#i know the point of a pilot is to introduce the main cast and the world and its rules and how the characters interact with and break

[coles-scythe]

Ngl ever since I watched TADC, Pomni has been rotating in my brain like rotisserie chicken. Feeling silly, might make her an F/O.

[hoodieschaoticreviews]

Ok I watched the leaked episodes

Let’s start with the positives! I love positives!

- Alex Brightman put his whole Alexussy into this shit oh my god, Pentious and Adam actually sound really good. Adam singing is also really really good. Alex can sing in character and carry things well and I’m glad now he’s part of the project. Because at least it’ll be bearable if I see the other episodes.

-Vox is actually weirdly really compelling? Like I actually ended up enjoying the vibe he’s got and his own voice grew on me, I know it’s not what people wanted but it works well.

-Nifty’s voice is pretty ok, so is Charlie’s. They’re some of the better voices of the cast, Alastor’s performance was uh. It wasn’t bad so there’s that!

-the opening exposition was needed but also a bit hamfisted- wait shit the positives- uh, I love the direction it went? Art wise?

-the songs are pretty good, they get you from point A to point B, and at least wasn’t Poison levels of cringe in writing.

-Charlie actually helping Pentious in episode 2 try to repent and be a better person actually feels nice, like a crumb of what the show should of be-

…

Ok let’s get to the point.

-the episodes clearly are trying to shove as much of the plot as humanly possible, to the point that you get whiplash.

-Angel Dust, Vaggie, Valentino, Husk all have voices that either do not fit, crack from the pressure to perform, or are trying so hard to mimic the previous voice that it’s actually worrying. The Angel dust one in particular I’ll get to when I get to the point.

-The plot starts with the main antagonist, literally telling Charlie that her plan is pointless and she should give up. There’s no actual “I want” song to counter this, unless you count the song where Adam mocks her for trying and tells her the exterminations will happen twice a year now.

-Pentious at least wasn’t a creep like i was fearing in the script, but he comes off too pathetic? Like I know he was pathetic and that’s the point but why the fuck does he want to be equal to the Vees now? Didn’t he want to rule over hell himself? I know the instagram had him crop himself into pictures with the Vees but remember those aren’t canon!

-I realized I was able to hop in because I had Wikipedia level knowledge of these characters to the point they click in my head (and enough to where Alastor, Charlie, Vaggie and Husk all felt a little off but that’s neither here nor there). But god I cannot imagine being a new person trying to jump into this show, this is bad. None of the characters get actually introduced outside of Charlie, the show references the pilot which isn’t part of the show so new audiences have no idea what they’re talking about, and the staff gets actually introduced in episode 2. EPISODE 2, TO PENTIOUS!? GIRLIE POP HAVE HIM COME EPISODE 1 THEN?

-Animation that’s either too floaty, too janky, too stiff or straight up traced. Which I don’t blame the animators for, Mammon was busy buying 10,000 dollars worth of peacocks to bother paying them more than a dollar per frame. There’s no charm here.

-Where did the fucking cat key come from? No I’m serious. Where did it come from? It just kinda exists now.

-Alastor’s commercial is just straight up MEAN and he’s often more mean than chaotic, which I know is ironic since he wasn’t a good person and I wasn’t expecting him to be but it’s to a point where it’s not even fun mean. He literally called Charlie’s endeavor “Daddy issues”. It felt like he was just there to slap Charlie in the face.

-Angel Dust rant is gonna be so long that I saved it for last.

I have to put it under the read more because of talk of SA! Fun!

Ok.

I’m saying this as someone who loved him from the pilot and was willing to excuse his behavior as “flaws he can work on” since Addict and everything else proved that there was more under the surface and he was a character that could change and grow and-

…

…

Angel dust, the rape victim… the guy running away from his abuser…

The Angel dust who has traumatic episodes so fucking graphic that he flashes back to them when he’s performing.

Saying “yeah no, fucking sexually exploit me! It turns me on!”

Viv, I know you’re not reading this but I mean this genuinely.

Fuck you.

As someone who’s family has experienced sexual abuse, as someone who’s family still has CPTSD because men in power decide to exploit them… how fuckin dare you make a character enjoy their own exploitation.

This isn’t me kink shaming a sexual character! He can be sexual and like sex! It’s never been the problem and hell it could of been liberation to have sex he deserves.

But no.

Let’s make the SA victim into the sexual harassment character, let’s make the SA victim the Stolas of the show where he wears down his love interest so thin that they have to give up.

Let’s make the SA victim still work under his shitty abuser, and make that into a joke as the abuser mentions wanting to rape everyone in the hotel.

Don’t pay to watch this show, I mean it.

Pirate it.

Hell don’t even watch it, find something better to watch. I’ve been binging anime as of late and I still like captain lazerhawk.

[nogoodsheepstealing-greatgrandma]

Fixing Laena Velaryon

First off, my preference with HOTD would have been to have a book-accurate adaption of Fire & Blood, and of Laena's role within the story. The typical response to that sentiment is of course "why can't you just accept the show on its own merits?" (those merits being increasingly dubious as of S2). In the spirit of doing so, I'd like to demonstrate how the bare minimum of effort could have been made to keep Laena an actual character in this high-budget fanfiction. And in doing so, hammer in how the failure to do even the bare minimum demonstrates the show's misogynoir.

For the sake of this post I am accepting the age changes, and I am accepting Alicent taking Laena's place as Rhaenyra's friend. I'll even accept the structure of the season, keeping events broadly the same even though this unfortunately continues to place Laena in the margins (again, we are talking about the bare minimum here). But within this limited framework there was still plenty of space to focus on Laena - and a narrative need to do so. For one, how the audience feels about Laena carries into how we feel about her daughters (assuming an alternate reality of course where the intention was to make Baela and Rhaena actual main characters - I will eventually do a follow up post for them).

For another, her story impacts how we feel about the succession of both Driftmark and the Iron Throne. She is the daughter of The Queen Who Never Was; by all the laws of Westeros, her mother is the rightful Queen (a daughter comes before a male cousin). Laena herself is a would-be queen consort, and her daughters are technically the rightful heirs to both Driftmark and the Iron Throne as Rhaenys' only biological grandchildren (so suck it Vaemond). When Vaemond put himself forward as heir over Laena's daughters, he was actually using the same precedent that was used to pass over Laena's mother.

Laena therefore plays a vital role beyond just being Rhaenyra's friend and Daemon's wife. Her wishes and agency with regards to the succession matters. She is the spurned queen consort and mother of two rightful heirs - who rides the largest dragon in the world. She is the one who solidifies the Targaryen-Velaryon alliance with Rhaenyra. Her loss really should have felt like a dramatic turning of the tides. And her legacy should have been felt after her death.

Episode 1

First off, I would like to make a point about how Laena is introduced (speaking as someone who knows fuck all about cinematography so... apologies in advance!). To preface, not every main character needs to have a big introduction in a pilot episode - the pilot has enough on its plate without having to introduce every single member of its large ensemble cast. It is fair enough to simply have a character appear and then get to know them later. But for the purposes of this post I want to explore where there was space for Laena, and how it could have been used.

In the show we first see Laena sitting next to her brother at the tourney. The camera doesn’t single them out or give us any reason to identify them as crucial characters yet. They are to the side and in the background of the shot. The audience can guess that these kids must be Rhaenys and Corlys’ children based on where they are sitting, but their focus is primarily drawn to Viserys addressing the crowd, and Alicent waiting for Rhaenyra in the front.

Later on in the tourney, we finally get brief cuts to close up shots of Laena and Laenor reacting to the violence, and of Laena grabbing her brother’s arm for support. This is a nice quick way to establish their sibling dynamic (little sister seeking comfort). But that’s all for this episode, and considering how the audience's attention is directed in their first appearance this brief cut is probably the first time many viewers noticed them. While watching this episode with my sister - who is a show-only viewer - she did ask me "wait who are these kids?" (she also missed that Rhaenys and Boremund Baratheon were cousins - a reason it would have been helpful for show-only viewers if Eve Best had her book-canon Baratheon hair).

Since we don't see Laena and Laenor again in this episode, it's fair to ask whether their first appearance could have been a bit more notable, signalling to the audience - especially show-only viewers - to remember them for later.

Compare to how we are introduced to other characters in this series opener - both key characters and minor.

As a main character, we get a clear view of Alicent coming down from the carriage to greet Rhaenyra, and the camera stays on and keeps Alicent in centre frame as we are introduced to her properly.

Harrold Westerling is a minor character - who we get to know more in this episode than we do Rhaenyra's cousins. We get a clear view of him waiting for Rhaenyra on his horse, and it doesn't take long for him to get a close up. We take the time to efficiently meet him and establish his dynamic with Rhaenyra as a protective kingsguard. From his prominence here I actually expected him to be a bigger character going forward.

We even get a fair bit of time to meet this anxious dragonkeeper, as he nervously takes his cue from his older, more experienced colleague. A good example about how a mere couple of seconds can be efficiently used to communicate a character and a relationship when the show chooses to take the time.

Again we don't need to establish every key character in this opening episode - it can be enough to quickly identify them and then meet them again properly in the next episode, as we do with Laena. There are a lot of characters who need introducing after all.

But considering the way we are introduced to other minor characters - from characters who will come back like Harrold Westerling, to characters we probably won't watch out for again like the anxious dragonkeeper - and again its fair to consider whether Laena and Laenor's introduction could have been a little more notable. Especially since Rhaenyra's relationship with the Velaryon family is important to establish. As the dragonkeeper demonstrates, a few seconds here and there is even enough - if you can devote that time to an extra, you can devote it to Laena.

At the very least, the episode could have found the spare seconds (if not whole ass minutes please - this is the barest of bare minimums) to establish a more frequent presence for Laena and Laenor. To signal to the audience that we should remember who these characters are, that they will be important going forward.

One opportunity to provide a more notable introduction is the scene where Rhaenyra and Alicent walk arm in arm through the castle. The atmosphere of this scene sets a 'happier more innocent times' tone ahead of the upcoming loss and tragedy. To add to this tone, the show could have had Rhaenyra and Alicent pass Laena and Laenor along the way, running and playing through the castle.

Maybe Rhaenyra could quickly sidestep her cousins to stop them running into her on her way up the stairs, maybe lift up her and Alicent's arms to let them run through while she and Alicent continue to be engrossed in their conversation. This would establish both a familiar and playful dynamic between Rhaenyra and her cousins, while not interrupting her moment with Alicent.

Alternatively, if we wanted to introduce Laena as a character in the pilot, we could add another scene of Rhaenyra and Alicent walking down the hallway before they arrive at Aemma's rooms. Laena and Laenor could be again running and playing in the hallway, only this time they could stop to quickly interact with their cousin, maybe pass on that her mother's looking for her. Laena could even stop to excitedly ask after Syrax before her brother pulls her away to keep playing.

Not only would this give us a clearer and endearing introduction to the characters - both characterising the siblings and establishing their dynamic - but it would more directly let the audience know 'remember these two, they are important'. Of course this new scene would add more to the episode runtime - so a more efficient option is to just have them playing in the existing scene without stopping for a hello.

Another efficient option is to have Rhaenyra quickly interact with her cousins as she hurries in late to the tourney.

It can be as quick as a grin between the cousins as Rhaenyra ducks her way to her seat, or Laena could giggle as her older cousin pulls an 'oops, I'm late' face. A deleted line from episode 5 informs us that Laena used to follow Rhaenyra around like a shadow, so showing Laena light up to see Rhaenyra here could be a sweet way to depict this side of their relationship.

Above all, it would be a chance to give a clearer and longer shot of the two siblings rather than just a brief cut to them, letting them be in the centre of the frame and bringing them more firmly to our attention. Then by the time we cut to them reacting to the violence of the tourney, we already know who they are.

The interaction could meanwhile take advantage of the staging to visually emphasise Alicent's isolation among the Valyrians, with Alicent waiting in her seat on her side of the stage while Rhaenyra is on the other side with her family. Again I would rather a book-accurate telling of the Dance, and as such I have little regard for Rhaenycent or the Saga of Alicent the Eternal Victim. But in the spirit of this post, I will pepper in examples of how expanding Laena's role could have mutually benefitted the story this fanfiction wanted to tell... while slipping in a core trait of Book Alicent - jealousy towards children ;)

Finally, we could simply have the cousins be present at Aemma's funeral - we get a clear shot of their parents among the mourners after all.

To go further, there is an opportunity to add in another moment between Rhaenyra and her cousins.

On the one hand, I do like how the funeral scene ends, with this shot here of Rhaenyra turning away from her mother's cremation as the smoke fills the screen. It's a shot that makes Rhaenyra feel very alone, which emotionally is important to prioritise for this episode. The scene is after all partly about Rhaenyra's relationship with her father, specifically her grief at not being the son he wanted, and so ending the scene on Rhaenyra alone arguably makes it more impactful later in the episode when her father makes her his heir.

However it could have also been impactful to set up a parallel with the funeral in episode 7, where Rhaenyra nudges Jacaerys to offer his condolences to Baela and Rhaena. Rhaenys could likewise nudge her children to go and offer comfort to Rhaenyra, and Laena could comfortingly take her hand. Then when Baela and Jace take hands, we'd have a sense of a bond getting passed down through the generations.

Taking time to depict this bond would make the viewer less inclined to ask for receipts when Rhaenys claims in episode 5 that Rhaenyra and her cousins grew up together. Meanwhile Laena's death is of course sadder the more we see of her, and the more we see her relationships with the characters we spend more time getting to know (like Rhaenyra).

