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quillyfied · 17 days

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Hellaverse Theories: Helluva Boss S2E1

Welcome to Quilly’s Hellaverse Theories, where I overthink the entire Hellaverse! We’re on the first half of season 2 for Helluva Boss, and the episodes have gotten longer this season, so I think I’m going to try just taking it an episode at a time like I did with Hazbin Hotel; them being longer means more stuff to chew on, after all!

Let’s do this, s2e1:

BABY STOLAS! BABY BLITZO AND BABY FIZZ! BABIES!!!

Thanks to Game Grumps, I know who Sam and Max are now, so the fact that Stolas has a little imp plush that looks like Max makes me giggle because I get that reference.

Alright moment to shout out the quality of the animation going up pretty drastically; it was already pretty dang good so the fact that it’s even BETTER makes me happy. Shoutout too to the butler; he’s very good at his job.

Paimon’s entire existence has…interesting implications. For a start, he doesn’t even have a solid form; I’m only convinced he looks like a bird because he’s spending time with one of his bird sons. And the fact that he has enough kids that he doesn’t KNOW which kid he’s interacting with until reminded…raises questions. Like. What’s Paimon’s rank? How many spouses does he have, to churn out so many kids he can’t keep them straight (or won’t keep them straight, more like)? What responsibilities does he have to the Goetia family? How long has he been a Goetia babymaker, apparently? Where’s Stolas’ mother? Or…additional parent? (I’m not entirely unconvinced that Paimon isn’t just spawning them from his own essence independently tbh, his form is malleable and takes on many different animal aspects.) How many siblings does Stolas have? Do all Goetia get purposes, or just high-ranking ones (because lord knows it seems like Stella and Andrealphus don’t have anything better to do than scheme for more power)? Does Stolas have Goetia siblings that aren’t birds, since Paimon himself isn’t truly a bird? QUESTIONS. I HAVE THEM. Okay, Paimon specifically says “which SON is this?” so…uh…does he even count his daughters? Does he HAVE daughters? (And children that are neither?) Is the Goetia family patriarchal and sexist?? Is that why Stella is the way she is? DAMN YOU VIV AND BRANDON PUT MORE GENDER DIVERSITY IN THE MAIN CAST. Anyway. Ahem.

Stolas is so excited, look at him. Look at his widdle face. Look at his big excited eyes. NOW LOOK AT HOW CRUSHED HE IS TO FIND OUT THE SECOND HALF OF THE DEAL. One: proof Stella was always like that, and Two: what do you want to bet the portrait was taken/painted after she was told about her engagement as well? Also I question the choice of sending along a picture of a kid strangling cute animals but this is a comedy show, I guess. Oof. Y’know what’s not a comedy? How Stolas does stop crying fairly quickly, but remains visibly miserable for nearly the entire duration of the circus.

I wonder who had the idea of assaulting the crowd with clowns first, Mammon or Cash.

BLITZO AND FIZZ BLITZO AND FIZZ BLITZO AND FIIIIIIIZZ. BABIES. SWEET BABIES.

Alright, pretty sure THIS was when it finally occurred to me what must have happened to make Fizz all white instead of red: seeing him as a kid without any white on him at all. Still didn’t know what happened, exactly, but it’s really chilling when that realization finally happens, that the white is scar tissue (and such extensive scarring, too). Also who voiced all these kids, they’re amazing and adorable.

Listen. LISTEN. Turning Stolitz into a version of childhood friends to lovers is the number one way to make me love them even more. Do you know how INSANE I am for childhood pining?? The answer is very. And I love that Stolas notices BLITZO. Even at this tender age, Blitzo is different, especially from Fizzarolli; Fizz is dressed better, looks the part better, can do the tricks, has the upper hand. But Blitzo is fearless and he’s creative and Stolas is just the right kind of sheltered and twisted to be into Blitzo’s kinda violent sense of humor. The ways that they are PERFECT for each other KILL ME.

Also the way that Fizzarolli swoops in to save the show and says “Hey everybody!” just like he does at Ozzie’s. Hhhhhhhhhhhh. (Also how did I never notice before that his horn stripes are mismatched just like his jester hats later)

I notice that Paimon doesn’t specify that he’s purchasing Blitzo for the day. There very much is no timetable discussed here. And the fact that Cash just DOES IT, would have sold Fizz for more but knows parting with Blitzo for chump change will pay out just as much in the end. Fucker. Then that asshole has the gall to ban Blitzo from seeing Fizz in the hospital later??? ARGH. Is this man still alive? Can we see someone punching his lights out just once?

Also, Cash’s voice. Can we talk about that? Who did that?? Why???

Listen these two asshat dads just did a bad, but also…was there really a need to vaporize half a tent to teleport out of there, Paimon?

I’ve said it already but let me say it again: whoever voiced the kids did PERFECT. Fizzarolli’s cute little giggles and Blitzo’s absolutely unhinged energy and Stolas’ little bitty hoity-toity accent. Aaaaaugh. Shows usually don’t give us this, it’s such a blessing. (Also why didn’t we get Barb tho)

(Maybe a continuity error, but the fact that Blitzo uses ketchup to represent blood instead of something darker…y’know…kinda unusual, for a Hellborn imp. But whatever, it’s adorable and I’m enjoying myself.)

I also love that Blitzo’s first reaction to being told he’s spending the day with a prince is “ew.” I hate that his first reaction to being told to steal is “what if I get caught” because that means this isn’t the first time Cash has made him do something like this. And if he’s worried about getting caught, that means it either almost happened or did happen in the past. Let Someone Punch Cash Buckzo 2k25. Surprisingly, though, for a shitty dad, the fact that Cash uses coercion and puppydog eyes to get his way with Blitzo instead of violence is actually refreshing. Though. Blitzo is already fully aware that his dad is a piece of shit, so helping him out…eh. Helping Mama, though? Yeah, that’s the correct button to push. I hope we actually get to meet an accurate version of her in Ghostfuckers and not a screwy nightmare version, because the way Blitzo in the future falls to pieces at her picture and the way even baby Blitzo wants to do everything to help her out means she meant a lot to him. And Blitzo doesn’t seem to trust or care easily even as a little kid.

STOLAS BOWS TO BLITZO EVEN WAY BACK WHEN. This information will never not destroy me, given how often Stolas does it to Blitzo in the present. Especially since Paimon immediately punishes him for it. And he still does it. Though, also interesting: Blitzo can see Paimon moving for Stolas before Stolas can, so Blitzo’s focus shifts there; his expression when Stolas gets hit is pretty shocked, too, an expression he only gets when the situation gets really dire for him. Hmm.

“I’m so good at daddying!” GO FUCK YOURSELF. Let Someone Punch Paimon Goetia 2k25.

Because Stolas is a kid who apologizes to his dad when his dad hits him, and he apologizes to Blitzo when Blitzo calls all of his books boring, he’s so sweet and so lonely someone help him.

Blitzo is already quite the little conman, though. That saddens me but also it’s nice to watch his budding strategic brain at work already.

Okay, here we go: “Is this an imp game?” That’s a fairly innocent question, especially from a kid, but it’s also a question that’s already loaded with class distinction. He might as well have asked “is this a commoner game,” because the tenor is the same. Stolas as a child gets a pass from me for his classism, because he literally does not know any better; even his imp butler constantly scolds him for behavior that is unbecoming for a Goetia. This isolation doesn’t improve even after meeting Blitzo again as adults, but I’ll talk more about that later, because there’s another layer to Stolas’ bigotry to examine and right now I’m in cute happy kid land.

Nooooo twinkly heartbreaking pretty tune, why are you heeeere, you make this sweet moment so much more bittersweet with your presence. Also if we get a reprise of this chandelier scene I might actually pass away.

Blitzo climbing a tree while Stolas reads a book. They’re so perfect. Y’know??

Alright, this little scene by the tree here: very packed with meaning, and foreshadowing too, I’d wager. I do notice that we don’t go much into Stolas’ duties with the grimoire as an adult (it would be cool AF to get into prophecy work one of these episodes), but the fact that Blitzo remembers all of this enough to plan a heist for it twenty-five years later is impressive (especially given what he goes through just ten short years later) (…wait a second…does that throw a wrench in my math…? Later, finish this tangent first). Stolas is excited, but unsure; it’s what he’s supposed to do, but there’s already something inside of him that feels discordant with that (with that, or with his impending marriage? Maybe both, since the two are likely intertwined given that they were introduced to him at the same time).

Blitzo, on the other hand, is gonna run his own circus (after a fashion lol) and be the most famous imp ever (YEAH I’M PRETTY SURE HE WILL BE ACTUALLY, he’s already making a name for himself and has interacted with one Deadly Sin so far, soon to be a second and a third later this season half. Plus there’s my ever-looming “IMP and Stolas Get in Legal Trouble” theory) and have an office (you go bb). The hiring of Stolas just feels like the next logical step, especially now that we have a pretty good indication that Stolas is about to be possibly stripped of his title and powers (if that’s what the trial/gathering in Pride and the altercation with Andrealphus means, anyway).

Happy childhood laughter…TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER.

(Alright, doing my math now: so Blitzo and Fizz haven’t seen each other in fifteen years. Presumably, I’ve been working under the assumption that they haven’t seen each other since the accident, and that the two of them and Stolas are the same age. But. There’s some…inconsistencies, if that’s true. I don’t think we get a number for what age Fizzarolli is turning on the explosive birthday, but he looks young; I think Blitzo still has his braces (which hurts me in a way I don’t know that I can articulate; that just feels so young and vulnerable still, for Blitzo to not only lose his mom but be blamed and also blame himself for losing his mom, blowing up his best friend, and burning down the circus). If we assume they’re ten on Stolas’ birthday, then twenty-five years later, they’re thirty-five. Fifteen years before that is twenty. That’s too old, or feels too old, anyway. Octavia was two years old the last time Blitzo and Fizz saw each other, since she’s seventeen; Stolas already being a father while Blitzo is in braces and the two of them being the same age feels like a stretch (though it COULD happen; adult braces are a thing). So either Stolas is older than the other two by at least a couple of years, or Blitzo and Fizz saw each other sometime after the accident. Which is possible, and certainly makes more sense as to why Fizz didn’t have some sort of trauma-induced explosion at Blitzo at Ozzie’s if that was the first time they’d seen each other since the accident. The math on this is all screwy; does anybody have a better resource on this?? Fizz and Blitzo being younger than Stolas would make sense…in fact, it’s the only thing that makes sense if the accident happened fifteen years ago. In order for Stolas to be 18 when Octavia is born, he has to be ten at this birthday at minimum. For Fizzarolli and Blitzo to still be teenagers ten years later, if we assume the accident was the last time they saw each other, they have to be 6-8 years old at most. And an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old can get along much better than a ten-year-old and a six-year-old (I work childcare, I know these things). So Stolas can be 35 while Blitzo and Fizz are 33. Wow. So many of my assumptions challenged by math. What a fun exercise these posts are.)

ANYWAY HALFWAY THROUGH THE EPISODE, one episode per post is looking more and more likely.

The differences in Stolas waking up as an adult versus a child are so stark. He groans instead of cheering, he drags himself around instead of bouncing. His hair just sort of falls into place after a brief tousle. And the Happy Pills, the most damning evidence of all. Because, uh. People who are happy with their lives don’t take antidepressants (or, rather, people who are happy with their lives don’t START taking antidepressants; people can be happy with their lives once stabilized on antidepressants). That is stupidly obvious but also, incredibly sad. And as I know I’ve mentioned before, to be a young immortal already on antidepressants because his life is so unfulfilling and miserable is upsetting.

I do wonder at how this episode would have gone if Stolas had seen Blitzo at the window at that point, though. Probably not much different.

Here’s another sad thing: Via looks so content in her sleep when Stolas checks on her before going to face Stella. I really, really hope we get an unfiltered look at Via and Stella’s relationship without Stolas, because Via’s reaction to their separation is not one of a kid who was fully aware of how unhappy her parents were together (how she wasn’t, I have no idea, because Stella doesn’t exactly hide her disdain in any way, shape, or form). Via does it without screaming but she does also blame Stolas for breaking their family, and does it the entire time we the audience know her. And in the s2.5 trailer, Via still blames Stolas for it, saying “You never loved Mother.” The fact that THAT is such a sticking point for her makes me think Stolas (and maybe Stella but I doubt it) was successful in creating a fantasy for Via where her parents were content enough, maybe even happy (at the very least, they didn’t hate each other, which was enough for Via even if she was already aware that they didn’t love each other).

We don’t know how Stella talks to Via. We don’t know how Stella talks about STOLAS to Via. We know how she talks about Stolas to her friends, to equals, but we have yet to see how Stella and Via treat each other at all, even in the new normal of screaming and throwing things. Via clearly doesn’t like that Stolas screams at her mother, even if it’s framed in the context of what Via really doesn’t like being Stolas forgetting about Via in favor of fighting with Stella or flirting with Blitzo. It is pretty damn well implied that Via thinks Stolas deserves to be screamed at and have his stuff thrown around for sleeping with someone else. “Maybe [I liked Loo Loo Land] back when my parents didn’t hate each other. And my dad didn’t flirt with some weird red dickhead all the time. I just want to go home. But home doesn’t even feel like home anymore. You ruined it.” “He’d rather spend his time just screaming at my mum.” “You never loved Mother, you don’t love me, you love HIM.” If anyone in this damn marriage is going to be accused of turning Via against one or the other, it had better be Stella turning her against Stolas, because the foundation work is already there (and the fucking messy part is that it’s partially Stolas’ own fault; he wanted to play happy families because it’s what was expected, and when he reached his breaking point, he had an affair and then flaunted that affair without talking about any of the other messy parts of himself that made it unbearable to exist in their previous life anymore. Via’s world is burning down around her, and Fuck You Dad for that).

(Disclaimer that I don’t think Stolas exactly deserves BLAME for it, because it’s an impossible and deeply unhappy situation created by others’ expectations being forced onto him, but we’re talking about Via’s point of view and she very explicitly blames her father for how miserable and tumultuous her home life is now, and she isn’t entirely wrong, even if she doesn’t have the whole picture. Hell, WE don’t have the whole picture; we don’t know if Stella going to strike Stolas is a recurring offense, or if this was the first time, but the casual way she goes about it and how surprised she was that Stolas caught her arm does make me think it happened before. And Via has NO IDEA about that if it happened, I’d bet money on it. For fuck’s sake, Stella SCREAMINGLY plans Stolas’ ASSASSINATION at the goddamned DINNER TABLE with Via RIGHT FUCKING THERE and Via has NO IDEA. Here’s something I want to see: Via getting the unvarnished truth about what her parents’ marriage was like, every messy detail, INCLUDING that her mother tried to kill her father TWICE now. Does he deserve that much, Via? Because I don’t think you think he does, even if you’re having a hard time accepting that the home life you knew was a lie. Heck. The home life she knew was a lie. No wonder she’s so messed up.)

