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ordinaryschmuck · 1 month

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What I Thought About The Owl House Pilot

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

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

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

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

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

With that said, let’s get into it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EDA WORKS FOR THE EMPEROR?!: WHAT?!

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

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

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

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

#the owl house #luz noceda #camila noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #amity blight #lilith clawthorne #the owl house pilot #what i thought about #the owl house reviews

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krystal-kade · 3 months

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How do I art?

This is a difficult question and I'm gonna give a basic bitch answer, but practice.

-Try to draw a little bit every day (if you can't, at least a couple times a week)

Don't go for realism right off the bat. You're not going to be able to draw a perfect human face or anything when you first start

Draw cartoons. For you, I'd recommend Owl House, Amphibia, Gravity Falls, or Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss characters. That way you can get used to drawing without it being to challenging

VERY light sketches. You're going to want to brush the pencil across your paper in a feathery motion. Pushing too hard is very difficult to erase

Don't use a mechanical pencil eraser. A mechanical pencil is fine, but the eraser tends to smear and smudge instead of just erasing (a pink eraser's perfect)

Use a reference picture. Drawing from your mind is a lot harder than drawing from a pic. You also don't have to be creative in order to draw

(this one's really cringe but) Don't give up or throw your art away. Your art's gonna be bad at first, but if you give up, you'll never get better

#art #drawing #drawing tips #art tips

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the5n00k · 1 year

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Character analysis essay: (kind of, it's mostly me just rambling)

The Ghost and Molly McGee and the concept of unconditional love and acceptance

‼️Spoilers ahead for both seasons 1 and 2!‼️

The Ghost and Molly McGee is one of the most special animated tv shows I've ever seen for several reasons but none quite as special to me as this. A ton of shows, especially on Disney channel, boast of their friendships between the main characters and their hijinks they get into but none have quite impacted me like the friendship between the two titular characters Molly and Scratch. I mean when I first watched this series in July after the season 1 finale, I expected to have a brief period of obsession, a few drawings, and then I'd move on. As you can tell by my blog, that did not happen. (For better and for worse)

People dismiss this show because of the more grounded slice of life episodic approach it takes but honestly I feel like that's it's strongest aspect. It allows the characters to have more moments where they can just slow down and connect. There's no urgent threat (save for a few episodes) that needs to be addressed or the world will end. The characters get to talk, react, and grow because of its slower pace. I say slower loosely because this show will also throw jokes at you harder and faster than an automatic tennis ball server but it knows when to take a moment seriously when it needs to. (This is also why season 1 Amphibia is my favorite and y'all can fight me for it.)

Now onto my main point; Molly and Scratch's relationship.

They start out rough. REALLY rough. They're not good for each other in the slightest. Scratch is mean and constantly trying to sabotage Molly and Molly is controlling, dragging Scratch along on her daily tasks even if he expresses how much he does not want to come along. But no matter how terrible they treat each other, there's still a level of care.

Take First Day Frights or The Unnatural for example. Scratch is more than willing to watch Molly fail until he sees her getting picked on, something he's experienced almost every day of his afterlife, possibly his living one too. He has this connection to her early on, he has this empathy. He'd never expressly admit it and he still tries his hardest to make her give up MANY times throughout season 1 either for his own amusement, thinking the effort isn't worth both of their time, or simply because he has to keep Brighton miserable. But seeing her upset always sets something off in him. And while he doesn't verbally admit he cares about her until the season finale, he does eventually acknowledge her as his best friend (although in that instance it was more to spite Libby) and acknowledge himself as part of her family. The most notable episodes that highlight their more stable relationship are season 1, 18-20 (for those unaware, that would be Out of House and Home/Home is Where the Haunt is, Scaring is Caring/All Night Plight, and The Jig is Up/Molly Vs the Ghost World)

Moving onto season 1 Molly now, she was controlling and seemed to enjoy annoying Scratch in almost a sibling-like behavior, poking him, teasing him, playing with his "hair" but the further you get into the series, the less annoying these feel and the more endearing they become. She also begins to respect his boundaries more, summoning him less and kind of letting him do his own thing in the general area while she has her own plot going on. (Goat Your Own Way and gags ... The Internship) And even after the curse is broken, she seems willing to let him move on away from her if that's what he really wants. She's more interested in his happiness now than her own. Letting go of that control is HUGE for her considering how much emphasis she put on him being her first forever friend. She didn't even expose him to Libby until she got his permission. I brought it up once and I'm bringing it up again dammit.

