#I think they have a friendship like Eda and Bump

[101flavoursofweird]

“This is a statue of Principle Bump, who risked his life for ours!”

[sepublic]

Luz’s Influence

         Warning: This post was SEVEN pages long, given the... range of subject matter to cover. It’s purely self-indulgent as a retrospective over the series, how far we’ve come; A victory lap of all the good Luz did and the people she helped, who came together over this commonality for her birthday.

            It would be impossible to truly capture the enormity of Luz’s influence on the Boiling Isles, the positive influence she’s brought to this world as a vessel of change and guidance… So I’ll attempt a relatively brief summary. RELATIVELY brief… And yeah, I’ll be taking into account a bit of butterfly effect here;

         Luz made Eda and King so, so happy! With Eda especially, she got her to come to terms with her curse, accept her disability, and forgive herself for what she’s done with it. It allowed Eda to make amends with her father Dell, and work with him to cultivate a new generation of Palismen… Similarly, Eda made amends with her former principal Bump, with Hexside no longer being as much a source of trauma; Eda was invited to chaperone, and she became less lonely as she became a mentor to other kids.

         Eda always wanted to learn as much as she could, just like Luz, but never got the chance. But now she can help people learn in the university, taking education to a level beyond what Hexside got, even as Hexside allowed the multi-track learning she desired as a kid! Luz gave Eda the chance to really enact the social change she wanted to as a kid and even as an adult, her life not wasted, and gave Eda a newfound purpose.

         Luz allowed Eda to open up, make amends with her sister Lilith, and get her back. Eda reconnected with Raine, finally being honest about the curse with them, healing their heartache. Eda vocalized her struggles with Gwen, who stopped wasting her life on a pyramid scheme, and accepted her daughter’s disabilities.

         Eda stepped up as a mentor and parent; Learned to let kids make their own choices and draw their own conclusions, instead of merely telling them to think a certain way, because she said so. Thus, Eda avoided the authoritarianism of the covens, encouraging critical thinking in Luz. And she began to truly adopt and embrace King as her son and vice-versa, learning to be more honest with her kids and not have to always hide the truth; Her found family and what Eda chose for her life was just as valid as the blood family she was given.

         King found a friend to truly confide in, and not just a parent; But he truly got a mother out of Eda thanks to Luz. Thanks to Luz, King felt valued, like his interests and people like him truly mattered, and he came to terms with the truth of his past and let go of delusions of grandeur, reassured he still mattered. King became less selfish and a better friend, more mature and mindful of others, even as he got to pursue art. King made friends with others who felt overlooked, such as Gus and Edric. He really grew up with Luz, learning to share and connect with people, seeking to find his dad, and getting just that with an “I loaf you” from the Titan.

         King realized he didn’t want to be a god or a titan, he didn’t want power; He just wanted simple happiness and friendship, embraced his identity as a person and not a symbol. He became humble, and really wizened with his age, adopting a lot of compassion as well. He eventually became an older sibling to the Collector, as Luz was to him, passing on the cycle of kindness and ending the cycle of hatred between the Collectors and Titans. He brought a new era of glyph magic to succeed his father’s especially, no doubt assisting many other witches for ages. And King got a friend who could stay with him forever, even when he outlived the rest.

         Hooty was lonely, a weirdo even among weirdoes; But thanks to Luz, the crew began to value and appreciate him more, expressing it more openly. Because of Luz, Hooty really felt like he did good with his friends as his self-esteem and loneliness ebbed, especially in meeting Lilith, who fulfilled an emptiness in his life that Hooty suffered from.

         Lilith came to terms with her guilt over the curse, accepting the consequences of her actions while at the same time forgiving herself. She escaped an abusive coven and learned to individualize, express herself and her vulnerabilities, and ask for help. Lilith was finally recognized not as an inferior sister to Eda, but as a legitimate witch in her own right, helping Luz discover glyph combos. She rekindled her relationship with her mother, making up for a neglected childhood as she healed.

         Lilith learned to be herself, to not apologize for her interests, no matter how niche, and not need the approval of others. Lilith became more wary of emotional abuse tactics thanks to Luz opening her eyes, something she used to return the favor, and let go of SO much bitterness; As a result, she stopped projecting her jealousy and worship onto King, treating him like a nephew. She became kinder, stopped treating Amity as a pawn and eventually became a friend to her, too. Lilith got to live her dream and hyperfixation, and revel in being a nerd.

         Willow learned to truly express and speak up for herself, not hide who she was, pursue the magic she actually wanted to do, instead of being locked into another one fit for her. Willow was able to rise up and fight back against people who hurt her, and be appreciated and recognized as legitimately good in a lot of things, no longer a meek wallflower, but a beloved and respected leader in her own right.

         Willow got closure with Amity, finally rekindling their friendship and learning why they split apart, even as she got to vent her frustrations and have them acknowledged. She developed a sense of confidence and self-esteem, and was recognized by her dads. Willow even managed to defy bullies like Boscha, getting them to finally stop, and befriended another in Skara. She got to indulge in sports and found another friend in Hunter…

         Willow came to terms with her past thanks to Luz; She accepted that she was once weak and still was sometimes, realizing her vulnerability was also okay and not worthy of punishment, either. She didn’t have to struggle with the burden and pressure of stepping up as a caretaker and only that, these two sides of her weren’t contradictory, and as a result Willow avoided becoming like Boscha. She found people who recognized her power, who’d change for her, and were willing to take care of Willow in return.

         Gus became more confident, more mature and more of a mentor in his own right, after Luz acted as an older sister to him. He got to explore the human realm, his passion, and become an ambassador as he always dreamed, introducing other kids to his interest. Speaking of, Gus may have lost the HAS, but he still managed to help others feel like they belonged, including Willow, Mattholomule, and Hunter.

         Gus realized his illusions weren’t cheap party tricks, they were legitimate and valid magic in their own right, and he didn’t have to express strength in conventionally masculine ways. Gus wizened up, becoming less naïve, but also learning to trust in his own abilities, in his perception and efficacy as a person, and forgive himself for any mistakes.

         He learned to believe in himself, and especially not be paranoid from having his trust taken advantage of, made a fool; Gus was not a fool. His kindness was not a mistake, maybe he needed to be more careful, but the fact that other people took advantage was not his fault, it was theirs. His compassion was a generally great thing for the world, and by continuing to believe in it and people, he made friends with Mattholomule and Hunter, and helped a forgotten old Illusionist find a new generation of kids to teach and appreciate their magic.

         Amity became less toxic, less of a perfectionist who believed in rules and constantly achieved to be the best. Amity learned she could just be herself, not constantly strive to outperform others, because life wasn’t a competition. She learned to open up, rediscover and forge her own identity in the wake of Odalia’s abuse, and finally stand up to and cut her out of her life as well. Amity’s relationship with her family improved, her siblings becoming more supportive and understanding, her father realizing his mistakes and changing for Amity.

         Amity believed she was only good for what she could do for others, constantly felt the need to justify her existence. With Luz, she could finally relax and be at peace with herself, find love, and indulge in being a nerd. She got to do Abominations her way, and set healthy boundaries for herself, knowing she deserved better and demanding as such in her relationships. And Amity learned to respect people’s privacy, reconnected with Willow and made up for her guilt.

         She was inspired to carry on the kindness that Luz started, contributing to Hunter’s rehabilitation. Amity figured out what she wanted to do with her own life, and became happy, accepting her flaws and supposed shortcomings. Amity developed an open mind, more mindful of how she treated others and especially herself, and how people needed to do things differently and that was okay. She became free.

         Hunter escaped the fate of so many Grimwalkers before him; He got to live. He got to escape Belos’ abuse, and find his own path in life. Hunter was so scared of dying, so scared of being hurt, but he learned to relax and be at ease, and found his first friend in Flapjack. He could connect with wild magic, the things he was actually interested in, and even with his own biological family in the Clawthornes.

         He found a mentor in Darius, came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t special, because Hunter could choose his own destiny, and always wanted to anyway. Hunter came to terms with his trauma, with the physical and emotional scars; He learned to let that motivate kindness and accept others, and he learned what real friendship looked like. Hunter found his own friends, didn’t need to put up a mask to create a façade of strength, and learned to communicate his love for the people who mattered to him, and fight for something he wanted.

         Hunter could move on from the past; His own, that of Caleb’s, the one associated with Philip. And he got to spread the joy of palismen that he got from Flapjack to other witches, so that they may also find their first friend and be guided. Hunter found people who could unconditionally support him, and accepted his disability, no longer ashamed of his lack of bile magic. Even if he didn’t achieve full magic, with Flapjack, Hunter could move and fly on his own now too. He learned to be an actual kid for once, and accept his status as a clone.

         Luz’s own mother Camila managed to heal from the loss of her husband Manny, and she came to terms with her own weirdness. Camila was spared the grief of watching her child suffer alone, and rekindled their relationship to be closer to each other, not having to worry. Camila accepted what happened to her was wrong, and that she did not save herself, nor was she saving Luz; By defying conformity, Camila loved her daughter and herself, forgiving both. She found Vee and with both daughters, Camila found it easier to open her mind, but especially to defend that which she already loved and respected for existing.

