arlakos

[arlakos]

Helluva Boss AU: The World is Yours (now that you finally left your ex-wife)

Ok I know this season ended with Stolas losing his wealth and powers and what not, but I think this was too funny to not post about.

Summary

After taking some time to process everything that happened as Sinsmas, Stolas recovers eventually. One small problem - he's still broke.

Now normally he would be fine to mope, but having spent too much time doing nothing, Stolas decides that he needs to improve on himself, starting by improving his financial situation.

Thanks to making some money as a secretary at I.M.P., Stolas starts to find ways to invest in some means to make his wealth back.

Normally, such an endeavor is hard (and still is), but Stolas knows his way around contracts quite well, and having to be stuck between Stella and the Goetia courts for so long has given him pretty excellent diplomatic skills.

After a few initial fucks ups, Stolas slowly starts to build up his wealth again and amass something of a reputation.

All of this happens behind the scenes of course: despite managing to make so much money, Stolas is used to not looking at his bank account, so now that he does, all he can see is the bills and losses (despite making it back 10 fold) so he thinks he's still broke.

Nobody at I.M.P. knows about it as well, despite the fact that Stolas has pretty much been paying the rent and bills for the past 6 months.

Everyone only finds out after some insane episode where Stolas is reinstated as a Prince 1 year later and someone comments on his wealth. By this point, he has earned 5 times as much as he used to own as royalty, and the entire story of Stolas getting rich again is played through a montage cued to "Push it to the Limit" from the Scarface movie.

[arlakos]

Can we take a moment to talk about how Batman absolutely deserves both the respect he gets and the condemnation he deserves?

Like, when it comes to superheroes, Batman is absolutely the idea of peak human potential. A guy who trained himself to the point where he can fight near superhuman monsters, is a genius detective and has contributed to the creation of machinery like the JL Watchtower. In a world where most heroes a flying bricks with an assortment of other powers, Batman going up against equally powerful foes with just his own body wit and will is impressive.

At the same time though ... Batman has worn the same spandex for over 75 years when he really doesn't need to. This guy has the wealth of Iron Man and has easily created giant armoured mechs that can fight the Justice League, but somehow the idea of creating a suit to give him ... well, any sort of powers when fighting people in the shithole that is Gotham seems out of the question?

I mean, I get you could make the arguement that he doesn't want to give himself the strength to actually kill someone, but this guy has worked with speedsters like Barry Allen and Wally West. I am absolutley sure that with some time and maybe some help, he could easily create a suit that could turn him into a pseudo speedster. Gotham could be cleaned up in a month if Batman could move faster than most of his rouges gallery.

At this point, I understand why most animated shows basically reboot him back to his starting days. If Batman were to actually do something that could give him a leg up against actual superpowered beings, there'd probably be no crime left for him to actually solve in Gotham.

[arlakos]

Not really an ask but @riallasheng what inspired you to write your Universe C-21 series? Outside of Thunderbirds there are a lot of shows that I am unfamilliar with. Are they all part of the same universe normally or is this a crossover-type story, because when I did some research it looks like all the shows could fit in the same world art-wise!

Every single fic update there is an author trying frantically to find the right balance between a nonchalant aside of "leave a comment if you enjoyed =)" and clinging desperately to the coat tails of a random stranger, dragging along behind them on the street wailing "Please, please! I have to know what you thought! I'm desperate to talk to people about this! Ask me about the alliterative repetition! Ask me about the symbolism!"

[arlakos]

As someone who has seen both media, YOU'RE DRAMATICALLY MISSING THE POINT.

Helltaker is, first and foremost, a game/story about a guy solving puzzles and collecting a harem of demon girls dressed in sharp suits in a style that is less about the bible and more in the style of Monster Musume. It is less based on the bible itself and moreso about a literal fetish involving busty demon girls with sharp horns and even sharper suits. The only inspiration it draws from the bible is that they use names of actual demons from the book (except cerberus who is influenced by the greek dog of the underworld) and the fact that it takes place in hell (one that is more or less a generic idea of what would hell be).

In contrast, Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss take place in a furry artist's reinterpretation of what hell would be in the modern day. It takes massive influences from a book that is not just a story for some but a regligious influence for others, and mentions certain biblical events as essential to the story. To have many important characters from the bible be reinterpreted to such a degree to suit the creator's needs is gonna cause backlash from some people as a result. I mean, I don't see anything wrong with say Asmodeus or Lucifer, but why the hell is Beelzebub a bee/dog hybrid who throws house parties?