These two broken, mistreated, flawed people who found each other by complete coincidence would do anything and go to the ends of the earth for each other. And they did.

Moving onto season 2 I was terrified they would regress in some way from this. It was such a high note and a perfect end to their arc all throughout season 1, but now there was this new status quo. They were used to each other now. They could feel like completely different characters at this point. But they weren't, in fact they're even better.

They fight, they argue, they disagree on A LOT of things, but at the end of the day they're even more supportive and loving of each other than ever before.

They're not tearing each other down anymore, they're actively building each other up. Making the other a better person. Cheering them on. This even extends to the B characters like Libby and Darryl, they feel like a close-knit family. Even when they argue, the first thing they see when they say each other again is "I'm sorry" which is HUGE for Scratch, acknowledging fault was (and still is to some degree) really hard for him. They love each other no matter what. They've still got their issues, Molly still feels like she needs to burn herself out to make others happy and Scratch is still calloused and mean towards new additions to his social circle but that just makes them feel more authentic. I don't want them to be perfect. Watching them improve yet still struggle with the same issues they had at the start of the series makes them feel so real. For being a show that's mostly episodic with loose continuity, the development its characters go through is so slow burn sometimes you don't even notice it just binging the series. But if you jump back and forth between an early season 1 episode to a late/season 2 episode, it is STAGGERING.

Molly doesn't love Scratch because he stopped being mean. Scratch doesn't love Molly because she stopped being an overbearing ball of energy. They've loved each other in spite of that. They see past these flaws to their source and relate to the feelings they stem from. At their core, Molly and Scratch are exactly the same; social outcasts seemingly doomed to never having lasting connections. They just responded differently to what they had to go through, their two extremes are even similar in some ways with over possessiveness and insecurity. When Scratch was defending himself to Libby, he couldn't even name any of his redeeming qualities. And Molly still thought Scratch wanted to leave her in spite of everything. They're so torn from their experiences and that drives them closer together. I'm tearing up writing this.

They're broken but they're healing. They're best friends forever. One without the other would not be the same person. Although they aren't codependent, they've gotten along fine on solo adventures without the other needing to step in and solve their problem. They're healthy in their toxic behaviors because they call each other out. I don't consider a relationship toxic if there's noticeable improvement and growth. They're mature in their immaturity, their friendship is so simple and sincere. They enjoy each other's company and don't care who knows it. They're weirdos and so is everyone else they're friends with. Save for maybe Geoff. I don't think a single soul hates Geoff. I'm getting off topic but their friendship is something I always wanted.

They know they're broken, they know they're flawed and selfish at times. But they're trying. And that effort is sometimes all that one can ask for. The dream team for all eternity.

#the ghost and molly mcgee #tgamm #tgamm spoilers #character analysis #i cried writing this #legitimately i almost started violently sobbing over these cartoon characters #that's what thinking about their relationship does to me #they're such besties #i hope they never change but also change for the better #if that makes any sense #my poor broken meow meows #i want to hug them so hard all their trauma goes away

