I have a question for you
Mar. 19th, 2026 11:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessSince today was boring and no one would care about it (me included) so let's have another writing question.
Do you have something about your characters that you love and think about it, even though you know it might not be in the story? Tell us all about it. I want to hear it. Original characters or your favorite fandom characters.
Here's mine for my new characters Ezio and Remo (Remo might have a name change). They dance together. A lot of my characters dance. I might mention they're dancing but I don't do a lot of writing about it because it's not all that interesting to read. But it also has me thinking about what kind of music would these people have.
Yes it's a 1920s era tech level but that doesn't mean necessarily that the music is the same. that said I love the fast step, jive, boogie woogie styles and if by some miracle this novel ends up a movie...well then.
Anyhow I stumbled over this British version of Dancing With the Stars (kinda sorta, at least they allow gay partners) and thought these two would be exactly how Ezio and Remo learn to dance with each other (in book two, ha!) These are three of my favorites.
My favorite. I'm beginning to think I'm a reborn flapper because damn men in suspenders dancing does something for me
And while not my favorite tango I liked this one because Ezio is genderfluid and just as likely to be in a dress as a suit. Also Layton does a fucking backflip in heels and I am jealous
In theory I'm doing the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
marchmetamatterschallenge but I have done nothing until now. Finally got some going. I posted it to AO3 but
March Meta challenge-Is that his only sin?
Welcome to the first of my meta posts about Hazbin’s second season for a March meta challenge. I wanted to talk about the things I loved, things that didn’t work for me (and why), things that made me think. I welcome discussions on it all (trolling not so much). I’m not hitting every episode, just the things that caught my attention and got under my skin.
First up, skipping over episode one as it was mostly a scene setter (though I have been playing with what might go into a Harder Daddy cocktail) No, it was episode two that go the storyteller in me going and I will do two looks into this episode for this meta challenge.
Sir Pentious caught a lot of people’s hearts, mine included, and there were so many things that went well with his mini arc in this episode. His guilt, his feelings of isolation, his feelings of not deserving heaven and his intense desire to return to, perhaps, the only friends he’s ever known, all of this was delivered believably even as compressed as it was. (I’ll maintain that many of Hazbin’s issues stem from the ridiculous time frame allotted to it. It needs/deserves at least 12 episodes so we’re not speed running through everything often to its detriment).
As an aside to the titular question, is this his only sin, something I would love to see in S3 with Pentious is his ongoing friendship with Emily and I’d love to see him run into Molly and recognize the Angel Dust in her. I would hope that because of this they get to talking, become friends. And since they’ve opened the door to letters between heaven and hell, I’d like that to inspire Molly.
However, back to the actual canon, there was one thing that didn’t work for me with Pentious and after talking to others, I know I’m not alone in this. It seems unlikely to downright impossible that his only sin is he didn’t turn in Jack the Ripper (whom we’re all assuming that killer was). Think about it. If this was true, well that would be one good reason Hell is overflowing. How many people have heard domestic violence and never reported it for various reasons (not the least of which is the police often stop at your door and ask you questions so your neighbor knows exactly who turned them in….). Pentious didn’t commit a sin per se. Was it morally wrong? Yes, probably.
So why doesn’t this work for me? I wonder if he would even have been believed had he reported what he knew. We’re not talking modern policing. Especially since there were pressures to find someone other than a person wealthy enough to commission Pentious’ inventions that they could hold up as guilty of the crime. All that aside, the reason this doesn’t work for me is actually Molly. What? Why? I know that’s an odd assertion but hear me out.
Molly could not possibly be entirely ignorant of her father and brothers being mobsters (trust me on this one. I know what I’m talking about here, let’s just leave it at that.) Molly is in heaven knowing three men who no doubt killed more people than Jack, each and every one of them were killers (especially when we now know Angel killed dad). Looking at the oldest (no longer canon) notes/art, Molly wasn’t meant for heaven (and don’t get me started on why we have monster bodies in heaven. If I woke up in heaven as a damn spider, I’d be wondering what I did wrong). Molly in heaven is a later idea for the character but that doesn’t change anything (unless Angel, Henroin and Arackniss are suddenly not mobsters and that seems unlikely but who can say for sure until S3 at least).
