#really liked her character but the show's story was very meh

[valkyrja-pride]

🕸️🎻🕸️

[freuleinanna]

I'm still confused about Verna.. I thought she was a demon?? Because why would Death be going around making a bunch of deals with people? After Verna told Pym she decided to go "topside" I thought she was some kind of crossroads demon since it implies she came from below (hell)

Oh! I feel you, and I struggled with that a lot too. She does seem a lot like a demon. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct in my thinking either, but here's why I personally think she's Death. Kind of a long post, sorry. I hope I make myself clear, but feel free to follow up!

So, Verna. An anagram for Raven, that much is established. Ravens are wonderful - symmetrical even - creatures. Bringers of death in a wide understanding. Bringers of good luck in many cultures. The duality is amazing. To me, that also leans majorly into the theme of death being a concept of duality: an enemy for some, a friend for others. Each greets her differently. I'm not talking about the characters here, but people in general.

There's a proverb I came across a while ago that reads 'Death is a great leveller'. Meaning, everyone's equal before her. You have no leverage or buffer against death, and it doesn't matter if you're poor or blindly, feverishly, grotesquely rich (like our folks here). Everyone pays the last bill. For everyone, there's a day of reckoning. It's a major theme with the show, at least. Verna also says 'Buy now, pay the bill later' - although it can still read very demonic, I agree.

She's obviously ancient, and I was leaning toward the demon theory based on all of her talking. Yet - she also keeps ranting about Egypt and pyramids and Cleopatras and such. What's the one thing with Egyptians everyone knows of? They honored death. Death may have been a bigger part of their lives than life itself. The Usher Twins' obssession with all things Egyptian, antiquities, jewelry, swords and such, plays a nice parallel here too, because they're just collectors. They have no grain of honor for the real thing, for what these things are tied to. Kind of a nice thought, I guess.

Anyway, back to Verna. She says on multiple occasions how intrigued she is with us, 'adorable little things'. She saw the pyramids, the expeditions, and she wanted to see what else we do, she wanted to see what Roderick and Madeline will do (in her own words). It's all an experiment to her. She makes an offer just to see what we, people, do.

Here's where my beef with a demon theory comes in. No demonic creature I could think of, be it an actual demon, a trickster, or something else, is that sincerely intrigued. Something something death loving life something something.

Demons, in my understanding, are most interested in winning the deal. They come up with incredible challenges, they enjoy torture, emotional or physical, they never let anyone win. Verna has never once expressed this. Quite the opposite. She gives everyone a chance to step back. Even when the ink has dried and everything's decided, each Usher sibling is conditioned to make a choice: push forward, or step back. Neither of them steps back. Neither of them takes a long hard look at themselves (except Tamerlane, both literally haha and figuratively, as she's the only one to have realized how lost she was in her way - just at the end, when it didn't really matter anymore, but still). Verna is kind to those she takes (sincere pet names, regrets of having to do it this way, making sure they know it's not personal, etc). She grieves with them, just before. Grieving - 'The Raven' being about an expression of grief and trauma - ravens as synonyms for death... you get the gist. Oh! Except Freddie - cause Freddie struck a cord. Infuriated her. So he doesn't get an expressed choice. And he would've blown it like coke anyway, so meh.

And then Arthur Pym. Oh, Arthur Pym. I honestly couldn't imagine a demon kneeling and thanking someone who's refused them.

About Arthur Pym, by the way. It's the one story I hadn't reread, and I should have, it turns out! haha Anyway, a few notes about his travels:

In the story, Arthur Pym is expressedly afraid of white color (North Pole, yada yada, white being the absense of colors/life, and the absense of life is death).

Verna enumerates the moments she witnessed of his travels. Someone getting left in Sahara. Someone getting shot in the Arctic. Something bad that was done to an Inuit woman. Why would she follow Arthur so closely? She didn't know him, he wasn't her favorite. I think it's because she came to collect those deaths. If she is death, she would've been exactly there, where people died. She would have also seen Arthur not partaking.

Aaaaaaaand it makes her 'You saw me' line sound better, because he had sure seen death along his travels.

I think the part about a place of out-of-time, out-of-space creatures and hollow Earth was a bit unnecessary, BUT I can try and tie it in this way:

It showed us how Arthur might have coped with what he saw, and he 'saw a lot', even in his 70s it's difficult for him to recall, and it made him think of humanity as a virus, literally;

He might have thought up that ethereal realm simply because he was in an expedition? Exhaustive conditions for both body and spirit? Traumatic experiences? If he saw Death, he might have cloaked it in his mind to cope with it, thus came his stories;

Verna going 'topside' may just mean that she had to go take a look herself, actually be willingly present for the events - to see the brave little humans conquer the earth. 'Topside', as in, 'visible, present, participating'. If Death exists, I doubt it bothers with our boring human realm but lives downunder, among all threads that weave the world.

So that's that on Arthur Pym.

A few other references my mind is too exhausted to tie in nicely:

Death takes Lenore. THE Lenore from 'The Raven' (mostly) and 'Lenore' (secondary). That happened. Also, death talking to a child of life? Regretting having to take her? Not very demonic of dear ol' Verna, in my opinion.

Her mourning veil, her last toasts to the Ushers at the cemetery? Demons don't tend to grieve their players. Demons don't respect and love them enough, and 'what is grief, if not love persevering'?

Death is the last threshold. Before death, we look upon our legacy (major theme with the show), we remember our losses and loves (Annabel Lee!!!!! love the poem, brilliantly done), we get heavy with regrets. We face death as an enemy & fight, like Madeline did. As a friend, like Arthur did. We confess, like Roderick did. All that is too significant to me overall.

And the last thing. It's Edgar Allan Poe. The whole Death tribute is a giant, incredible, thought-through-to-the-bits hommage to his literature where Death, figuratively and literally, takes the throne.

I hope I managed to express myself alright there. Thanks if you read it through, and as I said before, feel free to follow up or elaborate on some ideas. There are oceans to discuss. <3

[nimmie-nugget]

~Reincarnated as a Knolastname~

Note: HAPPY SPOOKY MONTH!! 🎃👻 gonna be honest- I actually think Crimson might have cared atleast a bit for Moxxie when he was a child 😭 Anyway~ take some reincarnated Moxxie’s Sister Reader Headcanons!! 🥳 Do keep in mind that characters may be ooooooooc, and when there’s 8 O’s you know it’s extreme 🤯. Also I haven’t been doing Tokito Twin’s content for a while so I just wanna reassure that I have some HCs coming up for them 😫!! Enjoy!

P.s in the back flashes of EXES AND OOHS I think Moxxie was 4? Yeah so that makes you 7, your 3 years older 😋👌 tho age is not mentioned at all- and I will make fics of this 😤

Warnings: a lot of slang(not rlly a warning, just thought I’d mention), ooc, may have punctuation, spelling grammer/etc errors,

Info: idk man just wanted to add this 😐

Edit: HOW DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS- A POST I BARELY PUT ANY EFFORT INTO GET MORE RECOGNITION THEN THIS POST, THE ONE I ACTUALLY PUT EFFORT INTO 👹👹 I appreciate the likes tho don’t take it in a bad way- 😭👌

Edit#2: I recommend u don’t read 💀👍

Helluva Boss Masterlist

______________________________________________________________________

~Reaction to being Reincarnated~

-long story short you don’t know how you ended up here but you found yourself being the daughter of some random old ass guy that’s gonna be the main reason for your character development arc.

-at least that mom with an unknown name will provide you sweets and shit-

-gonna put sum realz shizz on this family fr.

______________________________________________________________________

~Death~

-isn’t this Tumblr? Yeah long story short this turned into a Wattpad story for a second and the famous Truck-kun killed you 🗿 but you forgive Truck-kun since Truck-kun’s just being Truck-kun 😌.

______________________________________________________________________

~Inside a Mansion~

Yup this “Mansion” is someone’s womb, zamn how da heck do you still have memories of your past life? Also why does your very tiny unformed body kinda look like an imp? Just like one from your favourite show Helluva Boss? How can you even see??? It’s pitch black bro- meh it’s whatever 🤷‍♀️ it’s fun kicking at least-

______________________________________________________________________

~Borth~

…I’m not even gonna explain this 🫡 but just so you know Crimson was not there for your birth 😶

-at least you still have the same Borthdah as you did before you were reincarnated???