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ivypond11 · 2 years

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some drawings i did based on a the girls are raised in amphibia au

the idea was that the girls get transported to amphibia very early on, like 5-6yo. marcy was raised by olivia in newtopia and was like, kind of considered high royalty in newtopia. sasha was raised by grime and the toads, grime being the leader alongside his sister and another small group of toads, since they are ruled by a council opposed to a single leader, like in newtopia. since they have political relations, marcy and sasha have known each other since they were almost 15. they remembered? something about already being friends? but the way you remember things from your childhood, fuzzy and unclear. they get closer through the years and sasha falls madly in love with marcy, and tells grime about it. grime, who loves his daughter, is supportive of her, and also the fact that it could strengthen their political power. so sasha starts courting marcy, and marcy is enthralled by sasha. but, one day, marcy is out on a mission with yunan and a small group, to investigate some claims of some weird magic being used in some remote woods. and to her surprise, marcy finds another human! this new girl, anne is her name, feels so familiar to marcy, and they soon hit it off, and marcy is so curious about anne, and wants to spend so much time with her, which, doesn't bode well with sasha. a short rivalry between anne and sasha ensues, while marcy embraces the feelings she has for both of them.

#amphibia #marcy wu #sasha waybright #anne boonchuy #sasharcy #eventual sashannarcy #i got carried away sorry #but yeah i don't think i'll do anything with it so!#infodump time it is

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s4gefr0g · 5 days

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INTRODUCTION POST!!!

(It feels weird making this)

Hello and welcome o my blog!

I hope you enjoy your stay!!! :D

Name(s)/ things you can call me:

Sagefrog

Sage

Frog

Danny

Daniel

Tony

Gender: Genderfluid Transmac

Sexuality: Bisexual Ace (graysexual)

Pronouns: He/ Him (preferred)/ any

Age: Minor

Time Zone: (GMT+2) South-East Africa time

Request: Open

Art Trade: Closed

I don't draw:

NSFW (p0rn)

Kinks

Animals (I CANNOT for the life of me, draw animals. I'm not an animal hater, I physically CANNOT. But I can draw furries)

Fandoms (this gonna be a long one):

HFJONE

ONE INVESTIGATIONS (yes, separately)

ITFT

Animatic Battle

Adventure Time

BATIM

FNAF

RAMSHACKLE

Hazbin + Helluva (I hate the creator tho)

TADC

Amphibia

Owl House

Dungeon meshi

Bluey

Undertale

TBHK

TAWOG

Welcome Home

+ more

✨Wife✨ (Platonic):

@thegirlwiththeart

Online Friends:

@craftyworx @akalikestodraw @ch0cocrave @ozzytheplushiemonster @eminsunnytoons123 @moshywoosh @hollow8007 @bluebird-in-a-cagedrawing + all my moots

Online Dad:

@theinkbunny

Own series:

Treehouse Trio

Blind Spot

Quest to freedom (still unannounced)

P.S: All of these are WIPs and unreleased

DNI:

Pedophiles

Zoophiles

Homophobes

Terrorists

Racists

Sexists

Rapists

Bullies

+ anything bad

NSFW blogs (I don't mind jokes and refs but not visuals and other shit like that)

I rarely draw stuff so don't expect much (I'm mostly either lazy or unmotivated or just don't want to post my art)

!From the River to the sea Palestine Must

Be Free!

#Intro post

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thisbelongsto-nohbodys · 3 months

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I just noticed that all Amphibia characters have more than one kid while TOH characters have just one kid (depending on whether or not Veesha have just one too)

Was this something you had planned right from the finales or did something influence this decision?

Eh, it was mostly a coincidence. I couldn’t just have Sashanne have a kid and leave out Marcy so obviously Sasharcy and Marcanne had a kid too and then with Spraddivy, originally it was only a Sprivy kid but the idea of Sprout having a creepy little sister was too funny not to have. And for Yulivia and their kids, once again it was originally only Marceline but I wanted to draw an axolotl and since they live in frog valley now, why not a frog tadpole?

When it came to TOH, Azura was an obvious choice for Lumity and I couldn’t think of any other siblings for her so she’s an only child which contrasts with the Amphibia fankids side of the Owlphibia comics. I haven’t fully decided if Pauline is going to be an only child as well or not. I haven’t done much with her so I could probably make a younger sibling, either on the way or little kid, idk. Still debating on if Veesha having a kid as well, ran into the same problem I’ve been having with Dr Jan and Terri’s daughter due to Terri and Masha. As for any other fankids from the main cast, it’s been difficult to figure out something original, especially since so many ppl have done things and I don’t want to accidentally copy someone else, which is y I’ve been hesitant with TOH next gen stuff.

