#i do but they're not wardens in my canon

[ninapedia]

Codex entry: Grey Whiskey/Ritewine/Conscription Ale

Fun writing / OC exorcise - making a Conscription Ale name/profile for all my canon wardens.

Vintage: Warden Viera. Sweet Dreams. | Surana

The thick build up of honey at the bottom of the bottle ensures whatever goes in is tasting of it. Don’t know why it smells vaguely of lavender though.

Vintage: Warden Ny’ari. Mythal’s Mercy. | Mahariel

More of a remedy than a spirit. Tasting largely of mint and elfroot - which is obvious by the plants stuffed within the bottle.

Vintage: Warden Nadia. Feels like falling. | Brosca

If you’re able to taste the notes of cinnamon before passing out you have a stronger constitution than most.

Vintage: Warden Varryn. Still better than what Ohgren’s drinking. | Aeducan

Whoever this Oghren is should be arrested if this is better than they were drinking. It’s brown.

Vintage: Warden Cyril. Drink when desperate. | Tabris

It’s not a title, it’s a warning. The first sip is the worst, after that your taste buds are all seared off anyways.

Vintage: Warden Odile. Swan noir. | Adras

It was probably wine at some point. It’s so red it’s black. And somehow smoother than a rose’s petals.

Vintage: Warden Nika. Furnace fuel. | Kader

Somehow so clear the bottle looks empty. Not much of a fragrance yet singes the inside of your nose anyways.

Vintage: Warden Pierrot. Curtain call. | Caron

How this wine still sparkles is a mystery for the ages. A pleasant pink colour and an al together not unpleasant bitter sweet taste.

[vaguely-concerned]

sophia seeing cailan's body hanging there when they go back to ostagar, and suddenly all she can see even through the rot and the ruin is just how much he looked like alistair...... :'(

a mental image that totally will not haunt her through alistair's many years on the throne as rebellions and assassination attemps come and go. doesn't send her unhinged and unwise even a little

[bethrnoora]

even tho i still have to play origins and da2 i know my hawke is a middle-aged butch woman with a big sword. torn on whether i'd want to play a human or dwarf warden though

[creamecream]

The Hero of Ferelden (?) Gray Warden (?) Artemis Tabris.

[muffinlance]

Read "Suki, Alone". Liked it in general. But can they please, please hire someone who knows both the show's actual events and how to follow through on a character arc? Because guys. Guys. That comic is not implying about Suki what they meant it to be implying, and all because of literally one line.

So like. From a writer's standpoint:

What they meant to do: show Suki as a community-oriented person who cares for her people, and believes in everyone succeeding together.

As opposed to (spoilers): the thief girl they set her up in contrast with, who's pretty upfront and consistent on primarily looking out for herself. She betrays Suki for one (1) corn chip to improve her own life at the prison, no surprise.

But the problem is: they give Suki an inspirational line to the effect of "we're all working together and we'll all break out together"

You know

The thing she does not do in the show

So if both the show and this comic are canon, then instead of setting up a compare/contrast with the thief girl, they've just set up a comparison. One were Suki is arguably worse, because she's been leading a significant number of prisoners on with her "we'll all fight and win our freedom together!" business, only to straight up cut them out of the escape loop and abandon them, whereas the thief is only leading Suki on in the sense that Suki keeps telling her what it's morally correct to think and confuses snide replies with agreement

My dudes. My fellow writers. You people actually being paid for this. There were so many ways to fix those awful implications against our girl's character, the simplest of which would be to not include that line. Or they could have, you know, made it canon compliant with what actually happens in the show, so that this comic doesn't set Suki up as a betrayer instead of a community builder. Like... just send all her good prison buddies off to other prisons in the wake of the warden finding out they're colluding. Have it timed to be right before the next new prisoners arrive, thus setting it immediately before the Boiling Rock episodes, so Suki didn't have anyone left in the prison she'd want to take with her on a breakout. For bonus points, include a page or two of her and her Kyoshi warriors opening up the cell of one of her prison friends post-war, thus implying she's tracking down and actually fulfilling her promises. Maybe even show her doing the same with thief girl, who was established as being imprisoned on false charges anyway, and also showing that Suki is A) the bigger person, and B) willing to acknowledge her own role in mistakes (because I cannot emphasize enough how much thief girl was not hiding her own priorities, and it was Suki who approached HER with all this, not the girl ever doing anything special to weasel her way in) (this would also open up an opportunity for paralleling Suki's earlier in-comic mistake of not listening to one of her friend's very valid thoughts and feeling, which lead to the girl leaving their island alone pre-canon; a "seeing people as they are, not what you want them to be" moment)

Anyway yeah enjoyable enough for a quick read but another one for the "this can't be canon or the characters are So Much Worse than they were in the actual show" pile

At least Aang didn't promise to murder anyone in this one

[wixhing0nastar]

Thinking about the teasers we've gotten so far for Season 2 of Arcane and I'm really fascinated with this line I keep seeing verbatim about Vi's arc this season: who is she when she doesn't have someone to protect?

As someone who not only plays League, but mains Caitlyn, I keep coming back to the fact that in game, Caitlyn is the one who has multiple lines about protecting people:

My duty is to protect the citizens of Piltover, and I will see that through.

I'm not here to serve, I'm here to protect.

Laws mean nothing when they fail to protect the public.

I am not Piltover's dog. I work for it's people, no one else.

We also know that over the course of the season, Vi's going to end up becoming comfortable with the idea of working alongside Caitlyn with Piltover's law enforcement, although they're going to have a rough start of it.

Here's my thought: in the aftermath of her mother's death and the city going to war, Caitlyn's going to end up making some questionable calls/border on becoming corrupt but not quite cross the line. Something (maybe even Vi leaving) ends up snapping her out of it and she moves to disband the enforcers and creates the warden's like she does in League canon, but with an added layer that she's not only trying to make a system to ensure that her people stay in line, but that her and her successors do as well.

So when they reunite and Vi's deep in her feelings of uselessness and not sure what to do with herself... well Caitlyn's been working on it and has loads of people for her to protect, just in a safe environment now.

[viamutationis]

OH GREY WARDEN, WE'RE REALLY IN IT NOW.

ID in alt text, notes and oc infodump under the cut! PLEASE ask me about them they're my new babygirl of the week

Yeah. Ben-Hassrath Cousland is wild, I know. This was one of those 3 am thoughts that became a beloved oc and now they're my canon protag. Basically: She was being trained to be House Cousland's left hand to spy within the noble courts and intercept threats to her family's rule, and a large part of that meant being covertly sent to Orlais to train as a bard. Buuuut the bardmaster she studied under was an undercover Hissrad, and she wound up being converted to the Qun by her. Teenage Laurentia was in a spot where, like every kid, she was questioning the Andrastian beliefs she was raised with and all the unfair things she noticed in her society, so she was very open to the Qun.

