#and maybe a non stupid premise? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kalims · 2 months

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pop !

giving them a balloon with a confession in it and running away,

premise. out of confession ideas? sick of the pile of stupid papers crumpled up on the leg of your desk? or perhaps you're just in the 'you only live life once' mindset. since the school year is ending, why not get rid of the annoying feeling of him tingling your mind? (in the form of a balloon, you never said you were gonna stick around!)

characters. all sorted by dorm

content. mc runs away after giving it, based on a tiktok I stumbled across approximately a year ago... mentions of marriage (one sign and some were speeding through the future)

note. savanaclaws part hmmm yummy

heartslabyul

unsurprisingly, riddle gets a lot of bizarre things from students and professors alike. confessions are one thing but having one in this... circular, red, full of helium balloon is certainly a surprise. creative, he'll give them that. if anything he's just confused with it in his arms as you just sort of, shove it in his arms and run away. he recognizes you easily but once cater plucks it out of his grip and shows him the message he just turns red.

trey is the type of guy to accept whatever you give him, honestly. it doesn't matter if you give him the most random of items, he'll take it without a single word of query (unless it's really questionable.) you could hand him a bottle of mustard in class, trey'll just blink and hold onto it patiently. a pair of batteries? thanks he guesses. a red, inflated balloon? he spares you a questioning glance but you're already collecting dust with how fast you ran away so he turns it and resists a smile. clearly spotting the bold letters.

the opposite of clover, cater just doesn't take anything from you unless it piques his interest or is just a casual 'hold onto this for a few' like water or something. things bordering past unusual is what he'd hesitate to take, though less given he trusts you. sometimes he doesn't take it all together simply cause he doesn't feel like it. caters probably updated on everything so when you shove the balloon in his arms and beeline he's pulling out his phone ready to scream his ass off in his dump account. (also gotta magicam this, duh.)

will most likely just dump it on the ground without another thought. or hand it back to you. ace does not care about balloons, he might even pop it in your face. that is, if you stayed for more than a second. he feels more inclined to peer further cause you ran away so fast. you looked embarrassed, and he finds out quickly why you'd proceed to never show up to his face for the following week when he spots it. stares at it dumbly for like, a minute before taking off after you... be scared ig.

added to the top ten best moments of his life note on his phone. deuce silently highlights your name on it with the same angry, red bump on his forehead because he accidentally ran into a pole midst trying to find you around the campus. he had the same idea as ace (twins) which is finding you immediately except once he read the confession he promptly lost all his braincells in the process. so he's very excited, slash embarrassed, slash shy? and can't conjure any logic cause it's just your face.

savanaclaw

jokes on you. you think he's gonna make an effort to catch your stupid balloon? leona just watches it drop to the floor. the effort is only exerted when he's absolutely sure you've run away on your slow legs, he's not bashful—not at all. maybe that's just denial speaking though. he takes one look at the balloon, and pops it with a single dig of his nail. the stare is so brief that you'd doubt if he ever read it at all, when the evidence of your apparent love is now non-existent in the physical world, very much still lingering inside him. leona comes to the predicament that he can't seem to sleep days after.

ruggie is all too familiar with the lack of appreciation some folks hold towards cheaper material gifts. like a luxury jewel, a big, shiny lil' thing ultimately rotting in the closet of some soul cause its the 'price' that counts. he spots the words easily, discerning the black ink. not entirely formed with straight lines, the keen eyes of his spots the wriggles some hold. as though whoever wrote was nervous and he bores an impish grin. (and some back corner of his closet holds no big, pricey jewel, but the deflated balloon is worth all the more to him.)

more likely to leave it on accident. after falling victim to the annoying pranks his other first year 'friends' like to do, with him as the victim apparently. he's more suspicious of it than anything, jack does not want a face full of whipped cream once again. he stares at it like it's an alien and only goes for the initiative to take it into his hands when it rolls and showcases the very bold text, highlighted and straight to the point. jack inevitably ends up accidentally popping it due to the fear that some other person probably saw it, he did not mean to wreck it. atleast not with a messy chain of thoughts, but hey. atleast he got the message...

octavinelle

well versed in catching you in a gentle manner, if you ever slipped (he definitely did not practice.) so azul's reflexes respond quick enough to capture the red little thing with ease. he recognizes it as one of your antics, and he rarely doesn't humor them since it was harmless ones that don't really get under his skin, unlike that of the tweels... the curiosity of looking forward to whatever you had far outweighed any annoyance, and great sevens he might actually combust. ("JADE PREPARE THE LOUNGE—") <- absolutely ready to initiate the plans he had detailed through a script ages ago if this were to ever happen, with a red face. ha, ha.

either clueless, or already got an idea based entirely on the adorably stiff look on your face. jade easily puts two and two together, it's quite funny because he picks it up and doesn't spare a single look. stalking off to find you immediately, and only then does he take a peek as to whatever made the balloon special, right in front of you cause apparently he's gotta witness your raw embarrassment in the flesh?

floyd is likely not interested in the ball in the first place, he thinks you want to play catch so he runs after you with a laugh that... makes you a lot more concerned. he flings it uselessly to the face of some poor soul before he sprint after you, probably traumatizing them when they spot the 'I like you' on it, and when they realize they got it from the resident terrorist whose definition of 'I like you' is 'you're entertaining, I'm gonna keep on playing with you'. (only blinks when you tell him about it, seeing as he isn't close to releasing you anytime soon from his arms.) caught you!

scarabia

sparkles, around the sun... too bright... kalim's blinding everyone else with his obvious joy. almost immediately turns it and it's clear he saw something he really liked cause he has one of those grins, really wide, showing off his teeth and his face scrunches up to the point where you could barely spot the red irises of his eyes. his lips are wobbly too! and he thought the notion was simply too cute... (so much he just had to send it back, so you could feel what he felt too!) except it comes in a hundred times balloons inside your home.

really confused. is this supposed to be a new form of comfort in the era that he hasn't caught up with yet? jamil does nothing much to stop you from running away, yeah. that's your choice but it did strike an inkling of suspicion in him. with the way you aggressively shoved the balloon in his arms before you ran away makes him think it's contents are supposed to be for him only. seeing as you collected dust with that sprint, so he brings it home. and damn, thank god he did because seven forbid if anyone else actually saw the flicker of bashfullness in his expression, hopefully not his warming ears either.

pomefiore

you try to fool him by not rushing up to him, shoving it and then speeding away for once. but instead calmly placing it in his arms and then walking away like it might be the last time yall have a friendship haha (👀) vil sees right through you either way. dare I say he thinks the whole execution is strange, he means, you could literally just walk up to him and say the exact same thing written on the balloon and he would've loved it either way but eh, atleast you got it out!

don't walk into his room cause you will probably the very prominent place the balloon has in his room. rook surprisingly did not put it on a pedestal which is tame for his nature, but it does have a place in the corner of stuff he absolutely adores. you'd think you'd spared yourself from the embarrassment of seeing his reaction cause c'mon, that was a confession. it's nerve-wracking! but NO cause you spy him outside the window of your class and suffer a heart attack (3rd floor btw)

wherever he read that, epel's jaw drops. people would mistake him as someone who escaped from a mental asylum from the way he's gaping at a balloon like he just got told vil schoenheit got canceled on magicam for some controversy (he in fact, did not.) spends so much time staring at it, and the following where he's managed to snap out of it is spent also staring off into the distance *wedding bells ringing*

ignihyde

uuuuhhhhh... either send it to him digitally or shove it inside his room and dip?? if we're going with the latter, idia doesn't even notice until like, a day after cause he's been playing for. and it isn't even him who notices!! it's ortho!!! even if he did find it he would've ignored it, but behold, ortho, who reads the text in a hilariously flat tone. idia thought his brother was professing his love until the boy reveals it was from you. (nearly falls off the chair, then actually falls when he realizes it's been a day. imagine getting ghosted irl haha)

ortho could be the delivery boy if you're too embarrassed lmao. will help you in constructing a more poetic way with words but honestly the "YOU'RE CUTE LETS DATE" gets it done. boy probably doesn't understand why you don't wanna do it yourself, and records the entire thing, reaction of the person? forwarded to you until he leaves. but now you're suffering through wanting to watch, and not because you're too pussy to actually do it.

diasomnia

what... malleus is the equivalent of '???' like he's seen a few of these unique, forms but he never got the purpose of them. so he assumes it's like, some nice gift of human traditions question mark. so he appreciates it either way, he looks content honestly which is funny cause the terrifying wizard looks kinda silly holding that balloon like it's a child. actually you should've just gave him a blank balloon cause once he spots the confession, oh honey. are you fine with early marriage?

if you can't find lilia might as well yeet the balloon in the ceiling. chances are, he's there and he's gonna catch it. there's already a cheeky smile quirking up the ends of his lips, usually he'd have some sort of retaliation on the personal attack you inflicted on his heart but oh dear, it's strangely blank. he's humming, the round thing upside down as he rubs his chin in contemplation. everyone's just scared at the echoing giggles of the already dark hallway.

an attack? AN ATTACK! unlike lilia who knows how to use the figurative words youth joke about all the time, sebek is... hilariously serious about most things, if not so much that it strikes just a teeny tiny concern in your mind. honestly you didn't take much into account, not the fact that he might consider it as an assault or something because you're already speeding away. apparently not having gotten too far cause he catches up easily and holds you up by the back of your collar like a cat. (you'd most likely have to mention the words cause all he registered was the apparent attack, when he does check he goes redder in the face and accidentally drops you. nows your chance to run!!)

*angelic voice singing* silver, my boo boo, I mean what...? felt something soft being squeezed into his arms, he knew it was you but assumed it was a pillow so he just?? used it as a pillow?? under his head now?? most folks would be confused at the sight of the sleepy guy laying on a balloon cause, one, it might pop and startle everyone in vicinity, two, there's words scribbled on it. although cut off since his head is blocking the way, but the 'LIKE YOU' is really obvious. so he wakes up, glances at it and goes back to sleep, except he couldn't cause the balloon actually popped comically the same time he absorbed it in.

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kaicubus · 2 years

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Show, Not Tell | Xavier T.

warnings ✩° : semi-nsfw, jealousy, slight possessive behavior, cursing, xavier being protective, hickeys//markings, manhandling, mentions of size difference, non canon character named marlon flirting with you.

pairing ✩° : boyfriend!xavier thorpe x girlfriend!reader

premise ✩° : xavier isn't jealous, not for the most part at least. until he sees how you talk with your classmate and his sparring partner, marlon. did you always smile like that with everyone or was it just marlon? doesn't matter. xavier’s pissed.

word count ✩° : 2.9k

authors note ✩° : guys i am sick. i cannot breathe. i miss the taste of food.

What was it about Marlon Acheron that made it so easy for you to talk to him? Was it the fact he was more popular than Xavier? Or was it his piercing red eyes, shaded with the dark lenses of sunglasses that intrigued you? Maybe it was the hair that was slicked back with a glossy finish from his stupid cinnamon scented hair gel. Or maybe it was all those things combined.

But Xavier is your boyfriend. Not Marlon. He knew his place in your heart, so why was it that every time his eyes scanned the room to find you, Marlon just so happened to catch you first and steal you away from him? Did you always smile like that with everybody or was it just Marlon? Didn’t matter. Xavier’s pissed.

At first, you thought you encouraged him to push though practice and were beyond happy to see him progressing so well. Even his instructor agreed he’s been on top of his practice and would soon topple Bianca for first place in rank. That was until you realized who his sparring partner was.

Marlon Acheron.

Marlon’s your classmate, not necessarily friend nor foe, and certainly not a guy you could call up and spend a few hours with at the Weathervane like any other of your friends. He was just there most of the time, in class and in the halls. But you did notice that he would give you some sort of special treatment.

Whether it was saying hi to you first when you entered the training room, striking up some hollow conversation just to stall you from going to see your boyfriend, or accidentally ‘forgetting’ something that he’d ask you to retrieve for him. It was always his glasses so you found it strange that he could forget something so important nearly every other day.

Being the sweetheart you are, you thought there was nothing wrong with how he was acting. Plus, you forget things all the time so it’s not so different with him.

But Xavier is the complete opposite. He knows exactly what Marlon’s intentions are, they're all so obvious to him.

“No one forgets their glasses like he does. Especially not a vampire.” Xavier says when the two of you are alone after his fencing practice, “He asks you to get his shit every day. Can’t he ask someone else, like why does it HAVE to be you?”

“I forget things too, Xavier. I’m sure he’s just got better things to worry about like trying to actually get a chance to beat you when you two go at it. It’s not like they're prescription anyways, he said his eye sight is fine.”

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes and goes back to etching charcoal onto the canvas in front of him. Recently, he’d come to his secret shed with you so you both can have alone time and so that he can draw. He’d never tell you but another reason for these ‘dates,’ as he called them, were partially because of Marlon.

