#toh literally saved and changed my life

[whoistrash]

Why change matters and how Amphibia did it better than The Owl House.

"Watching and Dreaming" made me cry a lot during its premiere. I was amazed and, I'd say, dazed by it. Then I forgot about it for a while. Now I finished re-watching Amphibia for the first time since TOH ended. My hype died down, and I have some thoughts. A lot, actually.

Amphibia's ending was incredibly painful and made me sob like a baby for two whole weeks the first time I watched it. That's because it was not only beautiful and heartbreaking, but truly GOOD. Brilliant, actually. I absolutely agree with a statement that any other ending would literally be a contradiction to the whole main plot, especially Anne's arc. The girls had to learn to let go in order to grow as individuals - the thing they had the biggest problem with. Saying goodbye was the only logical option, plot-wise. It still hurt like hell, though. Separating the multidimensional, against-all-odds relationships (especially my beloved spranne. Ouch, ouch, ouch). The Owl House does no such thing - everybody stays together. They live happily ever after.

Paradoxically, I think that it's the main reason why I'd choose "The Hardest Thing" over "Watching and Dreaming" every single time. I know we shouldn't really compare them in EVERY aspect, since TOH had way more things to deal with in the final episode, but the fact that Luz got to not only stay, but to freely travel between worlds as she pleases really took the whole "growing up and finding your true self no matter what the other people do/say about you" thing out the door. Luz from season one, episode one, and Luz from the finale are not really that different. Well, she certainly became more traumatised and depressed than before, but in terms of personal growth? Nope. Luz - from the very beginning - was cheerful, open, caring and very selfless, willing to literally help every stranger she met no matter how it would affect her. She had little to no boundaries, but, well, you can't argue that she was A GOOD, SELFLESS PERSON. Now, we could say that her arc here would be learning that sometimes you should put yourself before others, that you can't save everyone, that you can't trust every person you meet. And she learns it! She fucking does! She helps Philip not knowing who he will become, and then suffers from the consequences, because she helped the wrong person. And then it's all erased, when she saves Collector's life and meets Papa Titan (or whatever we call them).

I have so much to say about this. All of TOH's "villains" (Amity, Lilith, Hunter, The Collector) that were given a redemption arc literally get turned into lifeless, edgy trauma dumpsters, that suddenly loose all of their previous character, quirks and sass (well, maybe except for Lilith, she just started to express them differently, I think, but still, it was WAY too big of a change). I won't dwell on it (since many, many fans called it out already - as they should), and will focus on something different. The only one marked as irredeemable is Belos. Good. Okay. He's irredeemable, because he's a white, christian puritan who won't listen to anyone but himself. Also a genocidal maniac. That's the lesson for Luz here. "You can't save everyone. Some people are just straight up evil". And it's very, very true. But.

From all of the "villains" I mentioned before, Belos is the one that had the most reasons to, let's say, take a dark turn. Those reasons are what makes him irredeemable - he's just too convinced he's right, because, in his mind, he has evidence to prove it. But how do we learn about this? Maybe by seeing his part of the story? Maybe by learning about his brother and Evelyn, about their relationship? It couldn't be straight up awful, since Philip literally brought his brother back to life over and over again, he wanted his brother, or at least the picture of Caleb that satisfied him the most. There was more to it than only "you betrayed me and now I will hate you forever". Do we get to see any of that? No. Instead we get an all-knowing, all-doing being that literally choose Luz as "the one" for being kind and trusting, that convinces her that Belos is, indeed, a lost cause. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Luz, the person that on the literal episode two was told that there is no such thing as a "chosen one" and that she can't always hop into action to save everybody, because, it's, well, not always possible, DOES EXACTLY THAT in the finale by taking a bullet for The Collector, the, you know, very freshly redeemed and suddenly cute and funky villain, whom Luz trusts immediately. AND SHE IS REWARDED FOR IT BY BEING MADE THE CHOSEN ONE. BY A GOD-LIKE BEING THAT CLAIMS TO BE ALL-KNOWING AND CAN DECIDE WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS WRONG, BECAUSE OF PERSONAL (King) REASONS. Just like, you know... Belos? The irredeemable villain? And then Luz lets go of the moral dilemmas that's been keeping her up at night for the past months, makes up her mind, defeats the bad guy, learns nothing, and gets to stay in the Boiling Isles and on Earth. With her beautifully redeemed girlfriend and friends whom she kept secrets from and lied to out of fear of being ostracised (you see the pattern here, right?) for, again, months.

I love Amphibia. I love The Owl House. But Amphibia handles it's "villains", generally wronged characters and the whole change/no change thing way better. Well, maybe besides the Core - they got a bit wasted in my opinion. But still. Sasha. Grime. Marcy. Andrias. Anne herself. They learn and change. And more importantly, they face consequences and come to understand and accept them. There's no "chosen one" here. Anne gets the proposition because she's the first one to use the music box for good in literal millenia. A fact, plain and simple (not an opinion based on personal motivations), that makes sense plot-wise, and adds so, so much to Anne's arc. Because Anne from season one, episode one wouldn't care. The one from the finale cares very damn much. And that's the biggest difference.

Saying goodbye makes the message way stronger. The more I think about it, however, the more I'm starting to be afraid that there's no The Message in The Owl House to begin with. Luz learns very little, yet ends up with everything she ever wanted. There's no power behind it. The "find the right people and choose to trust them, not everyone will be your friend" and "some things are out of your control, some people are just bad" aspect is even weaker, as proven by basically the whole season 3. I will end it by my favorite quote from Amphibia, that I think about on daily basis. Have a good day, y'all.

"Change can be difficult, but it's how we grow. It can be the hardest thing to realize you can't hold on to something forever. Sometimes, you have to let it go; but, of the things you let go, you'd be surprised what makes its way back to you."

[mdhwrites]

In an answer to another question, you said that Amphibia acknowledges how change can be beneficial but also difficult and harmful, partly because the ‘quick’ and ‘forced’ change Andrias inflicts on Amphibia by trying to bend the world to his will is presented in a negative light. This is a very good point, but isn’t there a bit of a double standard when it comes to the forced change inflicted by the Guardian?

At journey’s end, the Guardian drops Anne back in Amphibia with three shards for a one-way trip home. It was nice of them to give her a ticket back to Earth…but it also forces Anne into a position where she has to leave a world she loved enough to give her life for, and potentially never see her found family again.

Now, it would be pretty hypocritical for Anne to talk a big deal about accepting that things change whether we like it or not in All In, only to turn around and pick a fight with the god of the multiverse out of a refusal to tolerate being separated from the Plantars. But the Guardian didn’t even consult Anne or ask her if she’d be okay with this before putting her in this position. They just…sent her back, left a little note saying “TTYL,” and didn’t even explain why they couldn’t give her a way back to Amphibia.

Sure, the Guardian knows how much damage was caused by creating the stones to see what mortals would do with unlimited power. Recreating the stones for Anne would have easily risked another disaster happening. But if the Guardian is truly all-powerful, surely they could have given the Calamity Trio a two-way portal that couldn’t be exploited by the wrong hands?

And in the deleted alternate ending, the Guardian does recreate the stones anyway when an old Anne forgets the deal she made and forces them to start their search for a replacement all over again. Now, this alternate ending isn’t canon, so it might not actually be what the Guardian would do, but again, the Guardian never explains why they’ve given one-time-use-only shards.

By all appearances, this is a quick and forced change to inflict on Anne, Sasha, and Marcy. You say the forced changes Andrias inflicts on Amphibia are portrayed as bad, but the narrative doesn’t even question the forced change brought about by the Guardian. Nobody raises so much as a word in condemnation of its actions. Not once does Anne even think to look up to the sky and ask ‘What gives? I sacrificed my life to save Amphibia, and you won’t even give me a two-way portal?’

I understand two-way transportation would have contradicted the message of accepting change and how love transcends distance. But throwing an entity who supposedly could, but won’t, give them a way back muddles things, in my opinion. A big part of Anne’s arc was learning to stand up for herself. Shouldn’t she have stood up to the arguably unfair hand she was dealt?

(Sorry for how long this ask was, I just have a lot of thoughts on this stuff and I get carried away rambling sometimes XD)

So for the sake of focus, I'm going to take all the stuff about the two way transportation and Anne supposedly being out of character for not arguing about the stones and put them to the side. One: because you yourself admit that approaches are flawed, Two: things get deleted for a reason. I could literally probably give you a clear, logical, narratively consistent reason why EVERY storyboard we're shown for TOH was changed or deleted, and Three: I could genuinely go into each topic on its own and so it would make this blog incredibly long.

Instead, I'm going to focus that while it wasn't my first point, I did continue for one more line about why Andrias' change upon the world was so destructive. I specifically point out that it is forcing the world to be something it is not and to bend it to his own will. It is selfish and uncaring of others and the show's themes of community always punishes selfishness.

Instead, the Guardians' final choice... Actually evokes the first sin in Amphibia's timeline, at least for the trio. The Guardian's logic is actually pretty easy to figure out after all. After what the girls did, especially Anne, they deserve a chance to go home, even if the Guardian is now done with allowing inter-dimensional travel, at least easily and by his intervention. So they're given shards to allow them to choose what form of change they want, what sacrifices they will make, but change HAS to happen either way. It is simply best for everyone, you yourself admitted this and a two way portal would not magically fix the issues with it, from the Guardian's perspective to keep the worlds separate..

It is not selfish. Instead, he is doing it for the best of the dimensional community... Just like Marcy's father was going to make them move likely for the sake of keeping his job or a promotion or any number of reasons that were likely motivated by trying to keep his family together or help them prosper. The change it would inflict on Marcy would not be of her own choosing, just as we cannot control the change those around us inflict upon us, but it wasn't done maliciously, nor was forced to be faster than the nature of the change required. There is no way to make a change like that smooth or consequence free. It was always going to hurt, much like when someone around you dies.

Instead of running though, the trio embrace it and head back home where they'll have to deal with reality the most. It's a stark contrast to, while still paralleling, the actions that began the show. A scared girl running from inevitable change and deciding a fantasy world was better than her actual home. For an ending, it's perfect.

So why not show the pain? Well... Because a story needs to end eventually. Amphibia in the end is extremely optimistic about good intentions, community and change so showing Anne or any of the trio cursing God himself for not giving them a fairytale ending makes literally no sense to include in the finale and just adds more time whining when that time could be better spent saying farewell to the characters and staying committed to the hopeful message that it has.

That's something I don't think a lot of people entirely get with stories. There are actually plenty of TOH scenes I've dug into HARD not because there isn't a logic to them or I couldn't explain to you why the characters are behaving the way they are or because it is literally written badly but because, you know... It needs to actually serve the story and the point of a scene. Even if it doesn't 100% adhere to pure logic, it needs to adhere to the thematic and emotional logics of the piece. Those are ALWAYS more important.

Otherwise, you get people bitching at SpyxFamily for the fact that trained spy Loid doesn't give a shit that his wife has literal superhuman capabilities. Logically, they're correct. But... The show IS a comedy. And 90% of the time, Yor's strength and skills are used comedically because that is the tone and purpose of whatever scene is going on. It adheres to the logic of what the show at least pretends to be. It's actually why I find myself questioning the serious portions of the show more. Not because they make less literal sense but because they make it so when the show shifts back into silly times with Anya at school, it is fucking JARRING.

