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hamliet · 3 months

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Hazbin Hotel Has Better Theology Than Most Modern "Christian" Stories

As a Christian who was raised in a fundie cult and escaped to now have a far healthier and vital faith, I genuinely really like this show. The songs are bops. The characters are well crafted and interesting, and likable too. The art design is bizarre but appealing.

And, as a theology nerd who studied theology as part leaving said cult and also has since gotten papers published in theology, I'm actually fairly impressed by the show's handling of theology.

No, I'm not expecting the story to preach or even like, be explicitly Christian in a lot of ways. But it's taking a lot of the really beautiful aspects of Christian theology and re-contextualizing them in a way designed to provoke thought: by juxtaposing them with the antithesis of what you would think, by making demons heroes. In my opinion, this makes the beauty shine brighter.

Yeah, yeah, it's designed to be offensive and obscene in a lot of ways. Yet, it's never (thus far) mean-spirited. On the contrary, it seems to have a big, beating heart at its core that is perhaps best embodied by Charlie Morningstar, its protagonist and the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith.

Critique of the Church, with Caveats

The story works best with an interpretation that heaven isn't actually heaven or God (who has been conspicuously absent), but instead as a critique of the church. Specifically, the evangelical American church, and specifically, white evangelicals. (Same as She-Ra's premise, actually).

God's absence therefore makes sense, because while Christians do believe God is present as a living reality among us, we also can't like, see him physically now. So, God being not even mentioned in HH makes it seem more like a mortal reality rather than an immortal one. Honestly I kinda hope God doesn't appear in the story, not only because I think it could cross some lines (which is admittedly personal), but also because I don't see that the story really needs it.

Adam in particular reminds me of every "theobro" on Twitter (I'm not calling it what you want me to, El*n). Basically a dudebro coopting his supposed salvation to flex in an often misogynistic way, who doesn't realize that he has absolutely no love in him and therefore is actually a worse human being than everyone he condemns on the regular.

(Which is kind of why I'm expecting Adam to wake up in hell next season...)

Think red hats. And Mark Driscoll. And, I have a list of pastors. Sigh. They advocate for how "simple" Christianity is, except they themselves make it ridiculously complicated and don't even examine what they suppose is "simple" if it requires them to take the planks out of their own eyes. "Shallow" is a better description of what they actually preach.

But what sends people to hell or heaven anyways?

Eschatology and Atonement Theory

Hazbin Hotel combines a lot of theories, throwing not only the idea of a physical hell (albeit mixed with Dante's idea of what hell is the Inferno, but to be fair a lot of the church has adopted that idea too) but the idea of annihilation, which HH calls "extermination."

See, in Christianity, there's a lot of debate about hell. Like, since 2000 years ago. The reason is because a lot of Bible verses seem to indicate hell, but others indicate the eventual redemption and salvation of absolutely everything in the universe, so you have Christian universalism tracing itself back just as long. But, setting aside universalism, people who do believe in hell tend to fall into one of two camps:

Physical hell, aka suffering for eternity, or annihilation: the idea that souls that aren't saved end up annihilated, or snuffed from existence. HH combines both of them, wherein everyone lives in hell but then every so often heaven "exterminates" a certain number of sinners.

And then you also have Catholic purgatory, which is also adapted in HH in that... for most Christians, physical hell doesn't offer the ability to redeem yourself. Chance over, you're dead. But, Catholic Christianity, which draws on ideas of praying for the dead, has the idea that people can improve themselves or be prayed out of it and into heaven. This seems to be somewhat similar to the idea of Charlie's hotel, in that sinners can improve, redeem themselves, and rise to heaven.

And, I mean, it's already kinda worked. Sir Pentious acted out Jesus' words: Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

But anyways, the branch of theology that deals with the afterlife is eschatology. And Hazbin Hotel takes on a related form of theology as well, a type of theology I've only seen covered in stories once before (The House in Fata Morgana): atonement theory.

Atonement theory is something I remember well from my theology 101 class, as in I remember sitting with a friend and her turning to me and being like, "okay, so we know Jesus' death and resurrection give us eternal life, but we have no idea how or why?" To which the answer was "basically, yeah."

Most of the white, American evangelical church is very "penal substitutionary atonement," but the reality is that this theory has only been popular for the past few hundred years. It's also, imo, somewhat scripturally unsound. But there are a lot of other theories, and sometimes the theories overlap. Here's a fairly decent summary. (I'm in general a believer in Christus Victor.)

So how does atonement theory tie into Hazbin Hotel? Well, essentially the scene where Charlie and Vaggie are debating with Emily, Sera, Adam, Lute, and others in heaven is them going over various atonement theories and realizing that they actually know nothing at all. How does one get to heaven? How is one saved? They don't know.

Sera criticizing Emily for asking questions was also very relatable, and I feel for Sera. She's genuinely scared but the truth will set you free, Sera. John 8:32. Anyways, the point is like... the angels are an organized religion, an evangelical church, that preaches about simplicity but mistakes shallowness for simplicity and discourages depth and discovery.

Anyways, the whole crux of theological study and atonement theories is that they should promote humility. We don't know for certain on this side of the curtain. That's okay. So what do we have to guide us?

Love. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8).

Charlie is Jesus

"Why would you endanger your immortal life for these sinners?"

Adam, the absolute worst, says the above to Charlie in the finale.

I mean... look. That's literally the premise of Christianity. That the immortal son of God comes down to earth, lives with sinners, loves us, and dies to save us. However that happens. Charlie even responds:

"They're my family!"

In other words, she loves them. Yeah, sure, they're destined for extermination, but they are going to be exterminated over her dead body.

In a lot of branches of Christianity, and even in some creeds--though I'm going to give into my pet peeves here and state that it is NOT Scriptural and relies on the faulty assumption that God is bound by time, when I think God exists outside of it--state that Jesus descended into hell after his death and took all the souls of people who were saved prior to his coming to earth to heaven. Again, I think that's small-minded at best. But, the idea that Charlie is working among them to bring them to heaven is pretty reminiscent of this idea. And I don't hate it lol.

Charlie sees worth inherent in everyone, and no matter what they've done, thinks there's a future for them. Honestly we need people like her on this earth.

Angel Dust

Angel Dust is clearly my favorite character. Bite back your shock, I know (I have a type). But his name is also a fascinating multi-layered pun.

Angel is clearly foreshadowing his endgame. Let's be real, we all know Angel is ending up as an angel. And "angeldust" is of course a name for PCP, and considering Angel's drug habits, yeah.

But, dust also has another meaning to it. See, when Adam was created in Genesis 2:7, the words in Hebrew are "apar min ha'adamah," which is translated literally as "dust of the ground." So the dust is what creates Adam, literally "ground."

In other words, I very much expect Angel Dust to end up being foiled with Adam even more so. Adam might be the first man, but Angel is the first sinner working towards redemption. And let's be real, for all Angel's flaws, he's already a better person than Adam. And if there's any hope for Adam (not that I particularly care if there is but) it'd be through realizing that he and Angel aren't actually different after all. Conversely (and not necessarily mutually exclusively), Angel might serve as a more symbolic "adam" in that he becomes the person all sinners look to for hope. Which, y'know, since "the last Adam" is also a Scriptural term for Jesus...

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45).

I fully expect Angel's arc, alongside Charlie's, to bring life and redemption for everyone around them. Maybe, maybe even the dramatic "all" of Colossians 1:20 (which means, literally, all, everything, everywhere, in the entire universe).

Closing Thoughts

But honestly, regardless of how the story ends--besides that it will presumably end happily because HH is at its core feel-good despite being profane--season one at least has got good theology. Why? Because it's digging into the questions that theology is concerned with. It's digging into the ideas of human nature, of what it means to be a good person, of what it means to redeem oneself, of affirming how precious each individual human soul is.

It doesn't offer cheap answers, and it specifically calls out the white American evangelical church for how it purports to be simple but actually just confuses people and punishes them for things they can't help, that creates more stumbling blocks than it does shine a light. And it does it in a way that is scandalous. Offensive to many religious people.

But, y'know, Jesus was pretty scandalous too.

So I really love the story so far because it emphasizes what I find so beautiful about my religion, and criticizes the parts that have also hurt me. I don't think it's remotely aiming to be a Christian allegory or anything like that, and I don't at all think anyone has to be religious to enjoy it or gain the core message of it, but I do think that it's doing a hell of a lot more good in the world message-wise than most evangelical movies of the past 30 years.

#hazbin hotel #hamliet reviews #theology #christianity #charlie morningstar #jesus #angel dust #angel hazbin hotel

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ctinalk · 2 months

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Is Crowley already the new Supreme Archangel?

A few oversights made millennia ago, and suddenly we have a demon archangel on our hands.

Caution: I came up with and wrote this in the last few hours so potentially crackpot theory ahead. Apologies if this has been proposed before, it’s not one I’ve seen. And I’ve seen A LOT.

So supposedly the miracle Aziraphale and Crowley performed together was something only the mightiest of archangels could have done. Everyone assumes it was Crowley because they think he was a high ranking Angel formerly. Or that it was the two of them together. Or that Jimbriel amplified it. But what if…

“There is always a supreme archangel”

Michael says this in S2E1 when talking with Uriel about who is in charge now that Gabriel was missing. Gabriel was removed from office in the trial we hear, he’s no longer Supreme Archangel. If so, Michael’s statement would imply that as soon as Gabriel’s removal happened, a new archangel already existed. Now obviously the Metatron is making a show of choosing Aziraphale as the new Supreme Archangel. But is that within his power to do so? Or is he suggesting working with Crowley for a different reason, possibly unknown even to him?

“I am the only first-order archangel in the room, or you know, the universe”

During the “2nd Armageddon-that-wasn’t” discussion, Gabriel says these words. As he says them, it cuts (ominously isn’t the right word here, pointedly maybe?) to Crowley leaning against the desk, and lingers there just a bit too long.

“How do you know it wasn’t me?”

Another clue to the powerful angel Crowley was. It was clearly said in a teasing manner throw Shax off. But much like the barrel of red herring in the intro, is it a red herring to something else?

“Can you send lightning bolts and get them to report back to you?”

The only other time we see someone calling lightning or using it is, you guessed it: Gabriel in S1 on the airbase to port in and out. I’ve read the theory that Angel!Crowley was the lord of lightning, which I’m not opposed to, but to me this is another link.

“Never change their passwords”

We have one HUGE instance of Heaven being sloppy in their record keeping (passwords), and lax in their security protocol (Crowley bopping about with Muriel). Whereas Hell is meticulous in their record keeping, as shown by the bills, admissions process, and S1 contract.

