#I think the perspective character (me) was Hunter from TOH

[flower-boi16]

Why separating Luz from the demon realm wouldn't work.

A few months ago, The Owl House released its series finale "Watching and Dreaming", the final episode of the third season, and it was probably the best episode to come out of the show and was a perfect send-off to the series. I could make a whole post on why I love Watching and Dreaming as a finale so much, but that's not what we're talking about. Instead, let's talk about a critique of the finale I've seen: that being, the fact that Luz gets to stay in the demon realm. To me, this criticism is pretty stupid and misses the core themes of the show, so let's talk about why separating Luz from the demon realm wouldn't work.

Well, there's a major reason as to why separating Luz from the demon realm wouldn't work; it would betray the themes of the show. The Owl House is about Luz finding a place where she belongs, she gets to find real friends and a family, making real connections with people, something she could never do in the human realm. From a writing and narrative perspective, ripping Luz away from all of her friends and her found family would completely spit in the face of the show's themes and invalidate it.

A bittersweet ending where Luz leaves the demon realm would not fit with the show's core themes. And this is something I feel a lot of people need to hear; Bittersweet =/= good. A bittersweet ending isn't automatically better than a traditionally happy one. A bittersweet ending only works if it fits with the core themes of the story, not all stories need to have a sad bittersweet ending.

"But Luz didn't have to make any sacrifices!!" Does she REALLY need to though? After everything these characters have been through, after all the character growth and relationships they built with each other, after the trauma the hexsquad faced in season 3 where they were all separated from their parents for MONTHS and where Luz and Hunter got traumatizing revelations to their face and they have to keep secrets from the others because they think they'll all hate them once the truth is revealed, after ALL OF THAT, does the show really need to make Luz sacrifice anything? The answer is no, because after everything Luz and her friends have been through, they've earned the happy ending they got.

The show doesn't need to make Luz sacrifice anything, she's been through enough to earn the ending she got. I feel like after Gravity Falls and Amphibia people expected TOH to have a bittersweet ending like those shows, but the reason why a bittersweet ending worked for those shows is because it fits within their themes. Gravity Falls is about growing up and Amphibia is about change (at least from what I've heard I don't know I haven't finished that show yet). TOH isn't about either of those things so a bittersweet ending where Luz is ripped away from her friends would not work and wouldn't fit with the show's core themes.

My point in this essay is this; not every show needs a bittersweet ending, and TOH is a good example of that.

[idleglowingpixels]

talk about Collector

WHYYYYYYYYYY okay now that I got that off my chest let's get serious LMAO

Before I dive in too deep, to any other ppl reading, THIS IS YOUR FAIR WARNING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ANY CRITICISM OF TOH. Something that is really apparent in this fandom particularly is that a lot of ppl refuse to allow and accept genuine criticism discussions, dumbing it down to personal biases, misinterpretations of the text (or in this case, the show), and proclaiming "It's intentional that the show did that!" every time someone breathes something negative about it. This is ESPECIALLY annoying with the "Blame Disney/the shortening" nonsense -- a key skill in television writing is to be capable of working with the allotted time that the studios give you. After they were told Season 3 got cut short, they still had 11 22-minute episodes of Season 2 and all three 40+ minute episodes of Season 3 to conclude the story in a satisfying way.

Seeking and reading criticism posts outside of the general tags, ignoring warnings on posts that give forewarnings, then getting mad and upset that someone criticized your comfort show is generally an unhealthy behavior, especially if you're not in a good mental state. If you can't take people criticizing something you enjoy, and more-so if you deem it your comfort media, and feel the need to bother them because you made yourself upset reading their posts, you've got a lot of soul searching to do. That, or maybe you should log off until you can handle it.

Also, obviously, spoilers ahead for TOH, as well as Amphibia because these shows parallel a lot more than I want them to. :')

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I have a LOT to say about The Owl House from a critical and writing perspective, and I feel like the show is EXTREMELY overhyped for what it actually is. I feel its sister show Amphibia executed much of the same/similar themes better, and that's not even a bias thing. Just from the way both shows are written, you can tell which one feels more competently structured from a narrative standpoint (and, let's be honest, which one is actually funny).

Okay enough about general opinion, let's get to Collector. From a character design perspective, GOD I love this little guy, both the reflection/shadow form and the actual form are distinct from the rest of the cast. I'm a big Sun and Moon design/symbolism enjoyer (Sun and Moon from FNAF, Sun and Blake from RWBY, Celestia and Luna from MLP:FiM, etc.) so these types of characters are always welcome. And while their voice annoys me personally it ABSOLUTELY fits them, so no matter how annoying I find it I don't think I'd want them to have any other voice.

But that, unfortunately, is the only props I can give to Collector.

The show is FULL of redeemed antagonists that range from okay (I'd like to think Amity was decent enough and Hunter was alright but definitely should have been introduced earlier so his redemption was a slow burn but this post isn't about them so I'll end this note here) to "what the actual fuck" (Idc what anyone says, there is no excuses PERIOD, Lilith's redemption was the absolute worst redemption arc I think I've ever seen AND I'VE SEEN CATRA'S), and Collector is very much on the lower end of that scale. We hardly see them overall and their character writing is rushed beyond belief -- and again, I'd like to reiterate that that is ENTIRELY on the writing team for the show. Disney and the shortening DID NOT DECIDE TO KEEP COLLECTOR IN. The writing staff were aware of the time they had left and made the decision to shoehorn them in and expect everyone to just be okay with it.

From a writing perspective, they bloat the story exponentially and 100% should have been left in the drafts or saved for future content like what Dana said she might do if she is able to through books and such. If we only get hints of the other Collectors, this one should have STAYED hints with them.

We have essentially no significant amount of time with them outside of Hollow Mind and the season 2 finale before season 3, and what we DO have of them in season 2B is so drastically different I'd consider 2B Collector and 3 Collector as two different characters entirely. And before you tell me, "They're different because sun/moon symbolism!" "They're different because Belos and King influence them differently!" etc. etc., don't waste your time. Yes, those are good explanations as to why they feel so different between seasons, but that does not make the writing of the character inherently good. Allow me to elaborate:

In S2B, of what little we see of Collector, they are extremely sadistic in nature, and while they appear childish the writing of that lack of care for others is ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. And it seemed that way even as Belos first encountered him as Philip in the flashback episode. There, they weren't yet "influenced" by Belos and his plans; hell, he hardly had an actual plan yet.

Skip ahead to Hollow Mind, easily the best episode of Season 2 imo, and Collector is taunting Belos, mocking him and his schemes. Saying things like "Ooh, you were mad!" and "I'm starting to think you make those [grimwalkers] just to destroy them. You have fun with it, admit it!"

I cannot find any reasonable explanation as to how or why Belos would influence Collector into doing such things. Why would he want a little pain in the ass making fun of him for hundreds of years? And by his response to Collector's taunt about the grimwalkers and Hunter, "Of course I don't, Collector. It hurts every time he chooses to betray me," he took offense to their words, but kept his tone from shifting to anger as he does with everyone else because of Collector's power.

Belos doesn't want Collector thinking he doesn't like them because of their abilities, but he does want to stay on their good side for information. For knowledge of spells. And he puts up with Collector's annoyances because of that.

Essentially, that wasn't something Belos taught them or influenced them to do. All Collector knows is to adapt to their friends' behaviors, yes, but Belos is like, over 400 years old. I don't know about you, but I doubt with the way he speaks and how he's written that he would taunt his underlings in the same childish vain as Collector, and do so enough for Collector to pick up and mimic that behavior.

Now to the finale, their appearance is pretty much just them getting duped by Belos and sent into the depths of the titan skull, where King ever-so-conveniently finds them, making the pinky swear that releases them.

They maintain that mocking attitude even after Belos betrays them, calling King "boring" for calling them Mr. Collector and feeling generally disinterested by King before he promises a game to play. And even after they're released, they continue the attitude further with the whole "I remember someone throwing me off a bridge...I'm not angry, though!" bit, only to send Belos to his "death" moments after, deeming it as a game of tag. They've seen Belos kill grimwalkers first hand, fully aware that their lives mean nothing, and replicated the behavior by returning the favor to Belos (or so they thought). Their lack of care continues when they nearly try to do the same thing to the Hexsquad, people who didn't even do anything to them, before King stops them, changing the subject before they can cause further harm.

After stopping the draining spell, Collector continues the destructive maliciousness they have all the way to the end of the episode, and that's the impression of them we're left with. They were sadistic, uncaring and childish, but only learned the behavior of killing from Belos -- even though Belos didn't actually die, the intent was to kill him, and they were fully planning to continue with the Hexsquad.

And then...We get to Season 3.

Just a side-note, I think it's a safe assumption to say the first 2 seasons of The Owl House took place between roughly 2 months, as Luz was outside waiting to leave for a summer camp after the school year ended before initially arriving in the demon realm. Going off of that assumption, in Part 1 Luz returned to school as she returned to the human realm, presumably in late August/early September due to her living in Connecticut. And since Part 1 takes place in the timespan of about 3-7 days, the last day being Halloween, the timeskip only brought us about 2 more months ahead. Keep this in mind.

After Luz and co. return to the demon realm in Part 2 -- objectively the worst episode of the season -- we already see King's influence on Collector since they turned everyone into puppets instead of actively injuring or killing them when they don't comply. Still bad? Yes. But from how it looks in Part 3 with the Hexsquad, it seems more like the puppets' consciences are just comatose or an alternative to sleeping, maybe in a REM-like state. But of course, the show didn't have enough time to explain that further over all the nonsense in Part 2.

Anyway, when we see Collector in Part 2, they're still being childish, which is unfortunately the only thing that stays consistent with this character. They then say two lines that were the most god-awful writing decisions I've seen in a hot minute, and this show is STOCK FULL of really bad "this is peak humor LAUGH" moments like this.

They say that Eda has this "cool aunt vibe" and such, which sounds like one of those "character dynamics/tropes" posts on social media like Tumblr and whatnot. It comes off as really pretentious in the writing, and was shockingly unfunny to hear for a show that calls itself a comedy. Another line that frustrates me, more-so for lore reasons, is when they ask Odalia to make pizza bagels, when it was previously stated that human food is inaccessible to Luz during her time in the demon realm. So not only is it contradicting that whole thing (Eda actively struggled to find food for Luz that she could eat), how would they or King even know what one is or how to actually make one??

It seems like a small point to get heated over, but it once again feels like one of those stupid one-liners that one of the writers thought was the funniest shit they've ever thought up and kept it in because they knew die-hard fans would just laugh it off and brush it off as a joke, and that the writers forgetting about Eda's maternal struggle to feed her adopted kid is Disney's/the shortening's fault because they're at fault for everything wrong with the show...and not the ppl who wrote it.

Regardless, this whole shtick is extremely out-of-character for the way they had spoken in Season 2, and from what I can recall (I'm not gonna rewatch the entire show for the sake of a single post), King never talks like this. Luz does around him, but he himself doesn't talk like this.