And for Amphibia's ending, the point is how much good change has done these characters. Saying farewell and embracing how much both the characters and the audience have treasured the characters they've been with. There's a reason why the epilogue, and even the farewell before it, come across like a curtain call to a play as much as a natural scene. A final chance to say farewell before we probably never see them again. And, you know, because they commit to that instead of trying to prove they're so smart or address every potential thing someone might claim is illogical about the show mostly set in a frog world, it is able to genuinely say goodbye to those characters and stay emotionally and thematically consistent throughout.

Because those things, in 99% of stories, is WAY more important than being 'logically correct'. It's also why I don't really think there is a better version of Amphibia's ending. Period.

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

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

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

A Twitter you can follow too

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

[blackgumball]

whats ur thoughts on toh? out of pure curiosity

aaaaaaalright so. the short of it is that s1 was mid, s2 was pretty great imo, and s3 SUCKED.

the long of it is that when i found out Dana Terrace was making a cartoon, I was excited. I admired her work on GF (which changed my life when I first saw it), and was looking forward to the Owl House.

when I started watching it, I figured it just wasn't my style. I had graduated high school found that i wasn't really into the 'school' element of stories anymore (which I remember hearing that Dana herself not being too interested in as well, but execs forced the crews hand). I also just don't care about witches very much. Luz didn't move me in any particular direction, nor did Eda. The animation was cute at points. I would say the best ting about the first season was the fight scenes, specifically the ones between Eda and Lilith. other than that the show was just fine.

season two. I loved season two. I thought it got a million times better. they introduced Hunter, who was probably my favourite character in the show, the stakes got higher, as did the quality of the storylines and arcs. I don't know! the show just became so exciting to watch. I had to drag myself through the first season but I was locked in on season 2 and very excited whenever new episodes were coming out.

so natch this is when disney decides to cut their legs out from under them.

look a huge part of me feels horrible for the cast and crew of the owl house. they had a decently popular narrative show that was being talked about WEEKLY and that still wasn't enough to save them from the axe.

so unfortunately I was watching rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles at around the same time I was watching the owl house. these shows were both canceled before they really got to end their narratives, and were given a shorter season/tv movie to wrap things up. I might've been 100x more forgiving to the owl house if rottmnt didn't EXCEL. granted, they're very different kinds of show, but rise really used what it had and made a heartfelt ending that insinuated the continuing adventures of the turtles. It really fucking worked (i love rise, everybody go watch rise)

so owl house gets three forty minute episodes to end its story, and the crew promised that just because they were short on time doesn't mean the show would be any worse. and I believed them.

the problem was, everything they chose to focus on in these episodes felt like the wrong choice.

so, context. the villain of the show since season one has been Emperor Belos. he's this big, creepy looking fascist dictator who wants everybody to be learning ONE kind of magic. he gives people special tattoos on the inside of their forearms to make sure they can't use more than one (which draws some uncomfortable parrallels to the holocaust considering we learn that belos wants to commit genocide against the witches)

so that's our villain but at the end of season two a new villain is introduced. a little creepy jester God Baby (heretofore known as GodBaby.) GodBaby wants to play. GodBaby destroys belos in one fell swoop and literally kills all the tension of the season two finally with a twitch of his finger, then GodBaby enslaves the planet as his playthings. Luz and her friends escape to the human world, but find they can't return.

When they DO return to the human world, they literally just explain to GodBaby that you have to ASK if people want to play with you and GodBaby immediately stops being the villain. The villain is now, again, Belos, who has been crawling around as a rather pathetic piles of deer shaped goo. There's your narrative context.

I found this was a huge waste of tension. they destroyed their villain, taking away all his credibility, his power, everything that makes him threatening to introduce this NEW guy, the new guy is convinced to the good side in a four minute conversation, all so you can bring this entirely non-threatening guy back for five seconds. this might have been alright if it didn't take place over the course of two and a half episodes. it wasnt DRAMATIC nor was it SATISFYING.

so that's the villains, now for the protagonists. Willow and Gus, our two side characters of colour, are underfocused on (as they have been throughout the entire show). Hunter, my favourite character, has basically the entire first episode dedicated to his suffering. i guess im biased cause I love that kid, but forty minutes of him getting infected with UncleGoop, slowly becoming paranoid and losing his mind, and then turning into some kinda (POORLY DESIGNED) deer beast, and then trying to KILL HIMSELF and THEN his first friend and beloved pet bird sacrificing itself to save his life..... hoooooooooooo. it was farrrrr too fucking much in my opinion. my man just wanted to cosplay. but i guess that's more of a personal thing.

Luz is in her depression era. she's upset because she thinks that everything is her fault, completely understandable. was i moved by it at all? noooooo.

amityyyyy. exists to be a good girlfriend. and that's OKAY. i'd probably like her way more if they hadn't turned the cunt beam down. she used to be a real bitch and that's when she was at her most interesting TO ME. IMO.

the most egregious thing to me is episode 2. that episode focused HEAVILY on side characters and stories I have no interest in when the stakes were supposed to be at their highest. they give boscha (fucking boscha?) a redemption arc when I was moe worried about hunter killing his uncle and luz freeing all the puppeteered slaves. and why are you INTRODUCING STORYLINES WHEN YOU HAVE LESS THAN SIXTY MINUTES OF SHOW LEFT???? it was very veryyy fucking frustrating.

last episode. i barely rememeber it. luz has he depression healed by the power of becoming a kaiju. hunter can now use magic because he ate his magic bird to survive. i was yawning.

when i talk shit about the owl house its because I was so fucking let down by its conclusion. I understand that the team had less to work with, but so did the crew on Rise, and they made an excellent conclusion to their series. because 2/3 seasons in that show were mid (TO ME!!! IN MYYYY OPINION!!!) i don't value it as much as I value shows like gravity falls or infinity train or rottmnt. if you or anybody reading this liked it, that's okay! live your truth. i did Not fuck with it though.

[mayukis09]

Is it just me?

So I recently joined TOH fandom about a month ago and I noticed some things that no one seems to be talking about.

This could mean one of two things: either these are things everyone's already aware of and I'm just slow

OR

not

I'm leaning towards the first option, but I'm still gonna post about it bc idk maybe this will be of use to at least one person (and so I don't forget about it lol)

I am in no way, shape, or form trying to hate on TOH, it is currently my favorite thing ever. I am obsessed with it and am super hyperfixating on it. These are just some funny things I noticed and they are all meant lightly.

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE OWL HOUSE SEASON 3

Here we go:

Luz's name in Spanish literally just means "light" so it's kinda ironic that the first spell she learns is the light spell (also ironic when she dies she turns into light, my immediate thought was "Luz turned into luz lol" and I laughed during that part I know it was supposed to be serious but I couldn't help the irony)

At the Blight Industries secret showcases, NONE of their investors question the fact that Odalia uses CHILDREN to showcase her WEAPONRY. The only one with some kind of common sense is Alador, who at some point calls his wife out for getting all mad in an argument with a teenager and almost killing her.

In a similar category, Eda is like the only person who realizes that Luz and King are just kids and to have them be worried about the fate of the BI and feel like they're the ones responsible for fixing things is probably reeeally stressful and traumatizing for them because again, they're children and having to save an entire population is probably not good for their mental health. This goes for other shows and movies that portray children saving the world as well, with all other characters (including adults) being totally okay with it. Eda is the only one who sees this is not normal.

THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL WITH THIS SHOW IS INSANE. Luz's hair slowly getting longer as the show progresses, eventually being long enough to put in a small ponytail by the end of season two. Amity's hair color changing in the intro the episode after she changes it in the show. The end credits of season two changing from green hair Amity looking back at Luz as they walk to portray her crush to not only the hair changing, but also her and Luz hold hands once they start dating in the show. Most shows I know wouldn't even change their intro if a character's appearance changed. The backgrounds also have some super cute "blink and you miss it" details that just adds so much life to the story (i.e the L+A carvings in season 3 in Luz's desk at school AND in her room, stringbean's corner, post-its and notes and drawings in her locker, room, and house, a sign saying Eda's library card was redacted in season 1 "lost in language"). So much props to Dana and the whole team for amazing attention to detail!

Amity's mom wants her hair dyed green, but why? I think it is because Amity was born with Alador's hair color and not Odalia's and she wants to be the dominant figure in the house. She doesn't pressure Ed and Em to do this because they have a variant of her hair color, so they already resemble her more than their father. Amity dying her hair purple could be a symbol of leaving the control of her parents and branching out to be her own person.

Manny (Luz’s dad) was also into cosmic frontier and him and Camila would cosplay together as it seems from the scene in “Thanks to Them” where I believe Gus gestures to the closet full of cosmic frontier stuff. There’s a box labeled as Manny’s cosplay 2.0. It’s so wholesome that they had a similar interest! :D

This is everything I noted so far, but if I end up finding more I’ll add to this post :D

[spin-offsmirnoff]

Spoilers for “Thanks to Them” (Season 3 - Episode 1)

I'mma just talk about TOH stuff real quick, don't mind me :)

So, I've been rewatching the latest episode like mad, and I've come to realize something

Caleb wasn't a real witch hunter, not like how everyone expected. It was outright said that he and Phillip were orphans that moved to Gravesfield at the height of the witch trials, so I have no doubt that they were just trying to fit in when they first arrived. Of course, being an orphan and an older brother to someone like Phillip, there's no way that Caleb wasn't stressed out of his goddamn mind, and adding in the violence and paranoia the town was probably putting on everyone with the threat of witches, it just made it worse

Now, when you're hella stressed, have no one to turn to, and need an escape, what's something any reasonable person would do? Look for an outlet! And yes, things were no doubt harder back in the 1600s, but this is also a cartoon, so Caleb probably found a witch at some point. Instead of killing/reporting this witch (who is now known as Evelyn) Caleb was "whisked away by her magic and tales of another world". As the oldest brother (probably well into his teens) Caleb most likely didn't rouse any suspicion when he up and left out of the blue at random times, but it would def be sus to Phillip. 

As the younger brother, Phillip def took the witch-hunter thing more seriously. It was the perfect outlet for him, and gave him a shit load of freedom to do some stuff, so when he found out Caleb was talking to a witch, he probably flipped out on him.

So, when Caleb did leave, Phillip knew exactly where he was going and followed in an attempt to save his brother. It really did start out as saving Caleb, since Phillip most likely believed that Evelyn cast a spell on him, but when Caleb tried to tell Phillip about how wonderful this new world was, Phillip outright flipped and a fight started

This is where those paintings in Belos's mind come into play. We can see the life of the two as time went on, and eventually, Phillip holding a knife while looking at Caleb. The next one is Caleb hugging Phillip, so we have to assume Caleb believed Phillip understood his stance on magic, but with outside knowledge, we know otherwise. It's either during the hug or right after that Phillip stabbed Caleb, officially killing his brother, but time had def passed before that happened since Phillip had a beard in the hug painting but was clean-shaven in the story that the guide was telling on the hayride. So that gave Caleb more than enough time to fall in love with the Boiling Isles and Evelyn, and for him to earn his Palisman (Flapjack). Sometime after that is when Luz and Lillith went back in time and met Phillip, as we see literal bones in the tent he's staying in at the end of that episode. 

