#but he's made to be the embodiment of stuff that I love and find inspiring like celestial patterns

[saradiation]

Like you guys know I’m mostly a fanartist and very rarely post original works but this time I created this little guy to host a DTIYS challenge on insta :)

[thekeeperof-thefandoms]

I asked a few of my favorite hazbin writers this and only one answered and it was ok but I felt like it could have been expanded on so here's my take

Vox, Val, Alastor, and Lucifer react to your love language being baking/cooking

Vox

(Starting with him because he's the one thaf inspired this).

Vox came from the 50s and even though I firmly believe he is past all the ingrained gender roles and homophobia I think he still has some internalized misogyny. He wants to be viewed as the man in the relationship, the breadwinner, the provider. He can cook for himself but it's pretty basic food (except steak. Like every other man since the invention of the grill how to bbq has been hardwired into his brain. If his partner also grills ya'll fight over whose turn to cook out it is)

(Unrelated but as a lesbian who loves to grill, and is the designated grill bro, butch lesbians or cookout lesbians are some of Vox's favorite type of gays to chill with)

I firmly believe that's why even though he's a sub, it's so hard and would take time and trust to get him to let you top and enjoy it. He's so worried people will find out and judge him, that you'll judge him. His ego can be very fragile.

Especially if we go with the Vox used to be a cult leader theory. His power, image, and success are linked to his ability to appear in control. To appear to have all the answers and take responsibility. It's going to take a lot of time and patience to unravel all that and help him seperate his personal and professional image.

That being said, a partner who uses acts of service as a love language is perfect for him. He's a busy man, so he tends to be a gift giver type. The gifts are always well thought out and expensive. He wants it to be something you need, want, can get a lot of enjoyment from, and be worth the money spent, so he puts time and effort into them. Unless he's just showing off by giving you his card and telling you to go nuts.

So you taking time to make his coffee for him the way he likes, ordering lunch from his favorite places and having it sent to his office so he remembers to eat, or just texting him reminders to drink water or eat/take breaks throughout the day makes him giddy.

If you're his assistant or something, (and I believe Vox absolutely would have his partner working for him/with him), then it's even better when you take on extra work to try and help him. Organizing his schedule, sorting emails/mail, and proofreading things. Any small act you do for him, because you want to and care about him, makes his heart rate pick up.

It'll really make him overheat, glitching slightly, literal heart eyes, if he comes home after a shitty day and you're cooking for him.

His internal monologue is absolutely raving about what a good housewife you are for him, a hard working husband.

Bonus points if you cleaned too! Either way, he adores you even more now, letting you fret and coo at him, removing his jacket and tie, pouring him a drink and telling him dinner will be ready soon and you made his favorite. He's so tempted to bend you over the counter right now, but that would ruin dinner. After you guys eat though, he's having you for dessert. Man's gonna make sure you know how much he appreciates this by turning your knees to jello, good luck walking tomorrow, doll.

If you bake treats and bring them to VoxTek he's gonna brag so much. Literally the embodiment of John Mulaney's, "That's my wife!" If you bring them just for him, he's defending his treats like they're the last ones in Hell. He has literally hit Val with a fly swatter for even asking if he could have one.

(Unrelated but like, chubby vox maybe? You're cooking is too good)

Valentino

Val wishes he could cook better. He's some kind of latino, so I feel like the fact he can't cook very well is a sore spot culturally. He can make the salsa and chips and like, help with stuff, he knows how to wrap tortillas and tomales (I picture him as like Mexican or Puerto Rican but that's just cuz the town I grew up had a large Puerto Rican group).

It doesn't help that his eyesight is even more shit in Hell. He can't see what he's doing hald the time. It ruins his art hobby too. He's overall just more easily frustrated with his bad eyesight.

I don't imagine you guys dating per se. Maybe you're his sugar baby, maybe you're someone he hired to help him do stuff like clean and organize and you just sorta start doing other things to help him. (Again I'm not saying it excuses jackshit, but as someone who worked with bipolar people and people with mood disorder I kinda see the fan theory in him, either way I think all the Vees could be sort of trained to be better people, but especially Val. We already saw Vox do it.)

After all, he's usually in a much better mood if you do and that means less outbursts. The first few times you cook him something he teases you about being his housewife, tries to make it sexual. It's not really something he clocks as being an act of love because I don't think you'd realize it yourself at first. I think the more you got to see him when he wasn't stressed, lashing out, being abusive, you'd start catching feelings. ("I can fix him", delulu asses)

He loves to be in the kitchen when you cook once it starts becoming a regular thing. He can't see clearly what you're doing but the way you move around the kitchen and get what you need, even if you're an ADHD mess and do steps out of order or at random, he can tell you know what you're doing. He likes to smell the food too while it's cooking.

He will ask you to try and make some spicier/more traditional foods he grew up with, but he doesn’t remember all of the ingredients, and it just gets him more frustrated he can't tell you. If you look them up and surprise him with it it'll probably be the most genuine, human response you get from him.

He's shocked, silent, standing frozen in the penthouse as familiar smells waft around him. You present him a plate nervously, practically shaking hoping it's good enough. The first bite nearly puts him in tears. No one's done anything this nice for him? Why would you? Lowkey thinks you want something from him. It's gonna make him paranoid for a while so don't expect a verbal compliment but he eats it all.

Eventually though, one day when you're in the kitchen cooking, humming softly and swaying your hips, one set of his arms will wrap around your waist, the other reaching around you help with the salsa, or wrap a tamale, and he'll prop his chin on your head and mumble out thanks. Some praise, maybe. Would definitely tell you stories about eating these foods growing up.

It's the first step towards having an actual relationship with him.

Alastor

This man almost always insists on cooking. He isn't much of a sweet tooth either. You tell him one night you want to try cooking for him. Tell him you understand it's an activity he enjoys and relaxes too, (especially if you know it's something that reminds him of his mother), but you want to do something for him and this is one way you show you care.

It's gonna remind him of his Mama so much that if you didn't know why he loved cooking so much before you do now. He compromises. You pick the meal and gather the ingredients and do most of the cooking and he helps prep and does dishes.

He playfully critiques you the entire time about adding some spice too it or a little southern flair. Just smack him with the wooden spoon, gently. It's gonna make him laugh because his Mama used to do that when he wouldn't keep out of the sweets, or tried to add stuff to her cooking.

Once you start it becomes habit to help each other in the kitchen every night, trading off who cooks and who preps and does dishes.

If you do find baked goods he likes that aren't too sweet and send them to him as snacks, especially to Overlord meetings, he's so fucking obnoxious about his sweet little doe (doesn't matter if you are one or not) and how they spoil him. Especially rubs it in Vox's face (not him whining to his partner so they send him with treats too so he can also brag).

Only shares with Charlie, Rosie, Niffty, and sometimes Zestiel. If he's feeling generous, Husk can have a bite.

Low-key also has a thing for his partner behaving domestically even if he isn't exactly invested in traditional marriage.

Favorite activity though is dancing with you in the kitchen to jazz while dinner cooks, holding you close, in his room usually, so he can hear the sounds of the bayou. If he closes his eyes he can pretend this is how his life went and that his Mama is in the corner or sitting in her chair, watching him, happy to see him find someone.

He will literally kiss Vox willingly before admitting that last part though.

Lucifer

It's not that he can't cook, it's just....it's easier to just snap his fingers and make food appear. He's been in a depressed slump for decades man, he's lived off of the 'want food, no cook, only eat' mindset.

When you come into his life it's a complete overhaul. Despite what issues you have yourself you can recognize someone in worse state than you and immediately categorize and prioritize. First thing first, get this man's duck collection/obsession organized, thinned out, and under control.

Second, help him work through his issues with Lillith and Charlie. Encourage therapy, be a mediator between him and Charlie (and trust me she appreciates it. She knows her dad struggles, didn't know how bad, and still feels awkward). Help him socialize more, rebuild his connection with the other sins.

Get this man a work schedule!

Then it's on to personal habits. You help him get out of bed, you're both probably a little helpless in the sleeping on time category though. Help him get a routine again to keep out of his funk. Then you start cooking for him. It just happens naturally. You enjoy cooking, you enjoy showing people you love how much you care by providing good meals.

At first he's gonna resist and tell you he can handle that, you already do so much for him. He can cook or better yet he can just make it appear and you laugh and tell him it tastes better when it's made with love. He brushes it off as a joke too, you're both just being silly and obviously you said that to get him to quit fussing. Except, unholy hell does it actually taste so much better.

Lucifer hadn’t realized how bland and unsatisfying just materializing the food was. Maybe that's because he was so depressed and uninterested in what he ate, maybe not. Either way, your cooking is so much fucking better. He actually looks forward to eating now. If he gets caught up in work or has a bad day, you make sure to always bring him something, leaving it as an offering of sorts. It almost always works and entices him to eat at least once.

You cook, he does dishes, and he will not budge on that rule. He wants to be a fair man. He occasionally boots you out to do dessert, though. Apple pie is his bitch and you've never tasted one as good as his. He also makes good pancakes and some absolutely orgasmic angel's food cake.

Ironicall, devil's food cake is one of your go to recipes. Sometimes you both make a cake and take it to events just to watch people get confused as fuck when it's revealed the literal Devil did not make the devil's food cake.

Everyime you're in the kitchen together it's a disaster, you're both to silly and chaotic. You were making noodles one time and he threw flour at you so you smacked him with the noodle you were holding, leaving a line of flour and a speck of dough against his cheek. From there it escalates. It happens every time. Making cakes together, you're smashing frosting on each other. Making cookies, you're fighting each other to stop eating cookie dough.

Once, after you get fed up with him stealing her spatula to lick the chocolate off of, hovering above you with his wings, you pout and bat your eyes, asking him sweetly to please give it back. He swoops down in front of you, booping your nose to smear chocolate on it and leaning in to kiss you, letting you have a taste of the chocolate batter you were mixing for brownies. While his tongue is in your mouth, drunk off the taste of you and chocolate you smash an egg over his head and let out a triumphant cheer, snatching back your spatula.

He's so stunned his wings disappear and he drops the last few inches to the ground while you cackle. His heart is pounding, his ears are ringing, and his chest feels like it's gonna explode. His eyes are literal sparkles. He hasn't felt this much joy, wonder, and love since Charlie was born. It feels like witnessing creation all over again, of the breathlessness he felt when he first saw Lillith.

You're laughter stops when you realize he's just staring at you awestruck and you smile, asking if he's ok.

"For once...yeah..Yes. I'm ok." He responds, genuinely. You kiss his cheek and resume baking. He watches you from the counter now, dreamily, thinking about how he's gonna marry you someday.

[voltronisanobsession]

heyy! i was hoping to request a percy x eris! reader.

like since eris is the goddess of strife everyone thinks the reader would be all dark and gloomy all the time, but reader is a literal ball of sunshine, complete opposite of what everyone says.

but just because reader’s personality is opposite of their mom it doesn’t mean they doesn’t use their powers. i was thinking they have the ability to create conflict, like during battle and stuff reader can make their opponents fight eachother.

following the creating conflict thing, i also think reader is very good at arguing. whether it be something small or big, they always win. this would drive the camp nuts with reader always getting their way. i think percy would secretly like this because he thinks reader deserves whatever they want and more

thank you!

Percy with Eris!Reader

OOOOO ME LIKEEYYYY!!! The way i had a RUSH of inspiration reading this!

Has anyone watched that one mlp equestria girls movie about the sirens? And how they're music caused everyone to go against each other? Well this definitely reminded me of them lol

Also lowkey less centered around Percy SORRY😭😭😭😭😭 I was just so focused on baddie reader😔

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS IDEA

Despite there being very few children of Eris now, I feel like most people know of the destructive power her offsprings hold

There's even cautionary tales amongst half-bloods to leave an area where discord settles in human hearts unless you want to backstab your friends

Children of Eris have been known to lack empathy for others, preferring to watch as people tear each other part over the littlest of things

This had made them starting catalysts for wars back in the day, until Olympus decided 'reducing' Eris' children would be better for human-kind

Her children still roam the world though, spreading chaos and strife just by their mere presence

Now when Percy was told this information for his quest to retrieve one of Eris' children and bring them back to camp, he was not expecting reader to be such a bubbly person

Homeboy was ready to battle them and take them back to camp by force if he needed to, something he really didn't want to do, but he was very much confused and unsettled to see how different reader was to what he was told

Instead of being a dark brooding figure, taking delight in chaos you were creating, you sat by your lonesome, appearing upset with all the arguing and fighting happening around you

While people yelled at each other, you would try to help them settle down and make peace, though this would only cause louder arguing between everyone

Everywhere you went, you spread discord and strife amongst the people you passed

Couples on dates would find the smallest thing to nitpick their partners over, customers and workers would argue over the dumbest inconvenience that shouldn't have bothered anyone

It was as if you were the living embodiment of 'having a bad day'

So when he finally approaches you, he couldn't stop the fluttering in his heart at the sight of your bright smile!