“He doesn't leave you alone, Y/n. It’s like he’s stuck to you like a stupid dog. It doesn’t even make sense because he’s a VAMPIRE.” Xavier exhales sharply, blowing some excess black dust off his work space, “It’s past the point where friends do that. Not even I did that before we got together, which is saying a lot because I was way more obsessed with you before.”

You lean back on the extra stool next to his chair and give him a nonchalant shrug, “Yeah, you’re right. But what’s your deal with him? Why are you so mad whenever we talk to him or when you’re sparring with him during fencing practice? It’s like you’re trying to kill him out there, you could at least give him a break.”

“Give him a break?” Xavier scoffs and turns to face you, “He slacks off every time we practice and when he finally thinks it’s time to actually practice, you walk in like some angel through the doors and suddenly all of his attention is on you.”

You stare at him for a moment, taking a mental note of his tight lipped frown and a glimpse of irritation in his shaking legs, “What do I have to do with any of that? I come to watch you. Your instructor said I should keep coming because you do best when I’m there, so I can’t just stop showing up.”

“Oh come on.” His brows fall flat on his face as he moves his head down just a bit, expressing his disappointment, “Y/n, the guy’s head over heels in love with you. You don’t see anything wrong with the way he acts?” Xavier stabs the end of the pencil back to the paper and aggressively whisks his hand over the art, smudging the side of his hand black.

"I guess it’s weird, but it’s not like he’s outwardly flirting with me. You know? Like I said, he’s probably just forgetful. Extremely...forgetful.” Even you can’t excuse Marlon’s behavior. Your attempt, however, only sours Xavier’s mouth as he shrivels his expression in disgust.

Xavier sticks out his chin, unintentionally showing off his cutting edge jaw to the side, and groans, “Maybe you should stop talking to him. Just ignore him when you come visit. Y/n I am this close to bashing his brains out if he keeps on doing this shit,” he holds up two fingers that are just about to touch, “It pisses me off how he always steals you before I can even say hi. Next thing I know he’s basically on top of you, asking you all these stupid questions like, ‘Y/n what do you think of my uniform?’ ‘Y/n can you feel my helmet to make sure its on right?’ ‘Y/n say épée.’ It’s sad, actually.”

You let out a much needed sigh and slouch down, “I don’t want to stop talking to him, he’s nice. But yeah, I wish there was a way to get him to stop or to show him I’m not interested.”

He thinks for a moment, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek, while moving his leg in one place. “I guess...no...” He lets out a quick breath, “What would make Marlon leave you the fuck alone...”

“You know, I’m picking up some jealousy...”

Xavier shoots you a glare, “Yeah, right.” but then suddenly raises his brows, “I think have an idea.”

You watch as he puts up his pencil, postponing his continuation of his sketch, and prop himself up more on the seat. Confused, you massage the side of your neck and glance attentively at his change in posture.

“Sit here.” Xavier grins, tapping his legs, inviting you to take a seat, “If Marlon’s going to act like you don’t have a boyfriend, I’ll just show him who you belong to and why he can’t ever have you."

Body moving on it’s own, you make your way towards him and plant yourself directly on top of his waist, grounding yourself by shifting side to side to find the perfect balance.

“And how are you going to do that?” You’re almost scared to ask, but the look on his face suggests something you don't even expect before it comes out of his own mouth.

“We have to show him you’re mine, not tell him. He won’t get it otherwise.” Xavier looks at you with sly eyes, teeth poking just barley from his lips, “I’m just saying, people like him don’t catch hints too easily. So it’ll be a sort of, slap in the face when he sees his perfect Y/n with hickeys all over her neck and down.”

You quickly open your mouth in surprise, “Oh that’s what we’re doing? I kinda thought you were going to brand me or something.”

“I mean...” Xavier looks to the side and chuckles deeply, “Nah, I’m joking. I do however want to do the whole hickey thing. I think that way he’d get it.” He holds up a finger and touches the front of your neck with the end of his nail, sending shivers all throughout your body as he turns his head to get a full view of his new canvas. “Yeah,” Your boyfriend wets his lips with the tip of his tongue, “That’d work really good actually.”

When you scoot yourself further onto him, you can feel the both of his palms barley cushion the underside of your thighs as a small grin pulls the corner of your lips up. “Really?” You tease, “You sure this has nothing to do with you being jealous?”

“Oh yeah, positive.” Xavier jostles his knee beneath you to scoot you even closer, “You think I’d be threatened by Marlon Acheron of all people? I’m offended, babe.”

You give a small laugh before gently holding the sides of his face and caressing the back of his head, combing your fingers lightly through his long hair, “Yeah? Well you should be. I’m surprised you haven't told him off yet.”

“You see how I spar with him,” Xavier moves his head to the side and kisses your collarbone, “I want to kill him for it, but I figured you wouldn't like that all too much.”

You roll your head to the side, granting him full access to your skin, and smile, “Hard to believe when all you've been doing is just carelessl-ly, trying to cut him.”

As you talked, Xavier wasn't too focused on the words coming out of your mouth. He knew all you were doing was trying to irritate him more so that he could handle you more roughly, but he had a little more class than that. Or so he thought. Truth is, he is better than no man when it comes to you.

Before he knows it, tasting the softness and sweetness of your skin quickly becomes an addiction he isn't quite ready to quit. Everything taste from warm notes of light amber to the freshness of a freshly picked rose, he can’t get nearly as much as he wants from a surface level skin kiss.

So he kisses harder. Licking and sucking down your neck, grazing the tips of his teeth and sharp canines along you as well.

“Wait, X-Xavier—” You groan just barely audible and tug on his locks with an even tighter hold than before.

Too focused on you, he doesn't respond and just continues to thrust his tongue over the gradually building bruises. Even though at this point you begin to move away from him in an attempt to stop him from darkening the marks beyond repair, he pulls you right back into place and moves onto another spot of vulnerable, untainted skin.

“H-Hah...X-Xavier...” A satisfactory moan as well as his name escapes from your throat so you bite your lip to suppress it as best as possible.

There was no thought of sparing you from weird stares you were sure to get from classmates, Xavier just imagined what Marlon would say or what he’d look like if he saw you, his seemingly perfect Y/n with marks made by his sparring partner. Xavier grinned at the thought.

As you manage, unsuccessfully, to keep your back straight and hands from roaming his body, it becomes hard to ignore the fluttery feeling building low in your stomach. His hand placement just over your hips, the way his neediness has somehow manifested it’s way into his mouth, and his panting complete with your own are all telltale signs that if this goes on for longer, you both wouldn’t last.

His tongue rolls harshly over the side of your neck, generously saturating your thin and sensitive skin under his suctioned lips with his saliva. You can’t help but squirm in his tight embrace, his fingers digging so hard into your hips you're convinced that they'll leave a mark as well, trying to hold you down on one place on his thigh.

“Stay still.” You can feel him grunt against your skin, “I’m not done yet.” Though his tone is demanding, you can feel the effects of his desperation ricocheting against his teeth. Or rather, his tongue, judging by his heavy breathing and increasingly deeper and longer licks he does.

“H-How many more?” The question comes out in a fleeting pant, trying to catch your breath, “How much are you going to d-do?” It was already impossible to stay put, you don't know how much more you can take if he keeps it up at this pace.

“Enough so Marlon can lay off.” With that, Xavier roughly squeezes your waist and lifts you up enough so that you're higher up on his thigh now, both your legs locked in between his own kneecaps. For a brief moment, you're met with the chill breeze of the airy shed hitting your wet skin, but it doesn't last long as Xavier pushes himself right back to his original position, earning himself a surprised gasp from you.

With his lips properly latched onto your jugular, he continues at an even deeper force and runs the tip of his tongue back over the already sensitive areas he’d previously marked. His extra bit of attention sends your mind spiraling. Of course, hes not fair either and only applies a bit of pressure from just the tip of his tongue.

“Xavi-ier...don’t make them so dark...” You gasp out, “I still have classes to go to, remember?”

“So?” His breath fans against your damp skin, “What if I want everyone to see?” He bites harder and laps up the remainder your scent off of you, messily bruising you more so that blooms of his intimacy can be seen miles away.

Your face flushes, “A-Are you almost done?”

“Almost.”

When he finally plucks his mouth from your neck, making a quick ‘pop’ sound before wiping his sleeve over his darkened lips, he pulls away and just stares. Just by looking at him, you can tell he’s proud of his work. Not the actual work he was supposed to finish, but the dark splotches of red and purple that littered all from the start of your jaw, down to just above the start of your chest. They're like trophies to him.

Most of all, he’s proud of just how worked up he somehow managed to get you. Just by the sight of you, your heavily blushed face, glossy and squinted eyes, and parted lips due to excessive hard breathing made him want to mark you more, in other places. But the ones on your neck would have to suffice, even if hidden ones only he could see would excite him more than the ones he could show off to some insignificant person.

Before you could even utter a breath of relief, a smirk slowly appears on your boyfriends face, only making you more nervous, “That should do it,” Xavier says, “How do you feel?”

“Like my entire neck is purple.” You laugh, pushing up the hair that had fallen over his face.

He chuckles, shaking his head, “Unfortunately, it’s not. But I can do that if that’s what you want?”

You grab his face again and mash your lips together with his, “Nice thought, Xavier, but I think this is plenty.”

He hugs you tighter, “Whatever you say. We should uh, we should go show him, shouldn’t we?”

You grin, “Maybe later, I still have to tell you what Marlon said to me yesterday.”

Walking into the next practice of the fencing team, you strut down the well lit hall with your neck not nearly hidden as you’d hoped. Since everyone knew you were bound to show up sooner or later, no one really paid any mind to you walking in. Thankfully.

But Marlon and Xavier did.

When you look past Marlon and straight at Xavier, you can feel his eyes on you. This time, they weren't on your face or on your skirt like usual, instead they were plastered onto your neck and all of the hickeys that had remained just as dark as Xavier made them to be yesterday.

You can hear a small scoff from behind you, so you turn around and see Marlon standing, waiting for you to have some sort of explanation for the mockery of his affection.

“Y/n.” He holds his helmet between his arm and lodged against his hip, “Good to see you.”

Xavier watches as you walk up to Marlon, this time feeling more confident than ever. “Hey Marlon,” You smile, as per usual, “What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Question, did you get beaten up by someone?” Marlon points at your neck.

“Oh no, no my boyfriend kinda...” Your voice trails slowly, searching for the much needed reaction for both you and Xavier, “...yeah...”

Marlon nods slowly, tucking his lips under each other and furrowing his brow, “Right. I just thought you know, you getting my glasses all the time and us having a ton of inside jokes, that we had something.” The vampire spits, “I guess not.”

“You know it’s really funny you say that, Marlon, because actually,” Suddenly, Xavier appears next to you and throws his arm over your shoulders, “We are most definitely a ‘thing’. Didn’t know if that really clicked in your head but,” Xavier points to his head, “We are.”

#wednesday #wednesday addams #wednesday netflix #wednesday xavier #xavier thorpe #xavier thorpe x reader #xavier thorpe fanfic #xavier thorpe x y/n #xavier thorpe x you #xavier thorpe fic #jealousy fic #jealous xavier thorpe #jealousy #kaicubus

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powerpuffobsession · 2 months

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As much as I love Adam for a few fun parts of his character and for what he could have been at the hands of a competent writer (as shown by the fanfics where he gets properly developed)...

I feel like he (and the way he's characterised) is what broke Hazbin hotel season 1 pacing, Lucifer's character and the show's overall atmosphere.

(Long and packed rant under the cut, because I've been having these thoughts since I saw season 1, and I want to share them. Viewer discretion is adviced)

Before Adam existed (pilot era) it was all simple and worked more properly: a story about the hotel and its inhabitants, and most importanty, redemption. It was a small snuggly location with a few characters in the center of a plot

Heaven was in the background and kept as a mystery. Moreover, from what we've seen in the pilot, Lucifer was obviously a background villain or at least an anti hero, one of the real obstacles for Charlie to overcome on the way to her goal (instead of a minor inconveniece resolved in a single broadway song)

But when Adam and his weird obsession with murder broke into that perfectly cut out premise, everything just shattered. Too many themes got weaved into the short story of the 8 episodes: Heaven vs Hell politics, overlords, war, Charlie's conflict with Adam, the seraphims...

All of that pushed the hotel and the redemption to the background instead of Heaven.... in a cartoon that's named after the hotel. Because 8 episodes is not enough to talk about politics, a war and a 6 month redemption course (the latter even happened behind the screen with only some verbal hints given about the amazing secretive progress the hotel guests made that we were not allowed to see!)

(Had this cartoon stayed indie, there would have been a possibility of making more episodes and tackling more themes properly. But big name broadway actors are more important than that, it appears)

Back to Adam.

