#this reminds me of her pilot design so much

[unnecessarilysalty]

i saw this outfit and immediately thought of Velvette so now i have to curse all of you with this idea

[deadbeat-motel]

ᐯᗩGGIE ᗩᑎᗪ ᑕᕼᗩᖇᒪIE ᖇEᗪEᔕIGᑎ

These two are simpler than the angel dust design I did since I didn't have a lot to go off of. Posted on Valentine's Day because yes I can.

I don't think Charlie is significantly different from her Pilot design because I genuinely think it was the best design from the cast (before the redesign).

Thoughts below, though TW for the creepy charlie image at the end:

My issues with their Original designs:

Vaggie:

The giant "X" over her eye is really distracting and even world-breaking because

1. Why had no one put 2 and 2 together that the only character in Hell who has a visible 'X' mark on her face might be related to the angels who also sport that X mark on their faces.

2. Why is it shaped like an X? Her eye was taken out via a single slash.

3. If the hair's purpose was to cover it, why would it show through it? What's the point of the hair then?

The hair that was supposed to cover that wounded eye looked so ugly and confused as to what it should be doing. I mean every shot that showed that thing in a sideview shot of Vaggie felt like the animators had to make their own guesses as to how that was supposed to look like. It was distracting for me personally and I hated it so much.

It's been said over and over again, but her clothes look like she works at McDonalds. I get needing to change her outfit so that she looks like she works at the hotel, but it's just been poorly designed.

Why change her clothes' colors from white to red? the white helped her stand out from Hell and the Hotel's majority red background. (In the finale, she at least has a non-red attire)

She's also one of the very few women in HH and she falls under the skinny stick side of it despite being an angel exterminator.

Her hair is kind of hard to visualize looking at in any way other than what it is when it's static. However, when it changed into a ponytail or a bob, it's actually really nice to look at.

Unsure of what that bow's purpose is for the design.

Charlie:

Charlie is a simple but very confused design. The pilot design was a lot more coherent than the current show design

It's disappointing to see the bouncy Pilot hair go and be replaced by that boring bubble braid of all things.

Her undershirt peaks out of her tuxedo.... why???? to separate the top jacket and the pants? You wouldn't need to do that if her pants were a different color like the pilot design.

Thought about it and was confused, as a demon with an angelic father, why didn't she have wings as well? She didn't need the 6 wings like Lucifer but maybe a pair of one would appear?

Out of all the characters for the show's redesign, Her's was by far the MOST infuriating to me. Her pilot design wasn't perfect but it was good, they had to downgrade her for some reason.

I didn't have much to say about Charlie. it basically sums up to "the Pilot design was better".

On to the thought process for these two:

Valerie the fallen:

Yes, she got a rename. Sue me.

I had to remove the moth aspect of her design because it doesn't seem like it makes sense for a heaven-born to follow the sinner's rule of "gaining features based on the life you lived" since she basically never lived right?

In this redesign (and eventual rewrite), Valerie is not ashamed of her exterminator background. In fact, she was known as the most recent "fallen" in hell. her short stature doesn't make her less of a threat to the demons.

She's also visually thick with muscle because why not let one of the show's women have a body type that isn't stick-thin?

She's using the wings that were torn off of her as both an interesting article of clothing and as a way to remind others and her that she is (or more accurately 'was') an angel who could kill them if she wanted to.

Her clothes are pure black underneath the pale feathers to show that while she is an "angel", deep down, she is far from a good person.

She's also getting an actual skin color because from what I gathered myself from the show's heaven. Most of the souls there still retain a human appearance (Adam, Lute, St. Peter, and the other random human angels up there still look human..... but just don't mind the fact that most of them are white.)

Her hair is that ponytail she had in the finale because as much as I didn't like that episode, some designs looked actually decent.

Also, her hair actually covers the eye scar properly.

I wanted to keep her ribbon as a splash of brightness on her design but the OG ribbon looks a little out of place on a warrior so It became that (Plus it pays homage to her OG moth influence with its shape looking like the fluffy antennas of the moth)

Gave the spearhead a little bit of detail on it plus a chipped side so that it has a bit of charm as an old weapon she still decides to keep around.

A note about Valerie's design is that I haven't tackled the armor of angels yet so I was unsure of what pieces of the undesigned armor to give Valerie as of now.

Charlie:

I honestly actually enjoyed her Pilot hair, so I tried to put it back and also simplify it a bit so there are not a lot of strands for me to keep track of. Plus it was a genuinely cute design for her. (There's a reason that version was used in the Verbalase video.) <- I'M JOKING

Replaced her button nose with a goat's because a friend has commented how it looked like the noses of the women in a Goofy Movie and I will never be able to unsee that.

Her hair is also a lot brighter compared to her washed-out blonde color.

She has the same design thought process as Valerie, Covering the darkness of her true nature with white fluffy fur which is stylized like feathers at its ends. She has pitch-black skin underneath and looks like a proper nightmarish demon like the image below.

I ditched the tuxedo look, since almost all the cast has a similar outfit already, and gave her a jumpersuit instead. (Idk what it's really called but that's what I think it is). It's a light grey because she's a mix of bad and good (though a bright grey because she prefers to be on the good side)

Her horns are there and visible because yeah it's cute but also helps her read as the half-angel/half-demon character she is.

Tiny goat tail because can you imagine every time Valerie holds the rare angel smile of approval, her tail is visibly wagging in glee and excitement???? My heart would die. I love these lesbians with my life.

Has wings from her father.

Anyways, those are my thoughts and redesigns... I wanted to add more details to them but I didn't really know what to add that didn't feel unnecessary.

Also bonus! Concept art of Charlie's true form:

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

A Little From You | Yandere Mori Ogai

The tug at your pants had you looking down at a younger girl—blonde and wearing a bright red dress. With wide blue eyes and a small pout on her face, she actively ignored the others around you who were looking concerned. 

“Will you help me find my father?”

You took a glance at your coworkers who were between watching in awe or had the decency to quickly look away as if they weren’t staring at you both. Retaining a sigh, you send a smile to her before scooping her up. Resting her on your waist you keep your attention on her while you answer. 

“Of course, I will! Where did you last see your Papa?”

The crowd was dissipating and your team was hard at work. Recently you piloted a new organization in Yokohama. Not nearly as infamous as the Armed Detective Agency or the Port Mafia; your nameless group sought to clean up and save as many during the times they were completely enraptured with battle. While you were grateful for the Agency’s tendency to send one of their own to help, you were sure it’d be better to delegate this menial task to a smaller group like yours. 

“I don’t know but I just can’t see him anywhere,” the girl cried into your neck holding you tight. Rubbing at her back there were so many panicked people, panicked parents searching for their little ones. It’d be chaos-inducing to mindlessly call out for a father without a name. Holding her close you lightly stepped forward, making yourself float above the crowd to stand on top of a street light. Giving a comforting squeeze you encouraged her to look at the crowd below.

“Do any of them look familiar to you, little one?”

Her sky-blue gaze lazily darts around—boredly searching within the crowd. You turned to the girl, your intuition steering you. 

“Do you…not want to find him?”

The side-eye the girl gives you speaks loud enough as she scoffs and mirthlessly chuckle into her hand. So much like an adult. She turns to you with a crooked smile and condescending tone,” So observant.”

You’ve dealt with sassy kids before and you had a feeling her disdain wasn’t necessarily towards you.

“Thank you! It’s very helpful for my job.”

She stares blankly as you smile at her. She turns her head away, a blush lightly blooming on her face as she continues to look over the crowd. Speaking of the crowd, it had begun to dissipate now. Dispersing more calmly than before. Which made it much easier to spot the man in a lab coat waving frantically at the two of you. 

“Elise-chan! Elise-chan! Elise-chan!”

The groan from the girl confirms what you suspected and you send a pitied smile at the girl who returned to wrapping her arms around your neck. Securing her to your side you swiftly step down, letting your footsteps float as you take your time to reach the ground in front of the crying man. 

“Oh, my Elise-chan! I was so worried.”

He reaches for her only for the blonde to look disgusted as she tightly keeps herself attached to you. 

“I’m not going with you! I’m going to stay with (Y/n) who actually knows how to take care of me!”

“C’mon Elise-chan! I didn’t mean to lose you, I promise.”

Looking between the two, there seemed to be a stalemate. Stifling your own sigh you shifted the little girl on your waist to look at you, “Elise, what can he do to make it up to you?”

The girl looks exasperated at you, urging her to answer she rolls her eyes before smiling at you. 

“A whole bakery’s worth of desserts and that designer dress and matching tea set I’ve been wanting!” 

You heard a groan from the scruffy-looking man with black hair. Turning to him with a smile of your own, “Can you do that, Papa?”

The man went still at that. Perhaps it was the name. Elise didn’t seem like the type to say such an endearing term and it might have reminded him of something. 

“Yes! Anything for you, my Elise.”

You release the girl, watching as she dodges his attempts at a hug to walk in the direction of the bakery she was referring to her father following behind. It warmed your heart to see the two reunited again. That’s what made your job worth it.

“Stay safe you two. It was nice meeting you both!” 

Your call out had Elise stopping in her tracks, before running into your stomach violently as children often do. Wrapping her arms around your waist, you see her sky-blue eyes filled with tears, “How will we see each other again!?”

The tears caught you off-guard as you reached for your handkerchief, dabbing at her tears. You gave a few more comforting pats before coming up with a solution. Reaching into your coat pocket you pulled out your business card reaching over her to hand it to her father. 

“Here we are! I’ll give your Papa, my business card so you can call me if you like.”

“Yay!” 

Reaching for the card from her father-who seemed hesitant to hand it over-she snatches it the second he gets in range. She sends another wave to you before skipping on her original path, not even waiting for her father to follow. Speaking of, the man turns to you grasping both your hands in his as he seems to fight unshed tears. 

“Thank you! Thank you for protecting my precious Elise-chan!”

You shuffled in your jacket hoping to release the heat that came with your embarrassment. 