ANYWAY.

Ugh seeing Stolas TRY to be friendly to Stella only to have his presence dismissed is just. AAAAUGH. How does Via not see this?? Stella isn’t exactly subtle! Though I suppose Via can be aware that her mother is a raging bitchface bitch while also harboring resentment towards her father for disrupting their equilibrium. Loona was right when she said it’s not as simple as that and this shit gets messy. It likely wouldn’t be this messy if Via didn’t love her mother, though. Which means there’s likely something there TO love, or at least care about. That’s a delicate path to tread, because children are conditioned to care about their parents even when those parents aren’t worth caring about, and we just don’t know what Via and Stella’s relationship is like enough to guess at how deeply Via is hurt on her mother’s behalf, and how much she knows about how her mother feels about her father. It feels incomprehensible that Via wouldn’t know, but keep in mind that we see Stella through Stolas’ eyes, not Via’s; to Stolas, she is unequivocally cruel and insulting and she hasn’t made any moves to hide it from him. Has she made moves to hide it from Via, though? We DON’T KNOW. Via isn’t at the “Not Divorced” party. She isn’t listening to her mother loudly and publicly trash Stolas in every way possible. It could very well be that in front of Via, Stella is better-behaved, and so Stella’s shows of rage post-affair are justified to Via. I’ve gone on this tangent for way too long but I’m just so enraged by it right now, and hoping that Via and Stella both get their screentime dues in s2.5 (or if not both, then definitely Via, because she matters more lol).

Good grief, though, back to the main event, which is Stolas meeting Blitzo for the first time in two and a half decades and that fantasy romantic streak coming in hard and heavy. “I will handle him accordingly” with the blush and the eyebrows EXCUSE YOU SIR.

The captions for Blitzo’s reaction to Stolas declaring “you were here to ravish me, weren’t you” is “Ew.” Which is hysterical, given that’s exactly what he said when he was a kid and forced to hang out with him, and incredibly sad because nobody wanting Stolas is the THEME OF HIS FUCKING LIFE. But Blitzo is a consummate performer and conman (he learned from the best, or at least the good enough); going along with Stolas’ ravishment fantasy is the easiest way to get what he wants, so he’ll do it. Blitzo, I will posit with my whole chest, doesn’t give two shits about Stolas very nearly this entire scene. He’s willing to work the connection, to lay it on thick, but he isn’t emotionally invested one jot until Stolas brings up how much it means to him that they’re friends. THAT, Blitzo can’t ignore, not at this point in his life, when he’s trashed just about every relationship he’s ever had. Having someone who looks at him like he hung the moon probably isn’t something even he can fully resist, especially not when he needs something from them and maybe it’ll go more smoothly after the fact if he rails Stolas into the mattress and leaves him with a positive impression even as Blitzo steals from him and illegally uses his grimoire to commit murder.

But there’s also a moment where things sort of clunk into place here—not a good place, but the place where their relationship starts that for me explains why Stolas thinks constantly calling Blitzo little and his plaything is cute, maybe even something Blitzo wants him to do (and heck, he might, in the bedroom, but we aren’t allowed in there to find out; however, context clues would imply that even in the bedroom, Blitzo probably doesn’t like being condescended to)—and that’s when Stolas thinks Blitzo wants him to be a loud, chatty, submissive bottom. Blitzo doesn’t exactly do anything to disabuse him of this notion, just sort of tolerates everything Stolas spits up at him, and with how sheltered and also up in his own ass Stolas is, I still genuinely don’t think he understands on a basic fundamental level that anything he says is a problem. How can he, when the guy he’s been demeaning won’t tell him that he’s being demeaned and literally no one else in his life could possibly offer him that context? (I will admit that if Stolas tried looking past his upbringing and seeing the world around him, he’d pick it up real quick, but that’s the thing, Stolas isn’t there yet. He hasn’t been broken down that far yet. I think he will be, though.)

Alright, stopping my own blathering enough to actually watch this scene, and can I say how impressive it is that Blitzo remembers the little eyes up top when he’s blindfolding Stolas? Mainly because I forget them constantly? Also tying Stolas up in the first place is hysterical, but I guess Blitzo doesn’t actually need to restrain him, just distract him for long enough for him to get out of there. Right before his own feels get hooked into this and he commits to “real fast.” Which is his downfall, really, but also the start of one of the most important and fulfilling relationships of his adult life. Also the most tempestuous and aggravating and dangerous. Blitzo doesn’t show his emotions, not anymore; they’re too dangerous for himself and others. But. There’s that selfie of himself and Stolas, quite possibly taken on this very night, where he looks so content, even happy, snuggled up to Stolas. Keep that in mind, because as we all know, a picture Blitzo takes while Stolas is asleep is just one piece of the puzzle.

The rest of the pieces are incoming, with Stolas’ own camera roll.

…sidenote, do y’all think Stella’s had affairs? Possibly a kinky threesome with the two friends she’s constantly talking to?

Aaaaand, here we are, fresh out of Ozzie’s, with Stolas still in his fancy suit and hungover from absinthe (which is a very strong alcohol, for those who aren’t aware; there’s a reason the serving imps brought it out with a tiny glass. Goetia resilience on display there). And his theme song is about to get words, oh nooooooo. Stolas goes through his third morning routine, doesn’t even fix himself up, just downs more Happy Pills than seem to be his recommended dose, then starts scrolling through his camera roll. In every picture of Blitzo, he looks bored at best, annoyed at worst. And this is the moment, the breaking point—the fantasy has finally fallen away. Stolas might be in love, but they aren’t together. This isn’t a relationship. It’s a comfortable lie, something unbalanced and slowly killing them both just as surely as Stolas’ marriage was killing him.

And that’s why it’s so significant to me to look at the timeline here; it’s easy to forget that these events are happening so quickly, what with the lengthy release schedule, but this is the morning after Ozzie’s, and now Stolas is looking into Asmodean Crystals, looking to give Blitzo an out, because he understands now—or, at least, he understands better than he did before. He noticed the grimoire missing right before Blitzo bit him all that time ago on their first night together; he certainly noticed it missing afterwards. He let Blitzo keep it, maybe had one or two conversations about it, and then the series practically opens up with Stolas proposing they start sleeping together so they can both get the grimoire and sexual gratification from each other. Maybe because Stolas was fluttery and happy about finally being with his first-ever crush and friend, he thought it was the only way he could keep Blitzo close (because why would Blitzo stay with him otherwise if Stolas didn’t have anything more to offer than himself?). Blitzo agrees for his business, but he didn’t have to even start—didn’t even have to agree to the deal, either, could have asked Stolas if they could talk about it later because he was in the middle of getting shot and kept putting him off. Blitzo doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do (or so he projects). Stolas has had an entire life of doing what he didn’t want to do.

Only now here they are, in a tangled web of their own joint making that’s going to break some things before they can set it straight. But Stolas taking the first steps to even out the score? HUGE. Significant, because he’s the one with the most power, literally and figuratively. Stolas didn’t have to do this. He could have kept Blitzo on a leash if he wanted to. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t WANT that kind of relationship with Blitzo. He doesn’t just desire Blitzo, he loves him, wants what’s best for him and wants Blitzo to have what Blitzo wants as well as needs. Stolas wouldn’t have given him so many outs from their full moon rendezvous if he didn’t care about Blitzo having a choice. This is just the next logical step to Stolas escaping his own fantasies and coming into the real world.

(I have a feeling Stolas Sings here has some thematic elements tying it to Just Look My Way, but I refuse to watch that music video more than the two or three times I did when I first discovered it back in February; I want it to punch me in the mouth in its full context, so I’ll just take mental note of what I’m seeing in this particular musical number so I can make the comparison later.)

“It’s annoying to hear you screeching your silly woes all the time” says the woman incapable of lowering her voice when talking about how boring and stuffy her husband is and mocking him to everyone she knows.

Unreliable narrators are a fact of life; we’re all unreliable narrators in our own ways. But when Stolas says he tried so many years to make it comfortable for both of them to have this family, for Octavia to grow up with a normal life, there’s evidence to back him up, to show that he isn’t just talking out his ass. Stolas waking up to Via’s crying and informing Stella of it, only for Stella to push it off onto him. Stolas attempting to greet his wife in the morning as he gets himself coffee, only for her to turn her back to him and ignore him and keep trash-talking him on the phone. Via’s simmering anger at the turn her life has taken now that her parents are actively hostile towards each other and not just barely tolerating each other for her sake. And Stolas says he didn’t hurt Stella, which is sort of true; he didn’t betray her trust. What he did was hurt her reputation, make her a laughingstock and a figure of pity. Stolas Goetia’s beautiful wife, so pretty but apparently not enough for her aberrant husband, who fucked an imp of all creatures. We never see anybody else judging Stella for it (or, like, talking about it at all?), but the way she acts, you’d think she’d been shunned from every noble tea party in the entire Pride ring and had her shoes spit on. Image is everything for her, but her reaction is certainly winning her no favors, either (and even her ass of a brother knows it).

Fascinating, too, at how Stolas’ firmness implies that Stella’s been dragging her feet at the divorce when it’s been months since Stolas first slept with Blitzo right after their “not divorced” party. Not out of any desire to make the marriage work, but just to torture Stolas. Just to hold that over his head. Bitch.

Alright, the body language here really does imply that Stella’s hit him before. I was already comfortable living with that assertion, but studying the animation now…yeah, absolutely not the first time she’s gotten in his face, raised her hand to him, threatened him with what the rest of the Goetia family will think and ESPECIALLY her brother (whom I’m willing to bet Stolas only tolerated because he was trying to appease Stella). And Stella might actually be stupid, might actually not care enough to regulate her reactions and behaviors towards Stolas in front of Octavia, but I don’t think she’s dumb enough to hit him in front of her. …not yet, anyway. Rile her up enough and she might. But again, we don’t know what Stella and Via’s relationship is like. But we DO know what Octavia and Stolas’ relationship is like, and I doubt Via would let it go if her dad was seriously hurt. (Which makes me really wonder if Stolas ever told Via he was in the hospital. I can see him hiding it from her to try and keep the peace.)

Stella’s choice of words here is interesting, too. “Traitorous embarrassment.” Is she just referring to the fact that he cheated…or that he cheated with an imp specifically? “And I know you’ll pay for it” because she’s so self-assured that the other Goetia family members will back her over him? It’s possible, but the only other Goetia we know of now is Andrealphus, who of course sides with Stella anyway. For all we know, they’re in the minority, but Andrealphus does make it a point to say that no Goetia has ever acted as Stolas has before (which…if the family is that big and old…I doubt it. But I don’t doubt the family’s ability to cover up a scandal before it reaches the proportions that Stolas and Stella’s divorce is about to reach).

But Stolas managed to stand up for himself, for his OWN sake, and that’s not a victory to be taken lightly for a man in an abusive marriage. But it doesn’t assuage the other matter weighing on his heart and soul. It’s fine. Full Moon is coming.

…Paimon and Cash had the same voice actor? Okay…that somehow makes more sense, why Cash’s voice sounds like that.

…yeah, these season 2 episodes are gonna have to be done on their own. Especially since every single one of them is an absolute banger. But that means this one is done! And we get to jump into Via’s head next episode and maybe relieve some of this tension I’m constantly living with trying to understand how Stella can be such a raging horrible person and yet Via still defends her! (To a point; there is a pattern where Via gets angry about something only to reveal she’s actually upset about something else, but! Next episode!!)

#quilly's hellaverse theories #helluva boss #helluva boss spoilers #quilly writing

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seolminju · 2 months

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hello again, beautiful people! ✨ 🌊 it's me, ryan (h/h, 25+), and i'm here to introduce you to another muse of mine, another favorite: seol minju! hailing from jeju city on jeju island, she was raised by a single father who convinced her that her mother is a mermaid living in the sea, and to this day, she fully believes she's half-mermaid, half-human—she just has legs instead of a beautiful tail. she works as a fortune teller at a café, and makes jewelry to sell at local boutiques. if you want a reading, let her know. she'll give you a discount! read more below! 💖

tw / parental death

as mentioned above, she was born in jeju and was raised by a single father. he's honestly, like, the best dad ever probably. he really did his best to ensure that his daughter had a good life, especially given the unfortunately grim circumstances of her mother's passing. while he worked a lot to provide for them and ensure she wanted for nothing, she spent a lot of time alone—creating mystical make-believe worlds in her mind, whispering secrets into the sea mist to communicate with her mom, and when she got older, most of her downtime was spent watching makeup tutorials, hair styling tips and tricks, and fostering her interest in the metaphysical and occult.

in school, she was bullied a lot. despite her traditionally beautiful appearance, she had—and still has—a rather oddball personality. she speaks in a soft, lilting manner, and asks strange questions to people in order to break the ice; often making those who don't take kindly to whimsy uncomfortable. more often than not, her female peers thought she was a strange pick-me girl, her male peers wanted to date her for her appearance but seldom cared about her personality, and craving a change of pace and some independence, she moved to seoul after graduation; much to the chagrin of her father.

she's basically a fish out of water now, but she's doing her best to assimilate to her new surroundings; finding everything so different and unreal in its own way. she works as a fortune teller and jeweler, but also has strengthened her sfx makeup skills and is sometimes booked for that, as well, mostly around spooky season.

seol minju is a mystic. ever since childhood, she's felt more comfortable in a self-constructed world where sea nymphs, fae creatures, and other magical beings coexist alongside her. she's always felt as though she can access other realms that most humans cannot, and when she tries to express this to people, they often scoff at her; finding her assertions lame, overly peculiar, or impractical. as she's rather soft-spoken and delicate, it's difficult for her to stand up for herself whenever others demean her passions, but she still holds onto hope that she can prove them wrong someday.

above all, minju just wants to be accepted. she's never once felt like she belonged anywhere, and often hates that she was given legs instead of a mermaid tail. she convinces herself that life would've been better under the sea, but tries to remain grateful for all she has.

now, does she actually believe that she's half-mermaid? while it's complicated, she'll still assert that she is. she's not a moron, but it's genuinely how she copes with the fact that she never had a mother. whenever she can, she heads to the nearest beach to spend time with her; finding the water extraordinarily comforting, as if it's home.

minju has no genuine concept of time. this is frustrating to many. she'll always take forever to get ready. she'll always run late. she'll move at very slow paces. she likes to say that she's simply taking her time and taking everything in, but it's still annoying. you'll have to tell her to show up ~2 hours earlier than she's supposed to for her to show up on time. no lie. another unfortunate tragedy about her is that she often falls for all the wrong men. she has garbage taste. please wish her luck in the future.

as she's rather new to the city (arrived early last year), most of her friends who are in seoul are likely rather new to her. maybe your muse met her when she would post-up in random places throughout the city offering free palm/tarot readings for practice!

maybe your muse is also from jeju and they can bond over missing home. that, or maybe your muse hates jeju and butts heads with her about it. i don't know. she'd love knowing someone from back home.

maybe your muse needed their makeup done for halloween last year, saw her instagram, and messaged her for a commission! she loooves shit like that, and she'd make you look terrifying, haunting, or beautiful. whatever you want. she's honestly really good at it.

maybe your (male) muse is an ex-lover of her's. could've lasted from may to december 2023? we can mess with the dates, too, but you know. as mentioned above, she typically falls for the wrong types of men, and she ends up hurt or used a lot, and it sucks, but... it's just the tea for right now. i hope she grows out of it.

i'm up for every type of plot and adore to brainstorm, so i'm sure we can always figure something out ourselves, as well! 🥰

#JONGNO:HELLO #/ 2 outta 8... i'm trying my best. 😅#/ please 💖 this post to plot! i'll send mssgs out asap!