         Speaking of Vee, she found a family and home, a mother who accepted her for who she was. Vee no longer had to hide herself, and she found fellow misfit friends in the human world, as well as a sister in Luz. Vee came to terms with her trauma, allowed to handle it at her own pace, and eventually returned to the isles. Similarly, Vee’s siblings also found happiness, and none of them would have to worry about being hunted; They were safe and could live simple lives. Vee understood herself through Luz and vice-versa.

         Flapjack managed to fill the empty hole of his grief and regret over losing Caleb, failing to protect his witch; He managed to save a ‘son’ of Caleb’s, Hunter, and found someone after all this time. In a way, Flapjack made up for Caleb’s death by giving Hunter a full life as a witch who could enjoy magic, away from Philip; And even if Flapjack died, he was finally reunited with Caleb and Evelyn, whom he missed after all these centuries.

         Emira took her sister more seriously, stepping up as an older sibling to Amity and encouraging her to be happy; And in her selflessness, Emira became less concerned about looking perfect, and fine with her imperfections, not needing to hide them. Luz became a friend for her, and Emira got to discover her own paths and interests in life through the Healing track. At the same time, Emira didn’t need to worry about having no identity around Edric, nor did she have to compensate by leaving him behind. Emira reconnected with Alador, and made new friends in her profession, forging her own relationship with her father.

         Edric felt like a misfit and a failure, the loser of the family, the un-favorite child. But he was allowed to try different things, finding a proper mentor in Eda and someone who could relate to him in King. He went from a bully to Amity, to someone who’d injure himself just to express love and appreciation for her, venturing into the unknown at one point to find his little sister. Edric got to find something he was good at, a beloved pet in Batric, and not hide his own imperfections either; He became a teacher to kids, passing on the kindness Eda gave him, and reconnecting with his father to look just like him. Edric made other friends, and no longer had to fear being alone, dependent on Emira for companionship, forming a healthier relationship with her.

         Alador escaped a toxic marriage, realized how much he was overworking himself, and reconnected with an old childhood friend who might become more… His and Darius’ rift was healed. Alador realized how unhappy he was, how unhappy and neglected his kids were, and made a decision both for them and himself, finally able to reconnect and spend time. His inventions were no longer used for harm, Blight Industries was destroyed by his own hand, as Alador worked to undo Belos’ coven sigils and free magic itself. He could do what he wanted with his life, and pursue whatever things caught his interest.

         Bump got to give his students the learning opportunities they actually wanted, and really step up as a Principal. His failures in kids like Eda were made up for, as Eda found happiness with Hexside again, and he finally got to be brave against the coven that mandated single-track learning, opting to give that to his students. Bump became beloved by the kids, proving Faust wrong, and encouraging a constructive approach to learning. He could retire happily, knowing his school was in good hands, and pass magic to other generations as part of the cycle.

         The Bat Queen got over her trauma over being abandoned; She allowed other palismen to make their own choices, to make up for their own hurt pasts. Her children were taken care of, got to grow up, even as abandoned Palismen found new owners to fulfill the loneliness they felt. She and the palismen were no longer rejects, they could be loved, and thanks to Luz, a new generation of Palismen were being cultivated; No longer devoured by Belos, with Dell and Hunter helping bring back the population and tradition. Palismen like her would no longer be cast out.

         Mattholomule became less obsessed with power and status, standing up to his bullies Bria, Gavin, and Angmar, and unlearned the toxicity of Glandus. He made friends with Gus, finally accepting his kindness, and became more secure in himself, learning to appreciate illusions and not be seen as a loser anymore. Mattholomule became kind, working to direct people under the Collector’s rule, and he reconnected with Steve, who no longer enslaved himself to the Emperor’s Coven. Mattholomule self-actualized as a builder, creating new things and expanding the library alongside Lilith.

         Boscha no longer had to project power to feel in charge, to feel safe; She could simply let others exist, and not worry about life as a competition. She backed down from bullying Willow, and after losing Amity and Skara, realized how much she needed her friends and appreciated them, reconnecting with Amelia and Cat. Boscha saw herself in someone she once hurt, and stood up to Kikimora, allowing herself to be vulnerable in order to accept help. She didn’t have to rely on a codependent relationship with Amity, who helped give her the bravery to move on and stop holding onto people.

         Skara stopped being a bully, cutting herself off from Boscha; Instead, she found new friends in the Emerald Entrails, and in other misfits as well. Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus got to practice the magic they wanted, as the multi-track learning they fought for became widely accepted; They were no longer losers and changed society thanks to Luz. Barcus became a teacher, and Viney and Jerbo helped to undo the damage of the coven sigils that divided their lives. Amelia and Cat no doubt had a better friendship with Boscha, who learned to be less possessive.

         In general, the kids and everyone at Hexside were freed; Teachers mourning the loss of their opportunities could give it to the students, who weren’t as constrained by rules and the decision to pick a coven. They could choose for themselves, and even found palismen thanks to the Bat Queen and Eda forming a friendship. This opened up other sports besides Grudgby, such as Flyer Derby.

         Gwen made up for her mistakes as a parent, accepting both daughters’ curses, realizing how much pain she’d put them through, so they didn’t have to go through anymore. She reconnected with Eda and Lilith, who she saw become happy, and stopped wasting her life to a pyramid scheme. Her husband Dell was put at ease to see Eda forgive herself for the loss of his eye, and became a grandfather to King; And with the Bat Queen and Hunter, compensated for the loss of his carving skills by allowing Palismen to still come to life.

         Steve realized how unhappy he was, the wrongness of what he was doing as a covenscout, and what was done to him by the coven. He reflected and ultimately learned to change, finding freedom in rebellion, and could hang out with his brother Mattholomule more. Steve went on a journey of self-discovery, finding a therapist and helping his mentor Lilith, even as he helped King come to terms with not wanting to be a monster anymore. Once a fanatical servant, Steve got to think for himself and question the beliefs he was taught, having a humbler outlook on life and people.

         Raine got to see the woman they loved finally let them in, and no longer had to despair over a lost relationship, as they could help. Likewise, they healed from the trauma of their breakup, with Raine no longer feeling the need to lie to Eda when defying Belos. They found other people to fight with in Darius and Eberwolf, met Katya. Raine dedicated their entire life to undoing Belos and his coven system and finally did so, helping deal a personal final blow to Philip’s face as vengeance for all they’d been forced to do. Raine was freed, no longer having to pretend or be controlled, and found another palisman as well.

         Darius also worked to undo the covens and succeeded. He and Eberwolf saved the isles, and Darius overcame his grief over losing his mentor. He stopped projecting his pain onto Hunter, and broke the cycle, doing the previous Golden Guard proud by saving Hunter’s life. He reconnected with old friends Raine and Eda, as well as Lilith, and especially Alador. Darius came to terms with a loved one’s death, and made the most of it.

         As a whole, the coven heads had their lives saved and were free. Sure, some of them didn’t appreciate the effort, or saw it as an opportunity to take power for themselves. But things weren’t totally over for them, after all, nor were they for Kikimora.

         The Titan saw her child find happiness, saw that a new future for the Titans was guaranteed and they wouldn’t go extinct. He no longer had to worry about Philip bastardizing his name to limit the magic he wanted to teach, and found witches to converse with in Luz, Eda, and Lilith. He may have died, but he freed his name and no longer had to despair over King’s loneliness and sense of abandonment by his father, expressing one precious statement of love. The Titan Trappers who contributed to his species’ demise were defeated by the Collector…

         Speaking of, the Collector found happiness and freedom, after the Titan regretted imprisoning them. They learned about real friendship and grew up, not needing to control people, and no longer feeling lied to, with those who were honest. For once, people chose and reached a hand out to them, such as King with Francois, or Luz herself. After millennia totally alone, and then centuries manipulated and lied to by Belos, the Collector was free, and while some innocence was lost, they gained a better understanding of life. People who once feared him gathered to marvel in wonder at the Collector’s magic. They found justice for their lost Titan friends, and facilitated travel between worlds, allowing people to find happiness in the Boiling Isles as they once did.

         Katya and Tinella Nosa found freedom; Tinella got to become a famous author, and Katya found other rebels in the BATTs, inspired by Luz’s teachings, and succeeded in undoing the system that hurt her. Now nobody else would have to suffer. Salty got over his own biases and accepted Luz and King as members of his crew. Perry got to see his old friend Eda live, and helped stand up to Belos with his son; Gilbert and Harvey saw their daughter find true happiness, and no longer had to worry about people like Terra Snapdragon hurting kids, as they once were hurt by her.

         Severine, Tom, and other Covenscouts were freed from their trauma and allowed to pursue their own paths. Wrath got to be with his son Braxas, who grew up. Jean-Luc reunited with King and succeeded in their purpose of having him nurtured. Demon Hunters and other wild witches like Prim were no longer oppressed.

         Endangered species like the Basilisks, the Slitherbeast, and the Selkidomus were saved thanks to Luz’s arrival. The writers imprisoned by Piniet managed to escape and/or enact some revenge, people were spared the deceptions of liars like Adegast, Tibbles, and especially Belos.

         Luz brought magic to the human world; Brought Vee and gave Masha and other human misfits a friend. She re-introduced glyphs and palismen, helping people with disabilities, even as the isles unlearned Belos’ puritan mentality, becoming less retributive, and more restorative. Prisons were abolished in favor of hospitals and rehabilitation. People became free to explore magic as they saw fit, not having to fit themselves into categories.