So what if: when Gabriel was stripped of the title, a new Supreme Archangel was automatically appointed. Except instead of someone else, because heaven neglected to double-check their logs after The Fall, Crowley was still on the books as next in line? This would absolutely play into “God playing games with the universe” and “just think what would have happened if we’d been at all competent” themes running through both seasons. It would also follow the theory that people noticed Aziraphale and Crowley were on the “wrong” side for much of the season. It would also explain a few continuity errors along the way (how did Crowley know Muriel’s rank? He knows it through the knowledge automatically given to the Supreme Archangel).

“Funny ol’ world, isn’t it?”

Caveats and potential weaknesses:

I have no idea how this fits into the fact that S3 will be the actual continuation the Neil and Terry planned, as to my knowledge S2 was essentially a “Neil’s chaotic angsty ineffable husbands fanfic”. But clearly S2 has to play well into the plan for S3. I also kind of hate my theory because Crowley specifically declined to be an angel again, and his hand has been forced too often already.

Now I am a staunch advocate of the body-swap theory, and I’m not sure how this would play into that. Does Metatron know? Does he think he has the power to appoint? Does he think the title went to Aziraphale because of the miracle? Does he try to get Crowley to come back with Aziraphale to exploit his power? Does he know about the body swap in S1 and if so, was he trying to trigger another one to get the right “soul” to heaven?

There are a few other things I haven’t figured out how to incorporate into this post yet. I’ll try to put them into coherent thoughts in the next few days, but thought I’d throw this to the wolves universe for the time being.

Thought 1: “How have your lot managed to stay in charge all this time?” “I’m not so sure we have.”

Thought 2: I need to do (another) rewatch before I nail this one down (such a sacrifice I tell you), but does Crowley have a visceral reaction like he does in S1 to being called “good” in the current, post Gabriel-removal timeset? Obv in Edinburgh/Job, but that’s in the past. He denies it, sure (with Jim), but he straight up flashes a smile and thanks Mrs. Sandwich when she says “You’re a good lad” (after the denial).

2.1: No one calls him “good” in present day except these two instances. Vast difference in the visceral reactions of season 1 and flashbacks.

Thought 3: Crowley is the only one who can trigger Jimbriel’s recall memory.

#good omens #good omens theories #good omens season 2 #good omens s3 #good omens meta #crowley #angel!crowley #supreme archangel Crowley

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no-luscinia-no-amore · 6 months

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ok time for mad gomens headcanons meta brain dump because I just watched episode 6 in its entirety for the second time since July (I was saving it for when I needed Big Feels I guess?)

And look, there's some fun parallel stuff going on: Crowley bopping around with angels while Aziraphale is dealing with demons, Crowley being the one to say the feelings words (mmph, kinda) when Aziraphale has been groping him all season, Aziraphale being the one who leaves after what it is a gross understatement to call a row. But these flippy floppies all keep leading me to not be as sad this watchthrough, partly because I've been soaking in metas on here for nearly 4 months! So here's what I got.

+ No nightingales! The nightingale singing doesn't just mean that they love each other. It represents when they are safe, after 1941 (headcanon!) and after the nopocalypse. Crowley is pointing out danger, that Heaven is listening. The nightingale sings for them when they've successfully dodged celestial and infernal meddling which puts their relationship at risk, with each other and with Earth, and the silence is pointed out because Crowley needs Aziraphale to really really understand that this is possibly irrecoverable danger, not that his heart is being broken.

+ By the time Aziraphale is saying dickish things like "you're the bad guys" and "second in command" the tone has shifted from Crowley being scared, irritated and shocked to something much weirder and harder to read

It's not just hurt, and he's not as hurt as he should be, and it's not because he's about to, mmmf, propose. He's processing. Aziraphale's begging him to understand something and is so obviously panicked. We all noticed his hands and his posture, you think Crowley who's been staring at him for 4523 years* just missed that this isn't Aziraphale being a featherbrain traumaball? Nothing lasts forever, and this precious peaceful fragile existence has, in fact, shattered. Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever you were right.

By the time Aziraphale says "I need you" with such raw fear and hunger, he's not yet sure Crowley was 1. picking up what he's putting down and 2. he's begging for help, begging for some sign or certainty that Crowley isn't saying "hey, rude, fuck you, I'm gonna storm out because this is a really unusual hurtful fight but I'll swing by in a couple days with some eclairs". He gets that certainty moments later in the form of...

+ BIG DAMN KISS

which says "I need you too" and "I'm scared this danger is too much and I'll never get to do this" and "oh fuck Angel be safe please" and "GODDAMNIT GODDAMNIT how do these bastards always wiggle in on EVERYTHING" and "I WAS RIGHT about being nervous"

and I absolutely do not believe that the alveolar sound after "I..." was just Michael Sheen failing to form a fricative**. Aziraphale received the message of "this is dangerous, this is public, and I don't care, I love you enough to kiss you goodbye (?) in front of God (and Muriel!) you bloody stupid brave Angel" and almost responds. But now they're both in the mode of communication like spies again, after 4 years of starting to communicate like...humans. Lovers? Now it's "you're the bad guys" (so the Metayuck won't let me stay here with you) or "In Heaven!!" (because this bookshop is compromised and now nowhere in Earth is safe) so not only would it absolutely not help*** if Aziraphale broke down and was like "DO IT AGAIN I LOVE YOU" it would break whatever weird undercurrent is going on in their communication. So he says the Heaven approved thing that's always in his vocal queue when he's feeling a bit emotional, and Crowley's "Don't Bother" just scans at this point like exhaustion, yes, but not grief. It's "well fuck, let's get on with the rest of this goddamn circus then."

+ I agree that Crowley looks disassociated and absolutely broken and exhausted by the time he puts his glasses on before kissin' time. He hadn't figured it all out yet and thought it was this stupid fucking argument again only way worse and Aziraphale is in stupid danger and their separation will probably be hundreds of years long****. He rushed back because it all completely clicked.

+ and then he waits, knowing Aziraphale is going bonkers, watching the Metafuck come back in, seeing Aziraphale see him through the window, crossing the street, at the elevator. He's not waiting to see if he changes his mind, he's watching his husband march away to war but can't even wave his handkerchief*****

+ and the Bentley, who let Aziraphale turn her yellow and was generally receptive to his desires, lets him play the song through her anyway, Aziraphale saying "This time Crowley, I have the plan. It'll be ok, we can be safe again. I love you."

*since Job

**try to accidentally replace all those Fs with Ls. You are at an advantage since you weren't just kissed by David Tennant, but Michael is at other advantages which I'll cede to him.

***help them get out of the Situation. It would definitely help them make out.

****or, he was with all of us emotionally and it felt for a second like it could be eeeeternityyyyy

***** Aziraphale is the handkerchief waver in the relationship anyway

#good omens meta #gos2 #the kiss #crowley loves aziraphale #aziraphale loves crowley #the bentley ships #i'm actually a little annoyed bc got an eye thing going on so i was trying to cry but wrote this instead oops

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welcometothejianghu · 4 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 少年歌行/The Blood of Youth

The Blood of Youth is a 2022 live-action adaptation of the tale of a deposed, disabled, and incredibly cunty prince who's on his way back to settle the score with his asshole father, and the rag-tag band of weirdos he accumulates along the way, including Spear Girl, Bad Monk, and Fire Puppy (pictured above).

I hope you like shounen anime, because this is the most shounen anime something is allowed to be without actually being based on something running weekly in Shounen Jump. What if Nirvana in Fire were also Naruto? It would be the Blood of Youth.

This show is an underrated gem of action-packed fun that not nearly enough people in English-speaking fandom have seen. In an attempt to correct that -- and ahead of an announced second season and prequel in progress -- I'm here with five reasons you should try it out.

1. Zero thoughts head empty

You do not have to pay an enormous amount of attention to this show to understand what's going on. The show itself does not always know what's going on. It got distracted by a shiny object over there, and now we're all gearing up to go punch the shiny object. We'll get back to the main plot when we're done with the punching.

It has a million billion plot threads going on at any given moment. Bad guys roll in from sects you've never heard of before, using superpowers with stupid names, only to get kicked into next week. There's approximately eleventy thousand characters -- so many, in fact, that I ran into problems several times while making this rec post, because there aren't readily available photos of everyone I want to talk about. Just look at the DramaWiki cast list. See how it goes on for like fifty screens? That's a little what the show feels like.

Except I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, because the show knows it's doing this, and it acts accordingly. It telegraphs pretty well who's important and who isn't (and then it goes out of its way to color-code the latter, which is handy). What you're left with is absolutely a manga-style plot, complete with training arcs and semi-relevant sidequests, all working up to the final boss match.

It is an extremely self-aware show. On multiple occasions, something would happen, I would crack a joke about it, and then a beat later the show itself would make the exact same joke. I wouldn't call it an outright comedy, but it's still very funny, and on purpose. It has no illusions about being some kind of profound, meaningful epic. Mostly it's just here for a good time.

Yet this lightheartedness is what makes the powerful emotional parts really powerful by contrast. The show is not stupid; it's just goofing around most of the time. When it knuckles down, it can be devastating. And you know what? It does wind up being profound and meaningful about some stuff. How about that.

So yeah, if you're up for something that bops merrily right along and only occasionally rips your heart out, here you go!

2. Putting the poly in polycule

Bisexuals, rejoice! It's representin' time!

Here you go, I made a relationship chart of about 40% of the show's potential and canonical ships. I could have included so many more, but I only had so much space on the image, so I had to leave out some amazing ones, like the sword hedgehog who's real into this one cougar who could easily wipe the floor with him, or the rich nerd who thinks he has a chance with the aforementioned hot butch, or the fancy MILF who cheated on the emperor with a dreamy jianghu man and is trying not to cheat on him again with a different, slightly less dreamy jianghu man. See? There's just so much.

I would also say these are not exclusive ships. They are extremely inclusive ships. I am a fan of most (though admittedly not all) of the pairings listed here, and in fact of many of the three-and-more-somes indicated by these lines. They're such a cuddle puddle of shared intense feelings that it's hard to imagine anyone getting more than mildly jealous. Moreover, the potential for romance does not get in the way of hetero friendships; a boy and a girl who are each dating other people can go do adventures together, and (mostly) nobody gets weird about it, which is nice. If anything, what makes the overall dynamic so polycule-like is how equally friends and love interests get treated, meaning that it's not difficult to see a lot of crossover potential between those two categories.

If you're like me, you're hesitant about canonical romance, especially when it's straight, mostly because so many straight love stories wind up being tiresome, gross, and/or skull-poundingly boring. You will then be pleasantly surprised by how the canon pairings with members of the main cast are not like this at all!

Xiao Se and Sikong Qianluo are the main textual romance, and golly gee, they're just cute as heck. As the chart above indicates, I like interpreting them as two Kinsey 6's who have found their single exceptions, Mulder-and-Scully-style. Maybe one of the best things about their relationship is that it gets sidelined all the time for the plot. They're not so busy being in love that they forget to get shit done. Then they get a bit of downtime and get to go on a date, and you're like, aww, those sweet gay disaster babies are gonna do a little bit of heterosexuality. Just precious.