Any way, my point is Caleb wasn't a witch hunter like Phillip was, he was just masquerading so he could fit into the new town without being an outcast--

ALSO, CALEB HAD BROWN EYES

NOT BLUE LIKE PHILLIP

SEE

When Hunter first touched the Belos goop with his cut finger, he saw Belos's figure immediately after there was literally no pause between it. That means that Belos could literally take control at any time after that (unless he needed to gain magic, but that doesn't make sense cause Hunter didn't have his own magic since he's a grimwalker. Even with Flapjack, he's got mega limitations) so that'd just leave the fact that he was biding his time with Hunter, waiting to strike at any time he wanted. He most def didn't know about the rebus when it was first mentioned, and the hallucinations only really started kicking up a few notches when the titan's blood was mentioned. That means that Belos probably had a different plan on using Hunter as a puppet, but only changed his mind when he realized there was an infinitely easier option for getting back to the Isles. That also means that he probably expected Hunter to die when he de-possessed his body since I don't see any other way Belos could have left that wouldn't have incapacitated Hunter in some way. But that also means that Hunter can't be a full grimwalker any more now that Flapjack has essentially merged with him in a way, cause Hunter's eye color changed to look more like Calebs than any other shade of brown (it looked like Luz's eye color cause of the lighting from the portal door, and the color of Caleb's eyes in the mirror from above is probably desaturated cause of distant memories being faded in a way or because of the way Caleb had been living at that point in time)

Also, if Palismen are inspired by Familiars, then they can be passed down from witch to witch. That means that if Flapjack wasn't created for Caleb, he was def gifted to Caleb by Evelyn, whose family is known to be adept in carving Palismen (it also explains why Flapjack and all those other Palismen were able to bond with another witch after they were found by the Bat Queen)

OH AND In the first ep of season 3, the group finds a literal secret code from Caleb and Evelyn. That means the two of them were in contact for a long fucking time to develop a code/map system that they could understand and create portal doors that work when activated (even hundreds of years later), so that just sells the point that Caleb really needed a positive outlet if he kept such a hard grasp on understanding and connecting with magic/witches

Edit: This is a chart I made trying to figure out Hunter's new eye color, since it's def different from what we've seen so far--

[hex-wittebane]

Request Guidelines and Status

[Requests: Closed]

**Please note that this list can and will be updated as time goes on. There are things I didn't think of to add and they will be added if you come up with them. And if you have any questions PLEASE ASK ME.

Request Guidelines, Below The Cut:

Please Provide The Following:

WHO? Character, Reader (with preferred Gender and Pronouns), my OCs. RELATIONSHIP? Familial, other Platonic, Romantic. PLOT. What do you want to see happen during this piece? Does it take place during an episode? Prompt? Additional Information. Do you want some angst or fluff sprinkled in alongside the PLOT? If there is no provided PLOT, do you want angst or fluff? Use this space to also let me know any additional information I should touch on that you want included in the story.

What I Will Write:

ANGST FLUFF RELATIONSHIPS: As I mentioned above, I will write Familial, Platonic, and Romantic relationships. READERS INSERTS: Please include Gender and Pronouns. I do tend to default to Female because I am Female and that is what I default to. OC INSERTS: If you like one of my OCs enough to want to see more of them, by all means, ask for it. I do not write for anyone else's OCs at this time (this is largely due to the fact that I know my own OCs, not yours and for some reason in the past people didn't understand that they needed to tell me about their OC... so only my own). Additional things. Disabilities, Insecurities, Episodes, Crack Fics, Owl Pellets!

What I Will NOT Write:

SELF-HARM: You can ask for this as part of a backstory, but not ongoing. EATING DISORDERS: You can ask for this as part of a backstory, but not ongoing. INCEST SMUT/LEMONS/LIMES & SIMILAR: Just because I'm an adult, who may or may not have first-hand experience, does not mean I know how to write about it. Also, I straight up don't find the appeal in writing or engaging IRL. Personal thing. ABUSE: We can discuss this because of the implications and nature of TOH and Hunter's story. You have wiggle room in this fandom. It is very dependent on what you want, this is literally only here because I cannot write to save my life, otherwise it wouldn't be here, NGL. POLY-SHIPS: No hate, just because I am an adult, does not mean I have first-hand experience or even know someone in this type of relationship. Personal thing, again. CHARACTERS: There is a list of CHARACTERs that I will not do; this is subject to change, and I know for a fact I am missing exclusions:

Adrian Grey

Barcus

Boscha

Bria

Eberwolf

(I'm begging you, none of the school staff; the only exception I'll make is if you want Principal Bump but flashback era, because mood)

Terra Snapdragon

If any of you monsterfuckers ask for Philip Wittebane romance I'll delete my blog /j (I'm begging you to ask for HUMAN Philip though, that's fine. We are not kissing the goo. There is no romance with the slime. No bed sharing with the sludge.)

OTHER THINGS: At this time the only other thing I will typically turn down is Character/Character, I typically do these in the sense of CHARACTER A is the child of B and C. If I'm feeling some type of way, I might indulge you heathens in a character/character, but this is unlikely.

**GIF not mine**

[heart1012]

that moment my ❤️ skipped a beat I still remember the day I saw you for the first time. that day a little heart who knew nothing but her childhood games....... skipped a beat. that little heart was mine. that day 13 year old me fell in a first sight love with 13 year old you and this heart skipped a beat for the first time. I remember after that first meet you disappeared and I did everything that a little girl could do to search for u but didn’t find you. after around 2 months you came back again n that moment I saw you again..... my heart ❤️ skipped a beat. I remember the moment when one of our mutual friend came to me and said that "you like me" and my heart ❤️ skipped a beat. the next day you came to me and asked if we can be friends. that day we spoke to each other for the first time and yeah again my heart ❤️ skipped a beat. After 2 months of friendship the day you proposed me 5th May, 2013 and I literally had butterflies within me. I managed myself somehow and said "yes" and suddenly you hugged me so tight. yeah that was our first hug. my first hug with my first love. yes that day my heart ❤️ skipped a few more beats. I remember after somedays of us being together, both of us used to think about our marriage. that was so cute that two 13 year old lovebirds are worried about their marriage but it had a different feeling and I can never forget it. 19th July,2014 the day we had our first kiss. That day my heart didn’t skip a beat it just stopped for a while to feel the love we were sharing. I remember the day I went to your house. we were alone n suddenly we started dancing together holding hands.... yeah that day my heart ❤️ again skipped a beat. It’s been more than 7 years and still every time I meet you every time u look at me with that smile on your face everytime you touch me or even look at me with love.... yeah my heart skips a hell lot of beats. people say everything changes with time but the feeling that I had when you were around me as a 13 year old kid is the same as a 20 year old girl. In these 7 years of relationship we fought a lot. everytime we used to fight and don’t speak to each other for months I used to miss u so much and the day we start to talk again the cheesy lines that u used to say..... that makes my heart❤️ skip a beat. I remember once after a fight when u were trying to convince me u said "hume toh shaadi krni thi naa baat nai kregi toh shaadi kese karenge" n that stole my heart ❤️ again and it skipped a beat. my love for you keeps growing day by day everything is same except that we are not together anymore. It’s been 6 months that we broke up and the thought that we are not going to talk again makes me sad af everyday. Yesterday I saw u after a long time. looking at u, my anger just disappeared. I really wanted to hug u tight to tell you how much I have missed you. To ask you if we can solve this.... to beg you to come back again. But then I remembered that question that you asked me "tune mereliye kiya kya hai aj tak" that question that broke my heart that forced me to break our relationship that stopped me to go back to you again. I left all my friends for you. Everytime you did something that hurt me I used to ignore it just to save our relationship and then u asked this. I can never go to you again. that’s true that It’s not easy to stay without you but still I don’t want you back. I want to talk a hell lot of things with you still don’t wanna talk to you I want to stare at you for the rest of my life still don’t wanna see you again in my whole life.

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

I posted 16,683 times in 2022

368 posts created (2%)

16,315 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dreaming24601

@turnaboutstevie

@jgvfhl

@gremlinbehaviour

@the-moonlight-calls-us

I tagged 4,872 of my posts in 2022

#bbc merlin - 496 posts

#wwdits - 360 posts

#merlin - 307 posts

#wwdits spoilers - 216 posts

#liv talks - 182 posts

#guillermo de la cruz - 154 posts

#black sails - 144 posts

#toh - 142 posts

#ofmd - 135 posts

#spn - 113 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#the target audience and its important to remember before condemning them as just dark and fucked up when theres more going on weve forgotten

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Still not sure what to do with the fact that you could do a Bones crossover with nearly any show with a supernatural component and it could be considered canon compliant or at the very least probable. There are canonically ghosts on this show. They did a crossover with sleepy hollow, a show with a whole host of supernatural creatures and beings. Sleepy hollow is canonically the same universe as Bones and this still blows my mind. They took a show dealing with hard science and said "yeah, let's include the existence of ghosts demons angels monsters and immortal men for literally no reason and not have any of that significantly influence the plot. Except for ghosts. We need a ghost to help save one of our main characters. We also need guest star Cyndi Lauper to continue to be a medium for us, both for laughs and for maximum emotional devastation."

305 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

#4

So I'm thinking about it, and the more I do, the more I become convinced that Nadja being promoted to the worldwide vampiric council is a trap. I think everything in season 3 with them being the local council was a trap too. The worldwide vampiric council wanted to know who the leader of the group was and in the end it became clear that that person was Nadja. They think she killed Nandor, Colin Robinson is dead as far as everyone knows, and that just leaves Nadja and Laszlo. His devotion to her is no secret so it makes sense that where she goes, he would follow. They arrive thinking its a promotion for Nadja and instead its death. From a meta perspective, the writers probably NEEDED Guillermo with Nadja in order to protect her and save her life from the council

357 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

#3

It's the fact that the title sequence all season has been adult Colin Robinson and then for the episode we lose him, they put in baby Colin, with a very heavy concentration of moments between him and Laszlo

446 notes - Posted September 7, 2022

#2

There's a large part of me that wants Laszlo to fake his death at some point in season 4 to escape the wrath of Nadja and Guillermo

498 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I want Marwa to stay but I want her to be free from Nador and the wish changes and I want her to be his bitchy ex who is literally nice to everyone except Nandor and she lives in the attic mancave she made for herself and I want her to host regular movie nights with Nadja, The Guide, and Dolly in there. I want her to be free and happy but I also don't want her to go

1,391 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[tellywoodtrash]

Hey TT, can you give a quick summary of what’s happening in Naagin 5 in the most You way possible (not holding back on sarcastic commentary) cause I’m tryna keep up with the mini-lbs without watching the shows and idk who the characters are or what the plot is LOL. Nothing fancy, just something similar to what you did for immj when you started LBS

Lmao ok I’ll try............... Even though I literally only started watching from the Veer/Bani wedding. So who knows how much of this is correct.

So there was this chick who Shivji decides to make the veryyyyyyyyyyyy first Naagin ever, and gives her some powers and shit (what powers, beyond turning into a snake???? Beats me.) She had a SnakeMan boo-thang as well. But there was a Cheel Prince obsessed with her, and he kills her Snake Boyfriend (Snoyfriend?) so she flings him into some Dark Void and then kills herself too. Coz what is life without men?????????? (Bliss, pure and simple bliss. You know how much I’d enjoy life if I was a Snake Lady who didn’t have to put up with men???? HELLA LOTS.)

