#the characters portrayed so well i'm just

[pancake-breakfast]

Another recommendation for Trigun Fanfiction Appreciation Week (@trigunfanfic)!

I know I'm bending the rules a bit for this one, but just because it's a comic doesn't mean it's not a story, and it's well worth the read. (Trigunfanfic host-mod, if the rules are being bent too much, let me know and I'll remove the event tags.)

I don't believe this recommendation has an official title, but it's a post-canon fancomic where Wolfwood lives, by @artofalassa.

Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Status: In progress

Rating: Mature

Relevant Tags/Warnings*: Vashwood, Vash the Stampede, Biblically Accurate Vash (so many wings), Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Livio the Double Fang, Razlo the Tri Punisher of Death, Miss Melanie, Meryl and Milly Mentioned, Blood, Body Horror, Grief, Hospitalization, Trauma, Nudity (both sexual and non-sexual), Sex (genitals aren't shown during the sex but are shown in scenes around it), Fix-It Fic (?), TriMax AU

Summary: During the battle against Razlo, Wolfwood is suddenly caught up in a flash. Five years later, he appears just as suddenly, a bloody mess dropped on the doorstep of the orphanage with no memory of the intervening time. Now he's left trying to figure out what happened to him... and maybe find Vash in the process.

Oh, boy, has this one been tugging at my heartstrings.

If I had to choose one thing this story really shines with, it would be how well it portrays how Wolfwood's and Vash's worlds are incomplete without each other, how deeply they need each other, how much they each bring to each other's lives. Maybe that's three things, but I'm gonna let it slide.

Las does a great job of capturing the personalities of ALL the characters that show up in their story, and an excellent job of using the comic medium not simply as a way to tell a story in sequential pictures, but as a storytelling tool in itself. Their use of color (and/or lack thereof) brings certain elements to the forefront or moves them to the background as suits the tale, and the art itself is a gorgeous display of talent.

But back to the heartstrings bit. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give things away. I also don't want to incoherently gibber about all the feels this story gives me. So I guess I'll just say I hope that, when you read it, it tugs at your heartstrings, too.

*This one's not from AO3, so I'm very much making them up myself here.

[total-feminism-takes]

While I mostly focus on the writing of the characters in total drama, probably because I myself am an aspiring writer, today I want to focus on the character designs. This is due to the girls in total drama having wildly different stylisation to the boys and I think that's an issue.

First off, I would like to clarify I do love most of the character designs in total drama, there are some I'm meh about but none I actively dislike. However, I do believe there is something that should be noted, specifically about the stylistic gap between the boys and the girls in the show. For simplicity's sake, I will only be discussing the island designs, however I may make some follow ups on the other casts talking about if the issue got better or worse.

There is a very obvious difference between the boys and the girls. With the boys, while a lot of them share a similar physique, not a single one of them has the same body types. The closest in physique is Duncan and Tyler, but even then Tyler's shoulders are less pointy and Duncan has a longer torso with shorter legs.

The girls on the other hand aren't so lucky, Gwen and Lindsay, excluding their chest, have the same body type. Heather and Katie have the same body type. Bridgette and Izzy, again, have the same body type the only difference being their chest. The only ones with fully unique body types are four out of the elven girls, compare that to (excluding chef and Chris who also have unique body types) elven out of eleven.

Okay so, what about faces? Again, with faces all the boys faces vary wildy in length, width and shape. Even their favorite face type being square/rectangle is expressed in different ways, with DJ being round, Noah being sharp and Trent being long and skinny. What about the girls? Well, Gwen, Lindsay, Courtney, Katie and Bridgette all have the same face shape.

What about facial features?

Boys all have unique noses. Meanwhile, Courtney, Heather and and Lindsay share a nose, Bridgette, Izzy, Gwen and Katie all share noses, and Leshawna and Beth share a nose.

Eyes? Things are more even here, with Trent, Duncan, Ezekiel and (maybe?) Tyler sharing eyes, Noah and Geoff also share eyes. The girls somehow fair even worse, Gwen, Leshawna, and Bridgette share eyes, Katie and Sadie share eyes, Courtney and Lindsay share eyes, Izzy and Heather share eyes. The only outlier being Beth.

Even the way certain body types, like plus sized (see Owen and Sadie), and muscular (see DJ, Duncan, Geoff or Justin with Eva) are portrayed wildly differently between boys and girls, and yes I do see that as a problem.

Either tone down the stylisation on the boys to be more in line with the girls or tone up the stylisation on the girls to match more with the boys. Preferably tone up the girls but if you tone down the boys even after that you should still have added in a bit more body type diversity and facial diversity anyways!

I feel like this was most likely due either the character designers being to scared to experiment with their designs for the girls. This happens often and yes, it is a problem. I don't think it's right to have such a stylistic gap between girls and boys, not only because it's bad for consistency's sake and because it's just generally stupid but it's leads to more unoriginal designs. If you limit how you stylise girls, you are going to end up with girl characters who look the same. I don't think I'd have as much of a problem with this if boys were stylised the same as girls and similarly looked a bit samey but they weren't, which causes all these wild designs for the boys and some girls to end up looking way to similar for my tastes.

In conclusion, all of the island girls deserve better designs, not because their bad or poorly designed, but because they are way less unique and diverse in the way their traits are portrayed than the boys on the show. Again, I might make a follow up for later seasons and casts, but that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed my ramble about character designs =)

- ☄️

- 🧡

[elmhat]

Listen, I'm all for dsmp fanfic writers writing characters however they want, even if I think their interpretations are wildly inaccurate, but as a community I always feel like we're missing a Huge opportunity when it comes to XD. That guy is a fucking asshole in canon and I love him for it. So many people portray him as this serious ethereal being, benevolently taking care of the server and its inhabitants—and again, that's totally fine to do! It can work really well depending on the fic!—but I'd just love to see more writers leaning into that dark humor of his personality. Unchain the sass.

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 259 (Spoilers)

We start with a flashback to the blood junkies teaching Yuji how to use BM. As was already said in a previous flashback, Choso can't teach for shit but that's why Kamo is here. Yuji's one way of relating to the foundation of BM is a little infantile but when it works it works.

This 1-page flashback is there for only one thing: preparing us for Choso's upcoming death through sacrifice.