-Girly just 🖕 this bullshit why’d you have to be re-born in this family out of all the ones in Helluva Boss? I mean- you don’t mind being Moxxie’s gay emo sister but like- Crimson…CRIMSON. Tho make sure to start those teenager phases early so no one becomes suspicious of you when your going through the teenage thinga ma jig 😔

-but yay! You bet that Moxxie’s mom- well basically your mom now, WILL BE THE BEST 😩

-but girly you weren’t even fazed when reincarnated- just accepted it like a champ 😎

______________________________________________________________________

~Crimson’s First Thoughts On You~

-Absolutely nothing- 😃

-only thought of you as his heiress and DEFINITELY to lead his Mob in the future 😔

______________________________________________________________________

~[Unknown]’s First Thoughts On You~

-this is the Mom btw 😃

-gonna be honest I don’t know much since we’ve never really gotten a FULL view of her personality- all that I know is that she’s kind? 🤷‍♀️ Yuh so I won’t really directly say what she thought but I guess I can just- I don’t know man just read I guess 😃👌

-101% THOUGHT YOU WERE CUTE AF!! what happened to infinite%? 😢

-she felt a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, something she never felt ever since she married Crimson 😔.

______________________________________________________________________

~Moxxie’s First Thoughts On You~

-‘Guppa duppa poo daaah dooo’

-don’t tell me you actually expected a real thought from him- Broski was just born 😔

______________________________________________________________________

~Your First Thoughts On Moxxie~

-‘zamn bro’s crying on his borthduh I could never 🙄💅’

-girly he’s like a few minutes old what on Satan’s ass are you talkin ‘bout? 😀

______________________________________________________________________

~What Crimson Thinks Of You~

-your a nuisance, like- what do you mean when you say “put those dawgs away💀”

-yeah you definitely got in trouble so many times- this stupid MF can’t understand slang and just thinks your insulting everyone around you 😶

-forget about you being his heiress, might as well make Moxxie his heir instead 😠

-Now take a very ooc dialogue 😋 btw this is after the Mom’s death 😃

-“[Name], cut it out. That will happen if you don’t stop.” He says calmly, too calm for you to know he’s pissed. (he was implying that he will drown you just like he did to the Mom btw-)

______________________________________________________________________

~What [Unkown] Thinks Of You~

-Loved you from the moment she layed her eyes on you 😩 (cheesy much 😶)

-wrote more then a dictionary just to prove how much she loves you 😔

-yuh that’s all I got 😐

______________________________________________________________________

~What Moxxie Thinks Of You~

He’s 4 rn-

-HE LOVES YOU!!

-your his sister why wouldn’t he- ?

-your basically his partner in crime 😈 both of you steal treats from the kitchen when your not supposed to 😤👍

-if the Mom found you 2 being naughty then sorry to tell you but yer’ both getting a time out 😔

-…BUT IF CRIMSON FOUND YOU- yuh that’s somehow gonna become a family issue problemo 😶💦______________________________________________________________________

I sometimes forget writing is for fun- but I certainly had fun writing this 😎 now I’m gonna tag this in some tags that this doesn’t even relate to which will make everyone hate me but they will soon worship me after reading this masterpiece. Praise this shit rn *points gun at you*

[sarah-yyy]

Sarah jie jie, In Blossom rec or no?

this is a real tough question to answer hooooo boy where do i start??

i mean, for starters, the premise of the show is actually really fun, and i like it a lot so far!! let's talk a little about this:

(spoilers for the first 2 eps in its entirety which covers the background/setup of the story)

this is yang caiwei. her dad was a minister who was framed for one thing or another, demoted, and subsequently murdered. she was disfigured in the process, and ended up in the city of heyang where she grew up to be a corpse bearer training under a coroner.

yang caiwei has been betrothed since she was a little girl to:

pan yue. this boy is the son of a concubine so his relationship with his dad is very meh. when yang caiwei's family got into trouble, pan yue's dad quickly cut off all ties with them. this led to yang caiwei being turned away at the door p harshly when she came to pan yue for help. pan yue himself though has loved her since he was a boy, and has been looking for her for 10 years!!

ANYWAY these two find each other. he wants to marry her. ofc he does!! she's his 白月光, and he wants to love and protect her!! he's disowned his family so that he can do this, he is ALL IN BABY. he's only found her again for all of 10 minutes and he's already planning their wedding in his head lbr.

she is calm and composed and v sensible because of the way she had to grow up. this whole thing seems too good to be true, and also she might be harbouring some ~feelings over the way he just cut her out of his life when she needed him the most. the yang caiwei she is now just wants to live her life as normal.

the chemistry is 😘 at this point, and i am so invested in their relationship. at this stage, i was still thinking she was the second female lead and was like. huh. this is going to be one of those shows where i'd ship these two more than the official couple i guess??

anyway enter:

shangguan zhi. sister of pan yue's best friend, who is obsessed with pan yue, putting it mildly. she also has this ~thing about her own physical appearance - essentially, she thinks she needs to look and act perfect to be worthy of pan yue's love. this involves a lot of witch doctors and v unhealthy dieting and scrolls on how to smile the perfect way and walk the perfect way. y'all get the gist.

shangguan zhi hears that pan yue is getting married (to someone ugly at that!!!) and loses her shit. she decides the way around this so she can be with her yue-gege forever is-

(you guessed it!!)

-body-swapping with yang caiwei, and pushing yang caiwei (and also the shaman who actually helped her with the swap) off a cliff so that nobody ever finds out.

to her credit, it actually works!! she swaps bodies with yang caiwei, and marries pan yue.

what she didn't account for was being murdered on her wedding day.

ANYWAY. the actual yang caiwei, now in shangguan zhi's body (😭), survives the fall from the cliff, rushes to the wedding with the intent on stopping the wedding and getting her goddamn body back, and reaches just in time to kinda sorta witness shangguan zhi's murder.

cue her thinking that it was pan yue who killed shangguan zhi (she knew the whole wedding thing was too good to be true) and pan yue thinking that shangguan zhi had something to do with yang caiwei's death (after all, she was obsessed with him and had a whole fit over him wanting to marry someone else).

everything about this premise was *chef's kiss*. give me a bucket of popcorn and some comfy pillows, i can watch this all day.

EXCEPT.

except my dudes shangguan zhi (and subsequently yang caiwei-in-shangguan-zhi's body, let's call her shangguan caiwei for now) is played by ju jingyi. 😞 zhhz played yang caiwei TOO WELL my friends, so that when jjy took over, shangguan caiwei felt like a whole different character. it's a bit difficult to reconcile yang caiwei and shangguan caiwei tbh, which made watching the third ep onwards a bit jarring, especially after zhhz set the character up so well.

it's not like......fatal to the show. i mean. i went in expecting nothing from jjy (rightfully i think 😑) and i wouldn't say i am disappointed by it just because i was prepared to be ehhhh about her going in. i'm still watching the show mainly because i like the plot and also, and this is a big factor that i truly cannot stress enough:

liu xueyi looks so good in this show hoooooo boy

look at this!!! is this a face i would suffer 30+ episodes of jjy for??? apparently it is!!

tl;dr: love lxy + like the plot + dislike jjy = still watching and will likely finish the show. is it a rec?? conservatively, i'd say soft yes??? i mean. a huge part of me watching this show is because i'm entertained by the shenanigans, 😍 over lxy, and daydreaming about an alternate universe of the show where we have zhhz instead of jjy as the female lead. it's not something to watch seriously though!!

[hazbinstohell]

When you compare Chaggie to other canon relationships in the universe, like Fizzmodeus, Moxillie... You realize how poor they really are in comparison. The fact that they are already a couple when the show begins is not an excuse, especially when you compare once again to these two canon couples already established that I cited above. Even StaticMoth vague secondary relationship seems more interesting from what little we've seen of it, not to mention the borderline mythological story of Lucilith which is extremely intriguing. Not to mention the relationships in development like Stolitz (frankly epic by the way) CherriSnake and Huskerdust... I mean, compared to all these other main romantic relationships that are already canon, those that are more or less canon but secondary, and those that are currently being developed... Chaggie is no match for me... I heard that they were originally just supposed to be best friends and that the designer changed that at the last minute ? Well if it's true, it shows. And a lot. And it's a shame, because they have great potential. But I don't find it treated well enough... It's very sad to be called homophobic by part of the fandom for this simple difference of opinion.