It’s also a “can I think of a cool or funny story with this character?” Type decision. For the Calamity Siblings, I have Lily’s Amphibia Adventure in mind, the Spraddivy kids they have several jokes, the Yulivia kids same thing. Azura is fun to explore the rivalry between the Owlphibia fandom and the magic system of TOH.

#ask #amphibia #the owl house #Owlphibia-fan-001

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mdhwrites · 1 year

Note

Since you mentioned it in a recent post, what do you think about TOH having a sympathetic main cast of mostly conventionally beautiful, humanoid characters while still preaching about how 'weirdos have to stick together'? Do you think there's some hypocrisy in how the show handles its less 'cute' characters?

I do think it's hypocritical and that in and of itself is a problem. It's also just really fucking boring and contributes to the problem of it feeding into the fantasy problem of "Our world but with more teeth."

So since I'm going to rip into this creative choice for the rest of this blog, let's first talk about the positives of having a cast that is effectively all humans, especially all good looking ones, instead of demons, monsters, etc. After all, we need to be fair. There's a lot that goes behind these choices and while the Isles has a lot of bizarre designs in the backgrounds, there had to be a point to all of the denizens we commonly interact with looking like generic elves. *flips through notes* *checks some papers* *flips through more notes* It makes fanart easy.

...OKAY FINE! That's only SOMEWHAT hyperbolic. The reason it makes fanart easier is also why it's really easy to just go with a cast of humans. We as a SPECIES inherently trust and connect better with those who look like ourselves, for better and mostly worse. This can be as specific as skin color and as abstract as simply the human form. Yes, for people like me who are proud monster fuckers, this line blurs but for common Joe Shmoe, they're going to want someone who looks fairly normal if they're going to get really invested.

Worse yet is if you look at modern cartoons. Bare minimum, Molly McGee and Amphibia. Yes, SOME people in those fandoms will draw the frogs and Scratch... But they ALL draw the trios of human characters. And yes, shipping matters here but I've also seen a good number of Amphibia artists just admit to spending way too much figuring out how to draw Sprig because the anatomy is wonky enough to make you question yourself. If they're all humans, you can still get by just fine with your normal style and lessons that most art books are going to teach you.

This isn't even untrue from a writing perspective. Just a cultural shift (and yes I'm calling myself out on this) can be enough to throw you WAY out of your comfort zone for how to write a character besides token elements like food. Throw in entirely different anatomy, skill sets inherent to biology, weaknesses similarly inherent to that biology, and you start to have a lot more questions you need to ask for a very basic level understanding of a character. Which seems like a good transition point to talking about the monstrous denizens of TOH. Specifically that there is ONE 'monster' in The Owl House main cast and that is King.

...

Can you tell me what the fuck is special about King? Besides being short and fluffy, his differing anatomy effectively NEVER comes into play. His magical blasts are practically replicated by Raine whistling. Make him an 8 year old elf child and the only thing you lose is his ancestry. Not his heritage, his ANCESTRY. That's pretty fucking weak.

Edit: Someone on Twitter pointed out to me that King's design is effectively just a furred Cubone and I hate knowing this.

Otherwise, the only inhumane thing about him is that they make him a dog. Which, you know... isn't exactly going very far down on the spectrum of likability for most people. In fact, this technique isn't anywhere near new. Toothless is just a giant cat and I love him for it but I wouldn't blame anyone who looked at the How to Train Your Dragon Dragons and went "I wish they acted like dragons." Because... They don't? They have the designs and move sets of dragons but most of their temperament is far more cat like, down to having dragon nip and being distracted by reflected light.

King is also the only foreground deviation for the protagonists. As I said when I first mentioned this, you can't even really go with Willow being heavier set. She is pretty much the textbook definition of "More to love" seeing as her being slightly heavier just gives her a softer design than the rest of the characters instead of being anywhere close to unappealing like one of Mabel's friends in Gravity Falls is. You're supposed to look at Willow and go "I bet she gives really good hugs" and that's about it. Her weight, much like her ethnicity frankly, is hardly what you're supposed to think about with her design besides basic contrast.

