#and faust elements

[forever-and-whats-left]

Would you all love me less if I told you I really, really, wanted to write a fix-it Phantom of the Opera (1989) fic? Guys? Guys, where are you going? Don't leave me! I told you this was a horror blog!!!!!!!!! GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shredsandpatches]

Yesterday I learned that the 1663 quarto of Doctor Faustus is revised enough that scholars sometimes refer to it as the C-text.

I bring that up because one of the new passages is this:

Just thought I'd drop that on my blog.

[misskriemhilds]

in a few days i shall soon present to you the very personal, likely quite long jewish heinrich faust meta (aka approximately at least 1,000 words worth of me rambling on about how this extremely specific headcanon slots in very well from a thematic standpoint into the plot of goethe's "faust")

[aqours]

i'm bored so. LCB Sinners ranked on how well they do at a fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant as part of the mission (they have to pretend to be fancy rich people) until it goes horribly wrong

yi sang: he tries pretty well but also he's completely out of his element given his background in S Corp. he's not used to this at all. he ACTS polite and everything but also he drops a fork and still uses it. doesn't immediately draw suspicion but eventually people realize he's a fake rich person. faust: gets through the dinner with no problems, no eyes get drawn to her. don quixote: this is completely depending if it's post canto 7 or not. before she fucks this up quicker than everyone else it takes like ten minutes for this to go wrong. post canto 7 she can mostly get through this but also she fucks up a bit because her good table etiquette is like 300+ years out of date. the LCB can pass it off she's from a different district unaware of the customs here. as long as it's post canto 7 she can get through this. ryoshu: this one is interesting bc it boils down solely to how bored she is or not. she probably wants to watch everyone fumble through this. she can be a fake posh bitch as long as she needs to but the moment she gets bored of all this she's lighting a cigarette and it all immediately falls apart. meursault: is able to get through the dinner with no problems, no eyes get drawn to him, unless there's like some kind of specific etiquette about drinking black coffee instead of regular/white coffee. hong lu: is able to get through the dinner with no problems and no eyes drawn to him with just a little coaching about some foods he's not used to. heathcliff: the LCB has an Underestimating Heathcliff Moment (U.H.M.) before being reminded he was raised by high society people. is extremely in his element and able to keep his composure, calls all the waiters/waitresses sir/ma'm, peak table manners. might even give pointers like "nono- you use the small fork for that one, not the regular one-" ishmael: tries her best for this she really does but she's also really out of her element. she's very used to seafood but not it being so... fancy like this. if you like heathmael then heathcliff helps coach her through the dinner. otherwise she probably blows it with how she eats at some point, like grabbing sashimi with her hands and dunking it in the soy sauce making a splash. without the coaching she blows it and is very embarrassed about it. rodion: she wears that nice dress from her sinner id photo. she tries to act a little stuck up. then she gulps down that nice wine like water and oh god her table manners. the only one who will blow this faster is pre canto 7 don. she wanted to be special and prove she was good as all these stuck up rich people :( sinclair: gets through the dinner with no problems, no eyes get drawn to him. outis: is mostly able to get through this until someone insults dante. while her regular manners are polite for this situation, she's SO FUCKING LOUD i think she blows it without meaning to. gregor: the really unfortunate obvious answer is that he's probably not allowed in the restaurant and is on standby for if hostilities break out. otherwise he's also extremely out of his element and is hoping he can just really quietly drink water and not talk to anyone the whole night. fucks this up immediately if he needs to actually eat. basically he's a more self aware rodion in this situation. dante: is a clock and would have to go out of their way to mess this up. dante food fight truthers rise up

[impactrueno]

🪲Beetlejuice as Mephistopheles😈

so you guys might've seen that my masquerade comic has BJ wearing this funny little get up after people were expecting me to draw him wearing the Phantom's Red Death costume.

just who is Mephistopheles?

our devilishly charismatic fiend friend Mephisto is the reason we use the term "Faustian bargain" to refer to a deal with the devil. in the legend, Faust was an alchemist who ended up selling his soul to Mephistopheles in order to gain knowledge, power and pleasure. he is, quite literally, a trickster demon full of wit and a taste for irony looking to get something out of you. sound familiar?

of course, deals with the devil didn't originate with Faust, and neither did the trope of the devil being a charming and witty character. Faust just popularized it and greatly influenced later characters following this trope. Hades from Hercules is a pretty solid example, since he takes after Satan more than he does the actual Hades from greek mythology (which is on purpose, since the movie plays with christian elements for comedic effect, like the muses singing gospel and Hercules being like a combination of Jesus Christ Superstar and Superman.)

every now and then i see people complain that Lydia referring to Beetlejuice as a "trickster demon" in BJBJ messes with the lore, because "he's supposed to be a ghost," but he has always been more demon than ghost if you ask me. "trickster demon" is a perfect descriptor for him: he has a specific summoning ritual, powers beyond what normal ghosts can do, and is always always trying to tempt people into chaos and tricking them into making a deal. i'll give you knowledge, but your soul is mine. i'll save your loved ones, but you'll have to marry me.

despite this Beetlejuice and Mephistopheles are both funny characters, hardly menacing. doing fun little magic tricks and mocking wordplay, even though they can (and will) ruin your life. yet at the same time, they're not quite as evil as they might appear at first. it's always funny noting how Beetlejuice in the movies technically stuck to his word the entire time. surprisingly high level of integrity for someone like him, but that's part of why he's so great imo.

the scene in the original movie where Beetlejuice shows up as a circus attraction to get rid of the yuppies that came to Winter River to gentrify the town into a tourist trap is just the kind of thing Mephistopheles would do. same with how he gets rid of Rory in BJBJ, playing the role of the therapist to someone who used psychobabble to manipulate Lydia. ironic twists mocking human sins, that's what Beetlejuice is all about when he's punishing somebody, and it can all be traced back to Mephistopheles.