         The oppression of the covens was over, everyone could be a wild witch and/or a general weirdo. Nature and endangered species began to replenish, as things were allowed to be wild and no longer harvested or controlled. Blight Industries stopped selling harmful weapons, Palismen returned, and other forms of magic were appreciated as it became less about power, and more learning for its own sake. New opportunities for people, as trauma healed and compassion was spread instead of hurt; Luz helped the isles recover from Belos, and begin returning to what it once was. People were freed of sigils, learned more about the Titans, and so forth.

         It wasn’t just that they were allowed to keep living, and weren’t all murdered; People became genuinely happy and self-actualized because of Luz, improving on their previous lives. She undid Belos’ harm, so even if scars lingered, Luz allowed a broken world to be restored and move on from their trauma. Luz ushered in a new era…

        But perhaps most importantly? Luz helped herself. She helped herself find other weirdos to be accepted by. She learned to love herself and what she could do, not apologize. Luz became more mindful, kinder around people, even as she grew wiser. Luz gained a powerful agency over her life that allowed her to become a Good Witch like her dreams, while still embracing her own identity. She came to terms with her father’s death, was no longer forced to choose, and was finally understood and loved by many.

[the-owl-house-takes]

So I think the worst take of the fandom is that all of the problems of the show would have been fixed had it gotten a full S3. That literally any problem the show had merely came from the shortening. This is... Well, just blatantly shows that the fandom not only doesn't understand how the animation industry works AND doesn't want to actually look at the narrative they did choose to focus on post the shortening call that were just... baffling.

So first let's establish how much of the show was affected by the Shortening. As a fandom, we found out about it during the hiatus between S1 and 2. This was at earliest, August 2020 since the S1 finale came out late August 2020. Dana has claimed two things that are important to this timeline. 1: The shortening was decided on shortly before the finale came out and 2: That the first episode affected by Covid, which would have been back in March/April, was Looking Glass Ruins. So we EXPLICTLY know that the shortening didn't affect the show until after S2 Ep 5.

BUT then we get into production schedules. Before S2 even BEGAN airing, we were told to stop campaigning for a full S3 because they had to get started on storyboards for the season and that was effectively the firm deadline. This means ALL of S2 was effectively done in script and storyboards by the time S2 aired. This makes sense to keep a weekly schedule and the like and most animation professionals will tell you they work MONTHS in advance of release, bare minimum.

This means, AT BEST, S2B was when the shortening really kicked in. And yes, S2B has pacing issues. It has issues in general and is when most people think the quality of the show dropped. The problem is that... The signs were always there. There's a reason why there's been a backlash because as people become disillusioned with the show, you have to ask what was driving so much before.

And a lot of that was potential. S1 is so good when you first watch it because it keeps teasing the idea that it's going to tackle things in a complex way. That it will explore concepts like Amity's abusive family, magic, fantasy vs reality, etc. like that. It's why the fandom was at its strongest during S1.

Unfortunately, the problem with presenting good ideas and then not executing on them, or completely gutting them is that those old parts are a lot harder to enjoy. As Willow was effectively not a character for half a season and then just suddenly was a jock, people began to realize the fact that she in the show is much more a plot device than anything else. They claimed "We're not doing the one kind act into friendship and forgiveness thing with Amity and Willow" and then literally did NOTHING with it until S2B and eventually DID just do the same trope anyways but now with less resonance than it would have had in Understanding Willow.

Not only that but even S1 didn't give a single shit about its worldbuilding. The First Day has Dana Terrace as a lead writer on it. If anyone knows the worldbuilding best, it should be her... So why is it that no one talks about multi-coven things being illegal? It's literally just used as meta commentary and so they entirely ignore the worldbuilding they have. Reaching Out is exactly the same, with Dana as the SOLE writer of that where Amity and everyone else treats joining a coven like going to college and not literally the word of the law.

But S1 couldn't even keep Wild Witches consistent. Half the time Eda can chill and not worry. She can go to a place funded by the EC like Hexide and not flinch for a second that Bump might call the guards on her despite that being kind of the ONE real rule to their society that makes it not just our world but with teeth. Then again, the show gives NO FUCKS about its own stuff, willing excising portions of itself that it finds cumbersome. Escaping Expulsion is BEFORE Looking Glass Ruins and yet it murders Luz's magical potential in its sleep and also discards Amity's family as easily disposable, despite how much the show claims her mother's influence is the reason why Amity behaved the way she did for all of... Three appearances? Because Amity's arc isn't actually good.

It shouldn't be surprising S2 would do this though when the writers already struggled to do anything with Luz's magic. If she's supposed to be learning and growing... Even S1 is shit at this and is repetitive. Not just with the at least three times we do "King has a minion!" B plot that isn't funny and doesn't do anything but also with its lessons. Luz theoretically learns to listen to Eda in the third episode and arguably the second as well. Then she gets her first glyph with the lesson, in theory. of not trying to take shortcuts to do magic and to not steal. And then in Adventure in the Elements, not even to impress Amity but because of her impatience, she steals something to take a shortcut to stronger magic. That is THREE episodes of the first TWELVE of the series. It usually takes most kids shows at least a LITTLE longer to be that bad at retreading its own lessons.

And the final part of this is that... S2 actually had to be effectively the exact same as it was for s3 to happen. You need the foreshadowing of the Collector for the Day of Unity. You need to FINALLY do something with Belos for the revelations of the Human Realm to happen and to do Luz's angst arc. You need Hunter to be at least 90% redeemed so he's there on their side during The Day of Unity, etc. like that. Then you get half a season in the human realm before coming back to the Isles for half a season, just like Amphibia did because returning home is the best mid-season finale you can have there. So any argument that a full S3 would have actually fixed issues with S2B is just... Wrong. The problems with S2B come with the fact that S2A wastes a FUCKTON of time on elements that don't matter.

Oh, and lest we forget that The Collector could have been cut. He had one appearance in a dream, that also doesn't make sense with his characterization, before S2B. In the fact, the crew has admitted as much. He was added AFTER the news of the Shortening because they always wanted to include a character like him so now that they didn't have the time for him... Cram him in anyways.

Could a show have EVER been saved when that's how they treat one of their two final antagonists? It's the sort of statement that just solidifies the idea that TOH didn't want three seasons. It wanted five... If not just to go on forever. To be the next monolithic show, even as it repeats character arcs, lessons and shrinks characters rather than expands them.

So no, the show isn't bad because of the shortening. The show is bad because the writing is bad.

-

[marisramblings]

Here’s how I’d change The Owl House Finale(s)

(Because everyone cares what I think).

Thanks to Them

I actually like this episode for the most part. I think a slight reprieve from the previous season finale makes sense. I would focus more on developing Gus and Willow as characters. This would be a good time for Willow and Amity to truly talk and create a friendship outside of Luz.

King’s dad should start appearing periodically throughout the episode. Not visibly, but in little hints and glimpses to Luz. He’s trying to get them back home because they have the advantage of not being in the collector’s sights. He comes in her dreams, makes nudges to lead her and the squad to the remaining blood. Something along those lines.

We get a visual glimpse of the Wittebane backstory. Maybe Belos reminisces while possessing Hunter, during the hayride, and Hunter sees the flashback, confused and scared. Hell, for the Lunter shippers, when Hunter comes back to reality have the visage of Evelyn fade into Luz. Parallels ✨

I have no clue what to do with Vee. I love her though.

For the Future

This episode sucks.

King’s dad is still communicating with Luz

First, the Hexside detour should be completely removed.

The focus should be entirely on resolving the collector arc. Whether he’s a capricious cosmic entity or the equivalent of a child, end it here. There’s little time to delve into the archivists, so it can be skipped, I guess. We don’t know what the lore is so I can’t comment on if it could be condensed.

Willow, Amity, and Gus can still continue their arcs. Have Willow still crack and these two resolve it, not Hunter. Hunter doesn’t need to be with Luz but he needs focus on his new powers and discovering Caleb and Belos’ history. If there’s a connection between the Clawthorne’s and them, reveal it here, a little. Sprinkle a bit 🤏🏾

Belos is the devil on the collector’s ear. He sends them to fight Luz and Co. We get a battle which is Kikimora’s original + the games from Waking and Dreaming. We can even add Eda, Lilith, and King can go over to help. Regardless, our kids put up a fight and get thrashed.

At this point things seem grim. Depending on the characterization, the collector is gleeful over suffering or having a change of heart once he realizes his “games” are dangerous. Belos reappears, now reinvigorated/moss powered whatever, and kills the collector.

Waking and Dreaming

It can be here or the tail end of FtF, but Luz is killed by Belos trying to defend Hunter. This is not shipping fodder, I just think Belos really hates Caleb and by extension Hunter. There’s a lovely drama in him killing the parallel of his brother’s wife, if he didn’t kill her originally.

Now she’s in titan ville

We get the detailed and full version of the Wittebane story. If the Clawthorne’s are involved, bring it in. The titan wants Luz to know the full story so she can decide if she’s willing to kill Belos. We don’t get a handed down moral, but we see her earnestly think about this.

Meanwhile, Belos might let somethings slip about Hunter and Caleb. Everyone’s justifiably losing their shit and going ham. There’s no way they can beat him so they retreat.

Since the collector’s dead, everyone is freed from being dolls. Maybe bump brings everyone back to hexside and our group meets them there.

