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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 month

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Happy with the staff content this year but am I the only one who is disappointed with the PV we got? It's basically a slideshow of art we've already seen, major downgrade from the year 1 PV that had literally all the events. There was a drop in quality of the anniversary PVs over the years and it really shows this year. Sorry if you find this too negative I don't mean to hate I just wish Twst would do better for it's ANNIVERSARY.

[For everyone's reference, here are the anniversary PVs in order of release: 2021 / 2022 / 2023 / 2024]

Mmm, now that you mention it, I noticed this trend with the Halloween PVs 🤔 For year 1, there was a video that showed all members of the NRC casy, even those that did not receive cards at that time. There were then several short variants of the PV released for year 2/Endless Halloween Night (part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4). Altogether, they feature all of the characters, including the students from year 1 but heavily shadowed and with glowing eyes to indicate ghostly possession. Even Glorious Masquerade features all of the students that get new cards for the event plus Rollo, although there are notably more still shots here. The Stage in Playful Land CM, by comparison, is significantly shorter and only shows us the three SSRs (Ace, Ortho, and Kalim) as well as the two new characters (Fellow and Gidel).

As this anon has said, the anniversary PVs have changed a lot over time too. The first one was the most animated and integrated several event outfits. The second one was also animated a fair amount, but you can tell corners were cut in some places where they transition to photographs/still images. This alone works thematically given that the player is a photographer, but you can still catch dips in quality when it comes to the art style. I remember finding Deuce running and the Kalim + Silver flying scene odd, as well as Jade and Trein's faces strange in general. Then the third PV rolls around and it only features the third years; the animation also seems to be much more sluggish (although this could be a stylistic choice; not sure). A friend actually recently pointed out to me that Lilia's pose looks like he was pulled straight from other assets; his artwork in the animation is almost the exact same as his smiling expression in the game. This year's is the most different (+ most static) and, like year 3's PV, only provides "new" content for a select few characters (the dorm leaders). They also reuse pre-existing illustrations already found in the game that don't seem to be picked for any particular reason (like, there are random Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles groovies in there). This direction, I'm guessing, is less costly and more efficient than making an entirely original animation, which is what was done in previous years. (Not that Disney or Aniplex is hurting for money to fund this, lol) Would I have preferred another PV in the style of year 1's? Yeah, for sure. I want to see other events and their outfits animated! Was what we got this year bad? Not necessarily; I think the production and editing was very technically impressive, but I'm still sad we didn't get anything substantially "new" to chew on (as someone who isn't a fan of most third years or the dorm leaders). Maybe it's just something we perceive as a deficit only because year 1 set the bar so high. It is what it is; whoever was in charge of the anniversary PV was probably doing the best they could with whatever budget they were given 😔 Let's hope that next year's will be a return to form, or that at least the money/effort is being redirected to other bigger projects (maybe the anime?).

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mdhwrites · 4 months

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Can a Wittebane special ever air on Disney Channel? I wonder how they will tackle the religious themes and murder of Caleb while keeping it Child friendly.

HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Oh, wait, you actually think it'd focus on Philip?

Sorry for the mocking statements but that is the long and short of it. To keep it child friendly, for what is most compelling, and for what would be most in line with TOH, the way a Wittebane special would go is actually pretty easy to map out, at least with the moments that we know about:

You start with a teenage boy looking gaunt and exhausted as he prepares for a day in the woods to forage for things that he can get and wood to chop. He needs to make money for him and his little brother, Philip, after all. He hasn't really gotten to eat much more than scraps for the past couple days but hey, that's okay. Philip gets to eat and that's all the nourishment Caleb needs. He wants his little brother to have a proper childhood and he'll give up anything for that.