I agree. I feel like we have both - we have multiple canon relationships that have been done, but they are treated as relationships that are developing or organically working, such as Millie and Moxie. While I understand that Viv decided to make Charlie and Vaggie a thing, it would also seem that from pilot to Season, they could have added some elements that make the relationship much more organic and such. To make Vaggie her “protector” just ruffles me up a lot. Seeing them maybe have more conversation, engaging, flirting, and such would have made more sense. Not “You have to be careful!” Or “Maybe we shouldn’t do something” does not tell me that the relationship is working. Charlie has some grand ideas that Vaggie doesn’t seem to accept.

I really like Charlie, and I want someone who could be supportive.

And then someone out there is going to be like “It isn’t Alastor!” I didn’t say that, however, he has done more for her confidence than Vaggie has, and I absolutely believe he is going to be a big bad for them, but then Charlie is going to lead him down a better path-which, unfortunately people STILL don’t seem to understand that that is the ENTIRE point of Hazbin-Sinners are not EVIL, they have made decisions that are not GOOD, and that Heaven themselves are also not making strict black and white choices with who they are putting there(Adam should be in Hell, change my mind).

Problem is, we have some great, GREAT characters! I love them all in their own way, but relationship mechanics? The story? Meh. I’m having fun with my own ship, and Chaggie can enjoy theirs. It’s as simple as that.

[rockanroller]

i actually watched the first two episodes and i just gotta say they left me feeling just kinda…meh?

beautiful BGs, props to the animators and designers, some really good character acting.

but the plot flow… was so… empty? yeah, they packed in a lot of exposition and character intros but to the point there was little room for you to like…sit with the info, laugh, or enjoy a moment before having to listen for the next piece of lore or story point. not to mention some of the lore was straight up confusing.

some shots gave enough pause, just overall it felt very like… bloated/rushed/one thing and then the next with no real interest or entertainment taking place inbetween (to me) if that makes sense?

i can see how less critical folks that are attached to the characters would enjoy this though. but of course it leaves the question of how would this experience be for fresh new audiences who *don’t* know all the lore?

ironically Adam had me dying. i was not expecting to laugh at him after reading his various lines showing a misogynistic douche but the way they were executed slayed me—though tbf i suspect it was due to the ep already had worn me down combined with his first batch of lines being more “Preppy Jock Thinks He’s Cool But He’s Clearly A Dumbass” vibes to me, then of course the misogyny trickled in and it was like ok jerk villain got it.

other occasional moments gave me a chuckle i can admit as much.

Katie Killjoy was awful. to me she was completely out of place with Brandon’s voice, that was just…him. she only had a few lines so who knows if she’ll show up and they felt it was fine for a one-time gag—idk we’ll see.

Valentino… …bro… his accent was all over the place… i couldn’t even tell what it was “supposed” to be until he delivered some pre-song lines but until that he was slipping between accents i couldn’t place, back to a flat American “Just Some Guy” accent then back to a deeper accented voice that I couldn’t place…woof, just odd.

Angel’s trauma felt sudden/forced in like a lot of things in the episodes did.

the whole redeeming sinners thing i felt wasn’t executed great either, i had a hard time understanding Charlie’s outlook as it was shown in the episodes. and her values? she literally **applauds** Sir Pentious for his performance in a growth exercise for declaring that he will not do drugs and he will wait to have sex until after marriage, and Angel Dust is standing right there like…girl what?

does Charlie believe that shit or is she just going by what she thinks will get sinners into heaven? it’s unclear. she also seems generally off-put and disturbed by several of the sinners in the Happy Day In Hell song that she allegedly wants to redeem so badly/cares so much about so…what does she see in them?

idk, thems my first impressions. opinions subject to change.

[rey-jake-therapist]

Alana Bloom: revelations and character development

As I'm starting outlining an Hannibal fic focused on Hannibal's past as a university professor (which I very pretentiously call a 'Hannibal prequel' in my mind), I feel like writing a piece on Alana Bloom. She was Hannibal's student so she's got an important part in my plot, even if the professor/student relationship she had with Hannibal then won't be the primary subject. There's just nothing interesting to do with this subject, except for a story of an unsuspecting student pining for her professor. Meh.

But back to Alana: in season 1 and 2, I often didn't like her. She was supposed to be this very smart and skilled psychiatrist, even bragged once about being often right, yet Hannibal played her effortlessly. Alright, he was good, but the fact that she didn't even considered the possibility that Hannibal wasn't who he claimed he was, despite Will's repeated accusations, never sat right with me.

There was a point where I even began wondering what was the point of her: she seemed to be there only for the sake of bickering with everybody and being in a love triangle with Hannibal and Will. She seemed a bit to be the beautiful idiot of the story, even though she was theorically much more than that!

Then season 3 came and it completely changed my perception of her. And it even helped me understand her better, including how she behaved in season 1 and 2. The fact that she fell so hard and fast for Margot, a woman who because of what her brother put her through was at least as 'unstable' as Will was, and finally helped her commit a murder says A LOT about Alana.

She would probably hate to admit it, but I think Hannibal helped her come to terms with the fact that she doesn't want to be with someone 'stable'. In season 1 and 2 Alana believed she was drawn to Will in spite of his issues, and that she dated Hannibal because HE seemed stable. But then why Margot? There's only one explanation for this: Alana fell for Will, for Margot AND even for Hannibal because they were 'unstable'.

Season 3 finally revealed that what seemed like blind naivety in season 2 towards Hannibal was in fact denial, denial of what she really needed. Deep inside I believe Alana always knew there was something wrong with Hannibal, but admitting it would have also involved something about her and she wasn't ready to face that truth. It revealed that she was unstable as well, while she probably spent most of her life pretending she was Miss Perfection, absolutely unproblematic and a paragon of virtue. It was way easier for her to accept the idea that it was Will, the man she rejected because he was too unstable, was the true murderer. She could sleep better at night thinking it was him, than suspecting that the true ripper lay right beside her.

In season 3 we see her come to terms with the fact that it was all... a lie. Alana values life but she's perfectly fine with the idea of taking someone's life if she thinks they had it coming. And I LOVE her for that, because her entire arc is the arc of a complex and interesting character. The glow even shows in her physicality, her general behavior: she seems way more confident, she occupies the space in a way she didn't in the two previous seasons.

Hannibal probably didn't plan this, but he must have been very proud of Alana ;)

[gizkasparadise]

final leg of a journey to love thoughts!! (eps 35-40). this got so gd long so under a cut it goes. spoilers, of course:

PLOT STUFF/PACING

pacing for the plot definitely got shredded in the last chunk, which is a damn shame because otherwise i've been finding the pacing pretty much perfect. eps 35-37 in particular felt like they could have been like a 10 episode arc. ep 38, which mostly dealt with wu palace politics, should have been cut or streamlined imo and more time given to the characters we've actually been riding along with the whole story. by the time we get back to the pregnant empress, prince danyang, the first prince whose name i dont even remember, and the prime minister, i do not care about any of them and i think this subplot was simply just trying to fit too much shit into one bag

that said, this show still let the emotional moments hit and breathe and linger. i love the grief for the fallen liudao comrades as we go, as well as the less heavy but still emotionally important moments like yang ying and tongguan bonding over their upbringing. and we got a wedding /;3;/!!! for this show, the relationships and characters matter more than the storyline so im not mad about anything at all

side note: it's so gd millennial to have a story about a bunch of 30 something year olds who want to fake their deaths and retire into obscurity but instead they go and die for a boss they hate

CHARACTER STUFF

this show consistently brought a lot of depth to its side characters (and side side characters!!). i said it in an earlier post, but it bears repeating that even someone like deng hui i didnt expect anything from, but he got such good development and writing that he became a stealth fave. his dying words essentially being "dude, quit fucking around" ? iconic.

i didnt like tongguan as much as everyone else, so im pretty meh about everything regarding him. the attempt to force-wed ruyi was tonally really weird and didnt make sense (i assume there was some cuts made surrounding it). but LOL at him reusing all the outfits and decor immediately for his wedding to yang ying. baby duke, you tacky motherfucker. i ultimately think yang ying deserves better than him, but the good thing is that she knows this, so she'll be able to hold her own and then some entering into this partnership

shisan really was the heart in a lot of ways--the mom to yuanzhou's dad for the liudao. i was not expecting him to break my heart the way he did, but the fact that he held both qian zhao and sun lang as they died and then tried his best to remove yuan lu from harm and saved chu yue and was just very much a nurturer all the way through got me. his character couldve been cheap comic relief but the writing + performance really elevated him into one of the (imo) most memorable wuxia characters. his line wondering who would get to behead his beautiful skull!!! and how his mantra was always that he was going to drink the best wine, see the most beautiful women, and make the best of friends and he dies having lost the ability to see and having just had wine in memory of qian zhao, yuan lu, and sun lang. like. shut up!!