I've discussed with friends before about this, including Robin (the one who asked me to talk about this), but from Part 2 onward Collector gets the same Luz-like writing every character that gets redeemed suddenly dawns out of the blue. I started calling it luz-ification, but it doesn't just happen to Collector.

It happened to Hunter, where his more cocky and ego-centric dialogues from early 2A was dropped for a more "comedic" personality and an anxiety-ridden character, though it's later eluded to that his cocky attitude was him masking his true self, so I try to keep it to that perspective.

But this happened to Lilith as well, where she suddenly started acting like "Cool Aunt Lilith" IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING HER ADMITTING TO CURSING EDA AND ALLOWING HER CAPTURE. WITH NO CONSEQUENCES TO BE FACED OTHER THAN THE CURSE SPLIT WHICH IS HARDLY UTILIZED IN THE SHOW.

(Side-tangent: Characters facing little to no consequences for their actions is something that goes on so much in this show but this is long enough already and I really don't like talking about this shit for long 'cause I could be using my time on better pieces of media, I'm sure there's plenty of posts explaining this point elsewhere by ppl who enjoyed TOH more than me)

Hell, it even happened to Amity for a hot minute. For some moments in the show she's written really off-character and saying things that just completely contradict how she's typically written, but then goes back to the more sassy and balanced character later on.

This post has gotten WAY longer than I wanted it to be, but to keep me from spending even more time on this, Part 2 shows a drastically different Collector, to the point that they do not by any means have the same character writing as they had before. They got luz-ified. Using social media lingo they couldn't even have access to in canon, and being written to quite literally just sound like a mini-me of Luz with the more obnoxious undertones of the childish thing.

Point is, they mimic these behaviors of Luz that they wouldn't even have reasonable access to learning from, because she's in the human realm for almost all the time after their release. It only makes sense in Part 3, when Luz is actually there for them to see her behaviors in action, but even that is so contrived and rushed that it feels unrealistic and narratively unnecessary. Remember what I said before about the timeskip only being 2 months? Yeah, 2 months isn't nearly enough time for a character to fundamentally change who they are as drastically as Collector.

Now to the part where I talk about Amphibia really quick and mention how it did the whole "having an alternative threat acting as a mini-boss" thing a million times better than this shit ever could. King Andrias, paralleling Collector for this particular scenario, is shown relatively early on that he's an antagonist to the audience. It's later revealed as a plot twist not to the audience, but to the characters, who least expected it. They don't waste time trying to throw off the audience with red herrings or telling its audience "He's not a bad guy, he's totally not going to be evil later on." They just show the audience he's evil and keep the story moving.

He's given enough time to feel like this ominous, looming threat, and True Colors masterfully showed how messed up this guy is and the lengths he is willing to go to ascend to the Core and cheat death, just as the souls within the Core had. His motive to avoid death and return Amphibia to the world-conquering ideologies from centuries' past is what made him such a love-to-hate villain. And the motive to cheat death in a children's cartoon? Metal as hell. The Core also parallels Belos here, and further on in Season 3, being the one manipulating Andrias through his fear of death in order to make him do what they want him to.

In the third season, Andrias continues his work by the Core's demands, only giving up in the final battle when he's read a letter from someone he had considered a friend long ago, which admittedly didn't have much set-up but it was at least the focus of an entire episode prior to the big pre-finale.

At the end of the series, he's shown to have moved on, allowing himself to age naturally and to stop using technology to keep him in pristine condition for eternity. He accepted the natural cycle of life, and in turn accepted that he will come to pass one day. He wasn't a perfectly written character, but considering what it's being compared to? Leagues better.

Like I said before, TL;DR, Collector is the bloatware of The Owl House's plot. They were shoved in as a last minute addition because they were the writers' "precious bean silly goose little gremlin blorbo" that they couldn't just keep in the drafts with the rest of the collectors. So instead of maintaining what little integrity the show's writing had to begin with and follow through to the end with the Day of Unity plotline being the series finale (Which was VERY OBVIOUSLY WHAT THEY WERE GOING FOR), they essentially made a side quest distraction that dragged the story on for longer than it needed to, wasting the audience's time.

I'm not mad that the Collector exists, I just find that their inclusion in the series did more harm than good for the writing. The show has a serious issue with giving screentime to unnecessary characters like the miscellaneous Hexside students, giving characters too much screentime (The biggest offender for this is Amity, there's more episodes centered around her than Hunter, Willow and Gus combined) and not giving ACTUALLY necessary characters enough screentime (Looking at you, Emerald Trio).

I really want to rewrite TOH, and if I feel the need to rewrite a show, it's usually because there's too much fundamentally wrong with it for me to give it anything higher than a 6/10 overall. But I've already got a whole AU and a whole rewrite in the works for two other series I care wayyyyy more about, so that's gonna have to be left to other writers in this fandom.

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If this post is how you've stumbled upon my page, hi :') Feel free to ask me about more or to elaborate on smth I said here if you want clarification, but if you check out my intro post and see another mutual interest we have maybe ask me about that instead of TOH please and thank you

[mdhwrites]

Boscha Ask: If people like seeing bullies slowly not be jerks, why not allow Boscha to have an arc? It could have been really compelling.

(I accidentally posted this ask when I meant to queue it. Wanted to post it later so sorry the full ask isn't here. I've included the main thrust and relevant parts of the ask for my response.) You're absolutely right that it can be extremely satisfying and worthwhile to watch a bully become a better person. To see them let their guard down and see the worth in others. For them to go from defensive and worried about any weakness to being able to open up.

TOH had one of those already and her name was Amity and we all saw how that worked out right? And she was a genuine, primary member of the cast. THAT'S why I argue that the show in S2 actually used Boscha well. She appeared for a couple gags when it was the right time to do so and otherwise vanished. Her role was after all as a small time antagonist and a marker for Amity's progression. She is not Sasha who has a deep, personal tie to both Anne and who Anne was before Amphibia and that is the point of her existence. That's why I say that after Winging it Like Witches, she has no reason to be here anymore because Amity is past Boscha, past most of Hexide, and this ISN'T Amity's story.

Or hell, how about a different character who after their main narrative use was up decided to stick around, albeit briefly: Lilith. She got mistreated AWFULLY by the show because she got in the way of Hunter's narrative purpose. She couldn't continue to be a character for the sake of the new villain. She could only be a joke. And while Boscha is just the romantic interest's old bestie, this is arguably the second main character of the show's SISTER and the PRIMARY ANTAGONIST of the first season.

Just covering a proper redemption for Amity and letting the fallout of S1 actually have an effect on the show, including what should have been Lilith's rage at Belos, could have easily taken up the main plot of at least half a season. Hell, in the show we got, Lumity IS the focus effectively for S2A plotwise with how little movement is in that half season. S1 sets up threads with just those two, ignoring Eda, Luz and Hunter, that are connected to the world building and drama of the world and plot itself that evaluating it... Making someone who is almost a one off in S1 and a supporting member of a supporting cast member seemed like the wrong move to me even when I was writing her before S2 came out.

And here's the ultimate rub: I AGREE. There IS a story there. I wrote a fuck ton of it with The Power of Love. Little Miss Rich Witch flips main character's perspective over to Amity, not Luz, and makes it her story in an original context. And do you know the part of TOH's identity that story focuses primarily on? The school drama, where a school bully can be a primary, ongoing member of the cast. TOH wants instead to have a plot that's grand fantasy and that's NOT where Boscha lies, even if she would have made sense as a member of the EC eventually.

Which, tangent, for as much fun as Sport in a Storm's scene is with her, I did one off for it at one point, it also creates the problem that Boscha didn't see Hunter and try to sign up for the EC despite having no reason to not want the power that would give her.

The problem with your position is a problem with a part of modern ship culture. You love a character so OF COURSE including them as a main character would have been great for the story overall because you'd get more of them. But... Is that actually true? I love Boscha. I think she had a lot of narrative potential that was never tapped into but that was for the best because this isn't a romantic school drama.

It's an adventure, fantasy comedy and the fact that we got Boscha at all out of that is almost condemnatory of the series as much as it is praising it. Sorry.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[thousand-winters]

Gonna send two more asks actually. 5 and 6 for the toh thing

5. Favorite platonic relationship?

Okay, I'm gonna have two different answers for this.

You know Dadrius has my heart and soul. Literally over here thinking and discussing Darius and Hunter's dynamic every single day of my life for more than a year already. There's just a lot with them, the problem is that while they do have a lot, it's mostly implied, and we absolutely can deduce some things, theorize others, and run absolutely wild with parallels, symbolism and this and that, but truth is we didn't see too much of them actually onscreen. So they're my favorite platonic relationship that didn't get too much time to develop in front of the audience even if it's very well implied they did.

Special mention to Darius and Eberwolf for the same reasons, lots implied, not much onscreen because we did not have the time.

Now, for the ones we actually had time on the show for...

I think the reasonable thing would be to say the Owl Trio, and while I do love them dearly, I honestly don't tend to seek out art or such with them? I think I'm gonna have to say Lilith and Eda.

I'm just... once again, I don't really talk a lot about Lilith despite how much I love her, but she's there. She's being microwaved in my head. She's rotating. She's under my microscope. She's everything to me.

That, coupled with the fact that you put a complicated siblings relationship in media and you got me, makes it so Eda and Lilith are just fascinating to me. Yeah, perhaps the transition from them being technically enemies to allies and friends again was a little clumsy, but honestly? That sort of feels right when it comes to, again, complicated relationships with siblings.

Honestly, part of why they interested me so much in the first place is because there are aspects of Lilith I see myself in, a LOT. And Eda, well, sort of reminds me of my sister. My sister even pointed it out while we watched. It's a whole thing. We are not talking about it /lh

It's just... gods, so damn interesting, especially when you consider Lilith's side of things, there's so much love and jealousy and resentment and guilt toward Eda, it's such a mess that comes out in the worst and in the best of ways. Because she has all the information on why things happened like they did, her point of view during their relationship especially in season 1 has so many layers, while for Eda it might feel a little puzzling but there's so much about why Lilith acts like she does that she just doesn't understand. So much miscommunication, so much love, so much vitriol at the same time.

They're SO good. Their little scene in King's Tide with them holding hands with their foreheads touched together, Lilith worried sick for Eda and Eda trying to joke to lighten the mood kills me every time.

6. A character you didn't expect to love? What made you start liking them?

The Collector too, actually.

I think for the Collector there's a lot of "well, in hindsight...", because they did seem far more vicious and dangerous than they actually were in that one memory in Hollow Mind, plus they seem somewhat nonchalant in King's Tide as well.

But For the Future truly opens up that perspective, it took me a while to warm up to them even so but I think in retrospective, the way they behaved makes so much sense for the fact that... he's just a kid. A kid trying to act how he has seen adults around him act, a kid that sees someone they want to know and be friends with so badly and the circumstances are SO bad but he's a kid!!! And to a certain point he doesn't get it.

He's just a kid...

