#the serious collector series

[piosplayhouse]

Wwx is the only mxtx main protagonist who would not be a my little pony fan. But he does own a 20% cooler shirt

[jmgangel]

Being a doll collector means having a favorite childhood franchise that will never get a reboot. So Hasbro, about Trollz—

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Fastback

1969 was, effectively, the final year for the Shelby Mustang. By now assembly had shifted in Michigan from California where it was contracted out to A.O. Smith Corporation. Smith, an established Motor City contractor, had brought a level of serious manufacturing skill, supplier management, procedure and standards never seen at Shelby’s facility where LAX met the vibrant (and sometimes extreme) subculture of Venice, California.

Now largely designed and specified by Ford staffers, the 1969 Shelby Mustang was drastically different visually from the standard Mustangs, with a completely different nose and grille, a wide rectangular opening with blacked out grille flanked by 7” headlights and with Shelby’s characteristic driving lights now smaller rectangular pieces below the attractive, but largely ineffective, bumper. The special Shelby hood had five ducts, three NACA-style surface ducts replaced the complicated but entertaining shaker hoods of years gone by to supply cold air directly to the engine air intake and two extractors at the back of the hood relieving underhood pressure and exhausting heated air in front of the windshield.

A surface duct behind the headlights and a scoop behind the door and in front of the rear wheel arch that was ducted to the rear brakes continued the performance theme. The rear panel was completely different from the Mustang, housing a set of 1965 Thunderbird sequential taillights with the rear license plate placed between them and including a small ducktail spoiler. The area under the bumper where standard Mustangs carried their license plate contained two rectangular outlets for the Shelby’s dual exhaust system. Standard wheels were unique 5-spoke Mag Stars with alloy centers and chrome steel rims.

Under the hood lay the 428 Cobra Jet which had powered the ’68 Shelby GT500KR. Both Ford and Shelby recognized the superiority of the high performance CJ and made it the standard engine for 1969’s Shelby Mustangs. 

At the end of the 1969 model year 789 Shelby Mustangs were in-process at A.O. Smith. They were visually updated with black hood stripes and a chin spoiler and given new VINs. Otherwise the 1970s were exactly the same as the ‘69s making these two years essentially identical examples of the end of the Shelby Mustang series which had begun only a scant six years before.

Avidly sought by collectors and obsessively documented by the Shelby American Automobile Club, most Shelby Mustangs are well known and have well known histories. Occasionally, however, a example appears which has been out of sight for years. Even more rarely it turns out to have been little used and continuously maintained by a thoughtful and caring single owner for nearly forty years.

The Black Jade 1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Sportsroof fastback offered here is one of those rare and highly desirable cars. It was delivered new to Ford’s dealer in Yokohama, Japan, Marubeni Motors K.K., and was sold thereafter to its first, and only, owner in Japan. It has been repainted in the original color once but is otherwise completely original, as delivered and has only 84,941km on its metric-calibrated export speedometer (52,779 miles.) Its sympathetic maintenance and care shows throughout in its clean, straight, rust-free condition.

Power of course comes from the 428 cubic inch Cobra Jet Ram Air V-8 engine which Ford and Shelby conservatively rated at 335 horsepower at 5,200rpm and a gut-wrenching 440 lb-ft torque at 3,400rpm. It puts the power through Ford’s highly regarded C-6 automatic transmission and Traction-Lok differential with high speed 3.00:1 gearing that takes full advantage of the CJ engine’s torque. In addition to the highly desirable drivetrain specification it is loaded with options including the Visibility Group, Goodyear white letter tires, Sport Deck folding rear seat, power front disc brakes, power steering, tilt steering column, Selectaire air conditioning, AM/8-track stereo radio, tinted glass, deluxe belts, tachometer and trip odometer.

It is finished in one of the Shelby Mustang’s most attractive colors, Black Jade. The interior and high back buckets seats are upholstered in black Clarion Knit/Corinthian vinyl that complements with Black Jade exterior.

It returned to the U.S. in 2006 but has never been titled by its current owner so it remains a one-owner car. Its absolutely clear history, one-owner provenance, highly original condition with known mileage and extensive options list are attributes shared by few Shelby Mustangs of this age. This is a rare opportunity for an astute collector to acquire a particularly significant, unmolested Shelby Mustang from the last, and most highly developed, series.

1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Fastback

Powered by a 428ci V8 engine mated to a C6 automatic transmission, this beauty includes the original #Shelby owner card, a copy of the Shelby work order and Window Sticker.

1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Fastback

1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Fastback

[circeyoru]

How would the Overlords react to the collector being stressed or sad? Have they even seen them stressed/sad?

This is for {Collection of Overlords}, check MASTERLIST for the work

Interesting questions. Simple answer. The Collector/You don't get stressed or sad.

It's not that you don't get stressed or sad; you can, but there was never a situation or circumstance in which you do feel stressed or sad. You're more of the calm and collected one, whereas Trick would be hyper and chaotic (when they were once Noir, it was the opposite, somewhat).

The most you've shown your Overlords are pride, proudness, disappointment, and anger. Maybe happiness, if you want to put it that way, but it could also be seen as amusement most of the time. You really don't tend to show much feelings and expressions to them because you see no need to, if it was something that major, they wouldn't be able to help you anyways and you'd be dealing with it alone in the end.

You need to remember that Overlords aren't the top tier in terms of power, if you needed anyone's help in something troubling, you'd call for the Sins' help. Why you have the Overlords as your personal collection is cause they have potential to grow, but even at their full potential, they are nothing to

If you do express those, it's more like a prank to get a reaction out of them, or a test even.

Zestial — He's knowledgeable enough to know you're not actually sad or stressed in any way. Rather than comfort you, he'll ask to see if there was anything you wanted from him or if you were trying to get a reaction out of him. The former is a test, and the latter is a prank. So it's either work or fun for you. That's something he can't tell since you have a tendency to be mysterious to the point there was no understanding of what you'd do next.

Carmilla — It would fly off her radar that you were playing and/or testing her. She'll immediately try to consolidate you in any way she can. It can range from her showing off her various new weapons, her upcoming projects, some business plans. Oh, too formal? Well, she can always arrange a nice gathering with her daughter together and just chat together. Surely that would take your mind off of whatever was troubling you. Know that she wouldn't ask what it is, but what she can do about it, like is there someone she needs to torture or kill.

Rosie — Similar to Camilla, but she goes straight to the chatting and gossip tea party. She'll tell you all the latest juicy subjects and cook you some lovely meat (demon of course) and tell you how much Cannibal Town and its residents missed having you around. Why not a party tonight? A feast to brighten your mood. Naturally, she and the rest of the Cannibals will fight and destroy anything that stresses you out or saddens you.

Zeezi — Doesn't have the mind to think it's a prank and takes it all too serious. But at the same time, thinks that her performance in your eyes is not enough in some way. Tries very very hard to change it. If it was a prank, you really need to tell her after you got the laugh you wanted. Or not, doesn't matter cause it turned to a motivation and reason for her to be better so... Win-win.

Alastor — A mixture of Zestial, Carmilla and Rosie. Naturally, to him the first order of business was to make sure it was serious or not, so test or prank, but there's one more. Is there an order for him to follow. If it was a prank, you got him on his best behaviour, malewife level, he'll make your favourites and is at your beak and call no matter what. Even if and when Charlie calls him to do anything, his ears don't hear it, and he's only attentive to you. If it was a test, seriously, he passed with flying colours. Now, it were some indirect way of giving him an order, he got it and will immediately act on it, no questions asked and nothing to consider.

(for the Vees, I'm writing their state as before the events of Hazbin Hotel and this series)

Vox, Valentino, and Velvette — To be fair, they wouldn't even be tested, let alone pranked by you. Because you don't see the point in visiting them when they were that lacking. When they are like that in meetings (Part 4-5), you can imagine and see how they act outside of those meetings and needless to say, you're very very disappointed to the point of not wanting to deal with them. You won't even show them real emotions because you know they don't care nor will they do anything. Compared to the rest of the Overlords, why would you go to them for business or fun?

[fortunekookie07]

Ashfierce posted a dating him photo series for each of the boys and I was inspired by one of Rafayel's chosen pics. I ended up using all of them as inspiration. I present to you:

A Stupid Kind of Wonderful

Dating Rafayel was an experience in itself. If you thought about it rationaly, he was kind of (a lot) selfish. He was also arrogant, and sometimes you just wanted to punch him in his stupid, pretty face (that you love). He was complex, his heart was carefully guarded and hidden away under his brash, haughty personality.

He was talented, one of the best artists to appear in a millennium. Every art piece he created was highly sought after. Each collector wanting to add a one of a kind creation to their collection.

You were often giddy that, rather than his paintings, you had the best thing of all. Rafayel himself, he'd given his heart to you freely. It hadn't taken much effort for him to shed the persona he presented to the rest of the world and show his true self. But only to you, only for you.

He'd told you many times before that a Lemurian mated only once, for life, every life they lived would only be for that one person. You had not been able to get it out of him just how many times he'd been reborn, but you could tell he was an old soul deep down. Sometimes, the way he spoke when he was serious was like he was ancient. Like he'd seen all the world had to offer many times over, and you were the only thing he ever wanted or needed.

Then there were times like tonight where you were convinced that your lover was actually a five year old, or had once been a cat.

You'd gone looking for him to tell him that dinner was ready, still holding the spoon You'd been using to stir with. Upon opening the bedroom door, you dropped the spoon as both hands fell to your sides like dead weights.

There was Rafayel (a fully grown man of 24 years) playing in a box. He'd cut four holes in the sides and was down on all fours, on top of the bed like some kind of freakish animal or a mutated insect.

"W-w-what are you doing?" You managed to gasp out voice high and squeaky at the end of your sentence. The box flaps popped open as he stuck his head out. Styrofoam peanuts statically stuck to his hair and pointing every which way. Upon seeing his deer in the headlights expression and just how ridiculous he looked, you doubled over in laughter. Gasping for air as you sank to your knees. Tears rolled down your cheeks as you laughed hysterically.

Rustling and fumbling on the bed had you looking up just in time to see him practically teleport out of the box sending peanuts everywhere. They were stuck to his clothes and hair, and his sheepish expression sent you into a new fit of giggles.

"R-Rafay-el what we-re y-you doing"?!? You ask in between laughs. He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like he'd just wanted to play in the box, as he scratched the side of his face and brushed peanuts out of his hair.

He offers you his hand, and you take it. He pulls you up and into his embrace. Holding you tightly for a moment and rocking you side to side. "I missed you when you were gone." He burries his face in your neck, breathing in your scent and placing little kisses there.

A rumbling sound interupts your sweet little moment, and you look at him with a knowing smile. "You've forgotten to eat again, haven't you?" You say knowing full well once he gets going on a painting nothing can distract him. Not even his body's demands for food. He nods unashamed, it's not like this is the first time he's done this. "I made that spicy seafood pasta you like." You say turning from the room and drawing him with you by his hand. He pauses only to grab your dropped spoon.

Per your usual routine for meals, Rafayel has already gone to the cabinets to grab bowls, spoons, and glasses. Whoever made dinner would serve and the other would grab dishes and clean up.

"Anything interesting happen at work?" Rafayel asks pouring tea into the cups and setting them on the table. You think for a moment. "Not really, I only had a couple missions today. Wanderer activity is at a low point right now. We're not getting sent out as much." He nodded and pulled your chair out as you walked over with the bowls.

You lean in and reach up on your toes to give him a quick kiss before sitting down and then setting his bowl on the table across from you. He pushes your chair in and then walks around to pull out and sit in his own chair.

Rafayel took every chance he could to do something for you, even if it was just something as small as pulling you chair out, opening doors for you, or just holding your hand. He never failed to show courtesy and care. It was just one of the many things he did to show his love. Each gesture warmed your heart. At first these things surprised you but as the days had turned to weeks, then months, and finally a year, they felt familiar and part of your routine.