Mephistopheles is a proto-Beetlejuice, basically. or Beetlejuice is a modern Mephistopheles, however you want to look at it.

ok but why am i talking about this? well first of all, adhd. also this is one of my favorite character archetypes. i've always wanted to put my oc Rocky in a story where he's a Mephisto-type of figure. i used to think that the closest i got to that was when i crossovered him with Beetlejuice (you had to be there) but writing this post i...just remembered something. (feel free to skip the next paragraph, it has nothing to do with Beetlejuice lol)

i have this unfinished short story i started to write a while back, in mid 2018. i was miserable, going through a really bad depressive episode, and i was looking for something that could inspire me to create again and get back on my feet. just to practice and for shits and giggles i started writing a simple freeform story where a character named [redacted], who was a stand-in for myself, is suffering from writers block despite not being a writer, and basically wants to be good at writing. while muttering something about how he'd even "make a deal with the devil to become a good writer," he accidentally ends up summoning "the devil" (it's just Rocky) who's all silly and charismatic and offering him a deal. what i wrote ends there, i never finished it. but very soon after that, i rediscovered The Simpsons and started writing Those Springfield Kids. fast forward to a few years later, my SpringKids versions of the characters end up becoming part of an official couch gag animated by The Simpsons team. so. i guess...the deal worked? spooky lol (my Faustian downsides are 1. i can never finish anything i start and 2. i'm stuck here in Venezuela.)

anyway! i originally wrote this as a thread on twitter so i could introduce people to Mephistopheles since i was going to make a reference in the masquerade comic with BJ's costume. i just added a little bit more stuff (and the personal anecdote above) in this post. i would've posted this much earlier but on the day i was going to do it, my blog got nuked. now that i got it back, i can post this!

bonus: the shin megami tensei version of mephistopheles, plus david who is a reference to camille saint-saëns Danse Macabre, which i've ALSO referenced in my beetlejuice stuff a couple of times

ty for reading

next time i yap like this it'll be about the gravediggers from hamlet and how they're another core beetlejuice archetype. ESPECIALLY musical beetlejuice.

[doodler16]

A user (who wanted to remain anonymous) sent this. Like Vivziepop mentioned in the post, on the left is Dollcreep’s character named Adorewin. Here’s a better look at Adorewin (drawn by Dollcreep), since in Vivziepop’s birthday gift you can’t see Adorewin’s face.

Adorewin:

The oldest art of Adorewin is from November 4, 2011. The last time Adorewin was drawn was August 8, 2014.

Vivziepop’s Instagram:

On July 2014, Vivziepop post sketches of a character. He wears a short, feathered hat, has floffy hair, and wears a heart monocle.

Valentino and Adorewin comparison:

Similarities:

- Red, white, and black color palette.

- Based off a moth.

- Big, puffy fur ball attached to main outfit with spots scattered.

- Skinny

- Stripes implemented in design.

- Valentino’s feather on his hat and Adorewin’s antennas (especially in Dollcreep’s doodles) are coordinated the same way.

Differences:

- Valentino is bald, Adorewin has fluffy hair.

- Valentino’s outfit has a heart theme including his fluff fur ball.

- Adorewin doesn’t have a top hat.

- Valentino has four arms.

- While yes, both characters have stripes. The artists implement differently. For example: Adorewin’s stripes are horizontal throughout her outfit. Meanwhile, Valentino is consistently diagonal.

- Red, white, and black color palette are implemented differently.

- Adorewin’s main outfit is more mummified.

My personal theory of what happened:

There are a ton of similarities between Adorewin and Valentino that cannot be brushed off. What I personally theorize is that Vivziepop wanted to buy off Adorewin for her Zoophobia comic.

Dollcreep denied her, so later on down the line Vivziepop would take heavy inspiration from Dollcreep’s character Adorewin, use said sketches from July 2014 on her Instagram, use elements of the moth from her cancelled Allison project, and also take inspiration from Tyco (Faust’s character) to create Valentino. Obviously, nothing is set in stone and nobody knows what happened behind the scenes besides said parties involved.

[kicksnscribs]

there are some characters that are like, part of franchises that I will never be a part of that I wish I could just take from their source material and just tuck them into my brain and it sucks bc i like drawing them but I also don't want ppl following me thinking that they are going to see some content of their personal faves when in actuality im just interested in this one clinically insane fuck in particular and nothing else...

fucking hate when a new FNAF game drops bc im am no where near interested in participating in the fandom and yet i am always reminded that I am willing to seek out and consume any and everything that involves one specific character for hours the second that i see any hint of them on the screen...

[enkephallic]

Limbus Company: Deep Analysis of Sin

So, I decided to take a deeper dive into the different sin types in Limbus Company.