I love the Collector so much now. You can tell they were also feeling all the guilt in the world during Watching and Dreaming with that one "you can at least do this" while Belos' curse was all over him and extending over his body, like... baby, no... 😭

4. Favorite romantic relationship?

This was always here, shhhh.

Ultimately I don't think too much about the couples of the show, even though they're in general so good, but I think it's definitely Lumity for me.

In part because of the impact they had, because inevitably, if someone sort of knows about TOH but doesn't really, they sure know about Lumity. But that's more of a general answer rather than a personal one so.

I just think they're so sweet, and so well done. I truly was not expecting their relationship to actually end up being a romantic one when I was watching Season 1, but I'm so glad it did. I think they did such a good job in writing them going from sort of frenemies to friends, to Amity crushing on Luz, to the crush being mutual and them pining for one another, to the nervous first steps of dating to the point we end up seeing them in, just comfortable and loving each other just as much.

There's a lot of relationships in media that become a thing just right at the end so we don't see them develop like that and I love that they got that, I love how real it is for them to have the nervous stages even while already girlfriends and to see how time made them be more natural and comfortable with each other, because of course that happens! And Luz in Thanks to Them was keeping secrets, of course, but even then you could see they were already comfortable, not so much sweating profusely every time they saw each other or anything, it started being just tender and intimate and sweet.

Lumity is just so damn good. I love Raeda and I love them too for being people in their 40s being such messes in love, they're special in a different way but I like Lumity just a little bit more.

From this ask game!

[hexside-dropout]

Just me fangirling over a band that makes Owl-House-inspired songs

Please note: there will be spoilers for TOH s2 in this post.

A WHILE ago, I was trying to find songs for an Owl House playlist when I came across a comment on an old Reddit post recommending the band Oh Geeez. They make songs inspired by The Owl House and Amphibia and other shows too (but I haven’t seen Amphibia so I’ll be focusing on The Owl House in this post).

I bring this up because I haven’t heard anyone else mention them and I like to think I have a good idea of what’s going on in the various pockets of Owl House fans on the internet. Anyway, from my perspective they are criminally underrated.

They just released a new song inspired by Thanks to Them and it is SO FREAKING GOOD. Once you guys fall down the rabbit hole of their discography, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Some of my personal favorite songs of theirs include:

Bloodlines - inspired by the Eclipse Lake battle between Amity and Hunter. The lyrics show both characters’ motivations beautifully. The line “I’m alive and I’m hungry for approval,” gives me chills every time.

Every Part of You - this one was inspired by the episode with the Clawthorne sisters’ mom (forgive me for forgetting the title). I listen to it when I need extra comfort.

Destiny - inspired by Elsewhere and Elsewhen, specifically meeting Phillip and the way he manipulates Luz by appealing to the similarities between them. I love that the lyrics are more from his perspective, as it adds a deeper layer to the story.

Enough of my rambling! The band is Oh Geeez (spelled with 3 E’s) and although this sounds like a sponsored thing I swear it’s not. I’m just a fan of their work and I think they deserve far more exposure than they’ve been getting.

[theprinceandthewitch]

Here's a conversation I've been having with @anitachristinita on Discord. She said exactly what I've been STRUGGLING to say about Luz's character for literal months lol.

Here's what I said:

I just wanted to point out some lines from Witches Before Wizards that stand out to me because of what Luz says and receives in FTF:

"Yes, I'm the chosen one! I knew it! I always suspected there was a reason nobody understood my whacky antics back at home. Now I have concrete proof! [Luz looks at the staff she's holding]

"I am a witches apprentice! And I'm going to earn my magic staff the hard way!" Oh boy, look at that. I like how the show practically says TOH is going to be a story where Luz becomes a witch through hard work rather than greatness being bestowed upon her by a higher power!

theprinceandthewitch I also like how the first line also links to Luz's line from FTF: "The only thing I ever wanted, was to be understood!"

theprinceandthewitch I like how Stringbean was given to Luz once she started to be honest and vulnerable with her mother. Because Luz doesn't do this with everybody right out of the gate - not even with her literal girlfriend. But this doesn't actually fix her flaw. Her secret will come to the surface and she'll face repercussions for trying to stifle her own happiness. Because this show has never let her get away with keeping secrets lol. (edited)

Here's her response:

I absolutely adore how details from s1 connect to big things in s3. In s1 it reads as Luz trying to mask the pain she feels from not being understood at home and tries to downplay her actual desire for being understood by using her being a chosen one as an excuse. And since it seems like her fantasies are coming true, she easily rejects that secret want of being understood if it means her dream comes true. Why would she want to be vulnerable and be understood by her mother (who she thinks she wants her to be normal) when she can easily become a witch, prove her mom wrong and everything is great? But by the time we see her in s3 she’s has grown up and matured. She realizes her childhood dream of being a witch isn’t what she thought it would be nor what she really wants/needs in life. Just like you said she learns that she wants to be understood, and that she needs to start being honest and vulnerable with her mom. Considering Luz learned pranks and got the Azura book from her dad, it’s safe to assume he was the person who understood her the most. And knowing that he passed away when she was young, you can understand her hesitation to wanting to be understood by other people. Because the last person who did has passed away and she’s probably hasn’t moved on yet (which can explain her obsession with Azura and wanting to be like her). She wasn’t ready to accept that she wanted to be understood again. She probably thought her dad was the only person that could understand her. But now she has matured and has learned that her mother can be that person too.

But like you said it doesn’t fix her flaw. Because Luz has kept secrets from her friends and girlfriend. The reason why she probably didn’t tell Amity her secrets despite Amity asking her to be more honest and reassures that she won’t be judgemental, is because Luz still had doubts that Amity would understand her. She thinks Amity wouldn’t understand her perspective and will hate her. And the same goes for her friends.

I feel like this says a lot about how Luz views Hunter. Since hunting palismem she has seemed to be more open and comfortable with him.

In hunting palismem they both understood what it felt like to feeling like you have no control over your own future, they both understood what having a interest in wild magic was like.

Luz didn’t tell Hunter about the collector stuff, but she was comfortable with the fact that he knew what happened. Probably because they both understand what it’s like to be tricked by Belos, they were both witnessed the other learning the truth and hollow mind was a shared experience.

In ttt Hunter is the one who convinces her to go back to the isles, because as stated before he is the only one who understands what it’s like to be tricked by Belos. Additionally him saying “please for flapjack” works on her because she was the only other person that is shown to have a close relationship with flapjack. There’s a reason why Flapjack flew to her while he was dying. She understands how much Hunter cared for Flap, but Hunter also understands how much she loved that bird, especially since when he met flapjack, Luz was the one who convinced him he wasn’t dangerous and was disappointed at the thought of him sending the palismem (including flapjack) to Belos who would certainly kill them. They’re both sharing an equal amount of grief over the loss of flapjack and understands each other’s grief. All of this explains why Luz seems to be more open to Hunter than everyone else, because deep down she knows he’s the person who understands her the most

But to add to this point about Luz’s dad. Luz’s dad dying is shown to have affected her personality and her actions. For example, the reason why Luz becomes so concerned over Eda’s curse is not only because she cares for Eda, but also because her father died from an illness.

We already saw how Luz acts when it’s the anniversary of her dad’s death. She doesn’t want to acknowledge the date or her true feelings because she knows there’s nobody near her who knows what happened and she might have been worried that no one would truly understands how she feels about it. And we see how her keeping this stuff in affects people like Amity.

In ttt they make it clear the reason why Luz why is obsessed with Azura is not only because she likes it but it was also the last gift from her dead father who knew what type of book she would love. She doesn’t want to let go of her fixation because she doesn’t want let her father go.

So it’s safe to assume Luz think’s he was the only person who can ever understand her and he’s gone. She might have felt like having another person who understands would be replacing her dad. Luz’s grief from her dad dying clearly affects everything.

I just know her learning about Caleb and Evelyn having a child and Caleb being murdered will heavily impact her.

Now I’m wondering if having Hunter being obsessed with cosmic frontier and dying in the same graveyard where Manny was buried means something more than having Luz and Hunter mirror her parents.

[cherrymoonvol6]

Hey your analysis are nice. Do you want to share your opinion on common/popular TOH proships? As an also proship-but-not-really-THAT-proship, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.:)

:D thank you for your nice words!

truthfully the reason why i call myself a proship is that, as a label, it aligns way more with my outlook in media and the way that i consume it. i'm just interested in well-told stories and interesting dynamics, and often that means that i gravitate towards those pairings that deal more with obstacles and conflict. but fandom hates that sort of stuff, mainly because discourse in that wavelength brings the worst out of people every single time. and like, i think it's important to address how certain tropes or execution of characters/narrative beats could correlate to the thing in real life, kinda like the works of youtube channels like pop culture detective or lindsay ellis. i believe there's a lot of value in that and it's interesting to explore and it's been a very helpful tool to understand other perspectives. but also, the moment that people in fandom begin to have discussions about something in media as if it's Real and happening in our world, i just fall asleep immediately lmfao. mostly because like, why would you analyze a piece of media through the only lens that DOESN'T acknowledge this media as a work of fiction? what's the point of media existing then, to begin with?

this is why i've never liked certain huntlow criticism, like willow using her magic to physically push hunter around. IMO willow could stab hunter through the heart and laugh it off and it wouldn't change anything, because hunter is not real. it's pointless to me to be all up in arms about it when he can't be harmed, not like a real person could. the most offensive thing about huntlow is that it's boring as shit and takes up space where luz's story could've been expanded and developed better. and thinking about it like that allows me to meet the story where it's at, instead of getting stuck on little nitpicks that, if they were to be taken out of the story, wouldn't make huntlow a better couple because their problem in the show is different and far bigger. now, you could argue that in certain places, willow's forceful attitudes towards hunter diminish his agency as a character, like how she makes the decision for hunter to come back to the team by yanking him to the courtyard. you could argue that it's dumb that willow is shown to be more powerful and resourceful than hunter when we know hunter is essentially a child soldier and willow just goes to highschool. and then i'd agree with you and i'd be willing to keep talking about it, because we're back to understanding the show in its own terms, and talking about it as it is: a connected thread of narrative beats and characters written by a team of people with the objective of telling a story. also, you could question the ethics of making willow treat hunter that way in a kids show, kinda saying that women being forceful with guys is okay and funny, and i would also be willing to considerate it through that perspective. but it's just the conceptualizing of the least impactful aspects of hunter and willow's dynamic (like, 10 total seconds in the entirety of the show of willow manhandling him for an in-show joke) as a huge problem that feels pointless to me.

all this preamble is to say that a lot of TOH ships in general fail to really catch my attention. this comes in part to my personal preference in ships. i think it's important that all the people involved in a dynamic have agency in order for their interactions to be really interesting. this is why i've never been into empgold, for example, given how their relationship works in canon: belos grooms hunter into a distorted understanding of the outside world, which leads hunter to close himself off and trust belos and belos only. and then that changes in hollow mind, and their dynamic essentially shatters from there. the resolution of hunter rejecting him and choosing his own path, as it happens in TTT, is therefore a sound conclusion. like, there's not really a lot a fucked psycho-sexual stuff or romantic interest can add to their dynamic, IMO. mainly because the moment hunter finds agency in their dynamic, the whole premise of it falls apart. only deviating their characters from their canon identities could make it more interesting, but at that point we're no longer talking about the characters from the show, are we.