Belos is progressing slowly but he’s coming. This is the time for little character interactions like Amity and Boscha, Eda and her parents. Wrap up as much as possible swiftly. No high school politics.

Time doesn’t progress the same in the in between dimension. The titan and Luz talk. We truly close the collector’s arc. He explains what happened or gives a glimpse into their motives. There isn’t enough time to properly resolve it.

Luz talks about King

Eventually she agrees, gets her super awesome monster form.

Hexside peeps prepare for one final showdown. We have the coven heads including Raine, our main squad, the harpy sisters, and King and Hunter with their strange powers.

They fight and Luz returns

Battle, battle, battle. Little character interactions

Belos dies. I have mixed feeling on whether Hunter needs to confront him. So maybe he tells Belos to choke and Eda and Lilith stomp him out. It shouldn’t be played for laughs

The day is saved!…sigils are gone

Extended epilogue. Amity and Luz talk about things. Willow isn’t a sports player…wtf was that about?

Gus gets to travel the human realm or something besides being the same human club person.

If Hunter is carving palismen, can we learn why?

Eda being a teacher…is debatable at best. Raeda wedding though 😎

We see Luz finish out high school in the human realm while visiting the isles. There’s still the quinceañera.

I clearly didn’t hit every single detail of each episode. There are sections that are fine or not worth the effort to edit. I’m not a hardcore fan of any of the ships. I do like Lunter but I’m not going back to rewrite the whole show. My efforts are more focused on developing Amity as a character so the relationship feels more real. I do love my girls. Huntlow is not my thing. It feels hollow and a waste of Willow’s time.

These are my ideas for the finale episodes only. Some of these would be better if they started in earlier seasons but, like I said, I’m not here to rewrite the show. I hope it’s clear that my criticism come from a place of loving the show. Critical tags kind of annoy me because it seems to imply that this wouldn’t belong in the main tags. Opinions that aren’t attacking people should be able to stay in the main tags.

[mdhwrites]

Don't you think it's short selling Sasha and Marcy by saying they aren't major players?

Like it's kinda weird you'd sooner consider the Wartwood citizens to be more major than those two. I mean those guys (like Ivy, Maddie, Croaker, Wally, Toadie, and Felicia) only get like one or two focus episodes per season individually at best and it's not as though they have much of a story arc with them or have as much involvement in the overarching story the same way as Sasha and Marcy do.

Like if you count all the episodes that put Sasha or Marcy in a major role, I'd argue they may actually have more focus episodes than Polly (who appears more than them).

For crying out loud, Matt Braly has outright lumped Sasha and Marcy in as main cast in Tweets with one for season 3B even having him outright state Sasha and Grime are main cast in season 3. Voice director Eden Riegel also lumps Sasha and Marcy's voices as part of the main cast with Anne and the Plantars so they're clearly intended as major players, or at least higher on the prominence scale than the Wartwood citizens.

And it makes me wonder how you would classify characters in other shows that are too prominent to be lumped as simply supporting and nothing more, but also aren't 24/7 main cast.

Owl House has Amity, Willow, Gus, and Hunter (who are kinda similar in prominence with Sasha and Marcy) as not being 24/7 main players like Luz, Eda, King, and Hooty, but also too prominent to be lumped as just supporting and nothing more like the Hexside characters such as Boscha, Skara, Bump, and the Blight Twins.

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic has Starlight, Celestia, Discord, Luna, Trixie, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders as not being 24/7 main players like the Mane 6 + Spike, but too prominent to be lumped as just supporting and nothing more as well.

Star vs the Forces of Evil has Eclipsa, Tom, Moon, Ludo, River, Janna, and Pony Head in that same territory as not being 24/7 main players like Star and Marco, but too prominent to be lumped as just supporting and nothing more.

Steven Universe has Connie, Greg, Peridot, and Lapis in that same territory as not being 24/7 main players like the main 4 Crystal Gems (Steven, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst), but too prominent to be lumped as just supporting and nothing more.

Sasha and Marcy certainly have way more prominence than the Wartwood citizens and I feel you're kinda underestimating them into being minor supporting and nothing more, ignoring their importance to the show's story.

Well, I deleted this after not wanting to deliberate on the definition before but if this is going to come back each time I say what is my opinion:

I have never called Sasha or Marcy minor supporting characters. I even admitted in my last blog to Sasha being the primary antagonist for 2 seasons, just that her presence isn't really felt. Honestly, I've been trying to be NICE to Marcy but she has seven episodes dedicated to her... If you REALLY stretch the definition because I'd argue half of those are actually about Anne while we're simply told things about Marcy for Anne to wallow about or Marcy is just there for moralizing at Maddie in what is actually a Maddie episode so that's closer 3-4 which puts her on par with TOADSTOOL. If not straight up behind him.

I'm not saying they're unimportant. I'm not saying they're bad. Just that the focus of the story is on change and on community. Singular characters struggle to fit those themes. Sasha exists for two entire seasons just to challenge them as she opposes Anne's willingness to change, is stubborn in her refusal to change and loses her community because she's not willing to show care to them. It's really good... But it's SEVEN episode segments out of almost EIGHTY. And in s3, she gets two more dedicated to her and then is more an ensemble member for the Oum stuff, especially mother Oum, and then helps in the final fights of the finale, with a bit of her being commander sprinkled in like any random Wartwood citizen before.

And why is that? Because she joins the main cast the same way ALL of Wartwood is a part of the main cast. In finding community, she finds a place amongst the main players but I do not consider HER, INDIVIDUALLY, to be a main character, just like I don't argue Hop Pop or Polly are INDIVIDUALLY main characters. Honestly, questionably even Sprig.

It's the idea that a supporting group of characters can come together enough to build a main pillar of the show better than any one of them. If you claim NONE of the Wartwood characters are main characters, you trivialize the ENTIRE SETTING. But those characters are interconnected enough, tied together so tightly as a joint unit of characters, even if only one or two may get focus per episode, that you can see their change happen gradually in their own, collective arc.

And that arc is more important and arguably even more powerful. After all, if Wartwood hadn't changed, Sasha would never have gotten her second chance. She'd have died in Turning Point. Or they wouldn't have ever gone back to them in the first place. Marcy might have been told to piss off simply because she was from Newtopia because they didn't want to be looked down on. The armies might not have come together if Wartwood and others weren't moved to start thinking of the bigger picture rather than petty squables.

These are all critical to payoffs in the show and the themes, just as much, if not more, than anything with Sasha. It's why I think Thai Temple is one of the most important S3A episodes because it reassures that you don't have to go to a fantasy realm for community. There are lots of them who wish to share who they are, welcome in people with open minds, etc. like that and who will support each other in dark times.

There's a reason why Anne's final words to the Core, her refusal of it absolutely, isn't about Marcy and Sasha. It's about the world. And of course she's the one standing there because she has had the biggest impact on, and impacted by, the various communities of Earth, Amphibia and Wartwood especially. She is fighting for them, for they are her greatest treasures.

SO. With my having hopefully made myself clear: Let's talk about some of the claims you make with other shows so I can dig myself a hole. If you just want the Amphibia stuff, you can leave now.

TOH is a fucking nightmare to classify. Main characters often are meant to be storytelling engines, help establish what is most important to the show and set the status quote for antagonists and side characters to disrupt. Again, it's why Sasha actually makes a great primary antagonist early on for the capstone episodes because she does challenge Anne on much of this, just isn't around 99% of the time.

TOH has the problem that a story can be poorly written enough to make you wonder "WHO THE FUCK IS THE MAIN CAST!?" There's ALL sorts of arguments I could make, not helped that just time wise, Amity takes up a literal third of the show and doesn't help themes, doesn't push the plot forward and mostly doesn't fit the show's GENRE even. But time wise, she actually gets close to as much, time especially Luz, as Eda does. Eda spends literally NO time with Luz in the second S1 after all because she's too busy spending time with her sister.

Gus and Willow are LAUGHABLE to be called main supporting characters because every single one of Willow's episodes is actually someone else's and Gus gets one every half season and they also had to break their magic for one of them with a retcon. Hell, Willow gets maybe a dozen lines in the entirety of S2A and then I'm not sure if she actually says more than two lines to Luz in the entirety of S2B.

The only other one I can comment on is MLP which I watched... A bit over five seasons if I'm remembering right (I despised Starlight's redemption as one of the worst redemptions I've ever seen, let alone how it felt like they were performing character assassination on others to make Starlight look good afterwards) so this is from that perspective.

And like... No. Just no. Not even the entirety of the Mane 6 are always there and Spike certainly isn't around 24/7 but the only characters you listed, besides Starlight because yes, she was made into a main character, who got more than MAYBE two episodes a season are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. A lot of the fandom WISHES Luna and Celestia did more instead of feeling like a stiff breeze can incapacitate them and getting mentioned does not make you a main character. Trixie was a reoccurring villain but not very often. Even with the CMC, Apple Bloom is a main supporting character of Applejack... But they themselves are more side characters. They're along the same vein as most of the Wartwood citizens honestly.

None of them are bad mind you, I have been inspired by all the characters you've listed (Michael Hudson on fimfiction and no, I do not condone everything there but I don't like denying my past and so I don't nuke the entire account) before and I like a lot of stories with them. It doesn't make them main characters. At best, I'd put them in a middle tier where they're just supporting characters and part of that's simply because SIX MAIN CHARACTERS IS A LOT OF MAIN CHARACTERS. It's kind of hard to get in a word edgewise when that's the case, something TOH also suffers from.

