these posts, but I'm not a Content Creator℠ in the sense of this being a job. Tumblr doesn't pay me lol. Whenever/if ever it's no longer enjoyable, it's no longer something I'll do. Simple as that.

Anyway, YEAH. Tone. I had the same sort of, "Wait, huh?" reaction to Ruby's exaggerated panic over losing the Cat (complete with more stylized, manga-esque animation cues) immediately after she's reminded that Salem is two steps away from destroying the whole world and they have no plan to stop her. It's truly jarring. You know what I was thinking about the other day though? How although it's obviously weird, frustrating, and sometimes dangerous, Ever After should also be beautiful. Creative. Inspiring. An astounding, impossible experience! We got a little bit of that with Ruby walking through the garden, but leaning into the girls' amazement could be a good way of lightening the otherwise dark Volume. I mean, they haven't just landed in a fairy tale, but a beloved childhood classic complete with favorite characters, gorgeous scenery, unlimited magic where before they've only seen bits in combat... Do you have any idea how fucking STOKED I would be if I suddenly found myself in Narnia? The Shire? Hogwarts? Or yeah, Wonderland? Even if I knew that there was danger here and even if I had something traumatically important to get back to in the real world, there would still be a part of myself simply giddy at the prospect of exploring my favorite story. If Blake spent more time gushing over meeting her favorite characters, if Weiss stood in awe at the architecture, if Yang was Ooo-ing over the cool creatures here, if Ruby took a breather to look at sentient toys and go, "That's awesome" we could add a lot of lightheartedness without interrupting the primary tone. Right now, the girls' attitude is primarily "Wow, this world is the worst" rather than "Wow, this world is a wonderland." And true, that is (mostly) accurate to Alice's experiences, but it's not helping me enjoy the setting when the girls so clearly hate being there.