It would also provide a foundation for Rhaenyra's relationship with her stepdaughters - the more we see that their mother was important to Rhaenyra the more layers are automatically added to her interactions with them.

I think at least some of these moments could have been easily slotted into existing scenes, and that any added screentime would have been worth it. The legwork provided by these moments importantly give the writers an easier task writing these characters in later episodes. You don't need potentially clunky exposition like 'they grew up together' or 'Laena used to follow you around like a shadow'.

Besides, as a viewer we are always going to be more emotionally moved and invested in what we see, rather than what we hear exposited to us.

Episode 2

A running theme throughout the first half of the season is the systemic sexual abuse of girls within the feudal patriarchy that is Childbrideros, and this episode sees both Laena and Alicent served up as child brides by their parents. First off, I already really like the scene of Laena and Viserys walking through the gardens. It does a good job first establishing her obsession with Vhagar, and above all emphasising how young Laena is. It's extremely disturbing, and props to the actress here because you can see actual terror in Laena's eyes as she repeats what she's been taught to say.

Honestly I think Nova Foueillis-Mosé was criminally underused.

Again, this scene is already incredibly effective on its own. But consider how the additions to the previous episode could have done some extra legwork for this scene. How much more disturbing is this already disturbing scene if we’d just watched Laena running innocently around the Red Keep, playing with her brother? If we'd just seen her being a sweet little sister with Rhaenyra? It’s the difference between getting to know a character from a disturbing scene, and witnessing a disturbing scene with a character we’ve already gotten to know.

Now this is a bit of a tangent, but relevant to setting up Laena's role in the story while adding to the themes of the episode. I would have made some changes to Rhaenyra’s interaction with Rhaenys*, as they watch Laena and Viserys from above. When Rhaenyra asks Rhaenys if she is ok with this, Rhaenys could inform the audience that Rhaenyra’s own mother Aemma was the same age as Laena when the Old King arranged her marriage to Viserys. And before her Rhaenyra’s grandmother Daella was such a delicate young girl when she was married to Lord Rodrik Arryn - seven-and-ten yet, by all accounts, barely out of childhood.

*again, for the sake of this post I am broadly accepting the show's depiction of Rhaenys and her hostile relationship with Rhaenrya.

This would emphasize the systemic generational abuse and trauma of Targaryen girls that Rhaenyra fears, and give the audience a clearer idea of Old King Jaehaerys. I hated the little joke Lyonel makes about the trouble Jaehaerys had with his daughters – not because this isn’t the kind of joke people would have made, but because this is all the audience gets to learn about Jaehaerys and his daughters.

I would also take this opportunity to make clear to the audience what exactly happened in the Great Council at Harrenhall. As the show depicts it, the audience would think Rhaenys had put her name forward against tradition. As I said above, tradition actually dictated that a daughter comes before an uncle, and certainly before a male cousin. The Lords weren’t voting in favour of tradition – they were given the chance by Jaehaerys (who sought to retroactively legitimise his own claim to the throne - his older brother's daughters rightfully came before him) to ignore tradition and let their misogyny pick.

Some of this information could have been delivered during the opening prologue at the Great Council. But there is also space to inform the audience here, by having Rhaenys bitterly recount how she was passed over. Her father was the Old King’s firstborn, by all laws and customs of the Andals and the First Men she was the heir. A daughter comes before an uncle, and certainly before a cousin.

This addition would achieve three things.

Clarify the injustice done to Rhaenys, and the hypocrisy of the Greens’ appeals to custom and tradition.

Emphasise the stakes against Rhaenyra – all law and precedent was on Rhaenys’ side and it still wasn’t enough. Meanwhile her own situation is an entirely radical one.

Make it clear that Vaemond is absolutely not the heir to Driftmark when Laena's daughters come before him, therefore laying the groundwork for later episodes.

In terms of adding screentime to Laena (and Laenor), there is in opportunity in the scene where Rhaenyra picks out the new Kingsguard

Since Rhaenys is watching from the gallery anyway (she sure does like lurking in galleries), her children can also be present. They could be watching excitedly at the knights assorted below, perhaps even interact with Rhaenyra as she playfully asks for their advice. There could be a horrible moment of dramatic irony in which Laenor voices his approval of Rhaenyra picking Ser Criston Cole on the basis of combat experience.

I would end the scene with a moment of Laena lingering on the balcony, and noticing Otto Hightower watching her. This little girl is his daughter’s competition. The uneasy moment passes and she runs off to join her brother.

This would also be fitting as the following scene is of Alicent visiting Viserys and pretending to be interested in his models (directly followed by a scene of her listening to Rhaenyra's fears of getting displaced as heir and telling her not to worry... but sure Rhaenyra owed Alicent her sexual history! 😂). It would add a disturbing thematic throughline in the scene transition - from one potential child bride to another.

Episode 3

We meet teenage Laenor in this episode, so let us also meet teenage Laena and include the cut scene of her claiming Vhagar to end the episode. There is an opportunity to visually parallel Laena and Aemond’s claiming of Vhagar – but for the purposes of this post I’m going to assume budget is an issue.

With this in mind, there are ways around the budget. We could have a scene of Laena walking uphill, and looking down to see Vhagar asleep on the beach below. The camera closes in on a look of determination on her face as the scene cuts to black and the credits roll. Alternatively, assuming an even tighter budget, Laena could be hiking and searching for Vhagar and simply hear a roar in the distance. Maybe she could smile as a shadow flies overhead.

One impact of including this moment would be to make the audience partially associate Vhagar with Laena, therefore making them more sympathetic to Rhaena’s emotional claim. I don’t have patience for the whole “this entitled little black girl thinks she’s entitled to a dragon – dragons aren’t inherited they choose their rider – someone tell this idiot little black girl that a dragon ain’t no slave”. I don’t give a shit who is correct about the fictional science of dragon-taming – I care about a little girl feeling an emotional connection to her dead mother’s dragon.

Moreover, in cutting the scene of Laena claiming Vhagar I think the writers have misunderstood the importance of both this moment and the character. I think they assumed that since Laena dies early we don’t need to spend time with her (even though, again, how we feel about Laena carries into how we feel about her daughters and the succession of Driftmark).

But remember that before Laena claims Vhagar in the show, the ancient dragon is living wild and unclaimed. Rather than leaving Vhagar in the wild, in claiming her Laena brings her into the dance. In the context of the show, Laena's connection to Vhagar is what makes the act of Aemond then claiming her become a cause for conflict between the kids (the conflict between the kids in the book meanwhile was not about Vhagar, but Aemond just being a bully).

There is also another consequence of Laena claiming Vhagar…

Episode 4

Unfortunately there are no Velaryons in episode 4 and few chances to insert them, but there is a way to make their offscreen presence felt and felt hard. Namely, have the Small Council react to the fact that Laena has just claimed fucking Vhagar. Set up just how terrifying it is to not have Vhagar on your side (especially for the benefit of show-only fans). The largest dragon alive, the last of the conqueror’s dragons...

...Claimed by Laena, who just got passed over as Queen Consort. Laena, whose children have a claim to the Iron Throne. The Velaryons, who have been insulted twice over, now have Vhagar.

That is a political headache indeed. All the more important now that Rhaenyra marries Laenor. House Velaryon needs to be brought into the fold. If you're struggling for space in Episode 3 then Laena claiming Vhagar could even be the opening of Episode 4 - the event that sets into motion Viserys' political headache and Rhaenyra's marriage.

I mean, we already have the scene of the small council reacting to Corlys replacing the Crabfeeder as the power in the Stepstones, and Otto delivering the news that Corlys is in negotiations with the sealord of Braavos to marry Laena to the sealords' son. Since we're discussing the implications of House Velaryon entering an alliance with the Free Cities, is it just possibly a teensy weensy bit relevant to mention that Laena rides Vhagar?

Episode 5

First change to this episode isn’t strictly about Laena, but it is about Daemon as a husband, which informs our understanding of his relationship with both Laena and Rhaenyra.

Basically - divorce rock is fucking dumb. Book purism aside (sorry Conman, but Book Daemon had a solid alibi), it demonises an already dark character, who already has plenty of flaws without adding bashing his wife’s head in with a rock. The show doesn’t even fully commit to it, since it doesn’t tell us what exactly Daemon was planning to do before the horse threw Rhea off its back – ask for an annulment? Kill her a different way? Yes it gives us the chance to meet Rhea Royce – and she is iconic – but the cost is stupid and avoidable and damaging to Daemon’s character.

This isn’t to whitewash Daemon – but to stress that just because he is a dark character it doesn’t mean that every possible evil act is on the writer’s table. Yes, I know, this is the guy who sent two assassins to kill a child (unless you subscribe to the theory that Book Mysaria - bitter at losing her own child - had her own interpretation of 'son for a son') – however, he's not the guy who killed the child himself.

Is there a moral difference? I ultimately don't think so, but there is a fascinating psychological difference. Compare to Aemond, who personally beheads the children of House Strong, who murders a fleeing Lucerys in cold blood. Assuming an interpretation of Daemon in which it is him and not Mysaria who orders Blood and Cheese - how much is this Daemon actually willing to get his hands dirty with cowardly tasks? To whom is he willing to commit what evil acts, and how? Does he reconcile his self-image this way, “I’m not the one who killed the kid, it was an assassin”? “I’m not the one who killed Laenor, it was an assassin?”

Because that’s Daemon’s MO*, from Qarl Correy to Blood and Cheese. If he had anything to do with Rhea’s death in the book, it was through an assassin (and again, I think Daemon was a bit preoccupied with, you know, fighting in the stepstones - sometimes people just fall off their horse).

*again, for the sake of argument, assuming it was him

But that wouldn’t have given us the opportunity to see him and Rhea Royce interacting. So between that, and in the spirit of keeping the events of the episode broadly intact, I would have Daemon simply walk away after Rhea hits her head on the ground, the word ‘coward’ ringing in his ears. We don’t know what he planned to do, if he would have gone through with it – what we do know is that in this moment he wants the outcome but doesn’t want to actually be the one to do it. Rhea Royce isn’t a worthy opponent. Jaehaerys isn’t a worthy opponent.

This sets us up better for his relationship with his next wives. Daemon is capable of dark and violent acts, but he isn't the sort of person to bash his wife's head in with a rock. We can see his tenderness and genuine love for Laena without thinking 'does he merely see her as an obstacle between him and Rhaenyra?'

Getting past the Daemon tangent

In this episode we have a nice scene of Rhaenyra and Laenor negotiating the terms of their marriage. But when it comes to Laena we only get a brief snatch of her friendship with Rhaenyra. And there were plenty of opportunities to see more of that friendship, and of Laena.

Upon their arrival at Driftmark, we could firstly establish more of a presence for teenage Laena as she greets them. Let the camera give her a close up, making eye contact first with Viserys, then with Rhaenyra. In that close up, let the audience see that Laena knows her claiming Vhagar is part of the reason they are here, and she is enjoying it a bit. Aside from giving Laena the respect she deserves, this would establish to the audience just how powerful it is politically to be the rider of Vhagar - adding to the stakes when Aemond later claims her.

Next, I found the bit where both girls are unceremoniously barred from the throne room... very odd and thematically on the nose. We get it, women are barred from making decisions about their own lives etc etc... but we are talking about the crown princess and the rider of Vhagar... and Rhaenys is going to be in the room anyway. Also it's a tad insulting on Viserys' part to order his Kingsguard to bar Corlys' Velaryon's daughter from a room in her own home. Kind of a diplomatic whoopsie.

It would have made more sense if the crown princess and the rider of Vhagar were at least initially both in the room, then perhaps sent away while the adults talk business. We could have even had a little power play by the Velaryons - Laena can offer to escort them to meet her father and take the lead, positioning herself to be walking by the King's side instead of Lyonel. A subtle dig by the Velaryons, to remind Viserys that he passed over Laena as his consort and now he owes them. Bonus points if Laena smiles back at Rhaenyra and Rhaenyra looks amused by the situation (and slowly realising that she might be a little bit attracted to Laena...).

Next up... Rhaenyra and Laenor having an unsupervised walk on the beach? In a world obsessed with premarital virginity? After last episode? It just makes sense to have Laena and Ser Joffrey walking a bit behind them as chaperones. Then while Laenor has his moment with Joffrey in the dunes, Laena and Rhaenyra can continue walking along the beach together. Again, in showing their bond we build a foundation for their alliance over Driftmark and for Rhaenyra’s relationship with her stepdaughters.

The two of them can talk about how they��ll be good-sisters soon, and how now they can finally go flying together, something Laena wanted to do since she was a dragon-obsessed little girl following her older cousin around like a shadow. Before they moved back to Driftmark she used to hope that once Syrax was big enough Rhaenyra would take her for a ride.

We can use this moment to explore the more positive side of the Targaryen’s relationship to the dragons. Yes they can be death and destruction and hubris and arrogance and untameable nature. But they are also a wonder, they are liberty, they are seeing the world as no one else can see. To women in particular, they can be a means of power and agency that they otherwise wouldn't have.

Laena could even note this - she could make a reference to how her claiming of Vhagar has brought about Rhaenyra's betrothal to her brother. Laena has made it so she and her family can't be ignored.

Showing this political awareness by Laena, and at least some kinship between her and Rhaenyra, is important. Because Laena sees the influence she currently holds, and she recognises the implications of how she uses it. They could discuss the sudden flood of suitors flocking Laena's way, and Rhaenyra can admit that Laena's marriage is a source of anxiety to the royal council. They could even joke that Otto must be scratching his head in Oldtown, trying to calculate whether he could successfully offer Gwayne as a suitor, get himself another grandchild with a claim to the Iron Throne.