Tang Lian and Fairy Rui are right up there with the cuteness. She's a sex-positive dancing beauty who wants to ride that pretty boy like she stole him, and he's a shy sword boy so tightly bottled up that he'll explode if he sees a bare ankle. Avoiding spoilers, I will simply say that this is a pairing of two relatively soft people, until a bad thing happens to one of them and the other hardens up about it. If that's your jam, they're here for you.

Lei Wujie and Ye Ruoye are probably the most magical and the most practical of the bunch. They have a beautiful, super-dreamy, really horny sword-dance meet-cute, complete with its own pop song ... and then that's it, they're basically just together. She likes him, he likes her, good for them. In-laws aside, it's a refreshingly low-drama situation. Besides, I always love it when the hypercompetent woman gets the sweet, devoted himbo who'd do anything for her. Ruoye's had a hard life, and she deserves someone who can dick her down good at night and make her a nourishing breakfast the next morning.

And then there is, of course, The Ship:

Xiao Se and Wuxin are canonical, textual soulmates. The show treats their dynamic as more important than any other. It's so important, in fact, that the show has to sideline Wuxin for huge parts of the drama, lest everything get too damn gay. They each get a boyfriend catch on the other. They both do fairly reckless things when the other is in trouble. They are the secret hidden happy ending to the series. They share the kind of ride-or-die relationship built on mutually being the hugest bitches in any given room. Whether or not you think this is romance, it is extremely romantic, and the series agrees as much as it can, all things considered.

And if none of those flavors of love float your boat? Well, have you considered ... eunuchs?

3. She likes e4e

So I'm on record as being real into eunuch characters, right? Well, if you're with me on that, you are in for a treat here, because these are some absolutely buck-wild eunuchs.

There's five main ones, and I can't even begin to scratch the surface of what's going there. Like, really, I don't even think I understood all of what was happening with them. They're kind of the bad guys, but then they're kind of the good guys, but then some of them are the bad guys, but then they're just working for the bad guys, but then they screw over the bad guys, and ... it's just a lot, okay? It's a lot, and it's all happening with this bunch of catty bitches.

Also, you would not believe the difficult time I had finding any images for this section. I guess for some reason, fandom isn't way into a bunch of canonically dickless color-coordinated middle-aged men in weird hats? Whatever, man, they are missing out. If, however, you have the good sense to be into the intense and complicated (semi-romantic??) relationships among colleagues who also professionally just happen to be missing their external genitalia, buddy, strap in (and maybe strap on, depending).

Don't let me oversell how much these guys are in the show. They're not. They're vaguely important at points throughout, and they become incredibly important near the end, but they're hardly main characters. They're mostly back at the palace, doing their various schemes and looking absolutely fantastic.

So if they're such a minor part of the story, why do they get their own selling point? Well, I think their presence is a good example of two specific things about the show:

Specific thing the first: It's so queer -- not gay, but queer. Thinking back to my last selling point, you will notice how many of those straight pairings may look normie on the outside, but once you get down to it are not playing by cishet rules. (For instance, I've seen a lot of people read Tang Lian's resistance to sexual advances as asexuality, which, sure!) Likewise, there are lots of incredibly important, intimate relationships that don't conform to standard romantic pair dynamics. Add to that a lot of bodies with unusual characteristics and conditions, and you've got the makings of plenty of delightful non-normative love stories.

Specific thing the second: There are so many things going on with so many side characters that there's a kink here for everyone. Don't care for eunuchs? How about slinky villains with mind-control powers? Devoted servants who would do anything for their masters? Former bad guys who owe life-debts to the good guys who saved them? Bonded pairs traipsing around the jianghu together? Sons nursing legitimate grudges against the men who killed their fathers? Alcoholic widowers with incredibly slutty necklines? Mysterious cross-dressers with unconvincing moustaches? Vengeful brides? Martial siblings? Murderous royals? Guilt-ridden half-siblings? Boring star-crossed lovers? All these and more! It's a smorgasbord of rarepair fuel!

Also, I just love these toxic drama queens. It's like if RuPaul's Drag Race had the authority to have you executed.

4. The most intriguing outfits I've ever seen in anything (and yes, I'm including Winter Begonia)

Time for a fashion show!

The asymmetrical fits, the detailed embroidery on everything, the brilliant colors -- everybody just looks so good. And yet everything still looks ... eh, I don't know if "practical" is the word I want, but at least wearable. Nobody's dragging ten-foot trains of fabric behind them or wrapped in eighty floofy layers of gauze (except Rui, but she's special). Their outfits are strange and elaborate, but they don't defy physics.

What's truly stunning is how often they get new outfits. Xiao Se alone changes clothes about once every other episode, and more if he's getting a flashback. He is the fashion plate of the whole series, and every look he serves is pitch-perfect.

They're not outright color-coded, but the main characters do have certain colors associated with them -- which is extra-fun when you watch those colors bleeding into their friends' clothes as their relationships get stronger. I also think -- and I'm willing to be proven wrong on this point, but I think I'm right -- that they recycle some characters' outfits into parts of other characters' outfits. On more than one occasion, I'd swear that Lei Wujie shows up wearing the left half of something Xiao Se was wearing a few episodes back (tailored to fit him, of course, because that dumb ponytail boy is tall).

Where I think the costume design gets massive points, though, is that the costumes are themselves adaptations.

Before the live-action series, there was a 2018 3D animated donghua. I have never watched the latter, but apparently the drama is intensely faithful to the animated visuals, to the point where some fights are shot-for-shot remakes.

Of course, you can do a lot more with unreal clothing and bodies in animation -- and you can show a lot more skin, at least according to Chinese content laws. The live-action costumers chose to preserve about as many of the appearance beats from the donghua as they could manage, while still accepting the limitations of real-life bodies and materials. You can see some side-by-side comparisons here. The live-action outfits manage to be instantly recognizable without being slavishly devoted recreating to their inspirations.

So if you're sick and tired of dreary, ill-lit shows with bland palettes, this vibrant, colorful drama may be just the thing for you. It's a rainbow from start to finish.

5. Actually a good central plot?

Despite all the wacky delightful shounen nonsense that this show has -- and it has a lot -- the core of the whole narrative, which is Xiao Se's story, is surprisingly great and cohesive.

The short version is this: Xiao Se used to be Xiao Chuhe, sixth prince and somewhat heir apparent. Then he and his jerk-ass dad had a falling-out that resulted in the prince's having his martial arts abilities all but taken from him. He's been living the life of a very well-dressed innkeeper for several years, trying to avoid all of that palace garbage. But now his jerk-ass dad is dying, which means that a lot of horrible decisions are finally having unfortunate consequences for everyone, and Xiao Se's got to get back in there to make sure everything does not go to shit and land someone terrible on the throne -- even if it has to mean taking it himself.

His central conflict is between what he used to be and what he's become. Does he miss being Xiao Chuhe, high-ranked martial artist and future emperor? Or is he happier being Xiao Se, long-suffering nobody who can barely run a business, much less hold his own in a fight? What would he be willing to do to get back what he's lost? What are his obligations to himself versus his obligations to everyone else? How much is he responsible for his father's bullshit? And why has he wound up having to babysit this stupid Fire Puppy?

It's okay, they're best friends now. Lei Wujie decided.

No spoilers, but I liked Xiao Se's ending a lot. I feel it's very true to the character and shows a real understanding of who he is and what he values. And really, at the end of the day, sometimes all you need for a happy ending is your girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend's boyfriend who's also your boyfriend, your other boyfriend, his girlfriend, and your long-distance for-real soulmate.

Feel like giving the youths a try?

You can find them on YouTube or on Viki. But be absolutely sure that no matter where you watch it, you make sure to go watch the epilogue as well. (And if you get real into the story, well, here's a link to information about all the other adaptations.)

You are also welcome for how I did not spend this post going off for five hundred years on how much I love Wuxin and his funky relationship to Buddhism. I figured that's way too niche of a selling point for most people, and might indeed have even been counterproductive. But know that I could have.

Also, I'm very happy about the announcement of a second season, because that's going to mean Liu Xueyi has to shave his head again, and he looks unbearably good with a shaved head.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the whole motorcycle photoshoot?

In case you hadn't noticed, the whole cast is stupidly hot. Hachi machi.

#the blood of youth #少年歌行 #bloody youths #i made this #rec post #the party is a polycule #LeiDHD

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munsonsreputation · 2 years

Text

Acts of Affection

steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: [5.8K]

warnings: a tiny bit of sad steve but reader reassures him! full of domestic tooth rotting fluff <3

summary: sometimes it's the little things that matter the most and make your heart melt. you and steve are no different...these are six times that the small acts of affection made your love for each other grow.

“Stevie!”

He watched you exit through the double doors of your college campus, instantly catching his gaze all the way from the parking lot where he stood leaning up against his car waiting for you. Flowers in hand and a little teddy bear for good measure. You squealed his name, racing down the few steps and into his arms that always felt like home.

Today had been a stressful one, to say the least. It was finals season, and you had been working tirelessly for the past two weeks trying to cram as much studying as you could into your schedule. Unfortunately, that meant fewer dates and time to spend carelessly with your boyfriend, Steve. Nevertheless, he was an absolute trooper through all of it. Bringing you coffees and little snacks to get you through those boring studying hours and somehow convincing you to take naps in order to recharge. He was the absolute bestest.

“How are you, pretty girl?” He asked through your hair, the smile he loved so much, pressed up against his neck until you pulled away and he got to see it for himself.

“Better now…you know you didn’t have to do all this.” You pouted, plucking the plush out of his hand and aweing at it before Steve had shook his head, planting a small peck on your lips, thumbs resting on your cheekbones warmly, “I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. I know you’ve been so tired, but now you can finally relax for a little.”

You fell into the warmth of his hand and the softness of his voice. He was always your comfort place during times of stress and anxiety like this one—somehow he had all your worries go away and you knew that being in his presence would be enough.

“Let’s go home, yeah?” He kissed your temple, keeping his lips there as he the question fumbled upon your skin.

“But I’m already home.” You whispered, sweetly, dotting kissing on the underside of his jaw and a few on his neck as you could feel the adams apple bop while he laughed happily.

Steve found it in himself to draw you away, not before placing a single kiss on your lips once more, his thumb pressing on your cheeks as he smiled at you, “I’ve got your favorite waiting on the kitchen table.”

“Chicken parm?” Your voice heightens, and he nods, withholding his laughter.

“Yup, my mom made it fresh this morning before work. She knows how much you love it.”

You squeal, happily moving side to side in his arms, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Steve finds your excitement for simple acts like this one to be rather adorable, but he knows that you deserve it. After working so hard and almost overworking yourself from some good grades, you deserved a good home cooked meal you loved.

He opened up the passenger door for you, letting you in, “Wanna tell me about the exams on the way?”