Her role once she was sent back home was basically just to send reports detailing the inner workings of the Ferelden nobility and to be aware of any Tal-Vashoth activity in the area. Pretty benign shit, and the former task is what she was doing for her family anyway. Still recruited by the Wardens the normal way, via Duncan doing his "come with me if you want to live" shtick after the fam dies. None of the Blight Crew find her out save for Leliana, because Leli knows everything. She only reveals it to Sten just as he's about to hop on a ship back home LMAOOO.

They're genuinely very compassionate and sweet. A lil whimsical. Highly loyal and protective. Very lawful good (emphasis on lawful). It's a weird sort of internal reconciling - they are genuinely kind to most people and love listening to others' issues and helping them out. It just so happens that this makes them an excellent spy, because they're exactly the sort of person people feel comfortable opening up to, and they see no issue with passing relevant information on to the powers they spy for. The kindness is genuine, but it's also a tool, if that makes sense. Their duty comes before any attachments. On that Master Coercion grindset.

No romance because they're aro, but they do have a little homoerotic espionage cat and mouse goin on with Leliana (singing campfire songs and trading stories and braiding each others' hair included). They get along with all their companions besides Morrigan and Oghren, and even Morrigan is more just.. cordial passive aggression.

They exist in the same worldstate as my Orlesian Warden-Commander Gavriel! He's a veteran warden who joins them on the road after Lothering because his ass snuck into Ferelden to help the Wardens solo, and then he'll later become the WC while they become Arlessa because they have more political experience and he has more military experience.

They generally make the nicey nice choices, albeit not where magic is concerned, and even then it's purely out of an abundance of caution. They do NOT annul the Circle, they do that secret third option where you tell Greagoir there could still be blood mages so he puts the mages into quarantine and Wynne still joins you but the game counts it as siding with the Templars. They let Isolde kill Connor, rip lil dude. (Not like they have a choice, they would rather that than the blood magic anyway, but they kill Jowan soooooo.) Besides that, all nicey choices. Bhelen on the throne, Anvil destroyed, Zathrian reconciles and everybody lives, Ashes are not tainted, Loghain recruited, Alistair and Anora rule jointly, Gavriel and Morrigan know they'd never agree to the Dark Ritual so they do it behind Laurentia's back and nobody dies lmao.

Small notes on their disabilities: Wynne was the healer that did their cleft lip surgeries as a kid!! Their last surgery was when they were 6, so they do remember her :D & their hearing aids are lyrium-infused lazurite, the runes are all enchantments that combine to make it collect and amplify sound like an actual HA does. I love bullshitting magic technology.

Their mabari is named Princess, because they got her when they were 10, okay.

[cookierunauprompts]

Im tryna cook here so hear me out on this : what if SMC(shadow milk cookie)​&reader are in the same trope of Rudolph​&Catherine from dangerously yours?(it may not be same-same kidda wipe cuz I didn't watch the movie yet lol(srry not srry))​ : It's started from reader got send by the witches to spy keep eyes on the old ancients(before corrupted-after corrupted)​but suddenly reader fell in love with one of them(aka SMC)​and so do he,but then after he and the other got corrupted he become obsessed toward them(obviously)​but then he started to realized that the witches are planing to seal him and the other fallen ancient​s away cause​ of their actions of being corrupted and cause choas on earthbeard, so he conveice reader to tell him how to get to the witches(reader's witches spy and have their own specific way to contact/went to face the witches)​ and get him and his friends revenge on the witches but reader ran away instead and not telling him,and in the end they met each other​ again at the silver tree where the witches was going to seal them in and the line between reader&shadow milk will be like : "your time is up" "do you think actually going to let it happen?to let them seal me?to seal us?!" "..i mean just that" "....... well then go ahead" "i'll get this over with" "You won't do it,you won't let this happen...you won't because you love me."-"it takes a very brave and and a very cold person to do that,(y/c/n)"-"I don't think you can..."

Note / I think amma gonna end it here and I'll let u imagine it on ur own😭actually it was gonna be longer than this but I accidentally delete half of it so my lazy ass just tell me to get this over with😔(no any​one's oc x canon pls I beg u(Im srry))​

throwing this into the Warden Reader AU, because silly.

Requested Prompts #44 - 💔💓

The words of the witches ring through your head as you stand ready in your position. " You have to be there, Reader Cookie." They had said. " For you are the only one who can see through his deception, it's how we know that the seal will truly work on them all." You knew what they'd really meant, but it was whatever. This was your purpose, what you were made for. There was no defying your own destiny when your were chained to it. It was an anchor dragging you down into the abyss of the sea, dread it, run from it, hide from it all you wish but it will still drag you down all the same. And then, you saw him. Your destiny made personified right in front of you in the form of a far too large blue cookie. Shadow Milk Cookie, the Cookie of Deceit as Elder Faerie had put it. The grin he wore was wide, yet not open enough to look insane as it usually did. His eyes were focused on you, keeping track of each and every action you took and each reaction you displayed. Such analysis befitted the former Cookie of Knowledge, but only fragments of the past were left in the beast before you. He'd strayed from how the witches made him due to the power of the soul jam, all of them had. You steel yourself after a mere millisecond of hesitation, pointing your spear at him with determination. " Your time is up." You coldly announced, not daring to let anything else slip into your tone. He'll use anything to get the upper hand, all you need to do is to distract him until the seal is prepared. His grin widened. " You mean you're actually going through with this? You're actually sticking by them, even though they're betraying you?" He asked, almost mockingly in tone. You knew not to search his expression for a hint of genuineness in his expression like you did in the past, and yet you did for just a moment. And maybe there was something, but you stopped yourself from looking. " ... I mean just that." You replied. You watched as he shrunk down, each step he got smaller and smaller until he was just a bit taller than you. " Well by all means, go ahead my dear." He said almost cruelly, taunting you by laying his head upon the tip of your spear. You hesitate, " This will be your finale." you state to his amusement. He smiled, an airy chuckle seeping through his lips. " You won't do it, you can't bring yourself to let this happen. All because you love me." The beast taunts, pressing his neck closer to the blade in a way that was just enough to draw forth a few droplets of his blueberry jam. " It takes a very brave and cold cookie to do that, I don't think you can."

----

Or, what happened before the witches sealed the beasts in the Warden!Reader timeline, and during.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

just curious-- do y'all have romances in DAO/DA2/DAI where it completely elevates the experience you want from the game? And when you don't romance that character, the overall experience is actually weakened?

I want to know if others have this "If I don't romance this character this specific way, my game is ruined" thing like I do and over which characters.

I always consider branching out by making a separate timeline from my canon just to explore new choices and romances, and the only game I've been successful in doing that is DAI. But I try to romance someone new in DAO or DA2? I get maybe a few hours into the playthrough before I abandon it because I can't do it, it doesn't feel right!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Morrigan, Leliana, or Zevran, but if I don't romance Alistair as my Warden Tabris, I feel like DAO is just not nearly as impactful for me. Even though I know I would adore those paths!

Then there's Anders in DA2. There's lot about that route that upsets me, but does my Hawke always end up with him anyway? Yep. But, I've actually completed Fenris' romance, too, and honestly? Highly recommend it. Sometimes I think I should do it again or consider making it my canon- but it doesn't feel right.