Dinner conversation is light and cheery, rambling about this and that. Rafayel manages to throw in light complaints about how mean Thomas is because he won't approve a ridiculous expedition (that is mildly dangerous) to aquire a color source. Did you mention artists, Rafayel in particular, were eccentric?

Your phone screen lights up with a notification. Tara's profile picture pops in. She's tagged you in something and her caption reads, 'I Challenge You!' Intrigued you grab it and unlock your phone to the post. It's a couple photo challenge.

Her addition to the post says, Hey girl, I saw this and thought it'd be perfect for you! I did it with my bf, it was so much fun. I Challenge you!

Below that it says Couple Photo Challenge and then a list;

1. Strike a pose on a date: (matching outfits a must)

2. Sweet Hug

3. At the aquarium

4. Silly shenanigans

5. Hands only

6. Dance on the beach

7. Swing together

8. Playfight in the water

9. Inseparable

You can see that the post has been reblogged almost five thousand times and has just as many comments. Tara has posted her photo series and it's cute. You laugh looking at her pictures, seeing that for the silly photo she and her boy friend had drawn on their faces with what looks like whipped cream.

"Rafayel, look at this. I want to do it!" You say excitedly showing him the post. He looks it over and he smiles. He often took pictures for his art but he was rarely the subject in his photos. "If you want to." He says easily agreeing to your request.

An idea strikes you as you read over the list again and you look at him with a sweet smile "No," he says catching that look on your face. "But I didn't even say anything!" You protest and start pouting. "I know that look, no." He says pointing an accusatory finger at you.

"It's for the silly photo." You mumble slipping deeper into pout mode. Your bottom lip juts out as you go into full sulk mode, knowing Rafayel can't stand up against the pouty face. He tries to look anywhere but at you, getting squirmy as usual. "D-don't do that." He says trying to maintain his position on not doing whatever your idea was. You tilt your head down and then look up at him though your lashes, a killer move.

He squirms more and seconds tick by. Any moment now. You think grining triumphantly in your head. His ears are bright red. A tell tale sign he's about to break. "Ugh, ok fine. What is it?" Your grin is visible now. "I'm going to regret this aren't I?" He mumbles with a sigh. "Let me take a pick of you in the box for our silly photo." You say as you get up and walk around the table. He's just pushed his chair back and you take the opportunity for further persuasion, and sit in his lap. Your hands hook behind his neck and his go to your hips automatically.

"No way, something else. Anything but that." He says not wanting everyone to see him playing in a box. "Aww come on. We'd have the best silly photo. No one could top it!" You knew Rafayel could be pretty (vary) competitive at times.

His face scrunched up and he looks over your shoulder instead. You grasp his cheeks and turn his head to face you. "Please?" You ask trying to coax him into it with little butterfly kisses on his face. "Ok, ok fine you win." He says finally and you squeal delighted. "You're the best!" You say giving him a bigger kiss. "Yeah, yeah whatever." He's frowning but you can tell his heart isn't behind it.

Over the next week and a half you and Rafayel drag Thomas all over the place to fulfill the requirements of each photo. He grumbles and complains about over time and how being your photographer isn't in his job description.

But as you look through all the possibilities, you decide that he did a great job. You pick out your favorites for each selection and show them to Rafayel.

"This one was a great idea", he says pointing at the one of the two of you at the gallery. The pose is silly, having you both standing with your legs apart and bodies tilted sideways towards each other. "Yeah, black was a great color choice. We really stand out against the background." You say sitting next to him on the couch.

"Oh, what do you think of this one? Thomas caught us mid twirl." You scroll to the beach dance one. The sun had started setting and there were dozens of little waves on the ocean behind you. "You like this one best too?" Rafayel says tucking you into his side as he pulls up the hug. You laugh and remember telling him to jump on you with a hug. "Yeah, it's so cute!" You giggle and scroll to the other ones.

"This one sure wasn't easy." You say pulling up the swing together category. "Yeah I still find it hard to believe we got up without falling." Somehow the two of you had gotten on one swing together. You're seated on his lap facing him and you'd even managed to actually swing. "The chains did dig into my thighs a bit though." You comment offhandedly.

"Thomas is a great shot, he managed to capture the pic just before I'd pulled you into the water." The playfight pictures were all silly. One of them had Rafayel picking you up and dunking you head first into the rushing waves on the beach. That was after you'd pulled him down into the water. "Let's do this one then." Rafayel agrees with your choice.

"Which categories are left?" He asks looking at the post on his phone as you scroll through the cameras memory.

"Uh, Inseparable, hands only, and at the aquarium." You say checking the ones that have been finalized. "Alright let's see." He takes the camera from you and goes to the next group of pictures. "I like this one, I think it's the best." The two of you are standing in front of the huge fish tank, back to the camera and leaning against eachother. You're pointing at one of the fish and his head is leaning against yours. "Yeah, ok that's the one then."

"Ooh let's do this one! It reminds me of the first pic we took together. Remember our first date and you wanted to stop by that photo booth? Haha you pouted so much when you realized I wasn't completing your hand heart and was just giving a thumbs up." You laugh as his pout is back again. "Yeah, yeah ok then. Inseparable is the last one."

This category had given you the most trouble. Trying to figure out what would best suit your idea of Inseparable. Rafayel had pointed it out easily. He always wanted to hug and touch you and you'd felt silly having tried to put so much thought into something that was very obvious to him.

"Let's go with the bear hug then." You agree looking at the choices. "Oog Tara is going to be so jealous, our pics are definitely the best! Everyone is going to love your box pic. It's so funny." You laugh at the pic again. One of two you had actually taken.

"Let's hurry and post it!" You jump up and drag Rafayel to the computer and hook up the camera to load the pictures.

You select the ones you wanted after they finish up loading and create the post and tag the original.

Couple Photo Challenge!! And then your series of pics. Just before posting you tag another member of Unicorns that you know is married.

Shortly after posting, the comments start rolling in. Tara is first. You laugh at her response and the huffy emoji she used. "I told you she was gonna be jealous!" You say leaning back into Rafayel and reading the comments. "A Stupid Kind of Wonderful." You mumble, looking at him and leaning in for a kiss.

****************************************************

I wanted to be extra nice to Rafayel because I've put him through the ringer with another story I posted and the emotional torture I'm about to give him in its continuation.

I wanted to write something mushy, and I hope you like it as much as I did writing it.

[findmeinthefallair]

Retraumatization vs. Self-Soothing (Part 2)

Part 1 is here.

As is expected when I talk in depth about this skrunkly, the usual warnings apply i.e. heavy discussion surrounding how trauma works, mentions of self-harm, suicidal ideation, death, effects of abuse and discussions about therapy from my perspective as a practicing therapist.

The lengthy meta I have pinned on my blog (link) is the general overview of Hunter's pre-epilogue recovery, whereas this meta will have more observations I hadn't yet made when writing any previous metas, and importantly, using other characters - especially King - as a comparison: because King has been raised by Eda with secure attachment - to better handle traumatic incidents, at only half of Hunter's (supposed) age. Lilith was in the Emperor's Coven for a long time, and while I'm in no way discounting her own deep wounds, her proximity to Belos was not the same as that of Hunter's.

Thanks to the Youtube channel Cinema Therapy, there will be one brief reference of other media: a scene from the movie Big Hero 6, to better highlight a couple of points in this meta. So, spoiler warning for that movie too~

Here we go with Part 2, the second and final piece of this particular series!

Retraumatization:

Belos was such an abusive control freak that he would've wanted to leave a mark on every area in Hunter's life. And he would have left many marks.

Before Hunter would've been able to learn how to carve palismen under Dell's mentorship, it's highly likely that it was problematic for him to even think about or interact with palismen. We already see signs of that in this short scene:

For all you know, after everyone leaves The Collector's Palace, Stringbean (or the other palismen) being their silly playful selves and flying in front of his face or jumping on his shoulder or lap...would be enough to jolt him into a flashback. Not unlike this:

or he might accidentally step on Ghost's tail while carrying heavy loads helping the CaTTs move into new makeshift offices, and Ghost would hiss at him, and he might have a short fuse like in FtF. With this kind of physical risk, it'd be too early for him to begin the carving lessons.

So I think quite a few little bouts of being retraumatized - like aftershocks of an earthquake - await the poor kiddo.

During the course of the show, we have seen him in a state of what's called "hyperarousal" multiple times: e.g. flinching, panic attacks, sweating, shaking, even widening his eyes in rage. This involves the body's sympathetic nervous system to fire up, preparing him to either flee or attack. But in the offscreen pre-timeskip period, he would have swung to the other end - "hypoarousal" - which involved shutting down, numbing out, being lethargic and bored, dissociating from being present, and slowing down to sleep more. It involves the parasympathetic nervous system which prepares a person to shut down: if physically fleeing or attacking is only going to be futile. There would be a new enemies for him to face such as survivor's guilt, moral injury, and loss of meaning and identity at a more serious level than what he faced in Hollow Mind or King's Tide.

It's heartbreaking that by killing Flapjack, Belos inflicted enough pain upon Hunter to sort of send him back to square one. To explain, Belos prevented Hunter from connecting with the outside world and trusting in it: doing this in order to keep Hunter as compliant as possible. The themes of connection vs. isolation seem to be visually represented by 1. palismen and 2. the Golden Guard uniform, especially the helmet covering the face and gloves covering the hands. On a wider scale in the show's lore, you could say that there's a clash between the themes of freedom and captivity, represented by wild magic, and the coven system with the Emperor's Coven at its helm.

Once Belos knew that Hunter was willing to rebel against him by leaving the Emperor's Coven, snatching the boy's palisman as well as his bodily autonomy away, made Hunter believe that he himself could only do harm. It's the same damage that he inflicted upon Luz, and by removing Flapjack from Hunter's life, arguably that would impact Hunter in a way that he had gloves on all over again. Invisible gloves this time, preventing the sense of connection with the world, that would eventually come off once again - like the visual symbolism of him removing his signature gloves when he arrives in the human realm. I go off on this specific tangent (the motif of hands in his arc) in this post: (x)

Evading capture and fighting off a physical threat? Hunter has had much preparation for that, via military training. But that is still more familiar territory compared to the battleground he would've faced pre-epilogue, which involved having to utilize new skills such as emotional regulation, distress tolerance, radical acceptance, and reframing in the context of trauma: to combat the pervading state of hypoarousal. He hasn't been equipped with these in the years of his upbringing.

With his needs and desires being discarded by Belos and the castle's residents for most of his life, he has been primed to believe that any of his true feelings deserve no space. Even in the finale, this old habit dies hard.

He was a parentified kid, conditioned to make sure that he was not inconveniencing his family (and god...his family, only consisted of one cruel deceptive person, before he fled the coven). Yet, he pushed and compartmentalized to survive.

But he would've had to pick those new skills up while navigating a whole new world that had no more Belos and Flapjack in it. In the right environment, he could be himself.

Comparing the three different smiles he has above is just, arghhh. C-PTSD is a roller coaster ride which makes one's world topsy turvy. Healing from that is grueling work, after you realize that what you thought was safe/normal is in fact insidious and dangerous,

while the actually good and actually healthy stuff will initially be scary and painful: before you trust that it will do the opposite of killing you.

In Labyrinth Runners, we saw more of a flight response from him, while in For the Future it was largely a fight response. Both of which were comfort zones at those times, compared to the much scarier act of quietly and mindfully sitting with the pain of bereavement, holding it front and center in his mind, trusting that it wouldn't destroy him to sit with such pain.

What then, after Belos's death?

His physicality would be affected. The gravitational centre of his body would have changed,

since he is without any staff and magical bond now. This vital piece of info comes from reading two metas about his fight scenes in Eclipse Lake, which feature some shared firsthand experience in martial arts and in using a staff to fight: - Meta by @ashanimus (x) - Meta by @polyhexian (x)

In Flapjack's absence,

he will not get back to regularly using a staff until Waffles comes to life...my guess is he takes around 2 years till he completes her carving process. And this is after years of using the artificial staff, even before Flapjack came along.