at first glance a ship like beluz could be better in that regard, because luz has agency in the dynamic. she rejects belos over and over, and even manages to get the upper hand in a few occasions (see: king's tide). but looking at their interactions in canon, every time they talk to each other is like they're both interacting with a brick wall: luz is dead set in protecting the witches, and belos is dead set in going through with his philosophy. in that sense, that part in hollow mind where belos goes "can't reason with crazy" is a perfect embodiment of how their dynamic goes lol. even the whole angle of luz fearing she's becoming like philip is window dressing, because she's just being paranoid out of the guilt of the selfish decisions she's taken during the show: not at any point does this parallel make any real sense in canon, and then it's swiftly shut down by the end. it makes sense why this works like that in canon, because belos is supposed to be the irredeemable villain, as the ending shows. maybe there's more window for this to be changed though, because of the wittebane story. and obviously as a lunter enthusiast i'm no strange to using these hints and integrating them in the story to make it a better one. but personally, i just don't see the appeal -- and i'm not a belos enthusiast either, like i see other lunterinas tend to be.

from what i know those two are the more popular proships in the show. there's probably other stuff with the collector and king, or the actual incest pairings, but tbf i'm just pretty uninterested in any other ship in the show besides lunter. it's funny though, because i don't even think lunter has the most potential in the show -- i think lumity could be the best one under the right circumstances, if you could even believe me lol. but this involves a fundamental change in the premise of the show along, kinda converting amity into the deuteragonist by making her become the golden guard by the end of S1. it solves the issue of amity having zero connection to the plot, it adds stakes to luz and amity's relationship, also gives amity a lot more agency... i think that would be the best version of a love interest for luz in the show. but also i fear that that would make it so amity overshadows luz in the narrative. like, idk, a lot of stuff would need to be changed there. and that's what makes it hard to truly envision what the best (aka, the most interesting) version of lumity could look like. in lunter's case, we already have a case in canon of luz being the evelyn to hunter's caleb, and if you watched episodes like "hunting palismen" or "hollow mind" with no knowledge of lumity, i'm sure a lot of people could see the potential of their bond becoming romantic in the future. stuff like luz sadly looking back at hunter at the end of HP or hunter taking luz's hand in HM is pure ship fodder tbh and i'm tired of pretending it's not.

i've also toyed with the idea of terra and raine becoming an interesting dynamic in an universe where lilith and raine got condensed into a unique character. i've mentioned this before in my ideas of making eda and raine a better couple (cause good lord they're just as bad as every other couple in the show and i don't understand how people can deem them as "the good one" ?????), and to realize that it's raine's dynamic with terra that would be more appealing to me if those changes were real is very funny to me. there's also a lot that would need to be changed but so, so much untapped potential. however, it's another case where whatever is in canon barely resembles the best version of their dynamic, and it's hard to picture it with how raine and terra actually behave in the show. in that sense, they're very similar to beluz: raine's mind is completely made up at all times, which means that they would never accept terra's vision of the future.

of course, this is all my opinion. like i said, this also comes down to my personal taste in dynamics. like for example i'm personally not into poly ships in media, only for narrative reasons (economic storytelling: the optimal number is always 2). it's hard to find something that strikes that perfect balance between fucked-up and salvageable, and some of my beloveds like jackparse (from the check please comic) or asgoriel (from undertale) are some examples of that. but in true proship fashion, i think any pairing that you could come up in the show is fine. and of course i'm happy to share my opinions (and bless you anon for giving me a reason to yap about my thoughts <3), but they're just my opinions and the way that i personally approach media. you can like any dynamic in the show, platonic or romantic or sexual or whatever, and it's fine. they're not real people. that's the fun of media, that's the point of it: it's a playground to test ideas and make them interact. as long as you're doing that, all is fine by me.

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 2a part 1a

episodes 1-2

Here we go, season 2a aka my least favourite part of the show

Episode 1

- Set 1,5 weeks after season 1 finale

- Ok, actually i like episode 1 on itself. I think on the first watch the lack of acknowledgement for Gus&Willow's actions had weirded me out way too much, but this time i was - sigh - prepared.

- The first scene is the main characters going bounty hunting (and King trying to eat a tiny demon). On the one hand this is just playing with tropes and silly humor for kids, but on the other hand, considering Belos's regime and overall themes of the show, it's kinda odd that bounty hunting is just an accepted activity and without examining the implications? Who exactly are they hunting and what happens to them? How is it different from those demon hunter villains from season 1? Whatever.

Still funny how in the fandom's eyes all these moments are acceptable except for Darius' - also clearly comedic moment - of saying that only the small ones will get eaten, when suddenly that line should imply something negative about his personality. Oh, wait, there are also those Hunter stans who thought that Luz comedically tackling Hunter in HM was her "being as bad as Belos".

- I do like how they show Belos's statue being put in the town and how the show in general conveys the increase in propaganda's intensity. I feel like pre season 2 for the general population Belos' reign was probably more outwardly 'subtle' and 'soft', particulary if compared to other evil cartoon rulers, and i think it actually makes a more chilling picture when things like secret petrifications are shown, and, of course, the perspective of people like Eda - though that's why i wish we saw other wild witches too.

- Lilith is ok here, and i like the way Luz introduces her in the beginning, and Lilith and Eda's scenes are still fun, but in retrospect i think the shift towards one of my least favourite character development tropes has already started with her. Though in these s2a episodes her development is still mostly fine.

- Not Eda trying to use King as a target practice😭

- I understand Eda hides her emotions under the facade, but i wish even the first episodes went a little bit deeper with her frustration over the loss of her magic.

- Would've been nice to have some news/mentions/montage about Willow, Gus and even Amity.

(Also - this a mostly minor gripe, but weird how there is no connection regarding the public opinion on Eda between the protest at the petrification ceremony vs the public mocking her in this episode. I can see several lines of reasoning for it, and that's why it is mostly a minor thing, but alas it is not explored at all).

- Luz became really proficient with the glyphs!

- Hooty is so funny: "A good friend would respect your wishes, but a better friend would help no matter what" lol

- Considering the same 'Bye' thing both Eda and Hunter do in the same episode, it wouldn't surprise me if his connections to the Clawthornes was meant to be a much, much bigger thing before the shortening (and, tbh, i don't like it... unless... i won't say it because it is too controversial even for this post)

- Lilith's potion: Could've introduced the Coven Heads here, imo.

- Also, forgot to include it in the season 1 finale rewatch post, but i really like how 'playful' Belos is, especially when interacting with Luz - really quite different from the standart 'obviously super strict' religious villains, and i think it makes a more interesting and even realistic take while still showing how awful he is, without rellying on tired tropes.

- The episode itself is actually pretty good: Luz and Camila's connection, Eda and Lilith, Lilith and Hooty's interactions, introduction of Hunter as an antagonist - are all good. For me it falls a little bit short - and i felt this way on the first watch too - as the first episode of the season, especially with the absense of real consequences of Willow&Gus's actions in s1 finale, since what they did seemed like somewhat of a big deal, and knowing how it only gets worse for them... yeah

+

I have conflicting thoughts about the 'must do it alone' part and the way the episode shows&resolves Luz's guilt. On itself it is perfectly fine, the lessons are good, the progression from s1 is resonable. But in the context of the whole show and with how even the very next episode repeats the same 'guilt-must do it alone' plot... it feels a bit odd and sometimes too repetitive.

And i don't think it's bad on itself that the theme of Luz feeling guilt is constantly present, and that sometimes her thought patterns and actions repeat - i think it could have been an excellent arc of showing how the progress isn't linear, and you can't just learn the lesson of the week to fix your problems forever, and that sometimes Luz gets pulled into the same thought spirals - it could've been a very heart-felt arc (and, to extent, it is in the actual show) if it was translated better across the whole series; but it doesn't fully work for me, because it feels like season 2 just keeps introducing new players and focusing on Eda&King (understandable, considering they are also main characters, but still...), while Luz has the lumity plot and get home plot, but her story could've been even richer - within the same shortened 3 seasons - via just varying more her responses to the same mini-arcs and through deeper connections to various characters. And with better pacing and character balancing. Does this make sense?

Episode 2😡

- Definitely among the worst episodes for me just for Gus&Willow's treatment alone. The only thing i like is the way Amity's emotions are portrayed in the episode, especially in the scene where her friends are getting expelled; and Eda and Lilith's b-plot is ok, but not great enough as to save the episode.

- again, no consequences or a real follow up to Willow and Gus' actions during the s1 finale (what their parents thought? the schoolmates?) except for super brief reunion with Luz and a 'thank you'. No reaction from Eda or a change in their relationship with her - the relationship that was present through season 1.

- Oh, don't worry, instead the joke is that Eda now 'doesn't remember' Gus' name😠 (yes, it is meant to be her teasing him, but imagine what would've happened if someone did it to Hunter?)

- minor gripe, but why was Luz absent from school for 1,5+ weeks - was it a school break or was it because of what happened with Eda and the ceremony? Why couldn't she meet her friends out of school? Why not make a one sentence explanation in the first episode or this one.

- yes Lilith and Eda's behavior like they are in school is probably funnier for the target audience, and it expands their characters a little, but i would've prefered if Lilith was specifically acting like that because she felt awkward after she treated Luz badly in s1 and now didn't know how to interact with her, similar to how she wanted to make the spell for Eda in episode 1, but much, much more awkward and cringe-y (and Luz being awkward in response, and then it would've been fully resolved in the time travel episode). Eda's subplot and her jealousy over Lilith's sucess worked better for me, and the scenes of Lilith making stuff for Hooty out of the ice were funny/cute, but I think some of the stuff that was touched here would've benefited from a more serious approach.

But at the same time i feel like it might have been easily dropped, Eda could've discovered glyph combos together with Luz in ep1, Eda and Lilith stuff could've been moved to the following episodes, and then the freed time could've been used for Willow and Gus🤷

- and why again, King - who will be revealed to be an 8 year old in the next episode - is the one who has to deal with 'it' (Eda's frustration) and not Lilith?

- Ah, yes, the fairy pie - but you see, Darius is the cruel one for that one comment.

(Amity's hands look so weird here, it seems like she has way too many fingers, lol)

- Meanwhile Alador is playing with Bumps' palisman. Like, the difference in fandom's reactions - in a much more unclear situation what Darius does is 'ableism' and it condems his characters both in- and out- of universe, but this rich white man is straight up playing with someone's disability aid / assistance animal while they are at work, and even people who dislike Alador won't mention it. (But i think it would've been an interesting frame to explore Alador's character - more below)

- What i especially hate about the episode is how Willow and Gus' reactions and emotions are framed in comedic way / played for laughs again and again, and how they are repeatedly taken out of the picture. Does Willow have 0 strong emotions from meeting the Blights after what she has found out in the Understanding Willow? Does Gus not feel anything deeper about being expelled and Amity not standing up for them? Especially when other characters like Amity here and King next episode start to show more 'realistic' reactions compared to show's usually cartoony/stylized style.