Anyway, a gajillion years later all these ppl are reborn. (Ugh, the janam-mrityu chakra. How to escape, pls to tell, I would like to get off this ride that I did notttttt buy a ticket for.) Snake Girl is Bani, Snoyfriend is Jai, and Cheel Boy is Veeranshu. Bani loses her parents in some plane crash and is adopted by some family - a dad she calls Papa, an adoptive mom she calls Chachi (coz Chachi hates Bani and doesn’t wanna be called Mom), and three sisters; Meera, Mahek, and Dahek. (Mahek Dahek are ridiculously bad Gen Z stereotypes who only care about makeup and partying and boys.) Allllllll these ppl meet at some wedding where Cheelanshu strides in saying he slept with the bride and there’s lots of panga between Cheelanshu and Snoyfriend. The bride ends up dead and Bani sees Cheelanshu and his brothers thikaane lagaofying the laash. Anyway, Cheel Family (Members: Daddy Cheel, Chachu Cheel. Daddy ke bete hain Veer & Tapish; Chachu ke bete hain Daksh, Monil, Ponky. Saath mein ek live-in chamcha bhi hai Shukla bolke.........) is very diverse in their business dealings, they run an alcohol empire and a pub and also have some human/sex trafficking on the side, unknown to Righteous Cheel Prince Cheelanshu. Bani hates him from first sight, he loves her and keeps following her around like a chaep. There’s some randomness in between where he saves her from some explosion while she’s unconscious, and Bani and Jai remember they’re Snoulmates (Snake Soulmates) by doing one ridiculous fucking dance. They decide ki Cheel Family ko mitaana hi hai, but they cannot attack them until the Cheels attack first. (Thanks Shivji for all these useless clauses in contract. Vardaan nahi, yeh toh iTunes ka terms and conditions ho gaya.) So they have to keep biding their time till they can murder some cheels. Cheel Boy brings proposal for Bani’s sister to make her jealous and Bani decides to marry Snoyfriend. Blah blah blah, kuch kuch ho jaata hai, Bani sees Jai being thrown off a cliff by the Cheels, suddenly from somewhere one twin brother of Veer’s comes and attacks Bani and she’s like yisssssssssssss, thinking it’s Veer and attacks him. But it’s not actually her who kills him, it’s Namak Haraam Shukla. Veer enters screaming and crying about his brother and Bani’s like wtf who did I kill then????? Anyway Veer and her marry each other to exact revenge on each other. (What other reason is there to get married anyway??) Jai is ultimately not dead and is now like mwahahahahha I hate Bani coz a woman in power is unimaginable to me as a Desi Man, even if I am a snake too. I wanna kill her so I can get her Aadinaagin powers (what powers???? He literally already has the same power she does, of turning into a snake.) He does random absolute fail saazishishein with Shukla and a Hot Morni called Mayuri (BABE I MISS YOU MOST PLS COME BACK) to kill Veer/Bani. Meanwhile Veer finds out Bani didn’t kill twin and is like oh ok cool my conscience now allows me to love her with no guilt. No more revenge, only pyaar pyaar pyaaaar. Bani still hates him tho. Phir Veer waale actor ko COVID ho gaya toh puraane yug waala Cheel Prince comes back pretending to be him (brought by Snoyfriend and team) and does some mindfuckery and Bani is like this ain’t my husbanddddddd; he’s a different flavour of bastard than this one in front of me. I like my regular Lemon-Lime Chutiya instead of this Blackberry flavoured one. Hathaapaai and what not and Lemon-Lime Cheel boy comes back and murders imposter and saves Bani. Uneasy peace between hubs and wifey. Phir aata hai reveal ki she’s a Naagin and he’s like I love her anyway and protects her from his murderous family. Snoyfriend comes and starts living with them at Cheel Mansion for some reason and him and Cheel Boy have mad banter 24/7. The best part of the show.

Anyway aaj kal Veer ki long lost Mummy aayi hui hai (and she calls herself Markaat, even though she’s not the real Markaat, that’s someone else the Cheel Fam worships or something..... Idk man, idk...........) Anyway she’s a half cheel half naagin and also Snoyfriend’s mom, so surprise surprise, Bickering Boys are Brothers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She wants to kill Bani to get her AadiNaagin powers (again, WHAT DAMN POWERS????????? I DON’T SEE NOTHING OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT SHE CAN TURN INTO A GIANTASS SNAKE. WHICH YOU CAN ALSO DO, AUNTYJI. SO LITERALLY WTF POWERS ARE YOU ALL GOING ON ABOUT HERE?????????) but Bros Before Hoes Mom unite to save mutual love interest. Snoyfriend decides ki evil bann ke kyaa hi ukhaad liya maine, toh might as well be on the good side, where at least I’ll have some company for this insane shitshow that is our lives. Meanwhile Shivji ne Bani ko phir se koi random vardaan diya where she can see shit that happens in the future and she keeps seeing all her loved ones drowning. So she takes them all to a safehouse ON A CLIFF FACING THE SEA. Then the sea levels start rising like cray (climate change is real) and Naagin drinks up a tsunami that tries to kill them all. Meanwhile iss sab ke beech mein Bani ki sister Meera aur Veer ke brother Tapish ki shaadi bhi chal rahi hai (coz zindagi idhar ki udhar ho jaaye par shaadiyaan nahi rukni chahiye iss desh mein!!!!!!!!!!!) but now the BTS for next week show Bani/Veer stealing the thunder and marrying other ppl instead. WILL YOU FUCKERS LET THE SPOTLIGHT BE ON TAPISH/MEERA FOR 5 MINUTES PLS NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway........ yeah. That’s what you’ve missed on Naagin 5.

As a reward for reading all this nonsense, here have a gif of the Cheel Fam doing their thing:

[desiblr-dad]

Hi papa! (🙃Anon here)

I really don't know what I am doing with me right now. I have literally spoilt my life ever since 7th grade and now that I have gained some senses, I find it really hard to change.

Talking about my academic life, I had honestly always wanted to pursue medicine/ become a doctor and thus had literally told everyone I would become one. Now that I need to study (since I am in 11th) I find it difficult. Like honestly, all the three, physics biology and chemistry, make me feel nauseous. My parents are very supportive of this dream of mine and even though I had been determined to choose pcb as a stream, they questioned me again and again if I want to change my stream initially. Right now, when everyone is serious regarding my neet preparation, I am lacking that focus, determination for the preparation. As expected my marks aren't good at all and it's not like they are scolding me for this, they just tell me to improve but sabko pata hai ki aise bina marks lake kuch nahi hoga. I feel like I should quit and choose some other stream, something I am capable of and not medical, but I am not at all sure about it. I find talking to my parents really difficult, actually talking to anyone really difficult in real life, not like they will punish/scold me but it's just, I fall short of words when I am suppose to speak up, especially for myself by myself. I really want to pursue medical as a career but aisa lag raha aukaat se zyada badhe cheezein sooch li hain.

My social life, the little that I have, is literally messed up. I always end up making the wrong type of friends, people who influence me into wrong things and it's not until I make a mistake that I realise I am doing wrong.

I don't wether to call it depression/anxiety or any mental health disorder since I am not much educated about such stuff, but I have been mentally detoriating myself ever since 5th grade. Initially in 5th grade, I used to feel dull without any reason, cry without any reason, suddenly start laughing, feeling fatigue even after resting (not in a lazy way but a serious one). I had ignored these ever since then and didn't tell anyone thinking it's just random, aise he hota hoga, types. It continued since then and even now that I am in 11th, it isn't stopping. The frequency and impact have only increased. There was a time when I was in my 8th grade that I used to vomit every morning, parents took me to the doctor and nothing came out from it since I really didn't know why it was happening. Then I gradually started weeping at night and as this began, my vomitting reduced. Now, I don't vomit every morning but cry or feel numb almost every night. With the whole neet thing on my head, it's becoming worse.

I never had any suicidal thoughts until 10th grade, but now that they come and go by so easily, I feel like trying it. I mean, trying as in, I don't know I just can't put it into clear words, like there is this urge to do so but then I am afraid if I would be saved somehow then what would I say to everyone else.

I don't know, I am just 15 right now (will be turning 16 soon in dec) and whenever I think about such stuff, I feel like I am too young and immature to speak about them. My mom knows about this since I recently told her although she hasn't done anything of help except make me feel guilty about not telling her earlier, thank god she hasn't spread this around.

I am sorry, this is long and there is actually more but I don't want to waste your time and thus, I would be stopping here only.

(agar apka samay thoda kharab hoya ho ismein toh sorry but sirf sunne ke liye bhi thank you papa)

🙃anon

Hello anon beta,

I understand how academics can be stressful. Just do what you feel is right for you. It is never too late. Try your best and if you still feel that you cannot do pcb, then consider some other career options. When we already have our mind set on one particular option, we fail to even consider other potential options. Just consider the career options that a particular stream offers and if you think they are suitable for you, then choose that stream (if you can still switch). There is nothing wrong with switching the streams, just talk to your parents about it. If talking to your parents seems hard, ask yourself this: Would I regret it badly in future if I don't speak up now? If the answer is yes, then speak up. Tip: tell your parents you need to talk and make sure they let you speak, then you have the stage, take your time, you might get nervous or pause in between but you can do it!

About your social life: not having friends is better than having fake ones and there is nothing wrong with it, but you do need someone to talk to and confide in so just look for one good friend rather than many, you'll find someone and even if you don't, it's okay. You will meet a lot more people outside school and make friends. If you need someone to talk to, I will gladly lend an ear.

You are not immature or too young to talk about your mental health. Only you know if something is going on and if you feel you need to talk about it or need help, then it is completely valid. There are sources that you can reach out to regarding your mental health. I had re-blogged a post sometime ago related to this, so see if that is helpful in any way. Also: I found an Instagram page called "project.i.am.enough". It is a non-profit initiative and they offer free therapy. They will either connect you to a professional or a friend via email based on your preference. So, visit their page and you can find more about the process there.

P.S. This is not a waste of my time. Also, I know I am answering this extremely late. I felt I was not in the state of mind earlier to answer this well.

[glossymusings]

(this is a letter I wrote to my boyfriend for his quarantine Birthday)

Hello Popu :)

Lets start this with a smile pleaseee🙈😌

(i clearly didnt know how to start😂)

So Heyyyy Babyy❤️ and *A VERY VERY VERY HAPPPYYYY BIRTHHDAAYYYYYY*!!!!!!!!!

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

I write this to let you know that you are the most worthiest thing happened in my life so this letter/whatever is *just an effort* to outline my feelings for you.💘💘

AND This will be the first letter I've ever written to you- or anybody in that case🥺

Well anyways, let me tell you that the tone of this letter may change(more like I know it will change) so that’s just a little warning for you.

This might jump around quite a bit and if you hadn’t noticed…there will be many parentheses because of either my inside thoughts😛, apologizing for putting my thought or something else.

And there will be parts where it won’t even make sense, remember I am stupid and also I am writing this late at night/morning.

But I want you to know that I am going to work hard on this letter and hopefully make it special and not retarded sounding. I will also try to make you laugh with some humor but I know I probably will fail,

but you can laugh at how bad my writing is! Okay?

Also i'll try not to overuse those 3 words (i love you) and scare you off.