So, knowing about and ignoring a crime alone can’t be what sends you to hell. If it was, Molly would be with her brothers. I don’t listen to a lot of reactors but I did hear a bit of one’s spiel and they mused that maybe it’s the beliefs we carry with us that matter. Pentious believed he deserved punishment. That was obvious as he confessed (and can I just say how gorgeous the Speaker of God was in both animation and in storyline) Pentious doesn’t feel worthy of heaven (yet).
Some things in fiction are meant to be inferred, internalized and interpreted by our own life experience. That might not always be a good thing in certain places. For me, this is one of the not so good places to let me infer because my life experience doesn’t really let me make that jump that merely witnessing a crime and not reporting it makes you deserve hell. Perhaps you can.
I wish though, that Pentious had other sins to help further his damnation and that would have been easy. He could have been making weapons for those who he knew would use them to kill. It feels like it’s a missed opportunity and it would give more weight to his redemption. If his only sin is he didn’t report on someone, him being redeemed feels somehow lesser, more hollow, to me but really at the end of the day it’s more of a minor quibble. I liked the episode and I loved what they did with Pentious (heck I was so taken with his human design I’m not even going to complain it is so not what Victorian men dressed/looked like). I just wish Pentious had been as evil as his melodrama-persona wanted to be. He deserved to be evil.
Do you have something about your characters that you love and think about it, even though you know it might not be in the story? Tell us all about it. I want to hear it. Original characters or your favorite fandom characters.
Here's mine for my new characters Ezio and Remo (Remo might have a name change). They dance together. A lot of my characters dance. I might mention they're dancing but I don't do a lot of writing about it because it's not all that interesting to read. But it also has me thinking about what kind of music would these people have.
Yes it's a 1920s era tech level but that doesn't mean necessarily that the music is the same. that said I love the fast step, jive, boogie woogie styles and if by some miracle this novel ends up a movie...well then.
Anyhow I stumbled over this British version of Dancing With the Stars (kinda sorta, at least they allow gay partners) and thought these two would be exactly how Ezio and Remo learn to dance with each other (in book two, ha!) These are three of my favorites.
My favorite. I'm beginning to think I'm a reborn flapper because damn men in suspenders dancing does something for me
And while not my favorite tango I liked this one because Ezio is genderfluid and just as likely to be in a dress as a suit. Also Layton does a fucking backflip in heels and I am jealous
In theory I'm doing the
marchmetamatterschallenge but I have done nothing until now. Finally got some going. I posted it to AO3 but March Meta challenge-Is that his only sin?
Welcome to the first of my meta posts about Hazbin’s second season for a March meta challenge. I wanted to talk about the things I loved, things that didn’t work for me (and why), things that made me think. I welcome discussions on it all (trolling not so much). I’m not hitting every episode, just the things that caught my attention and got under my skin.
First up, skipping over episode one as it was mostly a scene setter (though I have been playing with what might go into a Harder Daddy cocktail) No, it was episode two that go the storyteller in me going and I will do two looks into this episode for this meta challenge.
Sir Pentious caught a lot of people’s hearts, mine included, and there were so many things that went well with his mini arc in this episode. His guilt, his feelings of isolation, his feelings of not deserving heaven and his intense desire to return to, perhaps, the only friends he’s ever known, all of this was delivered believably even as compressed as it was. (I’ll maintain that many of Hazbin’s issues stem from the ridiculous time frame allotted to it. It needs/deserves at least 12 episodes so we’re not speed running through everything often to its detriment).
As an aside to the titular question, is this his only sin, something I would love to see in S3 with Pentious is his ongoing friendship with Emily and I’d love to see him run into Molly and recognize the Angel Dust in her. I would hope that because of this they get to talking, become friends. And since they’ve opened the door to letters between heaven and hell, I’d like that to inspire Molly.
However, back to the actual canon, there was one thing that didn’t work for me with Pentious and after talking to others, I know I’m not alone in this. It seems unlikely to downright impossible that his only sin is he didn’t turn in Jack the Ripper (whom we’re all assuming that killer was). Think about it. If this was true, well that would be one good reason Hell is overflowing. How many people have heard domestic violence and never reported it for various reasons (not the least of which is the police often stop at your door and ask you questions so your neighbor knows exactly who turned them in….). Pentious didn’t commit a sin per se. Was it morally wrong? Yes, probably.