“U-u-h no problem! C-c-call me if you need me!”

He nods and stays in his position, still holding your hands in his. His tears aren’t there anymore and his lips are wobbling as though they’d like to say something more. 

“Oi the bakery you promised me is right over there!” Elise a good bit away from him but her shouts making him wince. He releases his hold on your hands to nervously rub at the back of his neck before running after his daughter screaming,” Elise-chan! Wait for me!”

Chuckling at the duo you float back to the crowd and your team is prepared to help the next batch of troubled people. 

It was always nice to help and it warmed your heart when you thought of the memories that would be made today. Thanks to your help.

“Commander!”

“Coming! Coming!”

_____________________________________________________________

Mori couldn’t stop looking at his hands. As though it would help him burn the memory of those soft and calloused hands in his. He smiled wider if that was possible as he brought his hands to his face relishing in the memory being transferred to his face.

“You creep.” The blonde girl sneered at the older man from over her shoulder.

He doesn’t respond, too busy regulating his breath. Finally claiming control once again the doctor donned his typical white gloves; opening and closing his hands. Elise scoffed again, “Those gloves aren’t going to keep their germs on you, Stupid Rintarou.” 

Mori stifled a groan holding his gloves close to his chest. 

“But I can pretend can’t I?”

“You’re disgusting.”

They walked around the fifth corner before stepping into the black car already waiting for them. Settling into the leather seats surrounded by gift boxes and patisserie packaging they let the sound of the empty street fill the silence. 

“Elise…”

“What?”

“Where’s the card?”

“Why?”

“...Elise…give me the card please.”

The blonde turned away from him unfurling her fist to look at the little card. Rubbing her gloved fingers over the paper that etched your name. 

“They gave it to me.”

“Excuse me?”

Elise turned her around to him glaring with a violent intensity,” No! They gave it to me! You can’t take this from me!”

Mori didn’t speak. Staring blankly at the girl as she glowed pink. He ultimately shrugged, exasperatingly leaning against the seat as he looked out the tinted windows. 

“Can I…at least have the handkerchief?”

“No!”

“Awww c’mon Elise-chan!”

He sulked and whined the whole way home.

[the-s1lly-corner]

hello! Im one(1) of the anons that requested the jane doe reader and i thought of a funny scenario

So the character of jane doe was basically decapitaded so, imagine if reader's head isnt atached to their body, and can take their head off .

The tadc cast react to the reader taking off their head and then putting It back on like nothing. Tyy!!!

( remember to rest and drink wáter) :)

TADC cast x a reader with a detachable head!

oh hoho this one is going to be fun because my TADC oc can do the same thing, can take their limbs and head off at will and as needed; so i may or may not let my excitement show in this post and use my oc as a placeholder.. i definitely will.. which reminds me, i have a sketch of my ocs human design as well as a messy ref of their digital body... i have got to draw them more.. maybe ill finish the human sketch sometime today after this post... speaking of this post! this is the last request in my inbox ! after this im gonna take a break for a bit then reopen requests! do not send in requests at this time, please! (this goes for everyone regardless of fandom </3)

CAINE:

technically i think you could consider him with a detachable head... because i dont... think he has a neck... so technically.. not phased at all, he has seen things from various different circus members.. but lets say you came before zooble, and you were also the first circus member who could do that... i think he would be really into it and be amused. probably flies right up to you chattering about that little trick of yours

POMNI:

uncomfy by it, i think it would take her a while to get used to it... i think she would be the same with zooble thanks to the "these are people" thing, with the only reason she didnt freak out at zoobles dismemberment in the pilot being because she was preoccupied with her panic and confusion of this new setting

RAGATHA:

mildly uncomfortable anytime it happens but no where near as uncomfortable as pomni, since she has had her time to get used to a bunch of weird stuff in the circus; both from the circus itself as well as the people in it.. will guide your body to your head if theres ever a scenario where the two get separated.. hand holding... smiles

JAX:

probably tries to convince you to leave your head in someones room or in a box and have some poor unsuspecting person open it.. i think that would scare anyone, even if they were used to your headless activities... probably laughs at your body wandering aimlessly trying to find your head if theres an occasion where it was forcefully knocked off.. probably nudges your head away... this only really works if your body has to blindly fumble and you having to telepathically guide it towards you instead of it just going into autopilot and knowing where you are automatically and has zero struggle beelining for the head... but fumbling... funny

KINGER:

owoo!! jumpscare!/ref

honestly i think sometimes he just rolls with it and other times hes bothered by it; really depends on how hes feeling that day... but i think the majority is that hes used to it thanks to zooble... has probably run off with your head on accident when he meant to run off with you as a whole, usually in the face of danger during an IHA...

ZOOBLE:

completely unphased by it since they can pretty much do the same thing! there isnt really much to be said since zooble neither feels this way or that in regards to your little decapitation trick... if they couldnt mess with their own parts though i think they would find your thing cool, though

GANGLE:

depending on what your digital body is themed around i think this would determine how gangle would feel about it... like zooble is mismatched and is seen taking out their antennae as well as their limbs being snagged off by jax... with zooble, is makes sense, they look like a mismatched mess of different parts.. so if you were something that could reasonably do the same thing i think she can overlook it... now the first time would still be a shock, no doubt about it, regardless of theme.. very careful whenever theres a reason they need to get close to your head, she does not wanna knock it off and potentially upset you

[loofiedee]

I finished wano and was so angry about their design choices that it made me draw OP fanart for the first time in months.

Design notes under the cut!

I wanted Hiyori to look more like Oden, so i made her features longer and Actually gave her Oden's eyeshape since that is. you know. a plot point?

Also very obvious inspiration from Ukiyo-e style woodblock prints bc I think having her be Stunningly Gorgeous And Painting-Like by the beauty standards of the era would have been fun.

I really love her color palette and silhouette so I didn't actually change her design much beyond that.

Momo has his mother's eyes in the same way Hiyori has her father's. Slightly downturned and extremely sweet-looking. I think this reflects nicely the way they each parallel their parents in the story, and the way each parent was important to them.

I made momo a lot smaller. I wanted the visual contrast when compared to Oden. Oden was muscular because he was running around fighting wild boars, but he was also muscular as a representation of him being strong and a capable leader. Momo didn't grow and slowly build strength like his father. Momo is awkward, and lanky, and wearing clothes that are far too big for him because they were never meant to be his in the first place.

In addition, I wanted to soften and round out his features. I wanted him to look just slightly too-young, younger than his body is, because I want everyone who looks at him to have a haunting reminder of the fact that he is a child being forced to awkwardly pilot the body of a man because of the legacy people forced him to take on.

I DID really like his unkempt hair though. I think it was a really nice visual representation of how completely and utterly he does not have his shit together. It makes him look like he was living in a cave for a few years and just rolled out.

And Also Hiyori Should Have Been The Fucking Shogun. For The Record. And She Should Have Killed Orochi By Stabbing Him To Death With A Hair Pin While He Was Helpless Bc Of The Sea Prism Stone Nail. Anyway, Bye.

[sepublic]

Homesick: The Lost TOH S1B Episode!

So the storyboards for Homesick gave us the Healing Glyph, which incorporates the alchemical symbol for Water, just as the Fire Glyph has Fire (obviously) and Plant has Earth (not as obvious but still very much so). Makes sense, water is often associated with cleansing and healing; Take for example Avatar the Last Airbender! Not only that BUT;

Prior to Any Sport in a Storm, John Bailey Owen, a head writer for the show, tweeted this book plate! I and others lost our minds over what appeared to be a S1-era graphic with an unknown fifth glyph, and speculated about it…

Now we know. It was the Healing Glyph all along!!!!!! It was indeed another glyph! And its placement with the four we know makes me suspect the writers still intended for most spells to be accessed via glyph combos, it’s just that the base glyphs of the Titan would’ve been five and not four! And Healing being one of the Titan’s main glyphs in an earlier draft makes sense, given the Titan has to have VERY good health to stay alive in her rotted state for so long, as well as resurrecting Luz, being the literal grounds for life on the Boiling Isles, and even regenerating imperfectly, which was a concept brought up by the writers for why certain aspects of the isles are fleshy or have entire body parts.

Alas, the episode the Healing Glyph appears in —Homesick— wasn’t animated. But it does have Luz being in Hexside as a plot point, showing how she has to rely on the magic around her to make things for other classes, like potions. So this episode might’ve been drafted after the executive mandate for more Hexside, and been intended to air after The First Day even!

Given Homesick’s storyboards open with an introduction to its the crew members while No Tree Left Behind doesn’t… I think Homesick was made during a different stage of development, after the final version of S1A had been storyboarded in fact! While NTLB was before S1A’s final drafts were settled on, hence Lilith being more villainous like in the pilot and using Luz as a hostage (which detracts from Agony of a Witch’s significance as that sorta thing being the first time it happens). Adding to my point is how the demon hunters return in Homesick, with Tom alluding to Hooty’s Moving Hassle;

Of course, the name Homesick’s H doesn’t fit into ‘A witch loses a true way’ which has me suspect the titles for S1 weren’t finalized when this was storyboarded, either; So before we got S1A’s titles officially revealed. Or maybe the message would’ve ended differently, while still starting with ‘A witch loses’. I can imagine how development for a season can change past its midway point!!!

But yeah, this is the missing glyph! The lost episode! Why wasn’t it animated, I wonder; Maybe there wasn’t enough space for S1B and the writers felt every other episode shown took priority (I will not tolerate Sense and Insensitivity and Really Small Problems slander, King’s development DOES matter). Maybe they ran out of budget, they reached the episode limit for a season. S1 was meant to be 20 episodes but instead got 19, so S2 compensated with 21! We got an extra episode for S2 because of it… Only for the show to be cancelled after Agony of a Witch aired, so it really needed that extra episode to set up S3 ugh. Reminder that we lost fourteen episodes’ worth of screen time because of Disney!