AND this has nothing to do with your 20(age)..but i think i don't think i say this enough isliye aaj bol rahi hu and i'll try my best to not make this super duper cheesy and long

the things written below purely come from my pathar dil so much in love with you and also the reason why I am making this is because

it is your birthday and I wanted to give you something at least semi-romantic and

hopefully you will think this is special and you’re going to keep it with you(rakh warna maarungi).

So this is the part where i actually start the letter..i really reallllyyyy hope you like it :)

I really wanted to make an illustration/vector art for your birthday(of you ofc) and i even started working on it but mai save karna bhool gayi.. then i got lazy and didnt make it. (sachi mai save karna bhool gayi 😭🤦🏻‍♀️)

Then mujhe idea toh tha pehle se letter/bday message (but tbh I really wanted that letter/bday message to be better than samiksha's(not jealous)) isliye I didn't start(early).

But phir jaise jaise tera bday paas aa raha tha mere paas aur koi idea nai tha(sorryyy 🥺)

(nothing is more romantic than a letter haina?💋)

toh here it is.(Apna first love letter💋💋🐨)

(all the emojis look weird on whatsapp🤷🏻‍♀️)

.

.

I am trying not to go back to the memories of 2018 when we met( kyuki sirf 2 saal hua hai utna toh yaad rakh🙃) but tujhe bhi pata hai we have come a longgg way and apna journey aur bohot hai I hope :)

Thank you for coming into my life, seriously you have changed me for better(or for worse who knows ;) ) YOU are someone, someone that captured my gaze, my thoughts, my mind, maybe even my heart and i fell for you. 👩🏻‍🦽

You made me feel so many feelings i have never experienced before ;) (thats winky face) and dealt with them in ways i can say i'm either proud or not so proud of.😗👉🏻✌🏻👀

You are literally the best.

My Best Friend(I'm your best friend haina?)

One of my biggest supporter(or not)

One of my biggest Inspirations❤️

One of my biggest Blessing🙏🏻🧐

One of my biggest Strength💪🏻

And My Comfort👩‍❤️‍👨

…. my favourite <3.

And seriously you make me happy in a way no one else can🥵

And Popu my biggest wish is that someday we finally meet again and have the greatest time together.😇❤️🙈

I want to have you by my side so badly<3 But mostly I just want you to be happy and keep on going, because you are one of the greatest persons I know. 😌

And i wish you all the best in life and everything you do with your life. I hope that you are happy and although there may be times i really do may fucking hate you, know that i dont.👀❎

Its always easier to hate the person you love when times get tough.(Well it is for me!)

I hate to face the fact that we won’t be able to be with each other that often in the coming months/year. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I knew this was going to be hard(er) but it didn’t hit me on how close this will actually be.

I have enjoyed every moment we have spent together, even though we haven’t really been doing anything too exciting, this has still been the best I have ever

had because of you.

😁✨

I couldn’t want anything else. I don’t like the fact that I won’t be able to spend my lunches with you or even having to wait for buses on bus stop

or sitting on the back seat of buses and holding hands, and watch movies with you :'( ,or quietly sneaking to terrace or staircase (for a few months.)

No matter what past me has said or future me will say... i just want you to know you will forever own every piece of my heart :').

There’s no possible way I can tell you how much I really do love you. I am so happy you gave “us” a chance,

all I can say is thank you and I love you. I hope you enjoy this relationship as much as I do. ❤️

Ever since I’ve known you, you never left my mind, from that first lecture in D5 until now,

you have made a huge impression and the thought you will always be on my mind and in my heart. I love you so much and I cannot wait

for us to grow together and share so many more years of affection and unforgettable memories, cause let’s face it,

with you everything is going to be an adventure. You are not only my boyfriend but also my best friend.

I hope this year brings you loads of love, health, luck, unforgettable moments, laughter and magical emotions. ❤️

......AND I ALSO MISS YOU, A LOT.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[mdhwrites]

What did you think of Anne's sacrifice/death/rebirth, especially compared to Luz's? Do you think it's the sane Anne, or was she replaced by a copy?

So I've talked before about how the death/rebirth of Anne is beautiful. How death is the greatest change we as humans have to ever face and Anne embraces it to save the community she cared about. It's pitch perfect thematically and her understanding she's still a dumb teen and STILL embracing death instead of godhood not only helps keep the thematics on point but also is just great for her character.

As for the clone... Why does it matter? A large part of Amphibia's optimism with change is that our experiences shape us. That they and the people we have met along the way will always be a part of us and shape who we shall be. Since this Anne has all of her memories, all of her experiences, all of those connections... Why should we argue about whether the cells and the like are the same? That is Anne.

It's actually a fun parallel to the Ship of Theseus that doesn't require transfer of souls or the like. That is Anne because she has the spirit of Anne. The personality. The heart. She could be placed into a giant monster or a tiny robot and it would still be Anne. Arguing if she's the same or not is pointless.

Also, comparing it to Luz is laughable. TOH doesn't have themes that fit trying to portray death as an accidental thing you can't control, the only reason The Collector needs saving is due to stupid writing, the choice isn't hers and her going to see the Titan pretty much purely exists for LITERAL GOD to pat her on the head, give her a cookie, tell her she's special and then let her go. Hell, the fact that Luz gets given a choice barely works on a meta level, let alone a narrative one. Do you want to go back, save all your friends, be beloved by all and get to live out the same sort of consequence free fantasy you've always wanted to? Or do you want to die and let everyone you know die for no reason? Especially no reason when you've gone through THREE different character conclusions IN THIS SEASON about you forgiving yourself for your singular mistake that barely mattered to anything.

That is INFINITELY more stupid and meaningless than "Do you feel confident to control the fates of UNIVERSES or do you have humility and accept that you did good and are willing to die with that?" Because remember: Anne isn't revived because she asks to be. She's revived because her willingness to believe ANYONE can improve and no one is flawless, INCLUDING HER, convinces the god that hey, if I think she's ready now, just imagine what more life experience will do to her? Before she gets revived without it even actually being her choice. Though, she does say that she'd like to live again which stops it from being like the guardian is doing something she doesn't want.

It's beautiful and part of why I had to talk about how the fandom undersold it because sure, you can describe it as "Anne dies saving Amphibia and then is revived by god," but that is leaving out JUST how good the writing is. Then again, much of Amphibia looks just fine on paper but looking a little closer almost always yields so much more than you'd expect.

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

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

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

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[australian-desi]

Qurban Hua ~ Episode 1: Of Rakhis, Token White People and Mithai

So like I was playing the sims 4 and my sim’s only daughter (she has 5 kids - 4 sons, 1 daughter) just died from an accidental drowning on her eldest brother’s birthday party (but I quit without saving so she’s back to life). So that killed the whole gameplay mood. And I’ve decided to absolutely ignore my master’s degree (yes I’m going to be at uni for 5,000,000 years - fight me) I am going to liveblog both shows (Qurbaan Hua and Pavitra Bhagya coz that’s what was asked of me). My tolerance for shitty television has reduced since KZK so let’s see how long these liveblogs last....

So without further ado, here’s the first Liveblog of 2020: Qurban Hua (honestly just watching this show for Karan Jotwani’s face and physique) 

Ooh we’re in the hills, with Krishna’s bhansuri and the feelzzz of sanskar

So we’re in Uttarkhand (sorry if I botched the spelling) with moustache uncle and representative white dude who has come to ‘find himself’ 

Do not give a damn about the religious talk (also this white dude doesn’t even know who Ram ji is, he’s just here to drink some bhang, go to a wedding, witness some poverty and go back home) 

Moustache uncle is blind and we see this when he walks with a tree branch (no exaggeration) and his eyes closed. Nothing speaks ‘this person is blind’ than having them close their eyes for every shot 

SO MANS ISN’T EVEN BLIND - HE’S JUST MOTHERFKN COSPLAYING TO BE A BLIND PERSON 

honestly, what is this bakchodi where is my boi 

Yaar ab shivji ke gaane bhi sunne padenge, kya loge main characters ko introduce karne ke liye 

Ohhh he’s the head priest’s son and has become an ‘awara shehar waala’ rather than take over for his dad, who is too weak to carry the aag thaali (I do not know what it is called)

“daya aati hai mujhe Vyasji ki hassi par, pata nahi Vyasji ka launda, unki kaleje mein aag laga kar, shehar mein kaunsi aag bhuja raha hai?” So I thought what a weird dialogue, and then in the next fkn scene: 

THERE’S SOMEONE LITERALLY ON FIRE AND HE’S COME TO SAVE HER

Also behen, toda dimaag laga, the fire isn’t that bad yet, her fkn arms are so loosely tied, and she has the lung capacity to scream ‘aag aag’ rather than find a better way to save herself, and save her energy and breath so she doesn’t pass out. 

All these people and not one person calls the fire brigade 

They call Neel instead, coz he’s invincible 

Now comes a dramatic sequence of events

My man runs, unaffected by the spitting fire, there is another boi who is so happy to see him and willingly crouches just so mans can quite literally yeet himself on to the roof and break the window to save her. Not before giving some dramatic looks

A. Only her apartment was on fire, not the whole building, he could’ve easily taken the stairs. B. why was the fkn fire not spreading and C. It took him 3 seconds to get her out of that knot, so like as if she couldnt wriggle her hands out of it (maybe if she wasn’t wearing 300 chudiyas, she might’ve been able to) 

I would also thank the gods they gave him winter clothing with a high neck to wear (coz nothing is hotter to me than men in high neck sweaters - it highlights their jawlines, shows off their muscles and shows how long their neck is) #FashionTipsWithAustralianDesi 

OMG IT WAS A SCENE FOR A MOVIE OR SOMETHING OMG. OKAY YOU WIN FKN HELL. HINDI SERIALS: 1, AUSTRALIAN DESI: 29043284 

Look how adorable he looks

“Production? sorry mera naam actually  woh Neelkanth Bhatt Dhyani hai aur main baju-waale hotel mein chef hoon, mujhe laga tha aag lagi thi toh bachane aa gaya” 

Hahahah, noice mans is a chef. Also his name is longer than my life. And so far, in the 3 minutes I’ve watched of him, I really like him. Let’s hope he stays that way

Let’s be real, I watched the promos, I’m going to savour whatever niceness we get of him 

Okay so dude that looked at him, is the Pushkar/Rudra/Insert-comedic relief-younger-sibling, and basically said that our mans here is on a mission to save a girl every day. Wow what a hobby 

“Aag, Aag, continue, aag, aag, aag, continue” hahahah he’s slowly backing out of there 

Mans wants to do one good deed everyday - that’s a rare quality for a tellywood man (he does it because his sister does one good deed a day for his wellbeing - I don’t understand the logic but whatever)

OH MY FKN GOD WE HAVE AN ANJALI 

She’s made a fkn shrine for him (absolutely love the pictures though) 

And he calls his sister ‘Bhags’ - short for Bhagwan because she is god for him

I think these two could give Arnav-Anjali a run for their money 

...And she’s preggers - and so he doesn’t want her pregnancy to have any complications so he’s going to do one good deed a day

let’s see how shit blows in their face - is it a kamina husband, a manipulative mother or a cunning father 

Also gotta love how her husband is probably chilling while Neel is all like ‘MY DIDI’ 

No one: 

No one:

Not even Neil’s fkn mother 

Saraswati: NEIL IS COMING AFTER 3 MONTHS EVERYTHING MUST BE PERFECT 

Welcome Saraswati Anjali 

This man is completely evil. Change my mind. 