“Oh, just wait until you hear about Professor Danielson’s stupid test rules!” You huffed heavily as you buckled your seatbelt and looked up at Steve, who smiled, pecking at your lips again.

“Can’t wait to hear it, baby.”

Class getting cancelled was a rare occurrence, so you were surprised when you waked up to your ethnic studies class to see a large piece of paper, poorly stuck to the door that read, “class has been cancelled for today, see you next week!”

But who were you to complain? You now had a free schedule for the rest of the day, left to do whatever you wanted, but you had already finished up the last bits of homework you were aiming to get done and Steve was at work. So you opted to go home…Steve’s home, actually. His parents loved you, even trusting you with a spare key that you use a lot, coming in and leaving almost every day.

While you should’ve settled on taking a relaxing nap that you deserved, you remember that Steve had been talking about how messy his closet had been getting over the last couple of weeks. It wasn’t easy, constantly needing to share a closet with not only you, but the rest of the younger boys who often raided it, looking for the new trendy pieces they could sport at school. So you took it upon yourself to organize it.

Steve had a ton of polos—you weren’t complaining since he looked good in every single one, but Jesus did he have a lot. One in every color and every shade, and different brands and prints. He also owned quite a collection of different jackets, some he had bought at the mall after receiving a hefty paycheck, a few gifted to him from holidays and birthdays, some that he had picked up from garage sales and thrift stores that you and Steve would visit on weekend, but his favorite one was the light grey Members Only jacket you had gifted him for your one-year anniversary.

Pants were definitely the most modest part of his wardrobe in terms of quantity. He opted to only buy a few ones that were of great quality, but were highly expensive. He only had a few pairs of Levi’s and the rest being old sweatpants and shorts he would only wear at home or when it was hot out.

Then there were the shoes. God, if Steve loved something more than he loved you, it was shoes. He collected them like a hoarder. It was a rule that the younger kids could pick anything in his closet expect the shoes! He cared for those pieces like his baby. You practically had to force him to wear every single pair at least once before buying another or else they’d just sit in a pile in his closet forever until they fell apart naturally.

“Finally!” You exhaled, dusting your hands off as you took a step back and examined your work.

After about two hours, you were able to completely transform his closet. Organizing everything you had hung up by type and color so that Steve would have an easier time sorting through what he had. You even had the time to create a pile of clothes that you hadn’t seen Steve wear in a while, placing it in the corner of his room to go through himself before offering it up to the boys or donating it.

“Baby! You in here? Your cars’ in the driveway!” The front door opened and Steve's voiced filled the expanse of his home as you shouted out a reply,

“Hi Stevie!”

Your feet took you quickly down the stairs and into his arms, inhaling his cologne while you nuzzled your face into his neck, hugging him close.

“Class got cancelled today.” You mumbled against his skin, pulling away when he rested his hands on your sides, squeezing slightly.

He frowned, rubbing circles with his thumbs, “Why didn’t you call? I would’ve called out early for you.”

“S’ok, you’re here now and that’s all that matters.” Your cheeks rose as you smiled, finally landing your lips against his in a kiss.

His own, moving against yours gently, before pulling away, “I have a surprise for you upstairs.”

“Is it a naughty surprise?” His eyes brows wiggled and his tone shifted higher as you groaned, pushing his chest annoyingly, “Ew! Just come on!”

Your fingers took his wrist, pulling him up the stairs behind you as he laughed, speaking out a jumble of words like, “I’m just messing with ya baby,” “I hate surprises,” and “just tell me, please!”

“Ta-da!” Your arms flared out towards his open closet when you two finally entered his room.

He was astonished, “Babe, you did all this yourself?” walking up to it, his fingers skimmed each item as he passed by, looking at how organized everything was and how he could finally see the floor of his closet after all these weeks.

You nodded your head happily, “Yeah! It was actually really therapeutic to go through everything and see it all come together.”

He turned back to you when your bubbling voice filled the air. “I even made a pile of clothes you don’t wear anymore over there.”

Looking at to where you were pointing, he saw a bunch of old tee-shirts and hoodies that didn’t find him anymore, and then glanced back at you, “Baby, you really didn’t have to—“

“Uh uh.” You shook your head, finger waving from side to side making him chuckle, getting closer enough to you to wrap his arms around your waist.

“i wanted to! You’ve been complaining for weeks about it being a mess and I know you didn’t have the time to organize it all by yourself, so I took it upon myself to—mph!”

He pulled you into a kiss, mid-sentence making you shriek, “Shhh, stop rambling, baby.” He said against you, making you groan, fingers going up to his shoulder to pinch him slightly, “Not cool.”

“I love you.” He said, totally ignoring your fake annoyance,

“I love you too.”

The clanking of plastic hitting the diner table caught your attention, stopping you mid chew as you stared at Steve, who did nothing but smile, resting his chin on his fist as he watched you, “I made you a mixtape!”

“Are you serious?” the half mushed food in your mouth, muffling your words as he laughed, reaching over to close your mouth with his forefingers.

“Finish chewing—“ you rolled your eyes lightly, setting down your fork, mouth mashing up the last bits of food while you picked up the cassette.

from stevie to my baby…all these songs remind me of you, I love you.

keep on loving you - reo speedwagon

crazy for you - madonna

heaven - bryan adams

take my breath away - berlin

nothing’s gonna stop us now - starships

p.s. did I mention I love you?

You did realize your eyes welling with a pool of happy tears as you read the tracks—all of them being significant theme songs for you and Steve’s love story. When any of them would come on the radio, the two of you would instantly think of each other, reminiscing about drunk karaoke nights, late night drives around town, and sleepy nights you would spend falling asleep in each others arms.

“I could only fit five songs on this cassette but Eddie told me he could lend me a few empty ones so I could—“ He paused, seeing as you laughed lightly, eyes blinking and tears rolling down your cheeks and jaw, “baby are you crying?”

His thumb reached out to swipe under your eyes, then cupped your cheeks, eyes filled with concern of his side as you reassured him with a sincere smile, “Happy tears, Stevie…this is so sweet.”

“They’re just songs honey, you shouldn’t cry.”

Heading shaking in his grasp, turning slightly to kiss his wrist then look back into his eyes, trapping him in a trance of love that he would never be able, and never wanted to escape, “You’re the most thoughtful person I’ve ever had to privilege of knowing, let alone loving…the littlest things you do make me fall even more in love with you.”

Sure, you and Steve would share sweet nothings with each other all the time…almost on a daily basis, but this confession made his heart beat ten times faster and heat up to the hottest temperature. He’s never felt so…appreciated?

“I…wow, I’m sorry, I just—never knew I could make someone feel like that.”

Watching him stutter over his words was a touching scene, knowing Steve was totally honest and speechless, “I meant every word, I love you and I’m going to cherish this for the rest of our lives.” you told him, pressing the tape to your heart and leaning forward to peck his lips.

“I love you too, never gonna stop loving you—wait! I should’ve put that on there!” He groaned, hanging his head low as you giggled, shaking your head as you assured him.

“When you make me another, you can put it on there!” You patted his cheek with your warm palm, “Let’s finish up and we can listen to this with the windows down.”

He smiled warmly, pecking your lips, talking against them half-jokingly, “You’ll get cold after two minutes and ask me to roll them back up.”

You nodded, pressing your lips to his again, “And you’ll roll them up and turn up the heat.”

“Like I do all the time.” He agreed, finally pulling away to take in the expanse of your face and all your beautiful features he memorized.

You tiptoed out of the backdoor with your bare feet on the deck. Steve’s sweater clinging onto your body against the cold air, but thankfully the two mugs of hot chocolate you had made were warming your palms up.

“‘morning hot stuff.” You whispered cooly, leaning down to kiss his cheek before he had the chance to look up at you.

You smiled when you pulled away, handing him over his mug that he graciously took, then pecking your lips, “You’re up early…are you not freezing?”

He patted his thigh, signaling for you to sit on his lap, and so you did, snuggling yourself in embrace, feet bending to rest on the lounger that you two were now relaxing on. Your naked knees taking on the warmth of the mug that you set on them.

“You warm me up just fine.” You said softly, taking a sip of the sweet drink, overlooking the beautiful water and misty air.

It was your first time at Steve’s uncle’s lake house, and surprisingly enough, they had to trust the two of you to stay alone for the weekend. It was the perfect little getaway for the both of you, considering the fact that Steve needed to use his vacation days and you desperately needed to get your nose out of the textbooks for a while.

The comfortable stubble that scratched against your cheek was a case of Steve forgetting to pack his razor and being too lazy to head to the store down the road to get one. But you weren’t complaining. You always loved every touch Steve laid on you, accidental or purposeful. The butterflies and swelling of your heart never was a feeling you would get used to. It happened all the time.

When he reaches to hold your hand. Brushing a piece of hair behind your ear. Guiding you around a crowded room with his hand pressed gently into the small of your back. Throwing his leg over your body to prevent you from getting out of bed too early. And laying sweet kisses all over your body.

It always had the same effect on you.

“One day you’re going to catch hypothermia, babe.” He argued back with a chuckle, his free hand rubbing up and down your legs attempting to get the blood circulating.

You just giggled softly, taking a sip from your mug, indulging in his touch before finally saying something, “We’re never apart, so that’s highly unlikely.”

“You’re right…you know how much I love to keep you warm.” He kissed up the expanse of your neck up to your ear, making you fall into his touch deeper, his hand leaving your wrap over your shoulders, keeping you close.

“I wish every morning could be like this.” You murmured, turning your head to stare up into his eyes that agreed silently before coming down to peck your lips.

His were slightly chapped from the cold weather neither of you were accustomed to, but the chapstick on your lips seemed to do the trick, “One day I’ll get us a place of our own on a lake and we can spend every morning out there…” the sweet words fell onto your lips as he whispered them before pulling away.

“We can watch the sunrise and the sunset, host summer parties with our friends out here…then when we have kids, we can spend time with them out here—our little family at our little lake house.”

You smiled warmly, bringing one of your hands up to rest upon his cheek. The scarlet blush you were certain was from the icy weather, but was, in fact, due to his love for you. It was the mere fact that he was so infatuated with you in the simplest times like these…with no one around to judge or critique the love you had for one another.

“You want to have kids with me?” You asked as if you didn’t already know the answer, having thought of that dream too.

He huffed jokingly with the rolling of his eyes as he nodded, hand making its way to rest on your stomach, “You’re the only one I can ever imagine having a family with…you’d be a great mom.”

“Says the guy who has been a single dad of six since he was seventeen.” You retorted as you both shared a laugh before taking a sip of the hot chocolate to warm your bodies once more.

You leaned down to set your cup on the deck, allowing both hands to be free so you could rest them on Steve’s that still laid over your belly, “I can’t wait to have your babies…I think we’d make pretty good looking humans if you asked me.”

Steve grinned, nodding his head, “I think so too…what do you think about heading inside and us warming up in a different way?”