Granted, I personally have no issue with the designs themselves, but mostly to do with how every character mentioned is made to be more "modern" in terms of their character. To see Lucifer go from the devil himself like in most other media to a duck-obsessed cello-playing radio-hating divorced-from-wife-and-not-coping part-angel-being insecure doofus feels like im not seeing lucifer at all, but his great to the 37 times great grandson who just inherited the title.

To all the people who complain about Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel designs not being 'biblically accurate'. If you have a problem with these designs:

But see nothing wrong with these designs:

Then you're not a critic, you're just a massive hypocrite.

[arlakos]

[arlakos]

Rodent

please look at this beautiful mouse

[arlakos]

Just finished the Netflix Devil May Cry, and I have to say that HOLY HELL they made my boy Dante dumb as a brick.

I mean, to be fair, game Dante acts dumb, but really he can be just as smart as anyone else. He just looks stupid to mess with other people. Netflix saw 1 image of Dante from the games and thought "yep he's an idiot."

Also Mary (Lady) in the show was a dick to Dante. Game Lady was mean to dante, but only because she thought he was a full demon. Netflix Mary knew Dante was half-demon and really thought that he just wants to cause chaos and kill people.

That being said, the animation was great, and Evanesence was a blast to hear on the OST. Kind of hoping that season 2 will fix some of the BS I saw this season.

[arlakos]

Technically its already already May here, but thanks to the Magic power of TimeZones(TM) I can travel back to the past of April to finally say:

IT’S. GONNA. BE. MAY.

[arlakos]

wikipedia no longer being anywhere near the top of search results when looking up anything feels eviscerating

[arlakos]

PSA: Done with Miraculous Ladybug

I am done with Miraculous. I have no more interest with the show and did not have the energy to watch the two most recent episodes due to lack of said interest. I feel like I am holding onto the show for hates sake and I need a clean start.

To any who follow my blog for Miraculous content, by all means please unfollow. I do not intend to return to the topic and I would actually like to keep my main blog up without having to delete it. I won't be deleting any of my old posts so you will still be able to see them, but unless you want non-miraculous content on your post I strongly suggest to remove it. For the sake of any who are looking for a server to talk about miraculous salt or just miraculous content in general, I will leave a link in so that people may find a place to talk with similar minded people.

https://discord.gg/TT8M7bGM3f

Sorry to any who follow me, but I need to do this. This show has taken up a lot of my time in a negative way, with me hating in a way that just feels bad for my health, and even though I don't really watch it like I used to, having it in the back of my mind is like having a tumor in my head: I know it needs to be removed so I can be better. So I've decided to finally pull the plug on my unhealthy obsession with the show and its fandom, both for my sake and wellbeing.

This blog will be on and I will be posting on it, but miraculous content is over. New Icon and everything. I want to talk about other stuff, other shows, and other interests. Admittedly, it will take a while to start posting again as I am exhausted, but I hope to one day return to come back with more hot takes about shows and cartoons... just not about Miraculous.

To all the people I've met because of Miraculous, you were all amazing. To the fandom that still likes it, I hope it genuinely makes you happy. To Astruc and the other writers, I hope you sit and spin with how you've not only made a bad show, but milked it like the simpsons. There were good times and bad. But the bad has overweighed the good. I gotta do this.

New posts to come, so stay tuned (assuming you are still interested in my takes)

Otherwise, take it easy.

[arlakos]

An introspection on MLB fandom salt vs canon.

You know, I remember seeing a bunch of salt stories where Marinette was being forcibly tied to Adrien by fate itself (usually symbolised by red string), usually created because Adrien said one time that they were "meant to be together" and took that as entitlement. Of course, these fics were Adrien salt as it were.

Now look at the show 6 seasons later.

Adrien is pretty much tied to Marinette at the hip. His girlfriend and foster mother keep the truth about his father's villainy hidden from him. Any friends Adrien makes suddenly now have to be Marinette's otherwise she will follow them till they either submit or stop being friends with Adrien. She even risks breaking Adrien's amok just to stop a villain. Worst of all, Marinette is a horrible girlfriend, literally running off on an event if everything doesn't go picture fucking perfect and leaving Adrien to pick up the pieces. Adrien is being treated like a cross between manequin and a porcalein doll, made to dress up and wow Marinette's life while being treated with lies and deception so that he doesn't "break".