He is not even a good villain. He really should have been more of a background antihero. Give the man some sedatives, for f's sake! Where did all that rabidity even come from, after centuries of living in Heaven? Honestly, he'd be expected to act calmer and wiser than how he actually did, especially with how old he is (as old as the earth itself). But instead it's like he got frozen in a state of a dumb jock bully from high school

Imagine if Adam allowed Charlie and her hotel guests to prove that redemption is possible, out of principle, or curiosity. Hell, maybe even allow him to threaten to kill them, but not straight away! Later, after they fail to prove him wrong! If that's what Adam's role had been, the hotel part would have gotten time to breathe and more spotlight

All Adam did in the series, was:

1. make a lot of excessive noise

2. do dumbass things (and it wasn't even explained WHY he's the way he is, not even a single flashback or his own musings and thoughts shown, which makes all of his actions fall flat in every sense)

3. break the remains of logic (Heaven looks plain dumb because of him, not able to tell sinning from non sinning and to judge human souls properly. It's not even corruption, since Adam is not that important or benefitial to Heaven, an actual archangel like Michael could have been leading exorcists in his place and do a better job.... it's just stupidity)

And then Adam just died, for nothing and with no consequences.

I mean, straight after Adam's death Lucifer is immediately trying to divert the viewer's attention: "who wants pancakes? :D". It's like the cartoon itself doesn't care that the first human, one of the most mysterious beings in vivzieverse and someone who badly needed a second chance and therapy, just died. By a very stupid joke too (Niffty didn't even have to stab him).

In short, Adam's plotline is a huge waste of screen time...

And while his final smile to Lute may give us some hints that there's something good inside Adam, but it's more akin to mockery. Since we were never shown that there's more to Adam besides "the main character's opponent=ultimate bad"

And of course Lucifer was retconned into a pathetic uwu boi, who's depression and "silliness" have overshadowed the fact that he practically doomed humanity to a life full of pain, suffering and surviving and took away Adam and Eve's home. We don't even get the slightest glimpse of what exactly Lucifer DREAMED of that was so important to force him to do the humans dirty. Meaning it was something abstract and not thought-through anyway.

(Free will my ass.. Adam and Lilith did as they pleased in Eden without the free will, Adam ordering his wives around, Lilith being able to defy him and Eve being able to disobey God. What good did "free will" from that fruit even do them? If anything, it only did harm to everyone)

And so now this daft egotist is being portrayed as this selfless harmless character only for the sake of contrasting the painfully obvious bad evil that Adam is.

That comes off as black and white writing, fit more for a childrens cartoon, despite the show critisizing Adam for thinking in black and white terms. Not a good look

#hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #anti lucifer

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siriusleee · 6 months

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For @glitterypirateduck Call of Duty Christmas Special. Author's Note: For the holiday season, I wanted to write some things for some of my mutuals I've met the past year I've had my blog. This is for @gazs-blue-hat, who is one of the most supportive people I've ever met. Christmas Song: Last Christmas Premise: You need a date for your family's Christmas dinner. Johnny is willing to be it.

This is stupid. The dumbest idea you’d had in ages, but the thought of going home this Christmas to see your sister snuggled up on the couch with her long-term boyfriend while your mother regulated you to helping in the kitchen was enough to make you do something stupid.

It had started with a Facebook post someone else made as a joke. “$100 bucks and I’ll go to your family Christmas and pretend to be your boyfriend. $150 and I’ll kiss you in front of everyone and compliment your mom.” You’d sent a screenshot to Johnny, something quick, hoping he’d send a joke to make you feel better about the upcoming shit show.

Christmas exploded around town - lights dripping from each tree, fake Santa’s climbing up trellises. And with it, your mood turned blacker each day. It seemed like every minute someone was messaging you for something new: don’t forget to dress up for the family Christmas photo, bring rolls, are you bringing anyone?, are you bringing anyone?, are you bringing anyone?.

The lowest moment was a phone call from your sister’s boyfriend. You answered the call at your desk, phone sandwiched between your shoulder and ear.

“What’s up?”

“Hey, I was wondering what your ring size is.”

Your fingers slow on your keyboard; through the speaker, you can hear the hustle and bustle of some shop.

“I wear a size 8. Why?”

Silence. And then -

“I’m going to ask your sister to marry me at Christmas this year, and I know you guys are the same size. Don’t tell anyone?”

You had always liked your sister’s boyfriend, but at that moment you could have strangled him. Annoyed, you’d shoved yourself back from your desk, muttering something about taking a break. You slammed your phone down so hard, you were relatively sure that there was going to be a crack in the screen, but you were too bummed out to worry about it.

Johnny found you at your post outside, an unlit cigarette held loosely in your fingers.

“I thought you quit smoking, bird.”

His breath clouds around him, and he sits close enough to you that his knee rubs against yours.

“I did. That’s why I’m just holding it.”

He winces at the tone in your voice, hand coming up to rest itself above his heart in mock hurt.

“Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?”

“Bug off Johnny.”

He knocks his knee into yours, hands tucked beneath his armpits to keep warm.

“Christmas dinner?”

Your shoes tap a maniacal pattern onto the concrete as you try to figure out how to say it all, without sounding so horrible.

“My sister’s boyfriend is going to ask her to marry her on Christmas.”

Johnny ‘hmms’, chewing on his chapped lips.

“You can always pay me like you said the other day.”

“Shut up Johnny.”

Three days later, after all the non-essentials had been sent home for Christmas dinner your phone buzzed; you glanced down at the screen from your perch on the couch, half expecting it to be another annoying family member.

Your fingers tapped against the screen, trying to figure out a way to tell Johnny to knock it off, the joke’s not funny anymore. Instead, you find yourself tapping out the time and your address.

Smoothing the wrinkles from your skirt, you start to think that maybe Johnny was just screwing with you - that this is all some elaborate joke and you’ll have to do this all by yourself. Maybe Johnny’ll laugh about it when the two of you return to work in a few days, maybe-

A tentative knock on your front door breaks you from your near spiral. Before you can talk yourself out of the entire thing, you fling the door open. Johnny stands grinning at you, hands tucked into the pockets of his dark jeans. His mohawk is freshly touched up, and whatever cologne he put on rolls off of him in hypnotic waves.

“You look nice,” you say, words falling flat and lame between the two of you. But Johnny doesn’t seem to mind as he holds his arm out to you.

“You look nice too, birdie. You ready?”

Johnny opens the car door for you. You take the moment it takes for him to walk around to his door to peer at the inside of the car - fresh vacuum lines cover the floorboard, and a new Wintergreen scented tree hangs from the review mirror.

“So,” Johnny says, climbing into the driver's seat, “tell me everything I need to know.”

You describe everyone on the drive there: your Aunt Mary, your Uncle Gary, your cousin with the glass eye who gets upset if you stare too long; your sister and her boyfriend. You point out each turn for Johnny, and with each turn of the wheel, your mood grows brighter.

Until Johnny pulls into your parent’s driveway, right behind your sister’s car.

“Alright, Bonnie?”

“Yeah, let’s just do this.”

You don’t get to open your door before Johnny hops out, pulling your door open and holding out his hand for you.

The front door opens to an explosion of people and Christmas music. Johnny is immediately taken in by your aunts, and he suffers through the pinched cheeks, and he doesn’t mind when your grandma kisses him on the cheek. By the time he makes it back around to you, there’s lipstick smudged on his cheek.

“They love you, Johnny,” you say, reaching up to wipe the red smudge away. “I’ll have to pay you extra I think.”

“You think they’ll let me take an extra plate home as a tip?”

“Of course they will.”

The two of you hide out in the corner, watching the little kids run around with their new toys; one of the boys shoves a Nerf gun into Johnny’s hand, and you see a flash of fear cross all the kid's face when Johnny racks it with extreme precision, but Johnny still lets all of them tackle him.

Your sister and her boyfriend stand on the opposite side of the room, refusing to take their hands off of each other. You do your best to ignore them, but there’s a clock inside you, ticking down the minutes until you know he’s going to drop down on one knee.

After Johnny fights off all the kids and returns to you, red from laughter, you don’t stop him when he grabs you around the hips, pulling you into the dining room with him. You hear the titter of your mom and aunt as they fawn over Johnny behind the two of you.

You almost pull away from him, until he stops you in the hallway, pointing upwards to where your mom tacked mistletoe on the ceiling. You feel the blush creep up your neck, and try to send him a message that this is way out of the agreement for the night. When he kisses you chastely on the lips, you don’t say anything, but you can feel the huge grin on your face.

He rests his hand on your knee throughout dinner and listens intently when your grandfather talks about his days in the War.

It’s more than you could have asked for. And after dinner, when all the adults start handing presents over to each other, you know it’s about to happen. You see your sister’s boyfriend fidget with something in his pocket, and your stomach twists. You try to focus on the music pouring in a little too loud from the speakers, the Wham! version of Last Christmas, but you can’t take your eyes off the two of them.

Johnny’s hand taps against your elbow, pulling your attention away from what’s going to be the end game of the night. He’s holding out a little box towards you, wrapped haphazardly.

“Oh Johnny, you shouldn’t. I didn’t get you anything.”

His grin is crooked as he shoves it into your hands.

“I didn’t ask you to get me anything, birdie. Anyway, it’s part of the pretending, isn’t it? Besides you can get me on my birthday.”

You unwrap the box, fingers sliding beneath the too much tape, to rip the paper away until it falls to the floor and all you’re left with is a black velvet box.

“Johnny this is not funny, you jerk.”

His grin is infectious as you open it up, a little silver pendant sits nestled in the velvet, an ‘S’ charm attached the the chain.

“Can I?” Johnny asks, and you nod, holding the box out so that he can take the necklace out.

He puts it around your neck, calloused fingers soft against your skin as he does the clasp.

The room explodes in cheers around you; out of the corner of your eye you can see your now future-brother-in-law on his knee in front of your sister, but you stare at Johnny instead.

The last lines of Last Christmas fade from the speakers, Johnny’s hand interlaces with your own and he tugs you closer.

“I think I want to do this next year.”

#my fics #codholiday2023 #johnny soap mactavish #john mactavish x reader #johnny mactavish x reader #johnny soap mactavish x reader #johnny 'soap' mactavish #johnny 'soap' mactavish x reader #call of duty #call of duty imagines #call of duty reader insert

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therealricksanchezpleasestandup · 2 months

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Sorry About Your Window - starter for @xluciifer

Roughly a week and a half ago, Rick Sanchez's beach day vacation was ruined. All he wanted to do was GO out, relax, maybe fuck around with some of the locals in a totally different dimension, on a completely different planet.

Only to get the dimension number wrong and end up in the wrong place, at the wrong time--with that dimension being Hell, specifically. And to also get held up there against his will like a stupid hostage for like what, 10, 15 minutes? All to answer some stupid questions like an interview by the proclaimed 'King' of Hell himself.

Goddamn Lucifer--who, by THE way, was NOTHING like his own dimension's Devil, but STILL managed to similarly be a thorn in his side all the same.

He was pleasant enough. Didn't try to hurt him. And if the King of Hell wasn't so bad... SURELY the rest of the inhabitants wouldn't be, right? Perhaps there would be something worth plundering and pilfering for the interplanetary trading posts throughout the dimensions he hits up.

Big fucking mistake, he found out, as when he pretty much landed in the Pride Ring, specifically Pentagram City, all eyes were on him. They could smell him a mile away. Which wouldn't have been an issue if there weren't so many of them, and they weren't so fucking... rabid. The crowd of eight turned to maybe roughly twenty to twenty-five strong.

In the midst of portaling out and trying to bail on this mission, he'd been socked in the face by a demon four times his size, easily knocking him on the ground. He remembers ringing in his ears, but most of all, he remembers the CRUNCH of the portal device underneath the feet of the lawless mob all surrounding him.

A quick press of a button on his person creates a shockwave blasting everyone back to stun them works like a charm, giving him the time he needs to gather the scraps of his gun and book it.

Rick could hold his own decently well, and does, killing a handful of Sinners that just didn't know how the FUCK to keep their goddamn hands to themselves by the use of his gadgets and weapons while simultaneously being on the run, with no other option looking to be somewhere OUTSIDE of the city.

About maybe roughly thirty minutes of being chased by some of the flying types of demons (and a generous number of non-fliers on foot), through various methods of extended arms and legs, go-go gadget rocket ski shoes, and his own cybernetically enhanced limbs carrying him across this clearly godforsaken city, he catches glimpse of an unmistakable structure--A mansion. It's absolutely nothing like what he's seen throughout this Circle of Hell thus far.

Call it intuition, call it instincts, call it thinking on his feet, call it whatever you want, but the scientist makes the absolute executive decision that he's going to jump through one of those nice pretty stained glass windows on the first floor.

And he does.

When he gets within a few feet, he immediately covers the gap, taking to the air and covering himself protectively in such a way that only a FEW fragments of the glass stick in him when he makes contact with a loud, unmistakable

CRASH!

and finally, a

THUD!

of his body hitting the floor.