I keep main character status TIGHT because those are the characters the story genuinely revolves around. If your existence only revolves around a different character, you're probably not a main character. As an example of my own work: In Rich Witch, I'd argue Pythia, despite being a part of the main 5 girls, is not a main character. Arguably, neither is Blair as she takes on more of an antagonist role. The main characters of that series are Azu, Igni and Daina. If a plotline doesn't have any effect on those three, I'm not going to include it.

And I think that's just straight up better for storytelling, at least if you're going for a tighter, more focused narrative. After all, the six protagonist for MLP work BECAUSE that show isn't about having a tight narrative so having a wide breadth of perspectives to potentially invoke stories is useful for it.

Amphibia is not the same way which is why I argue if anyone is the main character than Anne... It's in units because the whole of those people being affected matters more than any singular one. And that isn't me calling them bad, or unimportant or disinteresting. It's just me classifying it as I believe and that will paint how I analyze the show.

Sorry if you don't like it.

======+++++======= Side note: Don't expect more blogs on this topic. I have now addressed it but I don't think it's actually that useful of a point to deliberate, not when I'd rather talk about how effective the characters are regardless of their specific titles. After all, for as much as I want to teach with this stuff, it's still MY opinion and this is how I view the show.

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.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[charizardstolemynickname]

TOH S3 EP3 AKA THE FINALE REACTION, part 2!

I am literally half way through with 24 minutes left so, here we go!

CAMILA! YOU'RE BACK! And instantly being a mother, love you!! She came back and went "YOU ARE ALL SO EXHAUSTED YOU ARE ALL BABIES!"

NOOOO DON'T CRY BABY, god please tell me us as a fandom love the Collector after this, HE IS JUST A BABY

Woah. love the new outfit/appearance Luz!! ....And not knowing what one liner to say is amazing, me too sweetie, me too

COLLECTOR DON'T DIE I SWEAR TO GOD

MENTOR EDA MY GALLLL, TEAMWORK WITH KING AHHHHHHH

RAINE fucking hell pal i kinda forgot about you, no offence, BUT I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE OKAY, AHHHH MY CUTIES

ooo did it work? now he is melting, well, kinda your fault Belos

COLLECTOR MY KIDDO!!!!!!! I am so glad you are okay

Philip? You are a terrible lying, like man, hush

Hell yeah! Squish the man!!!

"Dang kid, you do have tall genes" Okay but please tell me there is fanart of aged up King where they still pet him but he is like, 100x times bigger than everyone

"I loaf you" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? I AM ALMOST TEARY OVER A BREAD PUN?! fucking titans (/aff)

i am so glad the collector is okay, like i am so fucking happy

STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!! HELL YEAH, Steve and lilith are besties, I accept nothing less

AMITY AND HER DAD!!!!!!!!! GUS AND HIS DAD!!!!!!!!!!!! WILLOW AND HER DADS!!!!!!!!

HUNTER AND DARIUS?! AND EBER?!?! FUCKKKKKKK, DARIUS IS PROUD OF HIS IMPROVEMENT ON HIS STITCHING AUHDWOL:

i will go insane over them I am not kidding BUMP!!!!!!! Ed and Emira!!!! Boscha and her grudgby team, reunited at last

DARIUS AND EBER MY FAVOURITES, just absolutely refusing to let everyone go back to how it was

STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been a steve fan since day 1, I am glad he is convincing the others to leave the emperor's coven (that really shouldn't exist anymore nor any other coven)

AHHHH Luz and Amity and Luz and Camila! AH EDA AND CAMILA!!!!!!

COLLECTOR!! IS THAT HOOTY?! FUCK YEAH

WHY IS HOOTY YAS-IFIED?!? I had to pause to fucking laugh here, 10/10 THEIR FRIENDSHIP BROOOOO

Francois reunited with king, as things should be. NO DON'T GO BACK TO THE STARS SWEETIE

FUCKKKKKK KING GAVE FRANCOIS TO THE COLLECTOR!!!!! God I am going insane HOW DID YOU ALL DEAL WITH THIS MANY EMOTIONS

WOAH WHAT DO YOU MEAN GLYPH MAGIC DOESN'T WORK NO MORE?! BUT KING IS STILL ALIVE! SURELY GENETICALLY IT STILL WORKS??! Fuck, this is heartbreaking

Luz gets to keep Springbean tho, that's good, I am very glad

wOAH WERE ARE THEY MOVING TO?! COLLEGE?! FUCK

Please tell me she has an easy way to and from the demon world thing

WOAH WAIT, ITS MAGIC COLLEGE?! NOT HUMAN ONE!? THANK GOD, and of course she chose all of them, as she should, I would too, she is iconic

"Luz.. you saw them last week" MOODDDDDD

VEE!!!!! AUHDOSL, the house looks so good now too, damn, COLLECTOR YOU ARE ICONIC FOR THE DOOR THERE

okay the credits have started but there are 5 minutes left still, so I will continue watching

BATLADY WITCH AYYYYYYYYY, WITH EDA AND EDA'S DAD AHIWREKD

WILLOW AND HUNTER HOLDING HANDS AYYYYYYYYY

NOOOOOOO FLAPJACK, fuck i will cry, please, you are okay, promise...... guys I think flapjack may not be coming back(/lh)

WOAH DID HUNTER GET A NEW PALISMAN?! BLUEBIRD!

IS THAT AMITY!!?????? DAMN GIRL YOU LOOK GREAT, LOVE THE PONYTAIL

HARPY LILITH?! aisjWMFOEJ THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON

Bump the gardener is making me laugh but in a great way, as he should, he looks so happy

WAIT AMITY'S DAD FINDING A WAY TO GET RID OF SIGILS?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU ALADOR

DARIUS AND ALADOR BESTIES?!! FUCKKKKKKKKK I love them. So much. SO much.

DARIUS AND HUNTER FATHER SON DUO AGAIN

Eda the headmaster is so amazing, awwwwww that is quite sweet in a way, finally liking school because its how it should be now

King's little badge now saying "KC" is making me go feral, for a moment I forgot he was adopted officially

AWWWWWWWW EVERYONE IS HERE EVEN TINY GIRL WITH BIG NOSE!

WAIT IVE JUST REALISED THAT GUS! DOES HE TEACH A CLASS NOW?! FUCK

THEY ARE FOLLOWING LUZ'S FAMILY'S AND HERITAGES TRADITIONS EVEN IN THE DEMON REALM?! FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK I love found family, can you tell?

THEY TRIED THEIR BEST AND THATS ALL THAT MATTERS

IEWGPJFJ I KNEW THE GLYPH THING WOULDNT BE THE END YES KING

COLLECTOR1 AWODJW, god I love this too much

WOAH WHAT DOES "THERE'RE NEARLY GONE, BYE!" WHILST LOOKING INTO THE CAMERA MEAN, BRO??!

Oh my god. I've finished the show. DAMN. THAT WAS GREAT

I am so glad I started this show.

Also for anyone curious, it took me 2 and a half hours total to watch this finale episode. Which, I am not proud of BUT HEY, i savoured every moment

God, that was legit amazing, I feel like screaming for a whole day now, this is weird, I am speechless, I have no idea what to say

I am incredibly happy I can finally engage in the fandom though, and follow so many more blogs now and such

Thank you to those who have followed me on my journey, and this has been, an adventure? Is that too cheesy and big of a word for this? Ah I don't care, this has been great, i started this show to distract myself and MAN did it do that

I cannot wait to keep posting about this show now, and find out all the little lore facts that are canon that i missed!

[incorrectlumityquotes]

FULL REVIEW: Thanks to Them

I HAVE ALL OF THE THOUGHTS!

Hot damn, I don't know whether to go by topic or by chronological order.

Gonna go by topic. I don't think I have enough screencaps to go by chronological order

Luz: As someone else pointed out on tumblr, Luz's depression is very real. The guilt of helping Belos find The Collector and leaving Eda and King behind is still weighing on her. Granted, I do believe that she is enjoying her time with her friends and the actual date she probably had with Amity (off screen because FUCK YOU DISNEY. I'LL **** YOU. WU-TANG!), but every moment that she's alone with her thoughts is just thoughts of how she messed up. When Luz did her video diary entry I was starting to get upset because I knew that whatever Luz decided I wasn't gonna like. She has a bad habit of putting all the weight on her shoulders. I really hope she grows out of it because she's done it several times before in the show and I didn't like it then either. Luckily there was...

Camila: Probably my second favorite character in this episode. Man, she was great. Yes, it was cool to see Eda go from the lady who makes Luz run her errands to being the momma of Luz and King. But Camila had "world's best mom" before the episode started.

Like she started taking care of those kids, immediately. She did her research, bought books, asked questions. God bless Camila. And she also probably saved the episode for me because when Luz was gonna make her big terrible announcement that I knew I was gonna like, Camila made an interference play.

Interception! Gonna be honest, I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. Camila going to the demon realm was not in my Thanks to Them Bingo card. This is why I don't make theories or predictions because I can't predict shit.

Camila was my second favorite character in this episode. My favorite character ended up being

Hunter: I've said this about other characters but not Hunter, but I guess I'll say it now.

"You're my boy, Hunter. YOU'RE MY BOY!"