The implications are clear - you want Laena (and her future children) on your side. And Laena, recognising the impact of the Great Council for female succession, both feels a kinship with Rhaenyra and recognises the long game in supporting her sister-in-law. This will nicely contrast her with Alicent's actions in this episode - where she makes a bold stand in favour of the patriarchy to lash out at Rhaenyra for having premarital sex.

Now, I have mixed feelings about stopping short of having Laena and Rhaenyra discuss (or hint at) betrothals between their future children.

On the one hand, it is critical that this was Laena's wish. Her agency in solidifying the Targaryen-Velaryon alliance, in choosing to help her brother and her friend, in finding a way to one-up her greedy uncle Vaemond and secure Driftmark and the Iron Throne for her daughters - this is non-negotiable to me.

But the purpose of this exercise was to outline how the show's version of events could have still made space for Laena. And the show's version of events places the betrothal of Rhaenyra and Laena's children as the resolution to the conflict of Episode 8 - after Laena is dead. Plus for these versions of the characters, it is important that Rhaenyra offers a betrothal to Alicent. At this point, where they are, to Rhaenyra's knowledge, still friends, she is likely thinking about doing so already. Plus it's not as though Rhaenyra planned from the outset to not have Laenor's children, which increases the strategic necessity of a betrothal with Laena's children.

As a compromise, it is therefore important to at least make clear that Laena would have backed the betrothal. That aside from loving and accepting her brother and the fact that he loved his adopted kids, Laena did support Rhaenyra as queen, and was politically-minded enough to calculate that this alliance was both in their mutual interests and a great big Fuck You to the Grand Council.

Her 'girlbossery' is in politics, not self-immolation.

Now onto the Wedding

First off, give Laena some damn close-ups - remind the audience again of her influence in the marriage. Put her in pride of place even, another subtle dig by the Velaryons. Why stick her in the corner when her brother could be escorting her on his arm? Here is the dragon-riding woman who would have been Queen... look how stunningly gorgeous she is.

On that note, Laena Velaryon Rider of Vhagar certainly should have suitors flocking to dance with her, there's no need for her to be stuck at the table with uncle Vaemond for as long as she is in the episode. Yes she makes eyes at Daemon across the table... but she can just as easily do that from the dance floor. Again, surrounded by suitors, maybe a certain Braavosi guest could try his luck... before Daemon swoops in.

There are also plenty of moments for Laena and Rhaenyra to interact. The camera could show them smiling in greeting at each other, maybe passing each other during the dancing, maybe throw in a bit of sapphic subtext ;)

The camera could also cut to Alicent watching them from the table – she is replaced by the girl who escaped her fate, and who shares dragonriding with Rhaenyra. There are part of a world that Alicent can never join (or rather would never, Rhaenyra did offer her the chance to fly together), and have a means of freedom within the patriarchy that she will never know (that she turned down – her friend was right there, she could have asked her for help...)

Finally, in the episode we get a brief shot of Laena looking anxiously for her brother in the crowd during the chaos. It would take a mere couple of seconds to add Laena rushing to her brother’s side as he sobs over Joffrey’s mutilated body, to show her holding her brother close. This will build on the bond we saw in episode 1 – where Laena seeks her brother’s comfort during the tourney – and make Laenor's grief at losing his sister hit harder later.

Like, here we have Laena trying to push through a crowd to get to her brother... followed by a dispersed crowd with no Laena in sight. What gives?

We could also, you know, have Laena present during the actual wedding ceremony perhaps? Where is she??? That's her grieving brother getting married. Even Alicent is there (presumably just before running off to recruit Crispy and get him off for murder).

Episode 6

Unfortunately, in order to stick to the confines of the way this season is structured, we have to stay in Pentos on Daemon and Laena's inexplicably long honeymoon. Episode 6 needs to have Rhaenyra without the support of having Daemon and Laena nearby, so they can't be back at Driftmark as they are in the book.

In the book, this is the pre-Red Spring period where Rhaenyra has come into her own and is relatively thriving - Otto is in Oldtown, Lyonel is Hand, she has Harwin, she has Laenor happily claiming their children as his heirs, she has Laena (and with her, Vhagar), and yes she has Daemon. Until the Red Spring kicks into gear and she starts losing everything but Daemon - she loses Laenor, Laena, Harwin, she is ordered away from court, and Otto is back as Hand.

Since we've lost Rhaenyra's childhood of being bullied by her stepmother, this episode can no longer be the high-point before the Red Spring - it has to compensate by reversing things to make adult Rhaenyra isolated and humiliated in her own home (again, as book Rhaenyra was in childhood). Episode 7 then concerns Rhaenyra's reunion with Daemon, which necessitates placing him on a different continent in Episode 6 (butterfly effects include Laenor having to 'die' after his own funeral, while Harwin now dies before the funeral - Daemon can't be a suspect in Laenor's murder if he's on a separate continent, so the deaths must be swapped around).

Which is a bit of a mess, because Episode 5 implies Daemon starts courting Laena at least partly out of ambition - she rides Vhagar, their children have a claim to both Driftmark and the Iron Throne etc. The show goes as far as to open Episode 5 with Daemon murdering his first wife with a rock- why is he now wasting a powerful marriage by hiding in Pentos? Where did this come from? The episode does admittedly have Laena say this isn't the Daemon she married... but it doesn't properly explain how or why this came to be.

One suggestion is that he is moping over not being married to Rhaenyra and dissatisfied with Laena as a replacement. And er... he was literally courting Laena at the wedding? Yes I know he and Rhaenyra were flirting with each other, but they were both fully aware it was not happening. Again, he was literally courting Laena - signalling he wasn't about to petition Viserys to cancel Rhaenyra's wedding having now freed himself from his first wife.

Even if you want to insult Laena like this, how is it in character for him to mope on Pentos when they can do that from Driftmark? Is he trying to go cold turkey from Rhaenyra? Does that really override his ambition, his love for his brother, his hatred of the greens etc? Book purism aside, is it really consistent with his actions in episode 5 - which include murdering his first wife and courting Laena the Rider of Vhagar.

The other suggestion is that he is upset that his brother doesn't want him around. Which again isn't really consistent with his actions in episode 5 - which include him immediately ignoring the fact that Viserys had banished him, swaggering into the wedding, and easily getting away with it, even flirting with Rhaenyra in front of his brother.

So we have to reconcile the Doylist need to separate Daemon and Laena from Rhaenyra, while maintaining character consistency.

If we have to keep them in Pentos, we could tie it in with the Triarchy somehow? Have Daemon and Laena securing diplomatic relations with Pentos, to ensure an alliance against the Three Daughters possibly rising again, perhaps even at Viserys' behest? And maybe Daemon read this as getting banished by his brother one time too many, so he's prolonging their trip because he's upset his brother doesn't want him around? After all the last time Daemon was dealing with his brother's rejection he threw himself into fighting the Triarchy - so it would be consistent.

It would also be a further mention of the Triarchy in this episode, connecting to Rhaenyra's suggestion of military installations in the stepstones, and better set up their return during the Battle of the Gullet. Then instead of performing for the Prince of Pentos, Laena and Daemon could be intimidating a representative from Tyrosh, Lys or Myr.

Daemon aside, we could at least have Laena explicitly bristle at being taken away from the political action at home.

I mean, couldn't the writers have had Laena talk about literally anything other than wanting to die a dragonrider’s death? The entire self-immolation shtick is such a gross and stupid attempt at girlbossifying her death, and puts Laena into the position of selfishly traumatizing her daughters (not that the show does much with this trauma).

The biggest and most obvious change is of course to stick to Laena’s death in the books, as it is so much more tender and emotionally moving. After half a season of establishing her love of dragons and flying, Laena tries to fly Vhagar one last time but collapses. Daemon gently carries a sobbing Laena back to bed.

Her last moments can therefore be spent with her daughters. Maybe she passes on a legacy to them, some final words that they take with them into the dance. Or maybe her final moments are a lot less comforting, maybe she continues to cry for Daemon to carry her back to Vhagar. Maybe her daughters get to say goodbye, maybe one of them runs away, unable to face her mother’s final moments. Anything to say goodbye to the character, and to begin Rhaena and Baela’s journey, that isn’t just the shock value of a ‘girlboss’ burning herself alive.

Back to Laena talking about literally anything else.

In her conversations with Daemon, I would again establish Laena’s position on the succession of Driftmark, and her support of Rhaenyra. As she’s telling Daemon that she wants to go home, she could perhaps say that Laenor’s letters worry her. He doesn't say it outright, but she can tell he is scared for his sons. Maybe she can say that she knows her uncle Vaemond. His eye is on Driftmark*. Which puts those boys in danger. She can then tell Daemon that her brother needs them, that Rhaenyra needs them. That they need to go home. That she wants to go home. That she doesn't want to be hiding away in Pentos while the future of female succession in Westeros is being decided. She is the rider of Vhagar with a claim to the throne - she has power and she wants to use it.

She could even give Daemon an ultimatum: once the baby is born I'm hopping on Vhagar and bringing my children back to Westeros with or without you. Give us a sense of what could have been if she had only lived.

*if we could only have the action take place on Driftmark, we could replace the scenes of the Prince of Pentos or Laena's dreams of self-immolation with... Laena interacting with Vaemond. He could be making snarky comments about her brother and his children, with Laena coolly daring him to tell her what he's implying. He could even try to hint at a betrothal with Baela, seeking a way to claim Driftmark through her. Laena, seeing through his bullshit and reminded of her own near brush with child marriage, tries to conceal her anger as she smoothly refuses his proposal. She could even hint she already has someone in mind for Baela. (I actually want this so badly I would contrive to have an unwelcome Vaemond turn up in Pentos for this exact purpose).

Unfortunately if we accept the changes to the show then, again, Laena can’t be the one to actually arrange the betrothal between her daughters and Rhaenyra's sons like she does in the book. The show has structured things so the betrothal does not happen until the end of episode 8, long after Laena is dead. The tension of episode 8 revolves around the question of salvaging the Targaryen-Velaryon alliance.

But, again, to compensate we can make Laena’s wishes clear. We can establish beyond a doubt that she would have approved of the betrothal. We can, you know, not erase the voice of a black woman while whitewashing the man who tried to usurp her daughters. We can do the bare minimum to not sideline one of the few black women in fantasy we have.

We can say goodbye to Laena not as a self-immolating girlboss, but as a politically-astute woman who loved the freedom of flying, who fought for her family, who left a legacy for her daughters. A woman who would have changed the entire history of Westeros if childbirth hadn't taken her away.

[thats-rough-buddy04]

After almost five years I decided to rewatch Voltron.

1. Because it’s getting booted off of Netflix

2. I wanted to do more of critical analysis of it now that it’s been so long since I watched it . Does it hold up? Do I view the characters the same as I used to? Trying to separate that fanon from canon.

3.I also wanted to see how plausible was Klance and was I being delulu all those years ago? Like I know of the art done by story board artist and stuff but just by the show itself, do them being together romantically make sense?

This is my season 1 analysis because doing it by season makes the most sense.

So season 1 was still pretty solid. The pacing was very quick and it was hard to digest what was going on cause it just was rapid shot of information. I think the biggest offender of this was the first episode which just everything was moving so quick. I feel that could have been a longer episode and it would have helped the flow of the first season a lot. Like they are on Earth for like 15 mins, and within that 15 minutes we are introduced to most of the main cast, already introduced to the first piece of Voltron, then boom space. Bring back 24 episode seasons especially if most episodes are 20 mins.

The main cast quickly got over being in space and you know having to pilot a huge mech pretty quickly which like if that was me I would be freaking out for awhile. Like it was maybe a minute and then everything was chill. Again everything was just quick pacing wise.

I still really like the fight scenes both with the mech and on foot. The animation pops off and it’s a fun watch. The humor for the most part was fine, like I didn’t think it was outstanding but I’m also not in the target demographic anymore. Like the simple joke about the sounds of a blaster was funny and it made me laugh. But there is jokes where I’m just like oh….. but they quickly move on from it so it doesn’t bother me as much. For Lance being the supposed comedic character I thought Hunk was funnier because Lance is not funny he’s mean.

With that Lance is just plain mean to Keith, when Keith has done jack shit to him. Keith will only retaliate after Lance says something to him. There was about one time Keith started it but who can blame him when Lance is constantly being a bitch. Which meanness comes with insecurity and it’s obvious he struggles with insecurity even if they haven’t really touched on that yet. Lance also almost dies multiple times this season which i don’t have much to comment on just that he almost gets sucked out of an air lock and Keith has to save him.

The Main Cast:

Shiro: His character arc hasn’t happened yet but the crumbs have been laid. I like him alot. I think how quickly he becomes dedicated to Voltron is believable because of how much he suffered in the Galran prison. Like he doesn’t want what happened to him to happen to anyone else. He’s the most serious out of the bunch but it makes sense since he’s seen what the Galra can do.

Pidge: I don’t much to say about her. When I was I younger I didn’t have much to say about her and I don’t have much to say about her now. Doesn’t mean she’s bad, I don’t really have much a a connection with her. I do really like the story line about finding her family though and I’m excited to rewatch that payoff.

Hunk: Like with Pidge I didn’t have a feeling either way for Hunk when I was younger but where that differs is that I appreciate him alot more now. That mini arc he goes through where he discovers how bad the Galra truly are, was pretty good. Him being the most scared to take risks then being the one urging the rest of the team to save the planet was a change of character but the was obviously the point. Also his relationship with Shay is super cute.