Rick can only groan as he winces, face twisting in pain. It fucking hurts.

He's going to for SURE feel that on his back tomorrow. He has yet to open his eyes. And a part of him doesn't want to, under the potential premise that he's not entirely free yet of the mob chasing him.

But he knows he has to. So he does.

Hopefully the person owning this place isn't here. But if he has to deal with them too, then so fucking be it.

#cut for length #long post;#threads;#xluciifer #first your carpets now your windows im just fucking up your entire house on accident man

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boyfridged · 1 year

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the brilliance of jay's progression in countdown is that it gives you a promise of positive character development, and then it breaks it. and it does so intentionally, in the most diverting way, to emphasize jason's inability to escape the cycle.

or, another post breaking down the series, where i repeat myself a lot but also make a clearer argument.

there are three notable events that happen at the beginning: the subtle showcase of jay's internal conflict considering his approach toward killing (the very first encounter with duela and the monitor), jay reaching out to donna in crisis ("i guess I just wanted to be around someone else who might know how it feels…"), and finally – his helmet shattering. these scenes tell you: jason's direction as a character is changing, and it seems, for the better. he's about to abandon his trauma-based (no matter how ironic, it does remain tied to his trauma) identity, he is connecting with people, and he seems to be on a brink of understanding that his moral standing does not provide easy answers or solutions either.

and for the most part of the series, we see that narrative unfolding (even if a bit non-linear, still innocently convincing way). it is, in many ways, supported by bringing up features of his characterisation from the 80s. jason remains, of course, still unpleasant in ways typical for this era of writing, and is conflicted and disagreeable, which makes sense for his utrh/post-utrh personality. however, there are also details that bring us back to his original robin run and his cameos on ntt – we see him being responsible (e.g. #43 – suggesting to bring in other superheroes in crisis, even though he clearly is not keen on the idea of working with them), determined (#16: “isn’t that your super-power, stupid boy? too stupid to ever give up?” “maybe it is”), sensitive (half of the whole storyline, really), caring for gotham (gotham by gaslight) and people-oriented (as early as #51).

the issue that particularly signals that jason is an inherently good person and externalizes his internal conflicts regarding classic heroic vigilantism vs his cynical approach is #30, where we meet batman of earth-15 – alt jason, whom our jason attempts to punch in the face.

and on topic of batman – jason is always gravitating towards batman. in gotham by gaslight jay looks delighted to see (the foreign) bruce and suggests checking with the local bat. then, earth-51 arc arrives.

earth-51 arc (#16 - #13) is a culmination of a promise of catharsis for jason. we have already seen him as batman, as a confirmation that a different life for him is possible. and here he has a chance to come to terms with his past and overcome it. he meets a version of bruce who has done exactly what he wanted him to do in utrh: killed the joker and the rest of the rogue gallery. what is most important – he is disappointed with this version of his father. we realise that jason, deep down, has an intimate and intuitive understanding of what batman stands for; and that he shares most of his values. this is a truth that you can't ignore especially since jay is the one to inspire this hollow, cynical version of batman to go out and fight in a seemingly lost battle.

and then batman dies. right in front of him.

this is a central moment of the narrative, for many reasons, most strikingly:

the symmetry:, a premise known from the lost days, becomes literal. this "the father had lost a son, and now the son had lost the father" is a cruel parallel to a death in the family and bruce's grief. jason's death created a gap between them that jay has been desperately trying to close, with no avail – because in bruce's mind, jason remains dead. now that jason is grieving bruce, the connection closes on both sides, and there's no way for either of them to reconcile the mourning with the reality of the other being truly alive. in this sense, the arc solidifies that jason can never come home.

no good deed goes unpunished. as i have mentioned before, so far jason is established as someone good at heart, but confused; and the reader intuitively assumes that his better, honest side will win. yet, the moment jason gives in to hope, it victimises and retraumatizes him. this event, again, brings to mind his own death, when he tried his best to save sheila and ended up paying the highest price for it. so, narrative-wise, jason is always punished for his kindness.

perhaps because of the nonchalant act that jason pulls off, many readers seem to miss that everything that happens after that arc is an upshot that follows logically from it.

jason's immediate determination to leave – and later a short period of indecision that ends up with his dramatic exit, pushing his team away, makes perfect sense when you consider what intense trauma he has just gone through. admittedly, i'm not a fan of the notion that he would give up at all (i think he's always ready to give up on himself, but not on the world), but then on the other hand, if there's anything that would cause it, narrative-wise, witnessing batman dying does sound like a good incentive for that. (it also has to be pointed out that jason seems to be confident that the rest of the team can go into the final battle without him anyway; it's not like he would go back to his earth not even knowing if said earth will exist tomorrow).

it's crucial to notice that following that crisis of faith (faith in fighting for the world) is followed by him raising up for the challenge again, but now... worse and even more confused. in the final confrontation with donna, jason antagonizes the superhero community, and when we see him at the end of the series (#1) his monologue indicates that he believes the capes to be naive. (significantly, he also focuses on bruce and offends the memory of 51 earth-bruce by calling him crazy; an action that can be seen as suppression of his own guilt and invoking, once again, a cruel symmetry considering bruce's engagement in victim-blaming after jason's death). this, once again, is consistent with the "no good deed" reading – jason diminishes superhero values because he has been continuously punished for living by them. (and unlike other superheroes, he doesn't have a support system nor skills in compartmentalization that would help him deal with this trauma) every leap of hope re-traumatised him. hence, it seems to be no surprise that jason decides to abandon the mask, and in the closing scene we see him without it. the promise of the shattered helmet is pushed to an extreme – jason does not get a new alt identity. he denounces the idea of superheroism completely.

and yet, what is ultimately subversive about the ending, is that jay is not truly a civilian and he does not abandon vigilante ways. he does the same thing. we see him without a mask, but he is clearly working a case. he might have rejected the symbolic dimension of the vigilante work, but he still carries the same delusional hope for bettering the world and protecting people that the superhero community does. only now, he is even more isolated and doesn't have any identity to go by (as he is still legally dead).

as such, the ending opens a new question regarding jason's understanding of himself and vigilantism, or rather the lack thereof. is it possible that vigilantism is really at the core of jay's trauma? and why, potentially, is it something that is so destructive for him as a character specifically? (and i have some answers for that, but i'm not going to get into it here, as it's already a very long post)

so, tldr; the genius of countdown is that it establishes jay as sensitive, determined, and fundamentally good (this is what the purpose of seeing him as batman is!), and then it brutally reminds the reader that jason’s tragedy is that on this specific earth, in this specific timeline, his love doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. the story goes on as it did; one way or another, jay is trapped in the cycle of his care ironically creating rifts between him and the others, and bringing him to his own downfall.

#okay i know i said a lot of it already but it's been some time since i finished the reread and i feel like my take on it has shifted a bit #and i wanted to emphasise the 'no good deed' interpretation!!#also it's just that i've seen a lot of people saying that countdown ends with jason being a civilian.#while i think the whole genius of it is that he is not really a civilian??#have you seen civilians doing whatever the hell he is doing in the final scene?#this is arguably the element of the narrative that is by most readers missed – and i understand why #it's easy to get confused when navigating an event that spans across pretty much all of dc #fortunately for you i have worms for brain. and i have hyperanalysed it #i'm not saying overanalysed btw because i genuinely believe that this is not a case of accidental narrative brilliance #this is a pretty clear and straightforward progression once you dissect it from the rest of the series #and there are a lot of details that further cement my belief that it had to be intentional #i mean. even the recognition that donna and jason know each other is already... a lot for dc writers?#the fatal flaw #51 #no good deed #jay.zip #jay.txt #jason todd #core texts

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pinkandpurple360 · 19 days

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smth dumb about Vaggie's backstory-

Her hesitating to kill a child and getting punished for it was a dumb choice.

For one, its cliche and not in a good way. Its so obviously the easiest route to make Vaggie sympathetic because 'oh look! she doesnt want to kill a kid! she's a GOOD angel!' well damn what about all the other sinners she killed mercilessly before? Now all of a sudden its a child she feels sympathy?? Please. My heartstrings are not tugged

Second of all, why is there a child? I know the rules are fucked but there is no way a KID got into hell. So the only explanation is that... it was a hellborn child. Meaning hellborns (aka non sinners) were also caught in the crossfire. Which is so... weird. Again, I know I know the rules are fucked, and obviously its not hard to believe that the angels don't give a fuck whether they're killing hellborns or sinners, its all probably the same to them. But still, the extermination is for SINNERS. Its specifically made to punish SINNERS. It makes no sense that they won't take preparation to separate sinners from hellborns (like Idk, maybe before the extermination hellborns can evacuate somewhere else but sinners must stay to be slaughtered). Letting the angels kill freely outside of the reasoning for the extermination is so over the top and crossing the 'Actually Heaven is awful and Angels are jerks' into 'needlessly cruel to the point of stupidity and grimdark'. Idc how much of a jackass Heaven is supposed to be. There should still be rules.

Third, and this is related to my second point. If the child Vaggie spared was a hellborn then... why would Lute give a fuck? They're there to kill sinners, not hellborns. Again, idc how bloodthirsty and ruthless Lute is supposed to be, but for the love of God inject some actual logic to your writing to not make your characters look pathetically one-dimensional. Sinners and hellborns are 2 different things. Vaggie sparing a hellborn child is not at all against the rules or her responsibility. Technically speaking, she didn't do anything against her duty as an exterminator.

Which all boils down to this- Vaggie sparing a kid (regardless if it was a hellborn or sinner or whatever) says nothing about the bigger plot and theme of the story. What does that say about her opinions on sinners? She doesn't have any hope for them so her stance on the premise of the hotel isn't at all unique since almost everyone thinks its bullshit. It doesn't contribute anything to her support for Charlie since she doesn't really believe in her cause. And lets be honest, if Lute didn't caught her and Vaggie got away with her choice, would she stop being an exterminator? If she does, then its because she doesn't want children to die anymore. Not sinners who don't deserve to die twice or needless violence against people who are already being punished. Absolutely no connection to the actual topic and theme of the story which revolves around redeeming sinners.

I've seen some people say that Vaggie should've spared sinners who showed selflessness to protect their loved ones (like Carmilla protecting her daughters). Not only would this shatter her worldview that all sinners are horrible people and deserve the extermination, but it also ties in so neatly to the premise of the show. She supports Charlie not just because she loves her. But because she's seen with her own eyes that sinners do have some good in them. She lost her eye and her wings for this realisation and now she's going to make Heaven see what she saw that day.

Leaving this here for the Vaggie analysis !!

#Vaggie

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anxresi · 1 year

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Chloe Bourgeois and the show’s overall treatment of her...

To me, it’s like… imagine a scenario where Leonardo Da Vinci stood near the throngs of visitors at the Louvre screaming “STOP admiring my Mona Lisa! It’s just a stupid painting that’s now overshadowed the rest of my work! If you don’t stop… I’ll… paint a silly moustache and goofy glasses on the portrait… so NO ONE will like it!”

Sadly, what creators like Thomas Astruc don’t realize is that most people tend to have long memories, and won’t forget the former glory of their creations even if they ripped the originals into a billion pieces. Their childish pettiness and jealousy also has a habit of working to the detriment of their work, as it not only affects the target of their ire but also the rest of their product as a whole.

I mean, think of what we COULD’VE gotten with Chloe after S2. I’m not just talking about any potential redemption arc hopes now (which I accept have well and truly tossed in the garbage by this point) but the immediate aftermath… the tenuous bond she could’ve forged with the rest of the Miraculous Squad as Queen Bee the Anti-Hero, the parallel between that and trying to build bridges as a former bully with those she used to pick on and are rightly suspicious of her, the impact this would’ve had the other characters as they come to terms with the ‘new’ Chloe, the newfound loving paternal relationship she might’ve had with her dad when she stops demanding things every few minutes, her mother desperately trying and failing to bring back the ‘Chlorine’ she raised to be a monster to take over her fashion empire one day…

Sounds great, don’t it? ‘Well not for you, any of that! Let’s introduce a boring Mary Sue-type who’ll never have any development to take Chloe’s place! Then we’ll slowly turn her into more and more of an intolerable brat over three seasons, culminating in a flashback episode that basically retcons half the show and leaves Chloe 100% to blame for ALL of Marinette’s problems! Not only that, let’s see how many other supporting characters like Kim we can destroy and drag down with her! Who cares about them, anyway? It’s all a means to an end in ‘sticking it’ to the audience that we, THE STUDIO, are in charge, and not a bunch of dumb fans who like complex personalities and slow character burns! If we give you zero-dimensional sociopaths and non-existent continuity that’s what you’re gonna get! And you’ll LIKE it!!’