Anyhow, Homesick could’ve been our missing episode to round out that number. Again, I don’t know why it was left out, but I wonder if the character of Caduceia (who appears in this episode) had her design repurposed for Raine Whispers, whose teenage appearance is alluded to later in S1B. But that photo could’ve been added late in production, during the time in which things were actually animated! If we look at the production codes for S1, it has 101-120… But there isn’t a 117.

I should clarify that production codes don’t always align to episodes’ intended order; Something Ventured, Someone Framed is 109 while Escape of the Palisman is 108. But SVSF has to happen before EotP, because EotP references Luz being enrolled in Hexside, which happens in SVSF. So as far as I can tell, Homesick (aka production code 117) happens after The First Day. We see Eda’s ring, so it’d also have to occur before Wing it like Witches!

But then again Clouds on the Horizon’s storyboards gave Amity the portal key when she lost that eleven episodes ago, so who knows what happens in production or what details get messed up by storyboarders, especially since production isn’t always chronological; Homesick’s storyboarders might not have known about the ring in WilW while working on the episode. The lack of Healing Glyph in other episodes makes me wonder if it was supposed to be Luz’s last one, even!

She doesn’t use it in WilW where it could’ve helped Amity at the end, but then maybe that episode was altered in response to no more Homesick. In fact maybe the episode was cut because the writers were concerned about the Healing Glyph not having established limits (which they learned from by later in S2 giving Luz’s invisibility combo the breathing requirement), which takes away a lot of tension and can write them into a corner. I know that feeling… In the episode it was powerful enough to heal Hooty of his entire illness, and as Dana says, limitation breeds innovation so such a boon for the protagonists had to be removed to make room for potential conflict and dilemmas later on.

Since Homesick’s conclusion depends a lot on and revolves around the Healing Glyph, they might not have been able to rework the plot to still make it work in the S1B context, not in enough time, plus we already know that the final show didn’t need the episode that much in the end if there’s no glyph for it to offer. And then the animators went back and edited WilW to foreshadow Raine since Caduceia as a character was now cut, leaving her design repurposed for Whispers instead.

On another note, Homesick’s photo of Manny with his face blurred also indicates he was meant to be a mystery as early as S1B, aka his death as a motivator for Luz was in plan at least since then; Makes sense, Manny giving Luz her favorite book is based off of Dana’s own childhood experience with her father, so she would have that in mind well before The Owl House was even an idea prompted out of spite! Additionally, Camila WAS meant to be a nurse, and this was changed at some point during or after S1B’s production!

And with all this speculation on development aside, I want to address how this could still fit into current canon; I’ve HC’ed that different Titans have different base glyphs and different designs, though the function of some spells may align (such as King and his papa having Light). So maybe Healing is the second of King’s glyphs, and Luz discovers it when Eda or someone else casts a healing spell!!! I could see a very abridged version of Homesick happening post-canon, after the show’s final scene.

[marlinspirkhall]

I watched the unaired Selection pilots so you don't have to

But, if you want to, you can do so here, and here (password: “selection”), credit to Media Garage on YouTube

Edit: links no longer active

The Selection (2012)

Strong Hunger Games vibes throughout, the plain-text opening screen isn't helping

Stock-footage of rolling hills gets replayed way too much

ETHAN PECK?

Unlike in the books, America only finds out she's been entered into The Selection after she gets selected, so the plot point about the photoshoot & her radiant smile being the thing which gets her selected no longer applies, I guess

Everyone in the YouTube comments was saying that Aspen and Maxon were miscast & the actors' roles should have been swapped (... No comment. I believe in you, Mr Peck)

This castle is looks too small to fit 24 TV show contestants in it

Fiona, unprompted: “Can you keep a secret, America?”

America: “I have been known to”

Fiona: “I play the violin”

Okay? (This is actually a very sweet moment and, again, Fiona may be the best actress in this)

This episode covered a significant portion of the first book, out of order, which makes me wonder if the intention was to cover all 3 books in one series.

This almost feels like half of a film, making me wonder if someone adapted a film spec script into a tv show spec script

Apparently, Fiona has a secret child and Celeste knows about it, causing Fiona to drop out on day one and tearfully warn America to “trust no one, there's no such thing as friends here”- which is a fucking wild thing to say when she's probably the only contestant who's been nice to America so far & Celeste didn't even need to get to know her to know her secrets because she has spies anyway 😭

It's worth reminding you that they have been at the palace for one entire day total

You think Queen Amberly is being fleshed out in this version but... Hmm

Amberly appears to be the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes (she confronts Celeste about extorting Fiona, tells her "she would have gone home in due time" and to "leave America to me. Anything we do to try and separate them [her and Maxom] will only make him want her more")

Again: IT HAS BEEN A DAY

America sees her servant gathering all her dresses (none of which she has used yet, bar the yellow and green ones) including the iconic blue one from the book cover. America asks what's happening and the servant replies: “Prince Maxom's orders”

Cut to America's family. They open a box with a glittering pair of high heels inside. I guess this is supposed to mirror the part of the book where Maxom cuts off the stipend for 2's and 3's who are in the selection?

If you think this version feels unfaithful to the book, just wait until you see The CW's pilot

IT HAS BEEN ONE DAY

Runtime: one day 45 minutes

Final rating: 5/10, kinda long and stiff in places and the set design was all over the place. Felt like a Hallmark movie (the set design didn't help). Probably would watch another episode of this if it was a full series or a limited series of 3-6 episodes. A little script-doctoring and a better set would work wonders.

The Selection (2013)

I cannot stress enough: this version begins with a sex scene between Maxom and a servant

Okay, I got ahead of myself; it actually begins with another hunger-games-esque black screen with text on it, text which reads “Someday, in the future”, which is read aloud by a woman's voice.

We zoom in on a much roomier-looking castle on a hill, as a random whip sound effect plays (leading into the sex scene, in which no whips are present)

All the female servants in the palace are dressed in sexy maid costumes and I wish I was kidding

The world map explaining the history of Illea is CONFUSING AS HELL, but maybe they hadn't nailed down all the details yet. I'm genuinely not sure

ANTONY HEAD?

Aspen is introduced tied to a St Andrew's cross and being watched over by a guard. America asks the guard to free him, he chases her through the streets, she circles back and cuts Aspen down

America's selection is similar to the 2012 pilot, except Aspen is present. America asks her mom why she'd enter her into the selection when “You know I'm with Aspen”, so uh, I guess they're not keeping it a secret here.

There's also no mention of Aspen being of a lower caste than her, nor of America having a job other than the vague title of "laboring class" which hangs over them all, vaguely

This is a masterclass in editing and pacing. The dialogue is okay, but the added geopolitics make no sense. Any issues with this are smoothed over by the fact that the plot keeps moving forwards at a breakneck pace to keep you distracted.

The lack of breathing room would probably be too confusing for an audience who wasn't already familiar with The Selection

The set here is absolutely beautiful but unfortunately it gives me Merlin vibes, and casting Antony Head as the king does not help with this.

Maxon attempts to pull a Mr Darcy. He then tells America that if she runs away with Aspen, the guards will beat him to a pulp and they'll both spend the rest of their lives in prison. America suggests that she make the monarchy look good so the working class don't side with the rebels. Looks like we're going full Hunger Games.

Celeste's handmaiden seems way too devoted to her; they turn out to be lovers

Just when you think Maxon might start redeeming himself, we see the palace guards swarm Aspen and kicking him. Maxom stands nearby on his horse overseeing this so there's no question of whether he did it or not

Final rating: 6/10, I would absolutely watch another episode of this. It was an absolute mess, but I've seen teen wolf, so I'm not gonna pretend I'm above it.

This feels like the kind of pilot which would get greenlit just to attract hateviewers.

Summary:

Neither protagonist had red hair and neither adaptation was trying particularly hard to give it to her (2012: dark red box dye. 2013: blonde!)

These actors are doing their best and some of them even seem to be having fun (good for them)

In the 2013 pilot, the writers lampshade America running around “like an action hero”, but she promptly forgets how to do that by the midpoint of the episode, so w/e

It feels like the 2013 pilot was a reworking of the 2012 pilot, because there were too many similarities carried over from one script to another which weren't present in the original book, like Fiona having a secret relationship.

I forgot to mention that Aspen has a brother in the 2013 pilot. He seems to be adapted from the palace guard who has a relationship with one of the contestants in a later book.

I can't get over how fucking weird of a decision it is to make the kind and likeable love interest into a power-corrupt despot, but it does feel more true to an actual monarchy. I assume they were trying to give Maxon a bad-boy vibe, which doesn't make much sense because that's supposed to be Aspen's whole deal.

There was a whole subplot in both pilots where an advisor character is revealed to be working with the rebels at the end of the episode

Extremely funny to me that the 2012 pilot makes a point of mentioning that sex before marriage is illegal and the 2013 pilot opens with premarital sex with the prince regent

[thesupernaturalhouse]

Damn yall are liking this Hazbins Fallen au- I'm glad!! Honestly I was hoping people would like it but like, still a shock you know-

Anywaysss, I am busy but figured I'd post some fact/headcanons of the au, aoke plot points, mostly surrounding Emily because she's the main change of the au

Emily has a pretty big sweet tooth, and when she does get sweets she always gets extra for Razzle and Dazzle

Again, I will say this, Vaggie, Charlie and Emily are wrangle and dazzles moms. Keekee is not counting as a child cause the seems more like. A ept while Razzle and Dazzle seem mroe sentient, at least to me

Charlie and Seviathans relationship, post break up ofc, is like Ron Swanson and Tammy 2s, no the uh- getting back together part but the '....she's here-' part, Charlie absolutely hates his guts and whenever he's near her more demon features come out as she looks around trying to spot him

Emily barely holds herself back from killing slaviathen, you'd think it'd be Vaggie, but no, it's Emily

Emily design resembles a succubus, it was by complete accident, she lieks the color of horns and didn't realize what it could resemble-

Emily absolutely hates Al but hides it ebhidn a cheerful smile, silent anger so to speak(she does end up snapping at Al and I am so excited to write that scene)

Husk is Emily's father figure I already have a whole chaoter planned surrounding how they bon, Emily calls him dad from that chaoter onwards

Angle constantly makes 'I fucked you dad' jokes, even if they aren't true, at Em cause he knows it pushes her buttons....she retaliated by buying water balloons and throwing them at him one day when he makes the same joke again

Husk just watches.