The wiggling of his eyebrows made you burst out in amusement, but not stopping the twists that were happening in your stomach. He just sat there, shaking his head with a smile on his face, trying to act as if it wasn’t the corniest thing he had said all week, “Ok, c’mon, it wasn’t supposed to be funny, babe!”

“It was pretty funny!” You quipped, poking at his sides, making him flinch, almost spilling his drink.

He “oh’d” with a laugh, leaning over to set him down on the deck beside yours, then finally lifting you up into his arms.

“Stevieeeee!” you squealed, weakly attempting to wiggle out of his gasp as he walked you two up the deck.

“I feel your temperature dropping, babe! We gotta get you warmed up, quick!” He joked dramatically, feet running heavily on the wood, as you could do nothing but laugh and hold on to him tightly with every step he took.

You quietly unlocked the front door to the Harrington residence, toeing your sneakers off and leaving them at the front door as you made your way through his house. Today’s lecture required you to stay back a few hours longer, needing some extra tutoring in order to fully grasp the concept that way you wouldn’t fail the upcoming test that you so badly needed to pass in order to get an A for the school year. That sadly meant leaving Steve alone for a few hours, but you assumed he could manage, considering the fact that this wasn’t the first time you had to stay on campus a little longer. Usually he’d come home and take a nice nap after work while he waited for you or other times he would hang out with your friend group until he received a call that you would be heading home.

But today was different.

You stumbled into the kitchen and found a note stuck onto the fridge with one of the smiley faces magnets that littered the silver appliance.

“hi baby, I left some soup for you to heat up on the stove. not having a great day, a lot on my mind, don’t want to worry you though. I’m upstairs napping. Make sure you eat first before you come to bed. I love you, sweetheart.” - your stevie

A frown covered your face as you turned to the stove and saw a small pot of soup and a bowl and spoon already laid out for you. But Steve should’ve known better that you wouldn’t be able to eat without checking up on him first. He would always be your number one priority. You left the food there, and walked up the stairs, heading straight to his bedroom where you softly knocked on the door, just to let your presence be known as you twisted the knob and let yourself in.

There he laid under the comforters on his stomach, snoring quietly while the gently breeze of wind came in through his windows. You sat your bag down on the floor and made your way over to him, sitting on the small space that was left and rubbing a soothing hand over his clothed back.

“Hi handsome…I missed you.” You said loud enough for him to wake, kissing the space beneath his ear.

He mumbled out a few incoherent words, before finally shifting around to face you. His sleepy red eyes, evident that he may have been crying a few hours before or even rubbing them a little too hard. It worried you.

“Did you eat?” He asked, and you shook your head, reaching out to fix the messy hairs that danced on his sweaty forehead.

Steve groaned, scolding you for not without using his words, “I couldn’t after what I read in your note. Is everything OK? You want to talk about it?”

You knew your boyfriend like the back of your hand and that included knowing that he had a soft side that not many people knew about. Sure, he expressed his protective and loving side for his close friends, but rarely did he ever expose his true inner feelings. He only did that with you. And you were honored to be his person that he could be his true self with, without worrying about being judged for feeling such deep and emotional things.

“Life is just…. a lot.” He sighed, looking down sadly in his lap, feeling defeated and lost in what was the weird transition to adulthood and still holding on to being a young adult.

You scooted closer, mirroring his body language, but wrapping your arm around his shoulder and the other on his wrist, getting him to feel some sort of comfort during this time.

“I understand, babe… life can be a lot, but I hope you know that you’re not alone—I’m always going to be here.” You reassured him with your calming voice and slow circles that you rubbed on his wrist.

You could feel his breath hitch and his back crouch lower falling almost away from your touch if you didn’t chase it, “Hey, hey…I’m here baby, talk to me…what’s going on? How can I help?”

“I get scared that it’s all going to disappear.”

The sentence was clear, yet his voice was shaky as some of the words slipped off his tongue with a breathy tone.

“D-disappear?”

“You.” he clarified, staring back up at you with tear-filled eyes, threatening to spill over any second now.

You could feel your heart rip into a million tiny pieces just looking at the love of your life like this. It was something you had never witnessed before, at least not like this. How could you ever disappear from his life when you two practically needed each other to survive? He would be crazy to think that, but right now, you needed to reassure him that you weren’t going anywhere.

“Steve.” You whispered, retracting your hands from their initial placement and bringing them up to cup his cheeks. Swiftly your thumbs moved to swipe the tears that finally fell when he blinks, those brown orbs coated with a cloud that you hated to see.

“I…I’m never going to disappear, alright? I love you, so so so so much and I can’t even imagine living a life without you….what makes you think I’d ever want to leave the person I love so dearly?”

“I dunno…” he sniffled, closing his eyes briefly, before opening them up again and staring into his favorite pair of eyes, face covered with concern, “sometimes I think that I’m not enough for you…that you’ll get tired of me, maybe find someone better than a stupid guy who works at a vhs store.”

He shook his head shamefully in your hold, as you could do little but bite your lip and laugh lightly, causing his brows to furrow, “It’s not supposed to be funny—“

“Baby.” You whispered tugging his face closer to yours, just inches apart now, “I couldn't care less about the job that you have…hell you could work as a damn plumber and I would still feel the same about you because I love you.”

He swallowed, not chancing this moment as he watched your lips move swiftly with more words leaving them.

“I love the fact that you take the time to memorize all my weird little quirks. I love it when you leave little notes around the house and in my bag to read throughout the day because you know I miss you too much. I love when you wake me up in the morning and pepper me with kisses because it’s the only way to get me up. I love that you make me mixtapes and I never get tired of listening to them. I love that you have the biggest heart and the kindest soul. I love that you would do anything for the people that you love.”

Steve could feel his sad little heart sparkling with happiness as he listened to your meaningful words.

“I love you, Steve Harrington, because of what’s in your heart. I mean it every day when I say that I love you and nothing is ever going to stop me from doing so…especially not your job. Please know that I’m not going anywhere, not ever, ok?”

He didn’t waste time with words, only pressing his lips to yours, letting them rest on each other in a soft touch before finally moving gently against one another. Everything and all his fears were lifted away with you here telling him that everything would be ok…that it was all in his head.

“Thank you for always reassuring me.”

You smiled against his lips and nodding, foreheads slightly bumping each others making you both laugh and pull away.

His eyes were no longer clouded with sadness, but now glimmering with love.

“Always, baby.”

So maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea for you and Steve to host a sleepover movie night at his place on a Sunday knowing he had work the next day and you class—but it was the only day everyone was free, so fuck it…right?

You tucked your face deeper into Steve’s chest, inhaling his scent combined with the morning air that suffocated the living room as the warmth of the sun bled through the thin curtains and onto your exposed skin that wasn’t covered by blankets. It wasn’t odd for you and him to crash in the living room. Sometimes the two of you would be too tired to walk up his flight of stairs or you would both would fall asleep in each other’s arms during movie. But this is the first time you had been awoken by snores…some of which you weren’t familiar with, they didn’t sound like Steve’s snores…they belonged to your friends…the ones you let sleepover—

“Fuck! Steve wake up! We overslept!”

You instantly shot up, arm blindly reaching out to shake Steve awake whose eyes snapped opened quickly, watching as you threw off the blankets in a pile on the floor. A few of your friends squirming from their places on the air mattress and opposite couch who woke up to your loud shrieks.

“I thought you set the alarm,” He mumbled out, snapping out of his initial concern and rubbing his eyes with his fingers.

You got up, racing towards the digital clock that sat on the coffee table, “Batteries were probably out…stupid thing!” you smacked it harshly as if that would do you both any good as he stifled his laugher and finally got up.

“Go shower, I’ll handle get started on coffee.” He said patting your bum and pressing a quick kiss to your forehead, watching as you nodded running up the stairs loudly, not caring if you woke your friends.

You worked quickly, rushing around Steve’s bedroom as you brushed your teeth. Pulling out some clothes from your drawer of things there, gathering some school appropriate pieces that you know would match since you didn’t have much time. You had thrown them onto the bathroom counter, reaching into the shower to warm up the water before rising from your mouth and practically ripping off your clothes and hopping in for a quick rinse.

Steve was working just as hurriedly downstairs. The kettle was on high and the two pieces of bread had been put into the toaster. He had gotten each of your mugs ready with a spoonful of coffee grounds and the sugar pot already waiting beside them for the end. The eggshells littered the bottom of the kitchen sink as he vigorously whisked and seasoned them before pouring them in the hot pan. He worked the spatula around the mixture, setting it down and rushing towards the fridge to grab the bread, peanut butter, and jam to get started on the lunches you two would be packing.

“Babe your turn!” You were rushing down the stairs with his toothbrush in hand with a fresh line of toothpaste already on it.

He turned, thanking you with a quick smile before shoving it in his mouth and rushing up the stairs.

It was easy for you to take over. The eggs were nearly finished and now plated. The kettle had been done boiling, so you poured the hot water into your cups, watching as the dark brown slowly take over, adding in two scoops of sugar into each cup. The toast popped up. You turned around grabbing them with quick fingers and drizzling a squiggle of honey on them for sweetness.

The sandwiches had been already made and only needed to be cut and placed into ziplock bags. And so you did that, grabbing a clementine and bag of chips for each of you to have for lunch.

“I have your backpack, sweetheart.” You turned your head and saw Steve heading down the stairs with your bag in his hands that he placed down at the floor of the front door.

“Thanks handsome! Breakfast is ready!”

You turned, setting your coffees down on the table, being greeted with a peck on the lips as you giggle, nudging him away jokingly, “eat or we’ll be late.”

He rolled his eyes, checking his time on his watch, “We’ve got approximately six minutes and thirty-five seconds to leave the house before either or us are late…we’re fine.”

Steve casually takes a bit of his toast and picks up bits of the scramble eggs with his fork before eating them. You do the same, but with a bit more of urgency remembering you had forgotten your scarf and a few pieces of jewelery you usually sported upstairs.

“Be right back!” You mumbled with a full mouth of toast, as you scrambled out of your seat and back up the stairs.

At this point, all of your friends had woken up due to the loud ruckus and unbeknownst to you and Steve, they were watching you two run around, absentmindedly helping one another with small tasks like a cooperative relationship.

Steve had gulped down the last remnants of his coffee and begun placing the dishes in the sink to give them a quick wash. You came down the stairs, fingers securing the earring backs to the small jewels that Steve had gifted you for your birthday one year ago—his green vest loops over your arm as you crept up behind him and nudged him slightly.

“Almost forgot this.” you smirked, holding it out for him to work his arms through.

“You’re the best.” He mumbled sweetly, handing you your cup of coffee to finish as he brushed down the flyaway hairs at the top of your head with his palm.

You swallowed the rest of the semi bitter caffeine, handing him over your cup then walking over to your lunches, quickly adding a smiley face and heart to his brown bag with the thick sharpie.