Sukuna collects BV like I did Yugioh cards. First a cooking pun, then a limit on furnace outside of his DE, then the inside of his DE was littered with explosive CE ambers, then a change of his barrier to keep his CT output high.

Uraume (not Sukuna! not the narrator!) declares this their victory while she hasn't even managed to defeat Hakari. The narrator does say though that this is Sukuna's ultimate move. Looking at its scale and immense destructive power, it's appropriate.

I made a post about other techniques that Sukuna probably has in his sleeve: CTR, the Maximum and the Hollow Technique. It could be that Sukuna's MT and HT could rival his Fire in destructiveness without contradicting the narrator: Sukuna is a villain who also grows while fighting just like the typical shonen protagonist. Sth like HT he might've just learned from Gojo making Yuji's continued fight against him hell.

The moment Yuji was in an enclosed and dark space with Choso above him I knew Choso was a goner. It's sad 😢 but we go back to that picnic table and those two have one last conversation with each other. They're at peace with the situation...

Important to note: Yuji normally infuses dream sequences into others unlike Sukuna who has a post-death talk with them. This is a post-death talk that Yuji now has with Choso, so I'm curious how that will get explained in the future. Is that part of the resonance that gets mentioned later?

Also important: with how everything with Choso and the picnic table is set up, I find it likely that Yuji will be here again right before dying (or when he dies). Other dead characters might greet him here.

The narrator tells us that after the dusts settles, Yuji's convictions get shaken. We get an appropriate 80% page close up of Sukuna from below, portraying him as the monstrous giant that he is.

What I don't really like here is that Yuji's feelings of despair don't get to sink in. Todo appears 1 panel after Yuji looks relatively all right. Maybe Gege didn't want to repeat Kugisaki's death aftermath as it wouldn't add much but a bit more emotions would've been better.

Anyway, Todo is here right when he was needed the most. A flashback tells us what the rational behind his late entrance and absence from Yuji's presence had been. Makes sense and now the Sukuna-Yuji(-Megumi?) resonance will be an important plot point later.

Does that resonance go both ways? Three ways? Was that how Yuji had entered the inner domain where Megumi is imprisoned right now?

Also, who else is going to show up now? This feels like the perfect setup for Nobara to make her comeback. The same points for keeping Todo's presence and assistance hidden apply to her and this scene directly calls back her death scene as well.

The "most likely fine" is also funny but it also sets up that Ino, Maki and Miwa(?) might've gotten injuries that cross them out of the fight. I think that only Maki will return.

Now the original Brothers™ are back to fighting together again (would've loved Choso and Todo to argue about that though). Sukuna of course knows everything about their fighting style and he looks like a menace again. (Maybe next chapter will open with another flashback of Choso and Todo fighting over Yuji)

Sukuna's arms are open and he smiles without any worries. While Uraume might be shocked that this isn't their victory and that Sukuna's most devastating attack only killed one person, Sukuna himself is all sunshine and rainbows.

[arceespinkgun]

From Skybound's Transformers issue #8

I am really enjoying both how Arcee's compassion and emotional intelligence are so integral to her personality in these comics, and how they're portrayed as a big strength for her. This moment highlights her physical strength, and may also be symbolic given she's shot in the "heart?" Plus, I love what this moment in particular illustrates about the moral consciousness of the Autobots and of the series as a whole, with Arcee's sacrifice and compassion being rewarded. I think this is what I've decided I prefer to see the Autobots in general characterized by—a belief in the sanctity of life and a desire to protect it, often to the point of self-sacrifice (this has also been a flaw for Autobots at times).

On that note, I'm reminded of Arcee in the "Aspects of Evil!" multi-parter in the G1 Marvel UK comics I just read, where this side of her character was also shown.

She sums up the Autobot code really well here! Plus, she is a strong warrior—she's not a pacifist at all, clearly—but is very perceptive and wise about the purpose of fighting. I also think it's worth highlighting this because while the Marvel comics were sometimes really misogynistic toward Arcee, they weren't devoid of good moments for her despite that. Maybe people wrote in (I did see plenty of fan letters about her in the letters pages while reading) to complain about her initial negative portrayal, or maybe other people (maybe one of the women working on them like a colorist or letterer) working on the comic gave criticism, I don't know. Anyway, there was the basis for some strong writing here.

I'm excited to not only have this be part of her characterization in the Skybound series, but to also get more interiority from her and a look into why she developed this consciousness, how it was informed by her trauma and the loss she's faced.

[flower-boi16]

Let's Analyze and Rank Every Song in Hazbin Hotel (From a Narrative Perspective) From Worst to Best

Hazbin Hotel has a pretty good soundtrack. The songs are definitely one of the better parts of the show, they are well-sung, well-composed, and just incredibly catchy. As songs completely divorced from the context and narrative of the main show...they are really good...

...however, Hazbin Hotel is also a musical, meaning that the songs also have to play into the narrative of the show. I want to try something different in this post; here, I'm going to rank each song in Hazbin Hotel not as songs, but rather, analyzing them from a purely narrative point of view, what they do for the show's characters, plot, as well as what happens in them, factoring in the outside context and narrative of the show as well as looking directly at the lyrics.

Because, when you judge Hazbin's songs from a purely narrative standpoint & factor in the outside context of a lot of the show's writing...many of the songs begin to completely fall apart. without further ado...let's get into this ranking.

16. Hell is Forever (2/10)

A major issue with Hazbin that I've talked about a lot on this blog is how heavily black and white the show's themes are in spite of the show preaching about being against black-and-white moralities.

Charlie is always portrayed as completely in the right and anyone who remotely opposes her is portrayed as automatically in the wrong despite the fact that, her "everyone can be redeemed" mentality is just as simplistic and black-and-white as Adam's "no one can be redeemed" mentality. But the show never calls that out and only tears down Adam's ideology while portraying Charlie's mentality as completely right despite it also being just as extreme as Adam's, but the show never chooses to call that out.

Adam is also nothing but a pure straw character who only exists to be torn down by the narrative and thus can't have much real depth or nuance as a character beyond "asshole who swears a lot" (which I talked about before).

The reason why Hell is Forever is at the very bottom of the list is because the song puts those issues on full display. It exposes how black-and-white the show's theming is and how much of a strawman Adam is.