So they went with the Kamina husband/brother-in-law 

Who has a problem that Neel is a chef. But let’s be real he wants Neel to be a chef so he could become the head priest 

I AM ONTO YOU. THIS ISN’T MY FIRST RODEO 

And she’s just here to talk about the successes and accomplishments of her brother, because like Anjali, she has nothing better to do in life 

Whatever her husband says goes right over my head, also it’s Saras-Wati not Sarasti 

So proud of his Personal Protective Equipment. Thank god a career being shown properly

Also this looks really small and homely for an industrial kitchen 

So the ‘villain’ of his life is here. Little does he know, that whether he keeps his job or not does not matter, all that matters is that his rakhi is never removed. 

“Main apni behen ko bhool nahi sakta, isliye yeh rakhi agle raksha bhandhan tak, nahi utregi” ummm how bad is your memory that you forget your sister unless there’s a rakhi on your wrist???? 

“Mere kitchen mein yeh sab bilkul allowed nahi hai, no rings, no watches, aur yeh tacky rakhi toh bilkul nahi, afterall hygeine har cook ki responsibility hoti hai” 

“Yeh rakhi toh na utregi sir,” “acha toh phir yeh jo haath mein hai, woh meri kitchen mein khaana nahi bana sakte hai” 

Wow he didn’t have to call the rakhi tacky. Also like, couldn’t you have a dimaag like Arnav, and keep them in a little box, and then show your sister like “look I kept all your rakhis” 

Now watch him cook with one hand, just to prove a point 

TOLD YA 

Also the dude seemed pretty happy with him, I would’ve been like “banda chuthiya ho gaya hai” 

Also his friend is really annoying me with his overreactions to simple things 

He’s saying that he’s going to make the Singoria for the ‘bhakts’ and not for his dad, coz he doesn’t think he needs to ask for an apology to follow his heart 

I enjoy this content, I like this boi. At least he stands by his actions

“Shaakal ko khush karne ke liye jijaji kaafi hai” Wow the Shyam vibes from his jijaji are through the roof 

He said that line like he’s plotting murder or something with the fire reflected on his face

Also can they stop with the Kedarnath soundtrack 

Lol this procession is still going on, it’s been going on for like 3 days. Like, in the time Neel did his wall climbing stunt, saved a woman who was ‘on fire’, stopped a film shoot, told his whole life story and his love obsession for his sister, went through an inspection and made food for a whole restaurant while sassing his boss, and the procession is still going on

 Omg no, now there’s a fkn murgi - WHICH IS ALIVE HOW IS THIS A PROBLEM, JUST MOVE IT AND CONTINUE WALKING 

I mean making him slip would’ve been more fun than a fkn murgi stopping him - also its alive so how is this an apshagun? Imma skip this I cannot 

NOW FKN FAKE ANJALI IS LIKE “the chicken is a mother, do not touch her eggs, she will not look after her children and then they will never be able to feel the mother-child love” 

Gurl, its a chicken. Chill. If it had this much feeling, it would not let go of it’s child 

Okay, here’s a wild thought - why not just walk around it

The chicken isn’t even taking over the whole step, if everyone walks in a single file, you should be able to pass the chicken

but if we use our brains how will this be a hindi serial 

Man fkn hell this the problem in India, the fkn mindset that “dharm se badke aur kuch nahi hai” is2g if people move away from that thought, life would be easier

Also Sarasti is just here caressing her belly, being all like motherhood is the biggest dharm #OhSnap #MicDrop 

So Vyasji has said his first lines of the show and basically whatever I’m understanding is that dharm should be a part of your life, not your whole life and disregarding emotions for your dharm is in fact the opposite of dharm. Wow the man has some sense. Also the actor looks done and does not seem into it - I do not blame him one bit 

And fake Anjali is all like “yay papa is on my side - fuck you husband” 

NEEL YOU FKN IDIOT, IT’S JUST A BAG COULDN’T YOU TAKE IT WITH YOU, NOW THE SANGORIA ARE GONNA GET MISPLACED I ALREADY KNOW. 

ab yeh kaun hai, jo Dhoom ke set se yahan aa gaya 

and he took the wrong bag - well done Neel, that’s all on you

OMG AT LEAST HE REALISED THANK GOD 

Great, now he’s gonna do some Dhoom-esque stunts 

How dumb is the other dude, like there’s someone that’s literally chasing you and you aren’t going to stop to ask them why

Omg he’s actually grabbing it. Is2g if the prasad is completely fine still, Imma flip 

Yeh chal kya raha hai? Is the other dude literally fighting for the supposed kachoris? 

Oh wow its a wamen. And here we begin the #Romance  

HE LITERALLY JUST SAW HER HAIR AND IS SMITTEN - ARE YOU THAT DESPERATE MY FRIEND 

Lovely, he got distracted and she’s gone off with his Sangoria 

Ofcourse he’s like a girl tricked me, now it’s an ego thing. At least he’s admitting it to be an ego ting 

But also like dude do you not believe women can be cunning? I mean we’re literally known for possessing that single trait 

Wow look how happy she is for some Sangoria - and look how dumb she is for not questioning the dude that was chasing her as to why was he after the bag 

OF-FUCKING-COURSE she had to be a social worker who helps the gareeb bachche 

I gotta love how she’s like, why is there mithai here instead of kachoris - proceeds to eat them because the kids were like we like mithai

Behen, kya aap kisi ka bhi khaana leke kha leti ho? 

Like why wouldn’t you put two and two together 

Why would someone be ready to fight you for this mithai. Do you have any logical thinking skills? 

Me when I check my results. The absolute shock horror on his face is sending me 

"Tum pahadi ho?” “Haan aur sharminda bhi” “Itni der se tumhara peecha kar raha tha, tab nahi samajh aaya?” “Nahin mujhe laga koi chor badmaash hai,” 

Love the logic, love that she was so ashamed that she didn’t bother to give his mithai back - what is this character 

She’s literally telling him how to handle his father that she’s never met. 

Dude if it was that easy, would he be this stressed? 

That was quick - she had video evidence that some gunde were making these kids become beggars, and got them arrested while also making Neel feel like he did his one good deed today and she conveniently has her own childcare 

Wow we have an evil maami too, and some random man wanting to kill our gurl

She’s basically saying how Neel will definitely forget to bring the bhog 

Little does she know he won’t forget, he’ll just have some misfortune which will cause him to not bring it

Now poor Sarasti is bringing her dad a shawl and convincing him to go change, but him being the brown dad he is, is all like “If only your idiotic brother was here, I would be sitting on the terrace watching this pooja, looking at him proudly, but he is a nalaayak and alas I am here,” 

He’s literally so salty that he wants to cook, it’s so funny, I can’t 

First of all, why is everyone just taunting Sarasti about her brother’s actions, like I get how close they are but they aren’t the same person??

Now she’s saying that he’s on his way - ah little does she know, he’s distracted by a wamen 

Omg he’s literally telling the story of the Prayag Pushp (a flower I think) “that only blooms when 2 true lovers meet for the first time, and no one has seen it bloom, and no one will see it bloom in this family, and with the same confidence, I am telling you your bhola will not come” wow the amount of trust in your son. I am loving it

Also like who wants to bet the flower is going to bloom when he marries this girl or when they have a dramatic meet up 

“Hey bhole baba, agli baar mujhe uss theeki shezwan sauce se mat milwana” Lol is he dumb or is he dumb 

OMG GOD IN THIS SERIAL IS EXTREMELY FAST. HE PRAYED 2 SECONDS BEFORE AND IN THE NEXT SECOND SHE’S IN FRONT OF HIM

She’s deaf as well, he’s literally calling her and she’s like nope, I am looking outside can only focus on one thing at a time 

“Bache hai kya, joh window seat ke liye itne excited ho rahe hai” “Sifaljiya kahi ka” Okay I’m loving the banter but also have no idea what she just called him 

“Kya kaha tumne? Kaunsi bhasha mein gaali di?” “Mars pe boli jaati hai yeh zubaan, gaye ho kabhi?” 

People I ship it! 

“Lokhar ka sir hai kya tumhaara?” This idiot 

Oh good its these ainvayi ke gunde, mans is never going to reach home in this decade  

And they’re on the bus to beat her? Very normal

And ofcourse this our mans’ good deed of the day

“Kya ho gaya bhai ji? Koi takleef?” Love this man so much. The sass and the politeness how does he do it? 

“Teri saki lagti hai kya?” “Meri patni hai yeh” wow man, like honestly dost bol deta, behen bol deta. Nahi she is now my wife for rescuing purposes (what an Omkara thing to do) 

OMG YES THEIR BACKGROUND SCORE IS KURBAAN HUA FROM KURBAAN - I LOVE THAT SONG 

So the episode ends here and wow this took so long to do coz they decided to make the episode 40 minutes long. So far I like it. I just wish the girl becomes smarter (also what even is her name?) 

[thenightofcups]

On the subject of Jellal’s arc

I've seen some Jellal commentary lately that's kinda raised my eyebrows. There's several points I want to make here and to avoid a tangental rant I'm going to address the biggest three issues I have.

Redemption. What does this mean in Fairy Tail as a manga and what does it mean for Jellal specifically?

Jellal vs. Siegrain. Is this a versus or are they both pieces of the same whole?

Moving forward. Where can Jellal go from here?

REDEMPTION

One of the overlying themes of Fairy Tail as a manga is friendship and forgiveness. Depending on who you ask these things may or may not be executed well.

There's a handful of notable redemption arcs in FT. Laxus and Gajeel have perhaps the most important arcs when it comes to main and secondary characters. Less important, quaternary redemption arcs, like Minerva and my girl Brandish, stand out, as well. Then there's Jellal.

In my opinion, Jellal can be classified as secondary or tertiary, depending on the arc. His relevance usually has something to do with Erza, and he packs a mighty punch. For a character that's secondary on his very Best Day Ever, Jellal has one of the largest and most developed redemption arcs in the series. We've seen him as a charismatic child slave, an obnoxiously arrogant tool of Hades, a kind hearted amnesiac, a self loathing penitent anti-hero, and whatever he is now (I'd classify current!Jellal as on the cusp of completion).

The crimes associated with him are many and include the manipulation of a government body into firing a weapon of mass destruction. There's a lot of debate surrounding these activities and honestly it's super exhausting. Remember, though! Jellal is the only character with a redemption arc (besides perhaps Zeref) who was magically manipulated on a neurological level to commit his crimes. Laxus was abused by his asshole dad. Gajeel was an angry youth who was given an improper outlet. Minerva was also terribly abused by an ain't shit dad. None of these other kids were actual slaves nor were they violated by a magic taught to yet another victim expressly for the purpose of brainwashing (this term is also widely debated and I'll touch on that later).

What's a guy – who's agency was quite literally stripped from him for more than half his life – have to do to earn redemption? According to many in the FT fandom, nothing will ever be enough. I've seen folks say he's heinously unforgivable and can only bring Erza sadness despite canon evidence to the contrary. More than once we've seen Erza state how much she cares about and for Jellal, show appreciation for his efforts, and actual concern for his lack of care in keeping himself hidden from prying eyes.

Why is it so easy for fans to forgive Laxus and Gajeel, but not Jellal? I sure don't know the answer. He has been instrumental in assisting (and saving the life of) the protagonist [Natsu] in a plot relevant battle.