ruyi and yuanzhou were both so great and they're gonna be the drama OTP to beat forever. i loved the gender reversals, that they both were so respectful of each other, and that they also felt very mature in how they handled things and communicated. they were really interesting characters both together and apart and that's always a win-win. they had a schroedinger's ending where it's not super clear if they're alive or dead (i interpreted it as the latter), but what's kind of beautiful is that either option is satisfying to me. if they both died, they're reunited and with their comrades and the story is truly about the journey and the meaningful short connections we have. if they both survived, it's a bookend with the beginning where they each faked their deaths to escape. A+

COSTUMING

i gotta just separately mention the costuming for this show because it was 15/10. the textures, shisan's accessories, the way red became integrated with yuanzhou's wardrobe and blue with ruyi's. the details on the liudao name amulets!! SO GOOD. i love when characters' clothes tell a story on their own

overall i just really loved this drama it is probably my favorite wuxia ive seen so far! it's gonna be in my brain for awhile lol feel free to send fic prompts if you've made it this far :'D

[sgiandubh]

The Couple Next Door - a very, very short overview and my 50 cents, in the process

With as little spoilers as possible. My first plan was to make a post per episode, but I quickly realized that would be useless (so much talking, already, plus a very plethoric press ) and risky (the more you write about it, the less able you are to avoid spoiling it and no, that is not this page's editorial line). You will have to do with this short review, instead.

This is the story of a botched swinger coupling experiment, somewhere in the middle of a non-descript, Truman Show-esque Midlands suburbia. Where nothing is what it seems to be and curtains always flutter for a reason. Adjacent storylines complement this sexy & risqué core, which I personally found more interesting than S puffing and panting on top of Tomlinson. Corruption, life crisis situations, lost late pregnancies, a hidden child, bigot parents looking not unlike Grant Wood's American Gothic odd couple (especially the mother, enough spoiling it), voyeurism and privacy violations - this is a LOT to take in. With a bit more tact when it comes to script writing (sometimes things are really in your face and almost didactic: never a good thing), it could have been BAFTA material. It is not, and no, Disgruntled Tumblrettes - not because of S, but because of numerous plot holes, useless plot devices that could have been gags but totally miss the mark (walking little old lady, anyone?) and an overall superficial approach. It's like trying to cram half a dressing into a carry on: burst at the seams it will or you will end up with odd bits and pieces that do not necessarily make sense.

So if you set your bar very high or are poised to watch it in contempt, this is not going to be fun at all. If you have no expectations and also no idea about the rest of the cast, you will find it interesting and enjoyable. I personally think Enoch is a perfect cast, as is the very intelligent Jessica de Gouw: she knows how it's done and she knows where and especially when to stop. Tomlinson, eh - not so much. I have zero idea about how she fared in Poldark, but here I found her inattentive, formulaic and totally cliché. She has some good intuitions, but she fails to deliver, especially at the end. So, that's a 4/10 for me.

Now for S, as I am sure you are all interested to know. After all, this is why I even bothered watching and getting a paid VPN for it. I will say only this: there is a before Episode 3 and an after Episode 3, by far superior. You'll get my point when you watch it. It's not OL, but thank Heavens, it's not Where the Starlight Ends, either. With all the indulgence in the world, I'd say 8,5/10 - not his fault, the script was brutal to Danny ('Take a good look' is a major, MAJOR eyeroll and it did make me spit my Coke). Also, that intergalactic arse makes it on screen for about 5 minutes, which is nothing- so long for Mordor's honest reviews. Last but not least: he tried, bless his heart, to help Eleanor, but to no avail. Sorry.

The most interesting secondary storyline is Alan's, by far. The press shite - meh, that was there just to give Enoch's character a job, I suppose. And the child - it left me completely hungry and there was definitely room for more.

Rewatch? Christ, no.

Overall? a solid 7/10.

Recommend? not to my mum, but to my best -offline shipper- friend, for sure. She'll watch for S and we'll cackle over the phone.

Potential springboard? I hope so, but he still needs a real, well written role. This is decently good, but still not good enough to showcase what I know he is perfectly able to deliver.

Home eye candy takeaway? Oh, come on, the one involving this item:

I mean, what is more sexy than a bear of a man carrying a washing machine like I would carry my purse?

[watermelonsugacry]

Hiii!! I loveeee ur work and after reading best song ever mv fic I've had this idea of like soml mv.. like y/n is with all her family and harry is just being goofy and loved bye them and i really want to se Anne and y/n intract like i think she would have an idea that harry has a little crush on her and like in the last after talking to y/n Anne teases harry and he gets all blushy...!

Not That Simple

A/N: writing about yn's stepmum brings me so much happiness i can't really explain it. hope you enjoy it lovies 💚

SUMMARY: Harry and YN being oblivious idiots and lie to their mums on the set of filming for their new music video, Story of My Life. (3.2k)

GENRE: 1dbandmember!yn

SINCE 2010 masterlist

"YN! Mon amour comment vas-tu?” My love, how are you?

"Hey Penny." YN smiles warmly as her stepmum walks into the set studio and shares a quick, squished hug from her. 

Today is the day when One Direction films their music video for their upcoming single, Story Of My Life. It’s an exciting time for the band because they were able to bring along some of their family members to re-create some of their childhood photos. YN didn’t have much family outside from growing up with the Tomlinsons other than one of her favorite people in the world.

"How was the drive over here? Was Noah nice to yeh?" YN asks, referring to her head of security she sent to go get her stepmum from the airport. 

"Oh he was an absolute doll, but he was completely unnecessary, baby. Yeh know I can handle meself." She pushes her sunglasses on top of her head and there’s no denying how truly gorgeous Penny is. She did yoga to keep fit and wore tight fitting jeans to show off her curvy figure. For as long as YN has known her, her stepmum always wore her dark hair down and long enough to cascade down her back. She used to joke that she could hear Penny coming from a mile away by all the bracelets and necklaces she wears—it reminds her of her hippie days when she was younger.

"Was just a safety thing, Pen."

"Yeh worry too much. Now," Penelope claps and rubs her hands together. "Where are those hunky lads? Oh!" She brushes past her stepdaughter once she notices them all huddled around each other as they chat amongst themselves. 

"Pen...Penny!" YN whisper shouts at her stepmum but it's no use because the woman is quickly and confidently making her way towards the boys.

"Hiya lads!" Penelope raises her arms excitingly in the air, her hips shimming from side to side.

"Penny!" All the boys cheer, smiles from ear to ear as they go around giving her hugs and kisses on the cheek in greeting. There’s no denying how much the boys all love her stepmum. They can easily tell where YN sponged onto some of her personality from. 

“You boys have grown up so much!” She gushes. Penelope grabs ahold of Louis’s chin and shifts his head around for her to look at. She playfully scrunches up her nose. “Lou, you’ve got some stuff on yeh face.”

All the boys laugh at her poke at his facial hair. He swats her hand away before stepping forward into her open arms. “Ha, ha. Very funny.”

"Hey Ms. YLN." Harry smiles sweetly after his turn giving YN’s mum a hug, only to receive a playful pat on the chest from the older woman.

"Now Harold, how many bloody times do I need to remind yeh to stop calling meh tha'. Makes me feel old."

"Penelope is quite a character isn't she?" Anne tells YN with a sweet smile. It was so nice to have some of the mums come on for this project. Anne was one of the first ones to arrive and her and YN have been talking almost non-stop. She was such an easy person to talk with that YN almost wanted to talk to her about her confusing feelings towards her son.

"Aren't yeh just the cutest, sweetest lad around?" Harry chuckles when the woman pinches at his cheeks.

YN lets out a snort. "More like embarrassing." 

"Ben! I'm ready for me close up!" Penelope announces with a grand wave of her arms and YN groans into her hands.

...

"Cut!” Ben yells and takes off his little headphones as he comes around from the camera. “Alright ladies, we're just gonna make a few more adjustments and we'll let you know when we're ready for you again.”

The two ladies nod from their fixed positions on the couch and relax their limps. The picture they're re-creating is one that really pin points the start for her and her step mum's relationship. Baby YN was only four years old when her father started dating again after her mother passed away and met a young, hippie chick at a bar. YN wasn't very fond of any of the women her father brought home but Penelope was different. She actually gave notice to his daughter, made an effort for a conversation with the little girl, and gave her a mother's smile. After two months of dating YN’s father, one of the ways Peneople finally broke through to her was through one of the many great loves in her carefree lifestyle: music.