My Hawke being involved with Anders elevates DA2 to an entirely different level that I don't feel I can get from the other love interests. And it's not like Fenris, Merrill, Isabela, or Sebastian aren't good options for my Hawke, but they're not Anders. Like what's even the point of DA2 if my boyfriend doesn't blow up a Chantry in the end?? Why am I even here, y'know??

Seriously, I want to know. This is a free pass to gush about that romance and why they make your game better.

[privatebooth]

Okay, so years after its release I finished DAI, but tbh I only ever played it to see Hawke and hear what the world had to say about him and my warden. ok, also to meet the new companions personally

I did not enjoy it very much (don't want to say hated it because it had some fun bits), despised combat so much I chose to skip it altogether by using a cheat to instantly kill all hostiles, because dammit I just wanted to see the story for myself and the casual mode was not casual enough for me. No, I'm not going to rant about that game, that's not the point.

Even if it was not as emotionally engrossing as the previous 2 games, it still fucked me up. These last few days I spent trying to come to terms with it.

That Hawke was the one to stay in the Fade is a given for me now, because the story simply doesn't work otherwise. Yesterday I was thinking about how much I'd love to see Fenris and Carver working together, possibly somehow going into the Fade themselves to get Hawke out.

Then my stupid brain proposed to make it so only one of the three of them could get out (don't care about the details, those are basic concepts), and of course it had to be Carver, because we must protect him at all costs, and Fenris would choose to stay with Hawke no matter what where and when anyway. They would never be parted again, and i don't really understand how the Fade works, but maybe they could actually settle there? ascend to another plane of existence together, and how the hell do beings of flesh manage in the realm of spirits? And how do they die there and what happens to the bodies and aren't souls of the dead supposed to go to the Fade or something? I am so not good at processing Lore...

And then I thought to myself, what the hell, aren't I a pro at bending canon to my will? I overwrote the Mass effect universe to have Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley happily settle down as a throuple and my brain now accepts it as canon and nothing else matters.

Then why can't I overwrite the tiny relevant plot of Inquisition, and simply have Hawke and Fenris appear there together and work as a battle couple and solve the problems together like they're supposed to? Don't need to account for other variables and worry about fitting any technicalities.

I can make it happen.

[sepublic]

From Pilot to Canon, Luz and Eda

With my belief that No Tree Left Behind was boarded as part of the pilot continuity (hence Lilith's depiction), I want to bring up that I think there's kind of a subtle difference between Luz in that episode, or 'Pilot Luz', and Canon Luz as we got in the actual animated show.

With Canon Luz, she's a more brash, confident individual, who can get in over her head; King mentions that she smells of overconfidence, plus there's Luz recklessly getting into stuff like in Covention or Enchanting Grom Fright in the heat of the moment. She has this overwhelming energy and enthusiasm that's unstoppable, but as a result she can sometimes forget about the people around her, hence Wing it like Witches.

And a lot of that has to do with Luz's relationship with The Good Witch Azura in canon, because it means that the Boiling Isles is her fantasy!!! It's her chance, it's her adventure, it's what Manny would push her to go for! So she gives it her all. And in the latter half of the show, Luz's willingness to go at any cost, even to her own detriment, borders on self-sacrifice. In a way she's secretly atoning for her own existence, it's like... 'Socially acceptable' self-harm by risking herself.

So there's a difference in Pilot Luz during NTLB, who is much more averse to the martyr idea; She's a lot more scared and reluctant to fight for Arborgeist, and in a moment of crisis admits she doesn't quite get what Eda is so worked up about. And this makes me think of how the in the pilot continuity, there isn't that same relationship with Azura; The pitch bible reveals we would've had an episode where it's revealed to be written by an ex of Eda's about her, so you can guess that Luz drops it afterwards.

And as the pilot even shows us, Luz didn't choose to be in the Boiling Isles! And in lieu of my latest reblog, that feels relevant because Dana mentioned how in the final show, Luz choosing that was so incredibly important; It was a foundational change to the character's storyline. Luz wants to be here, she wants to risk it, this is the adventure and if she gets bruised up, it's okay. Us weirdoes have to stick together, she declares passionately as she rallies a bunch of strangers against Warden Wrath in the first episode. She becomes in canon the kind of passionate, righteous person who will talk your ear off about a thing and she's right about it.

So looking at the difference between first episodes, it tracks that Pilot Luz is much more reluctant and just trying to survive, hence her not 'getting' Arborgeist, in the sense that she doesn't see what's worth potentially dying over. Whereas with Canon Luz, I think she'd be more than willing to deep dive into this culture and play the hero, she's a social activist.

This isn't to trash on Pilot Luz btw, nor canon Luz; I just find it fascinating to consider how her character has changed and developed, how the story has, and how the difference in first episodes alludes to this. First episodes are very important, they can establish a lot of the core themes and ideas and Dana herself confirmed the significance of certain differences from the initial pilot. So it's fascinating seeing that difference in action, shown to us, rather than having to be told, since normally we couldn't watch the pilot storyboards to see for ourselves. Pilot Luz and Canon Luz are different characters with different flaws and circumstances, and they're both beautiful in their own ways for it.

I'd even argue that in a canon episode like WilW, Luz ends up playing the role Eda has in NTLB! And her stepping down after realizing she (might) hurt a loved one who was dragged into this, only for them to understand how much they care and come back to help for that reason... The story beats live on. Canon Luz would probably be thrilled to see Pilot Eda show so much care about something when she normally doesn't; Whereas Canon Eda becomes more of a practical guardian who's reining her kid in out of experience, because she's been hurt herself and is worried, and a tad pessimistic.

It's like the dynamics between Luz and Eda reversed from pilot to canon, with a scared and reluctant kid and her mentor who can push her too much sometimes; And now it's this overconfident, excited kid who wants to try everything and thinks she's invincible, with her jaded mentor who's a realist but also she cares more than you realize and wants to provide a safety net, being surprisingly thoughtful at times.

It makes sense, because again going back to my last reblog, Luz being more enthusiastic about the isles was to also help her foil other characters better, including Eda, and vice-versa. So it's possible Eda was changed to lean more into her pragmatic mentor role -Not that she doesn't still have her irresponsible, reckless moments- while bouncing off of Luz's new enthusiasm, which can lead to conflict like Luz wanting to try the newest magic and Eda not being in the mood, which leads to Luz being a bit reckless (take for example The Intruder).

Eda being more tired and jaded could also tie to the development of her curse as a disability that exhausts her, since in the pilot continuity the curse only made her age more; In canon, it does that AND messes with her magic stores, which leads to more exhaustion! In addition to becoming a beast. And with Eda becoming disillusioned with the isles due to her traumatic experiences, Luz acts as the light in her life to reignite her passion, which leads to Eda taking a more proactive role against Belos in S2!