After being manipulated like putty in Belos's hands through intimidation for years, leading up to being directly and physically controlled via possession...his relationship with his body, not just his emotions, would be altered. And we can't ignore the mind-body link either; there is an overlap here.

He has deep abandonment wounds from Hollow Mind, compounded by being on the receiving end of active harm in Thanks to Them.

When it comes to his treatment plan as a client in therapy, there are frameworks to consider. Risk factors (whatever can aggravate his condition) vs. protective factors (whatever can help to improve his condition), the values that he as a unique person would like to believe in, taking note of his unique strengths, and assessing the rules he grew up with that were extreme, inflexible, and no longer serving him now that he is free from the Emperor's Coven.

There will be the overarching conflict of his temptation towards isolation vs. needing to connect with emotion to carve palismen. I suppose this is the clearest theme because the proof is in Belos isolating him to remove his personhood vs. the Bat Queen's explanation that palismen bond through emotion, and bonding therefore requires connection: not isolation.

In the throes of depression after Belos's death, the danger is that Hunter would want to give up, and he'd find it easier to fall into the antitheses of what he stood up for in his Thanks to Them speech.

Feeling like he can never truly be free of the Emperor's Coven's hold on him.

Feeling like he'd never (emotionally) leave that throne room.

Being tempted towards the belief that...in his pursuits of studying wild magic, learning to carve palismen, learning at Hexside, spending time with his friends, and in erasing Belos's harmful influence on the world.....that all his efforts would be futile, and that he can only bring harm and not good. Just like how during Luz's own depression, she told Stringbean, while the palisman was still unhatched, "Maybe you'll never hatch, and I messed up your life too."

This belief that he can only bring harm and that he didn't deserve the gift of being brought back to life, would be fused with what is obviously his worst darkest memory:

and for a very long time, he'll feel that he could've changed something to prevent this. If only he had been smarter, more vigilant...if only he were not having so much fun being engrossed in creating things in the human realm. This is Belos's hold on him, as he relives that night many times over the years. Even after Belos dies.

The foundation and main driving force of Hunter's therapy sessions will be the rapport built up between him and the therapist. This is a parallel to the trust he has already built up in his non-therapy relationships, and having both of those together would have a wonderful effectiveness.

And the therapy sessions would gently help him to defuse and untangle himself from that very unhelpful belief.

It's also about him thawing out from a childhood of very repressed emotional expression. As his arc progresses, he grows more into expressing his feelings, needs and desires. We start to see him express what feels like such a natural excitement for his personality, once he's in the human realm. And it's crucial for him to believe that he can voice out his needs without the worry of negative repercussions...Repercussions that he's been conditioned to believe are 'healthy'/'normal', and that it's him who is the issue (ewww...). As he has been unlearning that in the course of his arc, he is discovering that it is a basic right for him to have ownership over whatever he thinks and feels.

A major obstacle would be the guilt about leaving Flapjack behind: the worry that the more new things he tries out, the more morally wrong it would feel...because he is not commemorating Flapjack. There would be that fear that Flapjack is taking up less and less space in his thoughts. This is very common when it comes to bereavement. Luz's own version of this, playing out effectively onscreen, was the wave of fear and sadness she felt as she let go of the glyph sheet in the finale and let the wind carry it away. In the moments right after that, as Stringbean gave her the Azura hat to put back on, I'm sure she still had the fear of the unknown ahead. But she could also trust in herself to be able to brave that unchartered territory: together with her sweet palisman and her found family.

We don't know whether Hunter used the same method as Luz and carved an egg that would hatch on its own, or whether he really did make Waffles from scratch. Either way, he could still have Flapjack in his life in a new way: the Hexsquad's new tattoos, the palisman shop sign, Flapjack's gravestone.

But before he could enter that place in his heart and soul, he would first have to agree in both mind and heart that he wouldn't hear the happy chirps of his best friend ever again.

We see him still talking to Flap here:

whereby in his logical mind he can definitely see that Flapjack is gone...but emotionally (subconsciously) he is frozen, not yet able to feel in his heart that his best friend is gone.

And something to note is how quickly he interjected here:

when Gus was about to spell it outright that "Flapjack is gone"/similar sentence.

And Hunter himself couldn't directly name it. He has to skirt around it with "I already know", because it would hurt too much and be too frightening to directly describe what just happened.

I suspect this would sort of repeat over time: he may come across reminders in the human realm, as he tries to attend school, etc. For some time, he wouldn't want to hear it directly said that his best friend faded away. Because Flapjack was after all...slain by Hunter's own right hand. Hearing it would mean being retraumatized, potentially feeling as though the incident were repeating vividly, all over again.

Sometimes in grief, especially sudden loss via bereavement, it will be a long time before the grieving person can fully state, let alone see, that the one they lost isn't coming back.

The movie Big Hero 6 shows what it's like for its protagonist, a bereaved character, to hear himself verbally expressing the words that he can't avoid anymore: "[Name of the person I lost] is gone."

Plus sitting with the effects of doing so, without avoidance. Choosing to sit with the pain that has come to the surface, since it has been heard, since he has acknowledged that it's time to try something new instead of avoiding it or pushing it away.

Hiro hears himself telling Baymax (and also himself) that "Tadashi is gone", months after he has felt a deep sense of unrest from the loss of his brother. It's a beautiful scene because just a moment later, by accident, Baymax then plays a video log of Tadashi being himself and leading a meaningful life by working hard to help others. And Hiro is able to reach this new emotional place, seeing that beauty of the life his brother lived:

and Hunter will need time to reach this new mental space.

For some months, he'll have frustration, irritability and numbness - i.e. both hyperarousal and hypoarousal - shielding him. That is, until his heart is ready to allow whatever Hiro felt above, to enter and transform him. His own grief walk would have a different rhythm, since every loss in this world has the uniqueness of a fingerprint. But he would be hitting very similar story beats as Hiro's example above, in his recovery process.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Self-soothing:

Becoming familiar with this is going to help him ride the waves of emotions in a smoother way, as he alternates between hyperarousal and hypoarousal.

And when he feels loved or connects with his own personhood, he has visible nervous tendencies. You can see it when he twiddles his fingers while Luz gives him her attention in Hunting Palismen, and he touches his opposite shoulder and grins shyly in Any Sport in A Storm after Willow snaps the team photo, and you see him rub the left side of his face in Hollow Mind when he fondly looks back on inheriting his staff.

But the later example I wanted to show is him gripping at his left sleeve with his right hand here:

which happens just after Luz affirms him with "Can't blame you for being paranoid after everything we've been through".

C-PTSD flips your world upside down, as I mentioned earlier. The stuff that is good for him - in this case, having his emotions being affirmed - feels awkward and not natural yet. Feeling loved feels uncomfortable, instead of being naturally expected. So in fact, he tugs at his sleeve like this to self-soothe: because being listened to like this (Titan bless you, Luz!) is just that foreign to him. Over time, he'll discover more ways of self-soothing and can have a sort of toolkit ready to pull out whenever self-care is needed. And being actually loved won't be such a foreign experience for him anymore T___T

Below is an outline of C-PTSD from Medical News Today shows possible options for his treatment plan. The first is therapy itself, which I have touched on in quite a few of my metas:

Next, EMDR which is a focused and specific intervention technique: If he had his own version of Eda's scenes where she accepts the Owl Beast in Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door, that would be a great way of having this particular intervention playing out in an animated show with fantasy elements. The difference would be that a therapist would be present to guide him towards that powerful breakthrough.

And exposure therapy: This is a gradual exposure to any sensations that are similar to the horrible feeling of injuring his own palismen - so that Hunter can form new positive associations with those physical feelings in his hands.

He could help Camila in her vet as a good start, since many of those animals seem larger than palismen:

He can then try interacting with smaller-sized creatures. He could eventually play more often with his friends' palismen, and that would be a cute positive way to associate touching them and connecting with them with new memories beyond his one worst memory. After all, it's canon that they have tried reaching out to him i.e. Clover and Emmi following him around outside Eda's house.

Him borrowing Stringbean for flyer derby would be fantastic. When he starts carving lessons, Dell and Eda could be there as company to supervise him and give small demonstrations bit by bit. Even better, he could start out by just holding the wood with one hand while the other person performs the carving strokes with their hand. If Hunter is comfortable, his friends/family could sometimes hang out, watch with interest, and provide small but vital encouragements. He shouldn't be carving all alone, if there is the chance that he'd be retraumatized by spooky phantom feelings that feel like being possessed all over again.

He shouldn't be in the workshop alone until he has built up some new associations and is getting familiar with the strokes. But once he can, it's beautiful to imagine him making that space truly his own. By then, his self-soothing skills would be more polished.

In Part 1 of this little series, I talked about skills like containment and distress tolerance. He needs an environment where he is offered a balance of having his own autonomy and also a sense of safety. Sometimes, the line between those two things may become blurry e.g. me mentioning in this meta related to the grimwalker graveyard (link) that Camila and Darius may have to allow some room for him to "fall", and they'd fall together with him so he doesn't feel alone.

And as he forms closer bonds with new parental figures, his attachment style can change from disorganized attachment (which results from having a very unpredictable caregiver growing up...god, the stress in being a young kid in that environment) to secure attachment. This in turn will give his self-soothing skills a further boost.

This is where King comes in as a comparison:

He is a kid who is securely attached to their caregiver, and he has natural emotional responses to things that upset him or cross the boundaries he has put up. Instead of what Hunter has done for a long time i.e. repressing feelings to minimize harm done to him and to literally survive, along with the tendency to rationalize and intellectualize whatever upsets him, to create so much distance from the hurt that he can keep going.

King also has a good sense of personal autonomy and safety, thanks to the environment Eda raised him in. Eda's parenting style involves offering him choices, laying out the consequences for whatever choices he makes, yet unconditionally being there to protect and support him no matter how bad any past conflicts have been.

This screenshot above, showing him hugging her leg, is a foundational building block of good parenting and a healthy home. I hope Hunter gets to experience this at some level with Camila and Darius. Let him be a kid in his last few years prior to turning 18 T___T

And well...we have seen the impact that physical and emotional neglect has had on the Bad But Sad Boy: to the point that he has to reframe it as either a fun experience, or blame himself, in order to keep going. Because he wouldn't have been able to carry on if he was aware that his 'parent' had 100% bad intentions.

Perhaps the most jarring comparison between King and Hunter would be the non-verbal signs here:

King can be assertive, having his non-verbal body language be congruent with his choice of words: that he's firmly asserting himself and voicing his opinions, and I doubt he worries that Eda will cause him physical harm. His posture is tall and leaning forward. While Hunter...has to gather up immense courage to just say the words (the verbal element) while his non-verbal body language is telling us so much about the effort he's putting in to be assertive. He is shrinking into himself even as he utters those words.

King could flare up in anger and fight back, asserting himself, upon being traumatized in his Collector nightmare:

but it's not going to be this way when Hunter learns about the grimwalker graveyard...

The good news is: Hunter can still build up secure attachments with the adults in his found family whom he'll be spending the most time with. He needs it more than ever.

If Lilith - a kid who was emotionally neglected - began to feel worse after she left the Emperor's Coven:

with her long repressed painful emotions resurfacing and leaving her frightened, Hunter will go through similar as the memories of his past actions come flooding in.

The meadow where we saw Hunter carving a palisman in the finale...and any location which Dell works at, seem like they would be pleasant quiet places where anyone would feel soothed. In addition to getting more comfortable with the peaceful hopeful atmosphere of Dell's workshop, Hunter could bring his works in progress or any non-palismen creations to therapy, if he is willing to entrust the therapist with updates on how he's doing. That would be good because he'd have an additional safe space like that to share and bounce off his thoughts and ideas. Not just the space of friends/family, to do the same thing. All this is needed after years of Belos denying and dismissing any open sharing.