In no way was Penelope trying to buy her love, but she knew that the little girl's eyes and ears grew curious whenever she pulled out her guitar.

So one day, when Penelope pulled out her acoustic guitar and began to play her rendition of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, she acted like she didn’t notice the little girl shy peaking over from the side of the velvet couch. Whenever the young woman took her stubble glances to YN, the little girl quickly hid her face, her chubby finger rubbing against the soft material of the couch.

When YN didn’t hear the strings making their pretty melody, her little furrowed eye brows peaked around to see that Penelope pulled out a little toy guitar for YN. The little girl's eyes widened in excitement and it was the first time Penny saw YN accepting her into her life. She played carelessly along with the woman, babbled baby gibberish with her singing and smiled big enough to showcase her growing, gapped teeth.

It was a moment that the two women would never forget. Soon enough, YN would grow more and more attached to the woman than her father and they’re both grateful to have established that relationship before her father began to drink more and more.

Penelope left the hippie scene for YN, her free life for that of a mother's and she wouldn't have changed a single thing about it. So the picture is one her father took when YN was handed her first guitar. Penelope sits on her old blue velvet couch with her acoustic guitar in hand, smiling warmly at her future step daughter. The four year old is sitting next to Penny on her little baby legs, happily showing off her toy guitar in her hand.

When the two women came on to the recreated set, they were honestly taken aback by how accurate everything looked. Down from the framed pictures in the background to her step mum's favorite velvet couch.

"Y'know," YN’s step mum says lowly. "That boy hasn't stopped staring at yeh ever since I got here."

YN furrows her eyebrows and discreetly looks over her shoulder to see Harry in fact looking over to their way. He quickly adverts his gaze the second he's caught and suddenly finds something on the ground super interesting.

"That's just how he is." YN shrugs her shoulders, her fingers messing around with the tiny toy guitar in her hands, playing a soft and squeaky riff on it.

"He's always like that?" Penelope widens her eyes in playful amusement. "M'surprised he hasn't burned a whole in yeh head yet. Yeh can practically see the fookin' hearts in his eyes."

She can see the way her stepdaughter nervously adjusts the thick strap of her purple dress that's decorated with dogs all over. Penny nearly cried at the sight of her little girl back in the nostalgic piece of clothing.

"And even though they're not as big and bright as his, I can see the ones in yours, too." With Penelope's eyes focused on her finger placement on the neck of her guitar, she continues, "And don't yeh dare roll yeh bloody eyes at me, you know it's true."

YN stops her eyes from fully making their rotation and opps for squinting up at the ceiling.

"I don't like him like that." YN lies through her teeth. "He's...like a brother to me." The words taste vile on her tongue and she has to stop herself from cringing at the lie.

"Yeah, a brother you cuddle and snuggle up with. Which, if yeh put it like that sounds kinda creepy." YN visibly tenses up from her spot on the couch and eyes her step mum.

"...How do yeh know about that?"

"M'not giving away me allies." Penelope pucks her fingers against the wired strings to make a pretty melody. A beat goes by before she flattens her hands over the strings and says with a shrug, "Okay, it was Louis."

YN lets out a laugh of disbelief, "I'm going to fooking kill—"

"But so what if you cuddle with him?"

"Can yeh keep yeh bloody voice down?" YN hisses with wide eyes. She’s too scared to even glance over in his direction, hoping he didn’t hear her stepmum’s nonchalant tone.

"I think it's sweet.” Penelope shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “He's breaking yeh out of yeh shell. And he's a nice boy, YN. He’s good for yeh.”

“Yeah, maybe too good.” YN mutters to herself, missing the usual set of rings on her fingers to fidget with. 

“Hey, cut that shit.” Penople snaps and her stepdaughter’s eyes widen and her shoulders coming up her ears in a shrug in defense.

“I didn’t say anythin—”

“No, nuh uh. I will not sit here and listen to yeh belittle yourself like that, especially not for a boy. Don’t care who it is. I raised yeh better than that. Understood?” Penelope wasn’t used to having to scold her daughter in a while. It’s not like she did it every second of the day either, it’s just that YN has been away from home for the past three and a half years that she can forget her little girl isn’t a child anymore. She’s a young woman making her way through the world, a world too big for Penelope to ever fully experience and guide her daughter through but she will try her damn near best to any way she can.

“Yeah. Sorry, Pen.”

Penny isn’t truly mad at her, she doesn’t think that’s even possible at the sight of YN’s dejected look. She places a gentle hand on her stepdaughter’s cheek and her heart squeezes tight when YN leans into her touch, closing her eyes and letting out a quiet sigh.

“I love you, my baby. Always.”

“I love yeh too.” After resting her guitar on the side of the couch, YN allows her stepmum to pull her into her arms for a bear hug. She rests her head on Penelope’s chest, her forehead pressed against the side of her neck with her hands clutching onto her stepmum’s arm.

“Guess I have Harry to thank for yeh allowing me to cuddle on yeh.” Penelope jokes as she rests her cheek on top of YN’s head. But she’s suddenly and quickly blinking back tears by YN’s next words.

“Thank yeh for everything, mum.”

It’s always a rare, cherished moment whenever YN calls her by that name. It was always Penny or Pen, always being introduced as her stepmum and she never had a problem with that. After her biological mother left the picture, Penelope was in no way, shape or form ever trying to replace the little girl’s real mother. 

Even though she’s still not used to saying it a whole lot, YN does see Penny as her mother and there are not enough words in the world to ever describe how grateful for the woman hugging her. Thankfully, no other words need to be said in this moment as Peneople pulls her daughter closer, brushing a hand over YN’s hair before planting a kiss on top of her head. 

It’s not everyday she can hold her daughter in her arms in this nostalgic setting.

...

“Aw, Niall. You look so cute here.” YN coos as she points to one of the blonde lad’s baby photos. “What the hell happened?”

The boys all cackle and jab at Niall and it only makes YN laugh even more. 

"If you keep staring at her like that, you'll burn a hole right through her head, bunny." Anne whispers to her son as he watches YN and the boys in the room with their childhood photos hanging up everywhere. "Remind me, son. Why haven't you asked the lovely girl out on a date yet?"

Oh how he just wants to rant to his mum about everything. He wants to tell her how it’s not as simple to ask her out, to take her out to a fancy restaurant, wine and dine her to make her see how irrevocably in love he is with her. He can’t drive her home and walk her up to her doorstep and not end the night with a goodnight kiss without the world shoving its nose in places where it doesn’t belong. 

He wants to explain to his mum about how much he’s thought about it to the point where he can’t fall asleep most nights. What would happen if we dated and then broke up? It would be awkward for not only the two of them to work together but for the whole band. And that's only even if, if she likes him back. But that’s another rabbit hole he can’t afford to go down into.

“Who said I ever liked her in the first place?”

“Please. I’m your mum, I know things; I know you.” She brushes a gentle hand over his hair, careful not to mess up Lou’s work. “Could see the look on your face ever since you were sixteen, bunny.” Not to mention by just watching her son throughout the day today. When the band was shooting the open scenes for the video where they all develop, organize and hang up their photos, it can almost easy to miss the way Harry gravitates towards her.

Her role in the scene was to sit in the desk adjacent from Liam’s as he fucks around with whatever equiment he was assigned to. She can’t say she relatively knew what her role was either; she just wrote down nonsense on a clipboard before handing Harry the pictures for him to hang up. 

The whole time they filmed the scene and whenever Ben would yell out cut! Harry would sit his bum on her desk while she leaned her elbows towards them as they would get lost in random conversation. She would laugh and nod along to whatever he said and Harry would brush his index finger at the underside of his nose to try to minize how big his smile would get. The bts camera always seemed to have a lot of content to capture whenever the two were together—and that was almost always. 

“Yeah well m’grown now.” Harry straightens up a bit and shoves his fingers into the tight pockets of his black skinny jeans. “But even if I did, it was just a little, school boy crush. M’over it.”

Before she can point out the obvious truth he’s avoiding, his mum smiles and nod towards someone behind him. 

“Hey, sorry to bother your talk.” YN smiles politely at Anne before turning attention towards her bandmate. “H, they’re calling us to set now.”