The TLDR Version:

Wrath - Unable to accept something

Lust - Having a strong desire

Sloth - Losing sight

Gluttony - Satisfaction-seeking

Gloom - Controlled by pain

Pride - Contempt of others/selfishness

Envy - Desire to surpass

Regarding the sinners' skills, the sin position is important as well. A S1 sin is a surface-level appearance, but S3 represents something deep inside them.

The detailed explanations are under the cut!

Wrath

Wrath, on the surface level, can present as being irritable or hard to get along with.

Wrath S1 examples

LCB Ishmael, who seems irritable and nitpicky at first.

Seven Heathcliff "Why am I doing this stupid job?"

Hook Office Hong Lu "Don't speak so softly, I'll feel homicidal"

S2 gets closer to how they really feel. The feeling of wrath comes from the feeling of "I can't accept this" - whether it's how they're being treated, how their environment is, etc.

Wrath S2 examples

LCB Heathcliff (past speculation) - Discriminated, mistreated, resenting what's happening to him

LCB Sinclair (past) - I don't want to get prosthetics

W Corp Hong Lu - Bored with his job.

And S3 wrath represents a strong rejection - they won't accept Anything they deem contrary to their own beliefs and ideals. It is a violent refusal.

Wrath S3 examples

N corp identities who are brainwashed - Kill all the dissenters and heretics.

Pequod Ishmael - "It's MY way or the HIGHWAY, god damn it!" (Throws a fit if another ID kills an enemy)

R Corp Ishmael - Hates it to the point she's looking for Singularity information of old R corp

LCB Rodya - I can't accept this armchair revolution and endless poverty. I have to kill this old windbag.

Lust

Lust in this case is a pursuit of something non-physical - a relationship, an ideal, a core element of your self. On the surface level, this can present as really wanting to be something.

Lust S1 Examples

LCB Don Quixote - Wants to become a great Fixer.

W Corp Ryoshu - Wants to be a great artist.

Sous Chef Gregor - Wants to improve his cooking.

S2 is a little stronger than just normal desire. They will willingly hurt other people or trample them to achieve their goal.

Lust S2 Examples

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu - Uses violence and is callous to those invading his turf

The One Who Grips Faust - Massacres Sinclair's village to get what she wants

LCB Ryoshu - Her idea of beauty ties in with violence

S3 is a little different - It's desiring something so badly on an existential level. It's pretty much what they live for.

Lust S3 Examples

R.B. Chef Ryoshu - Needs to be one of the Eight. Will stop at nothing to achieve this.

N Corp Heathcliff - Not brainwashed, doesn't really want to be. Wants to preserve his "true self".

G Corp Gregor - After an irreversible transformation, fully believes his reason to exist is to be a killing machine.

Interestingly, both LCB Heathcliff and Hong Lu have a Lust S3.

Sloth

Sloth is inaction, watching from the sidelines, not seeing what is in front of you. This can start with just simply being misguided, believing something to be true when it's not.

Sloth S1 Examples

W Corp Don Quixote - "I am working at a Wing!! CHOO CHOO!! Sally forth!!"

LCB Outis - Her piss-poor act of blind acceptance and obedience.

LCB Meursault - It is simply none of my business if Sinclair hyperventilates and vomits on the floor.

S2 sloth is more purposeful, not taking action when one should or purposefully being ignorant of reality.

LCB Faust - Does not tell Dante and the others a lot of information and doesn't stop sinners from running amok.

LCB Hong Lu - Despite being perceptive, does not seem to register bad situations as bad or react to pain appropriately.

G Corp Gregor - This feels wrong but I'll just continue with it anyway.

S3 sloth is a total loss of vision, not being able to see what's important to them. Losing sight of all they used to desire, and doing nothing about it.

Dieci IDs - Lost their memory and doesn't even remember what was most important to them.

K Corp Hong Lu - Doesn't seem to mind his total loss of freedom and autonomy, despite desiring freedom in other IDs.

LCB Yi Sang - Could not care about anything he once loved or aspired to be, until he was able to gain his wings once more.

Blade Lineage Don Quixote - Once used her strength to fight alongside her comrades, but now kills for purely her own sake.

Gluttony

Gluttony is a desire to be satisfied, whether it's something material or psychological. This can present like greed or selfishness at first sight.

S1 Gluttony Examples

LCB Rodya - "I want meat, I want money, I want to gamble!"

LCB Ryoshu - "Let me smoke. Let me do as I please."

Lantern EGO Don Quixote - Curious about the abnormalities and wanting to know more about them

S2 Gluttony is wanting more at a crucial point in their life, or desiring more than they could chew. It could also mean getting hooked into something or addicted.

S2 Gluttony Examples

LCB Ishmael - "I quit my job, I need something that's not labour hellscape... Hm? That hag can sure talk..."

R Corp Heathcliff - Began deriving enjoyment from killing

N Corp Don Quixote - Didn't even need the brainwashing, got hooked onto the N Corp ideology herself

S3 Gluttony seems to be the final stage of seeking what they desire - being satisfied, even when they shouldn't be.

S3 Gluttony Examples

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu - Seems completely happy and enjoying himself

Seven Heathcliff - Actually learned to like his job

W Corp Hong Lu - Doesn't want praise or a raise, just fine with how things are now

Gloom

Gloom represents pain, and how it affects how the person treats their situation or other people. On the surface level, they may appear melancholic or having given up.

S1 Gloom Examples

LCB Yi Sang, LCB Gregor - Self explanatory.