- The one thing i like in the episode is how Amity's reactions and emotions are portrayed. But it really just contrasts how Willow and Gus are treated. And, despite Amity mentioning them as being her friends too and, i guess, 'protecting' them from the twins' prank, there are no deeper interactions between the three other than what the immediate plot dictates - and i don't even mean anything profound, just a couple of lines here or there would've been better. What is even the point of having Gus&Willow in the opening when they are treated like side characters.

- Would've been also great if Amity remembered how her parents treated Willow

- Odalia saying/pretending(?) that she appreciates Luz's 'tenacity' - i think it would've been something interesting to explore if she was genuine and tried to act as some sort of 'dark mentor' type teaching Luz 'life lessons'.

- Bump is again played for laughs, and i think his scenes were funny, but i wish there was a serious moment or two because of the switch between this episode and his behavior from the Hunting Palisman onward.

- Alador even outright states that the Blights specialize in weaponry, so he is not as complitely oblivious as some people state (like yeah, he was making those weapons anyway, lol). And, true, before this episode they were not supplying the weapons to the Emperor, but he still happily posed with that abomaton in the penstagram photo later, so idk where the notion that it was all Odalia forcing him, or he didn't realize anything even comes from.

- like, Amity gets to have all those multi-dimensional reactions and plotlines, so the contrast to Willow and Gus is so, so clear

- Oh, and sure, Gus and Willow are just so easily taken out of the picture by some abominations😡 Even though it is probably unintentional - It still just feels like a deliberate dismissiveness because you could just either a) not include them in the resque at all and have a c-plot of them interacting with their parents or b) have them cause distractions outside while Amity saves Luz.

- But Luz holds herself extremely well against the abominaton. I dislike when the fanon downplays her abilities.

- I can see hints in this episode that Alador is a better person than Odalia, but he still was playing with Bumps palisman while his daughter's friends were getting expelled, so i think that should've been adressed. I actually think it would've worked well for Alador's character if that was something like an intentional flaw of someone who is rich enough (and buys into the Blight superiority) that he can afford not to pay attention to others, and then through getting to know Luz and King he becomes a better person.

But Odalia's interactions with him seem to be much different from the later episode, and i think it should've been kept that way and expanded upon - afterall the show manages it with Belos while still showing how he is an abuser - rather than weird cartoonish evil Odalia in the Clouds that seemed just so cheep narratively.

- Lilith is good at the end of the episode, until they bring on the 'oh, she treats Luz like Luz is a teacher' joke again. It feels just way immature even for the show, in my opinion.

- I love the headcanon - that i've seen others make - that Belos was buying the abomatons partily because he wasn't trusting Darius or at least as a way to insult Darius, though the real reason is probably just what is stated - he didn't want for the citizens to build a private army.

- Plus the Blights were, like, planning for Amity to replace Darius, lol.

- Also, can't help but notice how we already got at least glimpses of Willows interactions with her dads in her mindscape, and here it was expanded upon, meanwhile we never see a scene just between Gus and Perry until the s3 finale, and in this episode there was a clear opportunity for it😠

- Yes, so this is either the worst episode in the series for me, or the second worst. Would've been more tolerable if Gus and Willow were treated better. But the repeat of Luz's 'guilt-do it alone' from the previous episode was also a bit odd, especially since the ending focused more on Amity and lumity.

(One possible change i could see working would be for Luz and Willow to go together to the Blights, then Amity calls Gus to help them, expanding on their dynamics on the way. Or to make episodes 1 and 2 into one narrative, with the first episode still dealing with Selkidomos and second one with the Blights, but Luz's arc and various subplots continuing between the two.

Have Luz and Eda figure the glyph combo together in episode 1, move some Lilith and Eda stuff to the next episodes, have Gus cause an illusion distraction that somehow results in Willow getting injured to continue into the opening of the Glass Ruins, and have Amity or Luz call out Alador on his treatment of Willow - showing him feeling guilty - to continue Alador's arc and to make Amity and Willow's sub-plot flow smoother into the LR.)

----

Conclusion:

The first episode is fine on its own, but as the first episode of the season it hints at future problems. Second episode i really hate because of clear dismissiveness towards Gus and Willow. It would be one thing if they were just absent from the main plot or if there was a plenty of attention for them in the series, but that's not the case. And there were ways to remove them from the plot while being respectful to their characters instead of playing them solely for laughs.

And i asked myself - do i just overthink this show made for 10 years old? The show is mostly comedic, so would the target audience even notice? And, no, i think i would've hated the way Willow and Gus are treated even as a kid. I actually remember, as a child, switching from hating characters to liking them just because i felt the shows were not treating them 'fairly', so it would probably upset me even more at 10 years of age. And also just from the narrative and writing perspective it is so clearly favouring some characters (who are mostly white) over the others, and so unbalanced and at times it just feels narratively lazy.

[awakefor48hours]

3, 8, 13, 14, 18, 19, and 22?

Salty Ask Game

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

I have not actually. If someone I follow likes something in canon I don't (or vice versa) I just do my best to ignore it and block tags when needed.

8. Have you received anon hate? What about?

YEP. I don't usually respond to it and I won't mention it because it can be triggering but I've gotten PLENTY of anon hate.

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

For this, I just put a bunch of my blorbos in a spinner and got Luz so let's do her. For the most part, I feel like I have a lot of the same opinions as most people in the fandom but I think the most unpopular opinion is that her relationship with her mom has always been good.

When Luz made it to the Boiling Isles, she always thought of mom. She made videos for her, brought a picture of the two them together, and fought specifically to see her mom again after the portal was destroyed. Camila has always loved Luz and done the best she could to make sure that Luz would have a good life.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

I'm just gonna use TOH for this as I'm in A LOT of fandoms but seeing as how the fandom is kinda dying down now, it's hard to say what exactly but one thing about it back when the show was coming out is the constant huntlow hate. There's a lot I can say on this topic but just to keep it simple, I'll just say that this fandom definitely has some liars because when gold/rick was getting popular, no one really batted an eye to it despite not knowing a thing about Hunter or the fact that they've never even interacted. Then after Willow and Hunter had several heartfelt moments together, suddenly everyone's going around screaming that Huntlow is underdeveloped.

18. Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?

I wouldn't say that. I've had times when I don't ship the popular ship in the fandom and it's just because it doesn't compel me. Let's take the RWBY fandom (FNDM) for an example. The most popular ship in the FNDM is Yang and Blake but I don't ship it, I actually like Ruby and Blake more than that. There's no reason to it, that's just how my brain works.

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Once again, I'm using TOH because I'm in a lot of fandoms. I feel like I've made my hatred of Belos clear so here's a new thing: the tunnel vision on lumity. I love lumity, I think this is obvious, but so often when you hear people talk about TOH or even just scroll through the tags, you'll just be bombarded by lumity and just classify The Owl House as the yuri isekai cartoon.

22. Popular character you hate?

ALADOR (kinda). When Alador was first introduced, I got so annoyed seeing people constantly talk about how he's "so neurodivergent" and bi (especially since the literal protagonist is canonically neurodivergent and bi) yet would shit on Odalia. From our perspectives, until Clouds on the Horizon, Alador was just as bad as Odalia but because he liked bugs and did things a little weird, everyone suddenly developed amnesia about the fact that he's the one who made Amity befriend Boscha and Skara and also threatened to kick Willow out of Hexside.

I don't hate Alador too much anymore because the cancellation of the show definitely shot his redemption arc in the foot and I can tell what Dana wanted to do with him. Other than that, the way that the fandom treats him just shows how white male characters can basically get away with murder.

[eldragon-x]

having Darius OwlHouse thoughts.

[alighted-willow]

Today on things that I never thought would wake me up: hauling two full grown men and sliding their weightless forms through a giant cardboard coin slot before moving back to the main set, telling the other actors "[something something] I found it on their corpses” only for the director to remind me of the PG rating. We tried to redo the scene, me saying something like "I found it on their limp limbs… while they were knocked out” but couldn’t stop laughing. I finally managed a good take, but burst out laughing when the actor I was saying it to was trying to swallow back their hilarity.

And then my giggling woke me up.

My cat was looming over me, trying to figure out what the heck his unconscious mamma was going on about.

[raayllum]

I feel like the owl house fandom takes things way too srsly esp with ships and preferences on characters. idk I love hunter and amity's backstory and I love luz but I'm more interested in hunter and amity's backstory that doesn't make me racist their storylines are more interesting

So this probably won't be what you expected or asked for but I'm grabbing the opportunity anyway to address some of the ways I think TOH falters from a Storytelling perspective and why I think those issues (as well as how young a lot of the fans are, although when I was 11-13 in fandom I was much more chill and "live and let live" so just shows what a decade can do in terms of fan community) unintentionally perpetuate some of what you mention.

Also don't think you're racist for preferring Amity and Hunter (Hunter, Gus, and Luz are my faves) but I do think TOH has some issues with how it handles its characters of colour, so I am going to touch on that. While I'm white. this is reflected on / verbatim from conversations I've had with Black and Asian friends / fans of the show and how racial stuff can tend to play out in fandom (circa 2013 onwards from personal experience of how people have treated fave characters, like Finn from Star Wars, in the past).

That said, I do still like the show. I love the strong found family, everything surrounding Eda and her allegories for mental health are super solid and important, I'm thrilled by the queer rep (I’m queer & watched Korrasami happen live), and I don't think a show has to be perfect or to check off my personal preference to be good. But I do think the show is... an interesting mixed bag for a few key reasons I haven't seen anyone talk about, so here they are.

Under a read more bc this gets long, like, real long, even though there’s only four things on this freaking list, LMAO. For whoever reads it, have fun!

1. The Owl House writes like first impressions don't matter.

This is one of the biggest things in the show that breaks elements of setup + payoff. After all, if your setup is misleading or unaddressed by payoff later, characters and plot lines may come across as stilted. This also ties into other areas (such as screentime) that I'll touch on later.

By far the character who has broken setup the most, though, is Amity. For example, Amity is introduced as someone who has bullied Willow for years, even when no one else is around (i.e. it's not a pure performance), and even though they used to be friends when they were young. Their friendship fall out / Amity distancing herself from Willow is explained by Amity being forced to by her parents, and understandably struggling with how to deal with and explain it as a child.

I haven't seen the last few episodes of S2 (aka I got up to "Hollow Mind") and I was disappointed in S2A when it seemed like this plot element would never be addressed again. So I was very pleased to learn that there is an episode in S2B that talks about their friendship. Except... it doesn't address the bullying. Because yes, Amity tried to protect Willow by distancing herself... but Amity also didn’t need to Bully Willow, like, at all. Not within the confines of the story and not within the landscape of the character; her parents didn’t tell her to be cruel to Willow. She chose to do that. Repeatedly. And that facet of their bond... has never been adequately addressed. It could be, in the future (but I personally doubt it). 