In the pilot, vaggie holds up her spear and Emily pushes it down like "...no, no..." the Katy says soemthing homophobic and she immediately moves her hand away and says "nevermind. Do what you want."

Emily hates waking up early, she's done it for YEARS in heaven she'll eb damned if she does it for more in hell (plus there's nobody on her about being on time to places)

You knwo that scene where Husk is calling everyone out? Well, he looks at Emily and goes "and SHES....well....I've got nothing on her, she's perfect" you can tell who his favorite is

Remember when angle brings them ti a bdsm club? Yeah, I've- I've got a FUN scene idea for that-

Screw shoes let charlie show her hooves- especially since I 70% sure that hoped animals have to walk on their hooves or else they risk a lot of different things so- yeah, I'm throwing away her shoes.

Also have her show sone more demon features, I love making designs so much- and of course their gonna be more animalistic, cause I love expanding on animal nosies and behaviors and stuff, it was always planned tho I didn't have a specfici bird in mind for vaggie until the hawk feather exorcists au, she also makes moth noises

I am going to have so much fun making their designs-

Also, Emily and Peter are best friends in this au, mlm and wlw solidarity when they go back up to heaven while Sera is tlaking Peter is jsut staring at her

'I know' she knows he knows....she silently promises to catch him up before the trial and he finally looks away satisfied

I feel liek while Emily would be very quick to accept husk is her father figure I think Husk would be a bit hesitant to accept that HE is a father figure

You know victor from lackadaisy? I dont knwo why but I kinda like to imagine husk as him- like I'm debating if I should make husk have had a daughter when he was alive who he didn't get to see cause of the divorce and turned to alcoholism slowly. And Em reminds him if her and that makes him SCARED

Fun little idea I had that I may or may not include, depends how I'm feeling honestly, I do wanna ta leats keep some things liek how 'gruff' he is and apply it to husk, idm I feel like their personalities are every similar, thoguh that might jsut be me-

Husk would teach Emily how to play Chess

Charlie knows Vaggie and Emily are angles and all that stuff, as I've said before. So I'm debating wether or not to keep Al's deal in, I think I will but tweak it a bit

I love Al, but he is an above avrage overlord at best, the only reason he was able to fight agaisnthe exrocists and Adam was due to them not being used to people attacking BACK and seeing it more as entertainment then actual hunting.

Anyways Em may or may not call him out casually on multiple occasions- 'he does realize if he fights Adam he'll die- oh, and there he goes called it!' She doesn't like him

Em was very much called 'lucifers replacement' by many angles, not Sera but even Sera soemtimes accidentally said lucis name instead of Ems at Keats a few times. Anyways she hates lucifer despite never meeting him and for soem reaosn never realized he was Charlie's father-

Al and Rosie are Charlie's uncle and aunt, foudn family my beloved

The reveal that Emily is Emily the seraphim....well, lets hsut say when revealing vaggie to be an exrocist doesn't work. lute notices how fimiliar Em looks..... it's gonna be a very interesting chaote rthats for certain

Speaking of the episode list- probably gonna alter them cut ep6 into 2 parts to, I'll make a diffeent post about it-

[prince-liest]

Mr Prince, do you think Alastor can still speak with a Cajun/Louisiana creole accent, or is his voice stuck as the transatlantic radio show host accent? I like the idea that he could slip back into his older accent when he's has a bit too much to drink, or when he's very excited/angry/feels a strong emotion, or when he's lost in thought and something reminds him of his old life/hometown/mother

Pilot VA doing an exxagerated cajun accent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Rml2FtvW4

Cover of Friends on the other side (w/ Dr Facilier's - AKA Husk's VA - Louisiana cajun accent) with Alastor's voice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZVwcFWSji8

ETA: I forgot to add this due to being distracted by accent mechanics, but the asker sent a follow-up that I think is worth noting since as a commentor said, Alastor is Creole specifically:

just an interesting publication I found about the interconnection of Creole and Cajun - TIL Creole is mistakenly used as a racial designation, even though it encompasses a large spectrum of people of all colors and cultures - including some Cajun people who were considered a subset of the Creole people (LINK)

Okay, so, FASCINATING that you ask me this, hahaha, because I actually have a roommate that was put into speech therapy at around 11 years old because she was facing bullying due to having a UK accent, and she converted pretty fully to speaking with USAmerican accent over the course of 2-3 years.

This ask prompted me to ask her some questions about it, so here are some points she shared:

She does experience revertigo to her UK accent, but it has less to do with feeling strong emotions and more to do with context. It happens more easily if she's had something to drink or is sleepy, but the actual trigger for it is speaking with people or watching media that includes that accent. On rare occasion, if she is thinking deeply about old memories from when she still spoke with a UK accent, that can also cause the code-switch.

She still does vowel and consonant exercises sometimes, especially after a night where she had revertigo (most recently: had a few drinks with her boyfriend and got an Uber driver that was from a neighboring town to where she was born on the way home).

She has moments where she feels like she has to focus on speaking with sharper consonants, and also moments where she feels like the USAmerican accent is effortless. The more she's around people with US accents, the easier it is.

Now, Alastor's case is pretty different in some ways (for one, he likely started putting on the transatlantic accent a few years older than that), but is probably pretty similar in others (I imagine with the accent being so popular for media, there were plenty of known resources for teaching it to yourself, akin to speech therapy). And beyond that, a lot of how the human brain processes language, pronunciation, accents, and code-switching would remain consistent across the two different situations.

So most likely, he does have a chance of reverting back to his "mother" accent, likely when he's had a few drinks and is around folks who speak the same way. Now, whether his control issues would allow that to happen is a different question - he's very dedicated to his image, and I can see him being fully aware of the circumstances in which he's likely to slip, and subsequently either going a little easier on the alcohol or just plain paying extra attention to his enunciation when he speaks.

Since he probably started putting on the transatlantic accent later in life and also is never actually around people who speak it (since it's fake), I imagine he probably still has to regularly do vocal exercises for upkeep!

(Various sources: My roommate's life experiences and own education in psycholinguistics, oops, haha.)

[megamuscle885-blog]

Big thanks to @tgirlblogger who reminded me with a like to post this today this morning like I planned.

TORTUGA

Tinker 8 - All-in-one Mech, redundancy/life support tinker.

Citadel Architect, or Conglomerate Architect from the weaverdice document fit best here. Everything she makes feeds into her Mech, her magnum opus, a career spanning megaproject that is constantly 'unfinished' but still capable of combat. Much of her tinker methodology is inventing something and then discovering how it fits into the design of her machine. She believes her power is 'alive' and whispering the secrets of the universe to her, but she alternates between truly treating her power like it's alive and thinking it's just her subconscious needing a rubber duck to let itself out. (It's both, her shard is exactly like her only with a blue-orange mentality from being a giant space world-machine.)

She also has some extremely sophisticated parahuman scanning equipment built into her sensors and her quasi-AI computer co-pilot she's built to handle the automatic functions of her Mech. Her best work is made this way; scan parahumans (more in-depth scans are better but she's still taking passive scans of everyone she comes in contact with), create equipment inspired by parahumans, plug that component into the machine, the machine's secrets are revealed a little more and the puzzle is growing complete, iterate on new inspirations driven from the new tech's installation to upgrade previous tech until new well of inspiration is expended, repeat.

The consequence of this is that though her Mech is one of the most intensely iterated pieces of tinkertech in the world, she herself doesn't have much in the way of portable technology.

Glasses that record what she sees and hears with rear view cameras built into the frames that hang over her ears.

A pilot's plugsuit that is durable and temperature controlled and wicks away sweat and grime so she can wear it indefinitely.

A helmet much like a fighter pilot's that allows her to have a HUD and aim/control the mech manually via remote.

All of these things are mundane enough that they could be made without tinkertech, but customized to work with her Mech in a way no mundane tech could.

I'm not too sure on her trauma or how to make it fit. It could be that we simply don't cover it in the scope of the story. I feel like her self induced isolation within her Mech is part of it. She can't sleep comfortably outside of it, and even then for barely an hour. She'll start to become restless and hyper-vigilant while outside of it for any extended period of time. It's her safe space in a thousand different little ways. She's lost her Mech once before and had to rebuild it from damaged parts, almost from scratch, though she hasn't lost anything in terms of progress or discoveries. Tortuga Mk2 is a much more successful version of her initial machine.

Her specialty as a redundancy and life support tinker is best shown in how many backups she has for her technology. Chemical thrusters as backup for her anti-grav. Viewports as backup for cameras which are interchangeable with lidar, sonar, radar and gravity sensors to detect strangers, all within a camera drone net. Anti-thinker tech. Multiple shielding barriers, some based on slowing projectiles, others based on resisting them as hard as possible, then reactive armor behind them, then ceramics, soft armor, hard armor, etc. while a point defense system watches over all of it. The idea is that her Mech should resemble some of the most intense combined arms technology possible, while her inner sanctum exists to keep the VIP (her) as alive as possible. I may have to read up a little more on Lancer to get more inspiration. Hyper reflex mode, the deck-sweeper automatic shotgun (I intend to have it as a belt-fed gatling shotgun), Watchdog Co-pilot, all awesome things that inspired the character.

This didn't end up being the character bio I hoped for, but it's the one I'm posting. I'll probably end up expanding here later. Her history in central america will require some research I think, and some extrapolation on the kind of conflicts around Eidolon's zone of influence in Texas down towards Mexico and South America. Earth Bet's USA feels a bit isolationist in foreign policy to me, especially as Endbringers started cropping up, and Leviathan started crippling international shipping, and the Simurgh makes air travel daunting. I wonder what kind of influence Earth Bet's USA holds over Haiti, the Dominican Republic, or Mexico, all historically within the USA's zone of influence.