Lines like "the rules are black and white there's no use in trying to fight it" or "are they winners? are they sinners? cuz it's cut and dry" not only sound awkward from a song perspective but also sound very forced from a narrative perspective; it's shoving down the "Heaven bad" message down your through and simply shows how one-dimensional Adam is as a character, very explicitly saying "HEY LOOK HOW BAD HEAVEN IS AND HOW MUCH OF AN ASSHOLE ADAM IS!!!"

Those lyrics show Adam being a pure straw character at his worst since they no-so subtly communicate the idea of "Heaven bad" in a way that's forced and awkward. Those aren't the only lyrics that show this, as there is the verse where Adam says "There's the question of fun (fun) and for those of us with divine ordainment...extermination is entertainment!".

It insinuates that the exterminations are purely a game to Adam and the exorcists and they do it because it's fun, which does no favors in further cementing Adam as a one-dimensional pure straw character.

Ultimately, while Hell is Forever exposes how black-and-white Heaven's way of thinking is, the song also exposes how black-and-white and simplistic the show's own themes and messages are, making it the worst the song in the entire show from a narrative point of view.

15. Out for Love (3/10)

Out for Love, like Hell is Forever, puts one of the show's major writing issues on full display and ends up even validating it in-universe. Out for Love’s entire premise as a song is that Vaggie needs to fight for her loved ones (specifically Charlie) rather than just for vengeance. This works fine enough until you start factoring in outside context within in the narrative.

First of all, Carmilla says that Vaggie is "driven by her detestation" and is fighting for pure vengeance….but she isn’t. Vaggie was never thirsting for vengeance at all, she always thought for Charlie, one of the lines in Whatever It Takes literally says that Vaggie will be Charlie’s armour, as in, she’ll try and protect her no matter what.

So Vaggie was never driven by vengeance in the first place so this song’s message doesn’t make much sense. Oh, but I haven’t even gotten to what this song means for Vaggie as a character.

The main issue with Vaggie as a character throughout the show is how she is heavily defined by Charlie, not just that "she doesn't get developed beyond being Charlie's girlfriend", no, I mean EVERY SINGLE major character moment Vaggie has is tied to Charlie in some way.

Out for Love accentuates that issue, being Vaggie's second big character moment where she has to fuel herself with the desire to protect Charlie, to fight for Charlie and ONLY Charlie. The song even confirms that Vaggie is defined by Charlie in-universe with the line "Fuel yourself with the fear of losing that somebody who's you reason to live".

Vaggie can't exist without Charlie. She can only be Charlie's partner and girlfriend. She is only defined by Charlie. She is just "Charlie's girlfriend". All of her character moments revolve being a good girlfriend to Charlie and defending her.

Out for Love while having a good message on paper ends up putting of the show's major issues on full display like Hell is Forever and the message flat out validates an issue with the show.

14. Whatever it Takes (3/10)

Whatever it Takes has a similar problem to Out for Love in terms of what it does for Vaggie as a character. It, like the former song, it keeps on pushing the idea of Vaggie being solely defined by Charlie, as Vaggie's verse in this song is purely about her singing about how much she wants to protect Charlie and the best girlfriend to her.

Again, it has a solid enough message on paper (singing about how you'll do anything to protect your loved ones) but in the context of the rest of the series this only further damages Vaggie as a character and further cements Vaggie as just "Charlie's girlfriend".

This song is intended to be a major character moment for Vaggie, but the problem is that character is tied directly to Charlie. Again, Vaggie's big character moments revolve around Charlie in some way, making her whole character tied to Charlie.

The song also has other problems with Vaggie directly tied to the lyrics. The lyric "It felt so good to be understood" is pretty weird to me, because how did Charlie make Vaggie feel understood? How did Charlie understand Vaggie in anyway? Since when was Vaggie being misunderstood apart of her character? Because it never was.

The song is also supposed to be a big emotional ballad for Carmilla, where she sings about her motivations for why she killed the angel, that being she wanted to protect her family and do whatever it took....

....which would've been impactful if Carmilla wasn't a character introduced in this same episode that the show barely does much of anything to get you to care about. We haven't gotten to know Carmilla much as a character so this whole moment feels unearned and unimpactful.

Whatever It Takes, like Out for Love has a sweet enough message on paper, but factoring the outside context of the show's writing damages the song significantly.

13. Finale (3/10)

Finale has a similar problem to You Didn't Know (which I'll cover later) in how despite being this grand, big musical number, it feels empty and hollow.

The first verse has Charlie mourning over Pentious' death which would've been fine if his death wasn't played as a joke in the same episode right before the episode then instantly treated it like a big moment. Then the verse further shows how hollow this song feels when Lucifer says that Charlie was the "first one to change this town" and how she helped everyone grow into better people and "touched their hearts"

....except she didn't. Lucifer, please tell me, how did Charlie remotely change Hell in the slightest? Sure, she proved that sinners can become better people, but this line implies that Charlie made a difference in Hell and changed it to be a better place in some way...when she didn't. She never "changed" Hell as a whole. And the part where Lucifer sings about how Charlie "helped the sinners become better people & grow" doesn't feel impactful because we never saw that growth happen.

Characters singing about how much they've grown doesn't work when we never saw that growth actually happen. The song wants to be this grand number about how Charlie helped souls improve as people but it falls flat within the context of the story because we never saw this process of Charlie helping Pentious and Angel to become better people, rather the show just completely skips over that.

Then the characters start singing about how they'll rebuild the hotel and make it even better than before to cheer Charlie up...

...why are they still trying the hotel after Heaven REJECTED it? Seriously, Charlie's plan to convince Heaven FAILED, there isn't much of a point to still continuing the hotel at this point since they KNOW that Heaven isn't going to accept it. They know they can't get sinners in Heaven because Heaven's rules are bullshit.

Oh, and this is not the only part of the song that doesn't make any sense in the context of the story, as then there's the V's singing about a power gap in Hell...that didn't happen, yet they act as if the extermination happened all across Hell when it was only toward the hotel and everything else was completely unaffected. How are overlords "hanging by a thread" exactly???

The final verse is then this grand final chorus about how they'll "be better" and redeem themselves and all I can feel is just...nothing. Because the show never earned this grand big final moment to make it feel impactful.

Finale is intended to be this grand final song about how much the characters have grown but it all feels empty and hollow because the show didn't do anything to actually earn this moment at all. I feel nothing when I listen to this song. Absolutely, nothing.