And she's still better than the rest of the cast who are models. Including Luz for that matter. Now the show's style doesn't lend itself well to distinguishing how pretty a character is besides their reactions from a different character... But it can also absolutely do ugly. And no one in this main cast is ugly. You want a NASTY scar, you're gonna have to look elsewhere than the tatted up teenage boy and the girl who has a little flair on one of her eyebrows. One is meant to look cool, the other is still the same job while also being slight enough not to embellish the main face too much.

Amity and Eda though are explicitly in text stated as REALLY PRETTY. Like model pretty from how people react to them. Yes, one of these people is Luz's girlfriend but literally any acknowledgement of her looks is more than Gus, Willow or any of the villains (especially positively) are given. Not even Odalia who is the best case against this argument. But, you know, those are Amity's genes running through Odalia. She's not gonna be ugly because then how are all of the Blight Children ready for a Vogue cover shoot?

And here's the thing: In most media, this isn't really a problem. People like attractive people and there's nothing wrong with that. I know people want more representation and they are right to want that but also most media is a fantasy of some sort. Especially for a basic wish fulfillment isekai like TOH, a really pretty harem is packaged explicitly into the fantasy because who doesn't want hot magical beings saying they're the best?

Except then there's the line of "Us Weirdos Gotta Stick Together," or the fact that Luz is stated to be bullied (but didn't actually look out of place amongst the cheerleaders or drama kids), or the fact that TOH theoretically peddled early on a Fantasy vs. Reality theme. It is a show that is meant to CELEBRATE the Other and be challenging to those who are commonly seen as better... But the Other isn't present. When they are... They're villains. Belos is the only character with a curse that doesn't make them pretty. It's really gruesome what the curse does to him, even before he becomes a full monster. Contrast that with Eda who sprouts feathers and that's really it? Then you have Tibbles, who is a literal pig, the evil publisher who is a lizard, the monster hunters who are orcs effectively, Warden Wrath who is a homunculus? There isn't actually a clear inspiration directly for him besides 'monster' which is part of why he's one of the best one off villains of the series. The closest to a protagonist monster is Hooty which the series goes out of its way to make most people mock, outright hate and/or be actively repulsed by him, especially if it's a character we're supposed to care about.

When it comes to the villains, there are two who stand out as prettier than the rest and they both have direct connections to the main cast. In fact, to Amity. Odalia who I talked about earlier and Boscha. I guess Matt if you want to count him but as far as looking like a basic ass bitch goes, you don't get much more basic than Matt without bleaching his skin. Boscha on the other hand's prettiness is pretty much the best argument we had before she was given a half assed redemption that she was going to be redeemed. Why else make her so much prettier than everyone else? Unless it was just fueled by "She is going to be next to Amity a few times and a Blight wouldn't interact with anyone too... alternative." None of Amity's friends are more monstrous than a third eye after all and that doesn't really hold Boscha back all that much. Frankly, it probably saved her from large forehead jokes akin to what Amity gets since they both have hairstyles that pull their hair back and that's a problem for the show's style.

What does all of this mean? Well, it means in a show that is trying to lift up those who feel like they don't belong, it's still reinforcing standard beauty ideals of society. Worse yet, it just kind of discredits that Luz meets ANY outcast. I wouldn't have called my friends in High School ugly of course but were any of us ready for the runway? Of course not. We didn't take care of ourselves right for that or just didn't have the right genes for it.