Allura: I adore her. She is serious like Shiro but again she had her whole race wiped out by the Galra, she knows that what they are doing is important. Yeah so she is bit tough on the paladins but she does it with the hopes they’ll be ready to save the universe. She is just a girl and I love that for her. The scene where she has to let go of her father for the final time is really sad because she is not just losing her dad but what seems like the last remnants of her home planet. I also just love her design, the pink is such a pretty color and suits her so well.

Coran: He’s funny, he’s silly. Still adore him, nothing can change that.

Keith: I adore this man. But season one Keith really doesn’t have much going on. Like he’s reckless and stubborn but that’s kinda all we know about him. His name is Keith, he was living in a shack, he’s good a flying and fighting, and he has a close relationship with Shiro but even that is shown for like a second in the first episode. I do know their dynamic is explored more later or which I hope so it’s been so long I don’t remember. I remember him being the more mean one but he’s not, he’s a guy and I love him for that. I also remember him being the super serious one but in reality he’s silly and goofy when he wants to be. He only gets serious when it’s mission time as he should be. I am excited to watch his full character arc but I can’t remember my opinions on it but I remember other people not liking it, so hopefully I do.

Lance: Lance is one of my most favorite characters ever. There comes a time in every man’s life where they must critique the things they love and now it’s mine. There isn’t much going on with him. He is there to be the funny guy which doesn’t work cause I don’t find him very funny. When his thing is to be funny it comes off as being mean makes it very hard to like him. I grimaced a couple times for what came out of that man’s mouth. I know he has a character arc but omg it’s so hard to like him at all season 1 for a character that’s supposed to be likable. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t moments where I saw the man I used to know but season 1 Lance very unbearable for the most part. I think I gasped audibly when he was like I miss Varadero Beach, cause I didn’t remember if the show itself said he was Cuba, I just assumed it was someone who worked on the show did. So I was like oh I’m dumb, it’s literally in the show.

Klance: For two characters that don’t have much going on this season, their dynamic is so odd. Like half their screen time is bickering, that Lance starts. They’re not rivals because Keith doesn’t view Lance as a rival, so it’s one sided rivalry. Then you think oh they just hate each other, but again Keith doesn’t hate Lance, it’s just Lance being a hater. But with that I can still see why people started to ship them. There were moments I was like wait…like when Lance asks Keith to save him after he gets chained to a tree. Keith response is a bit flirty to me and I was oh..wow. I see why people shipped them but I don’t see how they were thought as endgame, from just watching season 1.

I’m looking forward to season 2 but nervous for the rest of the series because I know the farther you get into the show the worst it gets. I don’t want to watch s7 and s8, there is no need to relive that. We will see when I get there though.

Also the fact it’s getting taken off Netflix is crazy. Like where is it going? Like I know it’s because of the contract with Netflix but I also theorize it might have something to do with the life action. If anyone wants to know where to watch after it does I can link it, cause trust I wanted to make sure I had a way to watch before it was gone for good.

[shibaryu]

Ducktales: Our Timeless Story

Howdy folks! With a great pleasure I announce I am working on a story project that is gonna be quite fun to be working on! Behold!

(Yeah I'm a beginner artist, I focus primarily on writing so this was the best I can do.) Anyways welcome to Ducktales: Our Timeless Story~ This story project has been flooding my head for a long time. Anyways here is the low down: Duckburg, a place of all kinds of adventures, but for one particular family they are in for a new adventure... Highschool. Follow Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby as they try to navigate their new lives of drama, romance, and adventure, along with their growing cast of friends and allies! That being said a McDuck Family adventure is not without excitement as danger lurks behind them, enemies both new and old seeking to lay claim to treasures that have been lost to time to the point even Scrooge himself had never heard of them! The race is on as the hunt for the Lost Collection ensues! Will Clan McDuck locate the vast relics whose histories have been erased? Or will their enemies and new upstart adventurers beat them to the punch?! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Okay! With that out of the way let us go about explaining this... This AU is set with the triplets now becoming high school students, (14 to 15, don't know if I want them starting off as Freshmen or skipping a year to being Sophomores) having been homeschooled since they began to adventure with their uncle Scrooge during that Summer in the first episode. Anyways this story will follow multiple perspectives, mainly from the eyes of the duck triplets, Webby, and Donald, but it too will go through perspective switches from others.

Aside from the new life of school, our cast of colorful ducks and their friends have all been introduced to a new adventure thanks to a journal that Louie discovers, a journal containing information on items known as the Lost Collection. The Lost Collection are a set of mysterious artifacts that had their histories stolen, with the only known documentation for them being journals written by an expedition party who too had mysteriously disappeared. With treasures so rare and unheard of you'd think Clan McDuck will have a break right? Well... Cue our antagonistic force, Void Industries. Void Industries is a new budding company that had just opened in Duckburg, with its boss a shifty black fox by the name Reign Void piloting the helm, Clan McDuck has new competition in store when they too are on the hunt for the treasures. With goals unknown, Void Industries won't stop at nothing until the Lost Collection is within their grasps.

That being said... Clan McDuck and Void Industries ain't the only players in this game. With new adventurers seeking to stake their claim on the treasures and to make a name for themselves, the duck family has a set of fresh young rivals to face off against!

DT:OTS is set in a collected Toonverse of sorts, thank you Roger Rabbit for opening this can of worms. You have beloved Disney Characters, Looney Tunes, the Animaniacs, and two other medias that I decided to toss in, Indigo Park and Poppy's Playtime. (Smiling Critters mainly! Not gonna go into the whole killer toys thing, considering they supposedly have cartoons of the Smiling Critters in that universe I figure it be good to play off that) This story will also be using the collected media of the Disneyverse, from Paperinik New Adventures, Legend of the Three Caballeros, Tiny Toons, and Loonatics Unleashed. This story will feature all kinds of pairings, especially ones of the LGBTQ+ variety. Sure there may be OC x Canon pairs but I'm gonna try to stick with pairing a majority of the cast with actual individuals from media. Examples of this: Yakko x Max Goof or Donald x Jose x Panchito. Yes there will be multimedia shipping. Sue me.

Main Cast: Huey - The smartest brother and the most responsible. He is all for the education he so desperately craved, not to mention trying to make sense of the strange artifacts that make up the Lost Collection.

Dewey - The middle triplet and the more adventurous of the three. He's primarily the embodiment of a high-school musical jock who simply is enjoying his new school life, not for the studies but everything else between!

Louie - The youngest and self-proclaimed evil triplet, he is the most chill brother, but deep down is more sensitive than he leads on... Sadly for Louie, high school is not the life he so craved, in fact he feels out of place...

Webby - The cousin to the triplets and daughter (via cloning) to Scrooge McDuck, Webby is an excitable gal who primarily sees high school as a means to make new friends!

Scrooge - The world's richest duck! He's smarter than the smarties, tougher than the toughies, sharper than the sharpies, and earns his way square! Upon learning of the existence of the Lost Collection, he has made it his mission to locate and collect each one.

Donald - The uncle who raised the triplets since they were eggs, Donald is a former navy officer, (honorable discharge) a court mage in another world, a descendant of one of three heroes, a former spy, and a former superhero! With all the chaos ensuing, sometimes it becomes harder for him to keep the secrets he had kept hidden.

Della - The mother to the triplets who had returned after 11 years of being stuck on the moon, Della is an ace pilot who is still trying to get the hang of the whole mother bit... Doesn't help they are teenagers now!

Launchpad - The second pilot of the duck family, Launchpad may be a bit of an airhead who has a tendency to crashing whatever vehicle he drives, but he has a heart of gold.

Beakley - The 'grandmother' who raised Webby, this former spy is the current housekeeper for Clan McDuck, trying to keep whatever she can from breaking apart.

Jose & Panchito - Donald's college friends who had just recently moved from Brazil and Mexico respectfully to live in their old cabana in New Quackmore. This suave parrot and hyperactive rooster are ready to brave new frontiers with their friend like the old days.

Zeca & Zico - Jose's nephews whom had became newly fledged teenagers much like the triplets, this pair of mischievous twins are all the more excited to join in the adventures! With Zeca being the more sportier and lively sibling, Zico is the more chill and suave one taking after Jose.

April, May, & June - Daisy's nieces whom Donald had taken cared of during his college years, these gals are just fresh out of college and are ready to help their favorite pseudo-uncle in his new adventure!

Lena & Violet - Webby's best friends, Lena was the former shadow of Magica DeSpell and a skilled magic user, Violet however is the more intellectual kind of gal who studies the arcane to assist her step-sister and her friends.

Sousuke (OC) - An akita inspiring to be a novelist like his uncle, this canine becomes Louie's new friend and is all the more happy to teach him the ropes surviving school. Having become involved in this race to collect the Lost Collection, Sousuke is more interested in being the one to document and tell the stories that had been long since forgotten, giving the ones who had been lost the proper closure they needed.

Annnnd with that we have ourselves the beginning of a massive story project! I hope that once the first chapter is out everyone may enjoy it! This project is huge, it'll probably feel like I'm making multiple seasons worth of a show but to me this is all the more exciting to do... I just gotta stop procrastinating... Heh. Anyways asks are open if you wish to send me a question. I probably will try to answer them but there may be a few I won't answer. With that said, do take care yall! "I'll be the one to write this story!"

[sapphuric-acid]

So I'm finally giving in and reading the Moomin novels and oh boy, was figuring out the reading order difficult.

Not because of the timeline or anything. While the characters do seem to get older as the series progresses (at least according to one reddit thread I referenced), most of the series doesn't have a specific order of "these events took place after these ones."

That said, the points where this does occur are very important and there is a big thematic shift you need to take into consideration when determining your reading order.

And *then* you have to consider that, while The Moomins and the Great Flood was the first novel chronologically, it has a lot of characters in it that aren't formally introduced until quite a bit later, and their personalities are quite different from the rest of the series.

So here's the reading order I'm using (a modification on the release order) and some notes to help you pick your own reading order:

The Moomins and the Great Flood*

Yes, I know I just said that this being the first novel makes it a rockier start, but if you really want to keep the timeline consistent you gotta start here, because this is the book where the Moomins come to rest in Moominvalley (where most of the series takes place). Think of this book as the test pilot for the cast as we know them today. For me, this is a fine start since my first proper exposure to the Moomins was the 90s anime, so I'd consider myself well-acquainted with the characters enough for this to not be too shaky of a start. If you didn't start with any of the animated adaptations, I'd recommend picking a book we'll come to later in this infodump to start your own journey. But for those of you familiar enough with the cast and/or the timeline purists, I'd also recommend starting here because canonically this happens mere weeks before the second book we'll be discussing here...

Comet in Moominland

Regarded as the "first official Moomin book" for English speakers because The Great Flood wasn't translated until much later, the events of this story take place a few weeks after the first novel, as the Moomins are getting settled into their new home. This is also the book where we get introduced to Snufkin and the Snorks (three more main characters that you really need the introductions for). Yeah it kinda sucks to read two books centered around home-destroying natural disasters in a row, but you'd likely be lost if you didn't start here.

So, Speaking of Timelines...

Like I said, you can start with Comet in Moominland if you aren't familiar with the main cast. But if you're more familiar with the characters or if you really value a more slice-of-life pace over proper character introductions, I'd suggest starting with one of the books we'll discuss later.

Also to note: the comics were first published after Comet, but it's generally considered a separate canon from the novels. And while it has a floating timeline, I think it makes the most sense to read it in order of publication just to see how the writing and art evolved over the years. From my understanding, all of the original comics have been republished in official albums by the publishers Drawn and Quarterly, which ran in newspapers between 1954 and 1975.

all of the comics have been published into English but not all of them have been republished as parts of the official Drawn and Quarterly albums (all the original comics it seems were included in these, but there have since been an unofficial book released in the 90s and a series released with artistic overnight by the Janssen family, but it doesn't seem like there's any official way to get these ones in the US.)

Now, where were we?

Finn Family Moomintroll

For those of you who've watched the 90s anime, this is the novel that was adapted into the first 8 episodes of that series. And as someone whose proper introduction to the franchise was that series, I'd recommend it as an alternative starting point to Comet in Moominland. For those who chose to start with Comet, this book is when the timeline starts to get a bit more lax, so really you could read this in any order alongside the next few books we'll discuss. Still, it's free from any sort of continuity errors/plot holes and gives us a nice pace to get to know the characters more.

Moominsummer Madness

Another mid-series story that can be read in any order, this one's just about the main cast discovering the art of theatre and harassing a park keeper. While the plot summaries say that the Moomins lose their house in a(nother) flood and they have to live in the theater, they also say that everyone gets to go home in the end? And it doesn't seem like the other books make mention of whether they're still living in this theater or not (or at least nobody decided that was important enough to include in their plot summaries). Depending on where you think this "continuity error" falls in the timeline, you might want to save this until after the next book in the series, since after our next entry is when reading order (and by extension timeline) really starts to matter.

The Exploits/Memoirs of Moominpappa (Moominpappa's Memoirs)

This one has a bunch of alternate titles for some reason, but it's all the same story. According to my research, this is best saved until right before the series' tone shifts so that you have plenty of time to get to know everyone, making the reveals in this story to be much more impactful. But like I said, that's just a recommendation and the timeline won't exactly get all that wonky if you read it out of order. (In fact, if you're a release date purist, this one was released before Madness and should therefore be read before that one.)

Moominland Midwinter

This is where the series takes a tonal shift into being more serious, mature, and frankly a bit of a downer (but a necessary one given its themes). That said, if you really wanted to save all the serious books for last you could swap this with my next entry, which was released afterwards and as such still has a darker tone, but its story (or rather, stories) are less serious in nature.