12. You Didn't Know (4/10)

I already made a full analysis of You Didn't Know so this section won't be nearly as long as the others, but like the other songs, from a story perspective You Didn't Know feels unearned and hollow. The main issue with the song is that although it clearly TRIES and gets you to feel something...it doesn't, which is entirely because of the show's outside writing.

Though again, I've already talked about this song before in a previous post where I analyzed each verse so go read that if you want my full opinion on why the song fails from a story perspective.

You Didn't Know just feels hollow, it's this grand, big musical number that's meant to be the climax of episode 6, a song that's BEGGING you to feel something...but it doesn't.

11. Happy Day In Hell (4/10)

Happy Day in Hell serves as the very first song in the show and Charlie’s I Want song.

For older fans, it doesn't really tell you anything new about Charlie as a character and is kind of redundant as a song, it just says that Charlie is optimistic and believes anyone can be redeemed, which is something Inside of Every Demon is A Rainbow already did.

However, to newer fans who haven't seen the pilot or any supplementary material, Happy Day in Hell could serve as a good introduction to Charlie as a character can tell you a lot about her...except that the rest of Hazbin doesn't seem to be made with newer fans in mind. Overture is written as a direct continuation of the pilot, and that would be fine if the episode reintroduced the characters for newer audiences...but it doesn't. It seemingly expects you to have already watched the pilot or any other supplementary material before seeing the show, meaning that it's catering to Viv's past audience.

With that in mind, Happy Day in Hell becomes a lot more confusing. If this is supposed to be an introduction to Charlie for newer fans...why wasn't the rest of the episode written like this? And if the show is expecting you to have seen the pilot, then Happy Day in Hell becomes completely redundant since again, Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow tells you everything this song does about Charlie as a character, and that song did it with infinitely better visuals. Sure, there's Charlie singing about how she wants to change Heaven's mind and prove them wrong etc but anyone who watched the pilot would already know that, so a song isn't really necessary.

Happy Day in Hell would have been better if the rest of the episode it was in wasn't written the way it was. With the context of how the rest of Overture is written, Happy Day in Hell just comes across as Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow except...worse.

10. Hell's Greatest Dad (4/10)

Hell's Greatest Dad doesn't make much sense. Alastor seemingly dislikes Lucifer for some reason and starts playing up a fatherly role to Charlie purely to piss her dad off...for some reason??? I've seen Cartoonshi try to make an explanation with this:

"This is an instance of Alastor just being petty because, underneath his smile and the persona he's crafted for himself, he cares a lot about his own reputation and doesn't take it well when people don't seem to respect it or have any interest in him"

However, as Cartoonshi later points out, Alastor's first reaction to Lucifer is twitching his eyes in rage, which is BEFORE Lucifer "disrespects" Alastor's reputation, so it still seems like Alastor has some unknown beef with Lucifer for...some reason? We don't know. The song also suddenly builds a father-daughter bond with Charlie and Alastor out of nowhere...? Again, this could be Alastor just purposefully trying to piss Lucifer off but like. Why???

Hell's Greatest Dad just suffers from Lucifer and Alastor's rivalry just kinda not making much sense and rushing in a found family dynamic at the last minute.

9. More Than Anything (Reprise) (4.5/10)

More than Anything Reprise has a similar problem to Finale and You Didn’t Know where the characters sing about how much they've grown and how much Charlie helped them grow when we never see that actually happen, all of that growth happened off-screen.

A big reason why this gets annoying is because it ends up feeling a form of telling rather than showing; we're TOLD that Charlie helped the characters grow and become better, we're TOLD that Charlie changed Hell as a place, we're TOLD that she "changed the lives" and "did so much" but we NEVER SAW that. We never saw Charlie slowly help Angel and Pentious become better people, again, a majority of their arcs happen off-screen and they end up feeling rushed.

Aside from that I just care very little about this relationship. Chaggie is a pretty boring relationship with little chemistry between them so I can't really feel much from this song. It's a cute enough moment I guess but again, I don't feel very invested in this relationship.

More Than Anything Reprise while a cute moment suffers from the same issue as the past songs and I can't really feel much for it since I don't care much about this romance.

8. Ready for This (6/10)

This is where we start getting to the pretty decent songs story-wise. There isn't exactly that much wrong with Ready For This aside from how some of lyrics are...weird for Charlie as a character.

A lot of the lyrics are about Charlie "coming to her own" and "ascending to her throne" when that was never something that was apart of her character...? Aside from that most of the song is fine. It's Charlie singing about how she’s accomplishing her destiny, which is consistent with Charlie since she was also singing about her destiny in Happy Day in Hell, so there isn’t too much "characters having grand musical numbers that don’t feel earned" here, aside from the previous problem I just mentioned.

So overall, ready for this is a fine song in terms of what it does for the narrative. It has problems, but its better than the previous few songs.

7. More Than Anything (6.5/10)

More Than Anything suffers from one big issue that harms the song, mainly the final verse. Basically, Charlie just says "I need 2 save mah people" and Lucifer is just like "ok". The reconciliation is kinda rushed here, and, since this song is meant to be Charlie and Lucifer reconciling, this tanks the song quite a bit. That being said, there is stuff I like about the song.

For one, it provides decent development for Lucifer and Charlie as characters, with Lucifer singing about how he didn't want Charlie to be faced with the same crushing feeling that he faced when Heaven rejected him, showing that in spite of his flaws, he does deeply care about Charlie as her daughter. For Charlie, the song gives the information that Lucifer inspired Charlie as a child, inspiring Charlie to fight for her dreams to become a reality.

Also, while it's still rushed, the song is still a cute moment between the two, with them reconciling and Charlie being able to bring back a spark within Lucifer, with him promising that he'll support Charlie's dreams, and how he's grateful for being her father, and that Charlie is grateful for being his daughter.

While More Than Anything does still feel a bit rushed, it's still a cute moment between two characters.

6. Welcome to Heaven (7/10)

Welcome to Heaven also doesn't have much wrong with it narrative wise. It basically just serves as world-building Heaven, which is fine, and the world-building it does provide does really have any major holes in it.

Don't really have much to say here.

