voidlingduck

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#rats #Baxton Keyes

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don’t worry about why i had to google this but this example sentence is killing me

#Baxton Keyes #my blorbo #pathetic little skrungly #timid cowardly AND in possession of an ass

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Important celebration, thank you for bringing this to my attention hehe

HAPPY WORLD RAT DAY!!!

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Hazbin Hotel - Musical First, TV Show Second

Having now seen the entirety of Season 1 of Hazbin Hotel, and considering it through the lens of structure and pacing, it is now abundantly clear to me that Hazbin Hotel is more than anything else - a two-act Broadway musical.

I am by no means an expert on musical structure, but I do think it comes across pretty clearly from what I do know of it.

Episodes 1-4 comprise Act 1, where the thematic concerns and characters are established, as well as the musical motifs that get called back to later in the show. Act 1 is relatively more lighthearted (though does have dramatic and intense moments such as episode 4 and Charlie’s dismal failure to communicate with Adam)

We then get a bit of an intermission - not on the actual show of course, though understanding this structure it now becomes even clearer why they released episodes 1-4 in the first batch before the final sets. There is a large timeskip between episodes 4 and 5, which is actually rather common in musicals.

Act 2 comprises episodes 5-8, there is a jump in the timeline, and we focus on the Heaven plot line. The stakes are higher, things are more serious in dramatic, and seeds planted in Act 1 have their payoff. We get a lot of reprises of musical numbers that parallel the originals in interesting ways. (Very interesting to me is that, while not a direct reprise, Vaggie and Carmilla have a duet about fighting for love in both Act 1 and Act 2, the difference being in the first duet they are singing separately but in the second they are actually meeting in person and singing together. A fun touch.)

While I do not think this excuses all of Hazbin Hotel’s flaws in the structure and pacing department, I do think that this understanding allows for me to appreciate what Hazbin Hotel is and did do in a greater capacity. I definitely think it prioritises its musical element over the expectations of episodic TV (though it does lack the actual time space that a lot of similar shows would have… which is more of a critique on the way the modern media streaming landscape handles acquiring shows and producing content more than anything else :/ that could be a whole other post.)

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel analysis #musical #hazbin hotel is a musical #writer brain analysis #structure and pacing #I feel a great need to dissect this show I need to pick it apart

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Hazbin Hotel - Thoughts and Rewrite

Having seen the first four episodes of Hazbin Hotel, and having been casually following the Hellaverse since the pilot (I have watched the shows but not consumed any outside material) - I have had a lot of thoughts about the storytelling of Hazbin Hotel so far. In discussing my thoughts and feelings with @ekholocationn I ended up having some ideas on how I would handle the overall arc and plot of the show to make for a tighter narrative and address some of the flaws I found with the work.

This is very much a broad strokes kind of rewrite at this point, and trying to stay relatively true to what has been presented to us so far - it mostly involves shuffling things around and reorganising/refocusing the plot.

The main complaint with the plot of the show is that the Heaven plotline feels rushed and the cards are being played too soon, what feels like it should be a twist is laid bare in the first episode and furthermore it undermines the very purpose of the Hotel and Charlie's plan. Heaven as not merely an antagonistic, but an actively villainous force, feels like it's come too soon - and the way it's being explored isn't really satisfying. Camilla's reluctance to fight is difficult to justify, where Velvette, who is arguably framed as a villain, seems to be onto something and correct.

Speaking of Velvette however, her and the Vee's are what I feel are the shows strongest aspect at this point. These are villains that have incredibly strong personality and presence, and moreso, personal connections and investment to the cast at the hotel. Vox and Velvette's songs are some of my favourites, and Valentino is shown to be a serious threat to Angel and his potential for redemption.

This in mind, in my rewrite of the show, Season 1 of Hazbin Hotel would cast the Vee's as the primary antagonists to the hotel, and leave the angel's in heaven and their villainy as a mystery and twist reveal for later in the show.

Charlie has no reason to believe her plan won't work, in fact, she has a powerful Overlord as a benefactor - who while he seems to be a little disparaging, is still putting resources into her project. She is doing what she can to try and rehabilitate these sinners, however, the Vee's want to see this project fail and become active threats to the Hotel. Vox, because of his rivalry with Alastor, and Valentino because he wants to keep control of angel. The primary tension is the push and pull between Charlie as a force of redemption and light, and the Vee's as a representation of temptation, vice and hell's worst qualities trying to keep the sinners down. Charlie does not meet with Adam and the angels in Episode 1, rather, she is seen to be optomistic and hopeful, and Heaven is kept as this guarded mystery and protectors of order and goodness.