Last but not least, in the real world: grief and bereavement is being viewed less and less as a problematic condition to be gotten rid of, the more time passes. Which is a good sign! Because we shouldn't be expected to view mourning and remembering as a form of pathology.

Here is a tool that grief therapist and expert Dr. Joanne Cacciatore (author of a book called Bearing the Unbearable) came up with, for her clients:

It is a grief number line that doesn't pressure a client to even reduce how much they are grieving, and she lets any client have as many sessions as they want with her, to honour lost loved ones. Even if they keep coming to see her for many years. She focuses on honouring losses instead of viewing them as inconveniences or hurdles, and she doesn't even rely on the normal kind of healthcare model of setting up treatment plans. By doing this, no expectations are set for any sort of linear recovery from the pain of loss. Ultimately, she is trying to show that grief is natural, however painful it is.

The Owl House is a show with a central theme of remembering those whom we have lost, and the variety of ways in which the characters process those experiences. One of the last few scenes were 1) Luz's grief changing into a different form - I wouldn't say her grief was "reduced" - as she bid the Titan farewell and lost her use of the glyphs, and 2) around four years later, finding a new glyph from a whole new system, as King's own magical glyph system has recently awoken.

After Belos was gone for good, Hunter's life was no longer a big test in which he had his worth and survival determined by someone who had power over him. He has inherent worth, has always been good enough, and he can rest easy. Like what Luz experienced with her dad and Papa Titan, his relationship with Flapjack is changed and not lost. While remembering and honouring someone we lost can hurt, in and of itself those actions aren't "wrong".

[hxney-lemcn]

Homage — Hunter x gn! human! reader

Summery: Reader knew Luz since they were a kid. So when Luz shows up with a group of friends she made in a different universe, they try to catch up with what they missed. In doing so, they start falling for the sad but...well now he's just a sad boy.

tw: none

a/n: I didn't think I'd write for awhile after my 'No One Like You' series, but @moringmark 's comics have given me inspiration. Should I make a part 2?

Keep in mind this was all made before season three!

wc: 1.9k

Master List

Camila was friends with my mom back in high school. They always hung out with each other, which led to Luz and I becoming friends. In fact we were basically siblings. We definitely acted like siblings.

So when I heard that her mom was sending her to a camp called 'Reality Check', I was astounded. I mean Luz's imagination made her an interesting person to be friends with. We'd always  come up with fantastical stories and pretend to be the main characters. It's something that made Luz charming, even if she would get in trouble...a lot.

So, I bought a necklace that referenced Azura The Good Witch, a book we both enjoyed. I made sure she got it before leaving since she wasn't allowed anything that was imaginative.

That summer was more boring for me.  I stayed home when my mom went to visit Camila. I mean what was the point? My mom didn't mind since she trusted me. I was 17 after all.

I would text Luz, checking up on her. But her replies were...very dry. I felt concerned about that because normally she was very expressive with her texts.

When Luz came back something was...off. She was more jittery and she would forget things that we used to do. She was more tame and she seemed distant from me. Not to mention I didn't see her with the necklace I gifted her the day before she left to camp. Then, my mom told me that she hasn't been in touch with Camila for a few weeks. So I decided to stop by and check in on Luz after school.

I knocked on the door. I heard shuffling, before the door opened to reveal Camila.

"Oh!" She exclaimed with surprise. "(Y/n), I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah," I smiled back. "Is Luz free? I was wanting to hang out."

"Oh dear," I heard her mutter. "Come in, I'll go see."

I gave her my thanks as I went to sit on the couch. I checked my social media as I waited. I heard footsteps coming down the creaky staircase and turned to see who it was. There stood Luz as she stared at me, a shaky smile adorning her face.

She seemed...different from the Luz that came back from camp. I mean on one hand her hair is longer and I don't think hair grows that fast in two weeks. Not only that, but her stare was one akin to that of someone meeting another they haven't seen in a long time. And I don't think two weeks constitutes that. She dashed towards me and squeezed me in a hug like her life depended on it. I let out a gasp at the force and wrapped my arms around her, still confused.

"Hey Bubba," I said. "Is something wrong?"

"I missed you so much (n/n)," She cried into my neck. Laughing slightly and pulling away she continued, "Boy do I have a lot to tell you."

Camila brought us both some tea and sat with us. Luz then went over how she never made it to camp, that she found herself in a magical universe that had witches, demons, and more. How she made friends there and even went to a school for witches. How Belos was also human but tried to wipe out all witch kind. And how she was forced to escape when the Collector started to take over.

I took in all this information and...I didn't know what to think. Luz made up stories all the time...but this one was so detailed and she looked dead serious. But if she was gone, who came back from the camp? And Luz answered that as well, as they were a demon from the same universe that Luz went to.

"Wait, you got a girlfriend?" I exclaimed with wide eyes.

Luz stared at me blankly, then shouted, "That's what you got from all that?"

After that I came over more. I helped Camila with whatever I could. I met all of Luz's friends. They were really nice. Currently I am helping her make dinner. Hunter joined not too much later, asking how he could help. So Camila had him set the table as the food was almost done.

"Thank you for setting the table Hunter," Camila thanked, before she called everyone to come down for dinner. He smiled sheepishly as we all took our seats.

That's something I noticed, Hunter was always trying to help Camila out. It was sweet honestly. I recall that Luz mentioned he didn't get complimented often, so that's why he probably did the chores all the time. To get complimented by Camila.

Once we all finished eating, I started to pick up the dishes.

"Oh, I can do that-"

Luz got cut off as Hunter took the plates from my hands, "I got it."

I trailed behind him and said somewhat awkwardly, "I'll help. I can rinse and dry the dishes and you can wash."

He nodded and we proceeded to wash the dishes. I kept glancing at him. I found myself growing fond of him. He tended to be quiet, and he seemed closed off, but he was nice. Not to mention he looked pretty. Could you blame me for admiring him? I've never seen anyone like him before. His blonde hair always seemed to be messy, and his eyes were a dark shade of magenta, reminding me of cherry wine. I noticed he had a gap tooth that I found adorable but I won't let him know that. His eyes weren't the only unusual feature he had, as his ears were pointed. The others had pointed ears too, but for some reason my eyes were always drawn to his.

I dried a dish and put it away, glancing at Hunter once more, only to meet his gaze. I tried to seem unphased and sent him an awkward smile. He looked back down at the last pan that needed to be washed and I felt so anxious. The sudden need to get out of this situation rushed through my system as I felt embarrassed. I kept my gaze on my side of the sink, not looking up as he passed me the pan. I expected him to leave, I mean he was done with his part, but he lingered.

I heard someone whisper and I turned towards the doorway. Luz stood there whispering to Amity and the smile on Luz’s face scared me. She looked like she was up to something and I always knew that didn’t end well. Hunter followed my gaze and he frowned slightly.

“She’s up to something,” I heard him mumble.

“Yeah,” I nodded, going back to putting the pan away. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out terrible.”

I dried off my hands as Camila came in smiling, “Thank you kids. Good job with the dishes.”

I saw Hunter smile once more, and I replied, “Of course! But I should head home now.”