“Ready to go?” He asked, wiping his hands clean as you turned around and nodded, handing him his lunch as you two walk out of the kitchen and went to the front door quickly slipping on some shoes and grabbing your respective car keys.

You slung your backpack over your shoulder and pecked his lips, “Remember you need to fill up your tank, you’re almost on E.” you reminded him as he nodded patting his pocket to make sure he had his wallet, which he did.

“Call me during lunch if you have time? And I’ll see you here at 3?” He proposed, and you nodded, giving him a hug.

You two were almost out the door when he remembered that your friends were still over.

“Hey dinguses! Lock the door on the way out and make sure you fold the blankets!” He reminded with a shout before shutting the door.

They all turned to each other with sleepy smiles, heading over to the nearest widow to watch the couple part ways.

“They’re like a married old couple.” Dustin commented, as you two shared another kiss before getting in your cars.

“I think it’s kinda cute.” Max said, nudging El, who giggled and nodded.

The boys rolled their eyes, except for Eddie, who walked away and stretched his arms out, “They love each other, it’s no surprise.”

“More like infatuated.” Will jokes, smiling as he listens to the car horn beep. Steve lets you drive off first, then him following behind.

“It’s the little things that make their love sweeter.” Lucas says, moving towards the coffee table and finding a polaroid of you and Steve, from a few nights ago, sitting around and watching sitcoms.

“Small acts of affection are what they call it.” Robin says snatching the photo from the young boy to admire herself.

“Guess we ought to take a note or two.” Mike shrugged as everyone agrees.

It couldn’t be clearer that you and Steve were head over heels…not because of the grand gestures, but mostly because of the small and meaningful ones. The times where Steve would show up after a mentally grueling day without being asked to. The acts of service you would complete to help him get a load off his plate. The thoughtful gifts he would make for you without any special occasion. The one-on-one moments you spend together without bother, letting each other’s touch fill the gap. The appreciative words of affirmation and assurance that would fix a heavy heart after a long day. And the togetherness you both would feel, even on a hectic morning like today.

It would always be the simple acts that would make your love for each other grow.

A/N: I've been in the steve mood so I decided to write this sweet little quick thing up for you all! I am a whore for domestic fluff so yeah...let me know what you think!

#MunsonsReputation #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #steve harrington x fem #steve harrington stranger things #stranger things fluff #stranger things #steve stranger things #steve harrington x you

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honeyspawn · 4 months

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I finally watched VHS Christmas Carol Live last night, and I loved it! I wanted to give some initial thoughts:

The music SLAPS! Like, so good! I'm not usually much of an 80's pop person, but honestly it was bop after bop the whole time. Bah Humbug, That Scrooge, Christmas Electricity, and Priceless were all highlights for me. I think what sold it for me was how lyrically tight it was, and how strong the emotions were. Telling a story entirely through song is no easy feat, but they absolutely nailed the structure and pacing.

Speaking of the emotions, Christmas Carol has been adapted so many times, that it's really important to hit all the emotional beats to sell the spirit of the story, and VHS delivers. I feel like many adaptations go all in on the misery, regret, and sorrow of the story, and only really bring the cheer and warmth in at the very end. VHS really embraces not only the somber parts of the tale, but the joyful parts too. Fezziwig's Chistmas party, Fred's party, and the Crachit's family dinner all really portray the joyfullness of the season and how that joyfullness can come from many places. It really strengthens the message of the story in a way that adaptations focused only on the bleak aspects miss.

In terms of actual story decisions, VHS really sticks to the classic story very closely and does it really well. Actual story changes are few and far between, but the ones they included I really liked. I loved the addition of the couple who are thankful that Scrooge died because it relieves their debt. It really highlights that Crachit and his family are not the only people affected by Scrooge's greed. Many adaptations either like to forget he's a landlord, or don't unpack the ethics of landlords, so it was nice to see some sort of acknowledgment of Scrooge's less direct and more systemic impact. I also really liked how Scrooge delivered the turkey to the Crachit's in secret, and didn't give Bob his raise until after Christmas instead of barging in unannounced. I had never really thought about it before, but in most versions he does just kind of barge in on their celebration and make a big production of giving Bob a raise. I like how he let them have their celebration in peace and spent more time with Fred.

The performances were all killer. I know it kinda goes without saying at this point, but everyone in the cast in Starkid shows are always so talented. Special mention to James Tolbert, because I feel like he doesn't get enough recognition for what a talented actor, dancer, and choreographer (and director) he is. This was also my first time seeing Janaya Mahealani Jones in anything, and her Belle really blew me away. Other stand-outs for me were Dylan Saunders' Scrooge, Lauren Lopez and Joey Ritcher's Crachits, and Jaime Lyn Beatty's Ghost of Christmas Past, but really everyone knocked it out of the park.

June Saito's costumes! The 80s themeing was outstandingly executed, and the quick changes were really impressive. I've gotten used to the more realistic and toned down costumes that fit the Hatchetfield shows' setting (which are also fantastic, not trying to minimize those), but between this and the LiB's in NPMD, it's wonderful to see June Saito get to really go over the top. Special mention to Marley's costume (silver chain pants? silver chain pants!), the 3 spirit's silver and blue color themeing, and that sequined suit jacket Scrooge wears at the end of the show.

Overall, really good. Might pay for the VHS Carols digital ticket later today and watch it.

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giveemgreef · 5 months

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the minnesota wild as High School Musical characters

did I take this too seriously? yes. have I spent the last week thinking about this? also yes. anyway, the context: we were assigned the wildcats by a swede. @babygirlspurgeon kept tagging things with HSM lyrics. @wildaboutmnhockey created the masterpiece video of the mn wild set to getcha head in the game. so now here I am!!! this has been meticulously constructed with the help of my friend who doesn't know anything about the wild beyond what I tell her (shoutout to zoe for being balls to the wall no matter what I throw at her! who else will discuss the misc. cunt levels of the wild players with me). anyway to make this easier on ourselves we constructed a reality wherein High School Musical is being recreated on ice & instead of basketball in the plot it's hockey, so this is NOT about who's most like a character etc (though that ended up being a large part of it anyway whoops), but who could embody them best in a production of it. since the cast for HSM is not...particularly large, I was really getting down into the weeds with minor parts to fit (almost) the whole roster in here, so most everyone has their moment!!! anyway. and lastly. I am just saying that mounting this show during intermissions could maybe fix the nightmare this season has been & bring the team together. because they are. after all. all in this together.

tldr: this is basically a fancast of HSM using only the minnesota wild. I am not explaining myself any further

***

Troy Bolton // Matt Boldy

look. we really had to waffle between many options for Troy and this is where we ended up. my thoughts on matt boldy have been semi-well documented at this point, so mr. white bread bimbo feels like an organic option for this role. I feel like he can really serve us some mid-range semi-insensitive high school jock realness + angst without trying too hard. plus: I feel like he'll play off Shawzy as Gabriella really well.

Gabriella Montez // Mason Shaw

for as fucking annoying as Gabriella is at points, there's an earnest authenticity there that shawzy so easily embodies. his "let's play hockey" moment from playoffs 2023........he has the emotional RANGE and will murder When There Was Me and You in cold blood. plus, much like gabriella does for troy in HSM, mason will be able to coax that emotional performance from boldy as troy with his whole do-it-for-shawzy energy. what else can be said!!! the boys love him!! so don't worry, shawzy!! you soon will be soaring. flying. and breaking free.

Sharpay Evans // Marcus Foligno

marcus foligno the man that you are. he can and WILL serve the cunt necessary to be Sharpay. he will commit body and soul to bringing this role to life, though we may have to adjust the line "evaporate, tall person" to be more appropriate. anyway. I would give SO much in this life to see moose perform Bop to the Top. who will fund this with me.

Ryan Evans // Mats Zuccarello

known funky little man mats zuccarello does SO WELL as Ryan in my mind. his dancing has been well documented so you KNOW he's gonna absolutely kill the game with those jazz squares (it's a crowd favorite! everybody loves a good jazz square), plus his affable, everyman, team-first energy is exactly what the role of ryan demands. also: the idea of him as ryan and foligno as sharpay....chef's kiss.

Chad Danforth // Ryan Hartman

hartzy...hype man for the boys...put him a series of shirts with chirpy slogans on them for my enjoyment please!!! then make him walk around with sports props for the entire production. anyway, hartzy gives me the requisite jock bro energy necessary to pull off chad's role, as well as the bitchiness needed to essentially sabotage something that is making his best buddy troy happy. plus. I'm just SAYING. given chad and ryan's dynamic in HSM2. I am eyeing him and zuccy with anticipation.

Taylor McKessie // Joel Eriksson Ek

he's going the distance. he's going for speed. he's being cast as the tenacious captain of the scholastic decathlon team. mr. september is nothing but committed to his craft and this seriousness and dedication is EXACTLY what we need for taylor. that being said, our boy jeek is up for some shenanigans given the right situation, so will he manufacture a situation to rudely disrupt the decathlon & basketball finals? but of course!!

Kelsi Nielsen // Connor Dewar

who ELSE is going to bring enough weird girl energy to the table?? I feel like dewey 2 would take this SO seriously and the role of kelsi, while at times beyond fucking annoying, demands nothing but sincerity and dedication. he wouldn't be able to NOT take this seriously. this man has also stated that he would be a writer if not for hockey, so we can really get some method acting up in this bitch. essentially: put a bowler hat on that beast and watch him go.

Ms. Darbus // Marc-Andre Fleury

this role had to be rotated in my mind a lot before settling on a casting choice. I mean, goalies are weird, and I feel like flower would bring jussssst enough bizarro energy that would perfectly drive a middle-aged thespian who, for some reason, allowed a high school student to write and mount a musical that seems to make little to no sense. maybe it's all part of a large prank. who knows.

Coach Bolton // Jake Middleton

I can't pretend this is anything other than typecasting, I'm so sorry. I can't look at middsy without being reminded of the dad from Inside Out, plus "the mustache is saying pushing 50" according to my friend. I can also perfectly envision middsy yelling WHAT ARE THOSE TWO DOING IN A TREE with great dedication, so. assigned dilf at HSM casting

Lucille Bolton // Jared Spurgeon

does spurge deserve a larger role? maybe. possibly. probably. but look: once we cast middsy as troy's dad, spurgeon was quick to follow as troy's mom. who are we to fight the natural sexual chemistry of these two? anyway. assigned milf at HSM casting

Jason Cross // Brandon Duhaime

typecast as dumb jock from a team of jocks. what does that say about you, mr. duhaime??? anyway, dewey 1 is really going to deliver on the clueless but loyal bro vibes here. as a bonus. a very IMPORTANT bonus. I have to note that at the end of All in this Together jason is the one to remove kelsi's bowler hat and help her shoot a basket in a VERY flirtatious manner. and I AM all about putting the deweys in that situation, so help me god.