Because let's face it: The eyeball head girl was NEVER going to be a main character. And that's... also really boring. The fact that witches are just elves but without any of the culture, long lifespans (as far as we know) etc. like that is also just really boring. And for a fantasy show, especially one that pitches in the first episode that ANY folk tale we have originated here, that's not good. Especially since even if they look like elves, you could have still at least TRIED to make them interesting with things like the bile sac but that's a throwaway joke to the writers. And the saddest thing is... If you're a person who LIKES weird characters, or actually embraces their weirdness and so doesn't need to be told they'll have a Victoria Secrets model as a wife... What is TOH gonna do for you? Or for anyone who doesn't want designs that are less interesting and less unique than even Danny Phantom's. And that's from fucking Butch Hartman who is not exactly known for being a top tier artist. Like SAM as a goth is more alternative (especially for when the show first aired) than fucking ANYONE in the main cast of TOH. And that show debuted ALMOST TWENTY YEARS AGO. And Valerie even had a similar bodytype to Willow but with WAY more personality!

Now I'm just thinking about all the shows I grew up with like Total Drama Island that had so much fun with even their pretty boy designs. That's frankly my biggest issue. The pretty problem in TOH IS bad thematically. Above all else though... it's just boring. Boring and lazy. How these characters look don't mean ANYTHING to them. It doesn't say much about them, the show or anything else.

They're pretty just because the creator probably likes making pretty people and I can usually support. I support Yoko Taro after all. But Yoko Taro makes people (or androids which are based off humans). This is fantasy. You can do whatever you want and the TOH crew couldn't be assed enough to even do a demon.

In a world called the DEMON REALM! I think at that point, you need to ask why the fuck they're bothering with it being a fantasy show in the first place, let alone one trying to pitch itself as anything other than basic wish fulfillment.

=======

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!

#TOH Critical #The Owl House Criticism

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fuzzytadpole · 8 months

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Hello and welcome!

My name is Twig, this is my intro post.

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I like to make kin moodboards, please feel free to request one along with any themes/aesthetic you’d like!

(All my moodboards can be found under the tag #twigs boards)

*Note - I prefer not to use independent art in my boards if it can be avoided. Fictionfolk (no KFF though please) and the like are still welcome to request. :)

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I am a minor (singlet) above the age of 13. My birthday is on October 11 🍰✨

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I am nonbinary/genderflor 🏳️‍⚧️

Pronouns: they/it/that

Neos: ne/nir/fae/ey/aer

Nounself: fawn/moth/silk/bug/bite/woof

Use whichever of these you want, but try to mix it up a bit! /lh

I am aroace oriented (neptunic + apothisexual) 🏳️‍🌈

🧡💛🤍🩵💙

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I am nonhuman (therian + otherkin + fictionkin + conceptkin + voidpunk) 🌸 🏔️ (Mixed psychological and spiritual origins)

Theriotypes: Tundra wolf, sighthound, grey fox, pine marten, and moth. I’m a moth and sighthound quitherian.

(In total I am a borzoi + windhound + saluki + whippet + Irish wolfhound. Cecropia silk + ceanothus silk + hummingbird clearwing.)

Caed/kintypes: Fae, demon. (possibly endel)

Fictotypes: Deerfox (Hilda), Chara + Frisk (Undertale).

Kith/hearttypes: Ibex, takin, fin/blue/beluga whale, snail, doll.

I am chromesthesia conceptkin.

My voidsona is of a species made by me called a demonymph, and its name is Pom.

I’m also a furry, and my fursona is a mammal-bug thing called Eedot.

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I am an age regressor/dreamer ⭐️🧸

My age can range from 1-11, but usually stays 6 or below. I try my best to keep this blog sfw, but there may be occasional cursing! If so I’ll always tag it, as well as capitals that may feel like yelling.

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I am neurodivergent 🫧🍓

I am a semi-speaking synesthete with tics and auDHD. Tone tags are appreciated!

My special interests are drawing/animating, Amphibia, rocks, and synesthesia. I am more than open to talking about these!!!

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Extras⚡️🎶

My music taste is really miscellaneous, but some of my favourite artists/genres include: Aurora, Yeule, Melanie Martinez, Jazmin Bean, bodyimage, Zheani, Queef Jerky, vocaloid, shoegaze, and hyperpop/glitchcore/breakcore.

Fandoms I’m in: Amphibia, Sky Cotl, Hilda the series, Undertale/Deltarune, The Owl House, Gravity Falls, School Bus Graveyard, Stardew Valley, Wings of Fire, Minecraft Storymode, Little Nightmares, Mlp, and Yume Nikki.