She believes in her efficacy more because of how Luz changes the isles because of Eda, which makes Eda become more of an agent for social change as she starts to believe she can make a difference again, just as she did as a teen in IFWOT. Maybe Eda's curse isn't something to feel shame over anymore, maybe she shouldn't let it stop her from rallying everyone...!

Thus, there's not just a difference between Pilot and Canon Luz, but also Pilot and Canon Eda in NWLB. Though I imagine Canon Eda would still help to defend the Arborgeist tree, I'm not as sure about her confidence in attempting to rally others to do the same; She's got that loner vibe who assumes she has to do everything on her own because her own family and lover wouldn't support Eda in her defiance to the coven... But now she does have support in Luz. And King. And some of those loved ones are turning around too, no thanks to Luz's arrival inspiring some!

All this helps culminate in the S1 finale with Eda being used as a rallying cry against Belos, signaling the beginning of the end for his regime as she inspires not just a kid like Luz but other youths like Gus and Willow, and even helps chaperone Grom after avoiding Hexside for years; Eda’s really starting to believe again and she admits that Luz has gotten into her head as the cause.

[professorsparklepants]

welcome to fanfic I won't write fridays, where I talk about fanfic I won't write

happy dragon age 4 to those who celebrate it's time to put all my "pevensie siblings isekai'd into dragon age pcs" thoughts in one post

peter is the inquisitor; i considered lucy for this but she's more what the inquisition wants you to appear to be (a divine prophet protecting the people) rather than what you actually are (the head of a military organization with fingers in politics and heavy religious propaganda

edmund is the champion of kirkwall; the entire point of da2 is that everything is in shades of grey and there are no right answers, and edmund is painted as the most familiar with moral ambiguity and the most forgiving of it

lucy is the grey warden originally through process of elimitation but being dropped in a dying world, told there's a near futile mission to hold back the decay that's eating the continent, and not only facing it whole heartedly but succeeding so well you have time to run off and try to cure it yourself with no backup is EXTREMELY lucy behavior

susan is "sir not appearing in this film (until dragon age 4 comes out)"

all four of them land around the same time. lucy gets wrapped up in the origins plot immediately, and da2 happens mostly simultaneously iirc so so is edmund. peter is biding time doing the qunari mercenary backstory until da:i starts. susan is also biding her time but by clawing her way up the local social hierarchy.

DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS

lucy is a mage with the spirit healer specialization, but based on her canon weapon use i think also has traces of the arcane warrior.

duncan literally finds her by the side of the road and goes "hey kid you wanna fight darkspawn." lucy asks if they're evil and he says yes so she signs up immediately. a simple woman.

she absolutely makes the full party her bisexual polycule. yes even the unromancable ones. i have faith in her.

morrigan: i'm straight lucy: for now.

leliana is her favorite but don't tell anyone.

lucy adores mabari. absolutely nothing in thedas is more narnian than the mabari. when she meets her siblings again they are all going to be so fucking jealous that she has one.

lucy doesn't make alistair king because he seems like he's kind of bad at it and i think she can sniff that out. my sister is of the opinion that lucy would make him king and then marry him bc she knows she would do a good job. i think she only said this because she finds it funny.

however i do think lucy would convince alistair to do the ritual because she sees absolutely nothing wrong with him having sex with a woman he hates who turns into a giant spider sometimes.

lucy, has attended dozens of bacchanalia: who hasn't slept with someone they dislike while under the effects of magic? all her companions: where did you say you were from again?

she does absolutely kill loghain though because a. all the shit he did is deserving of an execution, b. edmund isn't here to stop her, and c. alistair threatens to quit if she doesn't and despite having a mabari he's her emotional support animal

DRAGON AGE 2

i couldn't decide if edmund was a mage or a warrior but i decided it would be funnier if he were both, because it has such hawke energy. you surpress his magic? he has a sword. you disarm him? he has a fireball!

i don't know what warrior specialization i would pick for him, but he's definitely a force mage

i think edmund literally falls out of a portal and saves bethany/carver's life so the hawkes just decide to adopt him. he's theirs now. leandra just full on lies and says he's her son. what the fuck is her brother gonna do about it.

edmund walks into the den of sin and darkness that is kirkwall, sighs, and rolls up his sleeves to get to work. he is going to make this city a better place one back alley brawl at a fucking time. try him.

edmund romances anders because he has "i only date disasters/i can fix him" vibes and i think it's funny for him to be a former sovereign whose boyfriend is a wanted terrorist.

but also the da2 polycule IS real edmund is just not dating everyone at once. he's busy and also i hc him as only into men. imagine what you want though this isn't a real fic.

sorry the image of edmund just pspspspspsps-ing all of his sad, angry, morally grey companions into being friends is so fucking funny to me. local man brainwashed by evil as a child is too full of love and the belief in second chances to say no to a blood mage, guy who is willingly possessed at all times, escaped slave who lives in a mansion full of rotting corpses, a cop, and a romance novelist who keeps stealing your life story.

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION

peter has the qunari mercenary backstory, and is absolutely a warrior build. probably champion build?

also i think he romances cassandra. i considered josephine but that's more a susan romance. if peter were into men that way he'd be all over iron bull and he says as much after a couple drinks.

peter, cornering cullen after their first war meeting: you haven no military experience do you. cullen: please don't tell anyone. i need this job.

he takes one look at solas and goes "oh this guy is not normal. idk what his deal is but this is some kind of oak god at least."

varric doesn't know edmund and peter are siblings until edmund shows up and he is INCREDIBLY offended by it. what do you MEAN i've been calling you hawke for years and it's not even your fucking name. the BETRAYAL.

edmund: my ex-boyfriend blew up the chantry and started the mage/templar war peter: HEY DORIAN, MY HONORABLE GOOD FRIEND WHO IS GAY, HAVE YOU MET MY VERY GAY BROTHER

"well his family owns slaves that's enough of a project for Edmund"

you know the table mission where the warden send you a letter? instead of that i think lucy just turns around and immediately heads back to thedas. THAT'S HER FUCKIN BROTHER!!!!!!!! she shows up after edmund does obviously for maximum "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!!" drama

[scene: all three pevensies are roaring drunk in skyhold and casting members of the inquisition as Narnian creatures] Peter: I think Solas is a centaur. He's wise, respectful, and vaguely condescending. Lucy: [sniggering bc she clocked Solas] I think he's a wolf. Edmund: I think he's a marshwiggle. [Peter and Lucy absolutely lose it]

Lucy, halfway through stumbling back to her room: WAIT. DORIAN IS A PEACOCK. Peter, three floors up: [ugly donkey noise]

DRAGON AGE: VEILGUARD

obviously there's nothing 2 say about this yet

however i will say for certain that if there's a noble human background i'll be giving it to susan

idc that she literally got portal fantasy'd into this world. she's pretty and socially dangerous she wormed her way in there. she's got those diplomatic social climber stats.

she's also a rogue, no question.

[themonotonysyndrome]

OH. MY. GOD.