Tales From Moominvalley

This book is a collection of different stories that have much less focus on the titular Moomins. This one was released after Midwinter and I think it'd be wise to read those two in that order, because I think we need a little bit of comfort in the middle of this somber sandwich.

Moominpappa at Sea + Moominvalley in November

These two books share a spot because, while I feel like explaining their plots wouldn't hold up to their emotional themes, it is important to note that these are not only chronologically but also thematically the last books in the series, and reading them in this order maximizes their impacts. These books were so tragic that not even the author could go back to writing the happy-go-lucky stories of Moominvalley and so she stopped (well, that wasn't the only reason, but I digress). This is the point at which you can never go back to what you once knew. As such, I think it'd be pretty damn hard to NOT read these last and still enjoy the series to it's fullest.

And uh yeah, that's my ramble.

I also wanna note there was an unofficial comic book released after the 90s series gained popularity and two more recent strips released with artistic overnight by the Janssen family. That said, I haven't found any official way to read these (let alone in English), so there's a chance they could be list media at this point. There's also a bunch of children's books and what appear to be picture book adaptations of certain comic storylines.

I hope this helps you figure out how to chart your own Moomin novel adventure!

[chameleon66]

Hazbin Hotel Baxter theories

Introduction

As many Hazbin hotel fans have been patiently waiting for season two to be released, Vivizepop gave us a sneak peak at an unfinished scene at the San Diego comic con that’s going to be in season two.

And in that scene we are introduced to a new character, Baxter. Baxter actually used to be part of the main cast for Hazbin hotel (Back in the Zoophobia days) before his role in the show was given to Sir Pentious. So in this post I’m going to discuss some possible theories for what Baxter’s role in the series might be, how his prescenes will affect the rest of the cast and the storyline, and what we know about him so far.

Chapter #1 Who’s Baxter?

In the clip we are shown that Baxter is a scientist who came to the hotel not looking for redemption but to study the idea of redemption, he claims that he doesn’t believe redemption is actually a thing that can happen so that’s why he came to the hotel.

Baxter first appeared in the Hazbin Hotel Pilot, however only his silhouette was shown. Then in the season one, episode two Radio Killed the Video Star we see him on one of Vox’s screens. Keep this clip in mind because we’re gonna come back to it later. Then we see him Cameo again in the Season one finale, the show must go on. Where he is watching the news about how the extermination was canceled. So his character is yet to be formally introduced to us but that doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about him.

According to the Hazbin Hotel Wiki, we have some information that has been revealed through posts, livestreams and others I’m pretty sure fans just made up, so take some of these with a grain of salt. Also keep some of them in mind because we’re gonna be coming back to them a little later.

Baxter appears to be an Angler fish sinner since he has a very dark and muted color palette with the occasional pop of bright colors like teal, yellow, or red which are commonly seen on ocean predators who live in deep parts of the ocean. Also according to Faustisse Baxter also has an underbite referencing another trait that’s common among Angler fish. Baxter also has fish like finns on the sides of his head and an esca (That thing Angler fish have on their head that light’s up to attract their prey). Like what was seen in Finding Nemo. One theory I’ve heard a few times is that Baxter might be trans since in real life, only female Angler fish have an esca. I would like to see this because 1. It seems like it would be good representation for the transgender community and 2. It would really add some depth to his character.

I’m not sure how high the chances are that Baxter is actually Trandsgender or if we’ll even get it confirmed within the show or by one of the cast or crew members but regardless I think it is a good concept for his character that may happen. I mean we already got one canonically confirmed within the Hellaverse. When in Hazbin Hotel’s sister show, Helluva boss, we were introduced to Sallie Mae, Millie’s older sister.

Fans first guessed she was transgender when they noticed her horns. In Imps in Helluva Boss, males have black and white horns with equal sized bands of each color while the females have black horns with smaller white bands but Sallie’s horns are of that of male variety so that was what first made fans believed she was a transgender women, Then in June of this year to celebrate pride month they released this piece of merchandise with the whole cast and decked out in pride flags which confirmed many of the characters sexualities. One of which being Sallie Mae who in that art was confirmed to be not only a lesbian but also Transgender. So the point here is since they already got one character who is confirmed to be transgender, another one probably isn’t out of the question. Ok back to Baxter.

Baxter was previously said to have died on the titanic however this was later changed because Vivzie didn’t want any real life events tied to characters death (especially tragic one to avoid coming off as insensitive), so it’s now said that Baxter died in a large boat that sank in the 1910s and officially the main cause of death was drowning which probably contributed to his aquatic demon sinner form.

It said on the wiki Baxter likes Science, Laboratories, and mad science experiments. But he dislikes being touched, this could imply he’s touch averse, touch starved, or maybe he just isn't comfortable with physical contact. It’s yet to be confirmed if he will have a laboratory in the hotel but I think he might just turn his room into one when he stays at the hotel. Personality wise Baxter’s personality is said to still be in development but Vivize likens him to the character Myron Reducto from the show Hervey Birdman in his mannerisms. He is screechy, neurotic, fidgety, anti-social “gremlin” and an all-round mess. He is introverted and wanted nothing to do with anyone preferring to do science alone in peace. I have a feeling that as soon as we are introduced to Baxter in the show he’s gonna automatically become a fan favorite, he just has all of the traits. Now we’ve gotten to know Baxter a little bit better it’s time to discuss him and what he’s gonna bring to the series.

Chapter #2 Charlie and Baxter

Charlie is ecstatic to have another guest staying at the hotel but she is definitely still trying to heal from losing Sir Pentious in the battle. Because it’s pretty clear she’s kind of labeling Baxter as a replacement for Sir Pentious due to them having shared characteristics, such as being Inventors/Scientists, having very old school styles of dressing, having quite similar mannerisms/ hand gestures while talking to people, and they honestly kind of sound similar too. (But that may be just a me thing)

Charlie has also made this clear because even after Baxter tells Charlie his name she continues to call him Pentious, albeit by accident but the point still stands. This could become a plot point where Charlie continues to treat Baxter like he’s Sir Pentious and this makes Baxter upset until he most likely snaps at her and she’s forced to finally deal with her grief over losing Sir Pentious. Which Charlie may be trying to hide because she wants to be a strong leader for everyone else during this difficult and confusing time but while she’s allowing everyone to dump their feelings and problems onto her while she’s continuously being forced to hold her tongue and play therapist for everyone. Husk really was right there. “Princess, is a bleeding heart who wants to solve everyone else’s problems except her own.” - Husk, Season one, episode four, Masquerade.

I mean, don’t get me wrong here. No one in the hotel is completely okay. They’re all got problems, trauma, and insecurities. But trying to help others improve themselves and get through hard times is no excuse for Charlie to be neglecting her own needs. And I think that with Baxter joining the crew at the hotel, it’s really going to bring Charlie’s problems to light.

Chapter #3 Sir Pentious and Baxter’s connection

We also learn in the clip he has a connection to Sir Pentious somehow, as when Charlie mentions him in the sneak peek clip, He says that he’s nothing like him and calls him “A pompous snake”. This means the two sinners knew each other, that feels likely since both of them are Inventors/Scientists who died around similar times.

I have seen this one idea floating around the internet that Baxter was actually the one who helped Pentious create his Egg Boiz which would make since Baxter called himself a mad scientist and in a lot of cases mad scientists try and create life through their experiments and we’ve seen that Baxter actually has a bag will crab eyes and legs which is pretty likely he created. And it feels unlikely Pentious would have created the Egg Boiz on his own because he had always been portrayed working with machinery and steampunk kind of equipment; we've never seen him create anything living, so that means he at the very least probably had some help creating his henchmen. It’s also confirmed in the Finale that at least one of the Egg Boiz still remains in Hell after the battle in which Sir Pentious and what seems to be many of the Egg Boiz died in too. So maybe that remaining Egg Boi will recognize Baxter and spill some information about him to the rest of the cast. Since it has been shown they have a habit of spilling information they weren’t supposed to, as we saw in the season one, episode three, Scrambled Eggs.

An idea I had was that Sir Pentious and Baxter were rivals that maybe used to be lab partners but then had a falling out for whatever reason. It was confirmed we would see more of Sir Pentious’s past so that could mean we could see what the connection is between him and Baxter. Another idea here is that after Baxter hits his limit of Charlie constantly making him the replacement for Sir Pentious he reveals what happened between him and Sir Pentious in some kind of dramatic flashback or maybe even a musical number (Now that would be fun to watch).

Chapter #4 Baxter’s love interest?

Another character in Hazbin hotel I think will become close with Baxter is Nifty. I’ve seen a few posts online where Baxter and Nifty are being shipped together. Personally I think the Ship is very cute, but since we haven’t seen much of Baxter yet there isn’t much ground for a relationship to be built on. But There is some evidence out there to suggest that Nifty and Baxter might have a romantic relationship with each other within the show.

Back in the pilot days of Hazbin Hotel Vivziepop used to draw Nifty and Baxter together during livestreams and in one she even drew them sharing a milkshake together with Nifty not so subtly staring at Baxter. Keep in mind before Baxter was going to have Sir Pentious’s role in the series and Nifty during the episode Pentious was introduced in was infatuated by him but by the end of the episode she’s over him because she learns he’s not “A bad boy”. Throughout the show Nifty has been shown to have a thing for bad boys. Baxter is much more rebellious than Sir Pentious ever was and with Nifty’s track record it wouldn’t surprise me if she was attracted to him.

Baxter on the other hand would probably be a little less cheerful towards Nifty, since he’s not very social and prefers to be on his own. Nifty however couldn’t be more different in that sense. She’s shown to enjoy being in the company of people regardless of who she’s with in most circumstances. I can see a sort of HuskerDust dynamic here, with Nifty constantly bugging Baxter to try and get his attention while Baxter is just annoyed with her continuous antics.

However that being said, I think Baxter and Nifty could actually make a great match. Because while they are very different from each other they also have things in common. Like both enjoying doing experiments though Baxter’s are probably less chaotic and more scientific, they both are labeled as “Gremlins”, and appearance wise they are both two of the shortest members of the cast. I honestly can see a sort of scenario where Nifty as a show of her affection towards Baxter giving him some kind of dead insects or animal that she killed maybe and instead of getting grossed or weirded out like everyone else does with her, he’d be curious and ask her if she’d be okay if he did some kind of experiment on it and then she’d just get all excited and gleefully follow him to his lab to watch him work. Maybe I need to write this later as a short Fanfic, would you guys be interested in seeing that? Let me know.

Anyway, Nifty and Baxter have the potential to have a very cool dynamic whether as a couple or as just friends and it also gives us some potential to see Nifty developed more since so far in the show she’s been only portrayed as the maniac maid in the hotel and as comic relief which works great but I think some depth to her character could make her that much better. Some dynamics/Tropes I could see them having included. Opposites attract, We’re not so different after all, Pure looking (But super shady) x Scary looking (But is actually a softie), Chaotic baddie x Sweet baddie, Energetic x Serious, and Mad scientist duo.

Chapter #5 Alastor and Baxter

Of course we’re talking about Alastor here. It wouldn’t be A Hazbin Hotel analysis/theory if we didn’t talk about Alastor. Alastor is a fan favorite within the fandom and it’s not hard to see why, he’s entertaining, funny, and has a lot of mystery about him. Something for everyone within the fandom to enjoy. I has been said we’re going to see more of Alastor’s past in season two which I think is going to give us more insight into his intentions, because right now it’s clear he’s playing a bigger game than he’s letting on but he also has his own little deal that he’s not letting anyone else no about and if you mention it bad things happen. Just ask Husk. (Play the scene here)

Alastor in the finale loses his fight to Adam and afterwards has a mental breakdown where he’s singing in riddles and not giving us exact answers because of course not they don’t wanna make things too easy for us to figure out. Alastor is clearly shaken up and is now definitely looking to speed things up in his plan and break his contract with whoever’s leash he’s on. But he also is still going to have to keep up appearances by helping Charlie with the hotel and keeping his listeners convinced he’s the almighty radio demon. And Baxter might just be involved in his plan, either as an ally or as an hindrance depending on which way everything goes in. Let’s break it down.

Alastor likes to have control with what’s going around him including with the people, that’s one of the main reasons he makes deals with people, to ensure he’s the one with the power. With the arrival of a new face in the hotel Alastor is probably eager to see what he can get out of Baxter. Since that’s something Alastor does with people too, he doesn’t just keep someone around for nothing, most times it’s either to get something from them or just to keep up appearance as a “Nice guy”

One of my speculations comes from a moment in the finale. When Alastor’s staff breaks in his fight with Adam, then we see him have his solo in the finale song and his staff is still shown to be broken. Then he comes in at the end of the song he doesn’t have it with him. Now we aren’t exactly how Alastor’s staff works in the pilot its shown to be alive which I’m not sure is still a thing but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Alastor probably can’t fix it on his own since if he could’ve he probably would have before he returned to the main group to wrap up the song. So maybe after Alastor realizes that Baxter is quite intelligent, he goes to him to see if Baxter could possibly repair his staff for him, which Baxter might do as part of a deal they make for whatever hopefully plot relevant reason, because Alastor threatened him to do so, or maybe just out of mutual respect.