The only difference between the show and the salt fics (aside from the target) is the method: salt fics have Adrien forcing himself on Marinette; canon has Marinette gaslight Adrien's entire life to pretend everything is fine, either because out of a misplace sense of love or because of the fact that it would ruin her own happy goddamn ending.

[arlakos]

Preach it!

to the people that are mad that Alya doesn't coddle Marinette for her bad decisions

[arlakos]

Counterpoint

Ladybug, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge are the only people responsible for saving Paris from whoever is having a temper tantrum someone is having. Master Fu is gone and Su-Han doesn't want to take over as the Guardian for the Miracle Box, so as far as logic is concerned, all 3 of them are adults (or emancipated teens who are capable of making their own decisions.)

Ladybug's actions in season 6 impact not just Adrien, but all of Paris. A lot of people were affected by Hawkmoth's actions - brushing it all of by saying "oh she's a child uwu" is not an excuse. Technically, her actions would be legally considered as collusion with a terrorist or her being labelled as a terrorist sympathizer due to allowing Gabriel's actions to not go unrevealed.

From a moral perspective, Marinette's actions are just scummy. Adrien's doesn't get closure from his father and Alya's memories are wiped to protect Marinette's own actions from getting revealed. The fact that Marinette is dating Adrien just makes things worse: it's literal gaslighting and deception.

I am genuinely tired of the whole "they are just children excuse", especially in regards to cartoons where teenage heroes are common as all heck.

The fact that Marinette, Alya, and Adrien are all good people and are just children who are trying their best with the situation they are in

Is not, and should not, be a controversial statement

[arlakos]

Marinette keeps giant secret from Adrien and everyone else in Paris

Said secret is bad enough as is, the longer its not revealed the worse the fallout would be, especially for Adrien.

If said secret is revealed, Adrien's life is basically over. The fact that it was hidden would come across to the public as him being in on the Hawkmoth stuff.

Adrien doesn't get to know about his father's real nature - doesn't get to find true closure or grow from it.

Ladybug would also be shunned for keeping the truth and lying about Gabriel's true nature.

Adrien would also hate Ladybug if he learned that she kept the truth from him - would break up with Marinette if he learned that she was Ladybug.

In short, secret keeping only benifits Ladybug and Ladybug alone.

Marinette is determined to keep it despite hating liars because hypocrisy, disguising it as concern for her boyfriend despite it meaning their relationship is built on a lie.

OP is suprised that Alya isn't immediately understanding and supportive of her "bestie" and has genuine issues with Marinette's horrible actions.

Personally IDC what anyone says, Marinette's actions in this season are genuinely deplorable, regardless of whether you like her character or not.

it's wild that Alya would actually hate Marinette if she learned the secrets she'd been keeping from her. I--I actually don't know what to say, I'm so shocked by the fact that she stayed mad the whole time she remembered the secret.

[arlakos]

On a more neutral note: even if you are one of those people that thought if was fine that Chloe was removed due to her own poor choices, creating an entire character be created to replace her as a bee hero, rather than just having an already existing character take over, just felt wrong on so many levels. In fact, I would argue that Zoe's entire existence makes Chloe's story even more tragic.

Like, season 4 comes and we get introduced to Zoe, a bastard child of Audrey that once again proves that she isn't fit to be a mother much less have children. The fact that Audrey can't remember Chloe's name yet goes to NY to have another kid would not only be shocking, it would also be such a slap in the face to her life.

Then this random girl comes in an gets everything you used to have. Andre, who never bothered to raise Chloe properly, practically adopts Zoe to replace the former with the latter as his own kid. Fucking Ladybug makes that same girl the Bee Miraculous holder. Like, I get that some people felt like what happened to her at the end of season 5 was deserved (and yeah sure, Chloe became worse so she got her just deserts), but yeah nah I would probably crash out as well if some half-sister that my bitch of a mother had made came into my life and took everything that i had.

Chloe's story is that of negligence and lack of parental guidance leading to predictably shitty behavior, but Miraculous Ladybug is the first to actually blame its victim, simply because said victim became mean rather than than become scared and cowardly. It's justifies her descent into villainy with a mix of both protagonist-centred morality and the invalidation of both Andre and Audrey's involvment (or lack of) in making Chloe into what she became. As far as both Miraculous and Astruc is concerned, Chloe is Satan incarnate and thus deserves any form of suffering that happens to her, especially because of her "poor actions" towards our angel of a protagonist. Said angel who is currently acting tyrant and controlling on her boyfriends entire life.