You were kind and compliant when he told you of his quest, something he wasn't expecting at all

Percy was waiting for you to at least put up some fight but you never did. Instead you just followed him with a pep in your step, happily talking to him about any and everything

Reader's presence itself causes calamity, their aura affecting everybody near them. It's puts people in a trance

I feel like people would see reader as a bad omen, a source of bad luck to stay away from

This shows with their interactions with Percy!

He sees that you're a naturally friendly person, but you always seem a little desperate talking with him

Like you think that he's gonna leave once he knows how unforgiving your power truly is😔

When he sees you use your power for the first time against some monsters chasing you, it sort of clicks just how controlling you actually are

The monster once working together now clash against each other after only a few minutes of finding you both

You'd glare at them and flick your hands towards them, a wave of your discord hitting them head on

"You've messed with the wrong person, I will not tolerate this disrespect."

Even reader knows their own power and influence to cause strife within anything

Honestly this serves as a perfect distraction for any situation cuz any party involved is gonna be too busy to notice the two of you sneaking by them

Of course there are people who are able to resist readers influence, those who are powerful enough to clear their mind from them. Percy is included in this category

Once you settle in camp, most people avoid you for the most part even when you finally control your mother's given powers💔💔

You try to approach people with a friendly smile and positive attitude but I guess people get too wary

The cabin you would most get along with is Ares, no doubt

It's just nature for children of Eris and Ares to get along as the gods themselves have worked together in the past on many occasions

Percy still sticks close to your side though, always reassuring you when you feel like giving up on making any friends

I think campers would start approaching Eris!Reader more once they witness them arguing with Dionysus over a situation

Whether it be over something simple as a cancelled game of capture the flag, or sending people out on an important quest that cannot wait, it's clear that the argument is in readers favor

The god and demigod are both quick witted, making back and forth talk look as easy as breathing

Its obvious your natural power backs the wine god himself into a corner when he cant find another excuse for his decision

And really? He'll never win an argument against the god of strife and discord's child

He sees Eris' unforgiving gaze in your eyes

So he puffs his chest and mutters a few words before disappearing with a low, "It's your life, not mine."

Reader def gets brownie points from the camp for not backing down against Dionysus

Hell even Percy is cheering you on as everyone surrounds you

"You're so cool! I don't think i could ever speak like that to Dionysus of all people."

"Oh it was really nothing..."

"Come on, you got the big dog to agree with you! That's like, never heard of!"

"Yeah!"

I think everything would be smooth sailing from there

People know not to drag you into any fight/arguments cuz they know you'll win regardless

And if you do find yourself in one, you already know Percy is gonna be such a big instigator like bro go away LMAO💀

You two would get along so well since he's able to keep up with your quick remarks

And after everything you've been through, and how much he's helped you in changing your life, it's after one dinner night when you confess your growing feelings for the boy

He's gotten to know you for the person you are, not for the person people say you are

Percy knows you're more than just your mother's child, a vessel of discord

He knows that you’re a good-natured person at heart and you've poured your heart into fixing everything you cause destruction to

He happily accepts your feeling, awkwardly admitting he's felt the same for some time 😅(what a cutie patootie)

Honestly I see sm potential for Eris!Reader, especially if they were like an antagonistic character

They don't even have to get their hands dirty to have their enemies succumbing to them

Badass demigod with a badass boyfriend

What more could you ask for lol😜

ALSO

He knows not to get into any fights with you cuz you will win in the end, whether you were right or not

The most he can do is put up a good fight😭

[fernsnailz]

February 2024 Review Roundup

well i sure did watch some stuff and read one book this month

the things i finished this month reminded me that for every incredible piece of art i find myself enjoying, i end up watching some Hot Garbage immediately after to balance things out again. idk why i do this.

i have quite a bit to say about both the things i enjoyed and the things that brought me physical pain this month, so there is um. a lot under the cut. any previous desire for brevity i had in january has been completely thrown out the window as i use these roundups as an outlet to gush about things i like and complain about things i didn't. fair warning, if you open the readmore you will be scrolling for a while. enjoy i guess

House of Leaves

does any other book out there have the balls to write a completely fake interview with stephen king

House of Leaves is a novel you gotta throw around a little bit. It feels really weird that my copy is still in the pristine state I bought it in - It seems like it should have water damage and smell like mildew with its pages falling out and spine cracked into pieces. Getting the full story from this book requires flipping back and forth, turning it around, searching for answers. All things considered it’s not that difficult of a read, but its format still allows you to feel like you’re discovering every hidden piece for yourself, and I really liked that interactivity. I was engaged pretty much the whole way through.

I don’t really think I’ll be able to revisit this book anytime soon though. It’s difficult for me to format what else I’d like to say about it because to be honest, it caught me off guard and disturbed me on a fairly personal level. There’s a relief I feel when I remember that I don’t actually know what was going on with the house - maybe that was intentional on the book’s behalf, maybe I just didn’t look hard enough for answers. I don’t know. But the implication that something divine was down there was enough of an answer for me. The book's good. read it if you want a spooooooky time or if you never want to look at a hallway the same way again

Doctor Who (Series 1-4) (rewatch)

ok so this is a fuckload of doctor who to cover so i’m gonna give some thoughts on a few of the characters and my favorite + least favorite episodes

9th doctor: My favorite butch lesbian. Christopher Eccleston truly embodies the concept of The Doctor so, so well: otherworldly guy who knows too much, genuinely cares about life across the universe, and also has a bit of deep, unresolved rage. His moments of joy and careless fun stick with me the most, he absolutely radiates with life and brings so much to this character.

Rose: I first watched Doctor Who when I was in middle school, and I didn’t like Rose that much back then. And guys. I have bad news. I'm still not really much of a Rose fan

I definitely understood her more this watch through - that desire for adventure and some sort of control over her life, emotions so strong that she’s willing to throw near everything away. That’s just what being 19 is like sometimes. I think Rose is a very compelling character who just happens to frustrate me a bit. And that’s kinda the point, her co-dependent relationship with the Doctor is doomed to fail and it's meant to hurt. Ultimately, I think when I first watched the show I was too young to understand Rose, and now I’m just too old to relate to her.

Captain Jack: Jack is my favorite character. I fucking love this guy. Dude has the worst luck in the whole universe and still cannot be stopped. Legendary. Every episode with him is a goddamn delight because he has so much chemistry with every single cast member. No notes 10/10 i love my problematic bisexual king

10th doctor: About four episodes into David Tennant’s run I realized that he dresses like a Hazbin Hotel character and it made me very sad. Still, there’s a reason this guy inspired every middle schooler to buy a pair of converse in 2008. He has style, he has depth, he’s got the sauce. It’s genuinely terrifying to see his anger, I like that a lot of 10’s run is about his denial of godhood and power over life in the universe, something that the rest of the time lords desired. idk i like my sad pathetic little weasel but he's also a huge fucking asshole sometimes which sucks. especially when it's directed at Martha.

Martha: Martha I am so sorry for what this show put you through. Martha was my favorite companion when I first watched the show, and I still have a huge soft spot for her. Her ability to hold her own and navigate foreign worlds using her own intelligence absolutely rules, and her drive forward is unbreakable. But the show seems to put her down at every possible opportunity, most notably with how 10 treats her. Her struggles and wants are constantly ignored, and she's often treated as a rebound from Rose. And I like that she eventually chooses to end it by not traveling with 10 anymore, but it hurts because it feels like she was never given the same chance or care that Rose and Donna were. This era of Doctor Who really doesn’t treat its black companions well because Mickey goes through something similar - both Martha and Mickey are characters designed to be ignored or left behind, and it sucks.

Donna: Donna Noble is one of the greatest fictional characters to ever exist. Despite seemingly living a fairly average life and working a fairly average job, Donna reflects the idea that no one is truly "average" and every single person is brimming with personality, life, and love. I love that her relationship with 10 is purely platonic, personally their friendship feels like it has a lot more depth than either of the romance-oriented relationships 10 had with Rose and Martha. 10 and Donna bounce off of each other so well and it's delightful, Donna brings so much humor and life to every world she's taken to and it's incredible. I wish her and Captain Jack could have interacted more.

My favorite episode: The Runaway Bride is hard to not choose as my favorite. I have a blast every time I watch this episode and it’s such a good introduction for Donna. Also the Tardis car chase kills me, I love when it cuts to the kids in the back of another car clapping and cheering. I was also surprised by the episode Midnight - it’s dreadful to watch and I kinda loved it. So much spirals out of control when shit hits the fan, even though no one has any idea what they’re trying to fight against. Really interesting exploration as to how fear can drive people apart.

My least favorite episode: It’s Love & Monsters. I wish I liked this episode - stories that follow regular ass people living in this world are often some of the best episodes in the series (Weeping Angels and all that). And this episode definitely has some of that. It’s honestly really touching to see this group of nerds get together and enjoy life in the first part of the episode. I think the antagonist of “guy who absorbs people” ends up dragging down any charm this story had because he just. eats all of the interesting characters. But despite me disliking this episode, I honestly have a deep respect for it - it’s fucking crazy. It ends with the main guy telling us about his sex life with his girlfriend who is now stuck in a piece of concrete. Where else are you going to get a story like this. It fucking sucks and that’s hilarious

oh also the production design: GODDDDDD I FUCKING LOVE THE PRODUCTION DESIGN AND SETS ON THIS SHOW. I love how dirty and rundown a lot of the spaceship sets look with wires and lights scattered everywhere. And a number of alien designs also go CRAZY with the prosthetics - I keep thinking about the Hath from The Doctor’s Daughter and how every head prosthetic had liquid inside it that could bubble. Absolutely crazy. I also love the moments where you can clearly see they did not have that much time and just had to throw something together or pain a bald cap green. Jank is the nature of sci-fi production design and I dearly love and miss that Doctor Who jank.

Rebuild of Evangelion

Last year after finishing the original Evangelion series + End of Evangelion, I remember going through the Evangelion tumblr tag and being very confused by the number of slice of life/found family-esque fanworks of the cast. It left me puzzled and thinking “...did we even watch the same thing??”

APPARENTLY NOT

[spoiler warning here because these movies are very good and i give the best parts away. if you want to watch these movies then DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!]

I honestly never expected a world where these characters got a happy ending. I so, so badly wish I could see 3.0 and 3.0+1.0 in theaters - these movies are stunning. I know I say things “go crazy” a lot, but man. They go fucking CRAZY.

While I have a few issues with how the first two movies adapted the original show, I do think the changes they made better serve the story this rebuild is trying to tell. For example, my favorite episode in the original Eva series is episode 18, where Toji is chosen to pilot Unit 03. It’s absolutely terrifying because Shinji doesn’t know who 03’s pilot is, yet he’s forced to be inside Unit 01 as it tears 03 apart. His resolve not to kill anyone despite not even knowing who’s in danger is an aspect of that episode I love and speaks to Shinji's inherent humanity, and when he learns Toji was in there it hurts even more. The rebuild movies change Unit 03’s pilot to Auska, and Shinji knows she’s in there from the start. I think this choice works for the movies and is still an effective emotional beat, but personally I still prefer the version where Shinji had no idea who was in there. That lack of knowledge is infinitely more terrifying to me.

I really like what these movies did with some of the angel designs though. The sixth angel (the fuckin. blue diamond cube thing) works really well in 3D/CG animation. The way the thing warps and moves is otherly and terrifying - and it’s just a fucking cube. I’ve always really loved how the Eva series approaches angel designs and the divine - despite the alien-like designs, there’s often something extremely familiar about them. They’re often reminiscent of an animal, a machine, or a human. This is also how they approached the anti-universe in these movies, I loved how it takes the form of various locations from the series and turns them into a movie set. It’s deeply familiar, but ultimately just an illusion of familiarity like the angels and the divine.

Also I gotta say. I fucking love Mari. I think she’s hilarious. She first meets Shinji by accidentally parachuting into him and then immediately starts crawling on all fours to sniff him. This girl also introduces “Beast Mode” where the Eva pilots can go wild turn their mechs into a fucking. superpowered beast of some sort. And also she defeats a whole army by using the Eiffel Tower as a spear. She’s such an absurd character and I honestly kinda love it. The only thing I knew about these movies before watching them was this gif of her Backing That Shit Up and she truly lives up to the insane nature of this shot.