Because I think Baxter and Alastor might become relatively close with each other. I’m not saying they’ll be friends but they might come to some kind of partnership or alliance for both of their benefits. It could start with Nifty telling Alastor about Baxter (Since it’s been shown the two are actually kind of close with each other, though with Alastor it could be all fake) which could bring Alastor to the idea to make use of having Baxter around the hotel but then Alastor come to realize he actually doesn’t mind Baxter as much as everyone else in the hotel. Think about it, everyone in the hotel wants to become closer with each other and Alastor is usually having none of it. Since he likes to keep his cards close to his chest as they say. Especially with more bubbly and cheerful characters like Charlie, Nifty, and Frank around the hotel always trying to get closer to Alastor and figure him out. Even with less cheery characters like Angel, Husk, and Vaggie they all are kind of trying to figure Alastor out and get a read on him. I can imagine Alastor getting sick of all this but of course not directly saying it to any of them under most circumstances to keep up appearances with characters who he has trust with.

Alastor might find Baxter to be a refreshing change since he’s said to be very introverted and prefers to work alone. Baxter reads to me as the kind of guy who won’t bother you as long as you don’t bother him, Alastor could find this nice and see that Baxter has the potential to be a good ally. But at the same time, Alastor could also view Baxter as a threat to his plan and try to bring Baxter down in whatever way he can. Which brings me to my next speculation.

Chapter #6 Why did Baxter come to the Hotel?

Everyone in the hotel came to the hotel for a reason whether they claim something different or otherwise. Vaggie is there to support her girlfriend, Lucifer is there to support his daughter, Angel Dust claims to be staying there so he had somewhere to live where he didn’t have to pay rent but to me he’s there to try and redeem himself so he can try and break his contract with Valintino, Husk and Nifty came because of Alastor, and Alastor claimed to come there for the entertainment and to help Charlie succeed, though no one there is completely buying that story. Baxter claimed that he came to the hotel to study redemption but I’m not going to take that claim at face value because there is some evidence to push that Baxter isn’t there just to experiment with the idea of redemption but to also hide from something or rather someone.

We’ve been told that the Vees are going to be major antagonists in season two, we aren’t sure what they’re plan is but it’s clear they’ve now got their heads in the game. Now here’s the big speculation that I’m honestly surprised hasn’t been talked about more. What if Baxter used to work for the vees, specifically Vox. Now at first this might feel like a stretch but if you take a step back then it actually makes sense within the show. Remember that clip from season one episode two I wanted you to remember for later, well now it's time to discuss it.

In the clip of Vox spying on everyone we see Baxter on one of Vox’s screen and he appears to be in a place very similar to The Vee’s meeting place which we see in the same episode, now there’s no way to confirm it’s the Vee’s meeting place but you can't deny the similar wall coloring and the how similar the chairs look. Baxter also seems to fit the bill for a person who’d work for Vox because he has the dark and muted base colors with the brighter blue and red accents on him. Much like Vox and his other employees that we’ve seen. Baxter is also a sinner based on an aquatic life which also fits with Vox’s theme since we’ve seen Vox’s employees such as one that appears to be his assistant and he has a tail which looks similar to that of an axolotl or maybe a sting rays, either way it definitely looks like some kind of aquatic animal’s tail to me. This also fits with Vox because in his lair he has a giant tank where he has several of what look to be sharks but maybe some Hell mutation of them. To me it wouldn’t be to far fetched if maybe Baxter used to work as part of the science department at Vox tech, we haven’t heard of him doing much tech related work but that could be because we haven’t been introduced to him yet officially in the show and he very well may be versatile in his work with science.

Ok let’s entertain the idea that Bxter used to work for Vox and by extension the other Vees. What would that mean for the sake of the plot and storyline? It could be like the other case where the Vees sent sir Pentious to the hotel to act as a man on the inside to gather information on Alastor. But this doesn’t feel very likely to me. 1. Because the Vees probably wouldn’t be dumb enough to try doing the same thing twice, 2. The writer’s of the show probably wouldn’t be as uncreative to reuse the same idea twice for very similar characters. So why else would Baxter be at the hotel in this hypothetical scenario where he used to work for the Vees? Maybe it will help if we first try and figure out why Baxter no longer works for the Vees.

Because we can already rule out that Vox fired him, because let’s be real here. If the Vox wanted to fire Baxter he would use real fire, that and/or Baxter wouldn’t make it out alive. Since They themselves have said to shoot the lowest earners among their employees. So it’s likely the Vees didn’t willingly let Baxter go. It’s also pretty much known that The Vee’s own their Employees souls like all overlords, It’s pretty likely that if Baxter did work for Vox at some point then Vox would have owned his soul too. And if Vox has the same style as Valintino then he would have his employees sign a contract that confirms they own their soul or something along those lines. Maybe Vox just didn’t read his own terms and conditions and Baxter found a loophole somewhere in his contract that broke his deal with Vox setting him free. This doesn’t feel out of character for Vox because unlike Alastor he isn’t always looking at the bigger picture, rather he just tunnel visions onto one single thing and then the rest of the details just fly under his radar.

Baxter's motivation for breaking his contract with Vox isn’t too hard to figure out either, it’s pretty clear the Vee’s aren’t the best people and treat their employees horribly so it’d probably push Baxter to his breaking point and make him want to be free from them. What happened could be that after Sir Pentious and Baxter had their falling out, Baxter began to fall on hard times and when Vox found him and wanted to hire he probably immediately took the chance not knowing the risks of doing so. It’s a pretty common tactic among Overlords in Hell like people in real life to target people when they are most desperate or in vulnerable positions because they’re more likely to agree to whatever you want them to.

Now obviously the Vee’s (More specifically Vox) probably wouldn’t like that Baxter tricked them out of his contract so they’d probably want to get him back or eliminate him entirely to eliminate the risk of him telling the press about how horribly they treat the people who work for them or just how bad they are in general, which the only reason their current employees probably don’t do that is because they’re bound by contract. But Baxter isn’t, not anymore at least. So let’s say Baxter is now on the run, he’d definitely need somewhere else to stay and that’s why Baxter really came to the Hotel, think about it. There are a lot of powerful people in the hotel like Charlie, Alastor and even Lucifer himself so by putting himself next to some of the most powerful people in Hell now makes him have a protective wall around him because now that he’s a resident at the hotel everyone else is now obligated to protect him from the Vees. And as we learned from Angel dust he doesn’t even have to pay them to live there.

But now this creates another problem for Baxter, now that he’s living in the same place Sir Pentious used to live and we know how things went for Sir Pentious. Imagine what would happen if someone. Anyone in the hotel found out he had ties to the Vees, even if he uses the past tense it’ll look all too suspicious especially after what happened with Sir Pentious, the people at the hotel know that the Vees are known to do this kind of thing. But Baxter now doesn't work for them anymore in this scenario. Which he can use to try and convince the others they're wrong but it’s not guaranteed to work. Especially taking into account one specific character. I’ll give you a hint, his name starts with an A and ends with a Lastor. In case you don’t get it, that’s Alastor.

Chapter #7 The betrayal?

Now there’s a lot of Potential in this scenario if Alastor finds out Baxter used to work for Vees and by extension Vox. Since they’re rivals and while Alastor wasn’t very phased when Vox tried to pull this trick the first time, imagine it the second time after all of the events that happened. Alastor realizing he’s not the most powerful piece on the board and he can be bested, Alastor taking a liking to Baxter and asking him to repair his staff for him. Even if it wasn't at the front of his head, Alastor was likely building a connection to Baxter and maybe even a little trust. But now that he finds out about Baxter’s past with working for Vox, his enemy. Alastor is automatically going to assume that this a part in some grand scheme from Vox to takeover and possibly even end him. And after that confidence hit he took from Adam he’s going to be feeling extra defensive about himself and his safety.

Baxter would either be kicked out of the hotel or at the very least put on some kind of parol or house arrest in the hotel and since no one would really be sure if they can trust him. Meanwhile Nifty can be forced away from Baxter by Alastor because he wants to protect her, again we are not sure if Alastor genuinely cares for Nifty or she is just another pawn in his game. But either way Alastor could want as little to do with Baxter as a way to protect himself and his own plan, whatever that may be. And what do you know? You’ve got yourself a good old star crossed lovers story between Nifty and Baxter. This literally writes itself.

Chapter 8 The conclusion

To wrap this all up, I want to say that Baxter has the potential to be a key character in Hazbin hotel and whether or not any of my predictions, theories, or analyses come true. I’m sure Baxter is going to be a great addition to the cast of Hazbin Hotel.

Chapter #9 Bonus stuff

Wow, you’re still reading. I’m impressed. I was convinced no one would read this whole thing because of how long it is. So Thank you for reading my weird jumble of thoughts related to one of my biggest current hyperfixations. And now as a reward for making it this far, I give to you some random headcanons about Baxter that I just came up with or found on tumblr or other online platforms with but couldn’t find a way to fit into my predictions/theories. Enjoy.

Baxter headcanons

- Introverted as hell; mostly because he finds people confusing and hard to deal with, or people will find him off putting or weird and make fun of him for really just being himself. So for him it’s just easier to be on his own and maybe kind of lonely then have to put up with people he finds annoying.

- He has built up an immunity to several different types of poison and drugs while testing various concoctions of his and now enjoys the taste of some.

- If you’re nice and respectful towards him there is a much higher chance of him saying yes to doing something for you (Maybe why he agreed to help Alastor fix his staff).

- His hearing is a little impaired due to all of the explosions he’s been in from his experiments.

- Was most likely sent to Hell because he had no value for life and is willing to cross a lot of moral gray areas in his experiments.

- By extension of that, due to his analytical views and unsympathetic mindset, when asked what his favorite color is he’ll say “Morally gray” just because he finds other people’s reactions humorous.

- Would probably try to use the other residents of the hotel as test subject for his experiments before probably being stopped by Vaggie, the only person in the hotel who’d let him do experiments on would probably be Nifty (Because she’s got the hots for him and she’s a tiny bit psychotic).

- Whenever he gets an idea or realizes something his esca lights up (Like the old visualization or a light bulb lighting up above someone’s head when they get an idea).

- He also uses his esca as a headlight for when he’s reading or working.

- Does not understand the appeal of Angel Dust’s movies because of how there’s literally no characters, plot, or storyline established throughout any of them and he’s a Demisexual (I do not see this sexuality used enough in characters).

- Baxter doesn’t like drinking alcohol because he hates the feeling of his head not being on straight.

- He has developed something of a sixth sense for when someone’s about to touch something in his lab and will just say “Don’t touch that” with the most monotone voice to whoever is in his lab.

- Baxters crab carry on bag we saw in the teaser clip is named Clemmy.

- Sometimes lisps his Hs when talking because of the sounds anglerfish make. (I actually listened to a recording of anglerfish sounds before and they legitimately sound like underwater zombies)

-After going through various posts on Tumblr I have given the ship name, NeedleFish to Baxter x Nifty. (Credit to dolliezilla)

- Nifty calls him fishy as a term of endearment.

- Baxter has the worst vision without his glasses that he made for himself (Real angler fish are blind). Without his glasses he’ll bump into every and anything or anyone, cannot read anything, and he’ll trip over any obvious obstacle in his way.

- He’s a manners boy, he always calls everyone mister/miss, asks permission to leave the dinner table, and says “Please” and “Thank you” all the time.

-Baxter learned morse code when he was alive and since he’s pretty sure no one else in the hotel knows morse code, sometimes during group conversations he’ll tap his finger on some kind of surface and make comments about whoever he’s with. (But then later on Alastor figures out he does this and teaches himself morse code so he can translate what he’s saying, and honestly he just finds Baxter’s analyses of everyone to be hilarious).

Author’s note: So it's been a longtime since I’ve posted something this long and for that I am the sorriest. I’ve been going through a tough time lately and I didn;t have any motivation for a long while to write anything more than incorrect quotes. I promise I will upload a new Fanfic soon, but please let me know what you think of my theories/predictions/analysis and feel free to correct me anywhere if I made a mistake or to add your own thoughts into this one sided conversation. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night/anything else.

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 0

When I went looking for the manga series, I stumbled across the original pilot chapter of the series and I figure I should start this readthrough with it.

For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to everyone by their names in the main series. Aside from Chilchuck, none of them are referred to by name in the oneshot. I think it's safe to assume their names in the oneshot are the same.

The oneshot introduces us to the party traveling through a dungeon when Itzusumi spots a treasure chest.

The rest of the party doesn't care about the treasure until she realizes it's a mimic.

Then Laios and Senshi capture the mimic and cook it.

The rest of the oneshot is the party discussing the importance of keeping up their strength and the various ways they've cooked other monsters on their journey. The oneshot ends with Laios revealing that their goal is to save his sister, kill the dragon they fought, and eat it.

At this point, all I know about the series is the memes and a very basic understanding of the premise. And the first thing that sticks out to me is there is almost no change between the oneshot premise and the main premise. Aside from Itzusumi being here, this could almost have been a mini-chapter in the actual story.

The oneshot does have a slightly different focus than the main series though. It sets Itzusumi as the protagonist and portrays the party's willingness to eat monsters in a weirder light. She is the straight man weirded out by everyone excited to eat mimic but is surprised when it turns out to taste good.

Based on what I learned from reading the first chapter, the main series looks at the idea of cooking monsters in a more genuine light. The main character is Laios and he wants to learn how to cook and eat monsters.

Between the time from the oneshot and chapter 1, Ryoko Kui definitely fleshed out the main cast a bit, especially Marcille. She and Chilchuck aren't very involved in the oneshot and we don't get much about their personalities here.