Motherfucker actually did it. HE PICKED UP THE VACUUM AND BROUGHT BACK VEGA SDNJFKNSDKF

STOP THE CAP - IS ERIK MANIFESTING IMPERIUM!VEGA INTO CANON!? IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?

VEGA: Vega. Stellar-formed, Congruent of D’Deridahn, bound in his Madrigal. Anacrusis of his Phrase. I am the first-formed of Gravity. Explain.

Wait, what!? Not Sadism?? I thought Vega was one of the first Sadism Demon from pre-history? Why did he introduce himself as Gravity instead??

LOL! Glad to know that Vega is still Vega in terms of personality even without memories.

So what I'm understanding is that this Vega is from pre-history. He's young again in terms of memories. Him mentioning the alliance between de(a)mons and humans means the war against the Sovereigns. Huh. It makes sense why he's 'friendly' (as Vega can be) to Doc and cold?? Annoyance?? Towards Hush.

Also, on the topic of Warden...

They're gonna find them to try and help bring back most of Vega's memories. In a meta sense, Warden now has all the power in their unbalanced game. Before, Vega had the upper hand. NOT ANYMORE NOW! Warden could do something as hilarious as LIE or makeup stuff about Vega dnfjkdsf

On a more dangerous note, I doubt Warden knows all about Vega's original plan. Now that his memories are lost... and he was on the cusp of pulling off something HUGE... I think this is gonna bring trouble to them. A HUGE PROBLEM IF VEGA DOESN'T GET HIS MEMORIES BACK.

AND THEN IT BACK TO THEM BEING ENEMIES AGAIN, YAY :D

[exo-raskreia]

hey again, thanks for replying to my previous ask! I have another ask, if you think AiTani (Aizen x Tanisha) have parallels with Ulquihime (Ulquiorra x Orihime?) What do you think are the similarities between the ships?

So in the TCACLOM (the captive and captor's liberation) fan made novel (it's a continuation of post-canon CFYOW events) there is this character named Tanisha Chōdhori, she is appointed the warden of muken and all, she's this stoic and almost nearly emotionless character and then she meets Aizen who she's guarding in Muken obviously and while she guards him, Aizen makes her so infuriated with his words about her true desires and how she desires a path free from soul society that she started feeling emotion in a long time, and she realized that she could openly explore these new emotions if she has Aizen with her so she breaks him out of muken for his companionship while he gets liberation and freedom from imprisonment. For context: Soul Society forced Tanisha as a young girl into this emotionally detached mindset that if she acts the way they want, she'll be a respected member of the Gotei 13 and if she acts in any other way, she'd be criticized for not meeting the standards of how a professional shinigami should be. (The soul society has a bias against Tanisha because of her grandfather named Saphir who ruled the chōdhori clan as the 20th head. The chōdhori clan was a minor clan ruled by the Shiba which was their parent family, so they're basically related ig. The 20th head of the chōdhori clan had attempted to assassinate Kaien Shiba (Before Kaien's Actual Death) to take over the branch of the Shiba clan that Kaien ruled, and by ruling this branch, he could sabotage the other branches of the Shiba Clan but was caught by Ukitake and executed while the rest of the chōdhori clan was exiled to the poorest district of rukongai to repent in place of the 20th head's crime. Tanisha's father named Raiten had obviously escaped Soul Society to the Human World with another elderly chōdhori who was also a Vice Kidō Chief that managed to open the Senkaimon for him, and that's how Raiten started a new life and eventually had Tanisha.) Tanisha has been severely misunderstood for her family's reputation and this damaged the image the other shinigami would have of her, so they became more expectant of her to follow their standards so she can at least fit in with the crowd. Tanisha only developed a strong bond and relationship with Aizen when she became his warden as he challenged her rigid belief that she had no capacity for any other desire besides serving soul society, basically Aizen helped her see a new world and that is why she liberated him from Muken. Tanisha broke Aizen out of Muken if he'd marry her in exchange for liberation, because he's the only one to show her a new world and a new trajectory that no one else has shown her before, and she would explore that path with Aizen).

Oh btw, u got great taste in ships. I love Ichiruki.

I don't have any interest in the Bleach novels (retcons & more nonsense) but this fan novel doesn't sound too bad. Based on what you said, it does sound like this AiTani ship has some similarities with UlquiHime. The girl sounds similar to Ulquiorra in the stoicism & stuff, & both became curious & intrigued by their captive. Aizen was being a manipulator but Ori was just showing her heart to Ulquiorra. I'm surprised Tanisha asked for marriage but I guess Aizen will do whatever it takes to get free, lol. Idk if the novel implies if he will develop any feelings for Tanisha, but I think that Ulquiorra would have definitely developed them for Ori had he lived (or maybe he kind of did?).

Anyway, so yeah, I can see some parallels there. Maybe the writer is an UH fan? Lol.

And oh, lol, thanks. IchiRuki FTW fr. Kubo fumbled big time. None of my main Bleach ships are canon (formerly established canon ships like ByaHisa don't count, for example 🤷‍♀️), and yet are still better than the endgame ones 🤣.

[exhausted-archivist]

Concept Art Moments and Ideas: What I Wish Was Kept

Pretty sure we've all been there. Seen some of the concept art and thought how cool it was and how much you wish it had made it in the final game. These are some of mine, I won't go too much into why they're not in the game, the answer is usually either one of the following or a combination of: they needed to narrow the scope of the project, frostbite was a new engine they were struggling to make do what they needed, time, they didn't feel it had enough narrative weight or purpose, or it would make the world states branch out far too much.

I'm not really wanting to discuss whether or not I agree with cutting them either. I just really think these are neat concept, ones I've thought out how they would fold in, possible ways they could have played out, and some that personally I have worked into my fic just to fully explore the ideas.

Most of the images that don't have a source link came from either the art book or the BioWare Stories and Secrets From 25 Years of Game Development (B25) book.

Now lets start with the most common one:

[Source]

I'm know others have said this, but I really wish that it had been feasible for you to become Divine. Though, honestly this only would have really worked as decision at the end of the series. While personally in my canon world state I don't have anyone I would want to put in that role. I do have an OC who I did design for that and would have been nice to see it play out. Especially come Trespasser.

These are story boards from the art book of the prologue walk through Haven. The voice lines for this are still in the game files even though they're cut. Something I always wanted in the prologue was something to actually motivate me. There is no real sense of danger, and the walk through Haven hold no real weight. It's mostly telling and no showing, it feels hollow after your first play-through where you aren't curious and uncertain. It honestly would have been interesting to me if this was in there and if there were non-standard ending option outside of combat. Provoking the scared survivors to where they mob you, a timer on the mark instead of just the one check point. If it started draining your health the longer you took to get to the Breach. Things that could easily be removed if you decreased the difficulty level and wouldn't impact the game overly much.

[Left Dragon Age Art Book, Right World of Thedas vol. 2 p. 245]

To continue on with my desire for the steaks in Inquisition to be more intense, for you to actually feel some type of risk or hostility from the world. These two are more of an expansion on the attack on Haven. I wish Corypheus was given a more dramatic entrance than being seen on the hill with his Commander. That when he arrived to scoop you up, that it was more ominous and threatening. Something to illustrate as him having this overwhelming presence and force.