It’s particularly strange, because Luz was 1) canonically bullied in the human realm and 2) perpetually struggled at making friends. It makes sense that she’d be extra against bullies and protective over the friends she does have, and wanting to see real change before bonding with a practical stranger (even if Amity did show a slightly nicer side at the end of “Covention,” it wasn’t an even ratio whatsoever, either of her niceness or Luz’s meanness). But we’ll circle back to this. 

We see this issue of initially bad behaviour being overruled, sometimes retconned, or ignored to the point of being rewritten a few more times in the series. 

The one that ties into Amity’s character are her siblings. In their debut episode, they have plans to share private pages of their little sister’s diary. This is mentioned in another episode as something they’re trying to make up for, but they weren’t there when shit hit the fan at the library, anyway. So we never see 1) why they were going to be so cruel to Amity in the first place (and I have siblings myself, so no, it’s not a sibling thing, or just a sibling thing), 2) what exactly made them change their mind, and 3) this type of behaviour never reappears or is addressed in the show, either. While Luz gets called a bully for it, the twins get off basically scot free. Yes, they’re obviously affected by their mother, too, but there’s never even a whiff or a hint about why they felt the need to humiliate Amity on a public scale besides thinking she was uptight. 

We see this one more time with Darius, which was the most baffling and completely jarred me the first time I watched it. Darius was being cruel and dismissive to Hunter, but warms up when he realizes the kid does have a spine and will stand up for what he believes this. This is not the heart warming moment or message the show seems to think it is. All I heard and saw was an adult going “Oh, this kid is too indoctrinated and abused to be worthwhile until he proves otherwise, I’ll treat him like trash and ignore that I’m exacerbating his symptoms of abuse until then.” And no matter what comes latter, this is a downright weird set up, emotionally. 

I’m not saying that none of these characters can be set up this way, but the introduction and how different they are in all other preceding episodes — or even when information is given to re-contextualize certain things — feels like whiplash. So the setup is a little weird, making pay off either non existent or unnecessary. This stumbling block makes the emotional continuity feel disjointed too, in some aspects. The way this affects emotional continuity can best be seen in Gus, Willow, and Luz’s friendship — but again, more that later.

As for set up and pay off, it can lead to missed opportunities, namely: why the hell was Amity Lilith’s protege in Convention? Again, not saying the show is bad or this is a bad writing choice, but it’s a weird one. I remember watching that episode, seeing Amity be introduced as Lilith’s pseudo apprentice, and being excited. It meant Lilith-Eda, Luz-Amity, and possibly the two menor-mentee relationships could all be developed simultaneously! It’d be interesting to see the parallels and differences.

At the very least, it would give a personal stake to Amity and Luz’s possible developing bond, with Lilith at the very least going to disapprove, and give Amity and Luz a chance to compete against each other and to see that progression.

Then it was never addressed again. And it wasn’t set up as a “one day thing” either. It seems that Lilith possibly tutored Amity for months, maybe even years, for Amity to be considered her “strongest protege” (exact line). So we miss out on that possible, episodic but still connected plot line (especially because after Convention, we never see Amity caring a whole lot about actual school, even though that as her whole thing in her intro and second episode). Then, even when Amity and Lilith are back on the same side (imagine how interesting exploring that fracturing could’ve been!) they... never interact, never mention, and never act like they know each other.

They’re two characters with the same theme and similar arcs split down the middle, have an interesting setup, and it goes.... Nowhere.

Because first impressions don’t matter in the show, which is particularly weird, as typically 1) what you set up in the very beginning of the show is what you want the audience to be invested in, and 2) the audience is going to / has to pay more attention in the beginning of a show because they’re actively trying to learn the rules of the world and character dynamics / personalities. 

And it’s not the only time TOH does this, so let’s talk about

2. Screentime, Race, and Chosen Diaspora

Specifically that Gus and Willow barely get any, and how this ties into race. So I’ve touched on this before in an article I wrote on Vocal where I share meta-adjacent stuff that doesn’t fit my tumblr vibe, so if for some reason this is your thing, they may be other stuff you enjoy on there, whatever. I’m not gonna repeat myself too much here, but basically: 

The majority of the Owl House cast is white, particularly when it comes to who matters in the plot. Eda, Lilith, and their family are all white. Hooty and King exist in what we’re going to call an aracial space, as they don’t have race and aren’t coded as any particular thing, either; just tried and true demons. Hunter is white; Belos is white. Gus and Willow are regulated to background characters and most of the time when Willow is being developed as a character (“Understanding Willow,” “Any Sport in a Storm”) it’s typically also used to further a white character’s growth of... learning to treat her better? Gus fares a bit better, but gets less screentime. 

So not only is Luz the only primary character of colour, she’s largely cut off in forming meaningful relationships with other characters of colour, and having those bonds highlighted and given strong screen time (as thus far in S2, every time Gus and Willow have gotten significant screentime, it’s been largely removed from Luz, with her often doing something else with Amity). Remember when “Star Wars: Rogue One” came out, and there were discussions being had of “a lone woman only having meaningful relationships with men and no other women”? 

[ Side note: as for the first point, I’m not going to say things I love, like TDP, don’t fall into the “woman surrounded by men” trope for its two main female leads, as Rayla is friends with the boys and was raised by her dads, and Claudia’s primary relationships are also with other men. However, I believe this is mitigated with plot lines like Ellis and Lujanne in S1, as well as Janai-Amaya-Khessa in S2 and particularly in S3, and I think this will only continue to grow moving forward into S4 and beyond ] 

At the same time as Rogue One, there were conversations regarding the films status of “people of colour purely as the supporting cast but never as the primary lead”? TOH meets in as a weird hybrid in the middle, with a person of colour as the main lead, but largely surrounded by white people — and this is the case for most characters in the show.

Raine’s main relationship is with Eda. Darius is in the rebellion with them, but his only meaningful relationship on screen in any way is really with Hunter and the past golden guards. Gus and Willow are mostly side characters. We basically never see their families/parents (and know far more about the Blights / Edric and Emira in every way. Gus and Willow ultimately don’t get the time with Luz for me to call their relationship meaningful. This is especially strange, given that often times kids who are bullied (like all three of them are) cling harder to the friends they do have, and that while S1 was better about making Gus and Willow be extremely important to Luz as her First Friends Ever, S2 has dropped the ball even more so. 

Luz is like an island, ironically on the Isles and cut off from her cultural community and from other characters of colour even when they do exist in her new community.  So that’s talk about that in full. 

Now, there is Luz, who is the primary protagonist (honestly, you could argue Eda is her co-protagonist) and she’s lovely and I love her. However, more than once, Luz’s plot line for an episode is a B plot or less plot relevant compared to other characters (particularly Eda). I touched on this in my Vocal article, but Luz is living in diaspora in the Boiling Isles. Yes, the demon realm suits her much better than Earth largely did, but I would still love to see elements of her culture in ways other than her / her family’s name and her occasionally speaking Spanish. What about holidays, what about missing her mother’s cooking and the cultural connotations it holds? 

The show does engage with aspects of the Isekkai genre that are sometimes overlooked, namely Luz being torn between two worlds (and given that she’s mixed, it’s not like the allegory isn’t already there), but it only goes halfway. It only shows Luz wanting to be in the Boiling Isles with none of the possibilities about cultural shock, assimilation, and other aspects that can play into immigrating countries — or realms. I’m not saying the the show not engaging with Luz’s diaspora is a bad thing, but it does feel like a missed opportunity (as most of this is) particularly since they do try to engage with her on a cultural level with her speaking Spanish and writing her as purposefully Afro-Latina and from the Dominican Republic. 

But honestly, basically everything I’ve talked about already — occasionally misleading set up w/ a lack of follow through, screentime (both considering and not considering its racial elements) — are all compounded into my biggest issue with the show, however, which are its 

3. Disengaged stakes

So while I love Luz, I mostly love her for her personality and sweet hearted nature. I don’t actually love her that much for how she drives the plot forward — even though she does, and even though she’s the protagonist. And this is largely because Luz — and many of the characters — exist in a limbo of what I’m going to call Disengaged Stakes. Basically, they have stakes, but due to a lack of set up, or pay off in regards to emotional continuity (never mind a lack of consistency, i.e. sometimes Eda needs to hide, sometimes she can be flashy in public with zero consequences, sometimes getting caught by guards matters when the story decides it needs a conflict, and sometimes it doesn’t etc) it’s hard to actually be invested in those stakes. At least for me. 

For most of S2, this meant I wasn’t really invested in Luz’s efforts to get a portal to see her mom (although this improved when we actually got a singular episode with Camila). It’s clear Luz isn’t going to live full time, if at all, in going back to the human realm. I also wasn’t worried for Camila, as she hasn’t been fearing for Luz this whole time, instead believing things are perfectly fine if not better than they were before. 

Let me give you an example, and this was actually pointed out in a youtube review of the S2 finale that helped me put my finger on why it... felt weird as a finale (again, even though I haven’t fully watched it yet, but I have watched the bulk of it). 

The four kids are stranded in the human realm, but what does that actually mean, for most of them? For Luz, this carries a lot of weight. She’s spent all season trying to find a way home to see her mother, but is now there under awful circumstances with no way back to the place she actually wants to be. It will also offer Camilla the perfect opportunity to see why the Boiling Isles and her family there is so important to Luz.

But what does this mean for the other three kids? Shockingly little. Like I’ve touched on before, we know nothing about Gus and Willow’s families. Yes, I’m sad they’re separated from them, but I’m sad because generally, kids being separated from their parents is sad. I’m not invested in their specific relationship (same issue I had with Rogue One and Jyn’s relationship with her father, as well). All Luz actually wants, in her core, is to stay in the Boiling Isles. Amity’s relationship with her father is on the mend and her siblings are there for her, but Luz is still clearly the most important person in the world to her, and they’re not separated. Hunter has absolutely nothing back for him in the Boiling Isles, largely, and he’s actually as safe as he can be from Belos’ machinations in the human realm. 

So you have four kids tossed into the human realm, and it only really matters for one of them. 

This is amplified in their relationships. Willow and Gus rarely have anything beyond interpersonal stakes; Amity had her mother, but now her father has turned over a new leaf, there are no interpersonal stakes any longer for her family (and she radically stood up to her mother very early on in S2 as well). She and Luz have had no problems in their relationship besides very brief miscommunication and Amity’s mother. Amity has hardly any stakes outside of Luz. The characters who are dealing with very high stakes, such as Raine, are largely shuttered away outside of the story — or Hunter. 

Dear lord, Hunter. Which, now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about what I think could have aided in remedying a lot of these issues

4. Merging

Now I know TOH had to jump through a lot of executive hoops (including the existence and plot relevance of Hexside particularly in S1) so I don’t know what sort of orders came down, or mandates they have to follow but:

TOH has too many characters, and plenty of them could have been condensed as pairs into half as many characters.