I also haven't yet thought of a name for her since I also don't know in my mind where she's from. There's this murky idea of a shaved head and pale skin and sunken eyes with bags under them, but an overall chipper attitude in private (within the comfort of her mech) and a terse mercenary facade when she puts on for her client or 'co-workers' whoever they end up being. I'm thinking something voiced by Jennifer Hale in that icy renegade Sheppard style. She's constantly got her tinker on a leash anytime she speaks to people, but would rapidly open up and turn into a motormouth if she's being encouraged and feels safe to unleash her thoughts and interests on others. Turtles are a big non-tinker special interest I think. I may have to do research on Turtles. Fuck.

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Ok a rant about Cerri bomb and how much I HATE her

In the addict music video she was a very supportive friend of Angel and I loved her in the pilot! I wish we got that supportive best friend to Angel in the final product, but unfortunately she is a woman in a vivziepop show.

She’s AWFUL now I can’t stand her, the way she tried to make Angel relapse was so weird like pilot cherri wouldn’t do that! I also really dislike her design it has to be one of my personal least favourites (not the bottom though nothing is worse than alastors design to me) she isn’t enjoyable to watch anymore she had potential if she’d only been introduced earlier! Imagine if she was introduced in episode 4 and played the supportive friend she was originally supposed to be!

And GOD I hate her ship with pentious, it was SO RUSHED, so poorly done and the ship isn’t very “so cute and in love!!” When you remember she showed literally NO interest in him until Angel brought up that he has 2 dicks, and this is supposed to be a romantic relationship we CARE about.

Cherri didn’t need a romantic relationship she needed CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT we needed to get to know her! If you’ve only seen the show and no other Hazbin media at all (which shouldn’t be required you should be able to get all your info FROM THE SHOW) you’d barely know anything about her character or who she is. I wish we got pilot cherri bomb, and that she got a design update, and that her and pent’s relationship was either taken slower or didn’t happen at all

You silly little creature you, you have me writing in my notes app instead of Tumblr because I’m about to go crazy!

Cherri Bomb. More like Cherri what the hell happened

Anyway I’m gonna tackle this one thing at a time, and also forgive me if I word something weird I just woke up an hour ago at the time of writing this.

First thing, design: I personally quite like her design since it very loosely reminds me of Iris from Ruby Gloom with ofc the one eye, the very rowdy personality and kind of the hair, but those are very broad design choices and its just me remembering some random girl I thought was silly but like Iris did it better.

Okay now second thing and then we go into literally everything else: My blog has been an angry pit of despair for everything in Episode 6 as of recent so let’s tap into that again 🤏 just a little. I am going to give my classic centrist opinion and say I don’t mind Cherri Bomb all that much but I absolutely get why people dislike her, and I mean this in the kinda way as people who dislike… Idk Fukuchi from BSD. WILD jump in fandoms but gimme a second. I can’t 100% say that Cherri Bomb in the pilot was better than the series since we have no idea if maybe for some reason she was intended to be like that offscreen, but judging by the pilot and “Addict” alone, it’s very unlikely. I could see her maybe being a bad influence at times and being like “Loosen up dude we’re in hell and its Friday” or something (idk if they have Friday in hell but everyday is probably Monday 🥁) but overall I feel like she’d end up apologising for it. However on the other side of things, I can understand why Cherri did that in Episode 6. Of course not to say this is okay, but Cherri is still very clearly not in the “redemption” mindset. She’s happy the way she is and is really only focused on certain aspects of issues. We see her comfort Angel in “Addict” but thats basically the extent of it. Cherri’s definition of “self-care” seems to be less of actually taking care of yourself and more like just letting go and having fun instead which really only gives a momentary fix to the issue, much like how substances can be abused. Do you kinda see what im getting at? Cherri offering Angel drugs while he’s trying not to relapse is not okay, full stop. But her reasoning as to why makes a bit of sense for her purpose in the show which is honestly not much, since, as you said, she is a woman in a Vivziepop show.

To my knowledge Cherri is like 30-ish years younger than Angel Dust in Hell experience so she’s likely not reached a point where she’s gotten tired of how things work, as well as the fact we don’t really have much of an idea on her backstory aside from that random shot in “Addict” of that guy in a puddle??? But generally she seems to be in a better position than Angel is, so there isn’t really any reason for her to want to change, yknow? I will say I do like exploring characters that are good friends while still being bad influences at times, but I’m going to be honest I feel like thats really not what Angel needs right now. I wouldn’t be as pissy about it if she did end up apologising afterwards (I’m just gonna headcanon she did for my sanity) but even then as Angel’s friend we don’t know like… anything about her. I would’ve really liked to get some kind of callback to the pilot where Cherri mentions she thought Angel was dead until the random Sir Pentious turf war, and maybe we could see her actually being worried about Angel again instead of those 3 frames in “Addict”, but Hazbin is rushed and I guess we don’t have time for that. And also YES it would’ve been great to see her in Episode 4 and actually doing something but again, Vivziepop is boring.

Going forward I would really like to see Cherri, if not become a patron, at least try to be a better friend and sure if she wants to keep doing stuff she can keep doing it, but just don’t encourage other people to relapse. It is very simple.

SIR PENTIOUS! About Sir Pentious, this is going to be incredibly short. I don’t hate the ship but also I’m not really crazy about any of the Hazbin Hotel ships? I also don’t really hate any except for the genuinely horrid ones but thats basic sense. I absolutely agree with you, Cherri does not need a romantic interest. Romance doesn’t always = growth and growth should not always = romance. She needs some genuine character TLC and I hope to god she gets some in season 2. We’ve only seen a few minutes of her so I have yet to give a firm opinion, but as of now I’m just hoping they do something actually interesting with her instead of just alluding to Sir Pentious ship. Also the penis thing. 1. What was that, and 2. It made me and my friends briefly pause to sex Sir Pentious and come to the conclusion he is likely transgender/hj

TLDR; Please give us a fun Cherri Bomb again. ☹️

[brucesterling]

Facebook AI spam as an analyzed by Microsoft Bing Copilot, May 2024:

Analysing the image: Faces may be blurred to protect privacy.

The image depicts three figures seated around a birthday cake with lit candles. The central figure is wearing a party hat with the American flag design, and there is an American flag hanging in the background. The setting appears to be a dimly lit room with some items scattered around, such as a helmet on the floor and what looks like military gear. The faces of the figures are obscured by pixelation.

This image may be interpreted as having themes related to military service, given the presence of military gear and the American flag, which could suggest patriotism or a commentary on soldiers’ experiences. However, without more context, it’s not possible to determine the exact meaning or intent behind this image. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

*Tell me a fictional backstory for this image.

Certainly! Let’s weave a fictional tale around this intriguing image:

Title: “The Forgotten Celebration”

In the small, dimly lit room, three figures huddled together. Their faces obscured by pixelation, they sat around a makeshift birthday cake adorned with flickering candles. The central figure, wearing a party hat fashioned from an old American flag, stared at the cake with a mix of longing and melancholy.

Captain Benjamin “Ace” Reynolds, the man in the party hat, had seen better days. Once a decorated fighter pilot, he’d flown countless missions during the war. But now, he was grounded—his body scarred, his spirit broken. The helmet on the floor beside him bore the marks of battle, its dents and scratches telling stories of dogfights and near misses.

Beside Ace sat Lena, the nurse who’d tended to his wounds. Her eyes held a sadness that mirrored his own. She’d seen too much suffering, too many lives lost. The cake before them was a feeble attempt at normalcy—a reminder that even in the chaos of war, birthdays came and went. Lena had baked it herself, scavenging ingredients from ration packs and trading favors with the mess hall cook.

And then there was Private Jackson, the youngest of the trio. Fresh-faced and eager, he’d joined the ranks just months ago. His uniform hung loosely on his frame, and the candlelight danced across his hopeful eyes. Jackson had never been in combat, but he’d heard the stories—the camaraderie, the adrenaline, the fear. He wondered if he’d ever get his chance to prove himself.

The American flag in the background fluttered gently, its stars and stripes a reminder of the ideals they fought for. But in that room, patriotism felt distant, almost irrelevant. Survival was the order of the day, and birthdays were a luxury they couldn’t afford.

As the candles flickered, casting shadows on the cracked walls, Ace raised his glass—a chipped mug filled with water—and proposed a toast. “To life,” he said, his voice gravelly. “To surviving another year.”

Lena smiled, her fingers tracing the rim of her own mug. “And to hope,” she added. “May it find us even in the darkest of times.”

Jackson clinked his mug against theirs. “And to the skies,” he said. “Wherever they may lead.”

And so, in that forgotten corner of the war-torn world, they celebrated. The cake tasted like cardboard, but the warmth of their shared company made it bearable. For a brief moment, they were more than soldiers—they were human beings, clinging to fragments of normalcy in a world gone mad.

As the last candle sputtered out, Ace closed his eyes. He imagined the roar of engines, the rush of wind, and the thrill of flight. Maybe someday, he’d take to the skies again. But for now, he’d hold onto this memory—the three of them, united by cake, candlelight, and the promise of tomorrow.

And that, my friend, is the fictional backstory behind this enigmatic image. If you’d like more tales or have any other requests, feel free to ask!

[cutepastelstarsalior]

Decided to watch Hazbin Hotel…..(only because I hard that Jeremy Jordan is Lucifer va…..and also because i am a hater™️)

Watching this on Watch Anime dub, it has the pilot…so

Pilot

Pilot Charlie voice is so pretty. God the angels designs remind me of those weird The Purge neon mask…forget how red this pilot is..there is a lot of random sounds effects, it feels a tinnnyyyyyy bit to much. Pilot angels voice <3 snake guy voice so SO familiar????? I feel like he was in a video game or something. Hmm I forgot how much cursing there is…minor pet peeve, sometimes the lineart is hot pink and it’s kind of annoying since it sticks out against black lineart, also there SO many eyes, everywhere? Idk if that a fun little quirk or lore™️ that one news reporter being on fire made me laugh.. I like the mixed art style when Vaggie talks about Alastor, it’s charming. Hmmm, radio sound effects, love them <3

I think it’s cool that Charlie is a very sweet, kind of “childish” Nieves princess in a world full of murder and hate and violence. It makes me wonder how she got that way? Also hell is overpopulated so the angels kill them. Interesting!! Especially since lot of demons also fight over territory. This Katie killjoy does have a point, why would sinners want to change? Beside the killing, it seems like hell is basically Earth 2.0.. It is cool how Alastor the radio demon, decided to help out because he’s bored.