“Of course,” She nodded, patting my shoulder. “Don’t want your mom to worry.”

~~~~

“Okay so we’re gonna have to split up,” Luz spoke up, gaining everyone’s attention. “Hunter, Willow, Gus, you’re with (n/n). Amity, Vee, you’re with me and mamá.” 

Today, we were going to the aquarium. Since Camila’s car could only hold five people, I volunteered to drive as well since I had my license. We all piled into the cars and I followed Camila. Hunter sat in the passenger seat, Gus and Willow in the back. The entire time Gus was in aw, staring out the window. I kept my music quiet, so I didn’t disturb anyone. 

Once we got there, we all made sure we had everything. Making our way inside, they started to group up. Amity and Luz stood together, being cute and all that. Vee and Camila stood back, watching the fish together. Willow watched as Gus put his face on the glass. Hunter was going towards Gus and I turned to go by Camila and Vee. 

“Why don’t you join us, (y/n)?” Willow called out, stopping me in my tracks. I turned and joined them. Willow kept an eye on Gus as he read all about the various fish. I stood awkwardly by Hunter as we watched them. I couldn’t help but notice that Hunter’s attention was set on a sawshark. I watched it as well when he spoke up.

“I thought you didn’t have demons?” Hunter questioned, glancing at me in confusion.

“If you think that looks like a demon, wait till we get to the deep sea area,” I countered with a smile. He tilted his head in curiosity, so I waved him to follow me. Willow and Gus seemed busy anyways so I didn’t see any harm in leaving them to watch the sharks. Hunter followed closely as we entered the dimly lit space. To our left was an angler fish, her antenna glowing, showing off her sharp teeth and gaping jaw.

“Only the females get this big,” I spoke up as he stared at the creepy fish. “They use their antennae to lure in their prey since it’s completely dark where they live.”

“Luz thought the demon realm had weird creatures, but the human realm isn’t much better,” I heard Hunter mutter.

I let out a light laugh, “Yeah, there’s a ton of creepy animals in our world, but we don’t really see them.” 

We continued on throughout the deep sea exhibit. I would give some offhand facts about the fish he seemed interested in (if I knew any). I internally patted my own back at the fact I had a phase where I was interested in creepy fish. Who knew I would use the information to definitely not try and impress someone I may or may not find attractive. 

“You sure know a lot about fish,” Hunter said after I gave him a fact about Vampire Squids.

“That’s because they’re a nerd,” Luz said out of seemingly nowhere. I jumped in surprise and turned around to see them with a smug grin. Amity stood next to them shaking her head slightly. “Oh sorry,” Luz said with fake innocence. “Did I interrupt your date?”

Hunter sputtered and my jaw dropped at her audacity, “Luz you little-” I would’ve chased after, if only we weren’t in a public space. 

“I tried to stop her,” Amity spoke sheepishly, then walked off to where Luz ran. She was very obviously hiding behind a wall staring at us and giggling like a maniac. 

“I’m sorry about Luz,” I sighed, trying to ignore the embarrassment that still rushed through me. “She tends to be eccentric.”

Hunter sighed as well before sending me a reassuring smile, “Trust me, I know all too well.”  And wait…was he blushing? Great. Now it was awkward again. I turned back to look at the red squid whose exhibit we stood in front of and I tried to get my mind off of what just happened.

“Uhm…” Hunter trailed off, looking at the side of my face nervously. “If it makes you feel better, Luz thinks I’m a nerd too.” I glanced at him, that definitely wasn’t the problem, but that piqued my curiosity. My focus drifted back to the magical boy next to me, our eyes meeting.

“About…um demons?” I asked, not fully sure about what there is in the realm he’s from.

“Magic,” He corrected, he looked to the side and hesitated before he continued. “Wild magic.” The way he said wild magic, it was like he was saying something that was forbidden. 

“That sounds cool,” I smiled. “Maybe next time you could tell me about magic. Luz hasn’t really had the time to explain anything about your realm to me yet.” 

“Oh, uh, y-yeah, sure,” Hunter said, stuttering, and omg the tips of his ears can blush? “Next time…”

[pochqmqri]

Calling All Flamengers! (...Again!)

As part of its 12 Days of Christmas sale, the UK-based anime distributor Anime Limited is offering a MASSIVE discount on Collector's Editions Blu-Rays, including their Samurai Flamenco one, which is now LESS THAN £10, specifically £8.33 (~$10.50 USD). This is much less than the £25 they discounted the set to for its 10th anniversary back in October!

The entire 22-episode series is contained across 4 discs. The only noted on-disc extras are the creditless OPs and EDs. All of this is packaged in a decorative rigid slipcase.

Anime Limited does ship outside the UK, but you will need a region-free Blu-Ray player to play discs if your region is not of the B code (comprising Europe, the Middle East, and Africa).

While it doesn't specifically say when this sale ends, since it's part of the 12 Days of Christmas sale, we can assume it will last until December 12, UK time, so don't delay! This is the only official English physical release of the anime.

[whispangleblogger]

I am not somebody that hops onto the "comic discourse" a lot. I usually prefer to talk things through with my friends and share opinions in private.

But since Tangle more or less got ignored so far i take the chance and talk a bit about her appearance in 64

She jumps in as a supportive character towards Whisper and helps her to prevent another breakdown. While yes, there was a scene in Urban Warfare that did the exact same thing, i feel like with issue 64 we finally see how strong of an impact this support actually has on the page. (I talk a bit more about Urban Warfare further down this post.) I don't even dare and call this bait (Edit: Not my words btw. i saw this used in another heated post. I personally never felt baited in any form. If anything, the girls relationship is one big highlight in these comics.) because it simply isn't. Here is a character that cares for her partner and also is uncomfortable with the whole situation to begin with. She has to decide where her priorities lie. Her reaction is to be expected to be focused on a trembling Whisper and all i can say is i'm glad we finally have a good depiction of that.

Tangle has the right to approach Whisper in ways i think no other character is able to, she earned it and it pretty much shows on this page. Softly taking down Whisper's mask and checking on her, the body language in these panels is chefs kiss. She's truly a bouncy girl, but it's good to see her being serious every now and then, i feel like it's a side of her that people usually tend to ignore. (And i really don't know why that is.) Evan Stanley does always an amazing job if it comes to showing Tangle in a different light or how she cares about her friends and loved ones. In regards about the current arc and even the last one, i feel like this post is a good chance to add my personal take to it as well, since it's been on my mind for a good while now. I feel like 64 finally makes a step into the right direction again.

To elaborate a little on that, i wasn't really a big fan of Urban Warfare, simply for the fact that it's pacing is all over the place. There were a lot of things that needed to be covered, to name a few: - new team building - Whisper's trauma - Lanolin introduced as a new character - a LOT of other teams jumping into the scene - the city itself all squeezed into a 5 book arc. One more book compared to a mini series that usually gives full focus to a set of chosen characters.

To make this clear, there are also good things in Urban Warfare as well but thanks to the fact how rushed the whole story felt in it's core it's a bit hard to enjoy the good bits as well...

Misadventures still deals with the same pacing problem and i believe that is where the real issue lies. As a reader/collector of the books and longtime fan of them, all i can say is:

I wish the comics would get their old, well cared, time for details back. Yes, a story like the Metal Virus was a long run but in the end it was a fantastic read. Mini arcs like Trial by Fire (Still one of my favorites), that focus on other things instead of the usual action, are also very important for character development and add a lot of depth to them. Endless Summer is a great example for such addition as well. These books provide insight into character interaction we usually don't see otherwise. Of course i have no idea how much SEGA is involved into everything if it comes to general decisions like how long one arc is supposed to last and when the next one should start.

(The next part is based on my personal taste, this has nothing to do with the general narrative of the books. I just want to share my thoughts about this since i really don't write them down a lot.)

As a little side note, i feel like Lanolin is a great character so far. Her stubborn and rule book like demeanor as a leader is refreshing to say the least. She also seems to be really close to how her creator ABT imagines her to be and i really appreciate that. But i can't help it and feel like her team dynamic with Tangle and Whisper comes of as rather… rocky ? On a combat level of things it works really good but on a friendship level it's somehow lacking atm. There is this boss and coworker relationship going on that feels more like real work. Obviously though she's new and needs more time to get better established. I guess we will see how this plays out in the future. I'm all in for a good or funny team dynamic but i also can't help it and feel like she works better as an addition to Jewel, running the restoration, the navigator typ that sends intel via com instead of a field combatant. Even if she proved she's good at close combat as well during her encounter with Whisper in 64. That being said, i am all open for surprises and more character development on her part. This is really just a "now" opinion and can easily change over time. I like the sheep, i really do.

[jar-of-ectoplasm]

tf2 mercs as horror characters and why i think so

sooooo i know this isn't what i've been telling you guys i was gonna post BUT i'm uninspired and i re-listened to welcome to horrorwood (ice nine kills) and it got me thinkin about this

i'm gonna start out with the mercs that i have the most solid reasoning and then it'll slowly turn into bullshit

it's pretty similar to an old jojo post i made a while ago

pyro:

OBVIOUSLY i'm gonna make pyro the miner/harry warden (from my bloody valentine) because they're both silent stalking freakos with gas masks

i also think it's pretty fitting considering valentine's day is all lovey-dovey and cutsie and pyro-vision is pretty much the same way

i could also see pyro being the thing (from the thing) because of the mystery draped around pyro's identity/what they actually look like and i just love that movie so damn much

spy:

PATRICK BATEMAN PATRICK BATEMAN ARE WE SERIOUS???? they're both sophisticated homicidal dickheads i personally think it's a perfect match

psychopathe francais coming to all theaters right now go buy a ticket

medic:

oh medic you silly guy you

i have two visions for medic, one of which is herbert west (from re-animator) because DUH mad science

BUT (even if it's a bit of a stretch) i think medic would go perfectly with pinhead (from hellraiser) because 1) medic did sell his soul to the devil so the whole demon thing works out, 2) medic is a sadistic freak and 3) i just think it would be sexy alright

demo:

demo wouldn't be a horror villain he would be ash williams (from the evil dead) because i just can't see demo being a serial killer (even though he technically is) he's just too silly for this world and he deserves a silly character to go with it

soldier:

in a similar manner to demo, solider can and will not be given a deep brooding character because he is simply too silly. soldier is one of the werewolves from what we do in the shadows (the movie not the show) because my heart tells me and by god my heart is correct

sniper:

i didn't have very many ideas for sniper but i think the best fit for him would be the collector/asa emory (from the collector series) because in my opinion, sniper's weird hunter-like relationship with the people he kills kinda reminds me of how the collector functions with all the traps and the games he plays with his victims [not like jigsaw though, it's different] (granted i haven't seen the movie in a little bit, cut me some slack)

heavy:

honestly i could see him as being any of the big, silent killers in film (jason voorhees, michael myers, you know the drill) but i think it would be funnier if he were frankenstein's monster and medic was dr. frankenstein

scout:

he is being difficult but it's not because i don't have an idea for him, i have too many ideas for him. i think it would be really silly if he was norman bates (from psycho) because he's a momma's boy, but i could also see him being anton tobias (from idle hands) because he's silly and dumb but i could ALSO see him being billy lenz (from black christmas) because he's a depraved little freak

engineer:

he is giving me the most trouble. i want to keep his southern-ness but i also don't wanna dumb down his character because i love engineer. honestly the only characters i could give him that do him even a little bit of justice is bo sinclair (from house of wax) or tinker sawyer from the god awful texas chainsaw 3 (which i love with all my heart)

[clumsiestgiantess]

My borrower headcannons:

There are four main subgroups of borrower which coincide with different human styles of living.  Culture and appearance range widely between the types.  Borrowers living in the suburbs and the city have different lifestyles with some similarities, but borrowers living in rural places or completely in the wild have entirely different ways of life, and even different adaptations; they’re nearly two different species.  (Kind of like how polar bears and grizzly bears are technically the same species with different adaptations for their environments)

All borrowers have at least a semi-human appearance, and stay under a foot tall.  (The largest recorded borrower measured 10 inches tall).  They all come from a common ancestor: the feral subgroup, which adapted to an easier lifestyle of thievery over hunting.

Urban subgroup:

They can care less if they’re spotted, most humans just ignore the sighting after a moment anyway.  Being caught is a different story, of course.  A caught urban borrower can let out a deafening shriek loud enough to startle whatever’s caught them to drop them. They can fall a good 30 feet without serious injuries, so being dropped is completely fine.

They’re practically tone deaf, but have heightened visual senses and can even see in blinding light.

Have a type of sign language to communicate, and rarely make noise other than to show displeasure or affection (depending on the sound).

The smallest type; usually grows about 2-3 inches tall.

Homes look like nests stashed with every kind of material imaginable.  This type of borrower is a collector and will steal anything they want without need for it.  The shinier the object, the more valuable it is to them.

Body structure is nearly identical to humans with enhanced reflexes.

Many choose to live solitarily or with a small close family, but some live in larger groups for protection.

Suburban subgroup:

They have a type of sign language that they use between eachother, though most also learn whatever language the humans around them know to at least a basic level.

Homes look drastically different depending on how practiced a borrower is.  A normal home looks like a mix of an underground colony system and a den.  However, the better they are at stealing, the more resources they have to make things aesthetically pleasing.  Thus, borrowers who’ve perfected their skills have homes whose interiors are similar to human ones.

Their average height is 4-5 inches tall.

This is the largest subgroup, and also the most interconnected; they often have hidden meeting places spread out like small towns to come together and share stories, trade materials, get help, find mates, etc.  These are few and far between.  A borrower will consider any place close to these meeting areas prime housing, as living in these meeting areas is forbidden.

Many things are forbidden.  This group put together a series of codes that keep them in ‘perfect’ safety.  They also have professions they take on in order to help the community as well as themselves.  These range from perfecting ‘borrowing’ supplies (this is where their namesake comes from), practicing medicine and healing, crafting tools, becoming strong fighters, studying humans and other animals, etc.

These borrower codes contain many fascinating rules, including a contingency plan if they’re ever caught.  Upon capture, they are to “play dead, play dumb, then run.”  Closer studies have found that these borrowers can vomit bile on command, and use the stench to make themselves seem dead and rotting.  If they’ve been caught in the act, this trick fails and they move to playing dumb.  Using their surprisingly expansive knowledge of small animals other than themselves, they are able to mimic the actions of mice or even bugs to appear less intriguing to humans.  If both ruses fail, they will bolt at speeds seemingly impossible for their bodies to move at, and can maneuver with pinpoint accuracy.

They have longer and wider ears to hear potential danger, double-jointed limbs for maneuverability and manipulation, lankier legs for faster strides.

Rural subgroup:

These borrowers usually live outside the houses they take from, preferring natural burrows and tunnel systems than the walls of houses.

If the home has a garden, there’s a large chance there’s at least a small borrowers’ burrow there to stash items.

Some learn a human language as a second language, but most speak in their own language, which is a mixture of animalistic noises and human ones.  Their relations work more animalisticly; body language is a huge part of understanding one another.

Unlike the first two subgroups, these borrowers will attack when threatened rather than bluff.  Their pronounced canines can leave small needle-like holes in the skin, which can easily heal over and become infected.  When biting down, these borrowers’ jaws can lock into place, making it impossible to remove one without killing it.  Even shaking it does no harm due to its swiveling neck, which can turn 360 degrees in either direction.

Average height is 5-6 inches tall.

Their ears are long and pointed, they have thin tails to help balance their quick movements, and slightly padded feet and palms.

Feral subgroup:

These are, as the name suggests, the most wild of the subgroups, and also the oldest subgroup.  They live entirely away from humans and are completely independent, relying on the things they gather and make themselves.

They are the largest subgroup with an average height of 6-7 inches.

They live in long tunnel systems underground or inside trees.  These tunnel entrances can be told apart from other creatures’ by the rudimentary door system.  

If you see these burrows, DO NOT DISTURB THEM.  There can be as many as 30 borrowers per burrow and they are aggressively protective of their homes.  Springing open a large burrow will lead you to be swarmed.  Mind you, these are creatures that can be nearly as long as your forearm, and a dedicated group of about 5 or 6 can kill you if you don’t fight them off or run.  You will not be able to fight off 30 of them.  If you survive the initial attack, seek medical attention.  Their saliva has a good chance of carrying infectious bacteria.

Another caution:  They can and will lay traps.  Usually they aren’t strong enough to capture a human, and will likely only stun you.  However, again, do NOT stick around or you will be swarmed.

They have clawed fingers, long thin tails, and are capable of running on four limbs for faster movement, as well as the longer ears and padded hands and feet of the rural subgroup.  Their pupils can dilate widely enough to have fair night vision, which is useful for getting around burrows.

They are omnivores that can eat raw meat, and their teeth are sharpened versions of other subgroups’.

Due to the sheer amount of space between the habitats of different subgroups, it’s not often that they meet. When they do, the stories are often chalked up to tall tales. Most subgroups view the other subgroups as cryptids of sorts.

(quick ref I made for body structure & height, penny for scale)

[zazzander]

the people who bring up octavian "killing" stuff animals like it makes him the worst person ever and it's an unforgivable crime against teddy bears everywhere always seem to forget that this 18 year old far-too-serious-for-this-middle-grade-series demigod is just walking around with a stuffed animal collection on his belt - no other character in series would do that, they just wouldn't, yeah, he cuts them open on occasion, but he's your stuffed animal collector representative! take it or leave it.

[dyemelikeasunset]

I feel chatty today but I'm also trying to draw the next comic so I'm gonna do some quick-fire manga recs of 3 series that have directly inspired me:

Collectors by Nishi Uko: a wlw series about an avid book collector who is dating an avid fashionista, the two fight all the time because they keep spending money on different things. It's a 4-panel style slice-of-life that uses subtle humor and pacing. It has serious moments, but most of the story revolves around a slightly dysfunctional but cute couple

Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani (orig. Shimanami Tasogare): a 4-volume drama series about a closeted high school boy who meets a group that runs a volunteer demolition service. He slowly finds out that all of them are in the LGBTQ+ community and learns about their stories. Uses a lot of gorgeous visual metaphors throughout, but also touches on some really serious topics. You will cry

Ikoku Nikki by Yamashita Tomoko (rough tr. Journal With a Witch): a slice-of-life about a writer who takes in her niece after the parents die in a car crash. To make matters more complicated, said author never got along with her sister, who was the mother to the girl now living with her. This series deals with death and loss in one of the most realistic ways I have ever seen in illustrated media, but also has humorous and touching moments. It explores the ups and downs and medians of life in a very real way. (The main characters are straight, but there are queer side characters)

[nabateaprodigy]

I just found your blog and I was wondering if you could do a Danganronpa hc/scenario (idk what you'd prefer lol) with a male (possibly trans if you're comfortable doing that) reader? 🥺👉👈

If it's not too much to ask ofc!

It'd be Nagito, Fuyuhiko, Soda, and Hajime (or if that's too much just Nagito) whose bf loves collecting plushies (especially super big and/or soft ones)! It's up to you if it's because it has to do with his talent (if he even has one) or not btw :3

Feel free to ignore this ask I don't mind haha

Anyway, take care of yourself (eat smth, drink some water, maybe take a nap or go to bed), and have a wonderful day/night! <3

A Mountain of Plushies

Series: Danganronpa.

Characters: Nagito, Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, and Hajime.

Genre: Fluff.

Proofread: Yes.

Reader: Male.

Notes: Sorry I couldn't find a way to include the reader being trans while writing this. But I hope that it is a male reader fic is alright! Also, I've been doing well thanks! ("Maybe take a good nap or go to bed." If only you knew I sleep so much!)

Nagito

If you did have a talent Nagito would feel as though you're lying to him. Or even if you didn't have a talent he'd also think you would be lying to him! But why would that be?

Well, that would be because he thought you were the Ultimate Cuteness or Ultimate Plushie Collector! After all his wonderful boyfriend only deserves the most wonderful talent!

I feel like even Nagito would be impressed by the amount of plushies you have. I mean there were plushies on your floor, bed, there were just plushies everywhere!

Of course, even if you two are sitting or cuddling together there's always at least one plushie nearby! Well, maybe just more than one never hurts to have more nearby!

Also, do you know how Nagito is like really rich? Because he got it all from a lottery ticket I believe. He would buy you any plushies you would like. Also whenever he's out shopping he'd buy a plushie he thinks you would like or one that reminds him of you.

Fuyuhiko

Very serious a very serious man so if he's so serious why's he holding a plushie? Well, that's because you gave it to him! After all, it is not like like could turn a gift from his adorable (he'd never say it but he thinks you're adorable!) Boyfriend!

Although I feel like like at first he would be annoyed with all the plushies. Just takes him a while to understand is all. But if they make you happy he doesn't mind you having so many.

You'd also give me plushies as a gift after he's warned up to having them around. You have him a bear with a suit because you thought it looked like him. "What this is stupid! It looks nothing like me!" (He doesn't mean it he's happy to get a gift from you especially one that reminds you of him even if it was...cute.)

I'd also like to think he'd also have a plushie you got him (the bear for example) just sitting on his desk. No one knows why the plushie is there and they don't dare question him about it. But he's happy to have you there as every time he looks at it he thinks of you.

Kazuichi

He'd love the fact you'd have so many plushies! Like seriously I can see it and I won't expect otherwise he loves you and your plushies.

However, I feel like he would be a little jealous of your plushies. I mean they get so much of your attention! What about him? He's your boyfriend? (Make sure to give him lots of attention cuz this boy is just seriously in love with you.)

I feel like he might be a little annoyed at some plushies you have for example build a bear. I mean why would you want, need, and spend your money on those?!? He can make you one for free!

Okay now I'm kinda making it sound like he hates the plushies you have but he doesn't! He loves the way you have them set out in your room. He also loves how happy and excited you get when you see a plushie you don't have.

He also loves it whenever you're taking a nap and there's just a bunch of plushies around you. He gets into bed with you making sure no plushies fall off. "I love you, my prince." He says as he kisses your forehead and drifts off to sleep with you.

Hajime

I feel like Hajime wouldn't care but not in a bad way! it's just not something he needs to point out or bring up.

Your plushies are something that are very special to you. So he does make sure to take care of them as best he can.

He is surprised by the size of your plushies though. Some plushies can fit in his hand and plushies that are as tall as him! I mean seriously where do you even get these plushies?

One thing Hajime likes is how your plushies match the themes and colors of your bedroom. They all go nicely together and he likes how you have them placed out on your bed and desk. Overall cute plushies but Hajime has an even cuter boyfriend.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About the Series Finale of The Owl House

Salutations random people on the internet who certainly won't read this! I'm an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

And today...we talk about the series finale of The Owl House. Man...What a show. WHAT A SHOW! To accurately convey how much joy and love I've had with this series...is too much to go into for a short intro. Regardless, I cannot believe we're actually here. Especially after such a fantastic season that, let's be honest, had NO RIGHT to be as good as it was. Going in, I was a little worried that the finale wouldn't have the best treatment, what with Disney, the homophobic bastards that they are (that was a joke...kind of), shortening the series and making Season Three have three specials that are forty-five to fifty-five minutes long. But I could not be more pleasantly surprised to find out how wrong I was.

"Thanks to Them" might just be the new best episode of the show, showcasing all of The Owl House's best qualities in just forty-five minutes. Featuring some perfect character-building moments, serious heartbreak, brief but insanely adorable Lumity moments, Camila being the best mom, some surprisingly dark stuff for a kids' cartoon, and practically speedrunning Amphibia's "back to Earth" arc but cutting out all the fluff and saving the goofy antics to montages as it should. Any worries I had about Season Three were pushed away thanks to this special, and I appreciate it.

And "For the Future"...also exists.

Alright, that's not fair. "For the Future" IS a great special, giving some much-needed development from Willow, having a beautiful moment with Luz and Camila, gifting us with Stringbean (who IS perfect. SHUT UP WITH THAT MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY BULLCRAP!), and showing how much of an intriguing character that The Collector is, even if he's not as devious or threatening as we originally predicted. BUT it is held back a bit by a forced redemption with Boscha and all the big story moments with King, Eda, and Lilith happening off-screen, so we can spend more time with Boscha’s forced redemption. There's way more good than bad, but it feels like the bad weighs the good down too much. And, I won't lie, it made me feel a little worried again for the show's future.

Remember how I said in my "A Lying Witch and a Warden" review that a show's premiere doesn't need to be perfect? I stand by that rule, as its job is to illustrate what is to LIKE about the show and leave future episodes to reveal why people should LOVE it. However, for the series finale, it NEEDS to be good. Not perfect, mind you. There can be SOME cracks here and there in the story, but the overall thing has to still be a satisfying conclusion. Because when it comes to a series finale, it can make or break a show. For example, Star vs. the Forces of Evil had an awful series finale with a main character doing the exact thing a series antagonist set out to accomplish and screwing up the world in such a bizarre way that it didn't feel fair for anybody involved. It was so bad that, despite having more good memories than bad ones, it caused me to not want to watch the show again. Contrast this with Amphibia, a show that I didn't love all that much but had a phenomenal series finale that was a perfect conclusion to the story that connected to the show's overall themes and caused me to cry FIVE TIMES when watching it. And even then the ending wasn't perfect. There were still some poorly placed jokes that spoiled moments, a character redemption that wasn't entirely earned, and an incredibly confusing scene between Anne and a specific character (you'll know when you see it). But still, I cried FIVE TIMES for a show that wasn't my favorite. A reaction like that made me believe that I was a little too harsh on Amphibia because why else would its ending make me feel that way?