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walker-extended-universe · 1 year

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Do I?

My WIndy submission for Walkerverse Hiatus Creations

Week 2- Favorite Ship

If you've been following my blog at all since Walker: Independence aired, you should know that Hoyt/Lucia is my ride or die for this show. I love both of these darlings and I think they make an excellent pairing despite Hoyt's missteps in their relationship. In 1x07, it looked like Hoyt was going to be making an effort to be more stable and supportive of Lucia and her mother, and I hope that holds true for the rest of this season.

In the meantime, I've written a little drabble. It's sort of missing scene, sort of wishlist. Enjoy!

Title: Do I?

Summary: Following Francis Reyes' death, Hoyt has a question for Lucia.

“Will you marry me?”

Lucia froze, hands hovering over the sudsy water as her brain tried to process what her ears had just heard. It couldn’t be. Hoyt wasn’t that kind of man, as much as she might have wanted him to be. There was no way he’d just propose like that…. Would he? “I…. What?”

“I haven’t talked to your Mom yet because I wanted to talk it over with you first,” he said, walking over and resting his hands on her waist. He leaned in and rested his chin on her shoulder, his lips brushing her cheek as he continued. “I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t just asking you because of everything that happened. I mean, that’s all related to the timing of it but I really do want this. I want to marry you. I want to be your husband. I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of you. I want you to know you can trust me to be here for you. I want to have kids with you and be the father I never had. I want this with you more than anything else in the world. So: will you marry me?”

“Hoyt…” Lucia wasn’t sure how to respond. She’d wanted to hear him ask her that for so long…. But was this really the way she wanted it to happen? Even if Hoyt said it wasn’t just because of the situation her family was in, she knew he would never have proposed otherwise. And as much as she might have wanted to hear it before, did she really want to accept it now?

Or did she even have a choice? She knew Papa left the land to her and her mother but it’s not like they could run the ranch alone. There were horses and cattle to care for, fences to mend, hands to pay, not to mention upkeep on the house. It was a job for more than two people, especially when they were grieving. Having someone like Hoyt around would be a big help, especially when it came to the business side of things.

And maybe she really did want this. For all of Hoyt’s flaws, she’d never loved anyone other than him. Calian was nice, as were many other ranch bos, but Hoyt had always had a way of making her feel alive, like she could do anything, like she didn’t just have to bend to her parents’ will. He had a fire in him, a wild spirit like a horse that not even her father could tame. That was what made him so special to her. But would it be right to tie him down like this?

“I don’t need an answer right now,” he said gently. “I know there’s a lot going on. But I want to be here for you, to help you and your mama out. I just want you to know my help isn’t a temporary thing. I’m in this for the long haul, however you’ll have me.”

Lucia sighed and turned around in Hoyt’s arms, settling her hands on his shoulders. She needed to say something but she didn’t know how to put all her stampeding thoughts into coherent statements. “Hoyt… I… I don’t know. I want….” She sighed and laid her head against his chest.

“I know. I know.” Hoyt wrapped her in a hug, one hand coming up to stroke her hair. “Just think about it. And whatever your answer is, I’m not going anywhere.”

Lucia melted against him, taking the comfort while she still had the chance. There was so much to do still. There was a funeral to arrange. She needed to contact their family outside of Independence. She needed to settle payments for the ranch hands. She needed to check the ranch inventory. She needed to check on her mother. They needed to decide what to do with Papa’s things. But all those tasks, important as they were, seemed small and distant in Hoyt’s arms. If only she could stay there forever…..

#walkerversehiatuscreations #week 2 #favorite ships #walker: independence #WIndy hoyt rawlins #lucia reyes #hoyt/lucia

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g00ngala · 1 year

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hi hannah. drop ur rise opinions if u haven't already by the time u see this. or just general tmnt opinions. xoxo

OH HENRY I CAN ALWAYS RELY ON YOU

this is gonna have to be under a cut too i have a lot . I'll do rise specific opinions bc I have so many opinions all the time so send an ask if you want other tmnt opinions

one: THE "CANON" HEIGHT CHART IS AWFUL.

this is the most ridiculous height chart i have ever seen. As a person who is in real life 4'9. APRIL IS NOT 4'8. she looks like she is of average height compared to other humans around her, and when you are below 4'10 it is NOTICEABLE and in fact it's very rare you'll meet anyone who is shorter than you that isn't significantly younger than you. also in this picture her proportions are off anyways? her body is usually slightly bigger. donnie is smaller than he should be in this picture and you can tell because he's roughly leo's size and both his head and plastron appear to be smaller than leo's which to me indicates they made his sprite smaller so he'd appear shorter. mikey's heels aren't even lined up correctly in the picture and he appears taller than april in it even though the numbers say he's shorter. this chart really seems like they picked 6'0 for the raph height because it seemed like a tall enough height and based all the other heights off that regardless of whether it makes any sense. i sincerely doubt that this was made by the creators of the show, despite being "official". it's just a lazy tweet from some social media manager for engagement and I refuse to acknowledge it.

two: PEOPLE ARE WEIRD ABOUT SPLINTER. HE IS NOT A BAD FATHER. it's like camila noceda all over again. splinter in rise is a complicated and intentionally flawed but good person. he's not nearly as neglectful as fans portray him to be. most people cite the demolition derby episode as proof, but to me this doesn't say that splinter neglects his kids. what's going on in that episode is that as his children outgrow what he can typically provide, he is losing his ability to relate to them and he's trying less hard to actively spend time with them as they become more independent. this is especially with donnie because donnie's interests are not typically something he can meaningfully engage in. additionally, due to his upbringing he doesn't really understand that donnie is the kind of kid that needs out loud explicit praise, so he doesn't typically give it. what donnie expresses in that episode is that he does enjoy spending time with his dad, and that he needs that kind of reassurance about his worth. splinter responds to this, and adjusts his behavior because he cares enough to make active changes for his sons. people also point to raph and say that he had to raise his siblings/ was parentified which is honestly baseless. raph doesn't really start getting that whole complex about protecting the team until mid-late season 2 when he is the leader of a vigilante team and their lives are being threatened. in the early season 1 episodes and in flashbacks he's clearly just as much of a dumb kid as the rest of them, and it wasn't splinter's parenting that made him grow up too fast but instead the world ending threats that were trying to take out the people he cares about.

also stare at these images for a half hour minimum and tell me he's neglectful. that's right shut up HE LOVES HIS BOYS HE DESTROYED THE ANCIENT SCROLLS WHEN THEY TOLD HIM TO LET HIS SONS BE MARTYRS HE ALWAYS JUMPS IN TO FIGHT WHEN THE THREAT IS SERIOUS BE QUIET!!! y'all really cannot handle it when parents of color show any signs of being complicated people on tv

okay NUMBER 3: nearly every single fanon portrayal of casey jones jr makes my blood boil. people are so much more interested in recreating the dynamics from the bad timeline than actually exploring how casey would interact with the others post movie. first of all he's not one of the youngest if you look at his design and his behavior and think about it for 2 seconds he's obviously meant to be around april's age. secondly the reason he calls present leo sensei at the end of the movie is because he's reliving the very recent loss of the leo he looked up to not because he sees current leo as a mentor. if you watch the scene where he yells at current leo, he's obviously taking on an authoritative role in the conversation where leo looks more like a child being scolded. also casey has FACIAL HAIR HE'S NOT 15. point is let casey jones jr be the strange and off putting college aged weird older brother he was always meant to be amen

#OK IM DONE. THANK YOU HENRY #henry tag #hannah.txt #✉️

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tsukarysgrimoire · 2 months

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Omega had been caught. Now she's alone at the Empire's hands, far away from her brothers. Tortured and used as a rat lab, she drowns into despair. Her only hope of escaping and return to her family is her cold-hearted estranged brother Crosshair, but he hates her. Or does he?

My main story, the one that most of the others flow from.

It all started with a simple idea: what if the Batch had hired a doctor to remove Crosshair's chip after rescuing him? Initially, my OFC, who didn't even have a name yet, was simply recruited for this purpose, and after forming bonds with the Batch and Omega, but especially Crosshair, decided to stay with them and travel the galaxy with them. Even at this embryonic stage, I was sure of one thing: it would be a Crosshair/OFC.

However, I quickly became frustrated with the lack of relationship between Crosshair and Omega in the series (I started my story long before Season 2 aired) and thought I'd like to see them grow closer as they travel together in search of their brothers. That's how I came up with the idea of Omega being captured by the Empire. And since the Empire is not known for its leniency, and Omega remained a mystery, she became the subject of their experiments.

That didn't take anything away from my OFC, she could still be a doctor, especially with Omega and Crosshair nowhere near their usual form. But instead of just being hired by the Batch and meeting Crosshair and Omega when they joined their brothers, I wanted her to spend time with them, to bond with them during the journey.

Crosshair's loneliness throughout the season, his isolation in an Empire where everyone hates him, his regrets throughout the season, his anger, his despair… everything about him touched me to the point of pain. In this story, I wanted someone to be there for him, someone to say "I'm with you and nothing will change my mind, I'm ready to follow you all the way to Hell if need be, nothing will ever hurt you again". I wanted someone to be there to put a metaphorical balm on his physical and mental wounds. I wanted him to heal.

When I started writing this story, I had a four-part plan in mind: the Empire, the Journey, the Batch, and a fourth part that I'm going to keep a secret for a while. XD As I write this, the story is at the beginning of the third part. So it would be easy to say that we are halfway through the story, but it doesn't work like that, I have a plan that I try to follow, but more often than not the story does a bit of what it wants. For example, I hadn't planned for the travel part to be so long. The accident and the independent station (chapters 25 to 35) were not originally planned, although I did have the idea that Omega would be kidnapped by losers who had nothing to do with the Empire. Sixt's confession about her birth was also supposed to come earlier, during their time on Nuthal, the winter planet, but while I was writing that part, the Peacekeepers suddenly appeared out of nowhere to play a role in two chapters (19 and 20), and I didn't have the space or time to talk about Sixt's origins.

There are still a few adventures left for us to live through together.

#ao3 #fanfic #writing #reading

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royalequeenofships · 3 years

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HSMTMTS Season 3 Predictions and Character Analysis

Ricky & Nini:

Ricky and Nini have a complicated relationship. I feel like they have the whole dynamic of “right person, wrong timing” vibe. They have chemistry and a bond with each other. However, for them to grow as a couple, they really need to have character development first. Nini really needs to figure herself out and who she truly wants to be and figure out her dreams and how she wants to pursue them. We had the whole YAC arc in season 2, where she goes there because she thought it was something that she wanted, but she realized that YAC was not truly what she wanted and isn’t what makes her happy. So, she’s slowly trying to figure herself out with independence and not relying on anyone except herself. In Season 1, most of her moments were with Ricky, with only the YAC arc really showcasing her independence, but her reliance on others in season 1 and parts of season 2. For example, Kourtney was the one who submitted her application to YAC, and partially her reasons for coming back to East High were also her relationship with her friends and Miss Jenn. Also, the fact that Carlos posted her song online, and she asked Ashlyn for help to write “Ain’t see nothing.” However, in episode 11 and 12, really starts showcasing her independence and stop relying on others for her journey. She BECOMES the one other people rely on, she hypes everyone up for their performances and is really figuring herself out and blossoming like the Rose. It is a great metaphor for Nini’s journey, and the fact that she herself calls Jamie’s brother instead of other people doing it for her, really makes it more special. Gina could’ve easily called her brother and be like “Oh yeah I have this friend who’s a great songwriter, yadda yadda.” But she does it herself, which is really great. Now with Ricky. Many people would agree with the fact that he truly does need therapy. He needs to learn how to handle change, and dare I say, realizing that other people are more important in his life. Personally, I felt like Ricky was very selfish this season. Last season, he was being selfish as he broke up with Nini because he couldn’t say I love you, and once school started again, he wanted Nini back so badly, but he proved himself worthy at the final episode when he stops being Troy to give Nini a chance to perform for YAC. However, this season once he and Nini are back together again, he was being selfish and thinking of himself again. When Nini goes to YAC, all he could really think about was how HER leaving was affecting him and his relationship with her.

For example, he would ask Gina for help on HIS own relationship, and sending Nini the message of how much he missed her and wishes she would be there because HE misses her so much. And thinking that Nini came home for him and him only. Plus, he thinks that the rose song that she wrote was SPECIFICALLY related to him, and then the whole situation with Miss Jenn and his dad, in which he was only thinking about himself and his feelings, with no regards to theirs. However, in episode 10, he finally stops being selfish and really opened his eyes to his surroundings, as he helped Carlos with his song for Seb. I hope this development continues, and once he realizes that he needs to stop being selfish, and is able to handle change and mature as a person, then maybe the Rini ship can happen once again. Another thing I’ve noticed about their “angst” in season 2 was the long-distance relationship, especially in episode 3. Although, Ricky and Nini were in the same city, throughout the episode, it still felt like they were going long-distance, which was probably foreshadowing their breakup. They only communicated through their phones that episode, and even at the end, their songs for each other wasn’t sang in person, but through the phone. As for predictions on the Rini relationship, I think that if Tim only plans on 3 seasons, then Rini will probably get back together at the end of Season 3, but if he has 4 seasons planned (which I am hoping for), then Rini will probably get back together then. Now we also have to take into consideration the career of Olivia Rodrigo. We do not know if she wants to continue with HSM, and even she herself is not sure. What I think will happen is, if Olivia decides she wants to take her music career to the next level, I think a really easy way to write her out without breaking the contract, would be to have her travel to L.A. to work on her music for the summer, so that there will be reason as to why she is absent for most of the season. This will probably take 1 episode to do and Olivia can spend the rest of her time focusing on her music. However, if Olivia decides she still wants to work full time in this season, then she might stay in Salt Lake and do the musical and write some songs for Jamie, etc but personally I think Olivia would want to focus on her music more than the show, as she posts about it more on social media than the show, and even with interviews. Nini might return for the final episode when summer ends and the new school year starts, so Olivia might just be in like 2 episodes. That’s my take on Rini for now, we get back to Ricky later.