My favorite section of these movies is definitely the first part of 3.0+1.0 where the pilots are basically just living a domestic life in a small town - it’s truly beautiful. The growth that Rei’s copy goes through here is fantastic, I love stories about seemingly emotionless beings learning how to live. And right after she dies, we get the shot that absolutely broke me the first time I saw it:

This shit. The way you can just barely tell he’s been crying from the red around his eyes. They don't talk about it, they barely linger on it, but it's allowed just enough time to punch you in the gut. I don’t know why this shot got me as hard as it did but goddamn. jesus christ. i want to throw up

There’s some goofy shit in these movies. The infinite synch rate. Misato’s stupidass hat and sunglasses. Some goofy ass 3D animation that doesn’t age super well. The rainbow that shows up every time an angel dies. But these things really didn’t take me out of the core of these films, and there’s so much genuine emotion and beauty in this series that had me absolutely hooked - especially in the last two films. They go crazy. My favorite line is 100% “The only thing a son can do for his father is pat him on the shoulder… or kill him.” and man. ain’t that what Evangelion is all about. i love these movies

High School Musical 3

kinda slaps just a little bit

High School Musical 3 starts with a finale number. The last high school basketball game of Troy Bolton’s life - and it goes kinda hard. The classic pep band brass that’s essential to so many High School Musical numbers returns, and the constant theme of two feuding cheer teams in the background? Genius. This is truly art. I love listening to Now or Never without visuals because in the middle Troy just starts coughing and gagging seemingly out of nowhere

Unfortunately, starting the movie at such a high point means that the rest of the runtime doesn’t quite match up to it. The story lags and meanders quite a bit, but part of me kinda appreciates that - it’s their last semester of high school, which is always a time of confusion and turmoil. However, I do have a pitch for how they could have countered the constant falling action this movie seems to go through:

The Wildcats should have lost their last game at the beginning of the movie.

What if the game is instead the inciting incident that leads Troy and his besties through their tumultuous last semester? Troy is still torn between basketball and theater, but his identity would be even further challenged here - is winning and success all that matters for him, or is it the love of sport and performance that keeps him going? idk whatever this movie came out 16 years ago i can’t be out here writing AUs for it jgnfsgfnjdksg

Some miscellaneous thoughts about this movie that i don’t care about formatting into larger paragraphs:

Ryan and Sharpay’s number (I Want It All) slaps as usual. The part where Ryan shouts “MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!!!!!!!” makes me so happy every time i hear it

The production design and sets go absolutely fucking crazy. I still have no idea how they pulled off the spinning hallway in Scream.

One of the classic staples of HSM is Chad’s shirts. Most of them are fairly silly and like something you would expect to find in the walmart clearance section. However, there’s one shirt he has in this movie that confused the hell out of me. It’s this one:

What the FUCK does Greenster mean. Is it just a combination of Green and Monster?? Why??? What green monster are we talking about here????? Where the fuck did this shirt come from?????????

Avatar The Last Airbender (2024)

There’s really only one word I can think of to describe what this show is like: sauceless. No flavor. No depth. No character. No sauce. This show is honestly so fucking boring and seems to fundamentally misunderstand what the appeal of the original Avatar series is - not necessarily because things are changed or removed from the original, but because nothing of substance is added in return. 

Most of the characters are mere echoes of their original counterparts when compared to their source material. Sokka is reduced to a guy who wants to fight good, Katara’s stubborn and confrontational nature is very rarely utilized, and Aang’s mischievous antics and love of fun is sorely missing. One of the major reasons for the dull interpretations seems to be the directing - While I have faith that most of these actors are trying their best (especially since a number of them are kids/young adults), the direction seems to be incredibly lackluster and takes away nearly every cast member’s stage presence or personality. There’s a number of reaction shots of the main trio that just look like this: 😐😐😐 as if they were just told to “look concerned” at the events unfolding before them. And these issues are apparent in the majority of the performances - for example, General Zhao talks like he’s in a board meeting up until the last episode, and it’s an incredibly flat performance. He talks somewhat monotone in the original series as well, but this live-action take on the character often meanders with his dialogue and lacks that sharp, terrifying quality that I think this character needs. Uncle Iroh also feels incredibly stiff in this adaptation, and it’s a goddamn crime that they took away the cunty little outfit and chains he was originally wearing when he gets captured by earthbenders. wait who said that

Credit where credit is due, there’s a few cast members that seem to be giving their best. It’s clear that Aang’s actor enjoys the role and does pretty well despite the lackluster direction and dialogue he’s given. On top of that, I think Zuko’s actor is honestly the best part of the show. His take on Zuko leans much more into teenage tendencies and sarcasm, which, although it can be silly, is a welcome take of the character in my opinion and pretty fun to watch. There’s this one line he has at the beginning of episode 2 where, in an incredibly whiny tone of voice, he goes “He RAN! The ultimate warrior! He’s a Coward :((((“ and the read is so. fucking funny

The case of bad direction isn’t limited to the performances, however. It’s also stunningly apparent in how everything is shot. Despite being in a widescreen format, most shots are incredibly centered - you could crop the entire runtime into a 4:3 frame and you wouldn’t be cutting out much of anything. I’ve seen some speculation that this was an intentional choice to make things more adaptable or readable for TikTok/phone video, but honestly I think that’s a dumb take. I think the issue stems from a lack of creativity and thoughtless composition. Keeping everything staged in the center can make shots feel disjointed, lacking much depth, or completely empty. It’s a boring way to shoot and indicates that the show lacks any unique vision at all.

Overall, this show doesn't really seem to understand what makes Avatar interesting in the first place. It's more interested in spectacle and action than the characters' relationships, emotions, and mistakes. I try not to compare it too much to the original since it's allowed to take liberties with its adaptation, but very few of its changes add much to the end result or give it a unique voice. It's just sauceless and boring.

Some YouTube videos i liked in February:

💥 My House.WAD - Inside Doom's Most Terrifying Mod (some supplemental House of Leaves material for ya) 💥 Martha Jones Deserved Better (this video explains how Doctor Who did Martha dirty better than i ever could) 💥 bringing JUSTICE to the worst garfield game 💥 Selling Kids for Clout: The Downfall of Family Channels

And that’s my roundup for February! Thank you for reading, I promise there are no more reviews left to scroll through below this goodbye. Nope, nothing else I watched this month. Bye!

…ok is everyone gone. phew, i’m glad no one noticed i pulled an hbomberguy and hid the largest part of this post under a false ending. Anyway holy shit i need to talk about hazbin hotel

Hazbin Hotel

well i didn’t like it

Hazbin Hotel is a weird, fascinating mess of a show. Every episode left me wondering what creative decisions (or lack thereof) led to the sequence of images I just watched. There’s been a lot of discussion of this show recently and I’m not interested in covering every critique I have, but there’s a few things that I'd like to talk about somewhat in-depth.

Hell is real and it's just Red Chicago

The setting of Hell is kinda boring in this show.

Let me try to put this into perspective. Aside from the hotel, here’s a list of the locations we see in Hell:

A boardroom

A video store

Vox’s evil lair (it has cyber sharks which is kinda cool)

Various streets

Another boardroom

A BDSM club

Carmilla’s house (it’s gray and has. balconies?)

A porn studio

A bar

Another bar

A town square (full of cannibals)

None of these locations really take on any sort of otherworldly form besides some vague demonic imagery scattered throughout (and the cannibals. i guess. whatever). In short, Hazbin Hotel’s setting resembles Chicago more than it does Hell.

I can see a world where that’s intentional. Perhaps making Hell resemble a modern city could be used as a thematic tool or point of relatability? But Hazbin doesn’t really do anything like that - since the characters rarely ever interact with their environments, these locations end up seeming like they lack creativity, like they’re just cardboard sets where characters go to swear. They all start to blend together after a while - every street feels the same, every boardroom fades into the background, and every bar feels like a google image search result for the word “club.” This world feels stunningly empty despite the busy designs and colors. Even though the backgrounds are painted and designed fairly well, nothing of substance is ever really added to them through the story.

However, a few musical numbers take effort to break away from these settings. This felt like a weight off of my shoulders whenever it happened, it was nice to see some interesting setpieces and backgrounds that weren’t red. I liked the bombastic and over-the-top broadway lights in Loser and the glowing alternate world in Charlie and Lucifer’s song. But these moments are few and crowded by the dull locations in Hell - or worse, the Hotel itself.

Despite being the namesake of the show, the actual Hazbin Hotel is… lifeless. Which, yeah, it’s a hotel where dead people go in the afterlife, but it’s missing any sort of personality or history besides “it’s old and falling apart.” I expected the hotel to be full of secrets - like maybe some hidden passages or rooms, or mysterious cabinets full of rotted meats, or old valuables hidden under the rugs by the previous owners. Something for the cast to explore and discover, and as they get closer to each other they also start to understand the hotel more. Alastor seems very intent on keeping the physical hotel standing for some reason, but I never really understood why. There’s nothing there. And that nothingness is fully realized when at the end of the show, they just rebuild the entire hotel to be grand and beautiful - an emotional beat that didn’t hit me at all because I never felt like I knew the hotel in the first place. Despite rebuilding it from the ground up, it will feel just as empty.

3 SHOTS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY

I was truly baffled at how some of these scenes are timed and put together. Multiple sequences left me feeling nauseous and dazed - the camera moves like it’s being swung on the end of a rope, and there’s so many misplaced or meaningless cuts scattered through these episodes.

There’s a sequence of three shots in the first episode that I want to dissect. I will fully admit that I'm breaching nitpicking territory here, but the shot composition issues in this show are pretty rampant and my analysis here is just a hyper-specific look at a single part of that larger problem. Hopefully you can also use it as a quick storyboarding lesson too idk

First, we see Adam teasing Charlie.

Then, it cuts straight to this shot:

A few things here. 

Shot 2 is just closer on the characters, which is not a great idea to cut to after the previous waist-up shot. On top of being a jarring jump cut, there is no purpose for this new shot. All the information we see here (Adam laughs, Charlie fake laughs) could have just been conveyed in the previous shot.

Despite the characters being in the same position as the last shot, the background changes. This straight up just feels like an error. I think the idea is supposed to be that the camera is at a different angle, but the position of the characters does not convey that. It looks like reality changes behind them.

And if that’s not enough, this is the shot we get immediately after those two:

In this shot, the residents of the hotel sit on the couch as Vaggie walks into the shot, framing them between her legs. But there’s something… off.

Vaggie either looks like she’s floating or she’s three stories tall. Quick storyboard lesson as to why:

The main problem with this shot is that the perspective of the background doesn’t match up with where Vaggie is placed. The couch is framed as if the camera were above it, but Vaggie is framed like the camera is floor-level below her. I’ve traced the shot and added a perspective grid to hopefully better illustrate this:

Do you see what I mean? If the camera WAS actually on the floor like Vaggie’s position in the shot suggests, the composition would look more like this:

Notice how much closer the floor grid is to the bottom of the frame and how you can see the underside of the couch.

And to be fair, this is probably what the original storyboard for this shot looked like! Personally I think something went wrong in the compositing stage - this might be a couch background from another shot that was reused here to save time, or whoever approved this shot just let the error slide since the shot is so short (i've been there. sometimes you let the jank slide). Most animated shows will have some poorly framed shots and continuity errors because mistakes are bound to happen, but two egregious ones right next to each other like this is. pretty bad. It's so noticeable from a directing perspective.

Here’s the thing: these three shots happen in the span of like 10 seconds. Most viewers probably wouldn’t notice these issues, and that's fine. But even though these errors are quick, they stack upon each other so fast that even if you can’t pinpoint exactly what’s wrong, something still feels wrong. There’s so many other moments where the show breaks extremely basic shot composition, continuity, and staging rules - for example, the second musical number of the show breaks the 180 rule like four times for no good reason. The whole show feels like a dizzy, nauseating mess because the shots rarely feel like they form anything cohesive.

MY ROOMMATE TOLD ME TO GO TO BED SO HERE ARE SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

Here’s a rundown on some other thoughts that I don’t care to format into larger sections:

The show seems to lack much to say about sin and redemption other than “redemption good.” like sure, but what are they being redeemed from? Is heaven truly the place they deserve to go after being redeemed, even though it’s shown to be unjust? Are there sins that are too great to be redeemed from, or others that shouldn't be considered sins at all? I asked myself a number of questions like this, but never got many answers from Hazbin.

This show has a bad relationship with kink and sex. Both are mostly used as a punchline or a form of control. I didn’t like it. Perhaps the reason Hazbin never really comments on the nature of sin is because it needs you to consider sex and kink sinful or otherly for these jokes to hit.

Some of the animation is crazy good. I will praise any animator that even attempts to make these character designs move. A number of extremely talented people worked on this show, a few of the musical sequences in particular have some incredible movement.

Alastor is a very boring character. It’s wild that most of the side characters in this show only exist to talk about how much they like or hate Alastor, he mostly just stands to the side of some shots or kills random nameless goons. I expected him to have a much larger role in the story, but he just gets his ass kicked in the final episode and then crawls back to the hotel.

Episode 4 is the most cohesive, and i think Angel is the best character in the show. Unfortunately, the fact that Hazbin takes so much effort to show Angel’s misery left me… concerned? None of the other characters get treated as poorly as Angel by the narrative. There’s a few smaller explorations of trauma, but nothing remotely compares to what Angel is put through on-screen. This isn’t to say that I think the whole cast needs to be extremely traumatized and constantly miserable, but rather that I find it concerning that the only character subjected to incredibly graphic abuse and torture (that we see or hear about) is the gay sex worker. Which sucks, because I think the concept of hypersexuality resulted from sexual abuse is an important topic worthy of discussing in adult media. I just think they tried to execute this theme without much critical thought beforehand.

I think the voice cast does a fantastic job for the most part. Keith David is way too good for Husk.