While out in the woods that day though, he catches a smell. An absolutely divine smell. He follows it to its source and finds a woman in a cloak feeding the animals of the area. The bread she has smells like heaven but how she speaks to the animals reeks of the devil. His stomach gives him away though and she turns with a wry grin. She isn't afraid of him but intrigued because he didn't immediately attack, something she calls out when he won't eat her bread because of his suspicions. They strike a deal that Evelyn will tell him a truth in return for the bread. That way he knows his soul isn't the price of it. "Are you a witch?" "Yes." And that moment of pure honesty makes Caleb pause. Then he runs. He runs fast and hard, racing back to town to be sure that he can tell everyone and potentially get his brother away. To keep him safe from that which threatens them all. However, he is stopped by the fact that his little brother is sobbing and soaked. One of the other kids tricked him into the river and said they shouldn't have bother to be washed up onto the shore. They should have just drowned in the ocean because if God wanted them, they would still have... have... Caleb holds him tight before looking at the sole remaining photo he has of all four of them. The next day he is in mass, his leg shaking as he listens to the fire and brimstone the preacher speaks of. He can't focus on the words though. Not as he looks at how the kids that hurt Philip are at the front of the pews while they sit in the back because no one wants them near them. There's anger and hate in this room and it gnaws at his gut just as badly as his hunger does.

And so now we get some time of Philip and Evelyn bonding, romancing and we see the seasons pass in a sweet, effective montage to speedrun their romance, especially if this is just a 44 minute special or the like, let alone if it's 22. This montage could easily also show how the two growing older and contrast Caleb's joys of embracing the other with Philip's growing anger as he spends time in town and is indoctrinated, all without having to say what he is being indoctrinated for besides imagery of burning fires.

Then finally, we have Evelyn asking when Caleb plans to tell his brother. Caleb doesn't know. At first it was to make sure Evelyn was actually safe. Then never finding the right time because of fear of someone in town hearing. Now... Now Philip is so converted to witch hunting that he doesn't know what to do. They're even considering making his little brother witch hunter general because of just how committed he is. Caleb feels defeated and tired and all he really feels like he has left is Evelyn.

"Well... Maybe it's time to find your own path then. Your brother will be fine at your home and... And maybe you'll be fine at mine. With the rest of the witches."

It then cuts to Philip, furious, slamming open the door to the house. He has a ritual dagger in his hand... Because he has been named a lead hunter while one of those brats from when they were younger is Witch Hunter General. Just another time where the town decided to choose the people over parents than him. Over the one with the purest soul in town. At least, he thinks as he picks up the family photo and tries to calm himself, one of them. He needs his brother. He's gone again. He wishes Caleb would let him take care of him now. He makes enough money through the church to support them after all. He doesn't have to keep risking his life in the woods anymore.

"With the rest of the witches."

Philip's heart sinks. What? Who is this woman? He's never seen her? Wait, if she's with the witches, his brother is in danger! But the rest of them? If he waits for them to go he can find all of them and they'll HAVE to make him witch hunter general! But that means risking Caleb's life. He can't allow that, even for his own-

"You're right. Philip will just be happier here and... And maybe just best that I vanish. He'll just blame a witch for it anyways and trying to say goodbye would only put as all in danger." Tears come down Philip's face and his knuckles turn white as rain begins. A familiar door opens up next to Evelyn and she turns the key we all know in it. The shine of the portal illuminates Philip's face before a bolt of lightning has it change to Belos' mask and the special ends.

And that's it. It isn't a fun version of it but there's literally no version of the Wittebanes, without major retcons, that can be told in a fun way. They are orphans from a super conservative colony who majored in witch hunting before then having a schism between them be formed due to that witch hunting. This potentially, because it's up to interpretation, led to Philip killing Caleb. Bare minimum, something happens to Caleb that leads to him being dead and haunting his brother while Philip is left stranded on the Isles with no way of going back without finding his own way. The only part of that story that could be fun or comedic is the romance plotline with Evelyn and Caleb. It's also the one that allows the most to be left in obscurity about Belos, thus enabling the show not to contradict its own lore that way. Worse yet, it's also just the best story to tell there besides the rise of witch hunter Belos but those themes are indeed incredibly dark and SUPER not fun to tackle directly so it's better that it happens mostly off screen. Also, you know, it makes sure that the show doesn't glorify bigotry and hate by having us see the rise of Philip into bigoted witch hunter from his perspective. Instead, the story focuses on being critical of such things and accepting the other, which is theoretically in line with TOH in general.