What about Velvette the other Overlords, and the angels though? I greatly enjoyed Respectless, and I don't want to snub Velvette, who is clearly a powerful villain in her own right. I don't want to completely erase the plot of the exterminated angel and Heaven's violence from the show. I would keep the scene of the Overlords meeting, and Velvette revealing the angel's severed head, however I would make a few tweaks. Firstly, this would be the first time we find out about the fact that an angel was killed - we are just as shocked as the other Overlords. Secondly, the Hazbin Hotel would be more of a point of discussion, and we would get a more overarching conflict between the Hotel and the Vees regarding what to do about the problem of Angel Extermination. Do we attempt to redeem sinners? Or do we just kill the Angels? I think for the purpose of this plot, the revelation that Heaven is moving up its extermination would coincide with the meeting of the Overlords, really being a trigger for it, and this episode would act as a midpoint - raising the stakes and introducing the broader conflict after a few episodes settling into the attempts fo the Hotel to redeem sinners and the Vee's attempts to intervene.

In this story rather than being the way the show opens, Charlie meeting with the angels would instead be a sort of climactic moment - and the revelation that Adam is a jerk and Heaven has no intention of letting sinners rise but instead wants to exterminate them would be a sort of Darkest Hour moment for Charlie. Her plan has failed, the Vee's are gaining more support... This way, there's been some build up, and the twist feels more like a twist - and it also feels like more of a gut-wrenching betrayal because both us and Charlie by this point would have investment in her plan and a hope that it might actually work.

I want to see how the show handles it's ending before I fully flesh out this rewrite, but for now this is the sort of broad strokes as to how I would approach structuring Hazbin Hotel if I were to rework it. I may or may not expand on these thoughts later when there is more material to work with! This post also does not touch on more nuanced topics such as the shows handling of sensitive issues and character arcs, it is more of a broad strokes analysis and retooling.

I thought it might be fun to share my thoughts and I hope people enjoy them! I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this as well :)

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel rewrite #hellaverse #hazbin rewrite #hazbin hotel critique #i find this show interesting to examine as a piece of media spawned from internet ocs #i have a lot more thoughts but including everything i think about hazbin hotel as a show would be too long and rambling #i didnt really discuss the issue of how the show establishes characters to a first time audience and builds investment #but its something i would discuss if i expanded on this idea #i think hazbin hotel has potential and i really want it to be good but it definitley falls flat in a few key areas #this is a pretty light rewrite all things considered #its more of a reshuffling at this point

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My beloved…. Lillith <3 the woman ever

nitro icon commissions for @voidlingduck and @emerald-chan1214

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NaNo Update again!

Finished Act 1 and my kitties are off on their journey, alongside an unexpected guest! This is the part of the story I am least certain about but I’m cracking on regardless and making steady progress day by day. Just reached 8,000 words which is pretty solid for me! Certainly more than I’ve ever written for a single project before, and we’re approaching the 10k milestone, which is very exciting.

Soon our protagonists will be arriving at an observatory and I get to introduce some new characters, so that will be fun to explore and get to know them all better.

I also think I may be writing some tragedy into this tale… our old wise mentor may well pass peacefully while our younguns are off checking out the observatory. We shall see!

I’m glad that I’ve been able to keep up consistent daily writing through November thus far, and I’m feeling confident about that continuing. Certainly I’m doing better than any NaNo I’ve participated in before. I think not being strict on myself meeting the 1,667 daily words is helping, one less pressure to drive me away. Writing anything is an accomplishment!

I’ve also amusingly rewarded some of my writing with more writing, as I have a short story with some of my other characters that’s been bugging my brain. If I do enough novel writing in a day, I’ll allow myself to indulge that project hehe

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #nanowrimo wip #starfall #writeblr #nanowrimo update #writing ramble #writing update #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity

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Slow couple of writing days as I juggle my last uni assignment, work, and brainrot for another project, but progress is being made! I am at least keeping to writing consistently even if I am not writing a lot. Just about 200 extra words tonight but it is better than zero and I have some notes for next writing session! Hopefully I can break out of act 1/the intro by the end of this week and get my kitties on their journey. I reckon that’s a pretty achievable goal. We will see what happens though haha.

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #nanowrimo wip #starfall #nanowrimo update #writeblr #writing update #writing ramble #writers on tumblr

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NaNo Update time!

Had an amazing writing session today and I got to meet with some of my local community!

Wrote about 2,000 words today and got through a very dramatic and action packed scene. Super excited to continue tomorrow and hopefully settle into a comfortable pace. We’re at about 4.5k-ish total now which is exciting! The longest piece I think I’ve ever written was about 5k and I should surpass that very shortly. :)

Made two new characters on the fly which was pretty interesting, their names are massive placeholders but I can worry about revising them on later drafts. For now the focus is just making things exist ✨ And I sure am doing that!

Tomorrow I’m gonna have to whip up some lore probably so that should be interesting. I also need to start thinking about my final uni assignment that’s due at the end of this week :( Going to have to be multitasking but I’m sure I can manage just fine.

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #nanowrimo wip #nanowrimo update #starfall #writing ramble #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing update

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First NanoWriMo update of the season!

Day 3, about 2,000-ish words in, certainly behind but I don’t mind, I’ve logged new words every day so I’m at least pleased with the consistency!

I am meandering through the opening of my novel, figuring things out about the characters, setting and plot. It’s quite fun actually! I am finding that as I write I just say things, and then I can build on them later when it comes time to put my characters in a situation. And that’s all that plot really is isn’t it? Repeatedly putting characters in situations.