5. It Starts With Sorry (7/10)

It Starts With Sorry is pretty good. The song is basically about Charlie deciding that Pentious deserves a second chance, singing about how she'll take his redemption one simple step at a time, beginning with him simply saying "Sorry". She believes that any soul can be redeemed though it may take some time.

She recognizes that, Pentious isn't all bad, seeing a decent person deep down. The message of the song is sweet and there aren't any real narrative issues with it. It's actually pretty good narratively and sets up Pentious arc decently well (though that arc is rushed but hey).

4. Stayed Gone (7/10)

Stayed Gone is a pretty fun rivalry song. It's a duet between Alastor and Vox, two visceral rivals, one TV and the other radio. The song does do a good job of showing Vox's pettiness in their rivalry, with his whole cool and levelheaded facade completely shattering at the mere mention of Alastor. His whole verse is spent on how Alastor's medium is "outdated", insulting him, calling Al a "coward" and among other things. Alastor meanwhile, spends his whole verse poking fun at Vox, right before he pisses of Vox so much that he starts buffering and he ends the song on a menacing note.

Again, not much to say here, Stayed Gone is just a pretty fun song that does a good job at showing the rivalry between Vox and Alastor.

3. Poison (8/10)

Poison is a song that does its job pretty well. The song is meant to show Angel Dust's struggles at the hands of Valentino, who now owns his soul. The lyrics emphasize the direness of Angel's situation; how he's trapped at the hands of Val, slowly dying from poison he's being forced to drink, being trapped in the claws of a cruel rapist sexually abusing him for his own pleasure, constantly being tortured every single night.

He believes it's his fault for his situation, that he can only blame himself for falling to Val's lies and his deal, that he should have seen what would have happened when he made the deal with Val. And now, he's just...accepted it, believing that this is just his life now and he'll be all for Val in any way he wants him to be.

And the song ends somberly as Angel falls to the ground after the night. It defiantly does capture the struggles of someone being SA'd, and does a good job of showing the horrendous mental state Angel is in.

I know a lot of people REALLY hate the Poison sequence for apparently fetishizing SA, but I'm analyzing the song, not the stuff shown in it, and to me, I think Poison does a great job of showing Angel's horrendous mental state and struggles, and does add a lot to Angel as a character.

2. Respectless (9/10)

I used to criticize Respectless for feeling more like a conversation that the characters are singing rather than a song, and it does still kinda feel that way. However, I don't think the song is unnecessary anymore because it establishes a lot about Vellvette as a character.

The song shows Velvette being overly smug, arrogant, confident and bratty, not having any respect for the authorities higher than her, doing whatever the fuck she wants and not giving a damn about the higher authorities think, having no respect for them. But the song also demonstrates Velvette being cunning and smart, being able to tell that Carmilla is hiding something based simply on the expression of her face when she first brought the angel's head.

She instantly knows that, Carmilla might know what happened to the angel. The song displays a more developed personality for Velvette as a character in just one-minute than characters like Adam or Crimson or whoever the fuck did in multiple episodes, making Velvette one of the best antagonists in all of Hellaverse (which I talked about here). Respectless also continues this theme with Carmilla demanding that Velvette check her attitude, calling her and the Vee's "Smug wannabees who don't head when they've been warned", giving off an impression of an authority being made at the disrespect being thrown at her, which Velvette just responds by smugly saying "oops".

The song also does do a good job of furthering the plot along while doing a great job of showing off Velvette's personality. Respectless overall is a great song that furthers the plot along while telling us a lot about Velvette as a character.

1. Loser Babey (10/10)

I'm assuming y'all did not expect this song to be number one, huh? Loser Baby seems to be fairly divisive amongst viewers, a lot of people love it, others despise it. Personally, I think the song is pretty great.

A common critique that Loser Babey gets is supposedly making fun of Angel for being SA'd, and, I can see why some people may see the song that way considering the first chorus. However, it's best to factor in the verse that comes before that chorus (holy shit I'm defending HH. I am just as surprised as you are).

The first verse is Husk singing to Angel about how he's at rock bottom, the lowest point anyone can be, his life being wrecked from his deal by Val, it all looks dire and hopeless as Angel is trapped in a dark situation with no way out, believing his life to be a trash fire at this point...and Husk says that he's right! His life IS a trash fire, he IS in a dark situation, he IS at absolute rock bottom, he's a "loser", if you will. Admittedly saying he's a loser might be a bit iffy but you can still see the point; Husk is saying that Angel is completely correct, that his life is a dumpster fire where he can't try and fight back, but he says that he isn't alone in this.

Husk had a similar experience with Alastor, where, like Angel, made a deal with an overlord and lost everything, regretting that decision for the rest of his afterlife as he's trapped at the hands of Alastor, with every day of his life being torture for him now, like with Angel. Granted, Husk's situation isn't 1 to 1 the same as Angel's, but there is still a parallel with how they made bad deals with overlords that they lived to regret, how they became trapped in these deals that seemed appealing at first but worn down when the overlords showed their true colors.

And so, Husk tells Angel that, it's better to set down the walls he's built for himself, letting hope back into his life and finally having someone he can bond and relate to due to having similar experiences. He's no longer alone. His situation is still bad, but at least now, he has someone who he can bond with and help push him through his situation, and that person ended up being Husk, the last person who he thought would have gotten him to open up.

I know I'm going to get a lot of people who'll disagree with me and that's fine, but personally...Loser Baby is the best song in the whole show in terms of its narrative. It provides great character growth for Angel & Husk, does a good job of furthering their relationship, and (in my opinion), has a really sweet and beautiful message of how you aren't alone in a dire situation, and that's best to let others help you rather than sulking by yourself in the dark. You aren't alone. There are people who may have had similar experiences to you, and it's best to let them in rather than shun them away.

And the thing is; Loser Baby is not only the best song narratively, but musically, making it overall the best song in the whole show. It's one of the only songs in the show that manages it be great in both categories, like a musical show should, which is what makes this song truly stand out compared to the rest of Hazbin's soundtrack.

It's the best song in the whole show, hands down.

Conclusion

Well, that was long. In all honesty, the songs lower on the list might have been better if the writing around them was better, since that's a problem a majority of them suffer from. If Vaggie wasn't defined by Charlie, Whatever it Takes and Out for Love wouldn't be so low, and if we got to know Carmilla and Emily better, Whatever it Takes and You Didn't Know would've been more impactful.