Actually, no I don’t. And in the headlong rush to smash up everything Chloe and Queen Bee-related to replace it with that featureless dollop of nothing known as Zoe/Vesperia, I actually think they’ve damaged Miraculous as a brand irreparably. Maybe not among the ‘target audience’, but certainly amongst a lot of older fans and leaves me thinking that this lack of ambition, along with plenty of other notably bad writing decisions, will consign this show to forever be considered as ‘mediocre kiddy fodder’ in the future rather than the animated classic the great premise would suggest. Talk about self-ruination.

Oh well, life goes on. Plenty of other good stuff to watch, so can’t get too down about it all. Thanks for reading, & have a nice day. 😇

#miraculous #ladybug #miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #ml salt #disney #ml #zag

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nanistar · 7 months

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🩸 🌻 🌘 :>

🩸: Most interesting conflict?

i think the original premise of the New prophecy was really cool! The Clans have to work together and travel to a new area and re-settle. I think there should have been more cats during that time making life-long cross-clan friendships and romances, and cats should have moved Clans. and i liked the political drama of windclan. hawkfrost was a good villain and he should have had a much longer buildup, and all of the dark forest stuff should have been downplayed. hawkfrost should have worked towards becoming deputy of riverclan and he should have dragged brambleclaw along into it instead of disregarding the whole relationship that was built between bramble and fire.

🌻: Non-protagonist with the best arc?

tawnypelt maybe? i like her hard refusal of the hero's call to action. she refuses to take any leadership role and i respect that. also mothwing's religious trauma is good too

🌘: Character with the most wasted potential?

bristlefrost. she should not have died at the end, it should have been shadowsight because that made sense for his character to be the one that ended it all. bristlefrost should have led a rebellion and lived to be squirrelstar's deputy. also her romance with rootspring was shoehorned in and stupid

#nyask

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kalims · 2 years

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‎˃ ᵕ ˂ . . "if we ever break up I'd go back to my ex because I love them too much—you're my ex stupid."

premise. let's all pretend that in a state of emergency at the word of "breaking up" some are gonna lose all logic and not register the ex part. (I also was rather busy as of late so hence why this took so long to publish :D)

"if I broke up with you, I'd go back to my ex."

characters. malleus, trey, ace, deuce, leona, lilia, and vil.

cw. established relationship, fluff, crack, nothing too triggering so this is safe to proceed with.

🏷 : for @vyndiesel

malleus draconia

"I do not understand. are you implying you will?"

malleus doesn't have a single idea on why exactly you're telling him of your.. possibly future plans. for your information, he did not consent to knowing how your life will go if you guys do end up breaking up. which is honestly something he'd do over his dead body.

he'll automatically think there's something wrong going on cause why else would you make such an idea? did he do something that displeased you? if so, can you pretty please tell him so he can apologize and fix his non-existent mistake?

says something like 'then I apologize if I did something wrong. please don't leave.' and it's kinda sad cause this joke completely flew over his head and if you mentioned something about it he'll look up respond with. "but there is nothing flying over my head?"

his clueless self is enough for you to immediately deny his assumption.

oh. so he will be the 'ex'? honestly he only knew whatever that meant through lilia and his people would normally call them past lovers.. oh well, now he thinks that this is a sign that you would never leave him so = happy dragon.

trey clover

"well, will you?"

unlike malleus, trey has the brains and experience to come to the conclusion that you're playing a joke on him. he's that perspective to be able to discern what is true, and what is false. not the justice kind of course but like an eye for truth or sorts.

or maybe it's just that you share the braincells with the adeuce first years and he just so happens to be the one who's 'supervising' them when you're not around. he knows their tricks, and to be frank it's like you three + grim all collectively share the braincell.

plus.. who's to say that he hasn't been one of the people at the end of pranks. for a strict dorm, heartslabyul holds a few students who are too mischievous for their own good. yeah, he's looking at cater.

anyhow he's still a little suprised by your bold statement but who wouldn't honestly? just straight up admitting to your spouse, implying a break up is shocking itself. you aren't trying to actually break up with him, are you?

silence blends with his mind and it eventually fixes his logic. won't really tell you that he knows now and waits for you to tell him yourself. partially cause he wants to mess with you & see your reaction. a payback of sorts? goodluck putting him with him though :)

ace trapolla

"is this foreshadowing or something?"

truthfully ace's humor which is admittedly dark at times usually is the one to remove him from sticky situations, lessening the times where there's an atmosphere he doesn't want to deal with at all.

he's dumb (you are too <3) to put it simply, out of all of them he & deuce would be at the bottom to figure out the joke and won't get it at all cause he's too occupied about the breaking up part practically flying above his head and making fun of him.

literally will keep on pestering you throughout the day, I say that cause I think he's in your classes? unless I read the dialog wrong in the story. if you're chilling in your assigned seat he kicked the person who's supposed to be beside you to ask you more about "whatever that was about."

he's paranoid. and his mind will not be at rest until you fully explain whatever you meant by that! so you'd run out of patience with this mf and go: "ace. if we broke up who do you think is gonna be my ex?"

actually pauses to think about it. "oh. me?" "yeah." "...i knew that."

deuce spade

"did I do something wrong??"

thinking that he fucked up in the most unknowing way ever possible 🤝 deuce spade. it's like ace but he only yearns to ask you about it cause he thinks it will only make things worse by pestering you more about it.

goes to ace and the boy is like 'wtf are you talking about bro' cause it's literally 3 AM in the morning and your statement kept him up all night, ace just happened to be breaking the rules by staying up all night. so while chilling in bed ace just gets urgent spams from deuce.

since it's from text which means it's more clearer to register instead of text, and ace isn't the one in the relationship with you: naturally he gets it pretty quick but still messes with deuce by agreeing with him. "yea dude they're totally gonna break up w/ you, u fucked up horrendously"

HE DIDNT SLEEP THAT NIGHT??

so you feel bad cause you can see the darker patch of skin under his eyes and he's visibly trying not to look miserable. "so you're not mad?" "of course not." GIVE HIM HUGS OR ELSE.

leona kingscholar

"shut up you're disturbing my nap with your disturbing thoughts."

or, a translation for you : what the hell are you talking about, I am actually disturbed and perplexed by your words so I'm gonna pretend I don't care and that it totally isn't messing with my head.

you know what's the leona way to solving problems or things he doesn't wanna even think about? ding ding. if you thought it was sleep then you're completely right, just sleep it away for temporary relive!

until his dream had you both breaking up. he stayed up and reflected on his own life while grumbling.

well. you won't even dare to break up with him when you finally see how mighty he is won't you? he'll just have to show you how much you are cherished in his arms, and what you'll miss on if you break up.

"did you know you'd be the ex?" "..." silence and a little embarrassment. all this effort for what, a joke? he hates you. /j atleast the totally non-existent worries will fade away.

lilia vanrouge

"how mean.. going back to them just like that and leaving me in the dark.."

catches on the fastest. he applauds you in his mind on the attempt to catch him red handed though. it's a very smart idea!

so he just resorts to making you feel sorta bad cause he's quite entertained at the moment and you're the one that started this game anyways. wouldn't it be boring if he just catches your words and does nothing at all?

oh no. two can play at that game dear prefect. meanwhile you're confused at why lilia is suddenly more clingy than before. it seems like he's really intent on proving that there's nothing here to leave. nothing worth to anyways.

or an alternative : lilia gives you the cold shoulder for a 'prank' as well. it's only fitting for him to return your oh so cruel one atleast two times worse. after all, that's how things work in twisted wonderland.

will be very pleased when you finally start apologizing to him for the joke and just happily showers you in love as if nothing ever happened.

🚩

vil schoenheit

"you'd really leave someone like me? hmph. how crude. leaving your queen all alone."

he's offended really, are you seriously gonna leave him out of all people? the most beautiful man you'd ever lay your eyes on? and for what? don't you see what kind of jewel he had so graciously let you keep and admire everyday? for free?

vil starts looking a lot better than he used to, and his "used to" was always crazily beautiful in the first place and now he looks like a perfect sculpture god himself carved. like his skin is literally glimmering and smooth.. his hair looks much healthier.

it seems like he's put more serious effort into keeping himself healthy and beautiful. hell he was doing great academically but now he's better. geez, if you'd known your words would be able to pull this kinda power you would've not spoken in the first place.

^ cause it's worrying how much he might've exerted his energy.

"but vil you'd be the ex if I broke up with you." "that's even worse. don't you dare break up with me."

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gerryrigged · 9 months

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mmkay I've read the first two issues out of G0tham War and

(CUT FOR BIG SALT, lol)

this is so dumbbbbb oh my god 😭 like we knew it was gonna be dumb, artificial conflict, but LORDT.

everyone is OOC, even more than I expected, and the stupid, ridiculous plot hinges on the stupid, ridiculous idea that Selina's dumbass plan would ever, ever work. (Let's train ALL the henchpeople/goons (yes all of them) to be ethical 😌 non-violent catburglars 😌 like Selina 😌 who donate part of their profits to charity 😌 and only target rich people so they're really #hashtagvictimlesscrimes and then they don't have to work for dangerous Rogues and mobsters, yay, they're bettering their lives!!) (this is ~Sophisticated Social Commentary~!)

And it especially depends on her plan working astronomically better than the hundreds of millions of dollars Bruce has poured into similar outreach for the city over literal decades through the Wayne Foundation and other programs, creating and offering people jobs, support networks, etc. that aren't criminal in nature.

but oh, no one is going to bring that up (has the Martha Wayne Foundation ever even existed? haha, none of these Wayne kids know, apparently! they're just going to sit and twiddle their thumbs while Selina yells at Bruce that he's just "...clearly furious because [he's] wasted [his] fortune and [his] brain on bat-cars and punching people, and it took compassion to solve this problem").

Anyway, Bruce's efforts never meaningfully improved Gotham (cough because Batman stories can't be told without a crime-ridden Gotham cough), while Selina's (gasp) actually have! Somehow!

because the Power of Plot demands it, her cartoonish plan apparently works SO well that violent crime is down almost 75%!! wowiee, Catwoman is actually fixing Gotham, which no one has ever been able to do before!! who needs Batman, haha! that's such egg on your face, Batman, how come you never thought of doing something like this before, haha. Just convince the criminals to be non-violent, Batman, haha, what like it's hard. Ha.

So anyway, gosh, the Batkids (minus Damian, who's siding with Bruce, and Jason, who, harkening back to his "control crime" roots, 100% supports Selina) are conflicted. It feels ~weird~ just blithely letting burglars walk right past them into people's homes, but the ~numbers don't lie~, Batman, it's ~working~, maybe we shouldn't interfere and just see where this goes, like Selina asked! Aren't you being a little unreasonable walking out of this both-sides-might-have-a-point debate, Batman?? Also, ohhh nooo, you shouldn't push back so hard against her people because we don't want to start a ~war~, Batman!

I'M GONNA FACEPLANT INTO MY KEYBOARD IT'S SO ABSURD. How can you write anyone in-character when you're stuck twisting them in knots to accommodate such an absurd premise?

And then, when one of Selina's "graduates" is shot and killed during a break-in by a scared woman who'd unexpectedly stayed home when she was supposed to be out of town, the Batkids (minus Damian) act like it's somehow unexpected/out of control for Batman to bring down the hammer on Selina's operation? Like a man didn't just die because of the path Selina set him on? Like a massive surge in crime targeting the rich isn't going to eventually have more such incidents and ramifications down the line, as backlash and escalations hit? Like rich people are not known for vigorously defending their property?? What is your long-term plan here, Selina??

Batman isn't even shown being excessively violent in rounding up Selina's people (for Batman, lol) - just relentless. But Tim shows up and tries to talk him down as if he's putting petty crooks in the hospital again like after Jason's death (he just lasso'd that crook's legs and growled at him?? what is so over the top about that, in vigilante context?? this is completely normal Bat behavior??), making noises about Bruce's health and taking it easy, and oooo, nothing's black and white...

And Dick goes, "He's on a rampage, he's out of control" (WHERE? LITERALLY WHERE? are you perhaps referring to the murderous police-state robot he built and accidentally unleashed on Gotham a few arcs ago (which was ACTUALLY bad and over the top), because there is nothing in this event so far???). And Tim worries about how Batman was so angry, he's worried about what he's going to do, how far he's willing to go, and Babs is like if Selina asks for help, I'd be inclined to give it.

Like if they'd actually showed Bruce escalating and going out of control, losing it on these non-violent thieves, I wouldn't be so enormously peeved about this aspect of it. Granted, I'd still be hella mad about people like Cass and Dick and Tim thinking about supporting Catwoman's (IDIOTIC) plan, especially after a man just died, but they've all seen Bruce go off the rails before, they're very familiar with having to oppose him on those occasions.

But the way this is set up??? No. Just no. Bruce is pissed about the one thief dying, he's not trying to kill the rest of them??

It doesn't make sense, and they all come across as painfully out of character. Standing aside and letting certain crimes happen as a matter of standing policy, because they're Catwoman's people - like you can count on nobody getting hurt because Selina just trained them so well - are you kidding me, what happened to these kids' principles?? Writers and Editorial I am IN YOUR WALLS, STOP CONTORTING CHARACTERS JUST TO FIT THE DUMBASS STORY YOU WANT TO TELL.