Call it sympathy for the devil, but I genuinely hope Chloe comes back and gets the slap-back on Marinette. Screw season 6 and screw Astruc's victim blame.

You know another thing I hate about Chloe's wasted potential? She had more connections to the Bee Miraculous than fucking Zoe ever did!

You guys know how the Bee Miraculous is meant to represent growth and hardwork, right? Well, that's exactly what Chloe was going through during Season 2! Yes, she fucked up a couple of times, but that was the point! Her arc in Season 2 was supposed to show that she can change, but with baby steps . Hell, it's not her fault no one told her that change takes time and it's hard to break old habits. Even Marinette said that it was gonna take baby steps to help her change.

But what change or growth does Zoe go through?

Zoe gets no development whatsoever! Her only "growth or change" is her saying "Hey family, fuck you! I ain't gonna bow down and kiss your asses no more! I'm a proud Pick Me girl, bitches!" UwU Okay, admittedly Zoe is far from a pick me. But still.

Basically, that's another main problem I had with her. Chloe actually shows that she is worthy of it despite her entitlement. She does want to change. She just doesn't know how. Zoe is just given the Miraculous because... nice girl.

[arlakos]

Real life can often make time for hobbies seem more like a hindrance than something that is fun or needed (at least on sense of it being important for yourself or as a goal for self improvement). I am glad to see that you are doing better and that you are motivated to continue writing, despite your personal tragedies in your life. My heart goes out to your family in these times, and I am glad to see that you're back.

Actually found the time and mental energy to start working on As the Wyrm Turns again *waves tiny flag* ^^;;

Between two deaths in the family, having to move by years end, my dog tearing his ACL, and many other RL things, I've been unable to really work on any fan stuff outside of some dooting about in minecraft building a Tracy Island (currently working on Two)

Also found a notebook with a fic I wrote in late 2004 set in the film-verse, another written in 1998 that filled in some gaps from Penny and Parker's first meeting, and from 1996 the VERY first rough draft of The Collector. Debating typing them up and posting them, but I've no idea if anyone would even be interested in that sort of thing XD

[arlakos]

I would like to also point out that this entire sentence comes from Ladybug's perspective, who's all about the idea of people "trusting" her.

That is to say, trusting her words blindly and without hesitation while keeping NOTHING hidden from her.

We all saw what happened when Chat Noir kept his leaving hidden from Ladybug in the New York special: while I am not saying that she wasn't wrong to be angry at Chat Noir not being in Paris, Ladybug was real quick to label Chat as untrustworthy - especially when him being there is entirely because of her (albiet not with malicious intent).

Then the Shanghai special was released and we get to see Marinette doing the near exact same thing as Adrien - we didn't see her telling Chat Noir she was leaving and didn't consider hesitating to go due to her status as Paris's hero. It was by sheer luck that Hawkmoth was in China as well, otherwise Paris could have easily been toast. It could easily have become a "secret" that would have put Paris in danger, yet she didn't tell a single soul. Truly, a double standard.

To get back to my first point though: can you imagine the idea that someone Marinette/Ladybug knows kept a very important secret from her and just refused to tell her at all? Or better yet, that Ladybug somehow learned of said secret?

She would absolutely be singing a different tune on secrets because the secret was hidden from HER, rather than her keeping secrets from others. As far as the show's logic works, secrets kept from her are bad and the people who do so are equally bad: I mean, just take a 'luke' at Luka, who pretty much almost got the heroes exposed. While the show didn't directly call out Luka on his secret keeping, there were a few people in the fandom who started to dislike Luka because he kept such an important secret from Marinette. If the roles were reversed, those same people would not be complaining.

Simply put, Ladybug (and the fandom to an extent) are biased when it comes to what secrets should be kept and what ones shouldn't. If it benifits her, then its a secret worth being kept. If it isn't then it should be told immediately (to her that is, telling someone else like your local resident butterfly man would be bad).

OH SHUT UP!!!!!

So you're still willing to keep secrets from your boyfriend until one day you're like ".....um.......you know what? I'm in a good mood today, better tell my boyfriend that his father is a terrorist"

That's literally one the dumbest reason to do so, in fact it will make the situation worst like imagine if Adrien is in danger and Ladybug just casually tells him "Oh hey by the way you're not actually human and you have an object that controls your autonomy"