THAT'S what a series finale needs to do. It must evoke this powerful emotion that this show is finally over and that there won't be any more adventures...Unless the network makes a revival for some reason. Regardless, that's still the goal, and I cannot emphasize how much I hope that The Owl House accomplishes it. The question is: Did it?

...I don't know. I wrote this intro a week ago. How was it, Future Me?

Future Me: AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Awesome. So, let's see what made him react like that as we dive in, one last time, with "Watching and Dreaming."

Spoilers below.

WHAT I LIKED

It Just Goes: That's the best part, really. No build-up, no messing around. We're just going RIGHT into it all with everyone getting captured and Luz waking up in a nightmare. And it's a good thing, too. We only have fifty-five minutes, and, apparently, eight of them will get cut for future reruns...Why the f**k do people even bother with Cable anymore.

Anyways, if this special isn't wasting time, I won't either.

*Looks at my intro*

...Anymore. Let's move on to the nightmares!

The Nightmares: Yup. This hurt.

Eda and King's nightmares are pretty basic, with Eda's having more of what we've already gathered and revealing that King might have more trauma than expected regarding the Titan Trappers. It's still well-done and honestly creepy with Bill's blank eyes, but it is still LUZ'S nightmare which hurts the most. All of her fears, anxieties, and guilt are put up on full display, and, yeah, it's what we've seen before, too, especially within this season. What makes this one hurts is because, well...it's Luz. My favorite character in the show and one of my favorite protagonists in anything. To have her fight through her literal worst nightmare, one she probably thinks she deserves to go through is an extra bit of pain I did NOT need. And there might be an extra subtle bit of pain where the explanation behind why she gets out of it was that she fact-checked her own nightmare. Not because her friends were saying things they would never say in real life but because Amity misquoted Azura. Luz believed EVERYTHING the others said, but because Amity didn't say things exactly how she must have imagined it over and over makes Luz realize that it wasn't real. There’s never a moment where she goes, “They don’t really think that way.” At least, maybe not until later, but we’ll get into that. For now, I will say that it was pretty painful to see Luz go through this, but it was also uplifting to see her friends still build her up despite how bleak things were. Because it’s Luz. She has and will forever do the same for them, no matter what, even if it’s hard for her to see right now.

Besides, as painful as this was, at least it wasn’t the MOST painful thing in this episode…That comes later! And we’ll get to that, but respectfully, I’m gonna stall for a minute.

The Nightmares Last…For Seven Minutes: That shocked me. This whole premise of Luz, King, and Eda living out their worst nightmares sound like something that could make up its own episode, but I’m kind of grateful that it doesn’t go on for too long. If we had twenty minutes and several more episodes to go through, I would be mad, but we have fifty-five minutes with a lot to do and no time to do it. So, while I would have loved to watch more, I’m still glad that the nightmares didn’t overstay their welcome. It gave us all the interesting stuff we could ask for, all the pain we DIDN’T want, and led us to…

Luz, King, and Eda’s Reuniting: The tears weren’t falling down my face as I expected, but let it be said that I was still grinning ear to ear at this. Our main trio is back together and it really does feel like everything is right with the world again. I’m not kidding, just seeing these three interact again and goof off in just the briefest of moments made me feel like I was watching The Owl House again. “Thanks to Them” was great in having the main Hex-Squad work together and bond, but Luz, King, and Eda is the show’s main trio. Things never really felt right with them all torn apart like that, even if King and Eda still had each other and Luz still had her friends. And, I won’t lie, it felt weird that so much of this season didn’t focus on them that much. It’s the final season, and we have so much time dedicated more to everyone else but them. Oh, they had great development throughout, especially Luz going through her pain, guilt, and revelations of wanting to be understood. Still, it didn’t feel enough to me, so it’s good that “Watching and Dreaming” is a special that’s all about Luz, Eda, and King TOGETHER as they solve this issue for one last adventure. The series started with them, so I’m glad it ends with them fighting off their greatest challenge yet...Playtime.

The Collector’s Games: Again, this could have been an episode of its own. But, just like with the nightmares, we have so much to do and no time to do it. So as fun as it is to watch Luz, Eda, and King fight through the Collector’s toy chest, I’m glad we didn’t spend too much time on it. A brief montage is MORE than enough for me, even though I wouldn’t mind seeing, well, more.

Plus, if we go on for too long in showing the Collector screwing with our trio, it would make his redemption a little harder to swallow.

Speaking of which… 

The Collector: I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t interested in a Collector redemption story. Well, that’s not true. I was mainly against the idea of him becoming part of the gang. I could already tell that they weren’t an evil psychopath like Bill Cipher, but more like a kid that has way too much power. That doesn’t make the Collector evil, it just means he needs to grow up and learn that mortals aren’t playthings. In fact, their idea of mortal life says a LOT about who the Collector is: “Toy’s break all the time. You just fix them.”

So, I do see how it’s possible to redeem him. They’re a kid and he doesn’t know better. Even his backstory helps support that, showing how they were a kid that was playing a game with cute creatures but was blamed for actions outside of his control. The Collector never saw themselves as the bad guy, so it makes sense to try and teach him TO know better. I was never against that…I was just against the idea of them being a part of the family like our other redeemed characters. I love Amity, Hunter, and sometimes Lilith like any other schmuck, but the Collector kind of enslaved an entire civilization to play his games. Redemption is fine, I can see it, but I wanted the Collector to have SOME punishment…And they don’t get it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the final decision the writers made. I truly do believe its smart to let the Collector go off and learn to grow up, only willing to come back if he feels ready to do so. It’s a decent end for a character that…came the f**k out of nowhere and was a last minute addition to making the final season more epic.

Though, I will admit, it is a decent turn of events for making us think that the Collector would be the final boss of the series only to reveal that they’re just some poor kid who doesn’t know what mortality means. It helps make them more of a unique character than just “Diet Bill Cypher,” while not stealing away from the REAL big bad of the series. And on that note, let’s talk about…

Belos Possessing the Titan: Ooooooh, so THAT’S what the f**k was up with the beating heart in the throne room…That had to be planned, right?

Like, I’m sure Dana Terrace didn’t plan things to go exactly as they went in the series, but why else show attention to the BIG FRICKIN’ HEART in Belos’ throne room if there WASN’T a plan ahead of time. And…BOY what a horrific plan it was.

Belos just infecting the Isles with…himself leads to more spectacle than the Collector ever brought. Having a single foe and their minions to fight against is pretty cool, but to have an ENTIRE island and its environment against our characters leads to a pretty epic final showdown, as well as an intense one, if I’m going to be honest.

But what’s even MORE intense was watching Belos get to the heart. I didn’t WANT to see him succeed (who the hell would), so it was great to see Raine do all that they could to prevent it from happening. Plus, it’s cool to see Raine take an active role rather than be pushed to the sidelines or get tortured again (they REALLY deserved that rest in the final moments). They were actually giving it their all, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough due to Raine being exhausted after Belos’ possession and a bit of luck on Belos’ part. The bastard got ONE bit of his glop through and that was all he needed…

However, as awful as it is, this really was a cool way to give the series one last epic battle…And a little something painful. But before we get to that, I need some fluff. Can I get some fluff? PLEASE give me some fluff!

Luz, Eda, and King Showing The Collector Around: …I’ll take it.

I know I said this special has so much to do and no time to do it, meaning we have NO TIME to waste, but this feels like wasting time with a purpose. Not only does it help teach the Collector the value of life, but it sort of makes the show feel like we’re going down memory lane with the characters, revisiting some great hits before we close out for one last time. Not all of them, unfortunately, as we don’t have TOO MUCH time to waste, but it’s still some good sights to see again. Plus, it is pretty adorable to see The Collector genuinely take interest in what Luz, Eda, and King are trying to teach him. Again, the Collector’s a kid. And any kid will learn and understand things that you teach them if you do it in the right way, so it’s sweet…Although…

Collector Trying to Show Belos Love and Kindness: They could have specified that not EVERYONE deserves it.

And it’s…sickly funny? Like, it makes you think The Collector is going to demolish Belos again, only for them to try and show love and kindness. Because of COURSE he would. They were just told that love and kindness is the better option, so he immediately applies it. JUST. LIKE. A KID.

Seriously, I cannot emphasize how much of a well-written child the Collector is, where all it takes is a good talk to make them at least try and do something different if told it’ll be better for everyone. Sure, his immediate actions were incredibly misguided, but, hey, at least it didn’t cause any real damage like–

Luz’s Death: …The amount of times I yelled “No” when this happened was immense…You know that scene in The Punisher where Frank Castle is having a nightmare about being forced to sit and watch as the people he loves die in front of him? The one the internet memed? Yeah, that was literally me when this happened.

This…hurt. It hurt a lot. And I knew Luz’s death wouldn’t be permanent. It’d be f**king CRAZY, even for this show. But there WAS a small amount of fear that it could have been. A fear caused because of one character: The Collector.

This HORRID scene (that I weirdly put in the likes section despite the pain it causes me) has a purpose. It’s to teach The Collector that mortals aren’t just toys that can be fixed when broken. It’s why they try to stop Eda and King for going feral. He now understands that life is fragile and doesn’t want to see anyone else die, even crying for the first time over the stress and pain of it all. Is this a little muddled by Luz (THANKFULLY) coming back to life later? Maybe, but there’s two things I want to say to that:

One. I still think it’s done decently enough. Even though Luz comes back, that brief moment the Collector gets when they think he can’t fix it helps teach them that not every solution is as simple. And because it’s the TITAN that brought Luz back and not the Collector, a character that’s canonically weaker than Titans, it could potentially make The Collector think that death isn’t something THEY can reverse. Meaning the lesson can still stick with him as they realize that even HE isn’t that powerful.

And two. I’D SOONER BASH MY OWN HEAD IN BEFORE ADMITTING THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO LEAVE LUZ DEAD! SHOVE your thematic sense nonsense! Luz does NOT deserve death, and I will forever stand by that statement!

As for the death scene itself…it pains me with how much it mirrors Eda’s goodbye in “Agony of a Witch.” There, Eda was giving her last words to Luz, knowing she won’t bounce back this time. She did so by forcing a smile to keep things light, but the problem is that her EYES betrayed her. Here, it’s almost the same thing. The second Luz realizes what’s happening and that there’s nothing she can do to fix it, she tries to reassure King and Eda that it’s going to be ok, even forcing a smile as there’s tears rolling down her cheeks. And Eda and King are just…frozen. They don’t move, they don’t say anything, they don’t even CRY. They’re too frozen in shock and horror of seeing Luz die before their eyes to react in any way. And when they DO react, all they feel is blind, justifiable rage towards Belos, going feral in trying DESTROY Belos. That’s the power their love for Luz had on them. THANKFULLY, her death wasn’t permanent. And we have one person to thank for that.

The Titan: PRAISE BE THIS SHAGGY MAN!

Also, I LOVE this shaggy man! It’s hilarious to me that the all imposing titan, the very thing the characters LIVE on, is just a big boy hanging out in the In Between while wearing a bathrobe and some PJs. In fact, I’m willing to bet that he has some fuzzy slippers under that…water? Is it water? Whatever it is, I bet he has slippers under there. Plus, he’s such a charismatic goober, trying to lift Luz up despite experiencing…literally the worst thing anyone can experience. But he’s also reasonable and kind of sad. Sure, the Titan has a chance to watch his son live his best life, but he’s still stuck and half-dead in a realm that not even HE can escape from. He’s a chill guy and, honestly, he’s the type of guy I’d chill out and binge TV with if not for the fact that he’s, you know…dead…And fictional.

And to address the elephant in the room, this IS pretty similar to the series finale of…a different show that I’ll be vague about. However, despite the similarities, I do think this scene is different enough and honestly a little better. In that show, it comes out of nowhere and it feels like a cop-out for what could have been a more tragic ending. With The Owl House, we see the Titan running around in the In Between, trying to get Luz’s attention in “For the Future.” Heck, he even shows up for a split second in the opening scene, so we KNOW he’ll play SOME part. Plus, the resurrection makes more sense to me. In that other show, it again feels like a cop out while having this very contrived idea for how the main character will learn to one day take the god’s place. Which, again, comes out of nowhere. But with resurrecting Luz, it’s done as more of a battle strategy to stop Belos from killing everything. I mean, he probably would have done it anyway because of what Luz did for King, but that just proves my point. There’s more reason to select Luz to save and resurrect. One might even call it personal bias. In that other show, the god picks and resurrects the main character because she made a big sacrifice. And that’s a good reason, but it cheapens that sacrifice the character made. Luz wasn’t thinking about sacrificing herself. She was trying to save The Collector and died for it due to a mistake. It’s an unfair ending and the Titan sets out to change that. Call it gratitude for taking care of King, say that it’s him wanting to stick it to Belos, and you can even claim how it’s a showcase of how kind the Titan is. No matter how you look at it’s a great moment with a great character that we only got to really know for a few short minutes.