Dick: I'm gonna head into Gotham and see if I can talk Bruce off his "moral ledge."

QUOTE UNQUOTE MORAL LEDGE??? DICK GRAYSON of all people referring to Bruce's adherence to his Mission and his Code with sanctimonious, condescending scare quotes???? Like he doesn't also believe in "no life is an acceptable loss" to a reckless, at times self-destructive degree??? Huh????

And this absolutely DUMBASS fight scene where all of the Batkids (minus Damian) fight against Bruce, but the all-powerful Bat-god doesn't need strategy or contingency plans to handle the most dangerous and highly trained vigilantes on the planet, he just goes ahead and one-shots Cass (lmfao????) and Duke and then Steph and Tim at the same time and only Dick and Jason even land blows on him for ~some reason~.

UUUUGH.

Funnily enough, outside that stupid-ass fight scene, Bruce is one of the ones who seems least out of character, considering everything he's been through recently, his paranoia about becoming old and unnecessary and only feeling at home in his Batman suit (we've certainly seen that before 🙄), his Code, and not to mention Zur-En-Arrh (and also a shadowy something else?) lurking in his psyche whispering to him, clearly not actually constrained by the cage Bruce thought he was locked in.

I'm 100% blaming instability and Zur for the bits where Bruce is more obviously wilding (mainly when fighting Jason), but like - at least he has reasons built into the narrative to be slipping like that? Everyone else is just acting that way because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, I guess.

This would all be much more enjoyable if they'd found a way to make Selina's side less ridiculous/more convincing. Like I would actually be interested in seeing Zur-En-Arrh twist Bruce's mind against his family. It was fun for that brief period in the Failsafe arc because we got to see Bruce fight against and eventually overcome it! But I can't even enjoy it here when the whole thing is so frikkin' stupid and being written terribly.

Like clearly Bruce is going to go way, way more off the rails fairly quickly from here, given how Zur is straight up fucking with him at the end (and Vandal Savage??? okay Jan). So siding against him will rapidly become more obviously reasonable, I assume. I just hope the (small) bits where like, Tim expressed worry about Bruce's wellbeing are expanded on, and shared by other characters (Dick??? Cass???), so they can help him with this mental breakdown rather than it being constantly hostile/adversarial.

...Admittedly a bit intrigued by the big Rogue Gathering, teaming up as they don't have minions to do their bidding anymore. Like, fun, evil backlash resulting from Selina's (STUPID) plan? Good! And also a compelling reason for the good guys to eventually band back together and heal this rift? Well, hopefully. :/

#I figured Bruce and Selina and a good number of the Batkids would be OOC in a “civil war” event like this #but oof #OOOOOOOOOOF #gerryrigged #gerry salt #gotham war #dc comics reading

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jajanvm-imbi · 5 months

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Hazbin Hotel 4 episode premiere review Part 2

Part 1 | Part 3

I'm gonna preface this by saying that I am enjoying Hazbin in the same way I enjoy Helluva Boss. I've been following the series since the pilot's release, I've gotten more and more excited with every announcement leading up to it's offical release and I've already watched every episode several times.

HOWEVER, just like with Helluva Boss, there are a lot of issues with Hazbin that I feel are very fair criticisms worth talking about.

This isn't going to be another bad-faith rambling about how the show is shit, how everyone who likes it is stupid, and how Viv and her creative team deserved all of the harassment they've gotten for the past couple of years. Like I said I've been enjoying Hazbin and Helluva for what they are a lot, but just because I enjoy both shows doesn't mean I don't think there are many issues with it.

This post is going to be discussing Hazbin's issues ofc, but I'd really like to sit down and write up all of my issues with Helluva one day as well because any issues in Hazbin are almost always 10x worse in Helluva.

So now with that our of the way, here's my critique on Hazbin Hotel as someone who enjoys the show:

Buckle up cause this post is gonna be long

What I believe the main issue for Hazbin Hotel boils down to the same issue for Helluva Boss:

Pacing

The pacing in Hazbin is......not great. Don't get me wrong, its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the pacing in Helluva Boss, by like, a lot. But that doesn't mean its, well, good.

The Over-Reliance on the Pilot's Popularity.

So, there's no actual introduction to any character but Charlie and mayyyyyyyybe Vaggie. But the rest of the cast is just, there, and the audience is supposed to know who they are automatically. And even then, the introduction to the premise is almost non-existent in the first ep.

For those of us who have been following the series for years know who these characters are and what the plot of the series is, but for the causal viewer who's scrolling through Prime and stumbles upon Hazbin, there's no proper introduction to what's happening.

It's almost like its required to watch the pilot before watching the actual series in order to have any idea whats happening. And thats a problem because the pilot isn't an episode its a pilot. For like 99% shows, the audience never sees the pilot. Season 1 episode 1 has to start from square 1, reintroducing who's who and what's going on.

The first ep of Hazbin takes place one week after the pilot. Which means they all acknowledge the pilot happened, its not retconed or anything, but it's still not an episode.

The pilot takes the time to establish Charlie's base personality, her motives, how the rest of hell treats her, and the significance of Alastor's presence at the hotel. Charlie getting bullied by Katie Killjoy at the news station does more for establishing Charlie's character and her motives than anything in all 4 episodes of the official premiere. There isn't really anything to show how hell doesn't take Charlie seriously, either. (The closest thing we get is how Valentino talks about Charlie when she's not there) Yeah Adam bullies her in ep 1 but that heaven not hell. S1 ep 1 "Overture" just expects the audience to already know what's happening.

There is literally no reason why they couldn't have just remade the pilot into an actual episode with a few changes and the new voice cast (obv), and then pick up the next day instead of the next week.

Like is the whole terf war still happening? Cause it isn't acknowledged at all in the premiere. Maybe they could have added Alastor's mysterious 7 year "sabatical" into Vaggie's explanation of Alastor to Angel.

It would have been so easy to just remake the pilot into an episode since the pilot does such a good job of establishing whats going on. A well known example of a show doing just that is the Gravity Falls pilot. The pilot is obviously shorter and the supporting cast is missing, but the plot of the episode is still the same and it establishes the personalities for the 3 main characters. Anyway-

2. The Hotel Isn't Even the Central Focus

They introduced the conflict between Heaven and Hell waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too soon.

This is the exact same thing that happened with Helluva Boss. The pilot displayed a clear premise for the series and then when the series officially airs it turns out the premise isn't even the central focus.

It isnt as offensive in Hazbin because at least Hazbin's central focus is on something still somewhat relevant to the plot which is "helping sinners". In Helluva Boss the central focus is "Owo angsty gay relationship drama", which is completely irrelevant to the initial "imps in hell are hits for hire up on earth and shenanigans ensue" premise.

Why are we being introduced to heaven's schemes to do more than one extermination a year before Charlie even gets a chance to prove there are some sinners interested in being redeemed? It would have been a MILLION times more impactful if Charlie got maybe two or three sinners actually looking to be redeemed to stay at the hotel, who were hopeful that they still had a chance to live a better life, only for all of Charlie's hopes to be crushed by Adam's rejection.

If Charlie had people who believed in her, if she saw how much faith they had in her to help them change their lives around, only for her to come back from her meeting not only saying the angels rejected her but that the next extermination was sooner than anticipated, OUGH would it have hurt.

Instead, the hotel is treated like a background or just a thing to do in the meantime while the characters focus on the Heaven vs. Hell conflict or other stuff.

The show just immediately jumps into the whole Heaven vs. Hell thing without really even focusing on the hotel and what Charlie is trying to do, AKA the title of the fucking show. Why even bother calling the series Hazbin Hotel if you aren't going to even focus on why the hotel exists in the first place????

We as the audience need to spend time at the hotel with the characters in order for us to get attached to Charlie's cause before you dash all our hopes away. Then we can root for Charlie as she overcomes Heaven's hypocrisy with the help of her friends. (which kind of goes back to the over reliance on the pilot)

And the cherry on top would have been that this is the perfect set up for some fun ""filler"" character establishing episodes while Charlie works with the sinners.

There's a reason why most people seem to recognize ep 4 "Masquerade" as the best episode out of the 4 despite also being the most graphic, followed by ep 2 "Radio Killed the Video Star". Both ep 2 and ep 4 are more one off self contained stories you would usually see in a more episodic series, and they're wonderfully entertaining because they're still being treated like introductions. Ep 2 takes the time to properly introduce the Vs and their connections to the main cast, particularly Vox and Alastor's rivalry. Ep 4 introduced Angel's situation with Valentino to the audience, which is a major part of his character, and Angel is part of the main cast so this isn't out of place. The conflicts between the Vs and the main cast aren't resolved by the end of either of these episodes, but thats because they're still only introductions.

The problem with ep 1 and ep 3 is that we're charging ahead with the whole Heaven vs. Hell conflict with characters we still barely know.

The issues with ep 1 mainly tie back into point 1. with how there was no proper reintroduction to anything in the series, and the show immediately crushes Charlie's dreams before we are even properly introduced to them again. Adam being an asshole to Charlie and them moving up the next extermination date has no impact because we as the audience barely knows who these characters even are.

In episode 3, the hotel and the team building stuff is the B plot while Alastor and his meeting with the other Overlords is the A plot??? In the third episode of the series????

I was confused with why ep 3 featured a Velvette and Camilla duet and a Vaggie and Camilla duet because we barely know who Velvette and Camillia are. Why did Camilla get a whole ass power ballad about protecting her daughters from an exorcist if we barely know who Camilla is??? Why was she paired with Vaggie, a character we've already grown attached to for the past 2 episodes??? Vaggie had some nice character moments in ep 3 but it was overshadowed by Camilla's presence because we don't know nearly enough about Camilla for a parallel between her and Vaggie to feel appropriate.

Velvette had some fun banter with Vox in ep 2 but only for like a minute, why is she singing about being better than everyone else?? Vox and Valentino had way more screentime than Velvette so far, so why should we as the audience believe that she's the "backbone of the Vs" and thats why she's feels like she can be disrespectful to Camilla and Zestial? The show doesn't even directly acknowledge that Velvette is the newest and youngest of the overlords, thats information given to us from????Instragram??? Why is Velvette the "backbone of the Vs"?? I'm not saying they should have done a whole backstory episode before this scene, I'm saying there should have at least been a scene foreshadowing Velvette being the mastermind behind the Vs' power or something.

And both the issues with Camilla ad Velvette tie back into how they're talking about starting a fucking WAR with HEAVEN?????????? We barely know anything about the conflict between Heaven and Hell why would a war between the two being a real threat in the mind of the audience??? And what does any of this Overlord drama have to do with Charlie's mission to rehabilitate sinners??? They don't care about the new extermination date because of Charlie's mission they just don't want to fucking die.

Its way too soon to be talking about all this with characters we as the audience barely know. None of this had anything to do with the hotel or Charlie's goals.

So in conclusion to this section, the writers at Hazbin have done the same thing they did with Helluva, which is: They expect the audience to care about the characters and the plot without actually giving us a reason why. Because the pilot was so popular and was the only thing we had of Hazbin for 4 years, they decided that the pilot's popularity was good enough to take the place of actual character establishing work. They felt like since the pilot already generated a large fanbase, they didn't need to do any of the work to get the audience to care about the characters and the plot because they already do. So now the writers are charging ahead with all this fluff and drama, talking about things that are irrelevant to the premise without re-establishing anything because they felt like the pilot are did that for them. Long time fans are gonna eat this all up regardless because we've been waiting for more episodes for YEARS, but Hazbin is going to have a very hard time gaining any new audience on a mainstream platform like Prime Video because the show is incomplete. No casual viewer scrolling through Prime is going to want to click off of Prime, log onto YouTube and watch the 45 minute pilot in order to then understand Hazbin Hotel the series. Causal viewers are going to watch the first episode thinking "Oh I've heard of this lets see what the hype is all about" and then be super confused on whats happening and who all these characters are and quickly loose interest. No one wants to do homework in order to enjoy a show. At least with Helluva Boss the entire show is on YouTube and the official playlist with all the episodes includes the pilot so new viewers don't have to leave the platform. Hazbin already has a second season confirmed right out of the gate, and the fanbase is already large enough to keep the show going (hopefully), but honestly I fear Viv and her team are gonna have a really hard time getting their numbers to grow because of these choices. Lets see how all this plays out.

There's one more thing that I wanted to bring up because it is a glaring issue but people have been talking about it since the pilot so I'll keep it brief.

Character Designs and Color Palette

Yes, Viv's artstyle suffers from "Tumblr Sexyman Syndrome".

Every other character wears a suit and bowtie. Which makes sense for some of them, Charlie and Vox in specifically. Charlie is a princess so she dresses formally and Vox is a business man. (Although why does Vox wear a bowtie and not a regular necktie?)