He has saved Erza's life and wreaked havoc in the wake of her injuries...

Time...

And time...

Again.

He has provided crucial assistance to the Magic Council when necessary and followed their rules.

He has been weighed and judged by Mavis and found to have a heart worthy of Fairy Tail.

He not only saves Kagura's life...

...but she later saves his!

What more do you people want? Is this not enough? He has earned the trust and approval of the characters that matter. This is redemption over the course of hundreds of chapters. This is forgiveness. He has earned both. I don't think it's been done poorly. Remember the real-time time line of FT is about two years. I don't think his story has fallen flat at all. In fact, Jellal and Erza are a really good example of love and understanding when it comes to mental illness, trauma recovery, and boundaries.

Jellal does not expect Erza to fix him. He's taken it upon himself to handle his own shit – to right his wrongs as best he can. He's not forcing her into that emotional labor. And like... wow. What a guy. Can actual men take note of this please? Because damn. Erza understands his problems and she loves him (and cares about his well being) so much she has waited for him.

I can't understand the opinion that Jerza is somehow toxic. Are we reading the same manga?

JELLAL vs. SIEGRAIN

When we first meet Jellal as Siegrain, he's an arrogant asshole. He and Ultear display the kind of casual supremacy that only a young person with position and ability – that they likely don't deserve – can pull off. He shows a weird kind of amused affection for Fairy Tail and stops the council from punishing them more harshly for the destruction they regularly cause.

Siegrain's first interaction with Erza is super creepy but foreshadows what happens later with Jellal in his corporeal form at the Tower of Heaven. It's a hint that Erza has a nasty backstory she's keeping secret and that it has something to do with Siegrain. He is very much in her personal space here and the argument can be made that even under Ultear’s control, Jellal is still drawn to Erza. The full story doesn't come until later, though.

In the flashbacks during the ToH arc we see a young Jellal. He is kind. He is friendly. He is charismatic, and in the recent past, he convinced a group of terrified child slaves that they absolutely could escape to freedom – because he genuinely believed they could. He cares deeply for his friends, especially Erza, and when she is tortured to the point of losing an eye, it is Jellal who comes for her and finds her in horrible shape. In the background of the panel below it's pretty clear what Jellal has done to get to her.

These are children approximately 10-12 in age who are living a nightmare that, even by FT's standards, is pretty damn horrible. Jellal is well liked and trusted. Erza cares enough about him to seek him out in return – only to find he's a different person. Between chapters 80-83 Jellal changes utterly. He goes from what Erza describes as her ideal –

To something... else.

While Erza is finding her claws, Jellal is tied up and tortured. He's whipped and beaten and is forced to endure the retelling of what these same guards had done to Erza.

This kind of bleak horror would drive anyone's soul to it's knees. Jellal is about 12 here. He is a child slave on a fucking rock in the middle of the ocean. He tried to rescue a friend he loves only to find her bloodied and missing an eye. For this crime of compassion, he's tortured by the very same people. He. Is. Twelve.

How could a grown person resist the sweet call of revenge by a specter who appears before them claiming to be the ghost of a god, much less a distraught child? Of course he hates the world. Why shouldn't he? I know I hate the world and for so many less valid reasons!

The anime shows the scene where Ultear possesses Jellal very differently than the manga so for the sake of continuity I'm sticking with the manga. By the time Erza finds him, the Jellal she knew has been warped.

Whatever magic Ultear used on Jellal is never explained in detail. In chapter 95, Ultear is speaking with Hades and she thanks him for teaching her a brainwashing technique. The Oxford definition of brainwashing is: “the activity of forcing somebody to accept your ideas or beliefs, for example by repeating the same thing many times or by preventing the person from thinking clearly.” I'm not sure if that meaning entirely defines what happened to Jellal. Ultear appeared to him at a time when Jellal was at his weakest. He was in pain, his heart was broken, his spirit was broken. She offered him an outlet for his rage – but she also lied.

Would Jellal have let her in if he'd been in any other circumstance? Probably not. And it wouldn't matter anyway because Ultear lied. She wasn't Zeref. Nor did she even have a grasp of who Zeref truly was. In fact, Ultear was also a tool much like Jellal – but without the brainwashing magic. She's a product of good old fashioned grooming. He could not possibly have known her true intent of manipulating him for nearly a decade, and hurting a lot of people Jellal previously cared about in the process. If given the full scope of things, would he have let her in? No.

This is basic consent. Jellal was a slave. Slaves cannot give consent. Not ever. They are property. They do not have choices. Jellal could not give Ultear – a person who was not a slave – permission to enter his body or mind and change his goals and decision making processes. For argument's sake, let's take away the slavery element. Jellal is in a random basement dungeon. Still tied up. Still thinking his friends are dead. Still tortured and hating the world. Ultear pops in, lies, and slips in his head. This is still not consent. Her intentions are not made clear to him. He lets her in under completely false pretenses. Any and all arguments that Jellal is somehow to blame for Ultear manipulating him are invalid and should be burned to the ground immediately. Salt that bullshit earth!

All that aside, Ultear is now in his head. Siegrain is born. Is Siegrain really all that different from Jellal? Mmm... not really. Jellal and Siegrain are both parts of the same whole. Siegrain is just as charismatic as Jellal. He's very good at getting what he wants from the council. He is a toxic cocktail of Ultear's desires, and qualities we know Jellal had already. Heroes and villains are shockingly alike when picked apart. Both have ambition and drive. Well written heroes have a darker side, and a well written villain has a core of humanity. Siegrain is a manipulation of Jellal. It only takes a few tweaks to turn a full bodied hero into a nasty villain. Ultear found the right spots, and squeezed.

I have no doubts that if he'd been allowed to grow up without Ultear's and Hades's intervention, Jellal would've developed the same anti-hero tendencies we see from him in the most current arcs. In chapter 416, Jellal tells Erza she'll survive because she has seen the best and worst parts of humanity and understands them. He encourages her to continue her walk in the light.

Even as he says this, he takes his place in the shadows. He knows he is needed there.

Jellal is the kind of guy who will take a bullet for the team. It's just who he is as a person and even before he was brainwashed by Ultear he was struggling to take Erza's bullets.

The line between good and evil is pretty thin. Characteristics alone don't make a person a hero or villain. When boiled down, Siegrain and Jellal are the same person. Intent doesn't always equal result, but result doesn't always have to define a person. Jellal struggles with what defines him. He's made some questionable decisions since regaining control of himself but he is well aware that he toes the line.

I've said before that Jellal is an idealist. He's romanticized his goals and ambitions on a ridiculously impractical scale. This isn't too different than a possessed Jellal. He was positively heretical and had wildly romanticized the idea of Zeref's magic. Idealism on steroids.

MOVING FORWARD

Jellal's stated goal has always been to take down Zeref. He's hellbent on it. The reason for this is pretty clear. He associates Zeref and the zealotry his followers display with everything that went wrong in his life and the lives of the people he loves. I said in a [previous post] that this aspect of Jellal's arc is a bit of a plot hole. Zeref didn't create this dark magic. He was cursed for dabbling in it. We haven't seen too much of pre-curse Zeref but the things he did aren't much different than other characters in other stories (EG: Edward and Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist). As I said before, a well written villain has a root in humanity that is somewhat relatable to the audience. That's what makes them scary!

I digress. Crime Sorciere cannot possibly take out all dark magic practitioners any more than a single police department can take out crime in any given city. It's just not plausible. I'm repeating myself here but August addressed this in chapter 509. He scoffs at Jellal's light vs. dark conundrum.

August is right. Jellal can't save the entire world. What he can do is find redemption in love. This is Jellal's crux. He's earned forgiveness from relevant parties – but he's not really expressed whether or not he's forgiven himself. He has done more than anyone could possibly ask of him in order to atone for what was done in his name. Even Kagura has decided his life has worth!

I believe Mashima has set Jellal up to have a happy ending with Erza. When I started reading FT the Avatar arc had just ended. There's a gap between the interpretations of those who binge and those who've read serially for years. Serial consumers have time to stew and get hung up on things that are sometimes hard to let go of. I binged so I was able to consume the meatiest bits of Jellal's story all at once. I don't think it's been poorly executed. I don't think any of it has fallen flat. There is absolutely no point to Kagura saving Jellal's life on her own, without prompting, if Mashima did not intend to wrap up Jellal's arc in a positive way. We even have a canon confession of love.

He implicitly says he has finally found the light in his heart. He's found light. Inside of himself. Jellal loves Erza and has vowed to protect her – and has! Against Acnologia no less! Jellal has all the materials necessary to complete his arc. I have absolute faith this will happen.

I mean...

[mdhwrites]

I heard Dana gave toh fans the freedom to consider their headcanons canon, or smth like that. There's probably more info on twitter but I don't use the app. What do you think?

So what I've heard is that it's not entirely this. It is just saying that whatever Dana says outside of the show, like in livestreams, panels, etc. don't count as canon. The only things that are explicitly canon is that which is in the show. Otherwise, everything else is her personal headcanons which are just as valid as any fans'. I was introduced to this a few days ago by someone sharing it with me (this was apparently said in a livestream btw so will almost certainly get lost to time) a tweet with me about someone being happy about their fan children being 'canon' It was cute and I didn't check what the ships were. I mostly responded to that person being happy that they could headcanon Lumischa as having eventually happened because that was more fun for me especially with my hands being bad. Besides, I think the statement is dumb on multiple levels that I'll get to eventually. Reading this question, I spent more than a single second thinking about it and went "Wait, but Amity is only a lesbian because Dana says so. This is absolutely going to make 70% of the fandom choose to make her bi because then they can ship her with whoever they want." AND GUESS WHAT SHIP THE TWEET WAS ABOUT!? FUCKING AMITER! It has always been a problem for the show that Amity's sexuality is not stated in it. It creates a similar excuse to what people who have to defend stuff like SasuNaru (my introduction to shipping through my older sister btw) of "They don't have a canon sexuality." Well... No longer does Amity. We do know she's interested in girls but that doesn't mean she isn't pan or bi.

I personally do not agree with this interpretation. For me, changing characters who appear to commonly be straight to gay is fine... Because there's close to zero gay characters in most genres, let alone mainstream popular shows. How many are in Shounen anime in general? Okay now remove the villains who are queer coded and tell me again. If the LGBTQIA+ (which I want to remind you I'm not a part of so I don't benefit from this interpretation) want to tell their stories within the media they like, they HAVE to change sexualities. They have no other choice. Meanwhile, Amity is not a particularly special archtype so if you're a straight dude wanting to ship her with yourself, you can find that elsewhere. Even within the same show, just use Lilith who in S1 was similar to Amity. Though yes, Lilith is technically aro/ace but only by decree from Dana and the show never actually sways one way or another on her feelings on relationships because... Why the fuck would it? It's a comedy adventure. Which brings us to the complicated question of what is right to include in a story or not (which I could go into a LOT more in a different blog). It's not like everyone is constantly stating their sexualities in real life after all. It's a rough place for a lot of creators, just like saying if a character is nuerodivergent. A lot of stories just don't have a place for that sort of exposition and honestly the author letting us know outside of the work IS useful for that. Would it be better if it were stated in the show? In TOH's case, because of how much it stakes its reputation on representation, YES. For most? Not really but most don't court the romance genre, where saying those sexualities is more reasonable, like TOH does.