But I will admit, seeing a Hooty in his eye makes me even MORE questions about what the f**k Hooty is. Seriously, WHAT IS HE!?

But that’s a question for another time. We’ve got a BATTLE to commence!

The Final Battle: AND EVERYONE DOES SOMETHING! That’s the best part, really. For a series finale, you want at least the most essential characters to be doing SOMETHING in the final battle and not have most of them watch as three of girls go off to have an anime battle in space (I SWEAR I love that finale). The Owl House certainly takes advantage of that for its final battle, with every character going off to take care of something.

You have the Collector making sure their castle doesn’t fall and kill everybody, while Camila and the kids do the same kind of damage control INSIDE. I do feel as though that Camila and the kids don’t do that much, large in part in the fact that there’s so much going on, but I’m fine that there’s at least SOMETHING they do.

But while that’s happening, you have King, Eda, and Luz, who is ROCKING that new look, working together to kill Belos! And I could not have asked for it in any other way! While things didn’t go exactly how I imagined it, I always did hope the series would end with the three of them working together to beat the big bad Belos. Not only do we get that, but we also get Luz being the most powerful she’s ever been, an epic guitar version of the show’s theme song (which is always good), and even Raine joining the fight. And yes, the kisses they got from Eda gave me life.

But all of this doesn’t compare to the final bit, where Luz RIPS BELOS OUT OF THE HEART like the parasite that he is! The animation was as smooth as butter, the others giving her backup was perfection, and Luz brings the whole thing full circle by screaming, “NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA!”

THIS was everything I could have hoped for with the series finale of the show and so much more! And things get better!

Amity Being the First to Offer Her Hand to The Collector: …Well, not that. Although, that is a pretty sweet moment. Amity, more so than anyone else in the show, understands that people are more complex and have reasons for their behavior. If a person truly wants to help and be better, it’s for the best to offer a hand to help them back up on their feet, and that’s just adorable of her…But you ALL know what I need to talk about.

Belos’ Death: SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW YOU, Belos, for trying to weasel your way out of a just punishment! I didn’t believe his lies about the curse for even a SECOND, and neither did Luz. NOTHING excuses Belos from his awful behavior. Not a curse, not dark magic. Just him and his failure to meet the consequences of his actions.

And watching him melt away in the rain like the wicked witch of the west to then get CURB-STOMPED by Eda, Raine, and King? Yeah, that’s cathartic.

Burn in hell, you evil bastard.

Now, with justice more than served, how about we look more to fluff and–

Reunions: BECAUSE THEY FEEL SO GOOOOOOOOD~!

But, yeah, a lot of fluff and sweetness.

You got Gus and Willow reuniting with their parents, which made me grin from ear to ear.

You have Hunter gaining a father with Darius, which is the happy ending that boy deserves, really.

You have Camila hugging Luz again after (maybe?) thinking she’s dead.

You got Luz and Amity reuniting with a SECOND on-screen kiss (YES)

You’ve got HOOTY hugging Lilith…In a weird display, really.

You’ve got…everything. Everything wonderful, everything is perfect. Because, best of all…

IT’S A HAPPY ENDING: Dana Terrace, you conniving witch of a woman (and I say that affectionately), how DARE YOU make us live in fear by telling us you hate happy endings!

“She didn’t say–”

ShE dIdN’t SaY sHe HaTeS hApPy EnDiNgS! Yeah, I know. She specified that it’s Happily Ever Afters she doesn’t like. But WHAT IS THIS if not a happily ever after?! And for those who hate happy endings, you can hate them all you want but you cannot deny that this one, in particular, is EARNED. These characters have gone through so much hell with things only getting progressively WORSE ever since “Hollow Mind.” So to have an ending where everyone is perfectly happy and living their best lives is more cathartic than watching Belos get stomped into the dirt. And there’s so much thoughts to discuss…Which is why we’re gonna speedrun it. Because if The Owl House can speedrun a season long arc into three specials, I can speedrun my thoughts for its epilogue:

The photos on Luz’s wall are perfect. My favorite is the new and updated Grom photo, which shows Vee looking happy with the others. And a happy Vee is the best Vee.

Luz is going to the University of Wild Magic! She’s still learning magic, even if she can’t do it the way she used to! And going to a school that EDA made helps make it EXTRA sweet.

The future designs are perfect! And they’re all babies! Yes, the kids are young adults now, but they STILL look like babies in my eyes…Except for Gus, who looks like he’s in his mid-twenties–How does witch puberty work again?

Willow’s still doing flier derby, and good for her. It’s good to know she’s doing something that makes her happy and isn’t a stereotypical “she runs a flower shop” ending that some of us (myself included) expected.

Hunter has a new palisman! And no bags under his eyes! He’s finally happy! A happy Hunter! YES!

Hunter and Willow is…kind of canon? I mean, it feels more implied with no kiss to seal the deal, but I like it that way. Not every canon couple needs a kiss to be official in my eyes. Plus, I always find it funny when shows with explicit same sex couples have implicit straight ones. That’s a bit of role-reversal that we can all appreciate given the many, many years when it was the opposite.

Flapjack’s gravestone…Ow.

And it says “Thanks for finding me.” That’s some EXTRA ow.

Boscha’s almost completely blocked behind the credits…I actually appreciate that more than I should.

Kikimora is put on grunt work…Perfect

Lilith is adding a new section to the library…I guess. And the notes on her blueprint for the new library are funny. “Call Flora to show off :3” Love it.

I think Amity’s dressing up and traveling? Probably to find new additions for the library, which is pretty cool.

Scara’s new look is perfect.

The first character we see get a coven patch on screen is the first one to get removed. That’s actually a cool detail that some might miss if they didn’t rewatch this series over a dozen times…like me.

The kids have matching tattoos of Flapjack…Ow.

Eda having a hook for a hand is more appropriate than getting a cybernetic arm from Alador. I don’t know why we didn’t think of that.

King has his initials “King Clawthorne” on his collar now! That’s adorable!

Luz’s King-ceañera! We got a Quinceañera afterall! Even though most with Dominican decent don’t really do that…It’s still adorable!

The final shot…I mean, could you ask for anything better than all the characters saying goodbye to this final goodbye? What a perfect ending…

WHAT I DIS–I said PERFECT–

Actually, no. I told you, it didn’t need to be perfect, and it really isn’t. There’s a few nitpicks to be had.

NITPICKS. Let me specify that none of these really ruin the special for me. They’re just little things that don’t make it perfect. For instance:

If the Collector’s powers don’t work on King, then why was it possible that the Collector levitated King and put him in that nightmare?

Why were King and Eda there having nightmares too? Specifically Eda. Yeah, the Collector was mad at both Luz and King, but why put Eda in the mix too? Lilith was turned back into a puppet for…I want to say spiteful reasons, so why didn’t Eda get the same treatment? I know it’s for the convenience of having them all together, but it feels a little too convenient to me.

It’s pretty vague on how people freed themselves from puppet forms. Amity at least has the explanation that maybe it was the light glyph, but what about Raine? Did Belos’ possession have anything to do with it? If so, why didn’t it work immediately?

Camila and the kids protecting the people inside the Archives is fine, but it does feel a little pointless with how little they do. You might even be able to cut them out and little will change.

Especially since those five got shafted HARD in this special. I’m willing to live with it because “Thanks to Them” and “For the Future” more than compensated for how little we see of them here. Unless you’re Amity, who has VERY LITTLE to do all season, but Seasons One and Two ALSO compensated for THAT so…Pbbt! Still, I feel like others would take issue, so it’s worth noting.

And, as my buddy @l-egionaire pointed out, Luz losing her magic really is kinda pointless. If she’s going to get magic again from KING anyway, why remove it? To me, it feels like a half-baked attempt to give a little bittersweetness to the ending. A good attempt, but THAT’S something that I’d agree is cheapened a little.

Other than that, this finale’s golden.

IN CONCLUSION

“Watching and Dreaming” doesn’t leave me empty…but it DOES fill me with peace. And honestly, that’s better.

I was scared that something bad would happen within this finale, what with the constant “You’re not readys” from the crew. And sure…Luz died…But she got better, so it’s no big deal.

It really is rewarding to see this show get a well-deserved happy ending that came after some large amounts of pain and an EPIC final battle that was all I could ever ask for. There might be some cracks, but that doesn’t stop this special from being a well-earned A+ in my eyes, nitpicks be damned!

And to Dana Terrace and the crew, in the less than zero chance that any of you is reading this…Thank you. Thank you for EVERYTHING.

I’ll be rewatching this show for years to come, and dreaming about what any of you bring next.

[haljathefangirlcat]

Now that you mention it, the Volsung-Nibelung-Dietrich cycle would make a good sitcom if you just focused on the zanier parts. The Nibelung siblings Gullrond, Gunther, Gernot, Giselher, Kriemhild, and (maybe) Hagen, with all their pals. Nephews Dankwart and Patavrid; Gunther's incredibly athletic girlfriend Brynhild and her dog and horse; the Nibelungs' best pal and Brynhild's ex Sigurd, who would be the man you wished your man could be if not his moments of random philosophizing or idiotic life decisions despite knowing what was going to happen; Hagen's best pals, Volker the musician and Walther the nerd; local businessman Rudiger and his sweet, cutesy young daughter; socially maladjusted Dietrich and his gang of pals, who always pop up during hangouts despite nobody inviting them... With less murder and more mayhem, it sure would make a good show!

You know, one thing I will always be irrationally sad about when it comes to the Sigurd/Siegfried cycle and related legends is that... it just never gets any of the wacky, zany, "how tf did you even come up that" adaptations and reimaginings Arthuriana keeps getting.

I mean, sure, you do have adaptations with some humor in it, and different ways to mesh Norse and Continental and even Wagnerian elements, and very different perspectives on the same characters. But Arthuriana really has anything and everything from Disney movies to anime and manga to Monty Python movies and musicals to kids' cartoons to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and all its parodies to Young!Arthur/Young!Merlin Slashy Bromance shows to irriverent French sitcoms to loosely-inspired queer YA romance novels to a few recurring and even main characters in "all stories are true" fantasy series like Once Upon a Time or The Librarians. There's even those collector's edition Merlin & Morgana Barbies that were making the rounds on here a while ago!

Meanwhile, the wackiest, less "serious" stuff our Nibelungs get are:

The brief Siegfried & Fafnir cameo in the Mara and the Firebringer movie, where the main mythological figures are actually Loki and Sigyn (can't really say anything about the books, as I haven't read them)

A weird Hungarian (?? iirc??) comedy movie where Siegfried has a talking piglet as his animal companion for some reason and Kriemhild really doesn't like him but she apparently can't just tell him to get lost and stop courting her so she orders Hagen to drive him away from Worms and kill him, which I've only ever managed to "watch" in bits and pieces

The comedic operetta Die lustigen Nibelungen, which I've never managed to find anything about that wasn't in German, so I'm not even really sure what it's actually about

The 70s porn movie The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried, which... tbh, I'd rather stick to fanworks on the nsfw side of things, if the alternative is Siegfried with a pornstache

A Modern/High School AU fantasy romance self-pub I once found where, from what I remember of the summary and excerpt I read, Brunhild is a Mean Girl/Queen Bee who tries to steal Siegfried away from Kriemhild and Hagen is Kriemhild's shitty jealous ex-boyfriend (nothing against High School AUs, or romance novels, or alternative takes on the Kriemhild/Siegfried/Brunhild love triangle, or Hagen/Kriemhild as a ship... but tbh, I'd rather see all those elements handled in vastly different ways XDD)

A couple of old Italian Disney comicbook parodies featuring Donald Duck and his family (but those were mostly Wagner-based, iirc, and then again, an amazing thing about Italian Disney comics is that they will parody literally everything under the sun from the Divine Comedy to Twilight)

... Siegfried (or Sigurd?) showing up in one of the Fate anime series? Or novels? Or games? Not sure. I've only ever watched like two episodes of the Fate/Stay Night anime and then dropped it because I didn't like the normal guy protagonist always rushing to protect his (secretly Fem!King Arthur) supernatural sworn knight just because she was a girl

And... that's it, I think.

And on the one hand, I get it. With Arthuriana, you have adventurous romances and ridiculous (affectionate) quests and so many different bizarre canons and twists on them that even that cartoon where Morgan Le Fay sends an American football team back in time to Camelot (I think that was the plot, at least????) is just another "you know, this might as well happen" situation. I suppose that, at least by comparison, the Nibelungensage & All Adjacent Stuff may appear more grounded and less easy to play with and bring in whatever strange, unlikely new direction you want. Plus, tragic events like Sigurd/Siegfried's death, Brynhild/Brunhild being tricked into marrying a man she doesn't want, and Gudrun/Kriemhild's revenge, or even Dietrich's exile, are just central to it, so that's kind of a downer already, I guess.

... on the other hand, King Arthur's tale literally ends with him and his son killing each other at the end of a bloody civil war. And it's not like anyone's ever had any problem merrily ignoring THAT part to, idk, have everyone in the story be cats.

All this to say, I'd watch the hell out of a Modern AU Nibelung sitcom. Or even just a Nibelung sitcom set in the Middle Ages, or Late Antiquity, or a vague mishmash of the two. The dream for that would be a Galavant-style show with musical numbers and a lot of scenes poking fun at epic and heroic tropes, ngl.

Actually, let's be real: I wouldn't just watch it, I'd probably write fic and make gifs and fanvids for it!