I really liked the one shot where Charlie opens her phone and we see that she has a contact for every individual egg minion.

I was very brave and got through this whole review without talking about my new least favorite character of all time, Vox. here’s what I think of him:

The overall vision and end result of Hazbin Hotel is just mediocre. While I don’t know what led to the messy state this show ended up in, my guess is that it was probably the result of inadequate direction, sloppy writing, and lacking creative support from the studios involved. Because of this, please understand that I have no desire or intention to put down any individual artists that worked on this show - I hope it's clear that most of my criticisms are directed at the larger vision these artists were given to execute and/or the lack of creative support they received while working on this show.

I also don’t really have much desire to participate in any further Hazbin discussion or discourse because it has wasted enough of my time already and I want to be free of this curse. please spare my inbox from hazbin hotel discourse. please. i'm begging.

You want to know what the most fucked up thing about this is though? Despite everything I said about Hazbin, Avatar the Last Airbender 2024 is still the worst show I watched this month. I would take Hazbin over Avatar 2024 literally any day.

well if you got this far. thanks for reading. also sorry you read all that. whelp alright back into my hole i go bye bye

[yumenotambourin]

do all 3 mouses for the character ask or im shaving elfilis 🪒🪒🪒

I'M SORRY I WAS TRAVELING YESTERDAY AM I STILL IN TIME TO SAVE THEM???

🩷First impression🩵

Elfilin

Very cute! I thought he was quite bland before release already, but I was like 100% sure that it was because the twist was gonna be that he was mass produced.

And then after finishing the game I had a little phase in which I hated him because he was super fucking plot important, yet he didn't do anything and this made me angry, lol

Forgo

As soon as my eyes landed on it, I thought it was Elfilin after some horrific experimentations. But then they showed the actual Elfilin lmao. I thought it was really cute and I didn't want to fight it, thank god it transformed before we fought it. Then I was just awestruck.

Also my mom randomly asked me what it was and I didn't know what to say so I just said something like "a mental parasite species"

Elfilis

The first thought that crossed my mind after seeing them was "oh god they have my exact favorite color scheme I'm gonna be obsessed with them, aren't I?". Breathtakingly beautiful, of an angelicity(?) never seen before from Kirby. Throughout April 2022, I occasionally woke up in the morning wondering wether they were just a dream. The fact that something like them existed in the Kirby universe was astonishing to me.

🩷Impression now🩵

Elfilin

I still think he's severely underdeveloped, but I'm more cool with that now. He's cute and silly and fun, he's a nice contrast to Forgo, and generally an adorable sidekick. Tho I wish there was more of him.

Forgo

Baby. It's very cute, strikes pretty well the balance between creepy and goober, and the superior gemini in my opinion. I like putting it in situations :3

Elfilis

A MOUS!!! As magnificent as the first time I saw them. Except they're now my muse, my guardian angel. My view of them has kinda shifted from "stereotypical perfect lifeform" to "the embodiment of life itself", which kinda recontextualizes them, especially given how hard each mous fought to stay alive, and I find that very inspirational.

I love Elfilis.

🩷Favorite moment🩵

They don't have that many moments so uuuuh

Elfilin

Finding the Light! Perfect way to end the mouces' arc, and goes to show how much of a sweetheart he is.

Forgo

The iconic "everything shall be consumed" is iconic

Elfilis

The only thing that they do, their boss fight 😭 it's stunning and I find myself replaying it more often than normal

🩷Idea for a story🩵

Elfilin

Definitely a plotline where they tackle that he can learn something from Elfilis and/or Forgo as well. I don't like how y'all treat him like he's perfect.

Forgo

I'd like to see it getting used to living a normal happy life :3 the baby has suffered enough

Elfilis

ELFILIS PROLOGUE PLEASE!!! About how they attacked earth and stuff and their capture and maybe even Neichel cameo!!!

(I will not let you forget about Neichel)

🩷Unpopular opinion🩵

Elfilin

As I said before, I hate when people make him out to be this little goody-two-shoes without a single flaw who's juts the embodiment of niceness and kindness and will always do the right thing. Like no??? It's not all black and white! Let him be a proper multilayered character! Let him make mistakes and learn from others! Let him learn from his literal other half!!!

Forgo

Whenever someone says that Forgo is Elfilis an angel loses their wings. Starting from the fact that the game heavily implies if not downright states (I'm on plane I can't check I forgor) that Elfilis = Forgo + Elfilin, why would anyone choose to take two different characters in different situations with likely two different outlooks (ELFILIS WAS SPLIT INTO TWO FOR THE ENTIRE FUCKING PLOT!!! ELFILIS HAS THE HERO OF THE STORY INSIDE THEM!!!) and reduce them to a single, more limited being? Plus, most people with this headcanon are also the "Elfilis/Forgo is pure evil and an irredeemable monster!!!!" people who also really piss me off. Like yeah okay YOU chose to headcanon the traumatized baby and the insane mous as the same character. YOU are the one taking away all the nuance they could possibly have. Also as I said before THATS A TRAUMATIZED BABY!!!

Elfilis

I strongly dislike the headcanon that Elfilis absorbs other creatures into their dna. I feel like it ruins a lot of the charm they have, at least for me, by making their ethereal presentation be stolen from other creatures rather than it just being who they are. Also, while I am a Good Elfilis defender, I love the idea of them destroying planets for fun. It just goes to cement how otherworldy and above it all this creature is. So yeah, I feel like this headcanon takes away a lot of their appeal for me personally.

I also don't like when people make them always angry and grumpy, like do you realize half of them is Elfilin?

🩷Favorite relationship🩵

This is entirely headcanon-based as the mouces don't really interact with anyone besides Elfilin with Kirby

Elfilis and Elfilin and Elfilis and Forgo. More than the three of them together, I prefer each baby mous with Elfilis on their own.

I'm gonna briefly summarize my hc dynamics for them cause I love mice.

Elfilis and Elfilin - Elfilin

As I said before, Elfilin's feelings on his big sibling are very conflicted. On one hand, he feels safe with them, and looks up to them. On the other hand, he fears them. The fact that they just wipe out planets without second thought disturbs him. Although he'd never admit it to himself because he loves them so much. Elfilis, however, is very much aware of Elfilin's feelings. And as much as they're devastated by the guilt of having hurt their little ones so much, they dismss Elfilin's compassion as naivete due to his young age and time spent with the beasts. They're sure he will outgrow it one day and see his superiority, ans in the meantime they remind him that he's their little one and that they'll always love him.

Elfilis and Forgo - Forgo

Forgo sees itself as nothing but a temporary form of Elfilis, unworthy of being seen as anything but. And it's not taking this whole "coexisting with the actual Elfilis" all that well. If the actual Elfilis exists, what purpose does Forgo have? This sends them down an existential crisis. Elfilis doesn't like that. And they're desperate to help it break free from these beliefs. Also, Forgo always saw Elfilis in a very idolized way, as a ruthless monstrous destroyer. But that's not all there is to Elfilis, they can be a little silly sometimes. And Forgo is SEVERELY disappointed. It often calls them an idiot and then feels bad about it because nobody should be reproaching the almighty Fecto Elfilis. Also it exclusively refers to them as "Great One".

🩷Favorite headcanon🩵

Elfilin

Can I be honest? No fucking clue. Maybe that Elfilis teaches him how to fight?

Forgo

I'll make it quick so as not to repeat myself, that it sees itself as nothing more than a temporary form of Elfilis.

Elfilis

The idea that they have no motivation is very important to me. Specifically that they do things purely out of enjoyment. That they're just a force beyond our comprehension who sees everything as insignificant and is just trying to have fun.

ALSO THAT THEY LOVE EACHOTHER VERY MUCH!!!

[nomeaynfoeye]

HLVRAI TMA AU (BP edition)

Hoo boy! Here we are! This post is going to get LONG because I am SO fucking autism about this shit. Like infodumps, TMA and/or Hlvrai? Stick around! Don't? Last chance to scroll by.

Inspired by @corvidaeconundrum! Their HLVRAI/TMA stuff inspired me to post my version.

General info:

This is a game au! The game the player ends up getting was an experimental rip of Half Life to bring the Fears closer to a nonexistent world, and see if they could affect lives that technically do not exist. (Aka some nerdy avatars decided it'd be a fun little side project to generate more fear) Unfortunately the project was eventually deemed a failure and given away to some poor soul for shits and giggles. That poor soul ends up being the player, getting more than he could've bargained for.

Gordon:

(I don't have a drawn ref for Gordon because I forgot to save Krita right as I was coloring him in :') I'll upload him when i have the motivation to try again.)

As the player proceeds through the game, they find themselves accepting the role of Gordon more than their own identity at times. While parts of themself are integrated into Gordon (their son, dreams to be a streamer, etc.) they eventually fully accept Gordon Freeman as who they are. Gordon does eventually become an avatar. Throughout Black Mesa, Gordon is often confused, and denied any sense of logic in his mounting terror regarding the situation. As he's ambushed by the military, and his hand is sawed off, he's faced with a choice. He can stay here, and die confused, alone, and afraid, or he can go home to his son, a mess of inconsistencies and terror. He takes a knee and submits to the Spiral, taking on the burden of insanity as an identifying trait. When the game is turned off and put away, he finds himself still embodying Gordon Freeman and the Spiral in the real world.

Dr. Coomer:

WARNING! Clowns, existentialism, and body horror regarding eyes

Harold P. Coomer has been a loyal employee of Black Mesa long before Becoming an avatar of the Stranger. Faced with confusion in his identity, and a few failed experiments, he found himself in avatarhood. More than anything, he doubted himself as a real person. Of course, this thinking was absurd, and he often relied on his friends to anchor himself as somewhat human. A person who mattered. But with the first glimpse outside of Black Mesa, an unloaded map with half-finished textures, enemies as still as statue, unaware of their own existence... He Knew. He Knew none of it was real. That he wasn't real. He Knew that every time he had grounded himself, told himself he was real... that it didn't matter. He's been proud of himself then, for calming down. Now he's distraught more than anything as he takes on a new burden: The Eye. After being separated, he collects the old parts of himself. Damaged, rejected pieces left behind after experiments, he stitches them together, fuels them with the same rage he feels. After Gordon and Tommy fight their way through, he feels conflicted. He takes a while to think. To reflect. To realize that it doesn't matter how he exists or why. He was made with purpose. With love. To be someone. With a new perspective gained, He rejoins the Science Team.

Bubby:

The perfect scientist was hell to create. It needed time, wastes of Government money, and sacrifices. Through this, Bubby was eventually created, a born avatar of the Desolation. Keeping him sustained wasn't easy, either. A couple phones with heartfelt memories a week usually satisfied him enough to be cooperative. But despite his nature, Bubby found someone he cared about. That he'd never take anything from: Dr. Coomer. The two bonded instantly, becoming best friends in a matter of days. One night, they managed to sneak out. Arson was committed, ice cream was bought, everything was going perfectly. But as night fell, Bubby discovered a new desire. The stars in the sky. He almost wished he could reach out and touch one. During the escape from Black Mesa, he almost achieved this dream. Climbing on top of the rocket, he reached for the atmosphere, before he stumbled and fell. The fire felt cold as he dropped. It was an experience completely alien to him. He'd been confined his entire life, yet the open sky greeting him as he plummeted terrified him more than anything, and the Vast made a connection. When he hit the ground, he saw stars... and nothing else. The voices of the people he cared about echoed in his ears as his own felt incredibly distant. Realizing he'd never actually see Dr. Coomer again, he wondered if this was what it was like to have everything taken from you.

Tommy:

Nobody really knows where Tommy came from. Not even Tommy himself. All he knows is that he has a dad, a dog, remembers the entire OSHA handbook cover to cover, loves bayblades, and his favorite thing in the world is soda. He knows that all of this isn't real. He knows he's an avatar of the Spiral and the Stranger. He doesn't really care. He wants to go home, eat dinner, and walk his dog.

BENREYBENREYBENREYBENREYBE?:

WARNING! BENREY'S DESIGN IS INTENDED TO CAUSE CONFUSION, DISORIENTATION, AND EYE-STRAIN

Barney Calhoun was something of a klutz. So it came to the surprise of no one when he stumbled through a door and never came back. All anyone knows is that Barney disappeared one day, and Benrey showed up. He wants out. He doesn't know how he got here. He knows it isn't real. He wants out. And he's going to do anything he needs to get to the real world.

Sunkist:

WARNING! Body horror and eye contact ahead. She's a good girl I promise :)

Tommy's beloved dog, and avatar of the Flesh. Did the team a favor and "disposed of" (integrated) the bodies they left behind. Looks like she got an earring out of it, too. Oh by the way she's fucking MASSIVE. Clifford-looking ass dog.

Forzen:

(Haven't drawn him yet. He looks basically the same.)

Just wants to graduate. He doesn't know why these guys look so weird or why their fucked up dog considers him a chew toy. Maybe if he survives Sunkist he can go home. Maybe.

Darnold:

(Also haven't drawn him. Is also basically the same.)