So that's one reason why I don't like the statement. Dana sticking to her guns on her ideas is one of the few saving graces I could give her and just saying "Fuck it, you all decide what you want to be canon so long as it isn't in the show" is just... not that. Not unless she was going to go whole hog and say that the IP was in the public domain so LITERALLY MAKE THE CANON YOU WANT! Which would have been novel but is also NEVER going to happen. Instead, her statement amounts to "I officially give you permission to make fanworks." Which... Lady, you don't get to decide that. No creative does. If people want to make work off of your story, they're gonna do that regardless of what you say. The creator of Calvin and Hobbes is FAMOUS for how anti-commercial he was of his work and spent much of his career making sure that his strips, panels, characters etc. didn't appear on t-shirts. And he still failed mostly because stopping EVERY avenue was simply impossible.

Also Dana has not really put much authoritatively on the scales besides the sexualities, making the statement even more pointless. If she's dropped giant lore dumps, I haven't heard about them and I've been in this fandom long enough that I feel like I should have heard about them. Instead we got small things like Amity dying her hair because her mom forced her to. That isn't going to break anyone's story and I even personally used it as a bonding moment between the two because I made Odalia neurotic about stuff like that.

So I guess my big question is... Who cares? Unless you actively don't like the few answers we've been given by the crew. And if that's the case... That's what fanworks are for. For when you don't like canon and want to change it. You don't need permission for that. You never have. =========

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

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

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 30+31.12.20 lbs

30.12.20

lmao ep starts off itself with vansh and kabir ka staring match.

vansh steady in first place, not having blinked for................ like 3 minutes now? this dude a fucking freak.

while riddhima gazes adoringly at him thinking bhagwaan ne mujhe itnaaaaaaaaaa achcha pati diya hai. pft. idk what the hell sins you did in your last life riddhima, to get a husband like this one in this life, but it had to be something reallllllllllll bad. like stealing from little orphans and kicking puppies or some shit.

thankfully dadi is here to put an end to this chutiyaapa.

countdown blah blah, no1 currrrrrrrrr.

itna pheeeeeeeeeenka happy new year. bhai-behen ho kya???

now we talking.

he just says some trite shit like new kahaani that will be remembered for ages blah blah and gives creepy looks. dude why can’t you be normal on oneeeee bloody day?

ahaana also giving random creepy looks seeing vansh/riddhima hugging. and she goes and............

i think i watch this show and rrahul a little too closely ki i instantly knew this isn’t his hand and thus it’s not vansh’s hand she’s holding.

yupppppppppp. bola tha na.

damn they make a hotass couple of shady bitches.

ok wow i’m really feeling it. wish kabir wasn’t a sociopath who is incapable of feeling attachment (“love” is too strong a word) for anyone but his mother.

lmao his reaction when ahaana tells him ki riddhima didn’t believe any of the pattiii she padaofied her about vansh.

ok but how do these two know each other??? matlab yeh le aaya hai issko? i thought vansh le aaya hoga?!!?

mereko kya kaunsa manhoos le aaya? i’m just here for the attractive ppl pressing their bodies up against each other. keep on keeping on, #KaHana

he’s warning her against ever double-crossing him and dude the angry/hate-sex vibes here are *~~~ExQuISiTe*~~~~

the way she’s confidently gazing at him all sexy tells me she’s a much more seasoned player than riddhima and i already love her more than the damn lead of the show.

damn. that’s a gnarly period you got riddhima. that’s an unusual amount of flow. go see a doctor about it, sis.

i’ve heard about ppl making art with menstrual blood and all, but this is fucking ridiculous.

anyway of course the dumbass goes investigating it. and got fucking attacked in the storeroom and SOMEONE HUNG HER UP. LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS MESSED UP HOUSE DUDE????/ WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU STILLL LIVE HERE????

Chehra Appreciation Break

asadkjasldjlaskdjlsakjdlas the way he’s yelling for everyone and interrogating them of their whereabouts coz riddhima’s missing.

lmao ishani and ahaana’s reactions at this temper tantrum are fucking amazing.

dang what’s with the suuuuuper orange lower half of his face???? ugh. the foundation woes are back now that the beard’s growing back in.

anyway he went barrelling off to find her after some more chabaaya hua dhamkis at his fam. ahaana already regretting moving into this pagaal khaana.

this scene is so fucking disturbing to watch that i don’t even wanna fucking cap it. but she was legit getting HANGED and he managed to get there in the nick of time and save her.

how, you ask? BY SHOOTING AT THE ROPE, INSTEAD OF JUST.......... DOING SOMETHING NORMAL LIKE RUNNING AND PUTTING THE STOOL BACK UNDER HER FEET TO STABILIZE HER. THIS SHOW IS JUST FUCKING BATSHIT INSANE, MY LORD.

this poor girl, my god. i don’t think i’ve ever watched a tellywood FL be tortured to the extent that this one is on a daily basis. it’s fucking ridiculous. there’s no redemption for any of the raisinghanias at this point. she just needs to fucking leave (and file several domestic violence cases against each and every one of them, except dadi.)

anyway she tells him whatever went down today, starting from the period blood fiasco onwards and he’s........ vibrating in anger. cool i guess.

some promises and shit about how who ever did this will pay, time for “humaara khel” and .......... dude. you say this shit every single time. and nothing changes. i don’t give a fuck anymore about your stupid promises. move the fuck outta this hellhole with your wife if you really mean it.

seedha jaake ahaana ke sar pe bandook taan di. based on what evidence? only the Good Lord above knows, coz vansh and the writers sure don’t.

no literally based on what is he accusing her and pulling the trigger??????? idgi??????

almost shot her and is saying “riddhima pe kharonchh nahi aani chahiye, baat ishq aur vishwaas ki hai” and ahaana is giggling and literally what the fuck is going on i’m so confused.

ahaana saying wowwwww, you want revenge also, and she shouldn’t get hurt also.

MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE’S THE ONE WHO BROUGHT AHAANA IN!!!!!!!!!!!!

literally what the fuck is this dude on???? badla chahiye, par dard nahi hona chahiye. bhai, kya phoonk ke aaye ho, humein bhi toh thoda de do.

ok this is tooooo fucking convoluted a game. riddhima thinks kabir is the one attacking her. but it’s kabir + ahaana. kabir thinks ahaana is on his side and brought her into VR mansion, but ahaana is double agent who was actually planted in kabir’s nazar by vansh to fuck over BOTH kabir and riddhima. i think?????????

ahaana be like re devaaaaaa, what fucking madness have i gotten myself into????????????? the things i have to do for health insurance coverage during a pandemic.

———————————————————————

31.12.20

first 5 minutes is some new year ka naach gaana bs. fwding.

ok this fucker is a legit motherflipping crazy. he just wants to keep torturing riddhima for god knows how long.

even ahaana is alarmed.

did he do absolutely noooooo research after the cliff chhalaang? like....... this revenge shit is so dumb at this point, when he knows she brought in vihaan to stop kabir from ruining the family, and took a second fucking bullet for him?!?!?!?!?!?! they shouldn’t have written the second gunshot plot point, coz now he looks like a reallllllllll unappreciative fucker for whom literally no good deed is enough.

WHAT PYAAR AND VISHWAAS, FUCKER???????? LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?????? YOU’VE PLAYED THESE GAMES WITH HER FROM THE VERY START OF YOUR MARRIAGE AND MAYBE TOOK A BREAK FOR A WEEK OR TWO IN BETWEEN - WHEN SHE GOT SHOT THE FIRST TIME AND DURING ISHANI’S WEDDING. THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT??????/ LIKE.......... THIS MAKES NO BLOODY SENSE. THIS CHARACTER IS JUST SUCH A SUPREME DOUCHEBAG, MY GOD. THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO REDEEMING HIM WHATSOEVER.

also can’t say rrahul’s extra chabaaaaa chabaaaaaaa ke bolna is making this enjoyable to watch at all.

all i wanna know is what ahaana has on him that he’s indebted to her and thought her worthy enough to join forces with. SPILL SPILL SPILL SPILL!!!!!!!!!!!! what does ahaana get outta all this?!!?!?!!!!!!

riddhima on the other hand running around wondering whom vansh is gonna murder. SIS YOU JUST GOT STRANGULATED CAN YOU SIT DOWN FOR A HOT SEC AND REST?!?!!?!?

ahaana is like bro you gonna ruin riddhima’s life, and he’s like yeah, that’s what i want. jesus christ, dude. just divorce her then. why prolong this shit out like this????? truly psychopathic.

riddhima hears his voice and heads to the pool area..........

............. isn’t that his shoulder there behind the tree? is she fucking blind???????? HOW CAN SHE NOT SEE HIS 7 FOOT TALL HULKING ASS BEHIND THAT PATLA SA JHAADI?????? HE’S LITERALLY THERE LIKE........

........... she left. god. she’s really really REALLY stupid. like pretty sure these crimes against her count as extraaaaaaaaa bad....... like, pick on someone with your own brain capacity, vansh? leave the simple minded sis alone!

the only gift that’s acceptable from you rn sir, is divorce papers. and a self-filed restraining order promising to stay 3 whole districts away.

yikes, that beard is notttttt growing in well.

“tum mujhe apne saare stress de do.” BITCH YOU’RE HER BIGGEST STRESS. ASSHOLE. I HATE YOU SO MUCH.

“tumse door jaake jaaonga kahaan? abhi toh bohut kuch baaki hai.” fucking dieeee, you psychopath.

lmaoooooooooooooooo her face when she doesn’t understand wtf this gift is supposed to be. i’ve been there sis. trying to fake enthusiasm for some reallllll bad gifts from men is truly painful.

also she’s so dang cute when they let her use her face properly!!!!!! har waqt bechaari ko bass rulaate rehte hain iss show mein.

one ainvayiiii gift ke bahaane some random cuteness.

sis gazing at him some more thinking omg he loves me soooooooo much.

she remembered ahaana’s warning, and is like no she was lying to me!!!!!!!!! stupid stupid stupiddddddd. no matter whoever planted her, you should believe that sister over your haraami misters. motive jo bhi ho, bol toh behen sach hi rahi thi.

yuck that looks ugly af. why the hell would you want that on your bedroom wall? esp. when your bedroom is already so goddamn fugly.

anyway he’s gaslighting her some more about ahaana blah blah.

riddhima like i’ll prove it. le, iska jee nahi bharaa. she wants to do more jasoosi and go get stuck in random traps that try to kill her.

vansh promising he’ll throw ahaana and her partners out if she can prove it. meaning you’ll........... throw yourself out?????

whatever man, idk and idc anymore what this fucker does. i’m just here for the faces.

threatening notes planted in all these ppl’s rooms. everyone instantly like OMG VANSHHHHHHHHHHH DID THISSSSS. lol coz who else does this chutiyaapa of leaving random messages around like this.

but nope. chachi saw riddhima’s earring lying there and knows it’s her.

isko bhi mila.

lmao kabir rueing the day he set eyes on riddhima coz jeena haraam kar rakha hai ladki ne.

riddhima like mwahahahahhaha they must have got my notes and now they’ll come attack me! behen, woh toh note ke bina bhi roz karte aaye hain...............

there. promptly got jumped.

surprise, surprise.

lol attitude toh dekho behen ka. wish she was the lead of the show instead of riddhima.