“Us?” Harry doesn’t mean to perk up like he did at the thought of the two of them doing a scene together, but alas.

“Yeah, the boys and I are ready for yeh.”

“Oh r-right,” Harry rubs the underside of his nose with his index finger. “Course because we were all doin’ solo shots before—I mean you already know that because you were with Penny so of course you would remember that.” The absolute word vomit is almost too painful to watch, but it hurts less than literally proving his mother right in real time. “Dunno why I even said that, because you obviously—I mean everyone kind of...um,” He chuckles to himself. 

What the hell was that? He thinks to himself.

Harry fumbles over his words and Anne doesn’t even have the decency to hide her growing smile. Especially when she sees a tint of pink come to her son’s cheeks when YN lets out a giggle.

“Cat got yeh tongue, H?” She beams.

He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck as his dimples pop out in a smile. He feels like he’s making a right idiot out of himself. It’s like all logic and coolness he has chucks itself out the window when she smiles at him. He feels like he’s sixteen again, embarrassed by his crush laughing at him and wishing the world would swallow him whole.

“Apparently so. Bloody thing forgot to give it back.”

“Well maybe I can give it gentle reminder over there.” The skin on his wrist tingles when she takes a gentle grip on it and starts to pull him towards the set. She gives a sweet twiddle of her fingers towards his mum, “Bye, Anne.”

“Bye, hunny. Have fun, you two.” And when YN faces forwards again, Harry has to remind himself of his manners and resist the urge to roll his eyes and at his mother’s knowing smile.

...

Along with some of the other family members that came along for the video shoot, their two mums stand off to the side behind the multiple monitors as they watch the band perform their song. 

YN slowly follows the camera as it moves in a circle around them. One of the sides of her cardigan slips off of her shoulder and she wraps her arms around her torso as she sings her somber bridge.

The story of my life, he takes her home

They drive all night to keep her warm

And time is frozen

When the band had their writing session for this song, YN pushed to add these lines. For a good chunk of their songs, YN always likes to add a female’s response to whatever the boys were singing. With this, she’s able to convey that the cycle of said relationship isn’t one sided. As the male character of the song does all he can for their partner, they never get the girl. 

In turn, YN tells the story of what it's like to look on from the outside—to want the person who’s too busy looking at someone else.

“I think my son has a staring problem.” Anne whispers.

The two mums snicker at the multiple monitor screens because even though the main camera is on YN, another side camera captures the way Harry’s staring fondly at his bandmate. 

“And me daughter is a terrible liar.” Penelope sighs. “Thought I taught her better.” 

“To share her feelings?”

“To lie better.” The two women chuckle quietly to themselves before  they watch their oblivious, ignorant children give each other subtle glances. “Should I start savin’ for their wedding now? Or when they finally decided to grow a pair and tell one another how they feel?”

“Oh, if they keep this up,” Anne cheekily nods to her son’s attempts to not smile at YN and sing along to the chorus. “They won’t be dating until they're forty.”

“I give ‘em six years.”

“I think five. One of them is bound to break.” The two women shake hands and then break out in chuckles at their realization. “Did we really just bet on when our kids will get together?”

“I think we did. Wait, what do we win if we’re right?” Penny says with an amused smile as she sees YN pass by Harry with putting a gentle hand on his arm. 

“Oh, seeing them together is going to be satisfaction enough.” 

“Agreed.”

...

The rest of the photos of YN that hang on the walls:

Her and Louis (pre XFactor):

Her and Penelope:

Her and her high school rock band-> Loophole:

Taglist:

@wobblymug @be-with-me-so-happily @ashtongivesmebutterflies @kiwiskiwiskiwi @darlingdesire @obsesseddd @hopefulwastelandcreation @cacapeepee @breezie-b00 @harrysfolklore @theekyliepage @sunshinemoonsposts @nervousspiderling @tbslonelyhes @tenaciousperfectionunknown @harrystylesrecs @certified-nalayak @itsjustsel @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @gviosca @behindmygreyeyes @twobluejeans @allisonxmcu @theemeraldbutterfly @jean-love @marvellover-sam @b-reads-things @reveriehs @rach2602 @thurhomish @perrypughstyles @luvonstyles @mxltifxnd0m @teamspideyman @c00chiemonster @juiceboxrry @harringt8ns @folklorehrry @illicithallways @claramllera @eunoiaax @hoya122 @nichmedder @sleutherclaw @gloriousmoneyrascalbiscuit

[just-avocado]

So I stayed up until like four last night writing down the lyrics for the Circe Saga because it’s incredible and Spotify didn’t have lyrics yet but since tumblr doesn’t want me to post pics rn for some reason I’ll just try again later and instead talk about the songs!!! :D

Puppeteer- The intro instrumental lives in my head to rent and so does Eurylochus’s rap part, I need to know what he was going to tell Odysseus he sounded so vulnerable- I swear this guy is climbing up my favorite characters list, I do find it interesting how he wanted to leave the crew behind with Circe when later in Mutiny he confronted Odysseus for “trading the lives of his crew” in order to get home so hopefully that means he had a change and heart and wasn’t just being a hypocrite, I also love how the Circe Saga as a whole but especially Puppeteer and There Are Other Ways really highlight how terrible Odysseus feels about everything he’s done, everyone he’s failed or killed since leaving home, I need to know how he goes from hating himself to embracing all he’s done

Uhh favorite lines!

“Look at all we’ve lost and all we’ve learned, Every single cost is so much more than what we’ve earned” SING IT Eurylochus

Wouldn’t You Like- HEHEHEH I absolutely adore the synthwave-y aspects of the song I’m a huge lover of synthwave vibes as of recent, I would genuinely vibe to the instrumental all day long, Mr. Jalapeño release the instrumental versions pLplzplz 🙏, I’m sure we all know by know that Troy is the real Hermes there’s no other way he can bring THAT much charisma to the role, I’ve seen charisma before but never like that oh my god, I also love his unhinged laugh so much idk how he does it but I want to learn, also when I was writing the lyrics I had to stop for a sec and be like “is this song just Hermes giving his great grandson drugs ooor-“ because that’s 100% something he would do

Favorite lines…

Just the entire “Here in the root of this flower, There lies such a power, To take her on” segment of the song it’s just 👌

Also the part where he’s going OOOhoOhohAhahdph while the ensemble sings his verses his voice is so BEAUTIFUL and POWERFUL oh my GOD

“Don’t thank me friend! You very well may die” I chuckled so loud lmao

And his little “Good luck 😉” he’s so silly he knows shit is going to go down

Done For- okay was the lyric for this song always “I just ate a flower, one that claims your power” cuz I could have sworn it was drains your power but I might just be crazy, also chimera supremacy I love that Jorge was able to find a way to implement it, Jorge and Talya’s voices sound so great together I need more 😭, I also love that this song starts to hint at more depth behind Circe’s actions idk who out here thinks she’s a meh one-note/one-off villain but she’s not!! I’ll make a 50 page PowerPoint on this don’t test me!!

Fav lines…

“You’ve lost.” Okay Odysseus 🤡

“My nymphs are like my daughters, I protect them at all costs, The last time we let strangers live, We faced a heavy loss.” This!! This is what I’m saying she feels like she has no choice other than to hurt people so that the people she loves will stay safe, she’s literally Odysseus further down the line! it’s so fascinating to see a character like this facing off against the main protagonist bc at this point in the story we don’t know what kind of person he will become yet and yet Jorge shows us with Circe Ahdldhnsbdk

There Are Other Ways- Okay I’ll be honest, this song was the last one on my radar not bc I didn’t like it but because I was just looking forward to others so much more and it was also the one I intentionally heard less clips of because I wanted at least one song that I didn’t already know half of the lyrics to 💀 ANYWAY THIS ONE IS THE BEST SONG IN THE CIRCE SAGA CHANGE MY MIND (I’m so sorry Troy I love your voice but this song is simply better) Dude the lyrics go soso hard in this one, I’m such a sucker for one character having like a big emotional moment while another is like singing/backing them up in the background and there’s so much of that here, and the call backs? Both to earlier songs in the saga AND Just A Man, my favorite song Just A Man? Every call back to that song is just so RAW I LOVE IT, I don’t know a ton about Greek mythology outside of Epic so I dont know if Circe and Posideon have this past beef or something but I do find it interesting that it’s only after he is mentioned that Circe decides to help Odysseus but I also think it’s larger due to how he reminds her of herself with how he misses Penelope, UM THE BEAT DROP after the underworld is mentioned for the first time??? CHILLS SHIVERS EVERYTHING dude I love how the entire atmosphere changes so much because yes this could be Odysseus’ only change to make it home safely but it’s also so much more dangerous than the shitty situation they’re already in so there’s not even time for relief or a breath of air like he’s IN it now there’s no going back