Rosespanner Meursault - Crushed by work

R Corp Ishmael - Headache, pain, does not like it here

S2 Gloom is a moment of despair, when something in their heart was broken. This may also involve guilt and inflicting pain.

W Corp Don Quixote and most W Corp IDs (Except Hong Lu and Ryoshu) - The shocking reveal of what W Corp really is.

N Corp Heathcliff - "What the hell am I even doing??"

Lobotomy EGO Heathcliff - "All my friends are dead."

S3 Gloom can represent letting their pain affect how they treat others. Lashing out, being insensitive to others' pain, or simply giving up and accepting the hurt as inescapable.

W Corp Yi Sang - Abandoned hopes for freedom, just wants it to hurt a little less

G Corp Outis - Knows she cannot escape the unfair treatment

LCB Ishmael - Lashes out and hurts others because she is deeply hurting, making it more painful for her too

Pride

Pride is the belief that they are different from other people, and so the rules don't apply to them. This can seem as arrogance at first, even if they are not actually like that.

S1 Pride Examples

LCB Sinclair - Rich boy 1

LCB Hong Lu - Rich boy 2

LCB Faust - Doesn't hide that she thinks she's better than everyone else

S2 Pride can contain disdain for other people, and believing they are better than those around them. Therefore, their actions can be excused in their eyes.

S2 Pride Examples

LCB Meursault and LCB Outis - Competent and they know it themselves. Outis thinks of her comrades as dirt and points and laughs when they die.

W Corp Ryoshu - Her art comes from chopping up the dead and deformed passengers, doesn't give a single shit about them

LCB Rodya - Believed she was special enough to make a difference and split the hag's skull.

S3 pride goes a step further - their own desires take precedence over anyone else's. They may even see other people's lives as literally the same as a blade of grass. If they want something, they'll trample everything and anything.

S3 Pride Examples

The One Who Grips Faust - Probably doesn't even give a shit about the grand ideology or her minions. Just did it because she could, and wanted to.

The Middle Little Sister Don Quixote - "I can kill anyone who disrespected my organization!"

LCB Ryoshu - Has the littlest regard for human life.

Envy

Envy can start out with the simple desire to surpass someone, to become better than others. To want more than what other people have.

S1 Envy Examples

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu - Began wanting to be stronger, to have more power.

LCB Heathcliff - Rich bastards are annoying, they don't deserve it more than I do

Shi Ishmael - Just wants to survive in a world of dog eat dog

S2 envy is the need to be better than what you once were, to surpass yourself and get something accomplished.

S2 Envy Examples

LCB Yi Sang - Bettered his own craft and created the mirror.

Pequod Members - Lay their past self to rest, and opted to hunt the whale.

R.B. Chef Ryoshu - Wants to make better and better pies

S3 Envy is the result of their desire to surpass - or that they have accomplished something, but with a heavy price.

S3 Envy Examples

W Corp Ryoshu - Extremely powerful, but her sword will suck up her health if she doesn't charge it properly.

R Corp Heathcliff - Gained insane power but lost something important to him in the process.

LCB Sinclair - Was able to avoid getting prosthetics but his whole family dead.

Pequod Heathcliff - Managed to get out of the Middle but is covered in scars he can't erase.

I will continue to write more specific theories, but this is how I feel about the sin affinities right now! I'd love to write about EGO and enemies as well soon.

[leonawriter]

ok so. I mostly just wanna ramble about stuff.

don't read on if you haven't done the event!

OK so. The pair-offs.

I can't help but think that who each Sinner was paired off with (no, not in a shippy way) has got major implications and lore reasoning.

The elephant in the room is, of course, Ryoshu and Hong Lu, since they're the focus of the next two Cantos.

Ryoshu is the seemingly content and happy-go-lucky Hong Lu, while Hong Lu's body is now piloted by Ryoshu, giving us some chillingly terrifying moments, when she glares, and threatens execution if Hong Lu (in her body) tries to unsheathe her sword.

Personally I think that's a huge glaring neon sign toward Hong Lu's issues with violence and anger that've been repressed. His body is capable of it, even when his mind is elsewhere... just as Ryoshu is - as we know from things like TKT and C6 etc, perfectly capable of being nice, and defending someone who whose family are shit.

Talking of, the other really obvious pair from the start is Heathcliff and Sinclair, who have both had their Cantos, and I think their connection is pretty obvious - Heathcliff's anger is expressed clearly and openly in an outward way, while Sinclair lives in a balance between showing his rage and hatred, and... just plain not letting it be who he is. I have yet to read Demian. I feel like I'd know his character better if I did.

But yeah, we see Heathcliff acting nervous and skittish and much younger, when we know that he was abused as a child. And we see Sinclair acting brash and aggressive, when... oh, yeah, the ID that's releasing after the next maintenance? Is his Middle ID. Where he is full of violence and rage, and he looks to be in his element.

So. They, too, match.

Some of the others aren't as clear-cut, but are just... hilarious to watch, but also fascinating with the implications.

We have Meursault and Rodya, when we have no idea what Meursault's back ground is past what people have asked him to tell of it, but we DO know that he was in N Corp for a while, and he no longer is, as well as that he used to speak in a less concise way, and started speaking the way he does now because he thought people would understand him better. In other words, both Rodya and Meursault either aren't truly being themselves all of the time, OR they have adapted to suit being around other people.