Seriously, as someone who donates $20 a month to the Wolf Conservation Center, it was so cool to see a character who loves wolves as much as I do. But that wasn't the only thing. It was fun to see Hunter get into things and have fun. He's gotten better at sewing. He's engaging with his friends more. And turning into a sci-fi nerd was the beautiful icing on the big dumb cake. Even my brother, who didn't like Hunter, ended up liking Hunter after this episode. And then we got my favorite line in the episode.

That's just great. Something I wish I would have learned at his age.

Gus: I don't have much to say about Gus except that he was very funny in this episode. If anyone asks why I didn't like the friendship between Tom and Marco in Star vs the Forces of Evil, I'm gonna tell them it's because Gus and Hunter did it better. He was the second funniest character in this episode. The funniest character in my opinion was

Willow: Someone was having a good time. See her poking people with that trident and her muahaha and her not liking Hocus Pocus and she was was just awesome in this episode. It also looks like things are inching closer towards huntlow (or as the Owl crew jokes "Winter is coming"). She makes him blush a lot and I'm just remembering how she held him when Camila fished him out of the water and her "be careful with him." I didn't I'd like this ship when it started but I'm all for it now.

and I didn't forget

Amity: ^This here^ was the moment when I paused (I was watching on YouTube TV) and said "Look at this. Look how good this is. Who could ever see this and think that it's bad or wrong?" She loves her so much. Amity was great in this episode and her line "I was a top student once" reminded me of the time during grom when she bumped into Luz and snapped "Watch it, nitwit" before realizing it was her. Amity loves Luz but I think there still might be some bully still in there. Not that I mind. Amity is still Amity. And of course the ambitious Amity would be the one to suggest exploring the human realm. And I'm loving the hair getting longer.

Vee: Sweet Vee. I'm not the biggest fan of her new form. Honestly I kinda wanted it to be Luz with freckles but I'll get used to it.

Flapjack: Is Flapjack Evalyn or just the last bit of Evalyn left in the world? I guess we'll find out. Good night, sweet prince. Honestly I was so scared that Belos was going to absorb him the way he does other palismans. Remember when he was trembling behind that tombstone? Have you ever seen an animal be legit scared? It's like that and it's heartbreaking.

Belos: Belos was terrifying in this episode. I'm glad we got official backstory after putting the pieces together during Hollow Mind, but I still want a full flashback. I don't know if we have time for it (because of Disney. How dare you? Wu-Tang!). Maybe it's just me being selfish.

Even though I said I don't make theories, seeing the titan's blood with an owl cork did get me thinking. My theory is that Caleb didn't move to The Boiling Isles full time right away. My guess is that he and Evalyn were seeing each other, hopping back and forth between realms, before Caleb decided to settle down there. So I guess either Evalyn or Caleb left a stash of titan's blood for whenever one of them needed it.

And I do agree with everyone else that I do think Evalyn was a Clawthorne. I guess that makes Hunter a Clawthorne too in a weird way.

Misc Thoughts:

The Noceda set up is the same as mine! A Switch and a PS4. You think that's a PS5? Hell no. Who buys a game console for $600? You must be out of your damn mind.

Screw you, you old bitch. Luz is too good for your shit art class anyway. I bet the beastkeeping kids over at Hexside would have loved Luz's griffin taxidermy.

I don't know who those guys were that gave Luz the Haunted Hayride flyer, but I immediately didn't like them. They just gave off a bad vibe to me. I'm guessing they were supposed to be human supporting characters for season 3, but for the first time I'm glad time was cut. No thank you.

Scrapbook of Cut Episodes!

Kinda cruel to make Luz go to (human) school, but I get it.

I wish we could have had more fun, but I'm glad they crammed as much fun as they could.

The Cosmic Frontier stuff was hilarious. I thought it was Manny's (Luz's dad) thing but then I saw Camila freak out and then I was like "OMG *gasp* YOU were the nerd!"

Now we're going back to the demon realm and...I have no idea what's gonna happen next. I can't even guess. We don't know anything about The Collector so who knows what they've done to The Boiling Isles. I'm just as scared as you are.

So...yeah.

[tixuctoad]

I may be dumb and I might have timeline stuff wrong so bare with me; I joined TOH late (like right as leaks and stuff for TTT started dropping late) so I've been only looking at the show and I missed stuff

So!!

Rubs my hands

This is mostly a mindless ramble btw, on scenarios i may never write

I wanna write a fic mostly focusing around Eda (and the beta hexsquad) immediately after getting cursed; or even a little before it

More under the cut

So this image, right

Most of us agree that they were a group, or at least involved with one another. And we know they at least have some history (darius' comments on alador in edas requiem (i think thats the episode) and the scene of them + odalia in thems the breaks kid, being one example)

But I wanna explore that idea more

Things like Alador and Darius' falling out, we already have a vague idea why lilith and eda drifted (the curse and EC)

Stuff like that wont leave my head

Eda mentions to raine that lilith is their only friend at hexside; 7 months before the coven tryouts. Thats 7 months between TTBK and the curse, 7 months for this group to come together; to become friends

Because why else would eda imagine them there, of all times

Why would she imagine odalia there of all people/j

Like

Im so curious

Like

Im hoping that this is all

Understandable

Because ATP im just blindly letting my autism bang this out

I wanna see raine and edas friendship (and eventual crush) develop

I wanna see how everyone ends up befriending each other, and the eventual fall out; it definitely happened before the the curse, at least for odalia/alador and darius... makes me wonder if odalia had something to do with it.. or maybe my hate for her is showing

Anyways

I wanna see the effects the curse had on edas social life too; she was still wearing her hexside uniform before she found the portal door and ran away (and presumably dropped out)

How did the student body around her treat her? Did it change? What about the staff? What about her own friend group, now strained from whatever drama that made darius split from alador n odalia? There would likely be more strain as eda builds up her walls n shutting everyone out

I wanna think about what happened to Faust, and the transition from his role as principal, to Bump

Did Faust go to a different school? Get fired? Quit? Did he /die/??

Also i wanna write some eda/raine dates

Idk

Im just silly

I have an idea of what i WANT to cover, but I don't know how to execute it

[sergeantsporks]

The post hoot - i actually read the post about it on your blog, i think, that the writers wanted to explore how darius achieved his abomination transformation by doing dark sacrifices.

I reay don't think the shortening is an excuse for darius' treatment- just a meaningful mention of him by hunter, or a 10 seconds moment of him helping civilians in the background in the DoU flashback would have worked without taking much time. Like, bump is also puppeted, but it is clear he is important to others, so i stay bitter.

and it's not like it is the case of the bat queen where her story was hinted before the shortening, almost all darius stuff is after, so if there was never any plans for the conclusion of his and hunters development they should have made raine connect to hunter instead, and actually show darius and ebers friendship, instead they used darius to move hunters plot forward and then completely dropped him, which is both a sloppy writing choice, and unfair to the character, imo.

Hmmmm I don't remember that. Oh, well, I reblog a lot of stuff. I mean, we know that Darius is chillish with making sacrifices, you don't get to be coven head by NOT stomping on a few people. So I don't think that's exactly contrary to his character. He was willing to sacrifice the world for Eber, even knowing that Eber would die anyway, which is to say, Darius does NOT always make the most nonselfish choices. Even though ultimately he wants a good thing, he can stumble or do wrong things along the way, or do self motivated things rather than what's necessarily right or best for the collective good.

Yeah, I mean. Like I said, I'm keeping the clown makeup ON and hoping for a dadrius reunion, but in general. Idk about helping civilians, he was pretty passed out last we saw him, and I'm not sure he would have BEEN puppetified in the first place if he had been awake (he has a warping ability, after all, and he's a powerful witch), so I can see why they might not have gone there. But yeah, I would have liked for more from him.

Idk, I don't think he was ever a main enough character to really BE sidelined. I get what you're saying, why would they introduce these character dynamics and use him to push Hunter's character along only to not go anywhere with it, but, well. He's a side character, much as I love him. You don't ask why Adrian isn't showing up more despite this dynamic that was created between him and Gus, now do you? Or Steve, Steve pushed King's character development (and Lilith's, too), but I don't think anyone expects King to talk specifically how he misses Steve and hopes he's okay, no, he's focused Eda and Luz, and that's expected. Eda and Lilith haven't mentioned their parents ONCE, despite the huge role the two of them played in shaping them and how much is still unresolved between Dell and Eda (I mean, there's a whole plot point with Dell and that seed!) Similarly, Hunter's been way more focused on Flapjack, and Luz, and Belos, people who ultimately played a MUCH larger role in his development than Darius did. Sometimes side characters are THERE to push development for a more main character and then slink off gracefully. We've extrapolated that maybe Darius and Hunter hung out more, but we don't technically have any canon confirmation that they did. Hunter expressed concern for him at the DoU, which is probably most of the conclusion we're getting from that. Yeah. They care about each other. Moving on.

Much as we would LIKE to have more Darius, he is, at the end of the day, a secondary antagonist turned extra rebellion member. He's gotten about as much screen time as characters like that get. Not every single character has to be fully fleshed out on screen. sometimes things have to be left to interpretation and implications, because otherwise, your story can get too crowded/busy, even with all the time in the world.