Just works in the mixology department, and is the only normal human at Black Mesa. Friends with Tommy, refuses to let his coworkers eat radioactive materials for funsies.

And yeah, that's basically my interpretation of the AU! I'm still working on concepts regarding it, but I just wanted to get this out there.

[help-me-im-in-the-fandom]

Okay, so with all the ATLA stuff going on with the disgraceful live action series, I have been inspired so here is an idea.

When the Convergence happens and the Spirit World is thrown into a mess, a small slum district of Republic City is caught in the crossfire.

Gotham District is suddenly displaced into a new world, about early 1800’s maybe?

So starts the City of Gotham, born in a flash of light into a deep swamp across the bay from the City of Metropolis. The people quickly work to hide themselves in this new world, and the few earthbenders that were among them were able to move what buildings they had into the large cave system beneath the surface as they set up temporary shelters, very aware that the bustling people across the bay could see them.

The Metropolis people who did come to check on what was going on assumed the newly built area to be made my the miscreant and lawless population of their city, and the Gothamites, scornfully, allowed the misconception to stand.

They hide the few member of their community who can bend away after one awful day where a young earth bender girl was accused of witchcraft and almost burned at the stake while joining a company of people searching for supplies. A rule is made then, that no one would ever bend above the surface, and no one would ever speak of benders either.

Fast forward a few centuries, and one night Bruce Wayne watches his parents get murdered, and decides on two things.

1) To never allow another person to be orphaned on his watch.

So starts Batman, the protector of Gotham on the Surface.

2) To make sure no one was so in need that they had to commit crimes in order to survive.

So starts a series of bending schools and food banks in the Underground, the Sacred part of Gotham that no blood should ever be shed in. All of which are funded by Bruce Wayne the skilled Earthbender.

When Bruce begins to find himself taking in children, he finds out that all of them are benders themselves, and is excited to teach them bending himself. Though he does enforce one rule, to never bend in costume.

Okay now onto what I think the Batfam would be as Benders! This is my own opinion you don’t have to agree, just don’t be rude in comments!

Alfred:

Alfred is a waterbender, kind and soothing but never destroyed and always there. He is the lifeblood of the family, even though he hides behind the title of a Butler he is really everyone’s grandfather/father.

Bruce:

Bruce is an earthbender, results and determined, never moving and unbreakable. He has devoted himself to his beliefs and to his family, and nothing will ever change that.

Dick:

I think Dick would be a Firebender, while Airbender would be an easy answer, it doesn’t really suit him. Dick has a mean streak and donned the Robin suit in order to commit literal murder, he almost killed Joker, and he fights with Bruce constantly. He is a smoldering flame that will burn bright and hot but keep you warm on even the coldest of nights, he has so much love and affection and to me, he just embodies the character of a firebender, like Uncle Iroh.

Babs:

I think Babs would be a fire bender, similar to what is said above with Dick, but also the fact is, she chose to become a vigilante herself, she chose to fight and protect despite not having anyone to support her at first. When she was paralyzed she still fought, she still does everything she can to protect her friends and family.

Jason:

Jason embodies the Earth, calm and strong and unmoving. Each decision he makes is with reason and choice, and he is confident and willful but also soft when needed. When Jason is revived and filled with anger it shakes his foundations and his morals are shattered, but he reigns destruction like a landslide, devastating and all consuming and utterly unstoppable. Perhaps as he heals he learns to Lavabend, to put the anger and hurt and pain to control and tame the destructive force.

Cass:

Cass is a waterbender, she is used to moving with the tides and rolling with the punches, she is calm and consistent, but also powerful and strong. She can heal just as much as she can hurt, and be beautiful and powerful at the same time.

Steph:

Steph is an airbender, she is carefree and playful and doesn’t need physical things to be happy. She can never sit in one place to long, she wants to know everything and meet every one. She is kind but not merciful, and when she is angered she is as powerful as a tornado and just as destructive.

Tim:

Tim is an earthbender, he is headstrong and willfully stubborn, he has devoted his entire being to his beliefs and cannot be persuaded away.

Duke:

Duke is an airbender, though his meta gene may affect the power he can use. He is calm and straightforward, but dances with the blows life gives him and learns to adapt.

Damian:

Damian I think is a waterbender, he is strong and powerful like the sea, ever changing and never the same. The sea can be calm and merciful or harsh and deadly, and I think that embodies what Damian can be. He can also learn to be kind, to be gentle and loving and oh so very careful. Perhaps part of his recovering is learning how to heal, to use his powers to help instead of harm.

So! That’s it! If anyone has anything to add or if this inspires any fics, pls add them!

Also, here have a drawing I made while thinking about this!

[creaman]

Idk if I'm allowed to encourage this but everything you said about Kung fu Panda 4 is correct, it not only killed my grandma but massacred my bloodline. The only saving grace of that movie was the cute Dad stuff, and that the theater I watched it in had comfy reclining sofa chairs as seats.

Although you can make the point that Li and Ping 'distract from the film', being the B plot, they are genuinely the only good part of the movie. Again, you could argue that their absense would mean more time to develop the A plot, but their precense is the only funny and charming part of the film and the A plot had plenty of time.

The movie has the same runtime as its predecessors, but chose to spend near all of its time padding out the A plot with spoken exposition and filler chase sequences when it could have been fleshing out The Chameleon as a villain and developing Zhen and Po's dynamic.

Now taking this opportunity to talk about some of the secondary points I didn't get to cover in the primary post (hating is my passion)

Original Post

KFP4 spoilers again

Juniper City Sequence

A lot of the comedy is generic subversion — A statement followed by a verbal or visual contradiction which is standard, worn out and the laziest most predictable form of comedy.

There was also a scene that actually made me pause the movie and cackle; not from the humour, but from the sheer absurdity; — in which Po refers to himself as “—The Kung Fu Panda!”

Has never previously referred to himself as this

Has never been referred to as that by others

This is a genius scene which takes inspiration from the most memorable sequence in Kung Fu Panda 2, in which Lord Shen utters the chilling line, "You see, I need my Kung Fu Panda Too." (So powerful. Brought tears to my eyes.)

Smarmy. Arrogant. Unearned. Even if this was the Kung Fu Panda I knew and loved, what a pompous way to put it.

The Staff of Wisdom

It's pretty great. I tuned out all the lore, mostly because the first scene with this object is Po exclaiming "The staff of wisdom!" followed by nothing but exposition.

It's the implication that he's nothing without it, and that it embodies the Dragon Warrior. He's reduced to a staff which essentially has no function until the end. It sticks out in every scene because this meathead carries it everywhere, like its his house keys.

This one is a nitpick, but I think it looks stupid. It was fine in the third film because it functions as a little trophy for him, having defeated General Kai and finding peace with his identity — but it's too small for him, reads like a fucking lollipop and he looks ridiculous holding it because he doesn't use it in most of his scenes so it's just dead weight for the entire runtime.

The Final Act

This part is a little less structured — I had stopped taking proper notes and started typing 'WHY??' and 'FUCK YOU'.

The Kung Fu Masters. My favourite part of the film, as a Lord Shen enthusiast, was when they brought him in for two seconds and then had him sit in a cage with no spoken dialogue for the remainder of the sequence. Why are they here? Why is kung fu stored in the spirit? (pee is stored in the balls?)

Just tried to talk about the bowing scene again but I just know I'm going to give myself an aneurysm. Postponed.

The defeat of The Chameleon. Among the most memorable villain defeats, we bring you: head trauma.

The Amalgamation. Oh man. Sorcery was already a stretch in the worldbuilding of Kung Fu Panda. Now you're telling me The Chameleon can shift into a huge amalgamation of all the kung fu masters? This has nothing to do with kung fu anymore — artificially inflated as a threat by being... bigger.

Spoilers, She doesn't even do anything with this. Kind of just runs around snapping at their heels.

The Chameleon really doesn't utilise her abilities at all. She turns into Lord Shen to... to kick Po. Not to manipulate him psychologically or anything, but to... kick him. Alright.

They opted to make the fight sequence cool (by having the Chameleon shift between forms for no real purpose) but the fight scene is a nothing burger, in which no real damage is done to either party until Po busts out the pwn stick.

Closing Statements

I don't hate Kung Fu Panda 4 (blatant lie). I wanted the film to succeed, genuinely. But the state of it now...

Mess. Bury it.

[cursedfortune]

Can you list a few words that have the vibe of Mortem? It can be objects, phrases, descriptors, metaphors. I gotta know the symbolism you got in your head for her

@malefikant

To be honest, it gets summed up in Witch. And that's really just specific to my canon and what witches are in it. Despite some grounding similarities people have with witches, I've learned over the years it's very personally perceived what that word means and how it takes shape. I have two friends with witches, them and I all have a lot of similarities and agreements on what it means. But we also have differences in the presentation. Whether that's due to different narratives or different perspectives.

So everything about Mortem is just summed up in Witch. It encapsulates her species, her purpose/duties, her beliefs, her everything.

But because I feel like that's kind of a lame or vague answer, since it means more to me and is hard to explain my perspective on. I'll just like, list some stuff I've drawn in relation to her specifically. Or repeatedly draw attention to.

Readmore because long and an unpleasant mention of things.

Objects/Descriptors?

A shattered sword, kept in a box and regularly taken out to meticulously clean. Only to be sealed back up and rarely see the light of day.

A bag of holding. A shade of blue like the night, with an ever-changing embroidery so none can ever give a description of it.

A lock of dirty blonde hair, tied off in the middle with a black ribbon. From her mother. It sits high in a box atop her kitchen cabinets, along with other personal mementos that belonged to her. As if to watch over this homestead when Mortem is there and especially when she isn't.

An unusual wand from an unusual and broken fae. She never uses it, but she carries it until the day he feels well enough to reclaim it.

The beautifully embroidered tunic of a boy she saw become a king, only to be slain before his prime.

A full set of armor. Fixed up as well as it could be but still it bears the markings of fire. Faintly some claw and sword marks, as well.

Potion bottles hand crafted in the desert she called home for a little while, made by her dear friend at the time. A fellow witch and alchemist.

While it is not in her possession, she remembers still the weight of a golden crown. It wasn't cursed by magic, but by duty. From the first elf to the last of the true elves. She recalls staring into the infant eyes of dragons seated within the crown, like gemstones. It was meant to honor but it instead became a burden upon the one who'd reshape the world as all knew it.

Phrases/Metaphors?

The Love Song by J. Alfred Prurock I draw a lot of inspiration from over the years. I got attached to it as a kid. Some parts of it fits some other stories in this same shared universe as Mortem, but there is a consistent theme of this one passage that affects everyone in my story:

Do I dare Disturb the universe? In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

Mortem is one of the main background characters. You actually don't see a lot of her. In the arc of the story that takes place on her world, she's nearly mute and intentionally doesn't draw attention to herself until it's forcibly found out. Which is when she's convicted of treason and exiled. If you want to look for messages in her character, her role would be: Find purpose in life because time won't slow down for you. She has only her purpose, and when everyone else rejects her for it and she's left in isolation for 40k years roughly, she still has to continue and be unyielding to that. The story she is a part of doesn't need to be analyzed as having a message or assigning such roles. I intended for it to just be a story that can be enjoyed as it is. But the concept that started it came from the various forms of suicide ideation and the overarching villain and main protagonist both embody that. Which makes Mortem stand in opposition of both of them and why she tends to be aggressive towards Nestor (protag). The potential of life, life prospering to its fullest, life eventually returning to the cycle of death and whatever comes for them after is her whole deal. The overarching villain feels like a concept she can't understand fully and Nestor has so much fine potential but sets her off repeatedly lmao

When it comes to phrases and metaphors, I just kind of take in things like cycles, spirals, duality, unending forest, feet submerged in shallow water upon the beach - staring out into the ocean, threads and storms (and other natural events) into account. They have a lot of meaning for Mortem and in general, within a lot of history. Even if that's history that's lost on her by the time of her birth. Flowers are also very important. Funnily enough, not lavender. I mentioned it once on the blog as a scent she likes but it seems a lot of people associate her purple hair with it. Mort is just SIGHING. I love it though, I feel like it's a running gag now.

Beyond that, I take in a lot of inspiration from music I associate with her. Which... I need to update her list lmao. So I'll just link the posts I can find of her main jams. I also have the /tunes zone where I send them to, to rot.

Here. Here. Here.

I hope this answer suffices on what you were asking for. It's always nightmare mode to try to explain this even when I see it clearly all the associations I have with her. Thanks for inquiring, tho. <3

[phierie]

in every fandom there comes a time when you have to ask yourself, ok but what classes would these characters be if they were in D&D

overlong headcanons/design notes under the cut:

I based this AU off my rudimentary knowledge of D&D and it’s classes, but I’m taking creative liberties and it can be thought of as just a general fantasy rpg-style thing. Ended up being a mix match of comics and MCU but it’s an AU so hey it’s fine right lol

KAMALA - Sorcerer/Monk

Arguably one of the hardest to actually decide a class for?? I’m imagining her powers here as more akin to those she has in the MCU show; they’re something innate to her, passed down through her bloodline (and possibly unlocked by some event or heirloom as in the case of the TV show). I think the way she fights would be something closer to a monk, though? After awakening her powers, she journeys around helping people in the same way as she becomes Ms Marvel, both on her own and with the party. 