Alastor, Sir Pentious, and Angel however? Why? I get how a suit and tie could fit into their respective aesthetics, but there are also different outfits from their respective time periods that could have made more sense and would have easily solved this issue.

By having every other character wear the same outfit, we loose the sense that all these characters are from different periods of time and places. Which is a shame because Hell is the PERFECT setting to have all these different time periods collide in a way that makes sense.

No one questions why a 1940s gangster from New York, an English inventor from 1830s London, a radio host from 1930s Louisiana, a housemaid from the 1950s, a Vegas gambler from idk when, etc... are all in the same location because they're all in Hell. They all died at different periods in time but they all ended up in the same place! It was such a missed opportunity to have fun with this hogpoge of different aesthetics and it sucks because it would have been so visually interesting and engaging!

It also doesn't help that almost everyone is wearing red. And not just red, but the same shade of red as the fucking SKY. Like look at this shit:

Like rip to any colorblind person trying to watch this.

I'm genuinely shocked that this wasn't corrected while redesigning the main cast. Viv went to the School of Visual Arts (SVA), one of the top schools for animation on the East Coast. I refuse to believe she didn't learn how bad this in school.

This is one of the only areas in which Helluva Boss is actually better than Hazbin. The imps all have the same color palette, red white and black, but because they regularly travel to other rings of Hell, earth, and interact with other beings in Hell like, sinners, succubi, hellhounds, the Sins, etc.... they stand out. The imps don't blend into the background (as often) like the Hazbin cast does.

But because the Hazbin cast can't travel to the other rings of Hell according to the lore (which I don't mind), then it was up to Viv and the other designers on the team to find a creative solution to make the characters stand out against the bright red sky. Instead they made it infinitely worse than the pilot by putting everyone in red.

At least in the pilot, Charlie wore pink and black, Vaggie wore grey and white, Angel wore white, Nifty had a splash of yellow etc... But now literally 90% of the cast is in the same shade of bright red as Alastor and the SKY. Like we get it they're in Hell they don't need to wear red to convey that because the SKY is red and has a fucking PENTAGRAM IN IT. We know the hotel is in Hell it doesn't need to be red either

The best scenes in the show visually so far are when the characters aren't outside or in the hotel. For example:

Charlie in the Heaven clocktower, Angel dancing in Poison, Angel and Husk outside the bar (I know I just said when they aren't outside but that background has enough variety of color that it actually works very well)

I am honest to God baffled how this wasn't corrected. Its like, Character Design 101, how was Viv allowed to get away with this?

Anyway

CW: brief mention of abuse

Those are my first impressions on Hazbin Hotel the official series. I know there are only 4 episodes out but the fact that the series started like this is genuinely concerning. Viv was given the opportunity of a lifetime, what started as a indie project was picked up by a well respected studio and distributed by Prime Video. She gained a massive fanbase right off the bat and had all the tools to make this series something special. People are tired of the oversaturation of remakes and reboots and sequels and prequels and spin offs and live actions and whatever that seeing a new show with a whole new concept and setting and characters is exciting! Not many big studios are willing to invest in bold new ideas anymore. People are starving for something new, but when the new stuff is, well, this, its pretty disappointing.

I'm going to continue watching Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss because despite the many glaring issues both shows have, I do still find them entertaining.

I don't mind all the swearing, (even when it does get annoying), I don't mind the sense of humor, I'm not too offended by the Tumblr Sexyman artstyle. I'm a musical theater lover, so I don't mind the musical numbers, especially with such a stacked talented cast. I can personally handle darker, more intense topics like Angel's abuse.

I was excited for the series to premiere, I'm excited for future episodes, and I honestly believe the reason why I still find these shows enjoyable is because I love doing breakdowns like this. I love analyzing the media I consume, I love understanding how and why shows fail, and bad shows have more to analyze than good shows do lmfao.

And don't get me wrong, there are things about the series that I really love as they are! But that's for a different post lol.

If you're still reading this I hope you enjoyed my review Hazbin Hotel so far. I know in the past I said I was prepared to not engage with the fandom at all because there was too much drama and the hatedom is honestly equally, if not more annoying than the fandom, but I couldn't resist doing a whole long ass post about the show, jaja. I have too much fun with this sort of stuff!

#yall better appreciate this cause I was trying to upload those screenshots instead of getting ready for work #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #helluva boss #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #spindlehorse toons #spindlehorse

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kingmaker-a · 1 year

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How do I make you love me? | Kim Lip

Non-idol AU

Previous | Next

Bestfriend!Reader x BestFriend Kim Lip

Main cast: Kim Lip

Warnings: Mentions of Unrequited love.

Word Count: 1.2k

Premise: Birthday lunch with Jungeun was a tradition no matter how often or little you saw each other. Yet, somehow as the years wax and wane, you can't help but feel like she's getting sick of your presence.

A/N: I would like to firmly blame @sanccharine for making spur of the moment writing a possibility. A shorter piece than I'd usually write and sorry to every waiting for Minutes After.

Happy Kim Lip day? Didn't plan on writing anything, I'll be real.

“Don’t you get sick of it?”

A simple question roused by years of timid courage and self-deprecation, still the flames haunt and linger.

All the air in the room suddenly evaporates as the words leave your lips, a deafening silence rings deep into your ears. Her eyebrows knot together at the sudden proclamation.

She licks at her lips anxiously, her phone thrown to the side in haste.

“Sick of what?”

There’s an almost illicit torment that lingers deep in her eyes, whispered ghosts that only now you can pick out.

The vacant almost dream-like stare she had whenever you two were together. The maddening whispers of dreams or nightmares.

You couldn’t tell.

Your breathing falters for but a second, deciding to take a sip of your hot chocolate. It’s like a livewire in your heart, frayed and deadly.

Waiting for the one mistake that could end you. It’s dangerous the way you dance around it even as sparks fly and bloom in your chest.

You’re just glad it’s only a slight struggle to breathe.

You remembered the honeyed secretive glances you’d send her way, with the slightest hope that maybe, just maybe she’d return it.

Why she always chose to spend her birthday with you, you’d never know.

You pull a faked practised smile from the pocket of your heart, brushed with a teasing shimmer.

“This? I mean surely you have cooler people to hangout with by now at least?”

There’s the slightest hint of a pout that mars her face, only now do you catch the fading glimmers of her shiny glass-like eyes. Worry quickly drains from her face.

There’s a release of a previously tensed breath from her.

Her fingers card through her dark hair, how long had it been since it was last that colour?

Too long.

Her lips part before she struggles on her words, there’s a lingering glare that burns at your skin.

“You had me worried there.”

There’s a slight huff of air that escapes your lips, blooming into a smile not so faked.

“Why?”

There's a roll of her eyes, poised and deadly. But even you know it’s a shield rather than a dagger.

“You’re my best friend, yet it almost felt like a breakup for a second.”

That livewire in your heart sparks once more at her words, surged with hopes, aspirations and dreams long since passed.

If only.

Still, your mind remains fixated on the deathgrip her phone had on her, a prevalent lingering presence whenever you hangout.

You felt more akin to a showpiece, rather than a friend.

Still, you had nothing real to offer expect passing commentary and not so funny jokes. There is only so often someone can have porridge before they get sick of it.

Your eyes scan the cafe, grey and boring. No wonder she asked you to come along, a bitter mirror of the reflection you cast in her eyes.

The words wrangle past your lips before you can catch them, eyes too focused on bland meaningless art.

“Now, that’s a thought.”

Your eyes widen at the sharp knife that had slipped past your lips.

A door best left unopened, a door you had left unopened and unspoken.

Her eyes narrow against yours, there’s the tightening glimmer of anger, twisted with baleful annoyance.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

It meant you should’ve just kept your stupid mouth shut, of course you couldn’t keep a promise even to yourself.

You’d taken solace in your friendship even in the shadows of your wants.

Even if part of you hungered for more with a desperate plea, to feel the brush of skin held tight against yours. To feel the bubble of her laughter every morning.

To be the one who made her smile so blissfully.

Your words catch against your throat, caught like a sweater amongst the cogs of machinery.

“A-sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that,” your fingers pull close to your temples massaging as deep as they can for a punctuated lie. “I haven’t gotten much sleep lately.”

A half-truth at best.

Her features soften almost instantly, you feel the brush of her hand against your knee, there’s the ghost of a lingering frown that plays at the edge of her lips.

“How come?”

Could you bear the burden of another soured lie?

Restless nights had dotted your life stars in the night sky, a recent burden admittingly. The grindstone of life having worn you down was an easy lie.

“You.”

Words you don’t speak, too weak willed. Scared the livewire in your heart would be an unfortunate combo with flooded angst and depression should things go wrong.

“Anxiety.”

Another half truth, enough to make a paired full truth.

And a full lie.

Her cheeks puff, eyes lingering against yours. There’s a whispered warmth as her grip tightens, still your mind begs and reels for the real thing.

Her lips scrunch together.

“I’m always here for you.”

You fight against the gnarled edges of your mind that beg to claw and bite at her, to point with a poisoned touch at her phone’s constant companionship.

“I know.”

A truly barbed lie that cuts and bleeds at your heart even before it escapes your lips. Your words are soft and almost broken.

You catch her eyes as her frown tugs and pulls at every broken shard in your voice, there’s the slightest quiver at the heavy weight.

Her eyes linger across the cafe before returning to you.

“Why don’t we just chill at your place?”

Your safe place.

It’s the slightest heartwarming glimmer of the way things used to be nestled in the warmth of your apartment passing time watching movies and playing board games.

A time before her enthrallment in recent months.

You wince almost at her words even as her grip tightens once again.

A beleaguered sigh.

“I’m sure that’s no way to spend your birthday.”

There’s a soft smile, the crackle of the first sparks of wood and fire.

“It’s my birthday.”

There’s always a certain grip she has over you, an enthrallment with limitless power when her focus is solely on you. Your loneliness almost feels like the discarded echoes of a past life in the wake of her warmth.

Your struggles melt away against her touch, a whispered smile echoes across your lips at her lingered gaze. Heat echoes through your chest, reparation.

“Let me just pay up and we’ll head out.”

You swear you can almost feel the slightest hint of a bounce in her, an unseen happiness that radiates.

Best not to read too deep into it.

“I can pay.”

It was her birthday after all, plus it’d make for the almost criminal negligence in not getting her a gift. A fact you’d safely managed to skirt so far.

Though you’d originally planned to cut her out of your life.

It’s almost an afterthought at this point.

“Don’t worry, a friend gave me a coupon.”

There’s a certain bounce to the way the word rolls off her tongue that nauseates your soul, a deluge of water floods through your chest, a heavy cold sinking feeling.

An anchor that dredges the depths.

Your eyes catch against her phone, the live wire in your heart sparkles with a dangerous allure, begging for the grasp of your hand, sullen and weak.

You were sick of it all.

#kim lip scenarios #kim lip #kim jungeun #loona imagines #loona scenarios #girl group imagines #girl group scenarios #loona x reader #Kim lip x reader #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #girl group

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popculturebuffet · 1 year

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Pride Month Triple Feature: Monthly Muppets Madness: Muppet Babies 2018: Gonzorella

Happy pride! Usually pride is a pretty big to do on this blog, with my first pride here being also my first pride publicly as a bisexual man. But with my move pretty much every review I had planned for this month got thrown around. So to make up for it i'm condensing my pride plans into one day. Two shorter reviews and one longer review that i've been trying to do since the first pride, and seems the most timely given everything going on. So with that it's time for Monthly Muppet Madnesss yayyyy. The plan here was changed as with a lot of longer reviews originally planned.. I just wasn't up to doing Return to Labyrinth quite yet. I still plan to, in or outside of pride, but I realized it didn't really FIT the season the way the original movie did. So instead we're going to daycare for this one as we look at the muppet babies reboot. I finally watched some with my young nephew a month or two back while watching him, and honestly.. it's a delight. I can't say how it compares to the original as I watched maybe two episdoes as a kid as it was before my time, though i'm sure i'll be covering some of it eventually, but the reboot is a lovely preschool show. Admitely like most preschool shows it has to be simple: our heroes have some sort of dillema young kids can learn from, they work through it, usually with the help of Nanny(this time played by the incomprable and wonderous Jenny Slate), and we all have a laugh or two. It's not bad, it's just not clearly meant for a 31 year old man, and that's fine. My 2 year old nephew, whose in the target age range, loved it. Not every cartoon has to aim for both adults and kids, and there's still a ncie nod here or there for the adults who do watch. As for this episode in paticular, this one I found while trying to see if the Muppets had done anything related to the Transgender community, as I felt i'd neglected them in previous prides and it was time to rectify that. They hadn't as far as I could tell.. but they did do this episode, in which Gonzo wants to wear a dress, and said episode is not only wholesome and heartwarming.. but also brings up a larger issue kids have been facing lately. As most of you reading this defintely know the right's faviorite new weapon is accusing trans and gender non conforming folks, as well as non binary, gender fluid, and genderqueer persons, of "grooming" children. Which is a fancy and douchey way of saying

While the right has naturally captalized on this as their new boogieman. It's why gender affirming care has been banned several places and why the world truly and clearly sucks right now. So naturally a muppet preschool show just casually saying "it's fine to wear a dress if your a boy" without slapping a label on what Baby Gonzo is just yet... got a lot of the same bollocks. And it's just.. depressing honestly. Disgusting, horrible and hard to stomach, also yes, but mostly depressing that they can't just.. accept that gender has ALWAYS been complicated, it's just now many a person, many who likely always felt lost, know what to call themselves. This isn't some RADICAL NEW CONCEPT, it's just society finally acknowledging that gender isn't binary or assigned at birth. It's why i'm GLAD that more and more kids content like this is making it clear to kids whose parents may not be accepting for very stupid reasons.. that no, your normal.

