random sl designs ive been messing with

God’s Favorite, Acrylic, 5x7”

Working out how i want the distortions to look. You can see at the top of Helen's page i was trying to adapt a fern pattern bc the fractal association seemed fitting to the spiral

Do you think Vox is nostalgic when he hears Alastor?

Not from whatever past in hell they might have, but from being alive? Alastor walks around talking, not just in the accent, but with the same distortion that a radio from Vox's childhood would've had, using the slang from the time period.

And yeah there's overlap in early-mid century entertainment, but Alastor stays in 1933. He doesn't move on, he's quite literally plucked right out of his time and just meanders around the new technology and culture more recent sinners bring down with them.

Some 20-odd years go by and Vox fucking dies and wakes up in Hell. Sleazy TV host gets his ironic punishment in the form of having a clunky actual television set in place of his head. You get the idea.

So Vox is going about his business newly-dead and in Actual Hell and he comes across somebody that's near literally a walking radio show like the ones he listened to as a kid. 24/7, this guy does not let his act fall a single time. He's confident, always smiling, and always on. And Vox admires that; he KNOWS how much work it is to put on that sort of persona, it's exhausting. But this "Alastor" guy? He never drops it. Not once. At the very least, never that anyone has ever seen.

We only have vague inclinations on what happens next. Alastor and Vox were familiar on some level, enough that Vox has a clear, uncorrupted photo of Alastor. We know Vox had propositioned some kind of partnership to Alastor, which he declined. This could have been anytime in the last 70 or so years, long before the other Vees. We don't know if this was a simple "no thank you" or a drawn out and humiliating "how dare you," we just know it's a touchy subject for Vox.

Anyway. It's the 21st century. Vox is proudly the face of new tech and innovation. Embracing the future and ready to exploit it. TVs, computers, smart phones, drones, whatever; he wants to put his name on it.

But there's still a tiny part of Vox that sticks with him. Some hundred year old memory of a little boy sitting on the floor trying to listen to music and stories and news through the crackle of static from the radio. Thinking that maybe, one day, he might be the one telling stories and news. Now there's a walking, talking, physical embodiment of that memory.

And Vox sits with the knowledge that the walking memory hates him.

uee hee hee

ik people have spoken about it before but this specific genre of fans that defend the show like rick is personally holding their families hostage is sooo...

hh pilot

kakyoin: "honey is bee vomit"

Not even god can save him now

A great thing about the good place is how all four of the main crew are actually self-centered

We commonly identify forms of self-centered behavior such as selfishness that is exemplified by Elenor. (aka "a Bad Person"), but then you have Chidi and Tehani. These two are far less classical in their self-centered behavior but are still self-centered, nevertheless.

The show makes Tehani's folly pretty clear, despite all her philanthropic acts she still centers herself in every situation. How she ended up there is actually parallel to Elenor's upbringing, the only real difference is the glitz and the glamour. They both had parents that were withholding for one reason or another, neither felt seen nor wanted and so one shut down to protect herself, the other made her entire existence a performance, either way they are deeply, deeply self-centered people.

But Chidi is my favorite, for the obvious reason that his self-centered behavior is the least obvious. Now of course it's made pretty clear to us as viewers but as a character within the world, for nearly all situations most people would judge Chidi as a good (albeit, sometimes annoying) person. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would out right call him self-centered... yet he is!

Chidi acts as though the world rests squarely on his shoulders, that each little choice he makes carries the weight to change the trajectory of humanity. Putting this into words pretty clearly illustrates the ridiculousness of it. It simply isn't reality, and it shows how, even though Chidi is a "good person" (vs Elenor and Jason) he is still susceptible to the very human condition of not looking past yourself. Another way to state it (as I'm sure many have before) he basically suffers from thinking he's a main character. (lol) Now, lucky for him he actually is one but translating this to real life you can see how people fall prey to this way of thinking, convoluting their lives due to the faulty belief that they, and they alone, can make or break the world around them.

This rolls around my brain like a marble because, I did this! For an embarrassingly long time in my youth, I truly felt the grief and horror that comes with thinking you, and you alone, can fix the world's problems. And I think this sort of thing isn't talked about enough because there isn't an obvious red flag of being a "bad person". Chidi is "good" and so there is a smoke screen effect hiding how poor his behavior actually is. (Can you tell I deeply identify with his character? 🤔)

Jason is an interesting case in his own right, because he's self-centered almost in the same way as a small child. I assume Donkey Doug was simply unequipped to help Jason develop past that stage in his upbringing, in tandem with say... other lifestyle choices, Jason's overall mental development is limited. He's an interesting example of how not all self-centered behavior is motivated by innate "selfishness". Jason is very much capable of empathy, generosity, and comradery, as shown by his relationship to Janet, lifelong friendships, and his participation and organization of a 60-person dance crew. This is in opposition to Elenor, a selfishly self-centered person who could not form meaningful or lasting relationships.

Jason Mendoza's behavior is more of a big kid who acts on impulse, this can obviously be perceived as "hurtful" and when done by a grown adult it may be judged as "he's a bad person". But when looking at his overall character it's clear that he doesn't make a single move with any ill intent or malice. You can easily reason with him in nearly all situations, even when he chooses to throw a molotov at a train, all it takes is grabbing him by the arm and telling him to knock it off. He doesn't argue or get defensive, unlike versions of Elenor who would tell you to "go fork yourself". Jason is only self-centered because he struggles to see the big picture, but when it's shown to him, more often than not he accepts it with a little guidance.

I have no end point here other than watching these characters exude self-centeredness in four distinctly different ways, only to then learn and better themselves, is a delight!

*threateningly lays ps3 era jpg down before you*

listen I don't like the way the Siuan stuff went down. like being totally honest my impulse reaction is "I didn't like that but I'm not ready to catastrophize over it yet"

however, if that wasn't scheming entirely, and honestly even it was scheming, I do see how that's gonna set up some plot lines better later on, and not just with Siuan but also very much stuff with Siuan

like I don't like what its doing with Siuan NOW and I don't like that this is all we're getting from her this season, BUT if it can lead to a better Siuan arc overall (and I see how it might if they're gonna lean into some things more), then I can forgive this when that time comes

not yet tho

Cats cats cats

And people say romance is dead 😊🖤💜

i forgot that drawing takes astronomically long

childhood

Something about azula I think is worth noting that she doesnt suddenly become magically worse when mai and ty lee abandon her - she's merely losing control. She's extremely hard on people who she perceives as weak/has failed her, she's just far more outwardly aggressive and paranoid now that the consequences caught up to her to a degree. The servant girl's fearful reaction in that cherry pit scene implies that she was expecting azula to lash out at her anyways so abusing/bullying the servants isn't exactly new nor out of character and azula woudlve had a breakdown, with or without mai and ty lee leaving her with how unstable she is.

Very true! Azula lashing out at people isn't exactly out of character. It's just that she is normally more outwardly composed about it. She threatened a sea captain for not wanting to go against the tides, and now she's threatening someone for leaving a pit in her cherry. It's just that she's not able to keep her composure anymore.

Thank you for your ask!