[welcometogrouchland]

based on your Raeda wedding post, I think King COULD OFFICIATE the wedding because of his status as a Titan but imagine if it's someone else like Principal Bump lol. But also, I think Darius and Lilith could VERY MUCH be the best witches, and then Luz and Amity and Willow could be the bridesmaids or the BI equivalent of it, and the ring bearer could DEFINITELY be Hunter or Gus too

BUMP WAS LITERALLY MY SECOND THOUGHT AFTER KING HSBSJDBFK. Does it make sense for their highschool principal to be officiating their wedding? No. Does it feel right though? Yes, absolutely. He'd be so tired but supportive. Finally. He can rest now

Amity, Luz and Willow are definitely in the bridal party for sure (though I wonder if marriage on the Boiling Isles would be as gendered as it is here? Since there was never an expectation for marriage to be between a man and a woman. Marriage traditions might look really different there!)

Although on the ring bearer thing- I can't find the source (90% it's the reddit ama Dana did BUT if anyone wants to correct me/link the source that'd be very appreciated) BUT APPARENTLY Dana said that the boiling isles doesn't have wedding rings? Hence why characters like the Parks or Gwen and Dell don't have them. Which- Tragically, imo- means no ring bearers at the raeda wedding😔😔😔

I'm sure Hunter and Gus would find other jobs instead- I wouldn't be surprised if Gus either ended up in the bridal party with the other girls or did some mc-ing similar to what he did at Grom. Maybe he does the whole "releasing doves at the wedding" thing but with illusions! But the doves have like. Three heads. Or he releases, like, bats. It'd be cute, he'd go so hard with it. Add a little pizazz!

Raine and Hunter friendship exists solely in my head BUT I think they'd be more than happy to have him as one of their groomsmen (I don't think they'd call themself the groom though. Tbh I'm not even sure on Eda calling herself the bride. I know ppl have passed around broom and bridegroom as a gender neutral alternative? Typing this out is making me realize how silly all these words are, including bride and groom). Darius would also insist on it if he was, in fact best witch

Anyway my only other raeda wedding thoughts are that the BATTs are in charge of music and act as the orchestra for part of the ceremony (that is their MENTOR and their MOM!!!) And when it comes time to pronounce Eda and Raine married, the officiant (either king or bump) says...

"~you may now kiss the bard~!"

[julianobungus]

Could you talk about which are your absolute favorite TOH ships and why you like them? I find your takes very interesting and it's so cool that you ship so many rare pairs!

That I can do! Thanks a bunch~! I just enjoy coming up with and seeing different dynamics, and some stick more than others or just appeal to me personally.

Luzador (Luz/Alador): I like this one for a couple reasons. Firstly and superficially, I think they look hot together (y'know, big burly man and lithe petite woman), so they have nice physical chemistry. Secondly, I feel like they have pretty similar/convergent personalities, both being socially-handicapped nerds who are considered deviant and who stand out in some way. I feel like they'd bond over that. I also feel like they'd have a fair bit of shared pain as well - with Luz being ostracised for being 'weird', as well as losing her father, and Alador being emotionally abused by Odalia and feeling guilt for messing up as a father because of her.

Huntleb(Hunter/Caleb): This one may be a little out of left field, but it appeals to me too. I've been seeing a few artworks and talk of it, so that's more or less swayed me hehe. To me, Hunter and Caleb are dadson/selfcest coded, bringing in the best of both worlds and being all the spicier for it. I feel like they'd get along well, with Caleb feeling a sense of duty to protect this poor, abused young man, and Hunter projecting onto him as the closest thing he has to a father figure. Couple that with the fact that Hunter doesn't know how to healthily process and disentangle romantic and familial feelings, and how Caleb has been repressed sexually because of his religious upbringing, and you have two young men giving in to their urges.

BumpEda (Bump/Eda): Okay, so hear me out. These two were already acquaintances in canon and actually got along quite well (to a degree at least, hehe). I'd imagine that Eda confided in Bump about the curse and what was going on with her family life, so I feel like he would have been a good confidante. A good reason for strong feelings to develop. And he even kept the Owl House's location a secret! Now that they're both adults, I'd imagine they have more time and confidence to explore the feelings they have toward one another, with what was once platonic friendship becoming something romantic~

We can't forget Lunter, which is definitely up here as one of my favourites. Even in canon they get along so well! I swear to God, if Amity was out of the picture they'd get together and it'd probably work! There's also the themes and symbolism behind it - the parallels to Caleb and Evelyn for example. It's all so juicy.

Beluz makes me pretty happy too. I'm a sucker for hero/villain ships just because of an 'opposites attract' type deal. Philip/Belos is devoted to Luz, and she needs a big strong man who probably understands her better than *anyone else*, or is at least willing to understand her (same vein as Luzador then, hehe).

Guslow (Gus/Willow): So sweet it makes me sick. Classic childhood friends blossoming into sweethearts. There's only a two-year age gap so I don't really know why this is considered proship (if it even is?). They just slot so neatly together: taller buff GF and short meek boyfriend - i.e., that size difference we all crave.

Camiluz (Camila/Luz): If there was another person beside Alador, Philip, and Hunter who would truly understand Luz, it's her own mother. Despite her mistakes, Camila thinks the world of her Mija and wants her to be as comfy as possible. I like to imagine that they discovered their feelings for each other after Luz came home, and have both just accepted the fact that they're now mother-daughter-girlfriends! Despite how much happier they are together, they feel a little bit of shame because they wonder what Manny would have thought of it.

Belunter (Luz/Hunter/Belos): Listen. Belos loves these two so much. They both remind him of Caleb and one of them is a beautiful human girl. He cherishes them even if they don't feel the same way. While you can definitely ponder the darker/dead-dove aspects this would all imply (of which there are aplenty), I'm a sensitive wee soul so I tend to focus on the soft stuff (with only some aspects of DD). I'm still formulating in my head the proper dynamics to fit these three, but trust me: they have all the more reason to love each other. Hunter was raised by him and has an unhealthy view on relationships; Luz has been ostracised for much of her life and is desperate for the company of those who understand and sympathise with her, and Belos? He's obsessed with them.

Lastly, I've recently been thinking of Amity/Edric. Writing those headcanons for them earlier (thanks to the anon who suggested them, btw) has made me a little gaga over them. It's a new and interesting idea/dynamic to me~!

[sepublic]

Post-Hoot for Them’s the Breaks, Kid!

-They wrote TTBK at least a year ago (this Post-Hoot was recorded before Hollow Mind’s release), having started production pre-pandemic, and finishing it during that time. The episode was intended as a breather episode before some spicy plot developments and uh, boy was it. 

-The Raeda dynamic as kids was initially more antagonistic, Raine was more of this badass. There would’ve been a fight to get the badge and have Eda stay in school (like Lumity), but Zach Marcus felt the conflict was unnatural to how Raine and Eda ended up together, so he opted for an immediate friendship instead.

-Sarah remembers making a lot of notes while working on the show that no longer make sense, like “Moon Villain”...

-Boscha’s parent, the one with glasses, is named Larry in the art tracking system. 

-Eric Bauza recalls playing either Harvey or Gilbert, though he was credited only as Mr. Park, unhelpfully. He voiced Faust during the pandemic (which could mean anything lbr), and didn’t even know what Faust looked like, having to ask Dana what she thought he’d sound like. Eric’s delivery actually influenced Faust’s final design lacking any lips!

-The neck crack was devised as a means for Faust to maneuver and turn his head around (I guessed it).

-In Zach Marcus’ mind, Terra and Faust had a history together.

-There was going to be an episode that gave Bump a love interest, written by Molly Ostertag; “A very elven man”, but Dana shot it down.

-At one point Tibbles was the principal of Hexside, and Zach jokingly suggested to say he was the vice-principal now.

-JBO wrote a lot for Mattholomule, and Zach Marcus said he’d love to have him as the main character in a show like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where he’s always being beaten at his game and you love to see it. 

-According to Avi, Raine is more chaotic than Eda, and Sarah agrees. 

-Zach Marcus suggested that Faust used to have big, juicy, candy Bratz lips. He thinks Faust lives in the school (this might be contradicted later on or not), and before that he and Terra used to live together as a couple. However, there was a BAD breakup, and Faust lost both his voluptuous lips and the place in the fight. This is why he lives at Hexside now, it’s the only place he has any sense of control and so he exerts it so wildly because it’s all he has.

-Zach joked that Kikimora is a high school dropout, like him!

-Dana pushed to have Luz’s artistic journey progress, with the viewer seeing how her style develops over time.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Them's the Breaks, Kid Addendum

So here it is, the long-awaited follow-up post to episode fifteen that I promised you oh so long ago. A whole two days ago. Time sure flies, huh?

To be honest though, I don’t have a whole lot to say here. The only thing of note that I caught while rewatching the episode that I didn’t catch the first time through were Gilbert and Harvey’s first appearances. Harvey can be seen in the establishing shot of the IFWOT and Gilbert can be seen standing in line to get his badge.

There is more stuff I noticed and that I’m going to talk about, but a lot of that was brought up in several asks that I got sent, so I’ll bring those things up there. For now, I’ll talk a bit about my thoughts on the episode overall.

I was quite surprised that we actually got an origin for how Eda and Raine met. I figured they probably met at school, got along, and then things developed from there. Which I would have been fine with it if that was the case, but it was a pleasant surprise to see the Raeda origins (I think that’s the ship name?). I of course enjoy the love story between Eda and Raine and seeing how it all started was nice.