Zeke Baylor // Frédérick Gaudreau

he IS a sweetheart!!!!! a sweetheart!!!!! someday you WILL make the perfect crème brûlée, freddy!!! & your boys will love you for it!!!!

Martha Cox // Brock Faber

the glasses are giving nerd. and then THIS is giving pop and lock and jam and break.

Skater Who Plays the Cello // Jon Merrill

do I need to explain this one????? c'mon. he's so believable as a skater kid and ALSO as someone who plays the cello. the duality of man is contained in jonny "vibes" merrill.

(tbc)

#minnesota wild

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neotaissong · 2 months

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many thanks to @vvaterling for the tag, appreciate it

Last songs I listened to: 'the creator has a masterplan' by pharoah sanders, 'arab voice of freedom (live)' by fairuz, 'kwanzaa' by karma and 'weight of the word' by MIKE

Currently watching: mandabi by ousmane sembène (super stressful watch as unc gets taken by the triple threat of colonialism, corruption and a community of vultures) sankofa by haile gerima (one the best time travel movies of all time, with arguably the most cathartic slave uprising commited to film, another gerima masterpiece that burns all the exploitative, liberal-fascist, cash-grab, trauma porn slave narratives to dust) burning an illusion by menelik shabazz, the empire strikes back 4K80 (all these 'resistance' movies owe haiti, algeria and vietnam, a big phat cheque) love is blind (ngl after mandabi i needed thissss lol, so much mess this season) as above so below by larry clark (has some of the fiercest close ups of all the la rebellion films) little forest: winter/spring (a beautiful, seasonal series of movies, focused on cooking in a small village in Japan and the relationship between a daughter and her mother who has abandoned her, it's like a slow burn cooking show slash japanese art house movie series (it's 4 movies in total) about the poetic changing of seasons...it really makes you think about how limited western filmmaking/storytelling is and in it's own way asks the eternal question: what is cinema?) spirited away by miyazaki (i kinda hate sharp images at the mo, BUT reluctantly getting a 4k cut made from an 8k upscale, had me marvelling at every single frame and brushstroke and now im bopping thru the streets to joe hisaishi's score like a joker, but u know idgaffffffff this movie is an absolute masterpiece and it ain't up for discussion my dears lol) the muslim mindset and islam’s mission with dr sohail hanif and ig stories from: bisan, motaz, hindkhoudary, warsanshiree, saul williams, red_maat, bsonblast, amandaseales, oaklandmademe, thezaynalarbii and yasinbey...

Currently reading: ousmane sembène interviews, the quran, art on my mind by bell hooks, ming smith aperture monograph, domu: the dreams of children by katshuhiro otomo, the sound i saw by roy decarava, instant light (polaroids) by andrei tarkovsky, maafa by harmony holiday, the book of light by lucile clifton and suheir hammad's gaza suite. dipping in and out of all of the above...

Sweet/savory/spicy: all three, but right now, korean spicy chicken is what i dream of...

Relationship status: single...praying she loves god...............................and korean spicy chicken..............

Current obsession: shooting with my new camera, lenses lenses lenses, colour grading on davinci, preparing for shoots at the end of the month, inshallah...roy decarava's photography and his use of shadow, darkness and light, ming smith's photography and her use of blurrrr, darkness and focus, summerdanceforver dance-off videos (i miss paradiso) new balance 9060's and salehe bembury's designs and interviews especially his peace be the journey sneakers, hiking, harmony holiday on twitter (unmatched raps with a razor under tongue!) hiroshi yoshimura - copped the vinyl represses of green and surround, which im super grateful for, totally obsessed with green: ethereal and expansive movements through nature, basking in healing frequencies. local reggae community radio station run by elders in north london, always vibrant, shaggy and aggy. talking, arguing, listening, LEARNING, UNLEARNING, loving and meditating on how to decolonise everything, liberation and how we get free...free palestine congo sudan and stopppp cop city...steamed buns from bun house, writing and shooting (jill scott voice: slowly surely) and last and certainly notttttt least, getting closer to god...

Last search: flights to jamaica... (get me outta babylon fam)

Currently working on: beating burnout and the resulting procrastination to finish my new movie inshallah...preparing for shoots at the end of the month inshallah...

now i tag: @humbleseed @kndmind @ritasdove @ahla-tahiya @komplikacije @wrathdiwata @earthgoddessmusings @elea-mar @mosterriblewoman @thacryingame @besarelcielo @universalstudent @jamiefoxxhairline @therootednomad @0912199 @afeelingindescribable @sbtravie @artemisiasea @macaroot @textualtrancetextural @143-4u @afroladina @chaosteorema @rose1water @coyotelo @godzilla-en-mexico @esdr0 @gullyrootoranamu @guwop07 @bohemialatina @emekkka

im sure i've missed some mutuals, plssssss if i didn't tag you and you feel like you wanna put us on game and spill the beans on whats currently got you moving --------- pls join innnnn!

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the-krakens-bitch · 3 months

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This is a quick idea of who is least to most likely to be the one who dies at the end of the show.

Charlie: 6:

It won't be her.

Not only is she the protagonist, but she is one of the primary female characters in a show that is dominant in other male characters, and killing her, just reduces the key aspects of the narrative.

Angel: 5:

The fan favourite

Angel Dust is the character that also has a lot of emotional devices attached to them, and by killing them they would stunt his character development, including the triumph against Valentino and his relationship with Husk

I considered that his death may highlight him being redeemed, such as other characters seen within other narratives, however, with this episode, Angel's goodness and redemption were already displayed

Niffty: 4:

Not to sound mean, but out of everyone I kinda hope its Nifty

However, I know it won't, BECAUSE, of this reason.

Nifty has no strong attachment towards the audience and the other characters, such as Alastor and Angel Dust, thus her death won't entirely be that emotional and beneficial towards the overall narrative

The last 3 are the hardest:

Vaggie: 3:

I don't think that Vivziepop would kill off one of her most prominent female characters, especially one who is in a gay relationship with the protagonist (Is it burry the gays if they are already dead. Technically Charlie and Vaggie aren't even dead they are more like eternal beings or omens)

However, it would connect towards Vaggie's line in ‘Whatever it Takes’ (Absolute underrated bop) “I’ll be your armour”, the idea that Vaggie's foundation of her self-worth is from Charlie's satisfaction and happiness rather than herself.

This would cause emotional anguish in Charlie which would force her to evolve and grow in the proceeding seasons.

Husk: 2:

Before watching the show, especially episode 4, Husk had no direct attachment to any of the characters, thus having a similar effect with Niffty. However, with his and Angel's relationship development, he now has an emotional aspect that would convert his death being an impactful event.

I don't believe that they would do this, due to his and Angel's relationship not having a significant romantic event (yet) that would cause more determination to win the fight against Heaven (Loser Baby was amazing, but it wasn't the romantic pull entirely required)

I believe that If he did die, it would be similar to Vaggie, in the way that he was a sacrifice for another person, in his case Angel

This can be further through the series of Angel facing the world for the sake of the soul who truly believed in him, similar to the values that Husk presented in episode 6 at the bar.

Alastor: 1:

The most prominent character development displayed would be Alastor dying for the sake of Charlie and the Hotel, something that pilot him would be baffled by.

However (Here with another however) I don't think it would happen.

Alastor death would affect the other characters, especially Charlie, while the others, Husk and Niffty, wouldn't have the same melancholy compared to her.

But since he has such a deep and rich history, with theories connecting him to Lillith, I don't believe that they are gonna “Waste” him. (This idea/excuse is the weakest compared to the others, so I kinda do think it will be him)

Bonus:

The character that I completely believe would die is….

Sire Pentious!!

(Sorry to his fans)

My reasons are that he doesn't have any direct ties to anyone, such as Vaggie and Charlie, Charlie and Alastor, and Angel and Husk.

However, he is prominent enough for the audience and the characters to know him enough and can sense his development of becoming a better soul.

Compared to the pilot trying to destroy Cherry Bomb and to him trying to flirt with her. He is trying to become a better person, and the classic convention of him sacrificing himself for someone else would show how he has developed over the series.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel thoughts #hazbin hotel theory #headcanon #hazbin hotel sir pentious #hazbin hotel niffty #hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel chaggie #hazbin hotel vaggie #angel dust #hazbin hotel husk #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel analysis

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k-nonsense · 2 years

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(Old ranking - go to my blog for updated rankings)

My rankings/reviews of all the k dramas I have seen so far (up to 26 now). My top 5 has been cracked by 2 shows! Netflix k-dramas are just killing it. I would recommend any show I gave a C grade or higher. I bolded the 5 new dramas I’ve added.

*= reserving the right to change ranking after season 2.

1) Hometown Cha Cha Cha: An absolute masterpiece. It’s a heartwarming fish out of water story about a big city girl who finds herself in the quirkiest little seaside town. I wanted to stay in Gongjin forever. Grade: A+(Netflix)

2)*Extraordinary Attorney Woo (S1): The most delightful show ever. Never have I ever rooted for a lead harder. She is the most endearing lead you will ever find. And the male lead is THE standard by which all men will forever be judged. Grade: A+(Netflix)

3)Business Proposal: Bumped this up again cause it’s the show I have the urge to rewatch the most. I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s got every trope you can think of and it does them all to perfection. Plus it’s hilarious. Grade: A (Netflix)

4)*Alchemy of Souls (S1): Episodes 1-19 were the perfect blend of fantasy, adventure, mystery, comedy, and romance. With so many characters who are so lovable. Episode 20 will destroy you. Counting the seconds till season 2. Grade: A (Netflix)

5)Her Private Life: Super funny and charming. The romantic leads have incredible chemistry. The premise is so good! Might be the one of the most rewatchable kdramas. Grade: A (Netflix)

6)Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung: Great strong female lead. Very good messages. Couldn’t stop watching. The most adorable prince I’ve ever seen 💜Cha Eunwoo💜 Grade: A (Netflix)

7)Sh**ting Stars: Probable the biggest turnaround of any show I’ve seen (The “Africa” part was so problematic). However it turned out to be one of the funniest and swooniest KDramas out there. There are 5 couples and you will cheer for all of them. Grade: A- (Viki)

8)Strong Woman Do Bong Soon: The main couple is absolutely everything! Just fast forward through pretty much every side plot (they are not important) and you’ll love it. Grade: A- (Viki)

9)So I Married the Anti-Fan: It’s campy, fluffy, goodness, with a fierce female lead and a K-pop star enemy/love interest. Fastest binge of my life. Grade: A- (Viki)

10)Start-Up: Exceptional acting, compelling storylines, intriguing plot twists, great cinematography, intense love triangle. It’s just all around high quality. Grade: B+ (Netflix)

11)Run On: Cute, fun, silly and pretty light. I especially loved the supporting cast. Strange storyline but it was a fun easy ride. Grade: B+ (Netflix)

