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ramblefang · 3 years

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TOH s2 ep3

I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep up the liveblog thing, but the first few seconds of this episode already has me thinking things I want to write down.

But really quick: some post-episode 2 thoughts. Nothing too big, just follow-up thoughts on Luz learning alongside Eda and Lilith given how the episode ended. Seems like Luz being the teacher is pretty much done already, and the adults—with their experience and wisdom better contextualizing what they’re learning about glyphs—may more solidly have the edge at teaching. Though, Luz may still have plenty to contribute; she’s proven to be mighty creative in her own right, so she’ll likely pick up on “glyph writing” pretty quick.

00:06 - So these first few seconds seem to be a flashback. I was initially tipped off by the, like, blue tint and the, like, hazy effect at the edges of the screen. But I also rewinded since I started writing, and this hooded figure does have Eda’s staff and the hand grasping it certainly looks like hers.

00:14 - Oh, it’s all confirmed just seconds later. Okay then.

00:27 - An intriguing cold open that was. My first guess is that that was how Eda met King. But it could also be introducing a new character.

01:10 - Looks like Lilith explained things to Luz between episodes. These notes (especially the confusion) reminds me of trying to wrap my head around Homestuck shit.

01:38 - Huh. Lilith looking a tad unhinged. Last episode left us with the impression that she had a decent direction when it comes to these glyphs, but maybe exploring this uncharted territory is a bit much for the rule-obsessed perfectionist

01:49 - I must say again that I really appreciate Hooty having a good relationship with someone.

02:53 - Demon lore! Sounds like this might really be about King and Eda meeting, based on this King focus and the title having something about the past (didn’t commit the title to memory)

03:53 - Hmm, so King’s story doesn’t match up with the expert’s understanding of history. I wonder if it’ll turn out that King was just the big fish of a very small pond. Alternatively, King’s story might be prehistory. Eda did appear to have found some ancient ruins in the cold open.

04:20 - Ooh, indeed, this could be dealing with delusions. The appropriate way to handle someone experiencing delusions isn’t really something I’m familiar with. And it’s still uncertain if that’s really where this is going; King’s story could still be real (at least in a fashion)

04:25 - But in the moment, I do appreciate Luz’s approach to things. Delusion or not, it’s not like King is hurting anyone. Well, it is correlated with some toxic behavior (like that time King took credit for the story that he wrote together with Luz), but I’m unsure if I’d pin that stuff on delusions. Those things can be addressed without necessarily stressing King out over his “delusions”.

04:55 - Uuh. I have no idea what to expect from Hooty coming with. I’m honestly kind of scared.

05:00 - And based on those sounds and the pulsating flesh left behind on the door, yeah, I was right to be kind of scared. But the “Porta-Hooty” is cute.

05:30 - “Again” Eda says. Huh. Quick guess is that Eda manages an elaborate charade to keep King happy.

05:37 - A flying bathtub huh. That caught me off guard. I guess that’s the back-up for when Luz takes the staff (whose name I do not recall at the moment.)

(Apparently it is Owlbert.)

06:18 - This does appear to be the location from the cold open, so it’s probably real. I wouldn’t expect that young Eda was already orchestrating an elaborate charade for King. It’s also uncharted, so more credence to King’s story being at least partially true—but it also works for my idea that King was the master of a very small pond.

07:07 - Not sure if significant, but that door is keyhole shaped.

07:27 - Ooh! Prehistory! Or, well, prehistory as known by Lilith. Pretty sure actual prehistory is, like, “before history was recorded in a way we could dig up.” And this is literally language that could, probably, record history

08:30 - Hmm, so there’s something sneaking around these ruins, reminiscent of something sneaking up on young Eda in the cold open. I had thought that would be King, but it could be something else. It could also still have been King in the cold open, and it’s just something else now—it could even be Eda.

09:20 - Oh, so “apple blood” is basically an alcoholic beverage. It’s practically just a euphemism here.