I know this, because I went through a similar process of originally having a central group of thirteen characters, and cleaved that shit down to seven. So what are my proposed mergings?

The twins become one character. They more or less are now, fulfil the same purposes and character points as one another (flesh out Amity’s family, tease her and be a listening ear, show their mother’s control, operate as illusionists, etc). Whether it’s brother or sister doesn’t really matter.

Gus and Willow become one character. I would say keep more of Willow’s backstory (w/ Amity), dads, and plant magic alight, as the merged-twin character could substitute as the group illusionist whenever need be. It means that instead of only having splintered individual episodes with Luz or for their development, the small collection would be bolstered and improved marginally. It still wouldn’t fix where screentime or set up fails them, but it would be a significant start. I adore Gus, he’s one of my favourites in the whole show — but he’s less plot relevant than Willow, who is already largely not plot relevant (at least, not outside Hunter’s arc in S2) and we gotta be economical somewhere.

Economical storytelling is when a character, scene, or plot beat is doing at least three things at once, largely — and right now Gus is doing the least, as much as I love my boy, with Willow right next to him. Thus, there we go.

Now for the big, perhaps flat out unpopular one:

Hunter and Amity should’ve been one character. Like the twins, and even Amity and Lilith, they’re largely one theme split down the middle. The show draws intentional parallels between their world views, callousness, and need to be the best due to their abusive families, their strong relationships / connections to Luz, who works to friendship and who are changed by her kindness. There are also less thematic but still overt parallels, like their artificial wands, opposing palismans (bird vs cat), travelling into mindscapes where they uncover secrets. Hell, they both even have a reformed father figure who works with the Abominable coven with a shittier parent who believes in their own superiority at any cost. 

Say Golden Guard Amity is enrolled in Hexside — she has to be trained somewhere — and throughout the season we hear her refer to her uncle, who raised her. He just wants the best for her, and for her to be a worthy member of the Emperor’s coven! It’s only at the end of S1 we learn that Amity’s uncle is Belos, and that her growing bond with Luz may be tested in the future. Then, in S2, she has to make a choice between her familial loyalty, ideological defection, and Luz and her friends (who will have more time to be friends, because there are less characters running around). You can even keep the condensed twin as a surrogate sibling mentor — perhaps one of Belos’ more successful grimwalkers, or flat out not a clone at all.

This merger gives Luz and Amity real stakes in their relationship, a higher sense of drama amid the sweet fluffiness, gives more characters more screentime... And amplifies everything that already exists in Amity’s arc. Yes, seeing a quieter form of child abuse from Odalia is worthwhile, particularly for abused children — but as of S2 she’s basically gone full bad guy and has already done so before in early S2, as her abomaton nearly kills Luz in “Escaping Expulsion” so... moot point? Sorta? Is what I’m saying. 

It would also, for the love of god, give Amity a solidified reason to dye her hair after she finds out she’s a grimwalker. She wants to reassert her own identity, she wants to be different than her successors while also honouring their good nature, etc etc. Imagine “Hollow Mind” but with Amity in Hunter’s place, and all the weight that would hold for each of them, and for Hunter’s character, now condensed into Amity’s. Also stronger parallels of Belos’ clones becoming less like his brother (because Amity is a girl) over time and with parallels of the implied plot line, of Belos killing his brother because Caleb fell in love with a witch, and it’s happening again, this time just with Luz and Amity, directly.

Basically the only things that would have to change would be a little of S1′s pacing, some of S2′s Blight parent related episodes (so largely two until the finale, which again, Darius or the condensed twin could easily substitute)oOr, to come full circle, you could have Lilith also play a factor, the way she did in Amity’s arc in the beginning. This would provide a greater sense that characters actually had lives and connections and little ship passing in the night moments before Luz showed up, and they would all feel more like!! REAL PEOPLE!!

The only thing that would possibly, likely have to go is Willow’s history with Amity.But given that the show has never really addressed the bullying, perhaps that backstory element would be better left dropped, in general. Amity can be a jerky bully without specifically bullying Luz’s friend for like, 4-6 years beforehand, y’know.

Anyway I will never not believe in the validity of what I call TOH Merger and how it would strengthen basically almost every single aspect of the show, take it or leave it. 

Conclusion / Nitpicks

Other notes before we wrap up.

I got bored with just how many episodes relied on the “Character A doesn’t want to fess up to something bc they’re insecure, scared, or trying to look Cool, but inevitably lie and make things ten times worse, and then learn it’s important to be honest” in S1 (hi King, Luz, Willow, and Gus eps respectively). 

Amity’s laser character focus on Luz stifles her relationships with both Willow and Gus (as it is more or less non existent outside of a few lines or group scenes); all of Amity’s character growth is largely because of her relationship with Luz, but the same cannot be said for Luz, leaving their relationship lopsided. This is particularly true for me (and is a total personal Aro-spec induced nitpick) and is all the more glaringly obvious considering they barely had one episode where the two were on friendly / friend-ish terms before crush feelings on Amity’s side came in. This makes me feel less invested in their relationship as a whole, as while it’s exceedingly cute, it feels like it’s based on nothing but Crush™ Feelings and that will also be less compelling to me than a strong Foundational Friendship that develops into a crush. I don’t mind that development happening fast, but this was a little too fast in my book. 

Final disclaimer: Still like the show, still think it’s good, these are just some of the reasons I don’t think it’s Great. The lack of a Merger will haunt me. Thank you goodnight

[lollytea]

hi omg i just wanted to say i read sunshine in your smile the other night and thought it was amazing! your characterization takes such an in depth look at what drives each character and i just loved how much attention you paid to small details like those, especially with the big argument in chapter 5. your interpretation of hunter and willow has honestly been some of the best/my favorite from all the toh fics ive read, and it just has such a unique quality to it that im still thinking about days later. plus, how the huntlow was sort of evident and there the entire time, the story itself focused a bit more on them caring for and learning about each other as both friends and people without needing to lean on the romance to carry the plot? it was SO good and well handled UGHHH because your tags were right!!! two kids who see themselves in each other and form a strong emotional connection.. its such a good premise it was such a good study. sry this is long haha just wanted to say i read ur fic and loved it, youre a really good writer and i hope to see more from you in the future!! have a nice night :~)

AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! This means SO MUCH to me, you don't understand!!! Thank you thank you thank you!! Thank you for feeling like you should tell me this cuz it makes my day so much better!! I WILL cry, I will do it, I'll do it right now

And I'm so so SO happy that you enjoyed the emphasis on their relationship outside of the romantic element because that was really what the fic was all about. It was a direct response to all the people saying huntlow would "ruin" Hunter's character and it was just some hollow "painfully hetero" ship that existed for the sake of cliche shipping. I was trying to show the potential of just what it could actually be. Something that pays respect to both Hunter and Willow as people, as well as being a love letter to both of their characters. And how those personalities really catch fire when they have each other to bounce off of.

Like he had a crush on her from the first chapter but it wasn't supposed to make you think "oh yes he is in love with her. He is her soulmate. They are meant to be together." It was supposed to make you think "Aww this dummy got a crush on a girl after knowing her for a literal day for simple silly reasons because he is sixteen and sixteen year olds are just Like That sometimes." Their mutual crushes are supposed to demonstrate how despite Willow's wisdom and maturity and Hunter's militant personality they're both still kids and are fully capable of being childish and impulsive, without mocking either them for feeling that way. Like at this stage they really don't know each other well at all. But they would really like to.

The crushes clearly grow as the fic goes on as they become more familiar and now the infatuation actually has a stronger foundation. But in the end, it's still shown to be a sweet innocent juvenile thing, not like straight up burning true love or whatever. Willow doesn't give him a flower that means undying devotion or everlasting love or anything like that. It is simple as "I think happiness suits you. Your smile is very pretty." Meanwhile the bond they begin to develop as friends and mirror images of each other is the main character study at play here. It is not so easily slotted into a box of romantic or platonic, its just this indescribable kind of thing. The fic doesn't end with a kiss or a sudden realization of feelings, but rather with them having formed this connection, gaining some perspective of each other and themselves. And sometimes, depending on how the story as a whole is handled, an ending like that can be satisfying enough.

I had a post in my drafts about it but I never posted it cuz I felt I was getting annoying constantly talking about my own fic. But here's some tags on it where I ramble about the angle I was trying to take with it.

[mdhwrites]

I think the main reason why people see Amity and Hunter as more Sasha esque than Boscha may also lie in the screentime distribution. Boscha's not that prominent and only had like two episodes where she was relevant after season 1 and wasn't exactly that important in the overarching arcs the same way Amity and Hunter are on TOH or Sasha on Amphibia. Plus Boscha barely even had time for a redemption aside from some slight hidden depths in For the Future, but there still isn't much on Boscha's redemption due to how close it is to the end so it does make it harder to compare her to Sasha.

Oh, I 100% get this. Me going 'Boscha is TOH's Sasha' is not me trying to say people are idiots. I might have problems with how fandoms analyze things (and trust me this isn't just a TOH thing. I lived on the living room couch of a Trekie and Star Wars fan for two years while the sequel trilogy and Discovery come out. Online criticism fucking sucks.) but this isn't one of those cases. I have a unique perspective as a fan of Boscha so I'm far more likely to even think of her at all versus any other fan of the series, let alone in a positive light like in comparing her to Sasha. Then again, it's mostly a comparison through the fact that they do share vices as much as they could share virtues. I am weird like that though because my writing caused me to need to analyze the scraps we had.

I... pause on saying the lack of redemption makes her hard to compare. It makes it so less people will care because if you don't have a capital a Arc fandoms just kind of ignore you (and make sure it's capitalized or be ignored like S1 Anne) but I don't think it makes comparison harder. Not when Sasha's arc is not her personality or character. It affects her character but who she is stays consistent. Even post redemption, she's coming up with strategies and asserting force because Sasha is a forceful person. She is a leader and she cuts through bullshit, hence why Commander Anne has her obviously fighting against herself by trying to act like those aren't still a part of her character. It's actually part of what's great about the therapy angle for her because she is absolutely your therapist, NOT your friend and she will be the first to make that clear.

It's not like Boscha and Sasha have no similarities post Sasha's redemption after all. Sasha still gets pissed when people bring up things she's sensitive about and will absolutely throw down if you challenge her on her beliefs. She actually GAINS a similarity in being willing to listen to Anne versus just about anyone else, just like Boscha listens to Amity while nobody else. That's because it's STILL Sasha. Her redemption wasn't about her erasing who she was.

Her redemption, which is part of what is both good about her redemption and redemptions in general, is from a shift in perspective, not in character. She didn't suddenly become a good person. She always had the capacity for good. Her encouragement of Percy can even show that. She could uplift people even back then into being their best selves but it was purely for selfish reasons. Others didn't factor in beyond how they could serve her. Post True Colors though, that changed. She decided others mattered and so she started helping them as best she could. Zuko's shifting definition of honor is like this as well.