Really a lot of the songs just suffer from being in a very mediocre and flawed show, and the reason why songs like Loser Baby and Poison were high was because the writing around them was actually good, but hey, the good ones were still able to pull through in the end. So ya, that's my ranking...bye.

[1serotonindeficientgirl]

One thing I like about My Stand in Ep3 is how they portrayed the character Tong. Behind the glitter and glamour of starhood he is actually nothing worth remembering. In fact he is a horrible person. He is opportunistic. He is selfish. His ego hurt even with an air bubble. He just uses people for his benefit (poor May). And he could be Homophobic too.

We are left in the dark regarding the conversation between Ming and Tong after he catches them at the restroom. But we got an idea about it when he talked to Joe later. He might've tried to convince Ming that Joe is using him for the money.

Well, we don't know. We don't know what Tong said to Ming, and his reply. We don't know how Ming will react to such assumptions. We were left in the dark. And i think it's brilliant. Because we are seeing the story through Joe. It's Joe's version of the flashback. Joe is kept in the dark. So do we.

Joe just knew about Ming's secret. Now let the story of Ming unwind.

I'm seated

[warsamongthestars]

I'm not gonna lie.

I find it really weird that, Disney is going all so out on the Bad Batch and how "oh its deep" or "oh its sad" or "look at all this work we did".

Look.

The Voice Actors? Yeah, they did great, they did do well, they are a joy to listen to. The artists and animators? Them too, I do so love how the art flows in the Bad Batch and how if you look closely enough, it kinda looks like everything was painted.

...

But dudes.

The story and writing Sucked.

It blew chunks. In fact, it chewed up the Clone Wars, and fucking vomited, and then attempted to arrange the vomit like "Look at well it did, look how deep!"

I've found puddles on paved roads that were deeper than this show. Watching the little snails come out in the rain, with all their little shells, and the tinkling of the raindrops and the smell of petrichor, was a more meaningful experience in a day of rain, than what this show did in 3 years.

I'm happy, that our VAs developed a meaningful tie to the work they do and the people they did it with.

But I can't help but think like I did with the Star Wars Sequels--look at all that work, all these artists and actors did... that went to waste, because this story was Shit, and was Clusmy, and was very shiny and dramatic but it did jack shit.

No Substance.

And I can't help but think, "Wow, really nailing down how much of a waste this was. Yeah, there was talent, congrats, but look how much of it went to waste because this Writing Was Shit. Because the music Editing was Shit, because a million and one little things came up and bit this show on the Ass, and became One Major Fucking Problem That Over Takes Everything."

I honestly would rather see what the story was through the eyes of Dee Bradly Baker and Michelle Ang, because the story they must've worked on Must have been Fantastic, for the fact those actors have been more authentic in interview and in person, than the characters They Played and the Story We Saw.

Baker on his own could portray a Bad Batch that I wanted to Fucking See In THE FIRST PLACE AS A GODS DAMN SHOW.

And I know he's damn good because THE CLONE WARS FEATURED NOTHING BUT HIM AS THE CLONES AND THEY WERE FUCKING FANTASTIC.

And I'm certain that Michelle Ang would've been just as fantastic too.

But it all comes down to the Writing. If you're writing is bad, it takes Everything Down with it.

And the writing is bad. And frankly all these Melancholic Interviews are just serving to piss me off...

Because we're saying Good Bye to a Story, We never fucking received.

[la-cocotte-de-paris]

A lesson in the lustful female Gayze™: LA RELIGIEUSE / THE NUN (1966), dir. Jacques Rivette

[freakadr0id]

Oh my GOD, I just realized why Donnie acts so weird in Man vs. Sewer. I always thought his behavior was odd in that episode, particularly in his nonchalance towards finding and saving Raph - but I had the most random thought occur to me during work that TOTALLY explains it. I'm sure some people have probably pointed this stuff out already, but I wanted to put this out there anyway.

The episode 'Man-vs-Sewer' is a personal favorite of mine. I love the episodes where the boys are just goofing off, and this episode is that plus some. We see get to see the boys having fun for a bit at the start of the episode, but it also adds a bit more depth to some of the turtles. We see a really surprising side to Raph's character with his fear of being alone, and Leo gets to shine a bit as a leader and hint at his true potential.

However, I was always a bit puzzled by the way Donnie and Mikey were written in this episode. As a rule, Rise is pretty good about keeping its characters, well, in character, so their behavior struck me as kind of strange, particularly Donnie's.

If there is one thing Rise NAILS about Donnie's character is showing that despite struggling with emotions and empathy, he is still NOT AN ASSHOLE. Donnie genuinely and deeply loves his family - he just has a hard time expressing it externally.

'Man-vs-Sewer' kind of stood out to me as an exception to that, however. At this point, Donnie's care for his brothers is an undisputed fact, so why does he seem so unconcerned about finding Raph after being separated? Even for Donnie, this seems like an ooc level of indifference towards the well-being of his brother (at least that's how I saw it).

Except, it isn't. In fact, this episode only reinforces that Donnie does care for his family, it's just a *bit* harder to see here.

One thing many neurodivergent people struggle with is a sudden change in plans. When they expect to do something that day it can be very difficult for some neurodivergent people to deal with it emotionally and can lead to immense frustration or even shutdowns. Since Donnie is confirmed to be, at the very least, autistic coded, this would absolutely apply to him as well.

The turtles planned to have a nice, relaxing day floating along New York's sewers and enjoying a small break from all the stress of finding the Dark Armor. No fighting, no mystic metal, no foot clan. Just a calm day of fun without a care in the world - only for it to be ruined by a bad pass and a lost brother.

I know if my plans were ruined like that, I would be in an absolutely FOUL mood. It can be hard to transition into a different mindset when the expectations for the day change like that, and it can make anyone frustrated, but Donnie doesn't appear to be that way. In fact, he's acting extremely casual.

Even though everything he was going to do today was upended and his brother is now missing in the New York sewers, why does Donnie seem so unconcerned about the whole situation?

Answer: It's a coping mechanism.

It would be very easy for him to be a bit more annoyed and frustrated at the whole situation (I definitely would be), but he isn't. Instead, he avoids getting overwhelmed and emotional by continuing through the day as if nothing has really changed.