GOOSEWORX THE CEATOR OF THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS :0 👀 yooooooo. Jesus there so many people working on this pilot…

Scale of 1-5 I give this a 3.5.

Episode 1

Ok, so the intro says that the angels have an extermination because they don’t want Hell to rise up. But in the pilot it was because of overpopulation…Also Lucifer not liking hell and can no longer dream, while Lilith thrives…hmmm if this story has Lilith be evil while Lucifer is good idk how to feel about that. The voices are different, while I don’t like Charlie’s new voice (sounds to idk deep?) I definitely like Vaggies, it’s deep and a bit monotone. Also new outfits!!! Charlie’s is fine, but I don’t like how sharp her face is? So look more older and mature compared to her pilot self, which add the whole naive princess feel. It’s canonically 5days to a week between the events of the pilot and the first episode…oh ew I hate Angels voice. It’s too high, and he has an accent now??? Oh Husk voice!! While is deep, it’s also high? No longer gruff.. hmm character wise, angels seem more bitchy?? Then the pilot?

Ok…random song???? Just…no build up music or anything.. Charlie curses more too. In the pilot she curse like, 3 times. Here she does it more.

There is a giant clock tower thing that went you go in, leases to a lobby then leads to the angels???? Wouldn’t that make it like, easier to attack heaven or something? Why is an Angel, like the heaven angel, cursing?? I feel like that would be against the rules?? WAIT THATS ADAM LIKE FIRST HUMAN ADAM???? Oh no that worse… like like nifty she’s a cutiepie :)

Ok Hell is still overpopulated, and heaven keeps killing then because they think he’ll will overpower them, but Adam does it for entertainment? Hmmm they also going to kill again in 6 months. :/ Katie killjoy voice is also bad.. oh!!! Wait Adam lied, the real reason heaven is killing again because an Angel was killed? But an angel was never killed before??? I thought hell was very powerful?

Episode rating 1-5. I give it a 3. I like the singing, love Vaggies and Alastor’s dynamic. But the plot is a bit confusing? Is hell being kill because of overpowered or because of overpopulated? The hotel design is pretty. Though he’ll is still red :/

Episode 2

Why is hell citizen freaking out? In the pilot it seems like they like it, because people can fight over territory. And an angel was murder, so ??? Don’t see why they would panic.

The Vees. Vox, a tv head demon who is like a weird Amazon business guy. His design is…clutter. Dude, striped jacket with vertical stripes shirt? Tho thank god he’s blue, he sticks out nicely in hell. I like his blue neon eyeliner, that cool. Velvet is a British fashion designer….shes fine. I don’t really care for her. And Valentino, who’s is Angel’s boss/pimp. And oh my gosh whose voice, his accent keeps coming and going??? It’s bad I hate it, because it’s so noticeable. Interesting that he’s Spainish(?)

Vox can hypnotize people and he did a cool tv voice effect!! Oh god I think I have a favorite character??? Vox and nifty…

Ok ok ok, so there a radio demon, a tv demon, is there a computer/internet demon??? God I hope so. Imagine if there an internet demon and vox and alastor has to like put aside there differences and work together.

Why is there Egyptian demons???? Ancient Egyptian believed in an underworld called Duat, but it’s not a place of external punishment. The ancient Egyptian thought the worst punishment a soul could have would be denial to the afterlife, and being ceased to exist. The souls did have to make a dangerous journey to be judged by Horus and Osiris. (Wiki)

Vox asked Alastor to join his team?? Maybe Vox doesn’t like Velvet and Valitini that much? He seems more like a boss to them than a friend.

“And that’s the tea” :/ Why is Alastair using slang from after the 20’s? I mean sure he probably learn it in hell. But Alastor is like from 1920. That’s the tea/spilling tea is original from drag culture in 1994.

What IS Charlie’s plan to redeems sinners? Charlie was born in hell, and the sinner were from earth, surely the sinner like, know how to apologize and basic human decency? Maybe they just forgot? Maybe they need to like, clean themselves of their sin??? Idk.

Oh my god Charlie is having them do a say no to drugs roleplay!!!! ……that. Akers me wonder, how does Charlie’s know this stuff if she’s from hell? Does she learn this by watching the sinners? Did her mom or dad teach her this??? Ok, so I have seen the pilot and that seen post about that one comic about angel day to day life, and seen the addic music video. So it’s a surprise that Fat Nuggets, Angle’s pet pig is here. And that weird red smoke.

I don’t care for snake guy. He’s…neutral. Kind of suck that who snake guy being a spy was like, immediately uncovered. Kind of wished that angle was get like bummed out about the attention snake guy is getting, then later he would like, try to find out what is going on. Or something!!! But I guess having snake guy be an actual member of the team is fine. Tho, I do like his design. It’s nice to see characters that aren’t so red. Angel’s and Vaggie’s singing voice harmonies really well. Ok, this is like the first sign I actually enjoy.

Scale 1-5. I give it a 4. Only because of Vox, and that ending song.

Episode 3

Snake guy wanting to shoot the other residents because he thinks everyone is to nice and it’s a lie. That…that surprisingly a deep thought? Like I didn’t expect the show to have the residents not trust one another because they are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Also it seems like Vaggie and Alastair run the hotel, like doing up with the ad, making rules. Seems like Charlie is just the face/money aspect of the hotel. My guess is that in the future Charlie wants to quit, or is forced to to quit, and Vaggie take over, or gives like, an emotional speech about how the hotel and running it charge her for the better.

I remover in the pilot, or around that time, Alastor is aroace (nice) but I don’t remember what Vaggie is. But I can see people shipping them. For me, I could see then being close friends or maybe a weird ambiguous relationship.

Charlie you kind of a shitty boss. Like, I know I just said that vaggie does all the work, but girl, you have to do some work to?

Oh my god there do a Mean Girls trust fall bit.

Weird green spider guy….i love him. Wish this show has subtitles, would love to understand what this guy is saying..

There sub overloads? Neat. God that weird neon wolf??? Dinosaur??? Is SO distracting, like they really stick out against the reds and washout colors..

Once again, a another song without any music buildup or warning. “I’m the backbone of the Vees” hmmmmm are you tho? Like, Vox is doing a lot, and Val is….there. WAIT IS SHE the internet overboard??? She’s call “social media overlord” in one of the screen backgrounds.. god if she if, that lame. She not like, scary or imitating?? She’s just annoying. Man that sucksss. We could have like a cool internet overlord that was young and careless, but that a persona, and on the inside they are rude and vile. Because the internet has everything and anything, so they could instantly control people lives or spread rumors or doxxs people????

Idk why, but velvet sing reminds me of SIX the musical. But I know that her VA is Lily Cooper who did the SpongeBob musical and wicked , and not SIX.

Why is this lady’s earring hanging off her hair??? Do sinner/demons/whatever not have ears or noses?? Eghh I don’t like her singing?? It feel like she’s straining herself.

WAIT THE SNAKE EGG HAS EGGS BECAUSE SNAKE LAY EGGS BUT THEY ALSO EAT THEM. OHHHHH. why did that take me so long to figure that out??

Scale 1-4. I give this a 2. Idk man, this episode is kind of boring.

Episode 4

Oh dear, I hard LOT of bad things with this episode…let’s see how bad it is.

Charlie get gross out by the sex tape….asexual Charlie real. To me!!!! Also same, Charlie, same.

“Dollface” aw, cute.

Angel panicking about Charlie trying to talk to his boss. I’m guessing he’s afraid that if Charlie accidentally angers Val, Val will take his anger out on Angel. :(

Oh cool. Val hit angel. Wow!! (Sarcasm) Totally wish there was like, a warning or something for that!!!!

Hmm ok. So that song was…bad. Like lyrically bad. As for the scenes, I literally don’t know how to feel about them? Like knowing the backstories of this episode, it grosses me out. But the song and scenes, just didn’t feel anything? Idk.

I don’t think husk should get angel back?? Angel was sexually harassed him, and husk has repeatedly said no. Like yeah, angel did that has a bad coping mechanisms or like, persona, but hmmm. I feel like if they two need to talk to each other, it could be in a different way? Also I noticed this episode is SUPER short compared to the other ones. The other once’s are like 22 minutes, this one is 12.

Oh cool, husk stoped angel from getting roofied. I guess with him being a bartender, he’s train to watch out of these things.

Husk singing voice is so so nice <3 but WOW is this message a bad one. Angel sold his soul to Val, and Val abuses him. Angel then self destruct because he thinks if he (angel) is broken enough then Val will let him go. Meanwhile…..Husk was an overlord who gamble and lost his soul to Alastor…..these 2 problems don’t equal each other. One is horrible, and one is a bummer situation. Also the message for being at rock bottom, together, maybe he helped to some people, but I think in Angel’s case he needs different help. Like sometimes when people act worse with each other, it can make people not want to get better or encourage someone to get worse. I feel like that what husk and angel dynamic is?

For some reason I feel like Charlie was written really out of character here??? She crying and had to be carried away. It feels very weird.

Scale 1-4. I give this a 1. Would have have this a 0 but husk singing voice save it.

I heard that episode 5 and 6 are coming soon. Will I seen them, probably. Do I enjoy this show? Not really. The concept is cool! And like, only 3 characters I enjoy. But I feel like the way this is handled is bad. On Prime Video this show is 18+. Honestly, this show feels more like TV-14 - TV-MA. TV 14 is decried as intended for children ages 14 and up in company of an adult. It possibly contains suggesting dialogue, strong language, intense sexual situations, or intense violence.