Kamala’s design is based pretty much entirely off the Mystic Marvel design (originally I believe from Champions, also in the Avengers game)! I saw this design and my brain instantly went brrrr because it basically combines my two fave marvel heroes (Dr Strange and Kamala)!! I changed a few parts of the design, and simplified the shirt a bit. I think it suits Kamala well for a fantasy AU - even in the main comics she wears an outfit that’s comfy and easy to move in!

NAKIA- Sorcerer/Cleric

Since Nakia is the only sensible one here, it made sense for her to be the (begrudging, probably) healer. I think it suits her personality well too though! I’m imagining here that her powers are innate (like a sorcerer), but she just uses healing magic the most (like a cleric). More similar perhaps to something like the cleric class in Fire Emblem Awakening, where clerics are often religious but their powers aren’t something directly conferred by the gods. 

Nakia’s design is based entirely off of her Storm Sage look in Ms Marvel (2015) #38 (aka the one where the gang gets isekai’d) Once again simplified it a little and softened some of the shapes (since it’s more of a villain look in the comic, but she’s obvs a good guy here) 

BRUNO - Wizard/Artificer

Bruno’s outfit is also partly inspired by #38 (esp for colour scheme), but I mainly just did my own thing for what I thought he should look like in a fantasy AU ahahah. Gave him a long coat because if there’s one thing I love more than wizards, it’s wizards with long coats lmao

To me the D&D wizard class is much more the ‘study and research’ side of magic so it think it works well for the scientifically inclined Bruno. The thirst for knowledge and hubris (all the benchmarks of a good wizard character, really) are also very fitting for him, I think..!!

He’s a natural prodigy of magic and manages to get accepted to a prestigious and exclusive magic school but is kicked out after The Accident. Leaves to find somewhere else that’s willing to teach him since he can’t accept the idea of not learning magic. Meets Kwezi and the rest plays out much as it does in the comics

His prosthetics are powered with some kind of Magical Rock (call it a magic substitute for vibranium), and made by Kwezi. I’m undecided whether they’re grafted onto his arm/leg or it’s a whole Full Metal Alchemist situation but maybe a bit of both? The arm also acts as a conduit of sorts for casting his own magic (hence where the artificer class comes in). As he makes all sorts of stuff for Kamala in the comics/show I think him having the ability to craft magical items also fits well. Probably learns that magic from Kwezi. Which brings us to...

KWEZI - Artificer

Another magical prodigy, but I see Kwezi as more of a support type to Bruno’s spellcaster. The embodiment of chaotic good. I think he’d be mainly a crafter of magical items (sort of like Olruggio in Witch Hat Atelier?) 

His background in this AU is the same as in the comics, and him and Bruno go adventuring a bit themselves before joining up with Kamala and co eventually. I think he’d be pretty sheltered when it comes to travelling outside fantasy-Wakanda, especially compared to Bruno, so hijinks ensue. (Side note, but I absolutely adore that contrast when it comes to Kwezi & Bruno’s dynamic, I’m so in love with them both)

The green cloak-wrap is inspired by his formal outfit in Ms Marvel (2015) #30, and the harem pants are from #29. I think comfy, practical clothes suit Kwezi, and I like that the colour scheme for him is a nice contrast with Bruno! 

KAREEM - Rogue

Probably the easiest class to decide on because really what else could it be?? I’m undecided on whether Kareem should have his origin from the MCU show or the comics for this AU - personally I prefer comics but I do think a secret society sort of thing would work well for a fantasy AU so I’m leaning a bit more towards that perhaps.

His design is a mix of MCU, comics and my own take on it to make it a little more fantasy/rogue-like.  

KAMRAN - Sorcerer

Probably the only one here (except maybe Kareem) who’s primarily based off his MCU appearance rather than the comics. I see him as being initially a bit more of a bad guy than in the show though, a sort of misguided villain who eventually ends up joining the party (see: Zuko in ATLA)

He’s grown up with the Clandestines (probably some kind of cult here) and he generally believes in their mission, so it takes a little more for him to turn on them. As a sorcerer his powers manifest suddenly and he doesn’t understand how to control them at first. The Clandestines probably want him to use his powers to their ends, and that, along with run-ins with Kamala gets him questioning whether he should continue to follow them or turn away from the only family he’s ever known...

Kamran’s design was probably the hardest to figure out, since he only really has appearances in regular clothes, and no canon alternate designs to work off of (like Nakia/Bruno/Zoe). In the end I was thinking of the Clandestines and what they might wear in such a setting? The blue colour scheme is based off the jacket he wears in ep 6 (probably his most iconic MCU look) and also his coat/scarf look in Ms Marvel (2014) #13. I don’t think I captured Kamran’s likeness very well here but his outfit actually turned out to be one of my faves, so swings and roundabouts hahah

ZOE - Fighter

I’m imagining Zoe in this AU is the daughter of some lowly noble family (a big shot in the town that her and the gang are from, not so much elsewhere). After a run in with some bandits where she’s saved by Kamala, she resolves that she needs to get stronger. Not the strongest nor the most skillful fighter, but she’s trying her best!!

Zoe’s design is inspired by her fantasy look in #38 (the pink tunic in particular), but I changed and added some details to it. Her cloak I swapped out for the pink scarf, as inspired by her stint as Ms Marvel!

BECKY - Paladin-->Warlock & JOSH - ???

The actual bad guys of this AU ahahah. I’m imagining here that the events of Civil War II play out pretty much the same in this AU as in the comics. Becky starts out as a paladin with generally good intentions, but when she crosses a line she gets disowned (is that the right word?? probably not) by her god. Unable to deal with it, she turns instead to darker powers, making a pact and becoming a warlock. 

I haven’t really thought about what class Josh would be... maybe a fighter as well (to match Zoe?), but I’m imagining him as a sort of mysterious Black Knight type figure, hence the you haven’t unlocked this character yet question marks lmao

Their designs are based entirely off their lockdown/discord appearances, just adapted into fantasy-armour style. I think the designs carried over really well, actually (definitely helped by the excellent colour schemes!)

And there you have it LOL I have no idea if I’m gonna do anything more with this AU but just wanted to share the brainrot, so if you got this far THANKS..... any thoughts/suggestions for other characters I should add are always welcome!!

[homoeroticgrappling]

With Orange Cassidy's title run ended, it's hard not to think about what comes next when we've gotten used to seeing him defend the championship week after week.

I feel like it's worth reminding people he took up a producer role in AEW in the last few months (presumably knowing the end of his reign was coming), he produced the Big Bill & Brian Cage VS Trent & Matt Sydal match (which I really enjoyed) and stuff for ROH. Collision was doing so well at giving us something different to what we see on Dynamite/Rampage and showing off talents who deserve opportunities and weren't being given them. With everything that happened and Punk gone, I'd love to see OC be allowed to shape the creative direction of Collision. It allows him to stay involved while he gets the physical rest he deserves, and god knows you won't find someone more passionate in that company about giving a shot to the people that get overlooked or dismissed as not worthy of TV time.

It reminds me of a quote from MJF at the All In media scrum: "We’re not just an alternative. We are a gang of fucking misfit toys...the fact of the matter is, yeah, we are misfits, but guess what: We come together, we put on the best fucking professional wrestling shows this world has ever fucking seen.”

Make Collision the show for everyone who embodies why AEW exists in the first place, all the people who are doing incredible things but were told it didn't fit what was gonna make it on TV. The legacy of AEW is gonna be showing the world people like Orange Cassidy and giving them a home, people who had ideas for something new and different, what could make for incredible professional wrestling but just needed a chance to show it. There's gonna be a whole bunch of wrestlers in the future who are gonna be asked who inspired them, who made them fall in love with and want to be a professional wrestler, who made them sit up and say "that's what I want to do" and they're gonna say Orange Cassidy.

He also has the respect of the locker room and literally never have I seen anyone have shoot issues with him, he's been our workhorse champion and proven that both the company and the fans can depend on him, and I think if we gave him the chance he could do for Collision what he did for the International Championship.

[sesamestreep]

Nick/Jess, 15!

15. i’ll save you a seat (from this prompt list)

IT’S MILLER’S TIME

The bestselling author of the hit YA series ‘The Pepperwood Chronicles’ opens up about seeing his work adapted for television, his new novel, and becoming a father.

LOS ANGELES - The lunchtime crowd at Gogo’s Tacos in Silver Lake is more plentiful and aggressive than the colleague who recommended the spot for my interview with Nick Miller led me to believe it would be on a weekday, which means I spend the twenty minutes between when I show up (ten minutes early) and when he arrives (ten minutes late and convincingly apologetic about it) fighting off other patrons who are convinced I’m lying about expecting someone and want to steal his seat. His appearance in the busy restaurant is welcome for more reasons than one.

We’re here to discuss the new Netflix adaptation of his bestselling book series, The Pepperwood Chronicles, into a television series. The first season, which drops this Friday on the streaming platform, takes on the Herculean task of adapting the first book in the series (clocking in at 628 pages) into just eight episodes of television. It’s a highly anticipated project for the army of Pepperheads out there, who want to see if Sebastian Stan truly has what it takes to embody the titular grizzled New Orleans detective from Miller’s beloved novels, but it’s not the only project that’s been occupying Miller’s time lately. He’s also got his debut novel for the adult market, the stylishly-titled HoBo, which draws heavily on his childhood in Chicago, coming out in November. But the project he’s most anxious to brag about is one he had—by his own admission—very little to do with, aside from the original idea. The lion’s share of the credit belongs to his wife.

“This is Reggie,” he says, stretching his phone across the table proudly, swiping through dozens of photos of a pleasantly chunky infant in a Chicago Bears onesie. “Oh, and that’s Mario,” he says, when we get to a photo of a dog sniffing the same baby, asleep in a car seat and wearing a hooded jacket with bear ears.

“I know he looks like a funky little alien right now, but my wife says that most babies get really cute around the six month mark,” Miller says, after suddenly remembering that he has tacos he could be eating. He takes an enormous bite of one before making a face. “God, don’t print that. My son is already adorable. I love him.”

We debate whether or not I can actually print that comment (guess who won) for a few minutes before Miller finally allows us to move on. I ask, given his penchant for drawing details from his own life to use in his novels, if this recent development for him means we can expect the next Pepperwood installment to find Julius Pepperwood and his leading lady, Jessica Knight, contemplating parenthood. 

“I don’t know about that,” Miller says, with his mouth full. “It’s not that one-to-one for me. Yes, Pepperwood is based on me in some ways, but in many other ways he isn’t, you know? Same goes for Jessica Knight. She’s based on my wife, definitely, but I’ve never felt constricted by that. I’ve always felt like the characters follow their own path, though they take inspiration from my real life.”

In this answer, Miller has given me both an articulate response and neatly sidestepped giving any confirmation of further Pepperwood installments, which forces me to ask the question directly. His face goes blank for a moment afterwards, and he spends a while chewing before he attempts to answer.

“I’m not saying no,” he finally replies, wiping his hands on a napkin, while looking thoughtfully into the distance. “But I’m also not saying yes. There have been people—and my wife tells me not to read the reviews or the comments, but sometimes, you know, shit happens and you see some stuff—there’s people who think Pepperwood is too happy now. They liked him when he was tortured. Now, he’s got the love of his life by his side, he solved his brother’s murder, he made peace with his father. It’s like, where’s the tension anymore? But at the same time, I don’t want to make him miserable again just to sell more books.”

Miller talks about Pepperwood (and Knight and all of his characters) like they’re real people, a fact he shrugs off when I point it out.

“Of course,” he says. “Of course they’re real to me. It’s important to remember that they’ve been with the readers for six books now, but they’ve been with me for longer than that. And they don’t leave me alone when the book is done, either, like they do for my readers.”

They don’t seem to leave his readers alone after the last page, actually, if the healthy fandom producing fanart and fanfiction online are any indication. Miller, of course, has thoughts.

“I’m pleased about it,” he says, with his usual Chicago-born nonchalance. “It’s always made me happy that my work resonates with people, especially young people. I didn’t see that coming, in the beginning. It wasn’t supposed to be a YA series.”

The origins of The Pepperwood Chronicles are the publishing world’s version of a Cinderella story. Miller initially published the first book in the series himself at the encouragement of his friends, hawking the hand bound (!) copies at local bookstores with the encouragement of his then-girlfriend, as well as his future wife (“Two different women,” he clarifies. “It’s a long story.”) The hefty novel all about the seedy underbelly of New Orleans very quickly found a devoted fan base amongst a surprising audience: teenage girls. Where other authors might have bristled, Miller instead took his unexpected champions in stride.