Don Quixote and Faust seems like an odd match-up at first, but - oh, wait. Both of them have a "hive-mind" of sorts! Faust has the Gesselschaft (the Fausts) and as we saw in the LCB-RCU... Don Quixote has the entirety of the Family's thirst riding on her back. And in the event, both of them are "cut off" (either through Rocinante, or "Access Denied") from that outside force of voices.

OH- also? We know that Faust as we know her is usually on top of things all the time, right? But there WAS one single time she wasn't - MOTWE. During which she did some pretty out there things, such as smiling while picking up human viscera. And she got excited to investigate things with absolutely no backup from Gesselschaft.

I think that's our other connection here - both of them have the capacity to become very excitable and expressive, and they also both have the capacity to be straight-faced and logical.

Gregor and Ishmael are a fun pair, and I feel like others might have more to say than me, but... there is the fact that both of them have been turned into something "else" by someone they followed (Gregor with Hermann, Ishmael with Ahab). It was less literal with Ishmael and Ahab, but Ishmael does literally refer to following Ahab as "becoming her mermaid" at various points. In C5, it's almost literal; she gets caught up so much that Heathcliff has to tear her free from becoming something other than human... just as Gregor is. They've also both lost the entire group that they would have once fought alongside, while they're the only survivors.

Which leaves us with Outis and Yi Sang, which I think is... oh, just. Fascinating.

Here we have the guy who refused to sell out his inventions, whose friends sold him out and who has issues connecting with the world and who just wants everyone to get along, paired up with Outis, who... is associated with a famous story where SHE'S the one who sells others out. Outis, who makes it her life's work - whether she intends it, or realises it, or not - to tear others down and form wedges between the group.

Honestly I'm still both amused at and I want to dissect each of the scenes where she's trying to get Yi Sang, in her body, to speak louder, more confidently, and talk down the other Sinners... only for him to say that he can't.

And lastly but not least, we have... Charon and Vergilius.

We have Charon fighting in Vergilius' body, with her Kkomi teddy bear as her weapon, wanting sweets. And we have Vergilius in Charon's body, guiding them through the fight and being their Announcer.

And... I gotta say that I think that it fits them, too.

Vergilius, in this event, has his immature, childishness brought out. I'm not kidding. We see that Charon is capable of throwing a childish tantrum through his body, and Vergilius himself is sitting back and half letting it happen, sure, but if we go by literally all of the others?

At least a part of Vergilius still retains that child-like immaturity, or, no... just the way that a child thinks that the world should be the way it should be, fair and just. We see the way he reacts to certain things in both Leviathan and in various Cantos. The way he is with Charon. Sure, he's the Red Gaze now, but... what about before?

So, uh. Yeah. This event minisode. I think it hints at character and personality traits that the Sinners (and Charon and Vergilius) are all hiding or repressing. And by swapping them seemingly randomly, we get a glimpse of what they don't want us to see that they're capable of, even if it's mortifying for them.

[tookishcombeferre]

Character Arcs: Why I Refuse to See the New Lilo & Stitch Remake

So, I hesitated to jump into this debate because I wasn't sure I could comment on something I haven't' seen.

However, I want to comment on *why* I won't see it, and it has to do with the fact that I think three characters have been irreparably damaged because of how their narrative arcs have changed in the adaptation.

ONE: Dr. Jumba Jookiba: An Absolute Masterpiece in Progressing the "Mad Scientist Trope"

Dr. Jumba is based in an important literary trope that stems all the way back to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, at least, perhaps earlier?

Therefore, to remove Dr. Jumba's accent and make him the primary villain is to remove something fundamental about *him* and what makes him different from those other scientists in literature before him.

Dr. Frankenstein. Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Van Helsing. Faust.

These are all characters that make up elements of Dr. Jumba's character design, coding, and creation. They were placed lovingly into Dr. Jumba's character through each element of his creation.

Yet, these characters usually do not get any kind of significant "redemption" arcs or anything apart from the sort of "morality play" lessons written into their novels/novellas. (Except Van Helsing who is, arguably a decent bloke to begin with.)

Yet, something changes within the monster genre with the invention of film ... particularly slapstick humor in black and white films.

In the original 2002 film, Stitch is captivated by old black and white monster films. He loves the destruction caused by giant invading spider creatures. He even recreates one of the scenes in which a monster in a black and white film destroys San Francisco.

However, what Dr. Jumba comes to realize watching Stitch in that moment/ those moments of emptiness and loss after destruction is that there isn't a deeper purpose.

And, that digs into some of the greater questions of monster literature at large:

What is humanity's purpose?

What is a monster?

What is the role of their creator?

At what point is the monster a reflection of the creator?

Yet, about that spin off genre ...

Amidst the the more traditional adaptations of monster stories in black and white film, as well as other unique and new monster stories made exclusively FOR film, came things like "Young Frankenstein."

In these slapstick and humorous adaptations, many things about the original monster stories were changed. In these movies, the creator and monster both "reconciled." This usually occurred through some combination of slapstick humor and basically proto-meme culture.

("Young Frankenstein" involves a whole tap dance routine followed by an exploding light fixture and a race through the German countryside ...)

("Young Frankenstein" From IMDB)

In "Young Frankenstein," the reconciliation between monster and creator is fast, silly, but, yet, somehow, actually, leads to some kind of meaningful commentary on humanity.

At the very end, Fredrick and The Creature talk, and they come to the agreement that the Creature is going to receive some of Fredrick's intellect. He will finally, trully, be *adopted* as a Frankenstein.