Best lyrics omfg…

“There are other roads to the soul~” Talya, Tayla. This is why some of us can’t sing, the universe needs balance and you are the only explanation for that

“Want to save your men from the fire? Show me that you’re willing to burn” 😐 AAAAAH

“But there’s no puppet here” get it puppeteer? Puppet here? I thought it was clever lol

“Back at home, my wife awaits for me, She’s my everything, My Penelope” The yearning in his voice made me feel things

“So I beg you Circe, Grant us mercy, And let us puppets leeeeave~” We have literally never seen Odysseus use this sort of tactic before to get his way but I genuinely think he’s being genuine here, no play, he only wants to see his wife and son again, he’s so close to giving up hope, he’s losing his spirit, he’s searching for any sliver of help even from a women who wants him dead

“I know of a brilliant prophet… Problem is that prophets dead.” Again the cord or piano key I think it was was so AH SO GOOD AH I am foaming at the mouth for when we start getting teasers for the Underworld Saga

“Maybe showing one act of kindness, Leads to kinder souls down the road” someone make an au where Polities and Circe become besties she needs a friend like him but don’t we all, but seriously THIS is what I’m saying!! She is future Odysseus! Only difference being is that she’s so tired of hurting people at this point she decides to take a chance and give help rather than pain in the hopes that it will somehow contribute to a kinder world

“Maybe one day the world, Will need a puppeteer no more” this is her plea for help, she yearns for the day where she won’t need to be a monster in order to protect her nymphs, for Odysseus his plea was for him and his men to leave, they both showed such vulnerability in this song in different ways its ART ITS ART *gun shot*

“I have been in love once before” She even had her own Penelope guys, this is the true reason why she decided to help Odysseus methinks

Okay uhhh I think that’s it ^_^ Circe Saga rules, it might be my fav saga I’ll decide soon

[doomalade]

Hazbin Episode 2 Review

As usual, here is the swear count:

Fuck - 25

Shit - 9

Bitch/ Hoe/ Whore/ Slut/ Bimbo - 12

Damn - 1

Ass - 1

Cock/Dick - 1

Porn/Sex - 1

Tits/Boobs - 0

Pussy/Vagina/ Cunt - 0

Piss - 2

Now onto spoilers under the break!

The Good:

We got a lot more Alastor this episode and I love him so much. Getting to see how he uses his dark magic, completely wiping the floor with Pentius and not even paying him the time of day to acknowledge him. Alastor’s cruel side coming out on display as he toys with Pentius before ultimately tossing him away like nothing. Really helped show that Alastor has that power like none other, like we saw in the pilot.

One thing I especially love about the scenes of Alastor and Pentius is how petty Alastor can get. How even the smallest rip of his suit coat got him so mad he let out a deer noise (which I think was a neat touch.)

This episode ultimately is just an introduction to the V’s but Alastor steals the spotlight. How you really can tell that he hates the V’s, and especially Vox.

Speaking of who had hypnotic powers (and so does Pentius seemingly) and it would be interesting to explore that more.

Ultimately you really get the sense that the V’s are the outcasts of the Overlords because they’re just total jerks all together, and not so much that they’re powerful like Alastor is. Also Status Quo had a good song transition both start and finish and is a pretty alright song.

Seeing how creepy Alastor got at the end was also a blessing.

Other than that?

I still love Nifty and how she got upset at Pentius trying to be a better person and also we got to see Fat Nuggets. So hurray!

Okay now onto

The Bad:

The overall pacing of this episode was kinda weird? Like it starts off with Pentius, then moves onto the V’s, and then back to Pentius and for the V introduction episode, it felt like that they didn’t get much screen time.

A few minutes on their own, Velvette barely getting any, Val being there only like 3 times, and Vox basically gets his butt kicked around by Alastor without much tension.

I really do wish that there was more of a power balance thing going on and I know that’s kinda weird to say given how Helluva arguably was pretty forward on the pecking order. Imagine three Overlords all having powers near equal to Alastor, that would raise the stakes as it leaves Charlie and Alastor basically being the two between the V’s and the destruction of the hotel.

Ultimately the V’s feel like Overlords only by title and not by actuality. The bark is there but no bite.

As for Pentius? Meh. His little story was alright I guess, but ultimately it more served as a way to start up Angel character development. I know I’ve thrown around the term “- is the Jaune Arc of this show” before and I want to explain that.

You know how James Gunn made Rocket the secret protagonist of the Guardian films? Take that idea and make it bad and add in a dash of misogyny if called for.

I am deeply afraid that Angel will be taking up more screen time than Charlie and will ultimately take over her spot as the protagonist. Which begs the question, why wasn’t Angel just made the protagonist up right?

Charlie is being woobified as is the case with most Viv characters, and now Angel’s focus is increasing. I got the same vibe from Fizz taking the protagonist role from Bitzø in Helluva.

Other than that? It becomes very apparent that this episode was written by Viv given the 25 fucks said during this episode, the most this far in the series. (Spoilers: E4 takes the cake for the most with 35.) Most of those fucks are spoken by Val’s brief first appearance before Status Quo. To call it excessive would be accurate.

Also let me not forget that I only count the spoken swears, and not the ones only shown. If I did, 25 would have become 30 in one frame during Vox’s news segment during the song.

Also during said segment, there is another Blitzø style drawing, which might only be irking me and no one else.

As for the song itself? I think the only downsides would be that Alastor singing about how older technology and ways of doing things are better than the new, uses terms such as “clout”, “podcast”, and “that’s the tea.”

Is this a nitpick? Sure. Does it only slightly exist out of the reasonability of Alastor’s character and how he acts and thinks? Sure. Does it still bother me like mad and make me point to it as a casual example of Viv not really knowing what she is doing with characters? Yes.

So ultimately this episode was like a 5/10. Idk, it exists I guess.

[doberbutts]

In regards to Doctor Who, I also stopped around the same time as you and recently picked it back up.

I like some of late Capaldi, but the early stuff was really uninteresting to me. His episodes suffered from a few writing issues, but the second half of his run was okay in my mind. Some episodes better than others.

I liked Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, but I wanted to scream at the writers the entire time. We'd get to a point of understanding where the mystery or theme of the episode finally got revealed, and I'd start to get interested. And THEN they would spoon feed it directly to the audience, like noooo, let me be lost in the horrors for a bit before you spell it out like the end of a children's TV program, PLEASE. I promise I'm capable of exploring the implications for 5 seconds before you read out the message like the back of a cereal box, I beg of you. Her specials were alright, though, they were kinda fun, if a little out there...

Haven't seen the new specials, but I really REALLY hope they do the new Doctor justice. A lot of fans kinda ate Jodie alive, but it wasn't her fault. I'm gonna be really upset if they set him up for failure! People are already making assumptions based on bias. I really want them to set him up for success!

I honestly just think Capaldi isn't the type of actor I want to watch play the Doctor. So when he was announced I just sort of went "mm. Meh." and then stopped. And I had a hard time connecting with Clara, so the combination of a Doctor who I was fairly meh about and a companion I also was fairly meh about more or less killed my interest in the show.

I've said before but not super recently I think but I actuallyyyyyyy am not very interested in alien or time travel stories because I think individually they are very boring and together they are a bit contrived. Unfortunately that is like 99% of the point of Doctor Who so 9, 10, 11, and their companions were able to keep me from going "wow I really don't like alien or time travel stories" because I was invested in their personal character arcs. But if I start off already not really liking the main character draws to the show, then I have to actually focus on the alien and time travel plots, which I don't want to do, because I don't like those genres.

[it's why torchwood worked for me but not star trek, I can focus on something other than aliens in torchwood because I'm mostly having fun watching Jack and Ianto shenanigans, but star trek is *about the aliens* so unfortunately Spock shenanigans were not enough to distract me from disliking the other 99% of the show]

However. Hot Black Doctor. But then I feel like I'd have to watch 12 and 13 to catch up to Hot Black Doctor. Also I am trying really hard to reserve judgement because maybe it makes sense plotwise but I am somewhat annoyed that we have Double Doctors with one of them being a white dude who has ALREADY PLAYED THE DOCTOR AND IS SUPER POPULAR AS POSSIBLY NEW WHO'S FAVORITE DOCTOR [albiet, a white dude whose Doctor I did really like] who is at extremely high risk of majorly overshadowing Hot Black Doctor. Can't even have a standalone black generation without white people making sure they're included.