The whole time they are finding Raph, Donnie behaves as if they are still on a peaceful, carefree mini-vacation. He makes snide jokes and jabs toward Leo, enjoys the drinks he brought in his shell, and constantly reminds the others that it is his "day off." If he can act as though he's still relaxing, it becomes easier to adjust to unexpected alterations in his day. This isn't Donnie being willfully inconsiderate towards Raph being lost and alone, this is just him trying to manage with the sudden changes the best he can in that moment.

If Donnie really was an uncaring asshole (as some may be inclined to believe given his apparent lack of empathy), he simply would have resumed their original plans, or been more vocally resistant to going after Raph. Instead, he joins his brothers in their search, and although he may not provide the best input for finding Raph because of his coping method (his brain is in "day off" mode which is why he keeps missing clues about Raph), he is still making an effort.

In a way, the episode which I thought portrayed a slightly out-of-character version of Donnie actually provides yet another example of how Donnie really loves his brothers, despite how it may seem on the surface.

~-~-~

(Actually, depending on the way you interpret his character, the same can be said for Mikey in this episode as well. Mikey is always a bit of a goofball in the show but in this episode, it is dialed up to 11. He also doesn't seem to much care or effort into finding Raph and acts like a child who managed to snag one of their parents' energy drinks. If we consider that maybe he is also struggling to adapt to the changes of the day, this could be him adopting a similar coping method to Donnie, it is just amplified because of his hyperactive behavior and personality.)

[kennyomegasweave]

Listen! Tharn has horrific trust issues and doesn't trust anyone, not just Phaya okay!

Like he clearly doesn't even trust Yai and the Abbot because of his issues! Because yes he knows Yai, basically his brother, believes Phaya would rather die than hurt Tharn so much he flat out told Phaya he can't die cause he already gave him Tharn to protect. And yes he knows the Abbot, who raised him, has continuously told him he needs to fully trust Phaya will take care of him. But he has trust issues okay! Those just don't go away! He can't just trust Phaya okay!

Though he does trust Chalothon and thinks he's a good guy. Even when he knew about Phaya's dreams that only Tharn knew about and basically accused Phaya of losing his mind, clinically, in front of everyone at their work at a crime scene. But it obviously makes complete sense he trusts him implicitly and never questions anything cause he's known him his whole life! That's not something you can just throw aside for some boyfriend, soulmate or not, you know!

But then, wait...why doesn't he trust Yai and the Abbot the same?

But I'm glad he knows Chalothon is the problem now. Sucks for him about everything because of it. Hope it works out for him in the one remaining episode. Don't really care either way anymore regardless.

[steakout-05]

it's april 1st, which means it's teto's birthday today!!! i made some more chibi sprites from yesterday of her with some more animations, including her chimera form :)

here's a couple gifs:

(based off that dance she does in the triple baka and teto territory mvs)

happy birthday teto kasane!!!

[total-feminism-takes]

I've been very negative so far so nows time for some positivity! Here's some things I like about every total drama girlie:

Eva is just super interesting. I think her character flaws are intriguing. I like her attitude and I think she's fun.

Katie and Sadie are super sweet. I like their often aloof attitude and I love their bond, their so cute and work really well off eachother.

Izzy is really fun. I love how off the walls she is and Izzy is probably one of the most consistently written and consistently funny characters in total drama.

Beth has tons of potential. She's interesting and is probably the most realistically teenage character out of all the cast.

Courtney is really head strong and I love it! She's also really malleable, being able to be a good protagonist and antagonist imo.

Bridgette is basically who little me wanted to be. I love the fact she is a surfer and I love how chilled out she is.

Lindsay is so sweet. I love her and I think she's very fun. Her voice actor does a great job at portraying her. Also her friendship with Beth is so sweet.

Leshawna is so cool. I love how she stands up for herself and knows who she is, I find that really admirable.

Heather is great. I love her in action she was really funny and in world tour she had a great arc from antagonist to anti hero.

Gwen is so freaking cool. I love her voice and think it suits her well. I love her attitude and how she also fights for the environment.

Sierra is such a cool concept. I love the idea of her being a total drama superfan and I think the scenes where she isn't obsessing over Cody is fun.

Blainley is just so fun. I love her design, her song, and I find her to be an interesting character. She's just so fun.

Staci is intriguing to me. Why does she lie? What caused her to lie compulsively? Is there a reason? There's a lot of intrigue for me surrounding her.

Dakota is fun. Her style is impeccable and I love the lesson she learns that she can be loved no matter what even if I don't like how that revelation occurred

Dawn is basically Luna Love good and I think that's great! I love Dawn so much, she's so silly. I like the storyline we got with her.

Anne Maria is one of my favs. I love everything about her. I love how she acts and I think she is one of the funnest characters in the show.

Jo is important. I love how she presents more masculine and how she is a bit insecure about it, I think it's a realistic flaw.

Zoey! I love her in roti d so much. I love when she goes all commando Zoey, I think it's an interesting contrast to her regular self (which I also love)

Amy and Samey are fun. I like the contrast between the pair of twins and I loved it when Samey stood up for herself against her sister.

Ella is cute. I love her Disney princess like self. I find her interest to be fun. I also like her friendship with Sky.

Scarlett was fun up until the twist. I wish we got to see more of her. Her design was neat and I think her voice is cool.

Jasmine is great. I love her personality and I like how she stands up for Samey, I think their friendship was sweet.

Sugar is fun. I think she's neat. Her costumes are pretty cool. I think she has tons of potential if you wanted to explore it.

Sky is good. I like that she isn't a stereotypical depiction of a native woman. I love her friendship with Ella.

Ellody and Mary are really fun. Their designs are great and it's a shame they were booted out at third place.

Laurie and Miles are interesting and are also wasted potential. Their designs are great. I also love the voices of the characters.

Jen is a sweet reference to one of the creators of the show. I love the fashion influencers trope for her.

Kelly and Taylor are fun. I love the growth from them and I feel they have tons of untapped potential.

Crimson is great. She is very stereotypical goth and I think that's super fun. I love her "I'm allergic to the sun attitude" and her design is great!

Stephanie has a cool design.

Carrie is really sweet and has tons of potential. Her voice actor does a great job with the role and I love her. I think she's sweet.

Emma and Kitty are great! I love the contrast between them and the contrast between Amy and Samey. Their great characters together and alone.