E.J. & Gina:

Portwell is literally my favourite ship of the series, and it is just amazing. I personally would not like to see any angst in their relationship next season, but honestly it is probably going to happen and here’s why. Their relationship was built really steadily and took a long time to flourish. With other couples, like Seblos, Redlyn and Kowie, they got together awfully fast, taking 2-3 episodes to truly get together. So, the angst that those couples go through gets resolved rather quickly. Seblos with their relationship gets solved within 1-2 episodes, for the whole “does he like me because im the only gay one” storyline. Redlyn has the whole “Antoine” situation (which I will get back to later) and the “Red’s future” which again, took 1 episode to resolve. And Kourtney and Howie took 1-2 episodes to resolve the whole “Howie is from North high” and “Why Howie seems weird”. The reason is because those couples got together really quickly, and therefore their angst can be easily resolved through that, and wouldn’t really take time to fix. As you can see, Rini took a while to really get together. They were childhood friends off screen and we get to see their past relationship through flashbacks in season 1, but technically they took around 10 episodes to fully get back together. They have their cute., fluffy episodes for the first 4-5 episodes of season 2, but then their angst slowly starts to build at episode 5-6. It drags on until episode 8 where they fully break up, and counting episode 9 with their take on how they’re handling the breakup, so that’s around 5 episodes worth of angst for the couple that took 10 episodes to get together. So, with Portwell, they’ve technically been building them up at the end of season 1, but we’ll truly count the buildup starting from the Quincenero episode, which is episode 5, and they had 7 episodes worth of relationship buildup. So, I think, for the first 4 episodes, we’ll see some fluff and cute moments between the two when summer starts (and hopefully some kisses cuz like please I need to see at least one), but the angst will probably start in the middle of the season. It might take like around 4-5 episodes to fix, but I truly believe that they will not break up, and it will get resolved either near the final episode or the final episode of the season. Now for the REASON of their angst. I truly think the only “angst” worthy storyline is about EJ going off the college. As I can’t think of anything else that can topple their relationship. Firstly, EJ knows about the chocolates, which makes me think that he probably knows about Gina’s past crush on Ricky. Secondly, they resolved the whole “Big Brother” situation, and EJ knows that Gina doesn’t see her in that way. And the character development of E.J. and Gina. Back in season 1, they were arrogant and straight up ambitious people, who really don’t care about how others feel, but they truly changed as people in season 1 and 2, and had their character development moments. The contrast with them and Rini is that Season 1 focused on rini’s relationship development and season 2 and maybe 3 will really focused on their CHARACTER development. For Portwell, I think that would be flipped as they already had their Character development in season 1 and 2, so we probably will see their RELATIONSHIP development in season 3. So, since they already had their character development, I think it would be pointless to have unnecessary drama about their personalities or jealousy or whatnot, since they truly developed as people. So, the only thing I can possibly think of for their angst is EJ college arc. I know that they will probably fix it, but still I’m dreading to see it as I don’t want Portwell angst anymore. ☹ (ALSO PLEASE GIVE ME A PORTWELL DUET!! I NEED IT! Also, an EJ solo)

Ricky & Gina:

Personally, I do not ship Rina. I don’t think they would make a good couple; however, I think they would be really good friends. Someone they could confide in about their issues like Gina said “Sometimes I tell you things I don’t tell anyone else” and Ricky being like “I think we do that for each other.” We didn’t really get to see Ricky and Gina resolve their issues in season 2, partly because of Ricky’s character development. I am hoping to see in season 3, Ricky working on himself and fixing up his friendship with Gina. I think something that might happen is when Gina is going through her angst with EJ, and Ricky going through his own angst with Lily, they might be able to give each other advice and on how to handle it. However, PLEASE for the love of God, do not drag the whole love triangle back, because we do not need it. Gina has truly gotten over Ricky, and Ricky never seeing Gina as someone for his romantic relationship anyways, and he really needs to work on himself more, they should not be together as a couple. However, I do hope that they amend their friendship and is able to confide in each other once more, which I think will be cool and really help with Ricky’s character development.

Ricky & Lily:

Now this one. We know they will not be endgame, and I am 90% sure of the fact that Lily does not have romantic feelings for Ricky. Sure, she might find him attractive (and I mean who can blame her, Joshua Bassett is gorgeous), but she definitely does not like him in that way. We can see it when she “confesses” to him, she said to him “I like your brown hair and brown eyes” which are all physical descriptions of him, nothing about his personality which makes sense because she barely knows him, so how could she develop feelings for someone she doesn’t know. She has also stolen the harness, so we know that there would be no way that she likes him, and at the end of season 2, we don’t even get to see her feeling guilty about doing it, because she likes him. So that definitely setting in stone on how she’s only using him and manipulating him. Now for Ricky, yes you might be thinking “oh he’s calling her, why?” But Ricky does not know what we know. He was not there when Lily was talking to Gina about their roles as Belle, he was not there when Lily was laughing at Big Red, he was not there when she had a conversation with Miss Jenn, and he was not there when she planned with Antoine and when she stole the harness. In Ricky’s eyes, the reason that she was so mean to them is because of the Menkies, and their schools were enemies and rivals for it. He doesn’t know about Lily’s evil and ambitious side, and he believes that the Menkies might have made her that way. For example, he knows that the Menkies has turned Miss Jenn into someone different and a little bit mean, so he assumed the same for Lily, and when she asked for a second chance, Ricky gave it to her as he didn’t know. I feel like for the first couple of episodes, it will show Lily and Ricky “bonding” or getting to know each other, but Lily lying about the whole situation and really planning something behind his back, but we don’t know what yet. Maybe Ricky will be like “Huh, she’s a cool person, I’m starting to like her.” But then figuring out her plan, and finding out that she stole the harness. He then will be very upset and kind of heartbroken as he gave her a chance and she was only manipulating him the whole time. Maybe then, his character development will continue to grow and he will realize that he does not need to be in a relationship right now, and that he needs to work on himself and mature as a person. And I think him and Lily’s “relationship” will be a strong pushing point that he needs.

Seb & Carlos:

Now Seblos is one of my favourite ships in the show, and I love them to bits and pieces. However, as regarding their relationship, I feel like they have already resolved all their angst in season 2, it will be hard to make up angst for them in season 3, if they ever have one. I would like to say this though, I knew there was going to be angst for them in season 2, but the way they built it up, I thought the angst would be about how Carlos’ family is really rich, and Seb can’t compare because he lives on a farm, and it might make him self-conscious. Cause that’s where it seemed to be leading in the first few episodes of Season 2 (the sled, cashmere etc.). However, they brought a completely different angst to them which I thought was pretty surprising. Personally, I think they should’ve done the “class/money” difference in season 2, and then maybe the whole “why are you with me” angst for season 3, but maybe they MIGHT switch it around for season 3, and have the whole “class/money” difference then. Although, that’s probably the only “issue” I see for them ever, cause they’re a power couple and like what other angst could there be? Maybe they’ll introduce a new love interest but I highly doubt it because they already resolved the “I choose you always” in season 2. So, hoping there’s no Seblos angst, but if they do decide to throw in one, that might be the one they’ll do.

Big Red & Ashlyn:

Again, Redlyn is one of my favourite ships and they’re just so amazing. However, their storyline is hopefully again, all fluff for season 3, but one thing I realised that they didn’t really resolve in season 2 was the whole “Antoine” storyline. After episode 7, they never really talked about it again and introduced the new angst next episode with the whole “Career” thing. I feel like Antoine will be a more recurring character in season 3, as he only got like what? 10 minutes worth of screentime this season? (Maybe even less) and especially at the end as he joined Natalie in the final scene. So maybe there will be more of him in the next season, and slowly moving in on Ashlyn and making Big Red feeling like he’s not good enough, and then maybe Redlyn will FINALLY get their “I love you” confession then, because WE NEED IT! I’m manifesting for Redlyn “I love you” next season, and I think the whole situation with Antoine would be a nice way for Ashlyn to TRULY confirm to Big Red how much she loves him and how grateful she is for him, and vice versa. (Also manifesting for more EJ and Big Red friendship moments, like maybe Big Red goes for EJ for advice for his relationship with Ashlyn, and maybe EJ confiding in Big Red for Gina as well)

Kourtney & Howie:

As for Kourtney and Howie, they’re probably still going to work at the pizza shop together and continue to bond. A plot point that I think will be very interesting is maybe Kourtney trying to convince Howie to move to East High, but Howie kind of not wanting to, because he spent like 3 years there and it’s kind of his home. That might be a nice storyline to do, or it can be the opposite, where Howie is trying to transfer to North High, but Kourtney being worried like “Is he going to North High for me? I don’t want that, what if he hates it here”, but Howie confirming that he’s going to North High because the environment for him is better there and less competitive and toxic than North High. That might be a storyline that can happen for these two. I would also like for them to have a duet as well; I think Dara’s strong voice goes well with Roman’s soft voice and it would mesh well together.

Miss Jenn & Mr. Mazarra:

Now this one is a toughie, but I have some theories. Now we know that Ricky has given Miss Jenn permission to date his dad, which is another great character development for him, as he’s handling change and seeing other people’s happiness. However, as soon as he gave her permission, Mr. Mazarra confesses his feelings for Miss Jenn, which seemingly makes her happy, as we did get to see a little smile on her face when he did. Throughout Season 2, Benjamin was really the one comforting her, and giving her courage for the Menkies. We see it through episode 8, when he helped Miss Jenn film the commercial and how he put so much effort into making her coffee and setting up a table, just so she could relax. Same goes for episode 10, when she confides in him, and he acting like a therapist to her and accepting her anxious feelings, and helping her feel calmer and better. They are both opening up to each other. And I believe Miss Jenn truly appreciates him as a colleague and a friend. Now another moment is when Ricky’s dad comes to the show with flowers, and she was talking with Mr. Mazarra at the moment. When he called out her name, she smiles awkwardly and immediate turns to Mr. Mazarra saying something along the lines up “Why we always running into him?” and very awkwardly makes his way to him and you could tell she was slightly uncomfortable, with her awkward smiles and everything. This really contrasts from episode 3, where she herself walks up to Ricky’s dad and starts up a conversation, and how now, it is the other way around. Now, the whole problem of Mr. Mazarra leaving for Caltech. He confesses his romantic feelings to Miss Jenn, and really emphasizes on how she’s the only one who is stopping him from running off the California, which I believe that she is a big part of why, but also not fully. We really get to see Mr. Mazarra bonding with a lot of the students this season as well, E.J., Ricky, etc. I feel like he truly cares for his students, and in season 3, maybe he is thinking about if he really wants to stay in Utah for his students and of course, his budding relationship with Miss Jenn. Now, there was a scene in episode 4, where he was confiding to EJ about his rejection from Caltech. And he admits to EJ how he doesn’t think about Caltech very much anymore. He’s made his peace with it. This kind of mirrors EJ’s situation about Duke. EJ didn’t get into Duke from his own accord, but rather his dad got him in. Same can be said for Mr. Mazarra, EJ’s dad made the call for him for Caltech, and he didn’t really get in from his own as well, as he said previously, He was rejected many, many times. So maybe next season will really show him and his decision of staying at East High back in the fall, or leaving for Caltech. Now moving back to Miss Jenn. Next season, I feel like will focus on her and the students more, as this season, she was a really crappy teacher, and kept pushing them due to stress and wanting them to beat her ex at the Menkies. This season, I believe that she will return to the teacher that she was in season 1, and really focusing and hyping up the kids’ talents. I would love to see that Miss Jenn come back, and really help her students. Of course, the whole love triangle debacle will probably be fixed, I can maybe see Miss Jenn going out on a date with Ricky’s dad but thinking of Mr. Mazarra the whole time, and Ricky’s dad is a good man, so he might notice something is different about her, and tells her to go for it, her relationship with Mr. Mazarra before he moves or something. Also, since in season 2, we got to see Mr. Mazarra comfort Miss Jenn a lot, maybe this season will have Miss Jenn comforting Mr. Mazarra about Caltech, and if he truly wants to leave his students. Another thing I’d like to maybe see is Mr. Mazarra singing a song for Miss Jenn. We know that Mark St. Cyr has a good voice, as we saw from the Christmas special. So, him singing to Miss Jenn even though he doesn’t like musicals that much and all that, would show a lot of character development from Season 1.

Overall Plot:

Now, I have a few theories about summer. I’ve seen a lot of people saying they will go to a camp like “Camp Rock” which I think will be very likely to happen, and they put up a musical. What I can also see happening, is like High School Musical 2, where they go to a resort for work, and then putting up a musical there for the audience as well. Or they could just stay in Utah, and just relax for the summer, and not have any musical but just a lot of original songs about their summer in general and the stuff they’re going through. If they do a musical, I don’t think that they’ll do a musical from a movie or theatre, but rather write their own musical. I think it would be a really interesting concept, it can show us more imaginative and creative concept for a musical and have more original songs for the season. I would truly love to see that.