In Hushed Whispers had the concept art of King Alistair going with you and honestly, I feel like it is a missed opportunity. Not only would it make sense but there is a sort of thematic element with Alistair once again having to save Redcliffe from a mage. I think this also could have worked if he was king or warden. If he was a warden, it would have been a very nice way to tie in the Warden plot for Alistair and even Loghain. Would have really given the Inquisitor a reason to care about choosing between them or Hawke in the Fade.

[Source]

Matt Rhodes labeled this as Anders in the tags, and I am really intrigued by this prospect. We know by the end of DA2 if he's alive he doesn't have many friends with the displaced mages of Kirkwall after awhile. It would have been nice for him to come back in that Warden role they were considering for the cancelled Exalted March DLC. But what really makes me curious, is why he's out in what we might think is the Western Approach/Hissing Wastes and what happened to his missing right arm.

Alternatively, another scenario I would have liked to see with Anders comes from the B25 book. We see they explored the idea of Anders, as a Grey Warden in the cancelled Exalted March DLC. Honestly, I feel as if he would return regardless of if you killed him or not because we know that Justice can and has prevented fatal injuries from killing Anders before. This could have been an interesting thread to not only pull his story to an end in dai, but also introduce the Warden contact instead of the ones we had. Because he was on the run and the Wardens would offer a degree of protection so he would be unwillingly forced to return, couple that with him knowing of Corypheus - which would likely be the thing that forced the Wardens to keep him alive once they found his prison empty.

[Source]

This is Western Approach concept art, specifically this was suppose to be Adamant. Matt Rhodes describes that it was suppose to be a monastery, self-sustaining, and a place where they could cultivate their own food, weave their own fabrics. It would have been interesting to be able to see it like this, to see the game use this to not only explore how the Wardens survived out here but also how they recovered the fortress after it was wrecked in Asunder. It would have tied in nicely with exploring the fact that the reversal of Tranquility was found here, a fact known to everyone in game at this point (they just didn't know the Seekers hid it from the Chantry and mages). It would have been an excellent way to fold in Rhys, Evangeline, flesh out Cole's backstory and personal quest, and even show another side of the mages - the ones who didn't want to be involved in the war and fled to the Wardens.

Two Words: Giant. Scorpion.

Look how massive that is. I love mega fauna so much. I want something massive to be living in the Hissing Wastes and I want this to be fighting dragons. It would have been amazing. Look at the boards they put out.

[Source]

I want to believe this is for the Western Approach given the ground type and the smoke in the background. If this thing was guarding the sulfur fields by Griffon Keep? It would have been epic. Or even if we saw it fighting the Abyssal dragon. Honestly, I think more areas should have had a competing predator for the dragons to be fighting. It would have been cooler if they kept great bears (previously known as Dragon Bears) at their massive size to fight a dragon in the Emerald Graves too.

[Source]

That said, this scorpion concept gets even better when you see the concept art for smaller versions being Venatori mounts.

How do you not get stabbed bud? How do you domesticate/train this? What is the intelligence of this little critter? I can just picture a play on the scorpion and the frog happening here. This would have been really cool as mini-bosses or something of that nature. Particularly around the ruins, Venatori operations, or raids against the keeps.

Another piece from B25, we see new concept art of the Inquisitor leaving Skyhold with the Inquisition as Skyhold is destroyed in the background. We learned from David Gaider that at one point Skyhold was actually suppose to be attacked by Corypheus, but it ended up being cut due to time/scope. This is something I wish they kept, having your second base attack, you home at the point where you felt the strongest and potentially after a recent victory.

It would have reminded the player that Corypheus and his commander, Calpernia or Samson, were a real and active threat. Something missing from Inquisition honestly. It would have been interesting to see if we had to find a new base of operations or if we had to rebuild. When first settling in Skyhold everyone mentions being able to see the enemy coming, about not retreating from Skyhold. They really built up an expectation that at the very least a scare of an attack would happen.

There would have been a sort of poetic sense to Skyhold being leveled. Considering it is of Fereldan make, built on top of a leveled elven site. To have the site once again leveled, the history brought back to its foundations. It would have been a thematic foreshadowing to what Solas plans to do as well.

These are clearly just things I found interesting, things I feel would have really added to the game, and some others might not agree with. There are other things I wish they hadn't cut, but I didn't want to include anything that has been post-humorously mentioned by the devs because I wanted to focus more on the concept art aspect. A lot of decisions were shaped by circumstances we'll never really know the full scope of, and sometimes I wonder if they had gotten more than the 3-4 years they had for Inquisition and maybe on an engine that wasn't so fickle and worked better for the style of game how different it would have been.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About The Owl House Pilot

Huh. Never thought I’d get to do this again, but oh well.

Salutations, random people on the internet! I’m an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And, above all else, I LOVE talking about The Owl House. I have an entire masterpost dedicated to talking about every single episode of the show and I’m halfway through a six-part review discussing everything that I love about it (Part Four's coming when it’s done. Let’s say…late June. Early July at the latest). I figured that after I’d finished that whole deal, I wouldn’t have anything left to talk about when it came to this series. Then, out of nowhere, the show’s original pilot leaked online…Sort of. It’s just an animatic with the show’s original voice cast voicing MOST of the lines, but it’s very much the pilot episode. It’s just not a finished product and I won’t share a link because I don’t think it’s exactly…legal. BUT I will at least share my thoughts about it because, well…Look at my blog. The Owl House has become the BIG THING that I obsess over for a reason and I love that I got to see what’s basically an alternate version of the show that I love. What do I mean?

Well, a pilot is MUCH different from a first episode. Where the first episode is meant to sell the show to the audience, a pilot is meant to sell it to a STUDIO. It can happen at any point of the story or act as the show’s first episode. Just as long as it shows off the characters, concepts, and tone, a studio can look at it, greenlight it, and allow the show to continue, BUT with some extra notes. Sometimes, those notes can change the rest of the series where others can keep the pilot good enough to stay canon. Some best examples off the top of my head are the pilots for Regular Show and Rick and Morty. You can tell that not much changed from the pilots of those shows and what was initially pitched, but there are clear changes in tone, animation, and even personality. Skips sounds a little more illiterate and Benson being more informed of the consequences of something as simple as rock, paper, scissors in the Regular Show pilot and Rick is noticeably more reckless and unprepared for situations in the Rick and Morty pilot. Nothing is set in stone with a pilot episode, even the ones that are canon. For the case of The Owl House, it’s pilot is no exception. A lot of it is just the same as “A Lying Witch and A Warden” at least in terms of plot and themes, but there are so many changes that show off what the series COULD HAVE been instead of what it was. How different? Well, let’s go through it all.