Macarthur and Sanders are fun. I think their both really neat and interesting characters. Their potential was pretty well tapped.

Alex is super cool. I love how hardcore she is and I love her attitude. I also find the fact she is preparing for the zombie apocalypse to be enduring.

Nichelle is a interesting character. I love her design, her voice actor does a great job. She has tons of potential.

Scary girl's fun. I love how much she treats the skull she gets, it reminds me of how doll collectors (me) treat their dolls. Her design is fun also.

MK is so fun. I love her so much. I love her design as well, I'm also glad they listened to fan feedback and made her skin colour not yellow!

Emma is so cute and silly! I love her design so much and I love the fact she is a YouTuber. I love the fact she is away from chase in season two!

Julia is a fun villain. I love how unabashedly mean she is. I love her fake kind and zen persona and how she cracks and shows how she truly is, it's neat!

Millie is great! I love how she develops from someone who projects her insecurities to a person who works on herself to improve.

Priya is an interesting character. I think she's the only total drama character with a fleshed out backstory. She deserves more.

Anyways, I love every total drama girlie so much, their all so silly and fun and just great!

- ☄️

Congratulations comet anon for maxing out all the tags! 🥳

- 🧡

[anthromimicry]

OH, speaking of misao, while i'm still here... let me talk about how she was introduced to playing instruments + why she still does it often to this day. as you may know, misao's mother — kaiyah — did suffer from mental health issues, and in ancient japan... they were very behind in terms of providing the appropriate care to those who had mental health concerns. while doing research on it, i also discovered that it was also unfortunately HEAVILY stigmatized and thought of to be caused by spirits and/or brought about by spiritual means. and so kaiyah would often have to find ways to try to help herself cope with her symptoms; one of which turned out to be music. and misao remembers which instrument kaiyah used to play vividly because listening to her play music, as well as sing, was one of the ways that they'd bond despite them having a rather complicated relationship. kaiyah used to play the biwa, which is a plucked string instrument that sort of resembles a guitar and whenever she'd play, kaiyah would sit cross-legged. and this wasn't only because that was the traditional way to play the biwa, but so that misao could sit in her lap as she strummed the instrument. and misao also remembers kaiyah just looking at her with this look that was just made up of pure happiness during those moments. which, although they were very ephemeral, kind of helped her pull through her childhood because they gave her hope that maybe she could be like this all the time at first; and then upon discovering that although that might not be the most realistic thing to think... it helped her pull through because she would believed that she rather hold onto whatever scrap of happiness she could get, rather than try to forget these experiences with her mother, because of the fact that they hurt her so badly emotionally sometimes. and this was because she wanted to help kaiyah the same way that music seemed to — she just didn't know how. but as the years passed, misao came up with the idea that maybe learning to play it could be a method in which she could assist kaiyah with feeling more... at peace, i guess you could say, and so she did.

though misao only got to play the biwa for her mother a few times before ryu was born, and whenever that happened, everything changed. but of course... none of it was his fault. all those good feelings that misao had associated with the biwa now had a sort of bitter taste to them because of kaiyah's neglect towards ryu and once more, although this conflict was a lot more nuanced than it might've appeared because of her mother's illness, misao felt this strong urge to just completely smash her biwa into pieces because she felt so bad inside. though, honestly, misao is glad that she didn't today. because it honestly is one of the few things that she still has around that reminds her of kaiyah, and although she literally cannot play it because the last time she did, misao just sobbed all the way through it — she was able to pick up another instrument that vaguely reminded her of the biwa and allowed her to reconnect with that old part of herself: which would be the guitar. but it is a very private part of herself that she doesn't reveal to a lot of people. she'll really only play the guitar around people she really trusts, as whenever she's playing it, it's almost like she's playing to her mother again.

[the-cooler-vigilante]

spoilers for spiderverse stuff under cut

I can't believe that I had to be told that Peter was trying to distract Miguel for Miles' escape. Peter trying to take a selfie with Miguel and Mayday, arguing with Jess over mentorship, even on the train he was trying to get Miguel to go easy on Miles. Only when Miguel was going ape shit on the Go-Home machine did Peter realize that talking Miguel down was NOT going to work.

Look at him, he had no idea that things would get this bad this quickly, and not only that, I think the reason Peter looks this worried/scared/shocked is because this has happened to him before, but he was in Miguel's position.

I don't expect you to know too much about Spider-Man lore, but Peter has let his anger get the best of him at times, almost leading him to do something he'd regret.

A good example would be his "Final" fight with Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, the night Gwen Stacy died (ASM 121-122).

The dude literally swore that he was going to kill him, and spends a good chunk of 122 going on a manhunt for the Goblin, and when he finds Norman (whos already planning to attack him again), he beats the ever loving shit out of him.

The only reason he stops is because he realizes (most likely moments before finishing Norman off) that he nearly let his anger and guilt consume him, just like it's consumed Miguel.

This isn't the only time Peter's anger and guilt consumed him, and this isn't even the worst he's had it. But if you want to know about that, look into the comics, the clone stuff was especially brutal for Peter.

The way I see it, Peter wants to do both, but knows the consequences of both trying to do both and what could happen if Miles "breaks canon". He was there when Miguel accidentally destroyed his alternate universe, but we also don't know the full story with that. I think that, like most Spider-People, Peter takes solace in being a part of the Spider-Society, it makes his failures feel less like his fault, and more like something he couldn't help. But he also feels like that isn't entirely true, that his failures are his own, and that he needs to take responsibility for them. This is kind of reflected in the short conversation that he has with Miles in the vents. "Bad things are gonna happen, it makes us who we are. But good things happen too, y'know?"

Peter has lived a life defined by loss and trauma, there's no skirting around that. I think the reason that Peter B. seemed to be on Miguel's side at first is because, on some level, he was running from that. He was willing to accept that sometimes people die, and due to the nature of canon events, that wasn't his fault. But when Miles comes along and challenges this way of thinking, Peter kind of gets a rude awakening. He realizes that he can't use canon events as an excuse to absolve himself of responsibility, and he sees what he can turn into if he allows that way of thinking to dictate his life choices.

I don't know, I'm writing this late at night and probably should go to sleep. But if any of this inane rambling makes sense to you, then let me know.

[ricoka]

sometimes I wish you could post an opinion on a fandom blog without inviting a whole witch hunt or being accused of causing drama but alas