So as for the episode itself like most Muppet Babies 2018 episodes the premise is a pretty simple dillema of the week: Piggy and Summer are having a princess party based on an old book that says just how it should go. For those less familiar with this version of the series, Summer is an original character, a purple pengy. She fits right in though and i'd honestly love to see her grown up self join the rest of the muppets someday. I mean Skeeter eventually got there via the comics. We also get Rizzo, who lives in the walls of the daycare and shows up ocasoinally to hang out giving us the story of cinderella.

This naturally comes into play given the title: the book says boys dress up at knights and girls as princesses, but Gonzo wants to wear a frilly dress. Gonzo also feels like the perfect charater to do this: he's always been the outsider of the group, someone who on the outside is full of confidence but on the inside is full of self doubt. So having him WANT to simply wear a dress but be too scared of loosing his friends to is a good narrative for him. We know they probably woudln't care or if anyone did the rest would stand up for him, but for a tiny child wanting to wear a dress when boys have typically not done that, it could be scary, not helped again by the many grown people telling them their brainwashed and they don't know what they know. Just as I relate to the adult gonzo, a small child can relate to Gonzo's fears of not being accepted. Hell when I came out as bisexual, i was terrified my family wouldn't accept even though I had zero reason to think they'd be assholes about this and they've been nothing but loving and accepting. It can be hard to be who you are for an adult who knows that most people in their life will accept them, I can't imagine what it'd be like for a small kid.

Rizzo becomes his fairy god rat, and helps him become gonzorella, but tells him the spare wears off at cake o clock, because tha't when they have cake and my brain will just accept that because i'm stretched for time.

The episode goes pretty stock from here: Piggy and Summer try to stick to the book, Gonzo does something Gonzo like make a chicken themed crown or bust a move on the dance floor during a boring ballroom dance, it makes it better, they see "hey being diffrent isn't so bad". It's as subtle as brick to the head.. but it's also for kids around 2-6, ones whose own parents may tell them nto to be so "different", so I can see why subtley isn't really needed and the show still treats kids smartly enough to not feel like it's talking down to them, which is something I feel is necessary in a kids show of any audience. It just tells a story with a moral and while the moral is obvious, it's one kids need to hear and MANY adults need to hear. Naturally gonzo has to run out, his neighbor has been kidnapped... and also the spell is running out. But I like the nice twist: instead of our heroes seeking out our cindy stan din, Gonzo realized he dosen't LIKE having to hide and Rizzo enrouages him that since they liked the other diffrent stuff.. they might like this after all, and Gonzo reveals he likes wearing dresses... and everyone accepts it. Most touchingly Piggy fully apologizes, realizing she made him feel bad and deciding

We get a dance party ending and ew're out

So yeah this episode is good. I didn't have much to say because i'ts both short and not exactly something I need to deeply dive into to understand, but still VERY good for kids, and for muppets fans alike. Thanks for reading

#pride month #gender nonconforming #transgender #genderqueer #gonzo the great #gonzorella #monthly muppets #kermit the frog #miss piggy #summer penguin #rizzo the rat

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redgoldblue · 8 months

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Fic Writer 20 Questions

Tagged by @luredin. Thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3?

49. which is insane to me. especially if you consider that 10 of those are actually 24 fic(let)s in one

What's your total AO3 word count?

360,722

What fandoms do you write for?

Whichever bug bites me. But the major ones are Hawaii Five-0 and Starsky & Hutch.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I Would Break Into Your House Just To Put Sugar In Your Tea (H50)

think about how good these seeds have sown (H50)

If You're Waiting On Me You're Backin' Up (I'm Way In Over My Head In Love) (H50)

unfortunately, Hands (House MD) (me and Hands have a contentious relationship. many of my friends could tell you of it. i long for the day i knock it out of top 5)

Not A Booty Call (Suits)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Not usually :(. I used to respond to all of them, but then it was making me stressed out about doing it, so I made a conscious decision that i did not have to do that and now I only respond to the occasional one that I actually have a response for other than 'thank you [heart emojis]'

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh my dude. do i... do that? do I have literally any that fit that criteria? maybe To Love (Verb, Transitive) (S&H), although that should tell you how incredibly unangsty most of my endings are.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Happiest, as opposed to fluffiest. hm. different criteria. I think happiest might be either If You're Gonna Do It, Do It Right (which is actually one of my angstiest fics in its body) or I Would Break Into Your House (both H50). Or Come Take The Wheel (S&H). Or Smarties Cookies (Non-Violent) (Leverage), which literally ends with the word 'happy'. as you can tell, this is much more up my alley.

Do you get hate on fics?

I do not, although I did get a comment waaayyy back in 2013 which funnily did not mention my actual writing, which was terrible, my being 13 and only writing for a year, but did tell me that the premise of my fic was out of character. it's possible that contributed to why i'm now borderline spiteful about making fics in character.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeah. Not a lot, but yeah. is bdsm/bdsm-overtoned a kind? That. Sometimes with feelings sometimes not particularly, but if it's with feelings it will be a truly stupid amount of feelings.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not for years, but my very first multi-chapter >10k fic was BBC Sherlock/Doctor Who crossover. it was 2014. don't look at me.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

...yeah. Avengers crack!fic. the only fic from pre-2017 I'm happy to link, bc pure crack doesn't care about how good your writing is.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Look. I would be a liar if I said anything other than Steve/Danny. Other ships may come and go but these fucked up obliviously married certified Dad™ middle-aged white guy cops made a permanent and large imprint on my mind and there are entire worm colonies living in that imprint.

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The long Suits season 8 canon divergence fic, where Harvey's mother dies a season earlier than in canon and Mike flies back to help him through it. The first two chapters are literally like, 100 words away from being finished, so it's possible that if I ever feel the urge to watch Suits again I will drum up a truncated third chapter and post it but. it's also very possible I will not. There's a 5+1 Geraskier fic it would've been nice to finish too, but I don't ever see that happening.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, humour, emotional description that's just enough to the left of normal analogies that it makes you actually stop and think about/feel it. Occasionally, punch-to-the-gut-with-softness lines.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Physical description, good lord. Especially of settings. Having any reasonable idea of how long a fic is going to be. Actually doing the work of writing in between the times where the words just spontaneously appear in my head. Not as relevant for fic as for original work, but calculating how much backstory readers actually need.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I don't know that I've ever really done it in fic, other than the occasional Yiddish word for Jewish characters, but I am doing it a little bit in my novel WIP, bc 2.5 of my MCs are Latinx and occasionally speak Spanish with each other. I think it's fine in moderate doses, assuming the characters actually would be using it, but that it should follow the same rules as pop culture references: either the meaning is broadly deducible from context, or it's not either vital to the plot or hugely disruptive of flow if you don't understand it. Also if it's anything more than single words you should probably get someone who actually speaks the language to check it for you.

First fandom you wrote for?

...BBC Sherlock

Favorite fic you've ever written?

can i say a wip. my spouse/neurological infection state of disrepair. but okay no in posted fics... ykw even though it's a fandom i am off and on with, and mostly off, and currently off, When You're Loving Me (That's When I'm Loving You) (NCIS: LA) is a solid contender. But I also am quite happy with I Would Break Into Your House being my top kudosed, I think it deserves it.

Tagging: @actingcamplibrarian @osointricate @bookwhimses @faorism @gallantrejoinder

#mine #Hawaii Five 0 #Starsky and Hutch #Suits #NCIS: LA #my writing #tag games #luredin

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embossross · 5 months

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2023 in anime

i give ratings out of 10 stars based on a rubric that considers the following:

2 points / ambition of what the anime is trying to achieve 3 points / effectiveness of the anime in achieving its aims 4 points / my personal, subjective enjoyment 1 point / pacing +1/-1 miscellaneous

so with that said… ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2 anime)

revolutionary girl utena – heavy breathing panting crying what a fucking roller coaster nanami the child you are anty the child you were utena the child you choose to be – just one of the true masterpieces of all anime. took a few episodes to realize that this show understood tone and comedy perfectly and wasn’t just a wonky children’s show and by golly! the nanami in season 3 gutted me unlike anything else

attack on titan: final season (for real this time) – decent conclusion to maybe my favorite anime of all time

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (10 anime)

school rumble – so goddamn funny and i cared about every goddamn character. it’s witchcraft!

trigun – good ole saturday morning cartoons

golden kamuy s3 – how does it keep getting better???!?!

fruits basket – i was a certified hater after s1, but slowly but surely i gave into the melodrama. akito and shigure were EVERYTHING

nana – the most disappointing ending of all time! for one of the greatest anime of all time. manga pls save me!!!

rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai – i’m embarrassed. i cried.

princess tutu – expressionistic, dedicated to storytelling, tremendously kind-hearted. you have to let it move you

blue lock – i’m officially a sports anime girlie

cyberpunk: edgerunners – this was just so slick!

chainsaw man – nothing needs to be said here

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (8 anime)

yamada-kun to lv999 no koi wo suru – adult romance that hasn’t been stripped of all conflict and maintains momentum nearly to the end

oshi no ko – my expectations were non-existent after ep 1 but then it crept up on me. i can’t even fully put my finger on what works so well? but it does! it knows when to take itself seriously and when to be nonsense.

demon slayer s3 – best season of demon slayer to date, i actually cared

durarara!!x2 shou – this is a confession. my inner edgy teen loves durarara. i appreciate huge casts of characters acting in opposition in atmospheric tokyo.

gintama – i finally finished gintama one of my favorites of all time. the end pulls all the threads together but it does so at the expense of the laughs so loses some points

chihayafuru – amazing background anime. just consistently fun and engaging.

perfect blue – i feel stupid and uncultured to not give this a 10

vinland saga – askeladd is so hot wow

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (7 anime)

buddy daddies – funny and sincere in degrees but a truly annoying little girl character

serial experiments lain – god you’ve gotta appreciate the wild swings creatives were taking in the 90s

durarara!!x2 ten

great teacher onizuka – ugh he’s a creep but also heh he’s funny

trigun stampede – they yassified them!

mob psycho 100 s3 - meandered a bit but the characters are forever favorites

to your eternity – the first 3 arcs are extraordinary. march is one of the great child characters of all time. the end drags.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (8 anime)

zom 100 – crazy good first episode that earns its premise and then a slow descent into mediocrity; cool colors though!

terror in resonance – utterly forgettable

dororo – way too long with way too many hit or miss episode arcs

bungou stray dogs s4 – the cracks are showing but the rampo backstory is dope

lycoris recoil – those cute girls shoulda been lesbians

classroom of the elite – is it edgy? yes. are the quotes frustratingly misused? oh yes. is it fun? ugh yeah actually

romantic killer – pretty cute and the edge of danger at the end really sells it

free – solid watch but it left my brain like sand in a sieve

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 anime)

wolf’s rain – what passes as deep when children are your primary audience

hell’s paradise – boring and i liked the manga so.

durarara!!x2 ketsu – the conclusion falls short

land of the lustrous – bold but was too slow for me

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3 anime)

tomo-chan is a girl! – sometimes funny but the conceit does not justify 13 episodes and it loses steam fast

mushishi – some of the vignettes were beautiful but felt repetitive

bleach: thousand-year blood war – sleek, hype, plagued by all the old bleach problems

no game no life season 1 - confused that this was such a phenomenon when it came out. it’s fine i guess.

⭐⭐⭐ (5 anime)

kamisama kiss – trite imo

given – god save us from anime about perfect people being perfect with each other – but this time set to music!

tokyo revengers s2 – 🤷

natsume’s book of friends – i don’t need vibes this cozy

sasaki to miyano – and i really don’t need vibes this cozy

⭐⭐ (0 anime)

⭐ (0 anime)

& then ongoing shows that i’m not going to rank until i finish them (but actually all are pretty good so far) – skip to loafer, heavenly delusion, spy x family s2, apothecary diaries, jujutsu kaisen s2, frieren: beyond journey’s end, vinland saga s2

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