So that’s all for the character analysis and predictions I have for Season 3, sorry if it’s long lol

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obsessioncalledhsmtmts · 3 years

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What I would've done for S2 & S3 of hsmtmts if I was the writer/director:

Nini

I would've probably changed Nini to not getting into YAC in the first season. She would've stayed the second semester at East High. She would spend the season working on her acting to get ready for an audition for YAC for senior year (so the audience could feel like she actually deserved it- instead of just bc she's the MC). -

She would have to reckon with the fact that her going off-script was probably why she wasn't accepted. -

I would've also given Nini more personality, maybe explore her interests outside of school, or her relationship with her moms. Make her have more flaws and have her learn to work through them. -

Nini lands the understudy for a main/secondary role and gets casted as the rose. She ends up helping backstage and works with Ashlyn as a songwriter/composer for the show. -

I'm thinking throughout the season she'll deal with a lot of school pressure, along with relationship problems, and her own stress of trying to make it into YAC and she'll eventually break down from the stress (Gina, Kourtney, and her parents would be there for her) -

her audition could've been in the last episode (making the "second chance" song more meaningful) -

I think Nini being low-key iced out by her friend group for going to YAC was messed up. That was her ambition. -

ALTERNATE IDEA: She could've also transferred to North High instead, making their menkies competition more relavent. Then tranferred back after a while and have to deal with going against her friends. [Idk just most of her personality in the two seasons, even after Ricky and Nini broke up, revolved around Ricky and she didn't get to have a life or personality beyond 1) the musical and 2) the boys in her life]

Ricky

Ricky's arc would be similar to the original. Him having Nini as his lifeline was pretty toxic for the both of them anyway. This time with him having some character development. Maybe having a scene where Nini says something like "I care about you Ricky, I really do. But I can't handle my own problems along with yours. I'm always here if you need to talk, but...maybe you should get some help first. You should talk to your parents." then after a bunch of stuff, Ricky learns to ask for help, and his parents send him to therapy. He apologizes to Nini. [Btw this arc wouldn't be to bash Ricky, but more of have him learn healthy ways of venting and finding help]

He finally talks and works things through with his mom and she and his dad finally realize the emotional toll their problems have caused Ricky

I was thinking about a flashback to Ricky seeing his parents fight all the time but that might be too dark for a Disney show

Ricky wasn't interested in musicals before, so therefore he should, realistically, have to learn to play the piano or guitar (Nini could've taught him)

if the writers wanted him to have acting/singing as his actual passion and not just as something he joined to get Nini back- then we should've had him practicing singing or acting (not for Nini this time) while also doing his old hobbies.

Nini and Ricky

I feel like they missed a really good opportunity to teach the audience how to open up and work through problems when they just decided to make Rini break up over miscommunication.

For a relationship that mentions them as childhood best friends, i wasn't feeling the best friends thing when they were together

If the writers were intending for us to root for Rini, then they should've made Ricky have more redeeming qualities, him doing stuff on Nini's phone was EJ-like which they established in S1 was bad

Consider this as some dialogue Nini and Ricky could've had about their relationship in the treehouse scene: Nini: "I don't even know how I got from loving you so much to not even wanting to fight for this" instead of just stating the obvious of "we've been miss-communicating all year" Ricky could've said something like: Ricky: "I wasn't honest with you. I tried to hide things from you. It feels like we're not even friends anymore." Nini: "We were friends...what happened?" Ricky: "I don't know, what's been going on with my parents has-" Nini: "No, this isn't their fault. It's ours." *a long pause* Nini: "Since we're admitting things we've done wrong. I've got one. I wasn't intending on sharing the rose song with you. I don't know i think i was just- scared it would cause more problems and i...hid a lot of the things i was feeling...about us." Ricky: "Can I ask...what are you feeling... about us? Like... was the song really all about us?"

you get the point- Rini would actually work through their problems instead of constantly having miscommunication problems that were unrealistic given that they were friends since kindergarten

Kourtney

Kourtney should've been given an arc and I would probably cut Howie (i like him but not every girl needs a love interest- if not then Howie shouldn’t have been the only depth she has).

Kourtney could have a fashion internship and we could explore her personality.

Make her more than the bff of Nini- have Nini be the one to reassure and be there for her

healthy feminism that's not just there for tokenism (and not whatever S1 Kourtney was)

Make people be there for her and don't just leave her alone because she's "strong" and "independent" People need help sometimes. Being independent is different to having no one there for you.

Gina

Jack appeared and disappeared- would've probably made him show up once more. And Gina and him wouldn't meet like that- maybe they knew each other from another school (bc normal ppl don't randomly talk to strangers at airports lol) -

I liked Gina's arc overall and would've kept it.

Introduced or at least hinted at Gina's brother more (him calling her but her refusing to answer because it's been so long)

Even if her main plot will revolve around love, Gina would have...well... a life.

Explore her relationship with her mom

explore how traveling all the time has affected her

things like not wanting to get attached bc even tho she has a place to stay, things can change at any moment and she knows that

showing her adapting to new situations really quickly

Her relationship with her brother could've been explored more

More on-screen character development

Building off the arrogant, confident character he was in the first season and still having some of those qualities as the second season progressed

Follow up for him and his dads conversation

Cousin duo with Ashlyn

EJ should've had a storyline outside of Gina being a symbol of his "development,"

He could have talked to Nini about how he was feeling about his future since they both were worried about the same

Gina and EJ

EJ's is a lot more tactful than Ricky and if the writers had wanted for us to root for them more- Ej could've represented what Ricky didn't do. Instead they had him misscomunicate about the big brother thing for shock and drama value and have Gina be the one to clear it up.

Have EJ try to be a good person, not for Gina, but for himself.

Consistent friendship with Gina before it was implied he had a crush

ALTERNATE PLOT IDEA: Instead of having them end up together, have them be more brother/sister and support system. Have EJ learn to be a good person without doing it for someone and rather do it for himself

All in all I would've kept the basic framework of their relationship and just change up a few things

Carlos and Seb

I loved Carlos' arc too (and Seb's).

Have Seb sing more

more screentime alltogether

Ashlyn

I liked them touching on body image issues with Ashlyn but i probably wouldn't have mentioned it once and then never mention it again. I think it should've lasted at least 2/3 episodes.

Ashlyn could've seen a plus size actress in a musical she goes to with Kourtney and Gina (bc that trio is amazing) and feeling a lot more confident but still a little insecure (cuz insecurities don't just disappear with a short monologue)

I'm very anti one-dimensional mean girl so, as part of Lily's redemption, lily would build up Ashlyn a little.

Maybe cut out Big Red/Ashlyn because i see them more as friends (they could still have similar scenes together tho)

have ashlyn and big red break up by spring break- ashlyn won't tell anyone and keep her personal life out of her acting and end up spiraling

completely cut out any french guy jealousy from Big Red (completely unneeded)

Lily

I would've had Lily be more of the 3 dimensional character- i think we should be over the mean girl trope. I'm thinking parental issues/pressures (building off episode 11) and some insecurity or anxiety would be pretty realistic. Maybe she’s sick of constantly being the center of attention and wants some downtime.

If they intend to make Ricky and Lily end up together (or at least have a friendship), I would do it a little differently. In the Ricky section of this post i mentioned Ricky, if acting/singing had become his passion, should've taken up some lessons. What if Lily had ended up being his tutor or something? Maybe he signed up before all the drama and got to know her before.

just think of all the possibilities tho- it would also make the “let you go” song that Ricky does on the piano have some double meaning

Lily stealing the harness makes absolutely no sense plot-wise, so I would also cut that out

Side characters

French dude should've gotten more screentime

Mazzara/Jenn should've been equal pining like in S1- not just mainly one sided

Plot

more episodes, most of the problems and conflicts presented weren't resolved or addressed by the end of the series. Characters, especially the ones in relationships, don't even talk about their problems. And yes, realistically, sometimes people don't talk it out, but most get closure within themselves and problems don't appear and disappear magically. -

maybe change the menkies competition for another competition, something where you can have more creative liberty with the plot and songs -

cut out the dance/sing off, it was completely unneeded

cut out the "come back video" to North High's diss video

cut out the sleepover episode

All these episodes did was provide unneeded drama that could've been used to instead to take a break from the conflict and be more character driven -

Maybe a different musical- BATB was a weird choice for an official competition. If not then different casting

Ej for beast, Ricky for Gaston, seb for candleholder, carlos for clock,

The scenes from the musical should've been included, I felt like there was an episode missing between ep.11 and 12

Every relationship was the exact same- the guy pining to the loosely interested girl and then when they get together the girl having to constantly reassure him about the relationship

Ok, guess they wasted that entire semester just to never open the envelope (they should've opened it because they realized that the Menkies tore them apart and they lost sight of their passion)

a lot of the events, character development, and reactions were off-screen, which made it so annoying to watch bc a lot of those scenes were important to the plot

Disclaimer: Not hating on the writers, directors, or actors of this show. I'm just inputting my own ideas of what I think would've made the show better for me. I kept and cut out some ships i did/didn't like so my personal opinion on the relationships do have an influence

#hsm the series finale #season finale #hsm the series #nini salazar roberts #ricky bowen #ashlyn caswell #gina porter #ej caswell #portwell #kourtney greene #big red #miss jenn #seblos #ricky and nini #big red x ashlyn #Ricky x Lily

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entertainment · 4 years

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Entertainment Spotlight: Mattea Conforti, NOS4A2

Millie is the daughter of vampire Charlie Manx—can you tell us a bit about her? What made the role fun to play?

Millie Manx is a very interesting character to play. She is definitely strong and unafraid of a lot of things. She can be mean and even deadly, and she takes a lot of cues from her father, Charlie Manx. She is very devoted to her father, and she will do anything to please him. However, there is also a side of Millie, and it especially emerges this season, where she begins to question all that she knows. She starts to develop real fears of losing her father, and she also starts to emerge as a true leader. This role is both really fun and challenging to play. Playing a demon child is like nothing I’ve ever done before, and getting into all the special effects makeup, my demon wig and fang-like teeth is really fun. In Season 2, I am able to develop Millie’s character far beyond her scary, gory presence in Season 1. Millie is much more than a scary horror character. She is loving, thoughtful, scared, brave, independent and vulnerable, all at the same time. I really enjoy the challenge of showing this unexpected side of Millie Manx.

You began your career on the stage, how do you find the work differs between stage and screen, and do you prefer one over the other?

Working on the stage is completely different than working on a tv or movie set. In theatre, you get one chance each night to connect with your audience, to make bold acting choices, to express your character the way that you want. But, with TV and movies, you are given multiple opportunities to explore your character’s range. You can take a note from a director and then a few minutes later apply it to the scene you are shooting again. In theatre, everything is big – your movements, your expressions, your vocals; because you need to reach the people in the back and the people in the balcony. But, on the screen, I’ve learned to make my acting more subtle, because the camera is usually right there with you, and you don’t need to exaggerate your actions. I don’t really have a preference between stage and screen, I’m just so grateful to have had the opportunity to work in both. Both are unique in their own way, and I would welcome the opportunity to work in either genre in the future.

Do you have any fun facts about the making of the show that fans would be surprised to find out?

Well, I have found it interesting that in making this type of horror/fantasy show, it is not scary at all to do my job. Actually, this show has so much gore and scary scenes that when we are filming, we have a lot of fun joking around and being silly, in between takes, amongst all the gore and special effects. There are some really cool and scary scenes coming up in Season 2 that I got to be a part of, and I would like the fans to know just how much fun it was to shoot them!

Do you think you’d make a good vampire? What would that look like?

I’m not sure that I would make a good vampire. I’m kind of afraid of the dark, so I probably wouldn’t be very good at it. Also, I really do like people, and I’m not a big fan of playing deadly games like, “Scissors for The Drifter.”

Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite line of dialogue from the show (yours or someone else’s)?

My favorite line from the show is definitely with Zachary says in Episode 202, “Who wants to go to Christmasland?!?” when we are in the wraith. This line makes me smile because we shot that scene so many times, and each time Zachary said that line a different way. I loved it because I never really knew how he was going to deliver it, and I challenged myself to match his energy with my response every single time.

If NOS4A2 were a musical, what would Millie’s big number be?

Great question! Millie’s big number would have to be, “Who Wants To Go To Christmasland?” and it would come right before intermission, to hook the audience. I think the first act of the musical would build to Charlie and Millie Manx’s first arrival in Christmasland. They would fly through the theatre in the wraith, and the song would end with them stepping out of the wraith and seeing Christmasland for the very first time.

Which, if any, fandoms are you in?

I’m actually not in any fandoms. I have so many varying interests in the entertainment industry that I prefer to support as many different genres as I can.

You’ve worked on two iterations in the Frozen universe, playing both young Elsa and young Anna in different projects. Which of the sisters do you prefer to bring to life?

I still can’t believe that I’ve played both princesses! My experience bringing Young Anna to life for Frozen the Broadway Musical, and my experience playing Young Elsa in Frozen II were so unique, and as different as the two sisters really are. I started originating the role of Young Anna for Broadway when I was 9, so I could very much relate to the younger princess at the time. I was definitely a spunky, carefree, and funny, just like Young Anna! I started recording for Frozen II as Young Elsa when I was around 12, so I was a bit older, and I think more mature and cautious, like Elsa. I could never pick which sister/experience I prefer because they were both such incredible opportunities that I will never forget.

If you could play any character, historical or fictional, who would it be, and why?

That’s a really tough question to answer, and I don’t think I could pick just one character. I think the most important thing in selecting a role is to make sure that I am being challenged to tell a very important story. I love characters with a lot of depth to them, where I can show my acting range and make bold choices.

What does your ideal day off look like?

My ideal day off is definitely a summer day. I would spend my day on the beach with my family and friends, swim in the ocean, and go for long walks to find shells and sea glass. It would also include some really good food and of course, ice cream for dessert!

Thanks for taking the time, Mattea! Catch NOS4A2 Sundays on AMC.

Headshot: Emily Assiran

#entertainment spotlight #mattea conforti

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ladyloveandjustice · 3 years

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Spring 2021 anime overview: Quick Takes

Now for my Spring 2021 anime thoughts! I’ve decided from now on if a season’s like, 20- to-24 episodes I’m just going to wait ‘til it’s done to review it unless I feels super passionately, so though I watched To Your Eternity (it’s good!) and MHA (eh), I’ll comment on them next time. Also, for the record, I watched the first eight eps of Joran: Princess and Snow of Blood but I dropped it because it had clearly crossed the line from entertainingly dumb to boring dumb.

I will probably give Supercub and some other stuff a shot later, this was a stacked season! May give updates on all that later, but this is what I have for now.

ODDTAXI

Quick Summary: A mild mannered middle-aged walrus taxi driver is drawn into a case involving a missing girl, yakuza, Youtube clout-chasers, manzai comedians and idols with big secrets.

It’s rare to walk away from media and be like “that is a singular experience I will definitely never see repeated again” but ODDTAXI is definitely one of those. A tense noir thriller murder mystery starring cartoon animals that spends an entire episode detailing the one (cat)man’s very fall into darkness triggered by addiction to gacha games and an online auction for a novelty eraser? Also there’s a porcupine Yakuza who speaks entirely in rap? Also there’s tons of meandering conversations about stuff like manzai comedy and the struggle to go viral on Twitter?

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into the first episode, the dry meandering humor not being enough to hold my attention while I was sitting still, but once I watched this while I was working out at the end of the season, I found it an easy binge. A ton of characters with dark secrets or dangerous ambitions, each with their own part to play in a tableau of intersecting events- and it all actually comes together really well.(As for the female characters, it’s a pretty dude driven story, but they do get nuanced characterization and even some good heroic moments from one of them.)