09:30 - And the positions have flipped. These ruins are enough evidence to fully trust King’s story, despite his hazy memory. Luz still sounds the way she did earlier in the episode: simply humoring him.

My present theory is that the true extent of King’s story is that he lived here. But that does not mean he was the ruler of this place; he may have just used the art in these ruins to incorrectly fill holes in his memory.

10:20 - Hmm, the mummies of a bunch of vaguely insectoid...soldiers? The main thing I’m getting is that they don’t look much like demons. Also one is skittering around still, so maybe they aren’t exactly living? Like, maybe they were automatons in the first place?

10:50 - Ooh, a surprising fleshiness to this “monstrosity”. But, I mean, zombies are a form of automaton in my book. Or they can be at least.

11:12 - That sort of flesh warping ability is always fun. The kind that means you can never be pinned (especially by impalement) and also functions as a healing factor

11:24 - So now I’m guessing that by Eda’s exclamation of “Again?!” before, she’s had to protect/save King from these things before. Not only from the cold open, but other times that King has decided to visit this place.

11:40 - Eda has fought this thing before and knows, with certainty, that it can’t truly be defeated. I wonder why King wasn’t aware of it though.

13:02 - I was right about it being King in the cold open, but oh my God I wasn’t prepared for how cute baby King would be.

14:10 - A fair enough explanation for King’s memories. Though, it doesn’t explain the art in the ruins which does, indeed, bear a resemblance to King.

14:43 - Again, I’m not familiar with how real delusions are handled, but I can say that this probably wasn’t the safest place for this conversation

15:09 - Considering I initially agreed with Luz, it’s appropriate for me to reflect as I did agree with her approach. Perhaps there is more nuance to dealing with delusions. Luz theoretically could have been honest while still avoiding outright contradicting King’s delusions; in the bluntest terms, she could have outright said she doesn’t believe that he’s the king of demons, but would be willing to treat him as if he was anyway. The main thing I still agree with is Luz not pushing King on his delusions: more because it wasn’t her place to than anything else—Luz simply doesn’t have the full picture for her to be able to. Eda did though, so if anyone was going to challenge King’s delusions, it was her. Still could have been done somewhere safer though.

16:28 - Establish something that is true and positive regardless of the delusion: the delusional person having support. It can act as a safe foundation when one’s reality otherwise seems uncertain. Provide something that is at least as comforting as the delusion.

16:55 - Curious. The “monstrosity” is restacking the stones, King’s make-believe soldiers. It’s true enough that it didn’t attack baby King, as King was already in the ruins before Eda arrived. It specifically attacked Eda. Even on this latest excursion, it had never attacked King directly: it was simply imposing enough for King to agree to run from it.

18:30 - Eggshell? Was King born here? Maybe, rather than having been king himself, he is an heir?

20:32 - I would let him keep it. Yes. I like the monster.

20:42 - I like the symbolism of the horn as, like, King’s memory? It was damaged by his delusion, but now it’s whole again. King is more complete than he was before.

20:49 - Oh, they did bring the monster! Right there in the background. And King named it “Jean-Luc”? At least that’s how I’m assuming it’s spelled, after Jean-Luc Picard. I wonder if, coinciding with King’s further development, they can revive it to work outside of the ruins.

Closing Thoughts

Through season 1, I had thought that King trying to live up to being “the king of demons” functioned well as an analogy for toxic masculinity. He was trying to be tough and controlling, because that was how he thought he ought to be as a demon king—much the same things that toxic masculinity pushes on men to be “real” men. So making it through these his delusions makes room for King to mature and be more genuine to himself.

#the owl house

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madegeeky · 4 years

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Giftening 2020: Obligatory Vote for These Post (spoiler version)

Want the non-spoilery version? Seriously, though, super spoilery for main plot points for a lot of these. Skip the ones you don’t want to know about.