TV MA is for adults. It possibly contains crude indecent language, explicit sexual activity, or graphic violence. On IMDb Hazbin Hotel has 19 sex and nudity, 14 gore and violence, 9 profanity, 10 alcohol, drugs and smoking, 9 fighting and intense scenes. On HBO MAX it’s 18+, TVMA, when video version, and 16+ on YouTube. So like, who is this show for???

[zukoromantic]

HAPPY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO @smarter-than-the-smarties !!!!!

I know i'm not exactly early, but I'm your secret santa for @duckblrsecretsanta2023 ! :D I hope you're having lovely holidays! ^^🩵

I love your taste in characters and decided to write a small Agent 22 mission fic where she chases down a certain scientist! I hope you enjoy it! It reminded me how much fun these characters are, so I for one was happy to work on it <3

(thanks to @ai-higurashi who beta read!)

--------------

Agent 22 looked at the city in front of her. Everything seemed normal. Busy, naturally for a city of this size, but normal.

SHUSH had gotten information that Black Heron had made her way to Paris. And of course Bentina had been the one immediately sent to follow. She had had several encounters with the woman. A scientist with a bigger sense for drama than could be found on any stage in the world. Which was the only reason she qualified as a threat at all.

Currently, 22 was seated in a news helicopter surveilling the city, along with a SHUSH coordinator and a pilot.

”She will undoubtedly try pulling a stunt at one of the landmarks. We should keep an eye on the city from the sky.”

Additionally, she had suggested the design of a news helicopter to keep a low profile. Sure, it was bigger than they would usually be, but it was more convenient to have some space.

Technically, the mission coordinator should have had a word in the planning, but Bentina usually took charge on most parts of a mission.

It was one of the reasons people weren’t exactly keen on working with her.

That didn’t matter to her though. Her focus was on the mission at hand at all times. It was only natural she would make sure everything went as smoothly as possible.

At least the coordinator was the one keeping in touch right now with SHUSH headquarters.

“22, we got word. Black Heron has been sighted on the Eiffel Tower.”

“Of course she has." The Eiffel Tower had been her number one guess. It was not just the most famous but also the tallest one of the sights in the city. Plenty of attention.

“What is it that she’s doing?”

“They don't know yet. She seems to be armed, highest platform, everyone is making their way down as we speak. We will land right now as close as we can and get up the tower.”

“We don’t have time for that. Get me as close to the tower as you can.”

“22, that -”

“Got it.” Before the coordinator could finish his objection, the pilot had already set course. Much to her colleague’s dismay. “We are going to attract plenty of unwanted attention! Besides, this is far too unsafe.”

Beakley didn’t so much as spare him a glance. “It’s either us or her. If we find time to land and get to the top of a structure that’s about a thousand feet tall, it will be too late. Send support now to assist with the arrest, I am getting to her now.”

While talking, she got up from her seat and grabbed some of her tools that she had stored away in a box.

One of them, a rope gun. Beakley positioned herself in front of one of the doors as they hovered down and closer to the landmark.

She couldn't see Heron from their position. She was most likely at the other side of the platform and had other things to do than paying attention to the helicopter.

“Can’t get closer than that!”, shouted the pilot from the front.

Beakley took a breath. It wasn’t her first time doing this, but she had to focus.

Steady aim.

Focus.

Shoot.

A rope dashed out of the gun straight to the top of the tower.

Hit.

It was a SHUSH special gadget. The tip functioned like a simple suction cup but about eighteen times more effectively. She would need it if she were to slide down on this rope.

Quickly, she fixed her end of the rope in the helicopter and snapped the handle into place before holding onto it tightly. Thank goodness she had done this a hundred times.

The last thing she heard before daring the final step was her coordinator instructing her to not be too reckless. As if she of all people needed a reminder.

A jump and her feet lost solid ground. With a high but still controlled speed, she soared through the air towards the tower. Heron still wasn’t in sight. The woman must be very occupied so as not to notice her arrival.

Better for her.

She prepared to jump off at the right moment. She needed to be careful not to crash into the -

Now!

22 let her hands loosen the grip and she fell into the space between the fence and the wall; landing in a way to deal as little damage as possible to her own body.

The loud thump she landed with felt appropriate however, as it wasn’t exactly like falling into pillows.

But she had learned not to dwell on any pain. She had obtained no injuries, so she could proceed undeterred.

With the sound however, she suspected that Heron must have noticed her at last.

“What kind of reporter are y-” an unmistakable voice yelled from her right in the square pathway, allowing Beakley to face the correct direction.

A woman in a short reddish dress - covered by a black cloak for once - and a long pointy beak showed up at the corner. Her eyes darted between the rope contraption and the agent in front of her for a moment.

“22?! Is there anywhere you won’t follow me?” Despite the surprise in her voice, Black Heron was also obviously displeased.

22 didn’t bother replying. “Whatever it is you’re doing, surrender now and SHUSH will consider a lighter sentence for your crimes.”

Heron’s expression shifted to annoyance.

“Always so to the point. You’re not even curious what my plan is? I go through all this effort and you expect me to surrender without even revealing anything?”

Beakley didn’t allow herself to be irritated by this madwoman. She didn't know if Heron had set up a timer of sorts earlier for a bomb or any other dangerous device. So she needed to hurry. However, if the scientist was so keen on sharing information, it might be faster to get a quick information from the woman herself.

“Did you plant a bomb up here?”

“A bomb? Don’t be silly, where’s the fun in that? I’m not that kind of terrorist! That’s far too impersonal.”

Apparently, Beakley wouldn’t get much information this way after all. It would be faster if she made her talk.

She dashed forwards towards the woman - only to halt in her movements when she pulled something from her dress.

“Nuh-uh, 22! What’s the rush with you?”

It wasn’t the first time Beakley had a gun pointed at her. But this one looked odd. It seemed too large to be carrying regular bullets. She had no idea what it could possibly fire. Which, unfortunately, meant that she had no idea if she could dodge whatever might be fired at her.

She scanned the environment and considered her options. The gap between the two women wasn’t large but enough to give Heron time to shoot if Beakley were to attack her.

For now she would let Heron monologue about her plan and then when she was a bit more distracted disarm her.

“I took a lot of time to prepare this, you know? I managed to build devices small enough to bring up here undiscovered that will release the biggest firework you have ever seen!” Her eyes lit up. “They’ll display my name and face for everyone to see!” She followed up with her signature maniacal laugh.

Beakley ignored the urge to call Heron out on her ridiculous plan and used the opportunity. It was good she could count on the scientist to ramble herself into losing focus.

In the blink of an eye, 22 did a roll on the floor to Heron’s left side.

Heron’s gun went off. But Beakley didn't feel herself getting harmed, so she remained on task.

While getting up, close enough to Heron, she kicked the woman in the legs, “OWch, can you -”, before she slapped the gun out of her hands.

“How dare you interrupt me when I’m making a speech?!”

Beakley quickly grabbed her opponent’s arm, but simultaneously checked to see what she had fired at her and if it was still dangerous. It was something shaped like a little rocket with smoke coming out of it. It was probably to leave people unconscious. She had never seen this weapon on Heron’s hands before and for a moment she wondered what else she managed to come up with since the last time she saw her.

This was her mistake.

Heron used the moment to slip out of the agent’s grip and run the other way.

Beakley cursed herself for it and gave chase.

“Stop this, Heron! You’re obsessed!”

Heron obviously did not have a lot of room for talking, being the one followed. But she could never resist a conversation, Beakley had found.

“I’m the obsessed one?! You’re the one chasing me across borders! In fact, I must be a pretty big deal for you to always get so worked up about me.”

She slid onto the ground, arriving at one of two boxes she had fixed to the ground. Before she was able to fumble with it, Beakley caught up to her.

She tackled the scientist, making sure her hands were far from the contraption. These must be bearing the fireworks she had talked about. Being so close, she took note of something metal wrapped around the woman’s torso. Another weapon? Whatever it was, she would make sure it would do her no good.

“Obsessed? Your attention stunts are a nuisance at best. I'm just the one cleaning up your messes.”

She couldn’t believe a woman like her was accusing an agent like herself of being obsessed. Far from it. This scientist with way too much free time on her hands was proving to be more annoying than Beakley would like to admit.

“My attention stunts? You got up here in a helicopter!”

“What other choice do you leave me?!”

Beakley was getting sick of this woman. She didn’t have time for this.

She pushed her, pinning her wrists to the ground. Help was on the way, but she would have Heron arrested before that.

And yet, to her surprise, she was met with a smile.

“Oh, pretty forward, aren’t we, 22?”

If Beakley had had to describe her tone, it would have been - flirty? That couldn’t be.

“What are you talking about?”

The smirk didn’t fade. “If you wanted me like this, all you needed to do was ask. I suppose, this is the city of love after all…”

Beakley wanted to loosen her grip, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t let herself get distracted. This was just Heron’s way of attempting to throw her off.

“The only place I want you is behind bars. You are nothing but my assignment!”

Bentina held her stern gaze against the sudden fire in the scientist’s eyes.

“Oh, come on! Aren’t you having at least a little bit of fun? You chose this life the same way I did. Don’t you feel the tension?”

It was a trick. Beakley wouldn’t respond.

“Tracking down the enemy, trying to catch them, just barely having them escape, only for your paths to cross again next time?”

Now that made her take offense.

“I am NOT letting you escape.” To prove her point, her grip tightened.

Heron lifted her head slightly, looking even deeper into the agent’s eyes.

“Don’t be so sure, ma chérie.”

With these words, she took a breath and hit her elbow against her dress pocket, smashing something inside.

Before Beakley could realize what was happening, smoke started to rise from where she had aimed the hit. The same concept as the rocket.

As quickly as she could, Bentina also took a breath and held it. But it was a bit too late. She had to cough and let go of the woman underneath her to cover her face with her arm.