It’s a great example of a carefully planned narrative paying off, with all the twists appropriately seeded and foreshadowed to reward viewers who paid attention. Even when it ended on a perfect “OH SHIT” moment and denied me closure, I couldn’t help but respect it. If you that all sounds interesting to you, definitely check out the first couple episodes and see if you like it- you’re likely to have a memorable, satisfying experience!

Shadows House

Quick Summary: Emilyko is a ‘living doll’ who’s told she was created to act as the ‘face’ of her shadow master, Kate. The shadows and their ‘dolls’ all reside on the mansion and are required to pass a ‘debut’ to prove they’re a good pairing. If they don’t pass, they might be disposed of. And so the mystery of the Shadow mansion grows...

This slice of gothic intrigue was my favorite of the season, tied with ODDTAXI. With an interesting premise, slightly tense undertones and a strong focus on character building and relationships, it kept me hooked the whole way through. And for any squeamish fans put off by the hype about it, don’t worry, while there are some suspenseful elements, I wouldn’t qualify it as horror. I thought the relationship between Kate and Emilyko might end up being a completely sinister one, but it’s thankfully a lot more complex than that and it’s really interesting to follow how both their characters and relationship grow. The focus of the show is, unsurprisingly, on the “dolls” slowly discovering their autonomy and personhood as they struggle under the rigid system imposed on them by the mysterious elders of this weird Victorian mansion. Can they develop a more equitable relationship with their shadow “masters” (who are also shown to suffer under this system)? There’s a lot to dig into there, and the show has the characters develop through learning to understand and appreciate each other, which is pretty heartwarming. Our hero, Emilyko, is the typical plucky ball of sunshine (they even nickname her sunshine), but she’s also shown to be clever in her own off-the-wall way and she bounces off the far more subdued and cynical Kate well, not to mention the other ‘dolls’ she ends up befriending.

What’s more, the show spends plenty of time to developing several other character pairings and combinations, and they all have their own interesting dynamic that makes you want to see more of them. Same-gender bonds are at the forefront of this show, and many of them are ripe for queer readings (I definitely appreciated the healthy helping of ladies carrying ladies), but even outside that it’s nice to see a show where a strong, complex bond between girls is at the forefront. My only real complaints about the show are the anime original ending is noticeably a bit rushed (though it’s not too bad, and leaves room for a season 2) and I wish the animation used the whole “shadow” theme more strikingly (like the opening and endings do)- instead the colors are a bit washed out which makes the shadows blend into the background sometimes. The “debut” arc also drags a bit in places, but it makes up for it by having a lot of good character integration.

I hope to check out the (full color)! manga soon and see more of this quirky, shadowy story. There’s some physical abuse depicted, sad things happening to characters and naturally the whole “oppressive familial system” thing, but otherwise not much I can think of to warn about. I give this one a big rec, especially If you’re a fan of gothic fairytales and stories of self discovery.

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Quickest summary: In this sequel season, everyone’s favorite zombie idol group must claw their way back into prominence after a disastrous show- the fate of the Saga prefecture LITERALLY depends on it!

This was a fun follow-up to the first season- if you liked the first zombie-girl romp, you’ll probably enjoy this one. In fact, there were a couple areas it improved on- namely, Kotaro failed, ate crow and embarrassed himself a lot more this season, which made him more likeable (as did the fact the girls gained a lot of independence from him). This season also shed more light on what the ‘goal’ of this zombie raising project is and what kind of shit Kotaro got involved with to make this happen, and it’s appropriately off-the-wall and ridiculous. We finally got some backstory for Yugiri too! I wish it had focused on more of her interiority, but she got to be a badass in it, and it was a treat to see this zombie idol show turn into a period piece for a couple episodes (also her song ruled).

Tae also got a cute focus episode and there was a particular SMASHING performance early on! Also That revelation last season that had the potential to turn creepy hasn’t yet, and hopefully never will. The finale was heartwarming with big hints of more drama to come- I’m definitely down for more zombie hijinks!

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

Quickest Summary: A songstress AI named DIVA (nicknamed Vivy) is approached by another AI named Matsumoto, who says he’s from the future and they must work together to prevent AI exterminating all of humankind 100 years from now.

This show is absolutely gorgeous visually with some really nice action scenes, but when it comes to the story my feelings basically amount to a shrug. It’s fine! I guess! Vivy starts out as an interesting layered character- and I guess still is by the end- with her stoic but stubborn determination bouncing off her fast-talking bossy partner Matsumoto well. She never listens to him, which is delightful. The way the show took place over the course of 100 years was an interesting conceit as well. However, it bought up a lot of themes and then sort of... dropped them. For instance, Vivy interprets her mission (PRIME DIRECTIVE if you will) as protecting humans at all costs, no matter how destructive said humans are or what their fate is supposed to be, and is perfectly willing to murder her fellow androids to do this, showing she inherently thinks of androids (herself and her own people!) as less worthy. Which is a little alarming! There’s a very dramatic point in the show where they bring this up as a potential conflict for her character but then it’s sort of...dropped. Pretty much.

Actually, despite the premise, the show doesn’t dip into the “AI rights” as much as you think it would with the main theme being more about Vivy’s search to find her own creativity and discover what it means to ‘pour your heart into something’. Vivy herself doesn’t actually care if she has rights or anything. Which is in some ways fine, because ‘AI as an oppressed class’ has been done to death, but IT’S ALSO KIND OF IN THE PREMISE, so that means that the show just shrugs really hard at a lot of the questions it brings up basically just going “humans and AI should work together probably” and that’s it. There’s a lot that feels underexplored. The antagonists in the show also either have motivations that don’t really make sense or have boring hackneyed motivations. In the finale in particular, it feels like a lot of things happen “just because” and it falls a little flat.

I also have to warn that one of the arcs focus on a robot ‘pairing’ where the dude-coded robots actions toward his partner are straight up awful and rob her of her autonomy, but it’s played like a tragic love story. I suppose you could read it differently too, but it definitely made me go ‘ew’ the story seemed to want me to sympathize with this robo dude,

Overall, I wouldn’t anti-recommend this show, it’s an all right little sci-fic romp (and definitely SUPER pretty). My favorite element was definitely the episodes where Vivy develops an entirely new (an loveable) personality, because it played with the idea of of an AI getting “rebooted” really well and interplay between her two “selves” was done really well. But there are a lot of other parts of the show that just feel...a little underexplored and empty, making me have an ‘eh’ feeling on the show overall. It’s definitely an ambitious project, and while it didn’t quite stick the landing, there’s something to be said for a show that shoots for the stars and falls short over a show that just languishes in mediocrity.

Fruits Basket The Final

Quick summary: The final season of that dramatic drama about that weird family with a zodiac curse and the girl who loves them.

It’s very weird that after not cutting a lot out, they kinda sped through some material for, you know, the finale. I guess they thought they couldn’t stretch this final arc to 26 episodes? Or weren’t cleared for another double cour? However, though there were a couple places that felt awkward, despite being a bit condensed it mostly held together pretty well for a D R A M A T I C and ultimately heartwarming conclusion. I was really disappointed they kept the part where Ritsu cut their hair for the ‘happy ending’, I thought their intro episode not showing them in men’s clothes meant the anime had decided their presentation didn’t need to be “fixed” but WELL I GUESS NOT. That was the only big upset for me though, otherwise the adaptation went about how I expected, sticking to the source material. Furuba has a lot of bumps, from weird age gap stuff to ...gender, but it also has a lot of important feels and great character arcs. It was a gateway shoujo for many and has its important place in animanga history, so I’m glad it finally got a shiny, full adaptation.

#anime overview #spring 2021 anime #shadows house #oddtaxi #zombie land saga #fruits basket #vivy: fluorite eye's song #zombie land saga revenge #fruits basket the final #anime #my reviews #long post

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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The sad thing is that Blake's most healthiest option romance wise is someone who gives her space and willing to let her go. Sun fits this description perfectly. But they went with a codependent toxic relationship partially held together by guilt in which one side is clearly submissive and the other too worried and insecure.

Yeah, tbh, the send off to Sun at the start of volume six made me think they would pick up the relationship where it left off eventually for a couple different reasons, but one of them was this reason.

I want to preface this post by saying that A. I don’t really like Bumblebee and I don’t need a reason to dislike it even though I have reason to dislike it, B. I’ve shipped BlackSun from Sun’s first introduction, and C. also I’m coming at this as someone who has been in a co-dependent relationship, so all three of those things means I��m naturally a little biased. I’m not pretending this is all a super objective, impersonal interpretation. This is just me talking honestly about my thoughts towards a ship I don’t like. Bees, I’m sorry if this shows up in your tags, Tumblr is being screwy and I’m not trying to rain on anyone else’s posts. I’m using filterables and putting this under a keep reading to try and make it easier for Bumblebee fans to not see this.

I had - when I saw season six’s opening ep - given the show mad props for writing a romance driven relationship where the partners didn’t have to stay together all the time to still care about each other and be secure. It felt like the perfect move to me to get some distance between their characters while firmly establishing that Sun had never done the things he’d done ‘to win the girl,’ and didn’t consider himself ‘letting Blake go.’ Sun not only being willing to spend this time away from Blake, but to not even need it really said, and to have his own stuff he needed to do as well... All of that felt like a healthy, independent relationship. I don’t mean to get personal on main, but I’ve been in a relationship where I felt partially responsible for my partner’s happiness and he tried to do things like keep me from my friends or guilt me into things. I ignored the red flags because our relationship was important to me, but it made me feel pretty unhappy because I was always worried that if I didn’t do the things he wanted, he would get upset and over-react, and put himself down until I built him back up, and if we didn’t spend the majority of our time together, he would start talking about feeling like I didn’t really care that much about him and how lonely he felt. This was really exhausting to me, especially since I’m an introvert.

Sun always seemed like such a good partner for Blake because he was always so self-possessed, so confident in who he was already, independent and happy and accepting of Blake’s independence. Sun was always there for Blake, but he also was the one usually pushing her towards interacting with others too, they were able to go do separate things and even go on completely different missions with confidence and without drama. For a character who had previously been in a destructive, possessive, controlling, abusive relationship, it had seemed like a scene that clearly established Blake and Sun’s relationship as one where Sun wasn’t expecting Blake to stay with him all the time, respected her goals and her independence, and had his own life and his own friends too. I had kind of just assumed that the choice to have Sun leave the group and go to Vacuo was to further their relationship. Upon rewatching the scene later now that I know that the writers were already starting to try to implement Bumbleby, I can see how the show writers might’ve been intending that scene to be an amiable goodbye where Sun confirms to Neptune that they aren’t actually an item with his ‘it was never about that.’ But I just have to shake my head, because I was giving the writers credit for something they didn’t do.

Instead, they were trying to tie off the relationship between Sun and Blake by having him leave, not cementing Blake’s independence and Sun’s encouragement of that (and they tied it off badly imo because Blake freakin’ kissed the boy lol.) And once they had Sun leave, they started setting Blake up with Yang. I want to clarify that there’s nothing wrong with the writers deciding to go with Blake x Yang, and the ship itself was not a totally baseless one. I’m personally disappointed that one of my favorite RWBY ships isn’t going to be endgame, and I personally don’t like the idea of Blake and Yang as a couple. But my problem isn’t really with the ship itself, it’s with how the show writers have chosen to write the ship in execution.

Getting past the queerbaitery nature of Bumblebee as a ship, the choices surrounding Blake and Yang seem faulty on both sides (which I also think is important to remember. I’ve seen loads of people recognizing that Bumblebee as written in the show is destructive to Blake, but I’ve seen much fewer people talk about how it’s not the best for Yang too.)

Let’s start from the fact that Blake is an abuse victim. She was previously in a relationship with Adam and talks about his destructive and violent behavior. Blake has a really hard time trusting people because of how Adam had acted. He was explosive, manipulative, and he got angry at and hurt Blake specifically for leaving him. The last thing Blake would need is a relationship where she feels personally responsible for the stability of another person. The last thing she needs is to be pressured into staying with someone. The last thing she needs is to be expected to be with that person without the option of ever working with others. The last thing she needs is to be in a relationship where she can’t be apart from someone even temporarily without that person getting anxious and insecure or without having to feel guilty and like she did something wrong.

And yet the show has her in a relationship with someone that has abandonment issues. The show has her promise to stay with Yang in a moment of huge trauma, Blake crying out a desperate denial to the accusations of the abusive ex who had made her life hell, after he tried to again separate her from anyone she loved and she was forced to kill someone she had once deeply cared about. It was also a really weird choice of the writers to have the characters respond to a question over if they’d ever thought about working with other partners with dismissive and cold behavior as if the very idea was somehow wrong (especially since Yang spent quite a bit of time pre-volume six working with Weiss and Blake spent so much of her time working with Sun.) And the writers chose to frame Blake and Yang leaving on temporary separate missions in volume eight to result in insecurity and anxiety from Yang and guilt for Blake. On top of that, Yang is a person with a strong temper and aggressive tendencies. Although she seemed to be trying to work through those problems in seasons four and five, Yang backslid and seems just as controlled by her anger and her insecurities as her volume 2 self now, who had lashed out at Blake and angrily pushed her for not listening in ‘burning the candle.’

As for Yang, she lost her mom when she was very young (Ruby was a toddler,) and her dad temporarily shut down after that. She soon found out her biological mom had left her when she was a baby and spent her whole life wondering why while her uncle spent that time flitting in and out of her life and taking on dangerous missions - the same types of missions that had killed the woman who had raised Yang for the first part of her life. Yang has deep seeded fears of being abandoned and losing her loved ones, and she also has a history of trying to take care of and support the people around her even at her own personal expense. While Yang’s more selfless moments in season five - like giving up her dream of getting answers from Raven to follow and protect Ruby even when she clearly wasn’t wholly healed from her trauma - are admirable, what Yang absolutely doesn’t need in a partner is someone who she feels like she has to protect and save and sacrifice for. What Yang absolutely doesn’t need in a partner is someone she feels like she can’t rely on to be there for her. What she doesn’t need in a partner is someone who can’t give her stability or struggles to trust her. What she doesn’t need in a partner is someone who won’t call her out when she goes a little too far. And yet the writers chose to put Yang with someone who runs on the regular, the only member of their team who thought Yang might be lying about Mercury, someone who needs time and distance when Yang clearly needs someone who is consistent and present. And then the writers made it so that Yang and Blake spend very little time with anyone else. The writers made it so that they can’t be apart without guilt and anxieties.