So why doesn’t this work for me? I wonder if he would even have been believed had he reported what he knew. We’re not talking modern policing. Especially since there were pressures to find someone other than a person wealthy enough to commission Pentious’ inventions that they could hold up as guilty of the crime. All that aside, the reason this doesn’t work for me is actually Molly. What? Why? I know that’s an odd assertion but hear me out.
Molly could not possibly be entirely ignorant of her father and brothers being mobsters (trust me on this one. I know what I’m talking about here, let’s just leave it at that.) Molly is in heaven knowing three men who no doubt killed more people than Jack, each and every one of them were killers (especially when we now know Angel killed dad). Looking at the oldest (no longer canon) notes/art, Molly wasn’t meant for heaven (and don’t get me started on why we have monster bodies in heaven. If I woke up in heaven as a damn spider, I’d be wondering what I did wrong). Molly in heaven is a later idea for the character but that doesn’t change anything (unless Angel, Henroin and Arackniss are suddenly not mobsters and that seems unlikely but who can say for sure until S3 at least).
So, knowing about and ignoring a crime alone can’t be what sends you to hell. If it was, Molly would be with her brothers. I don’t listen to a lot of reactors but I did hear a bit of one’s spiel and they mused that maybe it’s the beliefs we carry with us that matter. Pentious believed he deserved punishment. That was obvious as he confessed (and can I just say how gorgeous the Speaker of God was in both animation and in storyline) Pentious doesn’t feel worthy of heaven (yet).
Some things in fiction are meant to be inferred, internalized and interpreted by our own life experience. That might not always be a good thing in certain places. For me, this is one of the not so good places to let me infer because my life experience doesn’t really let me make that jump that merely witnessing a crime and not reporting it makes you deserve hell. Perhaps you can.
I wish though, that Pentious had other sins to help further his damnation and that would have been easy. He could have been making weapons for those who he knew would use them to kill. It feels like it’s a missed opportunity and it would give more weight to his redemption. If his only sin is he didn’t report on someone, him being redeemed feels somehow lesser, more hollow, to me but really at the end of the day it’s more of a minor quibble. I liked the episode and I loved what they did with Pentious (heck I was so taken with his human design I’m not even going to complain it is so not what Victorian men dressed/looked like). I just wish Pentious had been as evil as his melodrama-persona wanted to be. He deserved to be evil.
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Date: 2026-03-20 09:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-21 01:15 am (UTC)I love though that they have both disabled and LGBT dancers. We did have a disabled one on ours I believe (I do not watch it)
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Date: 2026-03-20 12:26 pm (UTC)(You should totally check out John & Johannes though - this was my favourite of theirs, although the Werewolf Quickstep was fun too.
https://youtu.be/xru-1DtrcOs?si=4uTMoL63U66prMYN )
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Date: 2026-03-21 01:25 am (UTC)Oh I haven't seen the pirate one. that was fun. I'll have to go find the werewolf one. thanks
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Date: 2026-03-21 11:13 am (UTC)Here's the werewolf one: https://youtu.be/GzGQlZ-gR-o?si=BLyiKXb3ukWwmpKm
And one of my favourite pro dances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgRQJxiA2L8
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Date: 2026-04-05 04:22 am (UTC)And FINALLY had time to watch these. Very nice, love the werewolf one
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Date: 2026-04-05 10:24 am (UTC)I love the werewolf makeup. They look so cool!
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Date: 2026-04-05 03:44 pm (UTC)There is some great costuming from what I could see
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Date: 2026-04-05 05:35 pm (UTC)The ice dancing one has ended because Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean (Olympic gold medallists many years ago) who were head judges and trainers of the contestants, retired from skating last year, so that is sadly missed. I don't think the show would have happened at all without them.
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Date: 2026-04-12 03:43 am (UTC)As well to the ice dancing one.
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Date: 2026-04-12 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-20 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-20 04:45 pm (UTC)Yes they've had same sex couples for a few years now, maybe 4? Also disabled dancers.