I am questioning spirituality, and consider myself agnostic/apatheist/animist. 🌍

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DNI: Anti-lgbtq+, anti-alterhuman, anti-age regression, anti-furry, anti-holothere, pro-con zoos/pedos, ppl involved in cringe culture, NSFW, autism speaks supporters, or fundamentalist christians/catholics.

Please do not bring up orthodox religion, guns, SH, or ED’s around me.

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Here is my side blog https://www.tumblr.com/celebratestuff

Also, I tend to spam like so beware! /hj

That’s about it! Thank you for reading, friend :)

#introduction #intro post

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sars-wulf · 29 days

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Vent about my parents below

Got to thinking about my parents. Tbh I think they’re alright, but I never really got any unconditional love, support or affection from them. There were always conditions. Good grades, winning a sport they signed me up for, not being queer, being a nice Christian kid.

When I failed to meet those conditions, I could tell they were disappointed and didn’t really care about my interests unless it mirrored their own. The only reason my mom approved of my writing is because she likes to write too. My dad is an artist, so he approved of me drawing, even encouraged it so I would follow in his footsteps.

I didn’t do that for either of them though, and am becoming a psychologist instead.

If I liked animated tv shows or movies, they didn’t care. If I wanted to try something new, they didn’t let me try unless they approved. They didn’t foster my interests.

Even as an adult, if I’m not doing something they approve of, they will guilt trip me into not doing it. I wanted to try becoming a doctor but my mother didn’t approve because it would be “too difficult” for me. I wanted to go to a furry convention but my father disapproved because it was “weird” and sent me articles on why furries were bad. I look back, and realize I could’ve done those things.

My grades aren’t bad. I could’ve tried to become a doctor. I wouldn’t have gotten hurt at a furry convention. In fact, despite no longer being involved in the actual community, I felt more at home with them than my parents.

I guess I’m saying this all just to say:

I don’t hate my parents. They gave me a house to live in, food, water, and they did care a little bit. But it didn’t feel like home. I would’ve liked to have somewhere I could’ve been myself. I still can’t be myself when around them too.

I’ve crafted this persona for them to enjoy, and hide the true nature of myself from them. I wish I could be myself without being scrutinized and judged for things I enjoy. I wish I could’ve grown up doing things I wanted.

They may have given me all these shiny gifts, but it will never take the place of true unconditional love.

When I turn on TV and see these happy families where they support and love their children despite their own mistakes (TOH and Amphibia) I kind of cry a little inside. I want that, but I can’t have it.

So, I make up for a loving biological family with a chosen one. I’m happier than I’ve ever been now. But I still get sad whenever I think about my parents.

#sars talks #vent post #vent #just got to thinking after talking to someone about the amphibia parents

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elishortforelliott · 11 months

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IF YOU ARE SUPPORTING ISRAEL LEAVE MY BLOG AND DO YOUR RESEARCH. FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

youtube

Ok! Hello!! I'm making an introduction page and i dont know how to do introductions that well so I'm going with the flow so sorry if this is confusing!!! Also I have Bolded all the important text so if you want to skim just read the bolded text! :D ALSO if you follow me and you look like a bot (you have nothing on your profile have the default profile picture etc.) I will block you.

WARNINGS AND DNI UNDER THE CUT LOOK AT THEM.

THE INTRODUCTION 👋

Credit: @/burntoutuserboxes

Hi! My name is Eli or you can call me Elliott I do not care!! Either one is fine!! My pronouns are he/they and I think I'm either trans masc or bigender but I'm still figuring thing out! :D I'm bisexual and ace! and I am a minor. I'm working on improving my art so alot of my posts will probably be fanart or just random doodles. I will be working on anatomy so expect me to post huminoids with sub par anatomy and procrastinating by drawing landscapes and I am SHIT at finishing projects so if I say I'm doing something expect it to be posted in a year/hj I'm also learning ceramics!! and I'll take drawing requests!! :D (but if I dont want to do them you have to respect that.) Also be prepared for alot of me screeching about random things.