I'm kind of sad that in The Power of Love, my story where I wrote Boscha first, I never really finished her arc. Her shift in perspective was in not needing everyone to approve of her in some way anymore. To not have to fight everyone who insulted her or assert dominance over her surroundings. She found peace in just being herself. You actually had to give her a reason to kick your ass instead of doing it just because people fearing her still meant they respected her... But she'd still kick your ass if you did something that pissed her off. She still would call people names because she's kind of a bitch like that but there's less malice there, stuff that did genuinely start happening the story already as her arc progressed in stages. It also means though that her confidence is far more honest. She doesn't need your approval. She's awesome so you can go fuck yourself and if someone else is seen as awesome too? Good for them but it doesn't matter to her anymore so she doesn't need to do anything about them.

And I bring that up in part to show that you can go a lot of different ways with a redemption besides just making them a generically good person. That is not what redemption or growth should be unless that is genuinely who the person always was and then... Why are we redeeming someone who is apparently kind of boring? Their personality, their details, etc. like that should matter both to their villainy, their arc and who they are afterwards.

And well... I have kind of complained a LOT about TOH's arcs for being about character replacement rather than growth and so long as that stays true, just about no one in that show could ever even compare to Sasha. Not when post redemption, they barely have enough personality, let alone consistency, to reflect the complex teen. You have to look at the abandoned characters like Boscha instead for one that can accidentally even try to step to Amphibia's game.

=======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[astriiformes]

WIP Meme: List the titles/filenames/descriptions of your WIPs and tell us a little bit about them/wail about them/beg for inspiration/whatever you want! Then tag some people for a no-obligation mutual wailing/cheering/complaining session!

Was tagged by @marypsue to participate in this one. I am being restrained with my definition of WIP here because especially with all my Critical Role thoughts as of late I have been opening up some truly ancient drafts and contemplating acts of hubris, but these ones are all “Yes, I am definitely working on this one for real” projects. (Ones that are at least partially on Ao3 include links!)

Aurum Horizontale - or, as the draft is actually called in my google docs “vampire times (advanced);” my 2021 FTH gift for @twitcherpated which I am going to finish VERY VERY SOON because even the gracious extension I got from the event organizers after I busted up my hand is running out on me (rip). That said it has been an absolute delight to work on -- a chance to play around with one of my very favorite Critical Role fic tropes, “What if Percy wasn’t able to escape Whitestone when the Briarwoods attacked?” with a very fun twist. I have loved it ever since getting the prompt idea, partially just because it’s been a great excuse to indulge in my love of writing gothic horror and whump, as well asto go absolutely overboard with including all sorts of references to the history of science (particularly alchemy). Also, officially my longest story... ever?

Make A Little Birdhouse In Your Soul - one of my TOH Whumptober fills from last year all grown-up into a proper fic. (And, my first longfic for The Owl House). People kept saying they were interested in seeing it expanded and I was too! My personal attempt at writing a “Hunter gets taken in by the Owl House crew” stories with some distinct deviations from the fic norm, in part because I want to highlight some of the (fairly major!) characters the fandom tends to ignore a lot more -- but with some other twists too. On a break while I finish up other projects but Ch3 is coming along pretty decently all the same

marty mcfly trans - what it says on the tin, really. Marty is one of my favorite trans headcanons, and after realizing one particular way that would seriously complicate the narrative of the movies, I decided I wanted to dig into that in fic form. It has spiraled since then, to say the least, in part because I realized I was really invested in doing historical research for it -- most of the time, I feel like trans Marty headcanons don’t ground themselves in the 70s-80s very much, but I am full of hubris and also have a deep emotional connection to learning trans history. A librarian friend of mine, @suzirya, has provided excellent research help for this story and it’s one of the most personal things I’ve ever explored writing. I am absolutely committed to trying to get it posted sometime this year.

marty mcfly trans: TWO!! - ....yes, another one. It’s a duology, one taking place before the movies and one taking place after, essentially (yes I am very intentionally channeling some past/present/future elements here). The first one is from Doc’s perspective and while I love elements of the outsider POV on it, I decided it was also important to me to do a Marty-POV story, whcih is full of... extremely personal metaphors, to say the least. Ultimately I think it’s going to be the perfect way to explore what I want to do with these but it DOES means writing two different extremely long oneshots.

I Breathed a Song Into the Air - I had forgotton. That my actual google doc for this one is called “ELF DEPRESSION.” Anyways. My love letter (ironically) to the other half of my queer identity, this one is a post-canon LotR story dealing with Legolas and Gimli’s relationship and the former’s coming to terms with being aromantic and asexual. I love this on dearly and even though it’s been on hiatus since late 2020 (....yes, I know) I have every intention of still finishing it. The deeply aromantic version of a shipping fic in which I go “But what if this relationship were extremely complicated and hard to confine to either romantic or non-romantic?”

I am literally always down to talk about any of these stories, so please, if your interest is piqued or you have anything you’d like to say, hit me up

Going to tag a handful of people if they’re interested (including Twitch and Sarah, who have already been tagged in a round-about way), so @animatedamerican, @sidewalk-scrawls, @lafseanchai, and @shadowen also feel free to join if you’re at all interested.

[mdhwrites]

This is a me thing, but one trope I’m tired of with even if I understand why it’s used is a previously masked character having their face revealed to indicate they are sympathetic or a “real” character now. I think my main complaint is how it’s often used as an easy shorthand to indicate a character is now deserving of sympathy or more focus from the narrative without any other buildup. Hunter in Hunting Palisman is an example for me of the former, and Steve was an example of the latter (especially since he spent an entire episode with King with the mask on)

So I actually find this trope especially fascinating for TOH from the perspective that it could have been a one off episode concept about different ways people express themselves comfortably. Of Luz learning a lesson that is actually tied into the main theme of the show instead of the self expression stuff mostly being tied to the overall plot of the show. I'll get into that in a bit though because I do want to first talk about the difficulties of masked characters and how they're treated because while it's a pretty simple concept, it's one that's easily overlooked by people because we don't think about it.

So first there's just the basic human fact that we like things that look like us. It's easier to connect with them and to bastardize the other. This is kind of baked into our brains, as much as I wish it wasn't, and something as simple as a mask can be enough to cause disturbance, especially if the mask in question removes the ability to perceive someone's eyes and mouth. Not only are they lacking features we associate with ourselves, they've also robbed us of the ability to read their emotions through one of the two most expressive parts of the body.

This is especially true for animation. Ever wondered why Sonic the Hedgehog's eyes and hands are so big? That's because they're the most expressive parts of the body to most and so emphasis on them allows for easier broadcasting of emotions. The inverse of this is where you get mascot suits or Power Ranger actors where they HAVE to do big actions with their whole body and/or hands to get an emotion across because the subtleties of your face are lacking.

So when it comes to a character on screen, it is literally easier to connect to them without the mask and from a work standpoint, you don't have to be as creative/wild with your animation, or rely as heavily on your voice actor, with the mask off. It also comes with the extra perk that everything above makes the moment of taking off the mask feel like a moment when the walls come down. When a character is willing to open up and express themselves instead of hide.

And TOH… Does fine with this. Hunter gets no choice but even the first time we see him without his mask, with Belos and talking about wild magic, we're already getting vivid signs that he's actually a good person. It's why the claim of him and the Golden Guard are different characters exists. Literally anytime Hunter has the mask on, he straight up acts like an entirely different character.

Steve gets his unmasking moment but it's less about him opening up and more about removing the symbol of an oppressor and becoming his own person. I actually like Steve's more than Hunter's because A: the mask coming off is a choice and B: it's one of the few times where a character's arc still accounts for the past because while he leaves the EC, Steve isn't fundamentally different. His morals shifted but he is still the same laid back goofball we know, even if that episode has him at easily his most relaxed. It's not hard to go from class clown to chill stoner bro though.

So with all of that out of the way… I wish someone had kept the mask on and joined the good guys. Or just existed in general. I'm not even talking about the EC mask. Just a mask in general. Not everyone is comfortable with their face after all. Not everyone is comfortable with being able to be read constantly and having to manage their expressions. Being able to let their voice and hands do the talking is their form of expression that they're comfortable with.

Imagine the contrast possible between them and Luz. Luz hides NOTHING with her body language after all. She is a very loud character both in volume and action. This easily leads to going too far for her and I wish was the cause of more mischief for her but I can only immediately think of Winging it Like Witches and Covention where her non-stop flood of emotions is a problem for her.

Meanwhile, you have a dude who appears tall, brooding, scary as hell with the mask and… Isn't any of those things. He's just quiet and strong but still shares a kind heart and a focus. So while seeing an injured bird might raise enough emotions out of Luz to start panicking, he has the control to immediately start tending to its wounds. Contrasting that, the two could be at something like Grom together and he's obviously incredibly uncomfortable by the amount of people and social etiquette that he's constantly running through his brain. The small actions that could offend people that Luz doesn't think about because she's more optimistic about others.

It also allows an arc where Luz starts off not understanding why he wears a mask and even teasing him about it but eventually the teasing stops, she seems to start being able to read his emotions by the small movements and like that he makes and even defends him from being unmasked. When pushed about wanting to see the true him, she pushes back that the mask IS the real him. Because it's the him he decided to use.

And so we get a character climax… NOT of taking off the mask. Instead, the masked character says that they think it's time for a new mask, or at least an update, and asks Luz if they would like to help with that. And so something a bit happier, less blank and with a few more flourishes is made for him to wear. Something that shows his better nature more clearly and the influence Luz has had.

And yes, I effectively just made up a new side character that would probably replace Willow… Or Gus. This is probably something I should make a whole blog about, a blog about TOH's problems when it comes to themes and not having any filter on its jokes is probably warranted to. The basic concept though is that if TOH's number one lesson, number one theme, is self expression. Gus… Expresses themselves. All the time. Louder than Luz even. Admittedly, they actually DO get good stuff out of him about identity to this isn't like how Willow and Gus contradict the very plot of the show. It's just…

Again, something I A: need to give more thought to and B: deserves its own blog.

In general, talking about this kind of made me wish self expression, how people expressed themselves, the wide range of people who exist and their strengths as people, was more widely explored. Then again, when you have a statement screamed at the top of your lungs like "We weirdos gotta stick together!" (a line that BETTER come back in the finale honestly) in your first episode, it feels like a mission statement. A thesis on what the show is about.

HOWEVER, a rebuttable to all of this: It is much easier to amend than it is to create. It's much easier to sit on a high throne that can see it all and talk about what you believe would have made something better when you're not in the trenches and figuring this stuff out while also talking to studio heads, collaborators, etc. like that. This is, at literal best, a nitpick. It is exactly the sort of thing fanfiction is for. If I wanted to, I could write a theoretical episode about a masked character who becomes friends with Luz. That's what fanfiction is for. To turn speculation into some level of reality. Anyways, I hoped you liked the thought exercise and enjoyed the rambling. ^^; Which actually makes this a good blog to start finally adding schilling at the end of these because my own job as a content creator requires it. *sigh* ---------

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead,

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!