It could be an effective special but I don't think it'd end up being what Belos fans want and for people who don't like Belos, the most they'll get out of it is ANOTHER quirky romance from TOH that mirrors Huntlow too much to feel unique or special. In other words, it's mostly a lose lose situation, especially since none of these elements will make the base story any deeper. It'll just add to the confusion some feel for the fact that they believe Belos is a victim and a product of his society who has a sympathetic reason for his anger but then is just a one note, pure evil villain in the main show.

This is honestly the problem with almost anything that addresses anything we saw in the show. The contradictory nature of the base product's writing, and how it slaughtered concepts at the root, means that expanding on these concepts can only make the contradictions worse. It can only make the base work worse or have MORE people screaming "WHY WASN'T THIS INCLUDED!?"

It's like how me and my Discord finally settled on one option for a lore book that could actually work for TOH if they wanted to release one for the show: One that tells us all about the Isles we didn't see. We see so little of it after all that just telling us about all these neat towns, the ways they operate, or expanding on the forms of magic that never got to do anything, could be neat. It doesn't fix the base show's lack of creativity or consistency but it doesn't inherently conflict with it either. It would just be there as harmless lore that also would have a bad hook for any readers because unlike the journals for Gravity Falls or Amphibia, they wouldn't expand on a character or the like.

The best route for TOH to go is to pull a Harry Potter, again (I hate how often this show forces me to bring up that stupid series) and make Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them. Either the movie or the book as either are at best tangentially related to the series but mostly just have the name of the series on them for brand recognition because the authors of both works didn't make a good enough world to actually tell anything more compelling within it after the story was done. Not without making the base product look worse.

And that includes the story of the Wittebanes.

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

What sucks is that I actually do like the plot I wrote up for the Wittebanes. Like this could genuinely be a really interesting story to make. However A: I wouldn't do fanfiction for it because of the requirement of one killing the other eventually that effectively demands no nuance between Caleb and Philip, forcing their dynamic to be very basic and B: it still suffers from having to be basic because Belos is a basic bitch evil guy while all signs from the show point to Caleb having been an absolute paragon. I made him about as gray as I could in my write up and it's still not much.

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

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

A Twitter you can follow too

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

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #caleb wittebane #philip wittebane

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yawnzzznnn · 1 year

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ding-dong, u have request (⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡✉️

can i request 8turn reaction to 9th member m!reader unconsciously peck on hand in live or music show, he usually do not in front of camera maybe bc 8turn hit chart or won (⁠゜⁠o⁠゜⁠;

if too much u can write u want, thx for open request (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

♡︎Kissing there hand on camera♡︎

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Yeah I can definitely write that it's not to much also so sorry for taking so long to get to this ik it was sitting in my asks for awhile now but recently with all the things going on with my dad and much more I barley had time but I'm getting more time now so you can expect my normal update schedule from here on out unless I get too busy to write anything also sorry if there are spelling errors or things that don't line up I haven't slept (it's currently 8am-)

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TW: mentions of getting hate : ALOT of being flustered : lots of kissing (obv-) : mentions of the Disney movie "Inside Out" : mentions of biting someone : public relationship : mentions of the girl group TWICE : Mentions of Yoonsung twerking : mentions of Fanfiction :

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𝕄𝕪𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕙𝕠༊*·˚

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Tbh he forgot you both were on camera like Im not sure how to explain it but he kinda went into his own little world the moment you touched his hand (ah young love at it's finest) so really he didn't realize the camera was pointing at you two when you reached and kissed his hand until a few days later he watched the video back then the embarrassment came flooding in