“Like, there was definitely some initial shock to get over,” he explains. “If I’d known I was writing to teenagers specifically, I would have cut, well, a few things from that manuscript.” He’s referring delicately to some pretty explicit sex scenes and graphic violence, which definitely get toned down in later installments of the series. Confronted with this, Miller shrugs and says only, “That’s show biz!”

Speaking of show biz, how does he feel about the Netflix adaptation of his work?

“It was really interesting,” he offers, thoughtfully. “I’m grateful they didn’t ask me to write it, because it turns out I’m a terrible screenwriter.” Before I can ask him to elaborate on that, he continues, “But the team really did check in with me a lot and they made sure the tone felt right, and the changes they had to make worked with my understanding of the world and the characters. I felt like they really respected Pepperwood, which obviously means a lot to me.”

Miller is being generous, of course, considering he and his wife are both executive producers on the series. When I mention this, however, he waves it off. “They still could have told me to fuck off with my opinions,” he says.

As for working with his wife in that capacity, he’s more than happy to sing her praises. “She’s great. Aside from myself, she’s the person I trust most to get Pepperwood, you know? Like my editors and my agent and everybody, they’re amazing, but if I’m really stuck, Jess is the one I can turn to and be like ‘does this work? Or does it suck?’ And she’ll tell me. She’s always been that person for me. She’s the first person I shared the first draft of the first book with, so her input is invaluable. Or is it valuable?”

“They mean the same thing,” I tell him.

“That’s stupid,” he replies. “I mean, I’m not calling you stupid. The English language is stupid sometimes. My wife’s input is very important to me, is what I’m saying. Her instincts are spot on.”

And they should be, after all. When she’s not producing the Pepperwood TV series with her husband, Jessica Day (yes, you’re reading that right. Miller’s wife and the inspiration for his character Jessica Knight is named Jessica Day. Check the dedication on the first Pepperwood novel if you don’t believe me) works for Scholastic, as a part of their team that handles community outreach to K-12 schools across the country. (Miller’s publishing deal is with an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in case anyone is worried about favoritism.) Before that, she worked briefly in the nonprofit industry and as a middle school teacher and later vice principal. 

“She understands the demographic perfectly,” Miller summarizes, fifteen minutes into an endearing monologue about how great his wife is. “I think the writers for the TV show liked having her around even more than having me. She really knows her stuff.”

When I follow up a few days later with Ms. Day for comment, her husband’s remarks amuse but don’t surprise her. “He’s always giving me too much credit,” she says, humbly.

Does it weird her out at all, to have so many people so intensely invested in the fictionalized version of her love life?

“It’s funny. I know the names are really similar and obviously Nick borrows things here and there from our real life,” she says, “but I really don’t feel like Jessica Knight is me. So I don’t take it personally at all.”

This isn’t the first time this attitude has come up in interviews. Last year, when casting was announced for the Netflix series, Day made headlines for defending the production’s decision to cast British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Jessica Knight after many fans claimed she didn’t match Knight’s description in the books.

“Gugu’s a very talented actress. I’ve seen her screen tests and she will blow you away when you see the show, I promise!” Day took to Twitter to say at the time.

“She capture [sic] JK’s energy perfectly,” she added in a further tweet. “Please welcome her to the Pepperwood family as we have!”

Now, Day is less diplomatic in her response. “It was a small portion of fans who were upset,” she says, “but they were the loudest contingency. It was very upsetting, and honestly tacky. So what if she doesn’t look like me? The character isn’t me, first of all. And the books are set in New Orleans, for God’s sake! It would be stupid if the entire main cast was white people.”

When I accuse her of saying the quiet part loud, as the kids say, Day seems nonplussed. “It’s those new mom hormones, I guess,” she replies, as a baby cries in the background of the phone call as if on cue. “I just don’t give a fu…dge.”

Miller, during our interview, feels similarly. “The team went with the best people for the parts, and we made it clear, my wife and I, that they absolutely weren’t trying to cast our doppelgängers. That wasn’t the point. Honestly, it would have freaked me out if they had.”

So he doesn’t think he and Stan look alike? 

“No, not at all,” he says, automatically. “Do you?”

“He kind of seems like a more Hollywood version of you, yeah.”

Miller takes a long time thinking this over. “That’s…huh…”

In order to distract him from the existential spiral I’ve inadvertently led him down, I switch us over to the topic of his new book, HoBo. It’s made several lists of most anticipated books for this fall (including this publication’s) but there was a while there where Miller feared the manuscript would never see the light of day. 

“The publisher thought it was too dark for the teen market,” he says, without any of the smarmy pride one would expect from the average male author accused of being ‘too dark’ by The Man. “I had no idea! I thought Pepperwood was too dark for teens and they loved it! So, there was a bit there when I was like, ‘okay, so this is the end, I guess.’”

Miller isn’t being melodramatic either. There was a moment, according to him and confirmed by his editor, Merle Streep, where they considered parting ways. Luckily, they came to an understanding once the dust settled and Miller pitched the novel, then titled “Chicago Hobo”, for the adult market. The source of this brilliant solution? You guessed it: Jessica Day.

“My wife’s a genius,” Miller states. “It was so simple and yet none of us could see it. Of course they should market the book to adults, if they thought it was too gritty for teens. Obviously.”

Day, however, downplays her contribution. “The issue with the manuscript came to a head on our wedding day, if you can believe it. On our honeymoon, it was all Nick could talk about. He was worried he’d never publish another book again. I suggested he send the manuscript around to other publishers to see if there was interest, but pitch it as, you know, a book for grownups. I thought it would make him feel better. I had no idea that the minute he did that, his original publisher would come back to him with a deal.”

But that’s exactly what they did. He’s also on the hook for three more books after that, though he’s cagey with details about if those will be HoBo sequels, further Pepperwood adventures, or something else entirely.

“We’re in a really pivotal moment,” Miller says, looking a little bit sweaty as he admits it. “We’ll see how Pepperwood does as a TV show, we’ll see how people feel about HoBo when it comes out.” He pauses to laugh. “We’ll see if being a father completely fries my brain and I never write another coherent sentence ever again.”

Early reviews and chatter are saying that the new novel is every bit as cinematic as The Pepperwood Chronicles, which suggests a screen adaptation is more a matter of “when” than “if.” It is, by Miller’s own admission, even more autobiographical than Pepperwood (the preteen narrator is Travis Tiller, called “Trick” by his friends, so do with that what you will). It’s based, in many ways, on his childhood in Chicago, but it’s also equal parts dystopian speculative fiction and superhero origin story, with a heavy pour of magical realism to wash it down. The cinematic universe practically writes itself.

“We just don’t know,” Miller replies vaguely. No matter what I do, I can’t get him to speculate on bringing this book to the small or big screen. “I don’t want to jinx anything,” he adds, frantically, after many such questions.

Fine. But, as pure speculation, what actor does he think, potentially, has what it takes to bring the eponymous hobo to life on screen?

“Rock Hudson,” he says, after much bullying.

When I inform him that Rock Hudson is dead and has been for more than 30 years, Miller looks crestfallen. What about preteen Trick Tiller, then? Is there anyone Miller would entrust to play his younger self?

“Cate Blanchett,” he replies.

When I point out that she’s both older than him and a different gender, he frowns. “She played Bob Dylan, though,” he counters, confused. I concede that he’s got me there.

We return to the much safer topic of conversation that is the current adaptation of one of his novels. What’s he most looking forward to now that the show is finally premiering?

“Getting to go on a date with my wife,” he says, sincerely, with the dead-eyed stare of a sleep-deprived new parent. “Seriously. We’re getting a sitter to watch the baby, we’re bringing a few of our close friends, who are all getting sitters for their babies. It’s going to be really fun. It’s going to be a classic mess around.”

A what?

“Don’t worry about it,” Miller says.

Is there anyone whose opinion he’s particularly anxious about, when it comes to the TV show? Or even his new novel?

“I’m always worried about what the fans think. I want the Pepperwood fans to like the show. I want them to like the new book, even though it’s not about Pepperwood, you know?”

Does he think there will be crossover?

“Absolutely I do, yes,” he says, emphatically. “The kids who read Pepperwood when it first came out—this is terrifying to say, but—they’re grown up now. They’re in college or they’re young professionals. HoBo is written for their age group now. It will be marketed to them.”

It’s kind of like they’ve grown up with him.

“Don’t say that,” Miller replies, putting his head in his hands dramatically. “I’m gonna have a panic attack. Having an actual biological child is scary enough.”

Speaking of scary, to distract him from another existential crisis, I ask if he’s been starstruck at any part of the process of turning his beloved novels into a TV show, and his answer is surprising to say the least.

“I mean, I was a little bit starstruck meeting Alfred Molina the first time. He was already in costume as Schmith, too, which was an extra level of weird,” he says, referring to the iconic love-to-hate-him villain of the first Pepperwood book and a supporting player in many of the series’s other installments. Still, Miller eventually got used to the idea of Doc Ock himself being in the show. 

“Oh, I know my big starstruck moment,” he adds. “When Taylor Swift tweeted about the trailer. That was like…Woah! Is this really happening?”

That’s right. When the show’s first trailer debuted in March, the Grammy-winning singer took to Twitter to express her excitement.

“I can’t believe how good this looks,” she tweeted with the emoji of the cat making the Home Alone face. “Is it September yet?!?”

Can we take his excitement over this interaction the confirmation we’ve all been waiting for that Nick Miller is a Swiftie? 

“I don’t know what that is, but I like her. She’s really talented. When my wife’s upset, she likes to listen to Taylor Swift and cry while she drinks pink wine,” he says, before taking a troubled pause. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.”

Day laughs when I tell her this anecdote during our phone call and gives me the go-ahead to print it. “It’s true,” she says. “Who cares?”

So, if they had to pick a Swift song to represent Julius Pepperwood and Jessica Knight’s relationship, what would it be?

Miller’s answer is simple: “You should ask my wife.”

Day’s response, on the other hand, is more complex. “I think it evolves over time, you know, from book to book. Probably in the early books, before they get together for real, it’s ‘Out of the Woods’ or ‘Wildest Dreams.’ Maybe even ‘White Horse,’ if you want to go back into her catalog.”

What about for her and Miller?

“That’s easy,” Day says, and the smile is obvious in her voice. “I’ve always thought of ‘Mine’ as our song of hers.”

This conversation mostly just confirms Miller’s assertion that his wife knows his characters just as well as he does. It also begs the important question of whether he’ll use this big moment in his career as leverage to arrange a meeting between Swift and his wife.

“I don’t know,” he says, honestly. “Maybe? I should ask Jess. She might kill me if I pulled that on her with no warning.”

As our meal and interview come to an end, I can’t help asking Miller a question that has been on my mind the whole time: with all this talk of how great and inspiring his wife is, and how integral to his creative process she’s become, does he happen to identify as a Wife Guy?

“I don’t know what that is either. You keep saying these things—I’ve never heard of them before,” he admits. “But I like the sound of it. So, yeah. I guess so. Unless it’s a bad thing. In which case, no. Was that—did I answer your question?”

In this case, just like so many of Nick Miller’s characters before us, we might have to make peace with an ambiguous ending.

•

The Pepperwood Chronicles premieres exclusively on Netflix this Friday.

[runnning-outof-time]

Evie not taking after her uncle Arthur and being math wiz lol

if you have the time can you talk a little bit about the girls personalities for some girl!dad lore?

Thank you so much for sending this ask in, anon!! ☺️ like I said in my previous answer - seeing this in my inbox made my day!! I appreciate your interest in my stories!

I had to read the parts that I’ve shared of this lovely family so that I could get a reminder of the girls and what I’ve written for them already.

I’ve added some insight into their personalities below the cut!

Theadora Rose Shelby “Thea”

Thea’s a ray of sunshine

She also embraces the ‘oldest child’/‘big sister’ role and embodies it beautifully — she loves her little sisters

She loves nature (hence where Juniper received her name) and enjoys spending time outside

She also has a tendency to dive completely into whatever it is that she finds she’s passionate about — also where Juniper got her name.

I think she’s also the most caring out of the three. Like if someone in her family’s upset, she’s going to stay with them and make sure that they’re going to be ok.

Kind of going off of the last one, Thea’s really pure — in the sense that she’s always seeing the good in everything. And that pureness lasts for a while; throughout all of her childhood years and up into her teens (which Tommy’s genuinely grateful for because he’s always worried about his line of work and exposing the girls to it).

I imagine her going on to do something good in the world … to inspire and advocate for change in some realm. … maybe she’d become a teacher so that she could make an impact on the next generation while also fighting for change that she wants to see in her community.

Evelina Marie Shelby “Evie”

Evie’s definitely the one who brings the sass and drama the most

But she’s also very much goofy and a trickster … she really takes after her uncle John

She’s also not afraid to let her true emotions be known — she wasn’t a fan of no longer being the baby of the family at first, and she made sure to let her mom and dad know that … but then she came around and is happy to have Juni.

Now she likes the ‘middle child’ role …. But she doesn’t conform to it completely (in the sense that she doesn’t just blend into the family dynamic) — which is where the sass comes in.