THE WARNINGS ⚠️

I am in alot of horror/thriller fandoms!! So on my blog you will see: teeth, gore, worms, insects, child murder, murder, eye imagery, clowns, animatronics, manikins, weapons, and so on if you are uncomfortable with any of these things I will be doing my best to add warnings to all of my posts that have the above topics but if you don't want to take any chances please leave.(also if there are anyways where I could improve/add any warnings please tell me.)

ALSO I may or may not reblog/post about political topics or religion (specifically Christianity) i will be putting warnings on these posts but please be careful and leave this blog if it will be harmful for you!

MY BOUNDARIES/DNIs 🛑

Okay! So these are my boundaries please respect them!

Please do not interact if you are: racist, homophobic, transphobic, abilest, proshipper, p*rn bot, pedophile, fatphobic, etc.

Please do not talk about Christianity (I have religious trama) unless I have brought the topic up. anyone who is Christian please do not interact with this blog even if you support lgbtq+ and are not just a total asshole please dont interact im sure your a great person just please do not interact.

DO NOT steal my art if you do repost it please make sure to ask for my permission first and to give me credit and if you don't ill steal your knee caps

Please be patient with me and spelling. I absolutely suck at it and auto correct is my life line. You can totally point out spelling/ Grammar mistakes I make but please don't be rude about it.

And please tell me if I have said/done/rebloged anything harmful, offensive, misinformed, annoying, or rude.

THE FANDOM/INTERESTS LIST 👁

Credit: @/burntoutuserboxes

There are alot of fandoms that I am in so this list is very big and ever expanding!!!

The Penumbra Podcast (i am still on season 3 please no spoilers!)

SIAMÉS

Fools gold DnD campaign

Nimona

Barbie

Hollow knight

Sonic

Teenage mutant ninja turtles (most shows and comics i haven't seen all of them.)

Lego monkie kid

The magnus archives (I have been spoiled on like the whole thing so spoilers are fine!)

Welcome to nightvale (I have not finished year 3 please no spoilers!)

Hello from the hallowoods( I have just started so no spoilers please!)

Malevolent (i have also just started!)

Minecraft

Stray

Last of us

The owl house

Amphibia

Gravity falls

Dead end paranormal park

Spiderman into the spiderveres

BNA

Mob Psycho

Promise neverland

Pokemon

Spiritfarer

Five nights at freddy's

Bendy and the ink machine

Detroit become human

Stardew valley (please no spoilers please!)

Hell followed with us

The girl from the other side

The crane wives

The amazing devil

Pottery/ceramics

Painting/drawing

AND FINALLY TAGS/ ORIGINAL WORKS#️⃣

I have 3 tags i will hopefully have a tag for ask soon but I am procrastinating

#my art -- This as a bunch of fanart of the fadoms I am in and just artpeices I've made

#my pottery -- This is all my pottery pieces and the progress! :D

#To Find A Home -- this is a story im making and im so excited to share my ocs!!!

Thank you for reading!!! Please talk to me if we have any fadoms in common! I want to make friends!! :D

#introduction #pinned intro #about myself #about my blog #Youtube

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ordinaryschmuck · 1 year

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What I Thought About the Series Finale of The Owl House

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Future Me: AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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

Spoilers below.

WHAT I LIKED

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

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

*Looks at my intro*

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

The Nightmares: Yup. This hurt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Speaking of which…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Titan: PRAISE BE THIS SHAGGY MAN!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Burn in hell, you evil bastard.

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

Reunions: BECAUSE THEY FEEL SO GOOOOOOOOD~!

But, yeah, a lot of fluff and sweetness.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“She didn’t say–”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flapjack’s gravestone…Ow.

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

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

Kikimora is put on grunt work…Perfect

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

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

Scara’s new look is perfect.

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

The kids have matching tattoos of Flapjack…Ow.

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

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

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

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

WHAT I DIS–I said PERFECT–

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other than that, this finale’s golden.

IN CONCLUSION

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

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

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

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

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

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