Naturally, this allowed the scientist to wriggle her way out of the position.

Beakley tried to grab her, but everything happened so fast, it was no use.

She heard something explode.

“I’ll see you next time, 22!”

The next thing she saw was Heron standing at the safety fence, having damaged the metal enough to break her way through it.

She had dropped her cloak and jumped off the platform.

Bentina stumbled towards the hole in the fence to discover that Heron had leapt and - taken flight. A pair of metal wings on her back allowed her to soar away safely.

She formed a fist and punched the still intact part of the fence. She had been so close.

Next time, she would get her.

She remembered what Heron had said about chasing the enemy. What would be fun about needing to take care of such a frustrating person’s messes?

She’d put an end to her. For SHUSH’s and everyone else’s sake.

I suppose this is the city of love after all…

The villain’s words echoed in her head. Maybe it was a bit for her own sake as well. And maybe this one time she would consider not including every part of a conversation in her misison report.

Maybe even she could make an exception once in a while.

-----------------

I don't know if it counts as light angst, but it was what i was originally going for, Beakley is so bitter...! <3 Once again, hopefully you enjoyed it either way!

Happy holidays 🎉✨

[sepublic]

Homesick!

I just gotta say I love the pun of this episode’s title; I thought Homesick would allude to it being about Luz missing home, but it was actually a joke on Hooty being sick!

That said, we DID get what would’ve been our first look at Manny, as well as an early version of Camila lore! Turns out she was going to be a nurse, but in the end I think I like veterinarian better. Still, I remember discussing healing back during S1A as a potential track for Luz because of this, so to see that theme be apparent with both parents was cool!

Manny’s face being shrouded also seems to indicate that the dramatic reveal behind him -the illness- was always planned, at least since the pilots. Luz said he drove an ambulance, past tense, which seems like some dark irony given he probably needed one at one point. Remember how some of us theorized after Reaching Out that the Abomaton alarm reminded Luz of an ambulance siren related to her father? Man… On the plus side! We can guess Camila and Manny met through their professions, so we could try applying that to canon as well! Compassion is such a Noceda trait I love it.

Likewise, I appreciate how these two leaked storyboards have Luz and Eda covering for each other! One sticks their neck out because something means a lot for the other, but the other decides it’s not so important they’d sacrifice the one for it… With this episode, Eda doesn’t want Luz to look like a dunce but Luz is honest and can’t bear to see her mentor be mocked either, and is trying to take responsibility for what she feels is HER mistake too! It’s really sweet seeing Eda inadvertently teach Luz the Healing glyph.

Speaking of, it seems we would’ve gotten individual glyphs for all spells, as the fandom once assumed! I guess the show did glyph combos to explain why Luz doesn’t immediately find everything, as well as create a sort of fun system behind Luz having to mix and match things. And we even got to see what we always wanted; Luz making an ENORMOUS glyph around her enemy! Goes to show my speculation that since glyphs rely on the magic around them, they aren’t physically taxing; Something we see brought up with Eda’s own magic.

Caduceia reminded me of an early Hermonculus, being a teacher who didn’t really care much for the actual students and even seemed to enjoy mocking them! She looks like Raine, so much that I wonder if the design was repurposed for them because it was such a nice one! I dig the play on Caduceus, with Snakeslie as a palisman! Snakeslie looks so much like a worm on a string. Given Luz and Caduceia are both healers, it’s neat they have a snake in common, though Caduceia’s seems to allude to her being a snake (liar); Her palisman’s name is literally Snakeslie. Snakes lie. Glad to see Stringbean with the positive rep!

I also love the gag of King calling himself the King of whatever’s convenient, and it was really cute seeing him want to prove his own worth! Because two witches, it’d be easy to feel like he has nothing to offer, which is part of Sense and Insensivity in canon! There’s parallels between the A and B-plots, with Luz and King feeling ineffectual and their owl friend supporting them, only to be helped as well! Eda and Owlbert are linked and hell so are the demon hunters and Caduceia!

The House Demon lore was neat, even if it was stuff we already figured out with canon; House Demons being like hermit crabs, and also rare! Seeing healing magic be used to make someone sick and even control their mucus/phlegm was disgusting yet fascinating! And I was delighted to see the demon hunters again, they’re underrated side characters imo and we even got a crew nickname for another one of them!

I also like the bit of the moral here; That sometimes, it’s not that a student is bad or isn’t trying, sometimes the teacher is failing them. Maybe some people think this generation is raised too soft and coddled, but I think it’s an important reassurance for a lot of kids who struggle and blame themselves for it; I’ve taken teaching classes before, and we were taught to be vigilant with ourselves as potentially inadequate for students. It’s the onus of the teacher to adapt to a kid’s needs after all, and actually care!!!

What an unexpected delight! I never imagined the crew made storyboards for additional episodes and not just the pilot! This one has no voice alas, but it’s better than nothing and I feel storyboards have such a nice charm to themselves as well! I really thought the pilot would be my last episode review, but I keep getting pleasantly surprised and gifted by this show…!

[notmoreflippingelves]

I need to ramble more about Esteban Flores, because everything about this character and his arc seem as though it was tailor-made for me and specifically designed to make me absolutely feral.

This going below the cut, both because I do not want to spoil the entire show for my friend who is think of watching Elena of Avalor and because I go full-on apologist here and I feel like that will annoy some people.

Imagine making the absolute worst mistake than anyone could possibly make, because you are 18 and scared and stupid and tired of being ignored. And it results in you losing your family and your freedom and what little self-respect you had left because you know all of this is very much your own fault.

 And so you proceed to spend the next 41(!) years eking out a miserable existence in an oppressive state. Upon fear for your life, you are forced to be the reluctant right-hand of the evil witch-queen who conquered your country, killed your aunt and uncle and trapped your cousin in magical prison. In spite of this, you nevertheless do everything within your limited power trying to hold the kingdom together and make sure the people don't starve, because the queen certainly doesn't care about anything except greedily bleeding your country dry.

And no exaggeration, this is just what canon explicitly gives us outright in the pilot. Like that's not even getting into head canons/interpretations/common sense of what exactly this sort of life entailed for you. Because this is a children's show so there's only so much they will let us imply about living under that kind of system. Especially as a young, attractive, terrified person who is the last living member of the previous royal family who is likely being kept alive partly as a combination trophy/punching bag for the evil queen (even if the show never actually states this outright).

And then by some miracle, what's left of your family comes back after all this time. The evil queen is overthrown, partly because you yourself finally stood up to her at a critical moment. You and your country are finally free again, and what's more, you and your family are finally together again after over 4 decades. But you still feel like an outsider--partly because you always were an outsider in your family even in the better times and partly because  over the past 41(!) years, time stood still for all of them except you.

And as a result, no one ever cares to ask what those 41 years were like for you or even just if you’re doing okay. Not only because your family can’t even begin to comprehend what it must have been like, but also because they don’t care to even *try* to understand. Because the narrative has decided that everyone else’s respective traumas is worth way more than your own.  (Though tbf the narrative really doesn’t dwell much on anyone’s trauma in general but yours gets especially neglected , except to briefly play it for laughs or to remind you that your trauma is *your own fault and only your own*).

For a little while, life is pretty okay. It’s weird not having to watch your step every instant to make sure you’re not putting a toe out of line. And so you never really fully break out of your “survival mode” conditioning, making sure that you are still considered important and valuable enough to keep around.

But all the while, you know that your past—and especially your terrible little secret—is eventually going to come back to haunt you. And it does. First via blackmail and then via the return  of the evil witch-queen herself. Fortunately, she is defeated for good before she can take avenge your “betrayal of her” but you still have to deal with seeing the ghost from the past who terrorized you for 41(!) years.

And then, your secret finally comes out in the open and you are disowned by your family—the family you *just* got back a few years ago—for an admittedly super bad decision that you made over four decades ago and have regretted ever since.  Rather than face the rest of your life in isolation (as though you didn’t already have enough of that during the previous regime), you escape before you can be sent into exile. This puts you directly in the path of *another* terrifying, evil magical milf who you are forced to ally yourself with. Because you have 40+ years of conditioning that when a woman like that says “jump,” you say “how high?” if you are to have any hope of survival.  Especially given that the only people who could’ve protected you from her are the family and friends who have just definitively washed their hands of you.

Despite this, you are still trying to seek your cousin’s forgiveness and to protect her in the little ways that you can. But you are constantly getting rebuffed over and over again, and if anything, your attempts at reconciliation only seem to make your cousin angrier, and she now hates you just as much as—if not MORE than—the woman who actually murdered her parents.

Your cousin is so angry at you specifically that she actively ignores the greater threat of Witchy Milf 2.0, because she happens to see your face and is enraged. This ends up backfiring spectacularly for you both, though it does indirectly lead to the defeat of said Witchy Milf 2.0.

But guess what?  There’s no time to breathe or celebrate, because her defeat occurred during the successful summoning of a third power-mad, feminine-presenting magical humanoid and her allies. At least, this one treats you with some initial respect and actually gives you outright what you-think-you’ve-thought-you-always wanted. But she also turns your family and friends to stone in front of you as a warning of what’s to come if you dare to defy her.

But this time, you are finally done with this, have finally lost enough that you have paradoxically found your courage. You sacrifice yourself to save your cousin, and she is finally able to accept that you’ve sacrificed and changed enough that she can forgive you. And her forgiveness is so powerful and pure that it not only restores you to life but also undoes all the other evil magic. Together, you defeat this final enemy, paradoxically by banishing her to the same Underworld where your mistakes accidentally sent your aunt and uncle and her parents long ago.  Peace has been restored. You have returned for good and are finally secure in your family’s love.

And after all that, there are *still* people (both presumably in universe and in the fandom outside of it) who say it's too little, too late and that it would've been better for everyone if you'd simply stayed dead.

Like I'm just... are we really victim-blaming the character who has 45 years of unprocessed trauma and guilt (both survivor's guilt and guilt in general) because of a decision he made when his brain was still developing and he was being manipulated by an older, much more powerful person?