In this scene, the Creature speaks for the first time, and they do manage to settle the crowd.

And, at the very end, we close on another standard unifying human topic ... toilet humor.

So, if you'd ask me,*this* is the spirit of Dr. Jumba's turn around.

When Dr. Jumba says "Well, he's very persuasive ..." after Stitch says like 3 words?

This! *This* trope, and probably this exact movie, is where that comes from.

To deny that, and to change it, fundamentally alters the spirit of one of the primary influences of the film which is these old school monster flicks.

Besides that, the way Lilo and Stitch changed the genre of monster literature as we understand it is *undeniable.* Prior to films like "Young Frankenstein," and other parodies like it, the stories of the past remained what they were.

Yet, Lilo and Stitch, and Dr. Jumba in particular, begin to draw a perfect circle.

The hard questions of the old pieces of literature could be asked and answered, BUT they could be answered through humor and fart jokes.

Dr. Jumba is the classic Faustian, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Frankenstein scientist who learns compassion for his creation because he finds purpose, no matter how quickly, in loving Stitch. Dr. Jumba is part of the support system created for Nani, Lilo, and Stitch because *he* needs it.

For most of the film, Dr. Jumba doesn't understand what family is or why it matters. He can't. His goal is make things that destroy things. He doesn't understand human life as valuable (or, perhaps, he doesn't see any life as valuable?) Yet, what he comes to know, through Stitch, is the value of *life.* (Look no further than the sequel film to see *that* come to fruition.)

It's this additional layer that unites two halves - the original monster stories of traditional "mad scientists" and the parodies in which reconciliation is brought about by toilet humor and bad dancing - both of those arcs and narratives deeply influence the "monster" side of Lilo and Stitch's narrative structure. And, for better or worse, Dr. Jumba Jookiba's quick and quirky "redemption" is at the center of that telling.

Gantu needs to be present as the foil for Dr. Jumba. He is the heard-hearted, almost Javert-esque, maniac who cares for nothing and no one except the mission sent for him. Dr. Jumba cares enough to ask questions.

Dr. Jumba's curiosity is his *salvation.*

Gantu's rigidity is his *downfall.*

TWO: Captain Gantu: Lost in Time ... Lost in Space ... Another Casualty of the Capitalist Race

Captain Gantu also has a role to play in these black and white monster films and, to completely remove him, is to do a huge disservice to these sources of influence.

Going back to the "Young Frankenstein" example, there is actually a police officer character named Inspector Kemp. Kemp is actually, kinda-sorta, part of the reason The Creature is accidentally freed near the middle-end of "Young Frankenstein" and is just generally really obnoxious.

(Actually, as I retrace the IMDB for "Young Frankenstein" to check my notes, I'm noticing that there are a *surprising* number of parallels between Frederick and Jumba, Kemp and Gantu, and The Creature and Stitch.)

However, all that to say, Gantu needs to be present because without him the story no longer works. Lilo and Stitch is built on the backs of monster stories in which a "mad scientist" is chased down by "the law." Without "the law," there is no story.

The beauty of what Lilo and Stitch does, however, is asking us to reframe who is *right* and who is *wrong.* What is *just* and what is *merciful.*

Gantu, in many ways, may be *right* and he may be *just.* But, that does not make him merciful. Gantu's lack of mercy is what causes his ENDS to fail to justify his MEANS.

And, that?

That is what makes Gantu so fun to root against and to despise.

To take away Dr. Jumba's quiet moments of reflection, to make him a twist villain, (and remove Gantu completely) fundamentally changes *who* Jumba is *and* what he's meant to represent. It fundamentally changes what this film *does* for the genre in which Lilo and Stitch belongs.

I could get into a whole other rant about why this is significant to me as a neurodivergent person and the extraordinary significance of Lilo and Stitch as a monster narrative that features both a monster and a clearly neurodiverse-coded main character.

But, that's likely a separate post.

Yet, know that monsters and changelings have long been a stand-in for neurodivergent and disabled people in literature, and I do not think it was/ is coincidental the Lilo AND Stitch are written as they are and were chosen to be paired together.

Therefore, to *remove* Dr. Jumba's redemption towards Stitch as benevolent creator changes not only his arc, but the longstanding commentary on the role of the creator and what they created in monster literature.

And, to remove Gantu completely departs from the "monster literature" source material trope so strongly that I'm not even sure they're following the same plot anymore.

THREE: Nani: The Most Egregious Sin has Been Saved for Last

So many wonderful Hawaiian native folks have spoken on this subject all over the internet.

Please, I implore you, go find what they've posted on this platform, on YouTube, on Tik Tok and listen to them.

It is really not that hard to find everything from scholarly articles to everyday folks talking about *why* Nani leaving Lilo in the hands of the state to "pursue a degree" is not the "happy ending" it sounds like to most of the rest of us.

As a white trans-masc dude *from the mainland,* I'm just going to say when I heard about that twist, I turned to my spouse and said "My God, it's like if someone adapted The Outsiders and had Darry leave on a football scholarship instead of staying with Soda and Ponyboy."

And. Yes. I do believe the change is that fundamental. Teleportation gun or no.

The end.