[kozukatt]

Ninjago knows how to write really good likable villains and how to write good dislikable villains

Take the serpentine for example: they’re so funny and Scales was very redeeming in later seasons and Pythor was an amazing villain but also incredibly funny and enjoyable to watch

on the other hand we have my most hated villain nadakan: he just is a creep for wanting to marry nya and is insanely power hungry

and we also have kalmar from seabound who I absolutely despise

but most of the villains I really like bc they’re either funny or have redeemable qualities

like captain soto with his peg leg and “pajama men” and Ronan just bc he’s a good character and enjoyable to watch interact with everyone else

the overlord was not my favorite villain but also not my least favorite he was just meh like he was there for a good plot and a good villain fight but his first few appearances weren’t my favorite when he came back in crystallized was my personal fav appearance of him

also chen I just hate that man he’s so fucking annoying

once again harumi is an amazing villain and a much darker character which I enjoy bc it adds some flavor to the show that older kids enjoy when younger kids don’t see the underlying theme

personally undead garmadon is my fav version of him just because there’s this certain ruthlessness to him that is just much more enjoyable to watch and it also puts a strain on Lloyd which makes his character arcs much more important

the oni aren’t too big of a plot point but they aren’t my favorite villains either they just didn’t add anything to the story

time twins are in the middle too they were enjoyable to watch interact with each other and the ninja but I just didn’t really like the season all that much it was a great season for Kai and nya since their parents and all but other than that it wasn’t my fav

king whatever his name is the one from the season with cole’s mom wasn’t my fav either he was just super annoying I wanted to punch him in the face

esphira was an okay villain definitely not my favorite either she was also pretty annoying with her whole revenge thing

those are all of the main villains I can think of but if I’m missing any pls feel free to tell me but yeah that’s my rant on ninjago villains

[ouroboros-hideout]

Project Garmr

This is just a wild list of ideas I had after finishing Phantom Liberty and beeing slightly dissapointed how they treated Kurt Hansen as a character.

- Spoilers ahead -

First of all: I love PL but I think it has its weaknesses. But that's for another post.

I am manly dissapointed, that he was introduced as the main antagonist (Myers is the actual villian if you ask me) but got very little screentime or impact on your choices or story imo. He was there, the quests involving him where epic but in the end he just got low to medium depth lore and an unspectacular death. I could rant about the problems I have with the fight (gameplay was sick but the story was meh) or the not-fight if Alex is taking care of him. But that's for another post aswell.

I just want to write down some ideas and headcanons about how things could have turned out differently, if he didn't die.

- I'll give it to V or Alex, that they're actually able to defeat him

- But he'll survive the attack, badly wounded but alive

- He'll then recover in the hospital, maybe getting new chrome to compensate the injuries

If you leave Hansen alive after the fight, you'll later get informed by Mr. Hands that he was assassinated in the hospital.

But what if that's not true. What if Kurt faked his death and spread this missinformation. By placing a body double at his funeral and asigning Bennett and Jago to give the public some drama to make his disguise waterproof but secretly still pulling the strings in the back.

Why? Because it's an opportunity. An opportunity for revenge. Playing hide and seek spygames against the spies and government, who got him into this situation in the first place.

He failed to kill or capture Myers and that's grinding his gears. The grudge he's holding against her is becoming unberable. After Song and the agents of the FIA screwed him over he's more than done fucking around with the marionetts and wants to start a last attempt to kill the puppet master.

He basically wants Myers head on a silver plate.

- This top secret plan is communicted as 'Project Garmr' within the structures of Barghest and Dogtown

- only Kurts most trusted associates know about his plans and that he is still alive

- the risk of someone spilling the tea in the lower ranks of Barghest are to high

- means he needs to get along without the manpower of his militia. At least in the beginning

- in addition to that he doesn't want that his smuggling business or Dogtown in general gets involved too far

- he worked to hard and is proud of his achivements to throw everything into the trash for his personal revenge

- he reaches out to his contacts all over the world, asking around who'd profit from the death of Mrs. President and shifting powers

- all or most of it undercover, so his disguise stays in tact

- building kind of an army

- the course and outcome of this plan would highly depend on the people or organisations Kurt's siding with

-  because after all he wants Myers dead  and in the best case replace her with someone in his favor

- could mean he's 'accidentally' starting the next war or does it in a more discrete manner

- it would suit his character if he used all his wits, instead of just sending some missels to her face. He would not make this mistake again

If this would evolve into a legit fanfic or what ever there are a lot of possibilities to give the Colonel additional lore and depth. For example:

- Meeting people of his past, friends, lovers or enemies alike

- Showing different sides of him (vulnerability because of a trauma or cyberpsychosis or smth like that)

- more of his top tier interrogation skills

- knife fights! Oh yeah

Yeah that's it. For now. A big 'What If'. Don't know, really like the idea somehow. All of it is a WIP that I came up with in the middle of the night but I would like to make it a little project in some way. Even though Kurt didn't had the impact I'd hoped for in the game, he managed to get into the top 3 of my fav chars within the blink of an eye lol.

Side note: Garmr is a dog/wolf mentioned in norse mythologie (who has a lot in common with Fenrir, who is probably more popular). He's described as a fucking huge, blood-stained dog caught in chains, guarding Hel's gate, the door to the underworld. He is ascociated with the beginning of Ragnarök, the final battle between beasts and gods. Once he breaks free from his chains, he's ultimately responsible for plunging the world into chaos.

Think that's an appropriate name Kurt would choose. He's a mythology nerd lol.

Bark. Bark.

[aanglican]

ok here’s my initial review of natla, no spoilers

began roughly with the pilot episode (“aang”) thanks to the excessive exposition and choppy pacing - i’m guessing this was done for new viewers unfamiliar with the story already - though it quickly finds its feet with the next episode (“warriors”)

there were a lot of changes - some baffling, some pleasant. the more baffling parts pertain to certain spirits whereas the more pleasant ones pertain to characters. there is a lot of cutting and pasting of characters and plotlines from different episodes into one in episodes 3 (“omashu”) and 4 (“into the dark”) but i think they were done quite seamlessly for the most part. there are also reveals/expansions that i absolutely loved.

the series suffers from what i’ll call the netflix syndrome: not having enough episodes. please, i beg we return to the older model of american television a bit. the need becomes most obvious towards the last two episodes (“the north” & “legends”) and i would have enjoyed to see some more time pass on screen, with a bit of breathing room in between events. let things simmer!

i wish the storytelling and dialogue were more often subtle than not. i enjoy the bubbling-beneath-the-surface energy that daniel dae kim and the writers gave to ozai and his relationship with his children and i wish they would have done the same for most of the series, especially with katara. the constant flashbacks to her past experiences started to feel overexposed really fast and seeing those events play out for the first time in real time instead would have packed a bigger, heavier punch.

this is a very hit-or-miss show; this applies to most aspects of it from acting to CGI to choreography to dialogue. kiawentiio is the weakest out of the big four and may come off as slightly stiff compared to dallas and ian. gordon is great though he does have some expected childishness in his acting here and there but it’s all very tolerable. some green screens were very obvious especially in episode five (“spirited away”) and some bending effects are better than others, i.e., air and fire > water and earth. some of the choreo for the latter two could be better and the consequences more explosive. the dialogue balances humor and seriousness fairly well but the preachy quality of a few lines are meh.

the aesthetic of the series does itself well though it is very recognizably a netflix show and my own personal tastes would have liked it filmed a different way. i’ve said this before: avatar would have looked wonderful and most at home if it looked like a wuxia film à la house of flying daggers (2004), hero (2004), or crouching tiger hidden dragon (2000). i’m not the biggest fan of the lighting, camera angles, and color grading but they’re not terrible.

stand out performances for me (outside of aang) are zuko, sokka, suki, azula, ozai, kyoshi, and zhao in the finale.

all in all, i’m giving it a 6.8 or 7 out of 10. i really think the low episode count hindered it though there are a lot of things i enjoyed & plenty of potential for a next season. i am not so sure if we are getting a next season or two but if we will, i want more than 10 episodes at the very least. i was prepared for a number of changes but i didn’t expect that much, so maybe once the jarring feeling goes away then i’d be able to appreciate the series more.