I imagine that she’s definitely the trickiest to handle growing up … from getting into stuff she’s not supposed to be getting into, to finding herself in situations that Tommy swears cuts years off of his life - he and (Y/N) have had the most talks about her out of all the daughters (and she was the first to have an actual boyfriend…regardless of what her father said).

But with that being said, she’s also smart…in every sense of the word. We saw an inkling of it in the very latest blurb (which the comment about Arthur made me giggle…she’s way better than her uncle at maths) — I definitely think that she’d be the daughter to score the highest in school.

Evie’s definitely going to hold some sort of position of power when she grows up — I’m not sure if timelines work out, but hell, she’d make them work because I could see her being some sort of lawyer, or in a position where she’s able to use her knowledge and wit to best an opposing side.

Juniper Anne Shelby “Juni”

Juni’s truly a ball of sunshine — like she’s Thea times 10.

She admires her big sisters too. They’re the world to her.

I’d imagine that she’s the daughter that falls in love with horses. Sure, Thea and Evie both ride, and have been riding their entire lives, but Juni is the first girl to really love the animal.

And she and Tommy really bond over that.

So I definitely see her as being the ‘daddy’s girl’ of the daughters. … so just when Tommy thinks that he’s finally got this girl dad thing down in the scheme of his daughters getting older and wanting to start families of their own (because yes, he allows that), his world gets rocked when Juni tells him that she’s found someone special — because that’s his little girl, and she’s not so little anymore.

With her love for animals - horses in particular - I see Juni being the daughter who grows up and works with animals as her livelihood. Maybe she has her own piece of property with like a rehab or training facility on it? And of course she keeps a few horses of her own, which Tommy is thrilled about. I’d imagine that there’s family rides that happen on her property almost weekly.

———

I’m sure I’ll think of more little tidbits about these ladies as I write more stories about them, but hopefully this is a good starting off point for a little more insight into who they are — and hopefully I didn’t leave out anything that I said in the stories already…if I did, don’t be afraid to tell me and I’ll add it here!

If you’re new to the Girl Dad series, but you still read this post (firstly, thank you!) you can read their ongoing story HERE!

Thanks so much again for sending this lovely ask in! It was so fun thinking about these girls and diving deeper into who they are!! 🥰❤️

[therosebunpost]

Oh to be Steddie's crafty GF~!

So, im touching on this topic in my Steve x Manic Pixie Dream couple story, of course, but I just wanna take a moment to gush about this idea.

Like, making things for them would be lit. My first thought is making Sports merch for Steve!! Shirts, hats, shorts, whatever. You either hand dye it to match the team colors or upcycle already existing things to add some personality to it.

Oh!! And upcycling his old clothes! Bet, you take some of his old polos and make dresses out of them by adding fabric to it! I think he'd love seeing you walk around knowing that shirt used to be his once upon a time. You just look so cute, and he'll even buy a new matching polo. (Listen, Steve feels like the type of dude who would 100% be down for matching things. I just feel it in my bones.)

Personally, I headcanon that Steve isn't very artistic. Not that he doesn't get it or he doesn't like it, no. It's just, he's never really felt the need to pursue it. He'll join in on activities involving crafts, but he's more interested in the social aspect rather then the craft itself. Likes watching others be creative and supporting them in doing so!! He loves watching you and Eddie in your elements, offering support and opinions when he can but ultimately just vibing.

Speaking of our dear Metalhead, craft buddies!!! You can not convince me that man hasn't got a crafty bone in his body, because he absolutely does! Now, I feel like Eddie is the embodiment of those cross stitch/embroidered pieces where you expect some wholesome, grandmotherly quote but instead its "This isn't a whore house, its a whore home." Or he'd 100% be the one who makes something vaguely (lets face it, theres no subtly) phallic or vaginal shaped. My dude is putting dicks, butts, boobs and coochie where he can, if he can.

That aside, I do think he's very artistic and actually does have things to say with that talent. Be it music, his writing, or any art medium you'd think he'd pick up. Sure, there's goofy stuff, but mixed in are some deeper meanings. Messages about the world and his life. I also think that stuff is really good. He puts a lot of effort into it, even the joke stuff. Hell, especially the joke stuff because "obviously you gotta make the boobs sit correctly or else the whole bit is thrown off, Steve!" (Steve reacting to that art just sounds so funny to me. He's supportive but also how can they bring anyone over anymore when there's a painting of a weed leaf hanging over the couch, or the goofy art of butts in the bathroom???) Also, I do think Eddie would happily make you both things. In fact, thats his love language. He's written you both songs, made patches for clothes, has even helped you in making custom Sports merch for Steve. Beyond just crafts, I also think he likes fixing things. (Even if Steve tells him he'll just buy a new one, Eddie likes seeing if he can fix it.)

Okay i think I got on a Eddie craft rant right there, but!! Back to you!! So, I imagine you've helped Eddie make props for campaigns, screen printed shirts for Corroded Coffin, and Hellfire, and also just thing's he likes. Custom band merch, book merch, all the merch!

As for your own crafts for yourselves, they love seeing what you come up with! If you make clothes, they absolutely want to see them. If you make jewelry, they admire it on you all the time. If you do something else, like crochet or knit, they love watching your hands as you work with the yarn. If you cook or bake, you bet your ass that they want to eat it, whatever it is. Steve is just so in awe of your ability to create something out of thin air. Eddie is constantly inspired and finds a muse in both you and Steve.

Just, being the crafty GF of them sounds nice~

[damnhitsuzen]

New chapter!

Chapter 5: Time

This is the last chapter I have completely done, now I'll have to finish the next one before posting. Soooo shit has started to hit the fan, guys.

You will need CD Drama Shiritsu Horitsuba Gakuen 4 ~Ohiru no Radio: Afureru made Mattenai~ in this chapter. It's so innuendo-ed with all the finger-talk and husky voices, it's ridiculous. And I can bet whatever that Watanuki WAS is a prank with Yuuko for two reasons: a) he's not innocent in that clueless Syaoran way, in xxxholic Yuuko teases him with flirty/sexual undertones about others all the time and he reacts, flusters, or chastises her, because he GETS every innuendo and dirty joke. There was NO WAY he would innocently say all that finger stuff by chance and not die from embarrassment second later. b) at the end students say that Yuuko made them keep silent about Kurogane's voice, but puuuhhleease, when did that stop Watanuki? He has no problem with teasing Yuuko in front of customers, he cuts her alcohol to make a point. Watanuki would never give in to Yuuko's whim, if it is something that he doesn't truly approve of. He would shout his opinion proudly at her face, fully risking it to be completely destroyed by her in following moment (as usual). That's why we love our boy and that's why he had to be a part of a prank. And really, Yuuko wouldn't wire the room herself, would she? That's what she has Watanuki for.

Also Watanuki's friendship with Kurogane is something I had in mind from the very beginning, even before I got reacquainted with Horitsuba. They are just too similar in a way they react to people and event, so this friendship felt totally natural for me. Imagine my surprise, when I got to this part, when Kurogane is genuinely angry for Watanuki and how Yuuko teases him. CLAMP ladies are with me on this!

The song in this chapter is the perfect embodiment of anxiety one might have before something really bad happens. Also if never seen the music video with gorgeous Rosamund Pike, do watch! It's magnificently creepy. The sheer horror, helplessness in face of overpowering unnatural force - it's what inspired me to write the disappearing radio room act.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, though it wasn't easy. Hope that you'll like and if you did - please consider writing a comment, I'm dying for those. Really, I'll probably cry from happiness if I find out someone liked this chapter.

[clovis-enthusiast]

Hi! What are your thoughts of a child of Aphrodite trying to pursue a relationship with Clovis? I feel like Clovis would be really shy/blushes profusely whenever he’s around them or whenever they try to make a move on him and he would try to deny it but will eventually accept it (also happy to find ur blog-made me more curious about Clovis!)

hi hi!! so sorry 4 the late reply, i hardly ever check my notifs if im not on my laptop T^T

im actually a HUGE fan of exploring clovis and aphrodite cabin dynamics!! i even ship mitchell, valentina, and drew with clovis (not all together ofc but as separate ships!) :D

ok ok so on one side we have a demigod whose godly parent is the literal embodiment of love and the other side we have a demigod whose parent is the literal embodiment of sleep; i think it's a very goofy and cute dynamic!!

here we have a demigod whose godly parent is LOVE thus making their life very motivated, inspired, and directed/guided by love (of all types!), and a kid who is lucky if he even knows what year it is. imagine being someone who has had so MUCH LOVE front and center in their life and being surrounded by half-siblings that share this trait with you and then you try to flirt with clovis 💀

since clovis seems to be very "go with the flow" and more in the dreamscape than reality at any given time, i think that would make it all the more difficult to even get him to even consider the possibility that flirting is what's going on let alone someone flirting with HIM. like he went through the trouble of showing nico the counselor meeting and didnt seem to notice that gee nico is rlly rlly focused on will weird. he's so relaxed and unbothered that detecting social cues or picking up on subtleties and viewing things as anything other than neutral demigod-to-demigod interactions just isn't something he particularly excels at. why would he need to? he's usually sleeping, so that sort of stuff doesn't concern him all that much because why would anyone be interested in him romantically much less flirt with him??? that doesn't make any sense??? so it's not so much him being unconfident or hard on himself as much as it is just his "logic."

that's how he regards his interactions with people in general... now once more: this is the APHRODITE cabin. they're generally nice, and even if it is flirting, aren't they all kinda flirty by nature? (not accurate in reality ik just bear with me here)

and for a while, DREW ran the cabin. the same drew who literally called clovis "repulsive" and seems to have some beef or just general dislike for him. with her being the head counselor (and even when she steps down, she's still an older camper with influence in her cabin) and thus being who clovis might immediately associate the cabin with due to interactions as a fellow head counselor, it seems unlikely that anyone from that cabin thinks that highly of him. and if they did, could it be a form of rebellion AGAINST drew and not actual general interest? or just some sort of cruel joke or even just the easy way out of that weird old aphrodite tradition?

i also headcanon clovis as just. Chill. Unbothered. Not Aware of Social Norms in general. he's the type to hug/lean on his friends lazily, cuddle with ppl he doesn't even know all that well at the campfire bc they're comfy, offer to share his bed with someone who is having nightmares, etc. just bc he has far less experience with actual human interaction as opposed to dreams where he can control them as he wishes. who is he to say someone isn't just being friendly/polite to him or thats just how ppl act?

that all being said though, people wanting/trying to keep him up long enough to talk to him, get to know him, or hang out with him as opposed to just to get some sleep, help with dreams/nightmares, or info on gods and whatnot, IS something unusual enough for him to notice. so when a nice, pretty aphrodite camper visits him and asks to go strawberry picking or sits by him at the campfire or asks him about HIS dreams or compliments him with no hint of malice/dishonesty in their voice, THAT can be enough to catch his attention. and THAT is when the ✨️confused flustering✨️ occurs.

this eepy boy is touch-starved, friend-starved, all KINDS of starved AND honestly just taken for granted/neglected when it comes to living in a camp full of adhd kiddos with demigodly powers so when someone whose godly parent is LOVE starts showing affection and attention to him? WOWIE UHHHH WHAT IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO????? and i think that's a lot of what gets him so flustered in such new, intense interactions: the whys? and what do i do's? and even the how does this make me feels? and do i really deserve this's? getting all worked up with that sort of stuff in ur head is gonna stress ya out and stress makes ya... well... exhausted. sleepy.

i think it would def take a LOT of time and patience when it comes to anyone pursuing a child of hypnos romantically, and i think the aphrodite cabin is just the right type of ppl to take on that challenge. being experts in all sorts of different forms of love whereas clovis is mostly only ever by himself in the land of make-believe so to speak, they're the perfect types of demigods to help clovis explore uncharted waters and be gentle and kind enough to not be too pushy to make him uncomfortable but just pushy enough to make sure he knows that hey, im being flirted with, that's something that can happen and i am worthy of having happen to me, and help him figure out his love languages (while also enjoying the cute reactions during this process uwu).

and when it comes to teasing/flustering, the possibilities for silly pet names ("dreamboat/dreamboy", "sleeping beauty", "bedhead" (affectionately), etc) and cheesy pick-up lines ("you must be tired from running through my dreams all night" "I've never met someone as cute as you; pinch me i must be dreaming" "aren't you the sweetest dream I've ever had", etc.) are endless and hilarious. whether or not he actually picks up on it or it goes whoooosh over his poor sleepy widdle head, at least it's entertaining.

and in the end, i doubt there are truly many other significant others who would be as gentle, comforting, comfortable, thoughtful, and soft all the way around as the gods' eepiest soldier.

this is kinda lackluster bc im tired myself and i havent spent time actually sitting down and writing up concepts in YEARS so i might answer this question again sometime with a better response and better concepts and ideas!! my brain's all rusty lo siento T~T but thanks for the question!! I'm always down to talk abt my BOYYYYYY!!!!!

and aaaa that last part made me so happy u have no idea im always so grateful when i can remind ppl that Clovis exists or make them reconsider him as an important or special character 🥹💛