[shredsandpatches]

Dorothy Sayers' The Devil to Pay does this and while the first three acts I kind of have mixed feelings about, the final one just wrecks me: Faustus, having been reverted to a state of primal ignorance by his deal with Mephistopheles, is given the choice to either remain in limbo in complete innocent content but to never know God, or to fulfill his bargain and go to hell but retain his knowledge. Here's the section where he makes his choice:

(seriously. Absolutely wrecks me)

Thinking about the Protestant Reformation, the shift from Catholicism to Protestantism, and Protestantism not having purgatory. Thinking about "Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, / A hundred thousand, and at last be saved. / O, no end is limited to damned souls!" about his wish to be purified by punishment, in a way, and eventually be saved. Thinking about other versions of Faust where he gets sent to purgatory instead.

[isablooo]

ℜ𝔢𝔫𝔞𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔦𝔫

(Context under cut)

Before it was ever brought to the screen, Frankenstein was extremely popular on the melodramatic stage and was adapted numerous times over the course of the 19th century. Something that struck me about these adaptations is that they often set the story in more typically gothic historicized settings with characters dressed as if they're on the Shakespearean stage. Frankenstein's use of science is therefore replaced with esoteric Renaissance alchemy, often interpolating elements of Faust into his character. This vindicates Frankenstein's obsession with Renaissance alchemists like Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus that he's ridiculed for in the novel, though I'm not sure how intentional this was as many of the plays seem to copy eachother rather than drawing on the original text. Nevertheless, I was really inspired by this shift in time period so here's my take on a Renaissance Fankenstein making his homunculus. I ended up choosing the 17th century which is on the tail end of the Renaissance (I know some people don't even count it) but there were still alchemists in the period like Johann Konrad Dippel (who some people think Mary Shelley took inspiration from for the novel but girl I don't know if I agree with that). I also want to shout out the silent film of Frankenstein from 1910 in which the creature seems to be baking in a kiln as part of the creation scene?? The decentering of scientific advancements and interpolation of the Faust myth into these adaptations definitely shifted the thematic focus of the story. It's not until 20th century adaptations that contemporary science returns to the narrative.

[diediegamchicothdie]

First thank u @queenoftheundergroundscene for the Varg's cringe love letter

Now

Who is Lullaby Oliveira and why varg hates Brazil???? (Beside he's racist)

Lullaby is a black metal musician and artist from Brazil who highlights the sexual element on black metal (she writes stories about fuck with demons), and she the front girl of underground band Lullaby which had the peak of popularity on 90's.

How did she meet Varg? We don't know, she probably met Euro (he liked to talk with everyone in metal's world because he was a 🦜🦜) first and then she "spoke" with Varg, and I said "spoke" because she never answered, probably she died in cringe, my girl was talking about fuck demons and he introduced to her with "Southron" lol.

So, I just did this post to show this meme

(Instagram: meijemsimplol recuerden que soy una presa política por meta)

Maybe Faust cannot take revenge for his best friend murder, but at least he can get married with a Brazilian baddie!!!!!

And remember:

Southron Lullaby!

This is the manifest of male magic, this is the lidless eye, Count Grishnackh of no colors. Your letter was very interesting.

It was not long nor informative.... But it gave me a feeling of wonder. After reading it I thought of women of secret shadow.

As if beauty was their voice.....Calling for males to follow them into the shadows of the woods where evil lurks,

evil creatures and spirits who no one dare belive in. Among theese creatures....the nymph...the woman! I got this feeling that you

where sutch a "woman" tempting me to follow you. Write "Count I'm in the fell ... follow me ... "Lullaby" I think most males would

blindly follow you....without thinking about where you would take them. Mayby that is your goal? Mayby I should belive you when you

say you are Lucifer's? I recognized myself a lot. I enjoy to capture the love of females...It strengthen me. Also I drink virgin blood

whenever I can. And of course steal the virigin of many young beautiful, innocent, kind, unknowing girls. By playing music I geta lot of

worshipp! People worshipp time, feelings, etc. to me by listening to my music! So my power increase. I know that! Now I can do mostly

what I want to do... I can not cast lightning from my hands or sutch feary stuff. But acts to make people cry without

reason, make girls fall in love, or to sense others powers and feelings. Things like that. I think you have some cunning plans not

only beauty. You will never get my soul. I collect souls myself. I'm not to be collected. I have no love or good feelings.

I exist purely to get power. Power that will give me a place in the dark land where shadows lie. Where I will serve the dark lord.

Spread my lidless eye.

your "tempting" words...

PS I'll gladly have more pics.

Count Grishnackh.

Pd: he said "plz sand bobs and vagene" in Norsk

[jnnul]

the right side of wrong. (series masterlist)

PAIRING ▸ sunghoon park x fem!reader

GENRES ▸ young justice au!, nightwing!sunghoon, there is a vision here of sunghoon as nightwing and i want everyone to have it as well, superhero au

WARNINGS ▸ profanity (ofc), drinking, nsfw content (making out, thigh riding, oral sex, clothed sex) in later parts, violence (fighting, blood, general superhero warnings), character death, on another note, y/n is mostly referred to as ardor just because my backslash button is stuck and it’s pissing me off, sunghoon is a sexy mf, yes that’s a warning, the first few parts of the story are in the chat font but that’s just the profile section i swear, and yes, that’s also a warning

SUMMARY ▸ sunghoon park has a really bad habit of collecting strays. especially strays by the name of y/n ‘ardor’ faust who are definitely not supposed to be showing up in gotham city with information on the light and a penchant for setting things on fire. but hey, technicalities, right?