12)Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo: A bad-ass yet vulnerable female lead. The main couple just had a lot of fun together. Refreshing. Grade: B+ (Viki)

13)I Am Not A Robot: I was surprised I really liked this one. This goes in the zany premise category but it was surprisingly pretty grounded for how crazy the set up was. It’s funny, emotional, good story telling. Great character development. Grade: B+ (Viki)

14)Shopping King Louie: Adorable! Luis is too cute. I love it how he bops along like a penguin and his cute little screams at bugs. And Bok Sil is the warmest character, you just have to root for her. So many light fluffy feels for this show but it does drag a bit in the second half. Grade B (Viki)

15)Fight For My Way: Such lovable leads. Love the fierce female lead and adorable himbo male lead. It’s like a coming of age story but for 30 year olds. Storyline was ok. Second couple was skippable. Grade: B (Viki)

16)What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim: More PSJ is always a good thing. This drama did all the tropes in ways that didn’t always feel fresh, but it was very romantic and hilarious. A true classic. Grade: B (Viki)

17)Touch Your Heart: If you can just stick it out through the first few very shaky episodes, you will enjoy this adorable, fluffy, series. Grade: B- (Netflix)

18)Doom at Your Service: It was sometimes real sad yet ultimately a heart warming mystical story. Grade: B- (Viki)

19)True Beauty: Fun, cute, teen drama however, it’s a little too “antsy teen” for me. Cha Eunwoo though💜 Grade: C+ (Viki)

20)Suspicious Partner: Great story, great characters, attractive actors, beautiful romance, interesting plot, sometimes funny, sometimes suspenseful, but with 40 episodes, the plot was dragged so far out that it became hard to get through. Grade C+ (Viki)

21)Crash Landing On You: The first half is GREAT but the second half is way too melodramatic for my taste. It’s a very interesting storyline, the main couple has insane chemistry, and there are very lovable side characters. Grade: C+ (Netflix)

22)My Love From the Star: The main relationship is incredibly intense. I just wanted to find out what happened to them so I ended up fast forwarding through everything else. The age difference in the flashbacks creeped me out. Grade D+ (Viki)

23)My Secret Romance: The story of a total screw up female lead falling for a manipulative, gaslighting, hottie. It was problematic yet fun? So 🤷‍♀️ Grade: D+ (Netflix)

24)Our Beloved Summer: I LOVED V’s “Christmas Tree” OST however I struggled to keep watching. Boring storyline but great acting. Grade: D+ (Netflix)

25)Goblin: The age gap is too disturbing for me, like call the police disturbing. However, the Grim Reaper who is one of the most adorable characters I’ve ever seen. Grade: D- (Viki)

26)Extra-Ordinary You: I have never felt so betrayed by a second half of a series as I did in this one. All of the character development that it seemed to be leading to was replaced by a pretty sickening codependent relationship. Grade: D- (Viki).

Currently Watching: Today’s Webtoon (kinda blah), She Would Never Know (idk yet), Romance is a Bonus Book (loving it), 100 Days My Prince (so far so good).

Looking Forward To: Love In Contract, Alchemy season 2!

What are your thoughts on these shows? Do you agree or disagree with my rankings? Any k-romcom recommendations that are not on the list yet?

#Elle watches kdramas

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swiftfootedachilles · 5 months

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what are ur FAVOURITE gallavich moments

fav gallavich scene hands down has GOTTA be the dugouts fight. i rewatched that scene 6 times in a row on my first watchthru of the show. absolutely laced with crack cocaine.

really i love all of their moments. i especially love their dynamic in seasons 4+5 and 11 but ill try to make a list of the highlights

docks scene. OBVIOUSLY. i love gay sex

them working at the kash n grab together that whole arc is everything to me

scamming and blackmailing old perverts together

ian bopping mickey on the head with a wad of cash‼️‼️

mickey assigning himself as ians nurse and loving him in ways nobody else could or would

confirming that mickey canonically likes getting choked during sex

sharing ians tiny twin bed

deleted s5 sex scene

literally. every kiss every intimate scene

wedding planning

calling each other by their last names

SINGING AND DANCING TOGETHER. just being goofy and fun and themselves together

"I WANNA BE WITH YOU" "well you dont get to be" when mickey stopped ian from throwing his parole ;-;

dressing up their teddy bear with the ballgag and throwing the ballgag into the basketball hoop

"take the fucking mask off" when trying to rob a bank in texas

in 11x12 at the balls' house when mickey tries to get away from ian but ian traps him in a bear hug

mickey getting unbelievably horny over the thought of ian brandishing a deadly weapon. and then ian kisses him so hard hes knees buckle UGHHHHH

theres so many holy shit i have to stop before i put every gallavich scene on here

#asks #anonymous #shameless #gallavich #i am. obsessed with them actually

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stanley578 · 3 months

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Sharing my thoughts on the last 2 episodes of Hazbin Hotel season 1

Charlie's going through a hard time after failing to convince the people in heaven about demons getting redeemed and the exorcists going after her hotel. I can't blame her at all for expressing how upset she is that Vaggie didn't tell her that she's an angel.

Charlie sealing the deal with Alastor got me apprehensive. Hell, even Razzle and Dazzle were against it, judging by their facial expressions, but Alastor didn't want her soul. Instead, he gave her some information which is about Carmilla successfully killing an exorcist.

Carmilla is a no-nonsense mentor to Vaggie, though I find it frustrating that the latter was too dense to realize that the weapon she's wielding is one of the things that can defeat the exorcists. Speaking of Carmilla, we got to see the flashback on how she successfully killed one. It's a rare item called the angelic steel that was implanted in her ballet shoes.

The Latin-EDM number about fighting for love was a fucking bop and Vaggie getting her wings back got me clapping delightfully for her.

One hilarious moment was when Charlie yelled at Susan, "FUCK YOU, YOU OLD BITCH!!!" which was an absolute mood for everyone who has dealt with hecklers, trolls, Karens, and Kevins in their lives.

Rosie is such an endearing and loving character who is empathetic and understanding. Charlie vented to her about who Vaggie is and Rosie deduced that everyone has a past that they're not proud of and they rather not reveal it due to fear of rejection. She reassured her that Vaggie loves her regardless of who she is since the hotel is all about redemption. As Rosie said, "Words are cheap but actions speak the truth".

Eventually, Charlie got to convince everyone in Cannibal Town to fight against the exorcists through the song, "Ready For This". She and Vaggie got to talk things through and the characters in the hotel stayed to help defend it by fortifying it in preparation for the battle.

If I may add, Sir Pentious petting Keekee was a really cute scene to watch.

The season 1 finale was an epic rollercoaster. It was great to finally see the first on-screen kiss between Charlie and Vaggie after singing the reprise of "More Than Anything".

The fight between Vaggie and Lute got me on the edge of my seat. After Lute stabbed Vaggie's right hand, Vaggie got the upper hand by crushing Lute under some rubble. Instead of killing her, she spared her life, proving that Vaggie is a better person and isn't going out of her way to kill someone. Being crushed under some rubble caused Lute to rip out her left arm which was painful to watch but it's honestly her well-deserved karma for slashing Vaggie's eye out (and for killing Dazzle).

Seeing Angel Dust caring about others, like the scene where he's protective of one of the Egg Boiz, was wholesome to watch. I loved how much he has progressed throughout the season.

Alastor is one badass deer boy who faced off against Adam. He's got the moves and sass, but due to his microphone not being an angelic weapon, he was defeated by Adam.

Sir Pentious finally confessed his feelings for Cherri Bomb as they shared a kiss and made the sacrifice to protect his friends and the hotel. As he and the Egg Boiz are about to shoot the laser at Adam, Adam killed them with just a large bolt of holy light.

This caused Charlie to unleash her demon form and go one-on-one with Adam. Seeing Adam acting all arrogant, pretentious, conceited, and misogynistic got me pissed off but I cheered when Charlie stabbed him with a trident. Though Adam still got the upper hand until Lucifer arrived and delivered a powerful blow on his face. It was revealed that Adam had a face and was actually wearing a mask.

Lucifer shapeshifting and roasting the shit out of Adam and his incompatibility with Lilith and Eve shows how much of a goofy goober he really is. During their faceoff, Adam fired a huge beam that completely destroyed the hotel. He was about to deliver one final strike, but Charlie and Lucifer countered it and threw him hard onto the ground.

Lucifer punched Adam many times until Charlie told him to spare him. Adam gets back up and rants angrily to the characters, showing off his pride and god complex once more. All of a sudden, he got stabbed in the back by none other than Niffty. Charlie told her earlier to kill an angel when she sees one and Niffty did her assignment excellently. She stabbed Adam many times which was hilarious to see and Valentino's shocked expression makes him realize how lucky he is that he dodged a bullet in the nightclub. Because Adam is dead, the extermination has been cancelled, as reported by Katie Killjoy.

I was worried that the destruction of the hotel caused Keekee and Fat Nuggets to die, but I was so relieved that they're both alright.

Lute and the surviving exorcists retreat back to heaven and Charlie and the gang helped each other rebuild the hotel while singing the reprise of "Happy Day In Hell". They also have a portrait of Sir Pentious and a statue of Dazzle in commemoration of their heroic sacrifice. I give no fucks about the Vees celebrating since they're only there to watch the whole shit go down. Alastor went through anxiety and frustration and expressed his desperation to find a way to get out of the deal and I find it bizarre that he went back to the hotel to see the residents. Lucifer and Husk are suspicious of him, judging by their facial expressions.

Unbeknownst to Charlie and the gang, Sir Pentious got transported into heaven as a winner angel, leaving Emily thrilled and Sera shocked to see him. They saw proof that a sinner can be redeemed, though the Egg Boiz were nowhere to be found.

The finale ended with a cliffhanger. Someone is relaxing on a beach until Lute appeared with Adam's halo and said the deal is over. She told her if she wants to stay in heaven, she needs to confront Charlie. That someone is revealed to be Lilith, Charlie's mother.

I don't know if she will be the main antagonist of season 2, but I have my eye on Lilith as she's one mysterious character who disappeared for 7 years which is the same amount of time Alastor disappeared. Lute and the Vees are also contenders for being the main antagonists of the next season. Viv said that "season 2 focuses on a very fun villain and it's a villain that we meet in season 1", but we'll have to wait and see who it's going to be.

I had a lot of fun watching the last 2 episodes. It was totally worth the wait after watching the pilot episode back in September 2022. I do understand that there's criticism on how fast the pacing of the show is due to only having 8 episodes in season 1. I also understand that it would've been better if it has 20 episodes as it would give more time for character development and exploration of what the pride ring has to offer.

Personally, I was bummed that Angel Dust isn't the one going to heaven. I want to see him break free from Valentino once and for all and reunite with Molly up in heaven. If Niffty successfully killed Adam, I want her to kill Valentino and add him to her collection. Maybe that could happen in season 2, but who knows. Anything can happen.

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