Like I said in the proper liveblog, seeing just how well Eda and Raine clicked with each other really helped cement just how deep that bond of friendship and love was… as well as add to the tragedy of their breakup and the sweetness of their reunion… and then the tragedy of Raine having to keep Eda away because they don’t want to risk her getting hurt.

We also got to see a bit of Hieronymus Bump and what he was like as the vice-principal of Hexside. Even back then he was trying to help his student flourish like some kind of responsible adult or something.

We go to see young Terra and turns out she was always Like That. Way too enthusiastic at the prospect of murder. She’s also held the position of Head Witch of the Plant Coven for over thirty years now, which is pretty impressive. 

We got to see a few new glyph combos Luz has learned… including two in particular that should remind her of a certain tyrant she’s met. And although she’ll definitely refuse to use the petrification combo and probably the hellish hand thing combo, the wind and water fountain combos seem useful. A whirlwind has several uses in battle and while the water fountain might not have many applications in combat, I pointed out that it can be used to supply clean drinkable water if need be. That’s enormously useful. You know, if you’re in a desert or on a hike or something.

Oh, and let’s not forget that we in this episode finally got to that scene my sister has been talking about for so long! The reveal of the traitors! Raine has been using their whistling to cast subtle bard spells to alter Terra’s terrible tea. And they’re working with Darius on a plan to stop the Day of Unity.

Now, during the reveal, I said that I wasn’t sure about Eberwolf if he(?) was in on it. But when I talked to my sister she implied that he is, so I’ll be working under that assumption from now on.

Like I said I would, I went back and rewatched Eda’s Requiem and part of Follies at the Coven Day Parade. Let’s start with Follies.

With the new context of Raine actually not being under mind control, some of their actions and the things they say take on a slightly new meaning. The seeming inconsistencies in their memories that I was confused about for example. Raine telling Eda to leave and maybe travel for a bit also makes a lot of sense; the entire point of all this was to keep her safe. I will say this though, Raine is a really good actor cause they didn’t break character even once, only coming close to it once Eda had left when they teared up a little.

As for Eda’s Requiem… I wanted to see if I could find any hints towards Darius and Eberwolf being the traitors and aside from one little detail I’m going to talk about in the answer to an ask, I found… not much else.

Assuming that I’m right in my suspicion that Eberwolf is in on the whole ”overthrow the Emperor” thing, then it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense for the two of them to go after Raine to capture them. They’d want to recruit them for the cause. There are a few possibilities.

One possibility is that Belos knew or figured out Raine was a traitor. Thus, they had to make it look like Raine was under mind control in order to get them close to Belos and be of use to their plans again. A bit of a risky gambit, but hey, it worked (hopefully… you never know with these evil Emperor types, this might all be part of his masterplan).

Another possibility is that they were being watched (and knew it) by Kikimora, who did show up soon after they captured Raine. Thus they couldn’t afford to let them escape or the like, lest they draw suspicion upon themselves.

Whatever the case, I’ll probably find out in time. The end of the season is drawing ever nearer. The Day of Unity comes and your world is already lost and all that.

Whatever the case, I’ll probably find out in time. The end of the season is drawing nearer and the Day of Unity fast approaches. Let’s hope our heroes can figure out a plan in time…

Wow, this actually ended up being a bit longer than I thought. Still, like I’ve said multiple times throughout, there are more things to be said and I will say those things in response to some asks and comments I’ve gotten. Which I will get to… tomorrow.

(i should also get around to updating the masterlist and adding all the links and stuff… meh, I’ll do it tomorrow too)

So until next time, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!

<--Previous Episode: Reaching Out

Masterlist

Next Episode: Hollow Mind-->

[mayhasopinions]

aight on second thought instead of waiting for asks for the TOH ask game i'm just gonna answer all of em right here!!

Favorite episode of season 1? Hmm a tie between Understanding Willow and Agony of a Witch

Favorite episode of season 2? Oooh this is a hard one, there are so many exceptional episodes this season, but I think I have to go for Knock-Knock-Knockin' On Hooty's Door, for the Lumity canonisation ofc but my favorite part was Eda's dream sequence and how perfectly it encapsulates being at one with your disability and unmasking at the end and it just... AGHH it's beautiful

Favorite episode of season 3? Thanks to Them! It feels like the most cohesive and tight episode of the specials and human realm shenanigens are always a W for me

Favorite season? 2!!

Favorite Hexsquad member? Ohhh my days whaaay do you have to make me choose between my children?? It regularly fluctuates, but today i'm in a Willow Hunter and Luz kinda mood, so there ya go, the answer might change tmr

Favorite Hagsquad member? Eda!! still waiting on the spinoff confirmation btw >:(

Favorite palisman? MMmmm probablyyyy Principal Bump's palisman. Idk I never realy noticed it in s1 but then we leaned that it helped with Bump's blindness and it just chills on top of his head and helps him see? Idk I just really like Bump and i think that it's real heartwarming

Favorite other character? King, my sweet son

Favorite line from season 1? Eda saying her goodbye to Luz before going full harpy in Agony of a Witch, never fails to make me tear up

Favorite line from season 2? "Out of all the grimwalkers you looked the most like him" followed by Hunter's "...what...?" UGHHHH TALK ABOUT A GUT PUNCH

Favorite line from season 3? "The only thing I ever really wanted was to be understood" and Hunter's mini speech to Willow in FTF about how her and Gus mean the world to him

Favorite friendship? Probably Amity and Hunter! I needed more crumbs of them :(

Favorite familial relationship? Luz and Hunter. They are siblings, if you care

Favorite romantic relationship? Huntlow, the fookin losers

Favorite Lumity moment? The confession scene! It was so realistic and made me squeal so much

Favorite Raeda moment? When Eda finds Raine in WAD and puts their glasses back on and then showers their face with kisses OURGHHH it made me rabid

Favorite Huntlow moment? Can I just name one moment? Just them in For the Future, is that enough?

Favorite piece of music from season 1? The grom fight music!

Favorite piece of music from season 2? Eda's Requiem 1000%!! Probably my favorite music in the whole of TOH actually

Favorite piece of music from season 3? Luz's revelation scene music

Favorite fight scene from season 1? The fight between Eda and Lilith in Agony of a Witch

Favorite fight scene from season 2? Hunter vs Amity in Eclipse Lake

Favorite fight scene from season 3? The final battle between the owl fam and Belos

Favorite season premiere? season 2!

Favorite season finale? season 3!

[edalynn]

.

[artical3237]

GUS AND HUNTER MY F***ING BELOVEDS (spoilers for Labyrinth Runners)

Ok, I’m trying to pull my thoughts together after this episode so this might not be entirely coherent. But oh my god Gus my poor child. Apparently he’s OP as frick and has gone through A LOT of improvement on his magic since Looking Through The Glass Ruins. Speaking of: That episode has more importance to Gus than we thought. It’s another case of him easily being tricked. And this episode really sheds light on how important Willow’s friendship mean to Gus. She’s the first genuine friend he’s ever had and I actually understand why he was tricked by the illusion of Willow. It also makes sense why Hunter is the one who figures out that Willow was just an illusion.

Willow is also one of Hunter’s first genuine friends. I don’t consider Amity to be his friend yet and Luz is a bit iffy but we do know she cares about him but I don’t think the feeling is mutual before Hollow Mind and even then Hunter doesn’t seem to care too much about Luz in this episode which honestly Hunter should’ve cared considering Luz offered him a place to stay in during Hollow Mind. It’s probably for the best he didn’t stay in the Owl House because of the attack launched but still and also I’m getting off topic. It’s clear that Hunter doesn’t trust anyone after Hollow Mind and for good reason. Belos, the person he trusts the most, is actually evil and doesn’t care much about Hunter. He does, but not enough and also in a kinda fucked up way. It makes sense for him to be on edge especially after the whole illusion thingy. He definitely seems to not trust Gus at first in this episode and same goes for WIllow. Thankfully, he opens up at the end which is good character development. I really love how both Hunter and Gus connect with each other on being lied to and having their trust used by others. This is very evident with 2 scenes. The first one being Gus telling about his experience about having friends who would use him and then Gus telling Hunter that he could trust him. And then the second scene where Hunter tells Gus about what he thought was good was all a lie and then telling Gus that he could trust him. THESE 2 BOYS ARE BROTHERS AND THEY NEED HELP QUICK. Also, this is the most emotional Hunter focused episode so far in my opinion. Yes, yes, Hollow Mind was traumatizing, but Hunter was having his mind overwhelmed and broken. He could barely process all of the revelations and lies and the same goes me. In this episode, he is able to fully process and understand the things around him and he finds kinship with Gus. He learns that yeah life kinda sucks, but there are good parts and good people. 

Amity and Willow were a great B plot for this episode. I’ve been dying for content of them since Understanding Willow and I was so happy to see them have bumps but eventually get along in this episode. 

IS LUZ, KING, AND HOOTY OKAY??? They’re most likely fine since they’re with Hooty but the Owl House has been raided and they’re now separated from Eda and Lilith. ARE THEY OK?? I need answers.

Viney x Skara is a ship I got my eyes on. If not a ship, then besties.

Also, nice to see Ed, Em, and Mattholemule being in multiple tracks. Does that mean that Mattholemule is in the Bad Girl’s Coven??