I cannot say what went through Ryoko Kui's mind between making this and the proper series, but I could imagine this being made as a short gag story and being very receptive to people loving the basic concept. Based on all the things I've seen people talk about, her strength seems to be more around writing monster lore than stories. I personally loved the idea that mimics aren't actually monsters disguised as treasure chests but are actually giant hermit crab-like monsters that use treasure chests the same way a hermit crab uses a seashell.

The oneshot is definitely a great introduction to the series. I already see why people might like it just from the the mimic concept alone.

back

[that-left-turn]

What is your favourite season and/or episode of twd? Are your professional opinion and personal preference the same? :)

Working in the industry has influenced how I watch a show, so I suspect my emotional response doesn’t venture too far from my professional one, but I haven’t really put any thought into the difference until now. So, we’ll see how they match up 🤓 For professional reasons, I’m kind of an omnivore—I’ll at least try to watch any show. Good writing (along with acting and directing) can make a tired concept shine and a poorly executed but original premise is worth a look-see. For one, I want to know what’s being produced and two, it’s good to analyze what went wrong and why.

Anyway. (That’s not what you asked about.) Back to TWD.

S1 has sound structure, which sounds boring, I know, but a screenplay depends on its frame. You can write a novel by the seat of your pants or by only knowing how it’ll end. You can discover the middle as you go along. A screenplay becomes a hot mess if you do that, so I appreciate that Darabont knows how to introduce characters and how to get from point A to point B. It’s readily apparent that he’s a feature director in how the story looks and feels. That said, I don’t connect, exactly, in the way he wanted his viewers to relate to the characters. After the pilot, I was much more interested in Morgan than Rick. I found the dynamic by the second fire at the quarry camp, when Shane asked Ed to keep the flame smaller, with Carol’s response to his greeting and how she had to jump up to remove the firewood, more compelling than the love triangle between Rick, Shane and Lori.

S2 is gorgeous. Very cinematic feel where shots linger on the little details, setting the right ambiance for the narrative. We get some commentary (offhand, but still) on the problematic issues, such as race and gender roles, which unfortunately are compounded and reinforced without self-reflection in latter seasons. (S3 has so many issues in this regard, along with the inability to focus on the core group.) S2 also adheres to classic horror tropes. The simplicity of its contained setting: the farm, the looming presence of the barn, the woods beyond, the abandoned town and creepy bar. Beth taking to bed, wanting to end it all is straightforward Southern Gothic. Carol, Andrea and Lori are all shaded, at turns, as the madwoman in the attic. Daryl is thrown from a horse, falling down the cliffside and talking to ‘ghosts.’ It's a very atmospheric season, faithful to the horror genre.

It does have pacing problems, but not as pronounced as the Gimple era with its time jumps and bottle episodes, which completely kill the momentum. There’s nothing wrong with the odd bottle episode (if you have enough time to explore an emotional arc more in-depth) but reliance on a ‘TV book of tricks’ usually means the showrunner doesn’t know how to plot a tight narrative and is trying to hide those deficiencies by confusing and distracting the viewers. The logic being, if the audience is trying to work out how the hockey sticks it all fits together, chances are they won’t notice plot holes or how flimsy/implausible it all is. It’s storytelling by manipulation.

S2 doesn’t do any of that, but it’s slow. Too slow for TV and for 10 episodes. At times, it feels like an art house movie and at other points, like we’re standing still, treading water. Whereas S1 was structured like an extended feature film, a 10-episode season is much too long for that. You end up with a sagging second act by imposing a large 3-act structure on something that should’ve been plotted by character arcs and micro missions.

TV writing is much more complex than a feature script because you have a larger main cast who all have their individual arcs that run over multiple episodes/seasons. The story engine of a TV show is also not equal to the central problem of a movie script. The former has to keep the show going for several seasons and each character has their own relationship to it, while the latter pertains to the hero only and has to be of a scope that can be solved in a 2-hour feature. (That got very technical, please don’t fall asleep 😬)

I wanted T-Dog to have a character arc in season 2. He’s the only S1 character who got none at all.

Over all, S10 is my favorite season. Yes, the cast is bloated at this point, but the narrative is centered on Michonne and Carol’s grief driven arcs, and Daryl comes into his own. He’s not a traditional leading man, but this season shows that he is so much more than the henchman of the hero. S10 is subtle and there’s great attention to detail in the writing. All the callbacks to previous seasons couldn’t have been done if the showrunner didn’t have thorough knowledge of the show in its entirety and a solid understanding of the characters’ emotional truths.

From a personal perspective, I like Kang’s use of comedic elements to heighten the drama. It affords the actors a different kind of challenge and after more than a decade as the same character, actors need that. (There’s only so many variations of a pretty cry.) Kang’s natural inclination veers more toward dramedy, but she’s also writing to the strength of her leads. Comedy is demanding for actors and requires a different skillset from drama.

Case in point, 1021 “Diverged.” I love the episode because of its comedic tone: it’s far removed from how we’ve ever seen Carol before, but she’s still in character. The poignancy of her sadness and her fears regarding herself and her relationship with Daryl is amplified by her attempt to entice a rat by waving a lettuce leaf in the air and chit-chatting with walkers as she casually stabs them in the head. It’s a bottle episode that trusts the actors—giving them the space to explore their characters’ emotional state—because so much of the action depends on physicality. The relative sparseness of dialogue might appear to be mundane, yet it reveals so much. Not only about Caryl’s relationship with each other, but the evolution of Jerry’s friendship with Ezekiel as he takes his first few steps away from being simply the wingman. And, most of the plot points are conveyed in tone and subtext rather than actual words.

It gets a little murky, when talking about individual episodes, to distill those down to ‘favorites,’ because what I like is often how something connects to a bigger arc. Sometimes, it’s the unrealized potential that grabs me. There’s a number of those in the middle seasons. I find Lizzie’s arc and how her trauma intersects with Carol’s fascinating, but the connective tissue is lacking. The way Beth and Carol fit into each other’s arcs was compelling, but completely lost because of a ridiculous offscreen insistence on framing a teenager as a viable love interest to a middle-aged man. I liked the interplay between Lennie and Melissa, but the way their characters were positioned as frenemies felt clunky and artificial and it ignored most of their backstories.

To answer your second question, I appreciate S1 in a more clinical, detached way and S2 resonates on an emotional level from its exploration of the human condition. S10 is where things meet for me. The viewers are expected to think for themselves, it’s not leading us by the nose. There’s enough emotional depth to dig in and I love the genre blending that’s a feature throughout the season. It does have its share of problems, too. For example, I didn’t like how Michonne’s exit was framed and the idea of Leah was introduced too late (or maybe too early) because of the way her storyline interlocks with the origin story of Daryl’s scar.

You don’t modify a character’s appearance in a way that costs money and requires more time in make-up for no reason.

Thank you for the ask! It’s different from the ones I usually get, so it was a nice change of pace.

[corey-wh0re]

I don't really go here, but I have to speak into the void cause these episodes & the build-up to this season are the most invested I've ever been in this show & I need somewhere to just get my chaotic thoughts out.

-Despite it almost being a whole 2 years since S2, I realize I still. have not gotten over the loss of Natalie, which has warranted specific & automatic investment in everything Misty has gotten up to in these new eps. When she finally broke down over the loss, I could not have related more & I do not think I will react to any loss over the course of the series as harshly as I have Natalie cause there's no character to have gone through (& yet to go through, per what we don't know about the past yet) the most shit to have been ripped away from us just. when she was starting to get better thanks to Lottie(& to some extent, Misty)'s help. Shit hurts real bad!

-I strongly believe Shauna's "The only way to truly be safe...is to be the only one left," from the trailer, will end up applying to Misty when the series concludes. She's always been on the ~outs~ with the other YJs, never seems to get anywhere with them regardless of her best efforts/intentions, constantly has to resort to. doing things on her own, & has inadvertently "given the wilderness what it wants" the most by being the 1st to draw blood by severing Coach Ben's leg, destroying the black box, accidentally killing Crystal, saving. Nat in the past then killing. Nat in the present, etc. It just reads as the writing setting her up for a Last One Standing arc & being the one most ~naturally attuned to the wilderness~ even one might think the honor would go to Shauna as The Main Character™.

-I suspect Tai is about to go on a full-blown killing spree thinking she can "cure/save" Van from cancer by "giving the wilderness what it wants" without needing "Other Tai" to do any dirty work for her based on her burning the matches as a sort of ~offering~ to the wilderness after she learns of the waiter's death & the glimpse we get of her trying to suffocate somebody in the hospital in the trailer.

-As a follow-up to my above points: I think what would ultimately classify Misty as "the only one left" compared to either Shauna or Tai (I feel it's gonna come down to those 3 since we've already lost Natalie out of the adult YJs we were initially introduced to) as characters who are more obviously ~influenced by the wilderness~ in their own ways is that Misty quite literally never. ends up getting what she wants through her various "sacrifices." It always. ends up backfiring on her compared to some of the squeakier resolutions for other character conflicts & it would. directly tie back into her being the first character confirmed to be involved in the "pit girl" scene from the pilot.

-Mari is all but confirmed as "pit girl" atp. Having the season start out. with her running in the woods & then proceed to fall into. a pit with the 1st ep being titled "It Girl" just all feels too obvious to not. be the case considering all the cast & crew talk about this season being the one where we start getting answers. We might not get the scene itself this. season (what with it being spring & all), but I do think the writers are handing that to us on a silver platter here.

-Akilah is either doomed or will turn out to be the only well-adjusted survivor in the present timeline after that scene with Travis redirecting Lottie's attention to her. I see no in between for her, although I'm leaning toward the former more so than the latter.

-Coach Ben is for sure toast. I think this is a natural assumption everyone has likely made after the events of S2, but there is no way in hell he is not being executed after the sham trial the YJs are about to hold for him in a few eps. He will likely be the 1st of many Major Deaths of the season.

-Even with my opening point about Natalie & largely lighter tone with these 2 eps in mind, everything the cast & crew have been saying have pointed towards this season being the most death-heavy of the series so far. And I can only imagine that S1 & S2's Major Deaths might pale in comparison to many viewers depending on the trajectory of the season/who precisely ends up dead (I would not be surprised if Lottie were to bite it if any of the adult YJs get axed this season cause her just showing up to play sleepover with Callie feels ~too~ casual to not read into).

-Between Shauna vying for power while hating everyone around her in the past & "the hunt" being interrupted in S2's finale for "the wilderness" to claim Natalie in her place in the present (like Javi was with Natalie), I think Shauna is finally. gonna get what she wanted by being "the leader" this season (temporarily, at least) at a great personal cost (possibly the death of Jeff; possibly something else).

-I have my suspicions that Callie will kill someone &/or directly lead to the death of somebody. With how much groundwork has been lain to show that ~Callie acts the way she does because Shauna is her mother~ & now ~Shauna & Callie have a lot more in common than either realize~ it feels like the natural next step in escalating their dynamic since Callie is doing all this digging into the past. Considering her reaction to Shauna's confession to killing Adam & her literally witnessing Shauna being "hunted"/Natalie die is her being totally fine at the start of this season, Lottie is about to be 100% validated in calling her "powerful."

-Hilary Swank's mystery character will likely be a big red herring. I think many are sussing out that the attempt to tie her & Melissa together is gonna be a misdirection cause it doesn't really add up with the brief glimpses we've been given of her in the promotional material. I can't say whether or not she's gonna take up a splashy guest spot to be immediately executed or slide into a cushy recurring spot to replace somebody who will. die this season

-Even while living completely in the moment riding the euphoric high of having new eps to react to & deconstruct into oblivion, I'm already mourning the loss that'll come when the season finishes airing after the huge gap between 2 & 3, especially depending upon who might die this season. Hope everyone lives up this spring in the wilderness!

[jaybybyby]

I saw someone pointed out but hazbin would’ve benefit from a protagonist who recently became a sinner demon as the audience surrogate who learns about workings of hell and is introduced to the cast which the protagonist joins the hotel because they don’t want to be in hell since the series expects you to already watched a several years old pilot and know the characters too

funnily enough iirc, mimzy was actually going to be the main character of hazbin until charlie came up.

funnier even, you wanna know what viv did with her once she decided to move it to charlie? ...give her a hooked nose and an obsession with money

[moltensmusings]

Alright I've watched the whole season so I'm going to mention things I did and didn't like about Hazbin hotel

Likes

I've never been the biggest angel dust fan but I enjoyed how he was handled. I think the decision to have him bond with husk and husk just be able to see through everyone's facades was smart

Husk and mimzy were always my favorite designs from way back when and after the pilot I really wanted to see more of husk since he had no screen time so I enjoyed his plot. Hope season 2 gives us more of his backstory as an overlord.

I liked mimzy's inclusion, wish she stayed longer but I understand why she didn't.

The overlords and their disputes were a lot of fun, vox vs Alastor was something that kept me wanting to watch. Very interested to see where alastor goes.

Nifty consistently had some of the funniest lines to me. I feel like they balanced her screen time well.

Vaggie and Charlie were cute in the screentime they got together

The music was great.

The decision in the rewrite to make Vaggie fully nonhuman was smart. I remember Viv originally had her being from the 80s but the choice of making her an angel who fell I did like a lot.

Sir pentious was a fun addition.

Those bits of Alastor's true demon form coming out were amazing. Favorite animation moments.

Generally I enjoyed the show for what it was. I can name more but just know largely I liked a lot of it. Way more than I expected.

Dislikes

I didn't really care for Adam. Not an "oh he's horrible I hate him" more that I just didn't find him to be a compelling antagonist.