And you guys, Blake in seasons 6-8 feels so needy. She’s consistently in need of saving, consistently doesn’t stand for herself, seems like she needs a lot of reassurance in her relationship, she’s consistently waiting for other people to make moves, etc. Even when Blake convinces Yang to divulge top secret information to Robyn, when Ironwood confronts them about it, Blake backs up and leaves Yang to explain their actions. In the early seasons, it feels like Yang cares more about their friendship than Blake does and that she’s putting in more effort, which don’t get me wrong, makes total sense since Blake had just gotten out of an abusive relationship and Yang’s clear anger problems (and her using a laser pointer to try and force Blake to talk to her,) might’ve made Blake hesitant to get close to or open up to Yang. But while it no longer feels like Yang cares more, it still feels like Yang puts in more work. Yang is constantly reassuring, protecting, comforting, and stepping up for Blake, while Blake is so passive and acts so dependent that I personally can’t help but feel like Yang must be exhausted. Yang needs stability and reassurance too, Yang needs a partner she can talk to and rely on to be there. When the writers did write Blake as trying to comfort and take care of Yang, it was way too much and had undertones of ableism. And I know, I know they had this ‘we’re taking care of each other’ moment when they were fighting Adam, but that’s just what we were told for one scene, and not what we’ve actually seen in their relationship.

The worst thing is that it didn’t need to be that way. Bumbleby could’ve been a really good ship that built on their foundation. Blake used to be an independent, brave, strong, active character. Blake stood up for herself to Weiss, told Ozpin to his face that he needed to do more for the Faunus, used to have a great, creative fighting style, used to be this sassy girl who’d banter with Sun and with Yang and when she did start opening up to Yang, it was a great way to start evolving their characters to be a strong relationship. In V3 when Blake admitted that she had doubts about Yang due to her past experiences with Adam, but opened herself up and decided to trust Yang anyway when Yang looked her in the eyes and told her sincerely exactly what had happened... That was so great and it really showed off the dynamic the two of them were starting to adapt. CRWBY might’ve immediately separated the two, but A. Seasons four and most of season five had great set up for them to work through their problems and then continue to grow that great dynamic we started seeing in the first three seasons. And B. their respective arcs continued their growth as characters even apart from each other. While I wish that RWBY had let the two work some of this out together, the growth that we were getting did make them more suited for each other. I’ll always ship BlackSun. But Yang getting a hold on her emotions, maturing, starting to work through her abandonment issues, and displaying just what a caring, honest person she was, at the same time that Blake was working through her past and her fears, learning to let people in, strengthening her resolve, and coming into her own as a leader... Come on, those two characters could’ve easily developed a good, healthy, strong, independent relationship and I’m legitimately sad that’s not what we got, especially since we sacrificed so much of Blake’s personality to get a worse ship.

I don’t even know what to say about it, tbh. Idk what else the writers expected us to think with how they wrote things. I’ve heard before that there was probably a cut scene in volume eight that included Yang and Blake fighting (which would then justify Yang and Blake’s reactions when they reunited,) and I do believe that, but the writers chose not to include it, and that made them look worse as a couple. Just like they chose not to include a scene where Blake and Yang work through the problem of Blake having left Yang without a word of explanation at the end of Volume 3. And they didn’t include a scene where Blake explains herself and Yang realizes that maybe she was being a little shortsighted about the trauma Blake had also gone through. And they didn’t include a scene where Blake actually learned that she didn’t have to protect or take care of Yang in volume six. And they haven’t included a scene where Blake puts just as much effort into their relationship as Yang does. And they didn’t include a scene where the two make it clear that they’re fine being apart. If anything, CRWBY has established the opposite, and it isn’t enough to just say that they’re taking care of each other, when they don’t show that to be the case.

Sun being not only willing to let Blake be with others, go her own way, and be her own person, but encouraging of that, made him a very compelling romantic prospect for her. Unfortunately I just don’t see that with Blake and Yang. Their relationship feels co-dependent, and maybe it’s just my personal experience talking and making me chafe, but I personally just don’t like it.

However, fans have been queerbaited long enough. So personal opinions aside, CRWBY give Bumblebee some confirmation you fucking cowards.

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gilly-bj · 3 years

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Levi to Mikasa - Rivamika though the seasons in Mikasa’s POV

This post is completely focused on Mikasa’s character. Some details will be ignored because they aren’t related to her.

When we say that Rivamika has the biggest relationship development, we’re not wrong. They both changed their opinions about each other during the story, especially Mikasa. Today, we’ll see how she went from hating Levi to asking for his help, with the all phases between.

| First stage: “I hate you” | Season 1 |

Probably you guys already know how their relationship started: exactly, not in a good way. They first meet in the trial when Eren was on trial; after our Titan Boy started to shout at everyone there, Levi beated him really well poor Eren. Obviously Mikasa wasn’t happy of her brother getting clobbered by a shorty and she was ready to intervene. Fortunately, Armin was there to stop her, so she just settled for staring him angrily.

Notice that: EMA met Levi before the trial two times: When Levi saved them from the titan who was about to eat them, and in Levi’s introducing chapter, where he did his first apparition as “Humanity’s strongest soldier”. There is a panel which shows EMA admiring Levi from afar, and their expressions are completely amazed. The man Mikasa considered an hero, beated roughly her brother. She must have felt really disappointed, and maybe also betrayed: the man who saved her friends and her from death, showed himself to be an asshole (sorry for my language ) This gave another meaning to Mikasa’s grudge against him, which is closer to her as a character than the one everybody knows (since it’s related to Eren)

This stage of hate continue until the Battle against the Female Titan (chap. 30), where Mikasa and Levi team up to rescue Eren from Annie. Mikasa loses her mind but fortunately, Levi is ready to intervene. Mikasa isn’t really friendly, instead she blames Levi for what happened to her brother. He recognizes her and address her as “Eren’s friend” lol. Now, take a look to this panel.

Mikasa’s face, it seems like she felt uncomfortable after Levi’s stare, or maybe, she’s wondering what Levi’s glare means. Honestly, I’m still wondering the meaning of the zoom in Mikasa’s eyes. Personally, this is the best among their interactions; their faces, their reactions on what the other says, hits hard, really hard. It makes me sad to know that many ignored this moment. This fandom really lacks attention with details.

Anyway, Levi gives Mikasa instructions on how to proceed, and in the beginning she seems to agree, but then she decides to do things her own way so she attacks Annie. Unfortunately, her reckless move makes her risk her own life. Here Levi saves her for the first time, and he end up breaking his ankle. When they recover Eren, Levi makes her understand that her actions have consequences, and they aren’t pleasing. This is the first time Mikasa develops thanks to Levi: she understands how much selfish she was and she acknowledged her error.

| Second stage: “I respect you” | Season 2 |

Their next, and only, interaction in season 2 is when Levi tells her to protect Eren and to not be reckless. This is the first time Mikasa addresses him as “captain”, showing that she respects him as a superior.

Another thing here very important for Mikasa’s character development is when she accepted that it was her fault for Levi’s injury and she takes responsibility for her reckless actions. She understood that what she did was wrong, indipendentally from her grudge against Levi.

Plus Levi’s cute and jealous scene.

| Third stage: “We’re a team” | Season 3 |

Season 3 is Rivamika season: from the introduction of the Ackerman Clan, to their interactions, to everything. In the first part, we see them team up and fight to rescue Eren again and Historia. They work perfectly together; there’s a lot of chemistry between them and they seem to be connected with thier body and thoughts, so much that Mikasa becomes Levi’s right hand; she’s always next to him, here to help him. One of our precious interactions is when Mikasa says sorry to him in her own way, asking him “How’s your leg?”. It’s a big development in their relationship; Mikasa doesn’t feels resentment against Levi anymore, she feels guilty for his injury, and it’s the first time that she says sorry to someone ;) I think

Notice that: Mikasa changes when she’s with Levi: she’s more independent, freer than how she’s with Eren. That’s why I think that Levi is perfect for her, because with him we see the real Mikasa. What Eren tells to her in 138, to be free, is what Mikasa was in S3 with Levi.

When they talked under the moonlight my romantic heart about the Ackerman Clan, after they discovered Kenny’s surname, Mikasa shared her past with Levi, telling him how their parents felt in love and got married (WOWE PARTICULAR SHE SAID IT TO LEVI, REALLY STRANGE AND QUESTIONABLE-), but they had to hide in the mountains because of the Ackerman persecutions. In Rivamika relationship, Ackertalk is the symbol of their deep trust, Mikasa spontaneously shared her past with Levi, and similarity, when they acknowledge that they share an important moment in their life, the awakening of their Ackerpower.

I think that Levi has already understood how many things they share. Probably Mikasa not, but it’s not too late ;) I think that now that she has the possibility to spend more time with Levi, she’ll understand their similarities.

Now, the fire of their relationship: Ackerbowl. Many says that it has destroyed their relationship development, but I don’t think so. Levi had to choose between his best friend, Erwin, someone very important to him, and Armin, someone very important to Mikasa and Eren. If Levi would have won, saving Erwin, Mikasa would have lost. They both didn’t enjoy to fight against each other, but there’s a moment in your life when you have to define your priorities. Mikasa asked to Levi to give her the serum “politely”, she said “Please give it to me”, which means that hurting Levi wasn’t part of her plans. She respected and trusted that shorty, and things haven’t changed.

| Fourth stage: ??? | Season 4 |

I don’t know if it’s due the lack of interactions or everything, but I really can’t define what they are right now. They seem to have passed the 3th stage, but they haven’t reached the 4th stage yet. Hmm... what I can say about this season is that Mikasa seems to feel comfortable with Levi to start a physical contact (Never happened), and to ask for his help. There were a lot of foreshadows during the chapter 138 so let’s hope the best for the next one.

I hope you guys like this post, it took me a bit of time but I’m happy of the results. Now I’ll start to answer to all the asks I got during these few days.

#gilly bj #rivamika #rivamika though the seasons #in Mikasa’s POV

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seqka711 · 3 years

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Ranking the six main boy/girl ships in Yu-Gi-Oh from best to worst!

Not all main girl ships are created equally, I'm afraid. Let's take a look at each ship and see what's up! (Except Sevens because as I mentioned in a previous post, I am way too far behind to comment on anything in that show.)

First up is Anzu and Yugi! And YES I do ship them! However, I don't ship Atem and Anzu. Anzu was friends with Yugi, and started to see him in a different light when Atem started showing up. However, those changing feelings also started to influence her feelings about Yugi as well. We saw that in Duelist Kingdom. Then in season 2 when she realizes they're two separate people, she gets really confused! Anzu doesn't know how to feel anymore! Then Atem and Yugi are both playing wingman for each other, so that's not helping matters. I don't really ship Atem and Anzu because Atem just doesn't seem super interested in their date. I know he had other things on his mind, but if they wanted me to ship it, now was the time to show off some chemistry and they didn't.

We saw in GX that Yugi grows up to look just like Atem and he also grows more confident over the course of the series. After the end of Duel Monsters, I think they're both too hurt by Atem's passing to be digging on each other. But, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I feel like she's gonna come back from the states and have some heart-pounding feelings when she sees him again. And Yugi's feelings didn't change, they were just put on the back burner. So hopefully when they meet back up, sparks are gonna fly! At least, I hope so. <3

Next up is Asuka and Judai! When I watched their first duel, I was 100% on board with this ship. They were cute, they had great banter, it was a fair fight. I loved it! But over the course of the series, I started losing interest in their relationship, fast. By the end of season 2 I was pretty convinced they had abandoned Asuka x Judai for Asuka x Manjoume, and honestly, I was 100% on board with that, I love a good romcom couple and those two have dysfunctional romcom energy. Plus they had evil power couple vibes when they were running the Society of Light together, so I thought for sure they were gonna have Manjoume and Asuka be better friends post possession.

Then season 3 came a long and I was like "woah, they DID do that on purpose! I was right!" when we saw the Judai x Johan x Yubel love triangle they spent the entire season on. Asuka and Manjoume were of course relegated to background characters, as was everyone who wasn't a transfer student. And then the series ended with a pretty definitive Judai x Yubel ending and I was like "cool I like it".

But then season 4 made me question everything by making it clear that Asuka was still crushing on Judai?!?! Uhhh.... what? You haven't mentioned this crush in OVER TWO YEARS ASUKA. You've both changed so much! I thought the whole point was "she had a fleeting crush on him in year 1, but people change and so do our feelings"! I thought they had her fall out of love with him on purpose!! You're telling me the writers just wanted us to ASSUME she was still in love with him this whole time?!

I honestly love the whole "had a crush on him, now that I know him better, he's an amazing friend but I don't like him that way anymore" dynamic and they RUINED IT so bad. And for what? To say "well they fought the whole time, but now look! They can tag duel together!" Well, jokes on them, because a few episodes later Judai and Johan will show off some of the tightest teamwork in the show and I'll have to throw Asuka x Judai in the trash. </3`

Yusei x Aki!!!!!! AHHHHHH I LOVE THEM. Their first duel is very romantic in my opinion. Yusei lives to help people, and it's actually a flaw of his that he'll help people no matter the cost. Usually that's sort of a "who cares" flaw in a protagonist, but for Yusei, it adds a lot of depth to his character. The reason he helps people even at the cost of himself is because he feels enormously guilty due to his parents' involvement in Zero Reverse, and he feels like he owes the world (but especially Satellite) everything. Yusei tried to go to jail in Kiryu's stead, but failed, and I think that only compounded his guilt even more.

Then, when Yusei sees the chance to help Aki, he does it. He's scared of her, but he rallies his courage to face her so that he can help her. And it's only natural that Aki would fall hopelessly in love with him after he continually put himself at risk over and over again JUST to help her. I love the episode where she rescues him from being kidnapped and then accompanies him on a riding duel. I think it hits me harder because it reminds me of how much I want to drive a motorcycle but can't because of reasons I won't go into. But part of her desire to learn to riding duel is because she wants to feel the same things Yusei feels. And that's so cute!

Unfortunately, I do have a certain headcanon that gets in the way of my shipping desires. I won't get into the whole headcanon, but I think Yusei might have ended up time travelling back in time to fix Zero Reverse and prevent Zone's future. And Aki wouldn't have come with him because we see her in the flashforward. Yusei is still giving her strength though. And I like to think that maybe a much older Yusei was able to help a much younger Aki control her powers and not enter a cult in the new timeline. And if my headcanon isn't true, then GET MARRIED AND HAVE BABIES GUYS. <3

On the one hand, I love Kotori x Yuma. They’re so adorable! Not only is Kotori surprisingly self-aware of her crush (usually the YGO girls love to deny it) but Yuma clearly treats her differently from the rest of his friends, even though he doesn’t know why (yet). Kotori’s confession at the end of the show is SO CUTE AND ADORABLE and Yuma accepts and I love it!