PLAYLIST ▸ yosemite - travis scott, back - jey, stay - ari abdul, element - pop smoke, dirty laundry - blackbear

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ i’ve fallen back into my superhero phase (which i’m always in, who am i kidding?) and everyone needs to understand my love for the found family + superhero trope. extremely self-indulgent and shamelessly fun to write! it’s a little different from what i usually write (college aus) so hopefully i do it justice (haha get it).

TAGLIST ▸ @hybeboyenthusisast

profiles

part one (11.4k words)

part two (6.5k words)

part three (4.8k words)

part four

part five

part six

part seven

part eight

[cursedtrans]

April Fool's Event

For being a silly little event that's extremely funny, the circumstances of this really do have some interesting new insights into characters and helps reinstate a lot of things. Spoilers under cut, plus a bit of liveblogging.

Rodion's insistence on staying in Meursalt's body is definitely her wanting to be special and high up on the ladder. Really reinstates her desire for standing out.

Hong Lu's casualness really does point to two-in one from @lu-is-not-ok being canon. He's absolutely the sinner most comfortable with this. Even the line "Am I speaking in a weird way?" points to me as whoever's inhabiting Hong Lu's body not knowing the way they speak is indicative of them and them alone!

Considering that Ahab is a person who is always featured holding a pipe, it makes sense that Ishmael has a very strong reaction to Gregor having a cigarette in her body's mouth, since I think her primary goal is to avoid becoming her own worst enemy.

Gregor really does have a level of respect for certain sinners, as seen by the contrast between him not smoking like Ryoshu does in someone else's body, but actively mocking Outis while she's out of her element.

Obviously Ryoshu being extremely protective of the unsheathing of her blade is indicative that it has some relation to her past, and her overall buried emotions. Nice to see it explicitly provoked by Hong Lu though.

Faust's Gessellschaft being connected to her body is definitely interesting, and these two lines in particular HEAVILY point to her future character arc in my eyes, and how I think Child In A Flask is HER abnormality.

Yi Sang really does not want to stir the bus or people within it. Outis' outbursts really goes against the companionship he seeks to foster within the group.

Outis' training of Yi Sang using her voice is definitely interesting. It points to her holding him in high regard, such as her dismissing sending the weakest sinner in checkup (him) to die, even if just for him being in control of her body.

Something about Meursalt's way of referring to Kkomi's stitch marks as indicative of 'serious combat experience' is extremely sweet and feels like he's cared FOR children before. It's the sort of play along that one often does to help with fantasies.

As much as one can write it off as just a dream, and I don't even think it REALLY happened, the mention of stars and Charon's comments and the actual physical gift from Charon/Kkomi point me towards it having a lot more significant symbolic and narrative meaning (and pointing towards the stars having a lot of power in PMoon hint hint nudge nudge).

Overall this was really fun! Points to a lot of future developments, and makes me very curious for how a certain few sinners' pasts and futures will play out (especially Meursalt. That play-along line is going to stick with me like glue.). I really recommend looking into it personally and seeing what details stick out to you about each Sinner, because it really does feel like this is an important event to keep in mind.

[saturnbeknownst]

all the symbolism of sunday i gathered before his release as a playable character.

while reading this, keep in mind that this may not be the same as his new character design. thank you for reading and enjoy!! point out mistakes, or anything i missed in the comments!! ♡♡ i'll probably make a separate post for his new design as well someday.

the thorny vine patterns on his clothes: Jesus is called "the true vine" of God, but he was also given a crown of thorns when he was crucified.

thorns (we can see them on sunday's design) were created as a punishment for the first sin.

there are eyes placed throughout his design, which are associated with the ophanim, an angel made up of wheels and eyes throughout its surface.

sunday has 3 pairs of wings in his concept art, and one pair is covering his eyes. this could be associated with seraphim—a creature close to god who also has 6 wings.

sunday's concept design also seems to have a seraph design near his collar.

the word serpah literally means destruction by fire in hebrew. upon hearing isiah's confession, one of the serpahim removed a coal from the altar of god and touches isiah's lips with it, saying "see, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

seraphim cover their eyes to avoid looking at god and be blinded by His light, and also feeling ashamed to be in His presence, demonstrating their humility. seraphim are the closest angels to god. They focus on praising and worshiping god for who He is and what He does—which could also be said for sunday and the 'odes of harmony'. (the odes of harmony are based off of the bible.)

sunday's halo is a buddhist wheel. i can not stress this enough, because it represents all of sunday's views: right (or wise) view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. all of these views can be observed whenever sunday speaks.

the cross on sunday's hand (starting from wrist) could be representing jesus' wrist when his hand was nailed to the cross. this may be a bit of a stretch but i'll put it here anyways.

sunday is also wearing rings on his index finger and thumb. these fingers are usually used to cross oneself. they also represent people of a specific family who have a high authority.

sunday's name can be derived from dies solis (in old english), meaning the day of the sun.

the sunday boss name is dominicus, comes from dies dominicus, which also means the Lord's day (sunday).

when sunday calls upon Ena, it's called "im Anfang war die Tat." it is a German phrase that translates to "In the beginning was the deed." this means that action or deeds came before words, thoughts, or anything else. it emphasizes the importance of actions over other elements like ideas or speech. the phrase originates from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play "Faust." specifically, it appears where Faust is translating the Bible and changes the opening line of the Gospel of John ("In the beginning was the Word") to emphasize action over mere words.