I don't understand why all the angels were so shocked their weapons could harm each other when they seemed to be aware of it when vaggie got her eye gouged. I feel like they could've written that plot point better (like they're aware but just keep the knowledge hidden and make sure no angelic metal makes it to hell, like why does Adam seem more annoyed than shocked when he finds a dead angel.)

Sir Pentious death feels like it happened too soon. It didn't hit as hard as someone like Husk, Angel, or Vaggie's would have because we just didn't get as much time with him as most of the cast. I don't even remember them focusing on his backstory at all (I'm aware he's been redeemed and will return, but for those moments of thinking he was dead it just didn't feel as impactful as it could've)

I wish for characters like Alastor they'd leaned into making their costumes look more like the times they were from. His hair and his coat feel so modern.

I wish they'd had more episodes for character development/time. 6 months happening over an 8 episode period is too fast. Especially because (again) they killed off a hotel character.

Continuing the previous point, more episodes could've introduced us to more characters like Cherrybomb. Characters who know the main cast but opt not to stay in the hotel. So that the final battle would've felt a bit bigger/more tense with a bunch of characters we know on the line.

This one is more personal preference: I wish they'd gone more horrific with true forms. Charlie is fully not human, give us a beastial form for her.

People have mentioned it before, but they really should've axed Alastor's connection to Voodoo in the rewrite.

I once again want to say: largely I enjoyed the show. I went into it as a person who was a massive fan of vivziepop between 2015-2017. I wasn't the biggest fan of the humor in Helluva boss but liked the hazbin crew so I wanted to give it a shot and it was so much better than I expected. I just had some parts I didn't personally like.

[autism-swagger]

OKAY IM CAVING A LITTLE BIT!!! From one obsessor to another..... I am asking for the biggest info dump on AoS possible w\out any major spoilers 🙏

OH BOY!!!!

I love you for this thank you so much 🙏

Putting this under a read more because it's long.

Okay SO the official plot of Agents of SHIELD is as follows: The worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division) employs an elite team of agents who investigate strange occurrences around the globe and beyond. Its members -- each of whom brings a specialty to the group -- work to protect those who cannot protect themselves from extraordinary and inconceivable threats.

(Totally didn't copy and paste that from google.)

The first season takes place in 2013, very soon after the events of the first Avengers film. Over the course of the first episode, we're introduced to our main cast of characters.

(There's more main characters introduced in later seasons, but this is just the season 1 cast.)

(Also it's important to note that everyone in this show is allergic to first names, and most characters just go by their last name.)

PHIL COULSON

A very high ranking member of SHIELD, Coulson has been tasked with putting together a team of specialists to travel the world, responding to threats before they become Avengers level bad. He's the leader of the team, and was first introduced in Iron Man 1. He was a reoccurring character in the first couple MCU movies, before being killed in The Avengers. Except surprise! He's not actually dead! The official story is that he was resuscitated shortly after his death, but you slowly start to realize that something isn't quite right... Figuring out what really happened is one of the main plot lines of season 1.

MELINDA MAY

She's the pilot for their plane (aka the Bus). When Coulson recruited her to the team, she was working behind a desk at SHIELD, but before that she was a field agent. Some mysterious past event traumatized her so badly that she left it all behind, but over the course of season 1 (and beyond) she slowly starts to heal and reenter the field.

GRANT WARD

He's recruited to the team as the specialist, aka the person who does all of the cool spy stuff (espionage, infiltration, combat, etc. May was a specialist before she left the field.) He's grumpy and more than a bit of an asshole, but he has a surprising amount of depth and nuance to him. I actually think he's a pretty cool character.

JEMMA SIMMONS AND LEO FITZ

Two halves of a whole, to the point where everyone just calls them FitzSimmons and refers to them as if they were one person. They're the scientists of the team. Fitz is an engineer, and Simmons is a biologist/chemist. They both incredibly smart and incredibly autistic. I love them dearly. Unfortunately they are European 💔 (Br*tish and Scottish respectively.)

And finally,

SKYE

The only member who was not already a part of SHIELD before being recruited to the team. Skye is a genius level hacker who is part of an activist group known for releasing government secrets for the good of the public. She's caught by the team in episode 1 and brought in for questioning, except surprise! They only caught her because she let herself get caught. She even knows more than they do, which kicks off the main plot of season 1. Her entire backstory is a big unknown, especially to her. She was left in front of an orphanage as a baby, and is trying to figure out where she came from. It's a major plot point in the first 2 seasons.

This show is legitimately so good, and you don't really need to know anything about the mainline MCU to follow along.

It's about the found family! It's about the love changing everything and nothing at the same time! It's about the unluckiest bastards in the multiverse!

[penguinsandyetmorepenguins]

I know everyone has their own take, but here are my thoughts about 7x04 and how it relates to buddie and bucktommy.

This got kind of long and rambly so I'm putting it under a read more

I do think that Buck was genuinely attracted to Tommy and wanted his attention, hence him going to harbor station just to spend time with him. but then, Eddie shows up and gets in the way of Buck spending more time with Tommy and he is obviously disappointed about that.

What escalates it, though, is that Eddie keeps getting to hang out with Tommy and, worse, is pushing his friendship with Buck to the side. And this is when Buck stops trying to spend time with Tommy and tries to get Eddie to give him the same amount of attention that Eddie had given him before. (sidenote: love that Buck has never been as jealous of Eddie's girlfriends, one of whom is dating Eddie at this point in the timeline even. Probably because Eddie has never prioritized his romantic relationships with women the way he has his close platonic relationships with men. hmmm, makes you think...)

The doomed pickup game was definitely about getting Eddie's attention, but Buck isn't lying when he tells Tommy he was trying to get Tommy's attention because that is indeed how all of this started. And then Tommy kisses him and Buck forgets that he had prioritized Eddie's attention at all (and thanks to 8x11, we know that Tommy has not forgotten that lol).

Ultimately I will admit to rooting for buddie over bucktommy because even though I enjoy Tommy's sense of humor I don't think it's a good match for Buck's overwhelming sincerity, and at the end of the day Eddie is a main character and Tommy just isn't.

Tommy was introduced in season two as a side character to highlight the toxic work environment that Hen had to work with and Chimney had to save to become part of the team, then became a better person to highlight how Bobby's captaincy was better than what came before it. Since they needed a pilot for the cruise ship story and the actress playing Lucy presumably wasn't available, Tommy was a good character to bring back and then kill two birds with one stone for giving Buck a male love interest that wasn't a complete unknown and also separate enough from the 118 family that he didn't have to be in every episode. And Eddie already had a girlfriend.

I know people genuinely love bucktommy, and I kinda get it because it /was/ canon! Those two guys kissed on screen! They've boned! And as someone who popped so many bottles when Korrasami happened on screen I was so happy to see a character that wasn't explicitly stated to be queer previously got to discover that as part of their story! But I don't understand wanting that relationship more than buddie because compared to Eddie, who has had several seasons to add dimension to his character, Tommy is just a plot device whose defining character traits are stoic and sarcastic.

I do think a lot of buddie fans hate Tommy for reasons that would make sense of he were a real person but don't hold up because he's a piece of fiction (like the racism, misogyny, etc from the Gerrard era at the 118 that get ignored more than resolved when Bobby comes into the picture and we just have Word of God to tell us that he grew past that). Also, they use the actor's failings with the same to influence their hatred of the character which is equally ridiculous in my eyes (because all humans are flawed and problematic even the ones you love and respect).

Anyways, I would like it if the evangelical buddies would chill out. and bucktommys, I don't believe in your beliefs and I don't think I ever will but I would be open to you telling me why you like your ship so much because I do want to understand. and at the end of the day Buck is queer and Hen is a lesbian and of the main cast only Bobby is a straight white guy and that's pretty fucking cool for this ultimately silly weewoo soap opera.

[detective-casserole43]

Okay, so according to the first episode of Hazbin Hotel, the pilot IS canon!

And I might just be talking nonsense of whatever, but like... Angel Dust has a stronger relationship with Travis than Husker until like Episode 4.

HEAR ME OUT-

Maybe it's my poor memory or the fast pacing that has my mind jumbled. But I seriously cannot remember a SINGLE meaningful Angel Dust and Husker interaction until "Loser, Baby." And if we're really stretching, maybe you can count the fight they have at the beginning of the episode. They don't even talk in Episode 2 despite being at the hotel together!

Meanwhile, Travis has a one night stand with Angel and actually seems quite familiar with him to some extent. In isolation, I might not have thought anything of this interaction... But seeing as the pilot IS proven canon and Travis is seen working with Angel at the studio, I think there could be a bit more to their relationship than not.

Now, Hazbin Hotel's weakest point is probably character interaction/relationships. With them introducing so many new characters within such a small time frame, while they are already struggling to fit all the other information they're trying to share- It makes sense that not all the characters we see would get the interactions we desire.

But the fact that Angel Dust, one of our most important characters from the main cast, only has three meaningful positive relationships (Charlie, Cherri, and Husker), one of which only shows up halfway through the first season is BONKERS.

And the fact that we have such little time to see our characters sharing time together means guys like Travis, who are background characters at BEST, technically have more important relationships with our character for over half the show run!

Just compare it for a minute-

Travis is Angel Dust's coworker and technical superior (If we're considering the fact that Travis is the director), who had sexual relations with him behind Valentino's back. Because let's be real, I don't think Valentino is too keen to be renting out his best actor off company time without reason to one of his lesser employees.

Meanwhile, Angel and Husk never got involved in anything more than uncomfortable flirting till Episode 4, which is halfway through the season! While I get this is supposed to come to a head for their eventual reconciliation in Episode 4, most of their time spent together beforehand is uncomfortable flirting. Anything more than that is said to be off-screen or rushed in a 5 minute interaction at the end of the episode, most of it being in a song.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching Hazbin Hotel and I think it's amazing to see how far Viv has managed to get her shows, but I can't deny how fast the pacing is either and how it's been impacting the story. I know there was a certain vision they were trying to achieve for the finale with the next extermination- But we've only sacrificed important character building and relationships in turn for meeting these specific deadlines. Hell, 5 months go by in the first six episodes, and we don't even find out about it until Adam says it out loud!

I, like so many people, wanted so desperately for this show to do well, and I think it's brilliant what we've received so far. And I'm glad to hear there's even more to come, with a longer Season 2 for hopefully more meaningful character interactions!

But it's so obvious that so many things were sacrificed to make this story happen, and I just wonder what could've been if they dialed back the stakes a little bit and focused more on the main concept of the show.

[fanbun]

Time for me to talk about Hazbin Hotel now that season 1 has ended!

I’d like to start off by saying I enjoyed watching the show. It is a visual delight that introduces some much-needed variety to the western adult animation space. Charlie and Vaggie as main characters hooked me even way back when I watched the pilot on YouTube. And although many of the songs caught me off guard in the episodes themselves, I kept going back to listen to them for days afterward.

But in all honesty, when it comes to writing, season 1 is a structural mess that wants to do as much as it can in 8 episodes rather than narrow its focus to what is most important for a first season. Yes, of course this is subjective to an extent, but the lightning-fast pacing the show quickly adopts is a common complaint even among the most hardcore fans. It is glaringly obvious that major plot points and character development are rushed because Vivienne did not want to compromise her vision to fit neatly into the number of episodes given to her.

Sure, I agree that 8 episodes a season shouldn’t be the norm but I don’t think the quality of a show is doomed to suffer because of that. Choices were made by the writers to include characters and scenes that could have easily been saved for a later date or even cut entirely. Season 1 didn’t even have to end with a climactic battle between heaven and hell, as first seasons are usually meant to introduce characters and provoke further intrigue that can be expanded upon later. But as it turns out the almighty cool factor demanded a war to end season 1 and that’s what we got.

This is something I’ve noticed often while watching Hazbin. The spectacle of engaging designs, captivating animation sequences and catchy songs quite literally steal the show. This “cool factor” will almost make you forget that many of the main characters have hardly spoken to each other outside of a few brief jokes here and there.

Hazbin wants to be cool and it wants to have an expansive cast of characters to make the world-building feel fleshed out. But this doesn’t exactly work when we’ve hardly gotten to know a character before moving on to the next one who seems far less relevant to the main selling point of the hotel that the first season is SUPPOSED to be establishing.

And here’s where a HUGE issue with the pacing comes in and that’s how fast we see sinners at the hotel get better. It doesn’t feel like 6 months have passed in the show since there is barely an indication of the passage of time, and we also don’t get to see much struggle to change from those staying at the hotel. Both Sir Pentious and Angel Dust are given their own character development episodes, but in my opinion a single episode for each is not enough to feel like the development was realistic and earned. Directly afterward we see them immediately improved and acting as if they have become close family with those staying at the hotel.

It was jarring to watch since I felt like I was missing the context for when all of the characters bonded to the extent of being that close. The only characters I saw bonding in a way that felt real were Angel Dust and Husk, and even though episode 4 was terrific for showing Angel’s struggles and how the hotel serves as his support network, it made me desperately crave more genuine moments like it.

I especially wanted more genuine moments between Charlie and Vaggie since they experienced an upset in their relationship towards the tail end of the season. And unfortunately the last two episodes didn’t satisfy me since the two talked more with other characters I wasn’t interested in than with each other. It’s a shame that Alastor often steals their spotlight, and from what I’ve heard season 2 is going to be more about Alastor and the Vees too. This worries me, as it seems Vivienne is showing favoritism for the supporting cast over the main characters.

Still, I will definitely be checking out season 2 when it’s released to see if there have been any improvements. And even if there aren’t, it’ll be a fun show to turn my brain off to. I see the show’s existence as a net positive for the animation industry despite the issues I have with it.