But… I can’t love it as much as I WANT to love it. Kotori’s character, especially in Zexal II is kind of boring. I liked her a lot in Zexal I actually. I thought it was fine to have a character not duel as long as she was doing something else. In season 1 she occasionally gets shit done. Or she’s there for comic relief like when she’s riding the duel coaster. Or arguing with Orbital 7. It wasn’t much, but it was something. In season 2, she’s a total non-entity. I thought the duel where she gets possessed was very funny, but I almost wish that her getting possessed by a Barian was played for drama rather than laughs.

I think what could have been cool is either a) after she can hear Astral, her and Astral team up for a duel or b) when watching Yuma she started to memorize his strategies. Or both. Or neither, just get this girl something to do BESIDES watch Yuma! In the end, my love for how adorable these two are is always somewhat soured by Kotori’s squandered potential. <3

Speaking of squandered potential, Yuzu and Yuya are next on the list. I love these two A TON! I’ll be perfectly honest and admit my biases here, I am NOT the biggest fan of Arc-V. The show had a lot of problems, and I’m harsher on it than most.

But one thing I really did like about the beginning of the show was Yuzu! She was independent, driven and her dueling was getting better as the show progressed. Just like Kotori, she became a non-entity in the latter seasons. However, I ship Yuya x Yuzu more than I ship Yuma x Kotori because Yuya was always keeping Yuzu in mind during the latter seasons. So it still felt like the ship was in focus, whereas with Kotori x Yuma, the ship kind of disappeared since more important things were going on. For Yuya, nothing was more important than getting Yuzu back, so really I had no choice BUT to ship it. How could I not? It was so sweet! She was his whole world! I wish we got more scenes with the two of them together though. Them never tag dueling is a crime against humanity. Also its total BS that only Yuya and Yuzu got to come back, but whatever, I guess. I was happy that the two of them reunited and even HAPPIER that the show was finally over. <3

Last and basically least, Yusaku x Aoi. Or Playmaker x Blue Maiden. I’ll be honest, I don’t ship this at all. The show doesn’t go through any effort to get us invested in their so-called “relationship” and if I had watched this show on its own, unaware of the series’ tropes, I wouldn’t have assumed they were a “ship” at all. With Judai x Asuka, I actually liked the fake out (at least until S4 when I wondered whether or not the fake out was actually on purpose or if the writers are just morons) but with Yusaku x Aoi I get frustrated because it wouldn’t have been that hard to GIVE them some chemistry. They’re both interesting characters, and I think Aoi and Yusaku could have had an interesting dynamic if Aoi had learned Playmaker’s identity a lot sooner.

What I think the show should have done was have Aoi discover Playmaker and Soulburner’s identity at the same time they discovered each other. Then have Aqua come into the fold a lot earlier. Trios are popular in fiction for a reason, and I think Yusaku, Takeru and Aoi would have been an excellent trio. Specifically, with both Yusaku and Aoi being so reserved, their relationship would be very understated. But that’s not a bad thing. It just means that the writers would have to put more focus on the little things. Like, maybe after a while of being friends, Yusaku sits next to her in class. That would be a small thing for other people, but for those two, that’s huge! I could also see there being a fun episode where Ai tries to trick them into going on a date but fails spectacularly. The two of them end up spending time together to foil the plan. That could be really cute! LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than NOTHING.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t ship this because the writers thought they could get me to ship it just by having boy meets girl and then having them shake hands over a hundred episodes later. And no. I refuse. I need a LITTLE more than that, please and thank you. </3

That was a very long post! All in all, 4/6 ain’t bad at all! Or maybe it’s more like a 3.5 since I only gave Kotori and Yuma a small heart? It doesn’t really matter, I’m a multishipper. At my heart and soul, I’ll ship anything. Like I said I don’t ship Judai and Asuka, but I totally have shippy fanart of them on my phone, lol. It’s more like… which of these ships would I defend in court and which ships do I only like because I’m trash that’ll ship anything?

Oh, I guess I did title this as a ranking... Well, I'm sure you can figure out my most and least favourites by how much I used caps lock, so it should be fine.

Give me ANY Yu-Gi-Oh ship (straight, gay or in between) and I’ll dissect it like I did these six.

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youare-mysonshine · 4 years

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miss independent || oscar diaz

(gif is not mine. credit to owner💗)

Summary: Oscar has feelings for the reader meanwhile the reader has feelings for Mario. Oscar is struggling to accept that.

Requested: yes!

Pairing: Oscar Diaz x reader, Mario Martinez x reader

Warnings: a bit of angst, cursing as per usual.

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: to whoever requested this, I hope this is what you wanted. I decided to use Mario because I just felt like he fit perfectly. Obviously this takes place during season 2 and amber isn’t a thing lmao I wrote this way before season 3 came out and I kinda just left it because I got stuck, but I’m back and I figured I’d finish it. It’s not the best but ENJOY! I’m open to doing a second part, I have been doing Oscar dirty and I am sorry lmao

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When Y/N and Mario had ended their relationship, there was absolutely no bad blood between them - they had been together for most of high school. They were each other’s first loves. They went through a great deal together. They essentially grew together. They had been together way too long to end on bad terms.

No, the reason that they had ended was because Mario had gone away to college and Y/N had stayed in Freeridge, having decided to take a break from school for about a year or so. It hadn’t been an easy decision, but they both ultimately agreed that they should break up - prior to him leaving for college, they had agreed that long distance would be just fine, that they’d be able to do it, but once he was gone, it was an entirely different story. They barely talked, Mario was busy with meeting knew people, going out with his new friends and focusing on school. It was something Y/N didn’t blame him for, she knew what the deal was when he went away, but still, life was getting in the way and neither of them wanted to make the other feel like they weren’t important.

Their break up had been hard but amicable. And it certainly wasn’t something that someone could just get over in a short amount of time. Neither of them knew if they’d get back together again, but the feelings were still there. Y/N was sure that they’d always be there. A connection with someone like that, it didn’t just go away. It’d stay with you, forever.

It had been a few weeks after their break up that Y/N had gone out to the liquor a few blocks away from her house to buy some snacks - call it comfort food - when a green car had slowed down across the street from her to match her pace. Inside the car, which was blasting music so loud she could almost feel the bass of it reverberate against the sidewalk, were about 4 guys. Prophets, she quickly realized, judging by amount of green they wore.

“Damn ma, what you doin’ out here alone? You lookin’ fine as fuck. Let me get that ass.” Was among one of the many things thrown her way. Being a young woman, it hadn’t been the first time that she had been cat called and it likely wouldn’t be the last, but that fact never stopped it from being creepy and making her uncomfortable, especially when it was coming from the Prophets, one of Freeridge’s known gangs. Especially given that they had been following her in their car, going as fast she was going to keep up with her.

Y/N had sped up her walking but that did nothing because they sped up too, still yelling things at her through the window. Her heart had begun racing and she could feel the cold sweat on her forehead - were they gonna follow her home? The young woman had contemplated just booking it and hoping that they’d lose interest and leave when she heard the rumble of another engine, this time heading in her direction. Up ahead she could see a familiar cherry red impala. She knew who it belonged too. Almost everybody knew who it belonged too.

Oscar had sped up just slightly when he had seen the green car, coming to a stop when he was beside Y/N, effectively blocking her from the view of the Prophet’s. Suddenly, she had gotten just that much more freaked out because she knew, everybody knew, of the tension between the two gangs, the Santos and the Prophets. She didn’t want to find herself in the middle of a shootout when all she had just wanted to do was go home and eat her damn fucking chips.

“The fuck you doin’ on this block? This is Santos territory. You punk asses know you shouldn’t be here.” She had heard Oscar say. “Get the fuck outta here. Now.” He left no room for discussion. That deathly calm, but frightening stare wasn’t something she wanted to be on the receiving end of. Across the street, she could see the Prophets in the car debating his words, contemplating on listening to the Santo and leaving or starting some shit. In the end, they decided on heeding his words and they drove off, not before throwing some comments his way, and her way.

“We’ll be seeing you, Spooky.” “Watch your back.” “We’ll be seeing you too, ma.” None of it phased Oscar, who watched as they disappeared through the side mirror of his car. Suddenly, his dark eyes were on her and she left out a tiny breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding.

“You good?” He asked, nodding his head at her. The y/h/c haired female gave a small nod, clutching at the plastic bag in her hand.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks for that. I didn’t think they were gonna leave me alone.” She admitted, sending a small smile his way. His dark eyes analyzed her for a second, and she began to grow hot under his gaze, feeling the heat creep up her neck, to her cheeks, all the way to the very tops of her ears.

“You’re Mario’s girlfriend, right?” And that sent a painful little jab to her heart, the remembrance that she and Mario were no longer a couple. Clearing her throat, Y/N shook her head.

“Uh, no. No, we broke up after he left for college. Long distance just wasn’t our thing.” She revealed. Oscar gave a slow nod at her words, letting out a little ‘hm’. She had figured the conversation was over at that point so she was about to turn away and carry on her journey home when his deep voice spoke up once more.

“You want a ride?”

Now, Y/N had been familiar with Oscar because of Mario, but they had never actually had a full blown conversation like the one they were just having. They had never been alone together, they had never spent copious amounts of time together. Oscar had gone to prison for a considerable amount of time as well. So, the fact that he had offered to give her a ride was a bit surprising to her, and she had almost declined his offer when the words of that one Prophet replayed in her mind.

“We’ll be seeing you too, ma.”

Were they lurking around a corner somewhere, waiting until she walked away from Oscar? Waiting to follow her again? Now, maybe she was being entirely paranoid but she certainly did not want to take that risk. So, giving Oscar a nod, she walked a few steps forward, pulled open the door and climbed into the passenger seat of his precious car.

That had been the start of an unlikely and very surprising friendship between Y/N and Oscar Diaz.

After that fateful day where he saved her from being harassed by Prophets, they had started hanging out more, they had become quite close. She’d spend more time at his house than her own. They’d drink cheap beer and smoke blunts and just talk about anything and everything. Dumb shit, funny shit, little shit. It was a friendship that Y/N had really grown to cherish. Hell, Oscar had even let her drive his car, and that wasn’t something he let anybody do, not even his brother.

(“You better not fucking crash my car, pendeja.” “Shut the fuck up, I’m not gonna crash shit. Relax, vato.”)

But somewhere along the line, it had changed for Oscar. Having a girl as a friend was something that he was never really used to - he hadn’t anticipated on an actual full blown friendship to form between him and Y/N but he couldn’t say that he regretted it. Y/N looked at him and saw something more than just a cholo, more than just a guy with two strikes working against him. He really did start to care about her, and he looked forward to the days where she’d go over to his house and they’d just hang out. Or the days where they’d get into his car, drive down to the beach and watch the sunset.

He had found himself wanting more than just a friendship - it was her smile, the way her smile seemed to light up the entire room. It was her eyes, the way they’d twinkle and shine so bright they could rival the stars. It was her nose, the way she’d crinkle it up every time she’d take a drink from some beer, which he’d always tease her about because she could never seem to get used to the bitter taste.

But the only issue was that she still had feelings for her ex. Oscar knew this, it wasn’t exactly as if it was a secret - Y/N openly talked about Mario with Oscar, she’d tell him how she missed him, how she often thought about them and their relationship. It was a tough pill to swallow, and it was why he had almost reconsidered inviting Mario to the Santos party, but nah, he wasn’t like that. He could be fucked up if he wanted, but Mario had always been good to him, he respected him too much to start acting like a dick.

———

Music played from the speakers that stood beside the DJ booth. People were dancing, drinking, smoking - it was a good time, everyone was having fun.

Everyone but Oscar that is.

His eyes kept drifting over toward Y/N and Mario as they sat on that worn, nasty old couch in their own little world, deep in conversation. He took notice of the way her eyes were shining bright, of that smile that never left her face. Or Mario’s face.

Y/N had arrived shortly after Mario and Ruby had and when she had caught sight of Mario, it was like she was that nervous girl going on her first date with him again. She thought that overtime her feelings for him would fade, that distance would make her move on. But it didn’t. And seeing Mario again.. she remembered just how much she truly loved him.

So, she and Mario had stuck by each other’s side throughout the entire party, talking, catching up, reminiscing about old times.

“So, you and Oscar? How’d that happen?” Mario asked her. He had been a little surprised when he found out that his ex-girlfriend had struck up a friendship with the gang leader. She had told him herself when they started talking again, and Ruby had told him that they had spent an awful amount of time together.

Y/N’s smile softened and she turned to glance over at Oscar who was having a conversation. But it was like he felt her eyes on him because he turned and looked over at her. Their eyes met and she sent him that sweet smile that had him falling for her all over again. Then she turned back to Mario.

“It was after you left, actually. I went to the store and some Prophets rolled up on me,” Mario looked concerned, his brows furrowing. “But, Oscar was riding by in his car, he saw and he helped me out. He gave me a ride home and after that, we just started seeing each other more. Hanging out. He’s cool, I like him.” She said, that smile never leaving her face.

“So, there’s nothing more going on between you two?”

“What? No! He’s my best friend!” Y/N said. “Honestly.. I.. I haven’t been with anyone since we broke up.” She admitted. “I miss you. It’s hard being without you. Oscar made it easier, but.. I still miss you. I’m glad you’re here, Mario.” She said. Her ex-boyfriend gave her a smile, that smile that had her weak in the knees.

“I missed you too, Y/N.”

Oscar knew he was probably being a cock blocker but he didn’t care. He walked over and you noticed him immediately, sending a smile his way. “Why you guys hidin’ over here? It’s a party. Little Ruby is making more friends than you two.” He nodded over to the young Martinez who was indeed having the time of his life. It was the happiest that Mario had seen his brother in a while and he was glad.

“We were just talking. Catching up. She told me how you helped her after some Prophets rolled up on her. Thank you for that.” Mario said as the two stood up off the couch. Oscar shrugged his shoulders as he looked down at the female, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her.

“It was nothing. I’d do anything for her. She knows that.”

“I do know that. And you know that I’d do anything for you too. You’re my best friend and I love you.” She said to Oscar and his heart actually sank down into his stomach.

Best friend.

That’s all he was to her. Her best friend and nothing more. She was his best friend but he wanted it to be more. But standing with her and Mario, seeing the way the two looked at each other.. he knew nothing more would ever come from it.

But at the same time… having Y/N in his life as his friend was better than not having her in his life at all. If she was with Mario, then all he could do was support her and be there for her because all he really wanted was for her to be happy. If it was Mario that made her happy then so be it. Mario was a good dude so he didn’t have to worry about him hurting her.

He had her in his life one way or another and he was just thankful for that.

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