Ones with * are my nominations, so you know where my biases lie. :P Ones in bold are my top pick for the categories. I did not include things that don’t need the boost (like Utena).

ANIME

Aggretsuko - A tv show about an unassuming shy red panda woman who works in an office building and deals with the stress of it by going to karaoke and screaming out death metal. The show largely deals with her making friends with two women who she admires and a dude who likes her. The dude who likes her is actually a geniunely interesting storyline because at the end of the first season (which I’ve not seen beyond), he basically admits that he’s built this image of her in his head that isn’t real and he wants to know the real her. (Which, fuck yeah.)

Fushigi Yuugi* - This is a story about two teens who used to be friends fighting over a man which is literally the antithesis of everything Jet is. And yet, Jet watched the whole damn thing. Watch her squirm as she has to deal with that in a liveblog format. You can get a preview of some of that in Doc’s liveblog of it that she did for Jet.

NON-ANIME ANIMATED

Archer* - This is an animated parody of James Bond made for adults. It's offensive as fuck because Archer, the titular character, is a James Bond stand-in and that character can also be offensive as fuck. In fact, one thing to appreciate about this show is that all the characters are shitty, awful people and the show never attempts to excuse their shitty, awful behavior. Plus, it's one of the few shows where half the main characters are women. I am a tiny bit hesitant to rec this for a liveblog due to the offensivness however, as far as I can tell it's not popular on tumblr, and those are generally the ones that cause the most trouble so...

Daria - The story of a misanthropic teenager, her family, and her best friend. The characters are specifically meant to appear to be tropes before slowly being unveiled as three dimensional people. It's got a dry sense of humor that I think Jet will enjoy. I actually didn't know until years after I watched this that it was a spin-off of Beavis and Butthead (which I hated) so don't let that dissuade you.

LIVE ACTION

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I haven't seen past a certain point because it starts going super deep into exploring depression and that is one of my main triggers for a depressive episode, so I cannot speak of later eps. However, this show starts out funny and silly and evolves into a show exploring how toxic the main character actually is and how unhealthy her coping mechanisms are. It's amazing to see a character type whose actions are usually excused or written off as funny instead be specifically called out as being awful and toxic. (It was a Shit Show is still one of the best songs I've ever heard and Mr. Geeky and I sing it to each other whenever shit hits the fan.)

Hannibal* - If you know of Hannibal, you know the basics premise is that of a man who eats people and is chased by the FBI. The writing in this is some of the best writing I've ever had the pleasure of seeing in a piece of media: it's subtle, smart, and trust its audience to follow along without having their hand held. However, what's really great about the TV show is that it's not afraid to do its own thing. It constantly fucks with your expectations and deconstructs and explores tropes in ways I've never seen before. I haven't seen the ending yet but I highly doubt it's going to end in a place where Silence of the Lambs will happen. The acting is fucking great and even though Anthony Hopkins gives an amazing performance as Hannibal Lector, after seeing Mads Mikkelsen play him there's no going back to Hopkins. In general, if you're looking for something original (which is ironic considering it's based on a book and there are several movies) and smart, I cannot recommend this enough.

Russian Doll* - (Doc, please skip this one, as in 5 years when you're done with Two Storms, this is one of the things I'm considering nominating should I ever win a liveblog again.) I don't really know how to explain this show because it's so fucking weird and is so focused on character and ideas that the plot is both super simple and extremely complicated. It's a story about a woman who starts to relive the same day over and over again except, instead of the typical thing where it starts over when she falls asleep, it's only until she dies (so sometimes she lasts for hours, other times for a couple days). However, almost immediately there are signs that something else is going on, that something outside of the main character's repeating day, something has gone horribly wrong. (Count the fish.) It's a very thoughtful, character-driven show, more about exploring ideas than plot which I, personally, didn't mind at all. Another one I highly recommend overall with much less blood and gore than Hannibal.