But real quick, I’m not going to do the “Like/Dislike” format I’ve done for previous reviews. Instead, I’m going to look through this pilot, note the changes it has, and share my thoughts on them. There’s also going to be a few spoilers to what happens in this pilot, so if you haven’t checked it out then I suggest giving it a watch wherever you can find it. It really is interesting to get a peak into what’s basically an alternate version of my favorite show.

With that said, let’s get into it.

Some Things Stayed the Same: Like I said, it’s basically an altered version of “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” The plot is that Eda uses Luz to get King back his “crown of power,” with some bits and pieces carrying over. Certain jokes that must have been too funny to get rid of, specific lines of dialogue that hit just the right notes, and some aspects of the characters’ personalities being just the same, proving that they're already perfect the way they are. It’s the changes, however, that makes for something more interesting. For one…

There’s More of an Emphasis on Comedy: As much as I love The Owl House, I’ll always admit that humor isn't its strong suit. It CAN be funny, really funny. But the jokes don’t land as well as something as Gravity Falls or Amphibia. I can say that a part of that could be because Dana Terrace wanted a more serious show, and we definitely get a sense of how serious it could be later in the series. Here, in the pilot, it definitely seems like there was more of an attempt to make the show comedic. King’s crown isn’t in a warden’s cell held within a magical barrier that only a human can get through. It’s in a Principal’s high school, locked in a human locker that Eda and King treat as something devious. Amity’s friends aren’t preppy mean girls who seem like they could cause conflict to Luz and her friends. They’re characters used for jokes who are amazed by Luz standing up to Lilith. There’s less of an edge and more of a lean towards cutesy fun, waiting until the very end to reveal something heavy. To me, it makes the pilot feel MORE like a Gravity Falls clone than the final product. Because while Gravity Falls has its serious moments, it makes it clear that it was a comedy first, both in the pilot and final product. Any moment of heart or drama was overshadowed by one hilarious joke after the other. Now, “A Lying Witch and A Warden” had a lot of jokes too, but there were also these moments that hinted at something more. You have the oppressive looking prison, the grand beam of light hiding human collectibles, a crazy chase from a threatening looking warden. And yes, the reveal that Warden Wrath was trying to go out with Eda was hilarious, but a warden who tortures a prisoner for speaking her truth gives a hint of how dark this world can be. Meanwhile, a principal sending a student to demon detention feels more like a joke, exaggerating how strict some principals can be.

And keep in mind, I’m not complaining about the pilot leaning more towards comedy. I actually laughed a lot more with it than I did with “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” I’m just trying to explain how the tone is definitely going for something different than the full series. It might have that darker twist in the end, but even that is nothing more than a surprise. I'll get into why later, but while it has darker implications, it doesn't detract from the fun times to be had. Not by much. From what I can gather from the pilot, it’s definitely going for a series with goofy, fun adventures with a bit of heart to it. It’s just missing that personal touch that’s in The Owl House. One good example of how?

There’s Not Even a MENTION of Camila: Before you say anything, this has nothing to do with me being Camila’s number one fan, to the point where I almost made a side-blog dedicated to her (I really should get on that, though…)

I bring up this change because Camila grounds the story in “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” She draws Luz close to reality and is the first thing that comes to Luz’s mind when in real danger, saying, “If I die, my mom will kill me!” More than that, though, Camila is the one real connection Luz has to the human realm. She has no friends nor adventures, but Luz always has Camila, with even the first episode hinting that. So when Luz starts getting herself into trouble or choosing to lie and stay in the Boiling Isles, it lets the audience get ready for the inevitable drama that could unfold when Luz finally tells Camila everything. By removing Camila, though, the anticipation of Luz telling her mom goes away with her. At least, it tells ME that there’s less of a worry about Luz basically running away from home. Either this version of the show is holding off from that for a future episode or that Luz and Camila’s relationship isn’t close enough where it matters. This is speculation, of course, but I still stand by that a sense of something personal with Luz is lost for the sake of having fun and epic fantasy adventures with entertaining characters. It’s still good and entertaining, and the pilot does offer something else that’s personal, but it’s not the same as The Owl House we all fell in love with. Though, it’s notable that our main cast stayed the same.

Luz, Eda, and King: Overall, I’d say that these three, personality wise, didn’t change much. King’s probably the least altered, being the exact same character he was in Season One aside from MAYBE having a design change (It’s hard to tell through storyboards). As for Luz and Eda, they’re more or less the same. There’s a BIG change with Eda (That I’ll get to later), but her devil-may-care attitude is very much the same, as well as her snark and soft nature towards Luz and King. It’s her magic that gets the real boost, being able to do more like teleport across the Isles and turn into a…softer version of the Owl Beast at will. It’s pretty cool to see the power that this alternate Owl Lady has. And then there’s Luz, who’s still the lovable weirdo we all know. Though, this version seems a lot more dim and I’m not really a fan. How does she mistakenly give a book report in geometry class? How did it take seeing Amity’s witch ears to realize that she belonged in the demon realm? Luz had her dumb moments in the show too, but not to this extent. There was still a sense of maturity and cognitive understanding that made Luz feel like someone that seemed weird but intelligent enough to think herself out of a situation. This Luz seems more weird and focused on using brute force on a problem. In a way, it makes Pilot!Luz more of an…emotionally driven Star Butterfly. A fun and capable character, but not the same kind I had made several posts and reviews talking about how much I love/personally connected to her. But, comparatively, I guess it IS the most minor change that could be done to this character. Now let’s move onto BIGGER changes.

The Boiling Isles: The look and feel of the Isles remains the same, but the fact that it’s more connected to the Human Realm is intriguing. From what I can tell, the Demon Realm treats traveling to the Human Realm like it’s going to a new country. You visit, make some memories, and, for some, send your children over to be a foreign exchange student of sorts. Except that racism seems to be encouraged in this regard as the demons and witches don’t see humans worth breathing the same air as them. And some think it’s more than okay to hunt down and kill if one human trespasses into their realm. And the reason for THAT is implied to be Belos’ doing. Er, I mean–*Checks the leaked pitch bible*--Emperor Pupa? Uh…I’ll just stick with Belos. 

And that’s extra fascinating to me because Belos being a witch hunter was a major twist that spoke VOLUMES of the kind of people he represents. To find out that this version is more anti-human makes me curious of what kind of angle the show would have taken. Would Belos have been your bare-bones fantasy villain or would the writers find a different way to tackle his symbolism? And is the reason why the Demon Realm is more open up to the Human Realm because he hopes witches and demons can report about their enemies for a possible invasion? There’s no way to know for sure because that version of the story will never come to be, but it’s interesting to think of all the things we COULD have gotten. The same goes for other characters.

Amity: To think, Amity was considered important enough to be included in the original pitch pilot alongside our main trio. It makes sense. Dana Terrace has gone on record in saying that Luz and Amity’s relationship was something she wanted from the get go, so it’s smart to establish it as quickly as possible. Though the route they take is definitely different. Instead of being enemies to lovers, Lumity, in the original pitch, went for the friends to lovers trope…kind of.