It’s kind of funny because when I was first starting to write the story for class I thought I’d just put the whole intro and inciting incident in the first chapter but now it’s probably going to be at least four before I send the kitties off on their journey to the mountain! Which is actually for the best since it gives me time to set up Flint’s Status Quo as well as explore some characterisation and develop the relationship.

I do feel they are both a bit flat still but I have time to figure them out, flesh them out, and honestly this whole thing is just one big learning process and experiment. I don’t have to have everything perfect, or even good! I just have to keep making things exist and maybe eventually it will look like something halfway decent. :)

Good luck to anyone else doing NaNo this year!

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #nanowrimo wip #nanowrimo update #writeblr #starfall #writing ramble

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Nanowrimo WIP Intro

I have decided that I am going to be doing NaNoWrimo this year because dammit I want to write a novel and now is as good a time as any. I’m dusting off some of my oldest proper OCs and going back to my warrior cats fan girl roots with my fantasy cat story!

The current working title is Starfall, though this is liable to change. The story follows Flint, a young housecat who meets Midnight, a fallen star. Together the two go on a journey to return Midnight to her home in the sky, and maybe fall in love along the way 😳

I only really have this basic roadmap as well as a vague idea of some supporting cast members, otherwise I’m flying by the seat of my pants, which I think is good for me. I’m excited to discover things as I write and learn more about these characters and this world as I go along. I think just writing is honestly the best method for me here as I have a tendency to bog myself down if I go planning things out too much.

I’m going to try to keep things updated here as I write! We will see if this actually happens haha

Best of luck to anyone else doing nanowrimo ✨

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #wip intro #fantasy #cats #starfall #writeblr #writeblr intro #nanowrimo wip

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I love ekho characters and this has to be one of the most high quality shitposts I’ve ever seen. They are so silly to me!

finally finished this dumb fucking shitpost video i've been working on for the past month. i put way too much effort into this thing

youtube version w/ full credits is under the cut!!

#friends stories #friends art #I love these stupid idiots so much you don’t understand

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Got a new bastard for Kings Court! Doesn’t have a proper name yet but he’s known as the dealer hehe

#pandemonium #oc art #kings court #oc reference #oc ref sheet #new oc

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Bastard of all time King gets a solo ref and a design update. We are ITERATING. We will likely continue to iterate but one step at a time. He is an awful awful man and he collects and eats peoples eyeballs.

#pandemonium #oc art #oc ref sheet #oc reference #king #kings court

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Making a mini comic for class set in Pamdemonium and thought I’d ramble a bit about the Kings Court gang that the story focuses on!

Kings Court is one of the biggest gangs in Pamdemonium, controlling majority of the territory in Crookstown and looking to expand its reach. It’s headed up by a bastard who calls himself King and has given the rest of his family royal titles in turn.

The rest of the organisation is themed after a deck of playing cards, with Jack being the second in command.

Then there are the Aces, who are the heads of the four divisions or ‘suits’. Spades handles admin and miscellaneous work, Clubs are enforcers, Hearts are the face, and Diamonds deal in intelligence.

And finally, for this introductory post anyway, there is the Jester! Most of kings court operates on a very strict hierarchy, but the Jester exists outside of it. They are a wildcard, filling in for any role that needs doing, but also acting as an internal spy… they only answer to King, no one else has any authority over them, but they lack authority themselves…

There are more characters in the court to share and be developed but this is the core group that set up the structure of things!! I love them dearly and am happy to answer any questions about them ✨

#pandemonium #oc story #oc #my oc art #kings court #jester #jack #aces #oc art #oc intro #these guys are currently rotting my brain I love them so much

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attack for @voldemortduck ! had fun with this one hehe

#pop rock candy #look at her thorn my beloved I am going to explode

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INTRODUCING: PANDEMONIUM

In the interest of actually talking about my projects more, I think it is worthwhile to do a bit of an introduction post! Pandemonium is the name of a living city world which I have developed, that is home to a number of characters and storylines! It is split into 10 districts, each with their own distinct vibes, as Pandemonium is a mish-mash of old and new, of various cultures, etc. The city is some form of eldritch entity, it lives, and shifts, and encourages freedom and chaos amongst it’s citizenry.

You can read more about the developing world lore [here]. (wip)

You can see Pandemonium’s pinterest board for aesthetics and city vibes, [here].

You can listen to Pandemonium’s musical vibes [here]!

Some current stories and groups I’ve been working on developing include:

POP ROCK CANDY - a planned comic series about a group of pop star assassins in Cacophony! 

CROOKSTOWN GANGS (King’s Court and Menagerie) - a couple of gangs based in crookstown who have a lot of conflicts between them. 

HAVEN vs PANDEMONIUM - the sort of overarching storyline, Vivienne’s attempts to expand Haven’s influence and kill the living city of Pandemonium in order to bring it into a state of order and control under her guidance.

Hopefully I remember to update things here as I work on them! <3

#pandemonium #wip intro #wip #worldbuilding #original story #pop rock candy