Xena - IT'S FUCKING XENA PEOPLE! Okay, but just in case you don't know what the show is about is through cultural osmosis, Xena is a show about a woman who used to be a truly horrible murderous bitch and her continual attempts to make up for the wrongs she has done. The main relationship in the show is between Xena and her (girl)friend, Gabriel, and although the show can be ridiculously silly (time is made up and history doesn’t matter!), it also explores deep, dark issues. One of the best things this show explores is the idea of redemption and forgiveness and that perhaps nothing Xena does will ever get her those things.

LIVESTREAM

Crank* - Jason Statham plays a man who has been given a poison that slowly cuts off his adrenaline, meaning that eventually he'll die. He has to do increasingly ludicrous things to get his adrenaline pumping overtime to make up for it slowly being cut off. It's one of the most fucking bananas thing you'll ever watch but is just a bunch of fucking fun. (CW: Public sexual assault. I only mentioned because it’s a scene that last for a bit. It's a complicated scene so I won't get into it here but send an ask if you want more details.)

Dale and Tucker vs Evil* - Dale and Tucker, two hillbilly best friends, are going into the woods to fix up their vacation home when they stumble across some college kids. Random circumstances make the college kids think D&T have kidnapped their friend and so they decide they need to attack D&T to get her back. Hijinx ensue. I don't want to say much more because there's a moment that is, to this day, still one of the funniest fucking things I've ever seen, largely because I did not see it coming.

GAMES

Doki Doki Lit Club - This is a game about games. You play a guy in a dating sim. Your first playthrough everything seems normal enough. You join the literature club, meet and talk to girls, and then one of the girls commits suicide. And then game restarts and the girl who committed suicide just... doesn't exist anymore. Your replay the exact same days but it's as though she never existed. Things only get weirder from there. This game does a great job of turning dating sim tropes on their head, as well as exploring games in general. (Content warning for a lot of things. Let me know if you want more details.)

Slime Rancher (stream) - There's really not much to spoil here. You play a woman who is in charge of a ranch full of slimes. There's some messages you'll find, left by the old owner, telling story about their romance. There also some messages between you character and a deliberately gender-ambiguous significant other. And that's about the closest to story you get. Otherwise it's just catching and ranching slimes.

Subnautica* - Fucking fuck I love this game. When this game first starts it appears to be your typical survival game with no real direction other than what you want to explore. But then you find an alien structure. And you realize that your spaceship didn't randomly crash. And you find out that there's no way get off this planet except to explore deeper and deeper and find out what the aliens were doing on this planet. A genuinely beautiful story, told mostly through entries in data pads and voice messages left behind, this ending is one of the most moving ends I've ever experienced and I never ever would have expected to be able to say that about a survival game.

We Happy Few* - In this alternate universe, the Germans invaded Britain during WW2 (although, through exploring the world, you learn that the differences started well before that). When the story starts up, the Germans have left Britain behind and Britain, for unknown reasons, appears to be cut off and/or abandoned by the rest of the world. The majority of the country is constantly hopped up on a drug called Joy, which is specifically used to help them forget something horrible that happened in the past. (I have theories.) The story starts when your character goes off his Joy and gets kicked out of society. There's a general sense of unease about everything and the more you learn the more that unease grows. The art style is great and the world building fascinating.

MISC (there’s nothing spoilery here but it feels weird to not have it)

Interactive Horror Story Livestream - Doc has talked a bit about this in at least one of her Xmas streams and it sounds amazing. Not only is Jet hilarious with horror stuff but knowing Doc’s writing skill, it will be something that we’d never want to miss.

Bean Boozle When Failing a Hard Game* - I am a sadistic bitch, I admit to this, and I love watching people eat Bean Boozle, the jelly bean of horrible flavors. One of my favorite videos content creators has done is playing an incredibly difficult game and then being forced to eat a random one every time they fail.

#giftening 2020 #giftening recs #spoilers for jetwolf

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