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Date: 2026-03-21 01:21 am (UTC)I do love that they allowed for LGBT dancers (we have had at least one disabled one). As far as I know they have had gay dancers but not doing same sex couples (I don't actually watch)
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Date: 2026-03-21 08:21 am (UTC)The same sex couples aren't even gay sometimes. There was a female celebrity and female dancer who were paired together, neither were gay. The straight male dancers often dance together. Sometimes it's a gay celebrity and a straight dancer or vice versa. The couple in your videos, Layton is gay, Nikita is not. Nikita might be bisexual but he has girlfriends, so I dunno.
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Date: 2026-04-05 04:25 am (UTC)That's great though about how they pair them up. I have yet to see that here in the states.
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Date: 2026-04-05 09:57 am (UTC)Most of the dancing couples become best of friends, they brought Layton back for the 20th anniversary recently, he just fell into Nikita's arms 💞
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Date: 2026-04-05 03:45 pm (UTC)Awww that is so sweet about Layton and Nikita
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Date: 2026-04-05 05:11 pm (UTC)Yes, they are really good friends. Nikita is one of my favourite professionals out of the group.
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Date: 2026-04-05 05:32 pm (UTC)I struggle with Liverpool and Manchester and Glasgow (or maybe it's just all of Scotland, I'm not sure)
Nikita is very good
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Date: 2026-04-05 08:45 pm (UTC)EVERYONE struggles with the Glasgow accent, even other Scots 😅And also, when on holiday I've had to translate for Scots when they are speaking to Italians or Spaniards who can't understand their acccents!
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Date: 2026-04-06 03:11 am (UTC)oh good, that makes me feel better
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Date: 2026-04-06 07:44 am (UTC)There is a famous 'Scottish people in an American lift' sketch on YouTube and it's been like that when I've met Scots on holiday. I've asked them what they want and then told the Italians/ Spaniards what they're saying.
I think other accents Americans struggle with are Yorkshire and Geordie.
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Date: 2026-04-11 09:56 pm (UTC)I haven't seen that sketch I'll have to go look for it (or wait..you know I think I have seen it)
That's possible. I'm not sure I heard them or at least recognized those accents
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Date: 2026-04-12 12:31 pm (UTC)I just noticed Americans on TV having to concentrate really hard when Brits speak in Yorkshire or Geordie accents. A Geordie accent is around the Tyneside area of England, the North East. I have no idea why it's called 'Geordie' though. I don't think anyone knows.
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Date: 2026-04-26 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-26 09:51 am (UTC)Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
That is where a bunch of Geordie builders go and work in Germany. Those actors are mostly genuine Geordies so if you find those episodes on YouTube you can hear them.
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Date: 2026-04-28 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-28 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-29 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-29 07:31 am (UTC)I also think some people think if they watch old shows with sexism etc, it is somehow condoning that behaviour, but IMO it's just looking at history.
It saddens me when young women say 'feminism isn't needed.' It is. It is because of feminism that women today can get jobs, own houses, cars, have credit cards.
Anyway, I better not go on a rant.
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Date: 2026-04-30 03:45 am (UTC)I feel like that rant you didn't do (but I can guess at) every time I see one of my students wearing their Charlie Kirk or Trump shirts
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Date: 2026-04-30 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-01 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-01 12:50 pm (UTC)Disappointing and frustrating.
An American friend told me that his dedicated Republican neighbour was pregnant and her foetus died inside her, but they wouldn't operate to remove it because of the abortion laws that she had voted for. She was very angry that they refused and couldn't understand it. I presume she thought she was voting to stop 'those other women' from having abortions. Not 'respectable women like herself.'
The double standard is mind boggling isn't it.
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Date: 2026-03-20 08:36 pm (UTC)Ooh, I'm looking forward to Hazbin commentary! I watched both seasons in January (as well as Helluva Boss) and want to rewatch them again at some point soon.
As for the question, I think a lot about two of my characters just doing all kinds of small things with each other. They're siblings who live with each other and are a part of a bigger family/hivemind (it's complicated) and I'll just spend time thinking about all the ways they interact with each other and those around them. They don't have big parts in the overall story, and honestly may not even be in it at all, but I love them and how they move through the world.
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Date: 2026-04-05 04:27 am (UTC)That's good to know. Oo a hivemind could be tricky to write but fascinating too
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Date: 2026-03-20 11:15 pm (UTC)I'll have to think about this some more...