Luz, in this version, is someone so desperate for positive attention and respect that she latches onto the first person in school that was nice to her. Except that Amity was looking for some quiet and just so happened to look like she was supporting Luz when telling everyone to leave her alone. It was an act of kindness, but not one done in generosity. It still meant the world to Luz, though, making her go ALL IN with friendship. Only to be a little too forward and creeped Amity out to the point where she was polite enough to say “Thank you,” but you could see the desperation in her eyes to be anywhere but next to Luz. Yet Luz doesn’t see that. She’s still too focused that someone was actually nice to her that she blindly follows Amity into a new world just to return a weird looking passport. Because Amity’s Luz’s friend now and friends do nice things to each other. Only for Amity to accidentally reveal that she couldn’t care less for Luz and shatter her hopes and dreams in one fell swoop.

In a weird way, I’d say Luz and Amity are off on a better first impression here than in the original series. There’s no attempted dissections or witch’s duels. Just…Amity trying to be polite in Luz’s presence only to act like your typical mean girl when she THINKS Luz isn’t around. Tossing away the drawing is harsh for sure, but here’s the interesting thing: Amity didn’t know she was talking to Luz at that moment. She didn’t even get rid of the drawing until someone drew (haha) attention to it. If anything, it’s worth noting that Amity still kept the drawing on her. Almost like, despite being weirded out by Luz, Amity felt as though the drawing WAS cute and only got rid of it when she thought someone would question her for having it. Can’t have that Little Miss Perfect status shatter over something some human gave her.

Am I reaching as a Lumity shipper? Oh, most certainly yes. But we all know the inevitable conclusion between these two. We know where they’re headed. Dana has been pretty adamant about wanting it from the start and this pilot sets the groundwork well. Knowing where these two will end up, it’s easy to make connections and hypothesize what means what. Plus, look at the face of shock and amazement on Amity’s face when she sees Luz standing up to Lilith. That looks like a girl who’s…feeling things for this human weirdo. They’re not off to a ROARING start, but I can see how things could improve between Luz and Amity. And who knows, maybe this version of these two might end up dating sooner with how quickly they seem interested in each other. Again, am I reaching? Most definitely, but I went without any new Lumity content for over a year so LET ME REACH!

The point I’m trying to make is that this version of Amity definitely seems a lot more chill and polite at the start, even though it’s likely she still has issues of even being FRIENDS with a human. But not everyone starts off polite.

Lilith: Crazy to think that Lilith started out as…basically a one-off villain like Warden Wrath. At least, that’s what I gathered from the pilot. The pitch bible hints that there COULD be more to her, but at the same time she gets sent to a fire dimension and loses a hand. That’s one-off villain energy if I’ve ever seen it. But if she is meant to be something more, I would love to see what differences could come of her being the headmaster of Hexside instead of Bump and how she could either develop into someone better through Luz’s influence as a student or regress into someone worse as she makes Luz’s school life a living hell. Whatever could come from her, it was kind of fun seeing Lilith act as more of a threat with her…out of nowhere ability to turn into a bat monster. It’s a pretty cool design and I love that it was brought out due to Eda’s constant pestering, proving that Lilith is still the same insecure nut that I love. And it is pretty great that this pilot confirmed that Lilith really did dye her hair to look more serious. You CAN’T tell me that’s not why the Lilith we know ditched the curly red hair.

But that’s about it when it comes to changes towards characters and locations. Let’s talk about the potential differences in the ongoing story.

Luz Stays Trapped Instead of Choosing to Stay: I mean, technically she chose to stay by breaking that key for no reason, but that’s more of a consequence of not thinking things through. She didn’t NEED to break the key, Luz could have just as easily pulled it out. Instead, she kicked the dang thing, leaving herself trapped in this new world. And it’s here that I would like to once again point out how this makes Pilot!Luz different and what’s lost by not including Camila. The Luz WE know would have been more careful. She always felt like someone who fought smarter, not harder, even in that first episode. Luz didn’t fight Wrath head on, she rallied a prison riot that distracted him long enough for her to hit a firework ball into his mouth. She’s intelligent and resourceful, where this one…kind of is? It was smart to send Lilith to the fire dimension, but again, not a great plan to break the key. Plus, without Camila, this doesn’t feel like as big of a deal as it could have been. Camila was the first person in Luz’s mind as she destroyed the portal door in the Season One finale. In the pilot, with no Camila, it feels like a non-sacrifice or even that big of a deal. She’s stuck, sure, but Luz doesn’t really seem to care that much. She feels happy being with Eda and King and doesn’t seem to be in that big of a rush to get home. Plus, it’s not exactly complicated to get back. There was a whole line of portal doors in the beginning that Luz could potentially sneak through and there’s not yet an established cannon that makes it seem like getting a new key would be difficult or even complicated. Once more, it gives the impression that this version of The Owl House would be focused less on personal stakes and more like giving Luz that fantasy adventure she’s always been craving for. It would make for a fun show, but not the SAME show. However, it is worth noting that there could be some potential drama. Especially for one twist that was a JOLT to my system.

EDA WORKS FOR THE EMPEROR?!: WHAT?!

I’ll admit, I feel like the reason why this is so shocking is because of the Eda I know and the Emperor I learned to fear. I mean, Eda, the woman who would sooner eat her own fist before even CONSIDERING helping Belos, even before the witch hunter business, was originally meant to HELP him. Of all the changes that the series could have made, this was by far the biggest. Everything that I thought to be constant turned out to be a lie and I was NOT prepared for it!

But again, the reason why I got that big of a reaction is because it goes against everything I knew about Eda. If this was my first introduction to her, it’d be less of a shocking twist and more of a…hook. Like how Invincible’s first episode (Don’t watch if you’re a baby) ends with a character you THOUGHT you could trust doing this intensely dark thing. The rest of the season is leading you to figure out WHY this was done and how the other characters would react, making you want to see more as the show inevitably leads up to this big conclusion that changes everything you once knew. The same applies here, with the reveal making me wonder why Eda would do this, how long she’s been doing it, how it will affect her relationship with Luz, and whether or not it’d be an easy fix. And much like the ending of Invincible’s first episode (Seriously, NOT meant for babies), this hook makes me interested in wanting to see what comes next. Except I never will know because that came from a version of The Owl House that will never exist.

The pilot is interesting because it shows me what The Owl House COULD have been. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than what we got or even that it’s a better first impression than “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” It’s definitely FUNNIER, I’ll give it that, but it doesn’t make the original pitch better, it makes it different. Everything looks the same and sounds the same, but the overall feel of this pilot makes it something that would have had a different story, tone, and ideas on how to develop these characters. Would I have liked it? Absolutely. It seems like a fun time. But that doesn’t mean I like the show we got any less. This was more like…getting a peek into an alternate universe where a show I already love would have been vastly different. And after over a year without any new Owl House content aside from stuff that fans have made, this was a very pleasant surprise that leaves me excited for the NEW fan content that springs from all this.

But that’s enough talking about a show that could have been made. Time to get back to a series that came into existence and I still love so much. See you all then as you all milk this gift that the internet has given you.