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sepublic · 1 year

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Anyhow, I want people to understand the significance of me crying over TOH ending because. I generally do not cry. It’s hard for me to cry, I feel sadness and grief sure! But tears themselves are difficult. And as much as I love media, it’s very rare and hard for it to make me genuinely cry. Other cartoons and shows I’ve gotten into haven’t done it, but...

The Owl House genuinely made me cry. After the grief of Agony of a Witch, the lonely despair of King’s Tide, and so many other painful moments. The Owl House finally made me sob, genuinely, wails I had to cover up, hot tears, sore eyes and a dripping nose. I heaved and made myself cry even more, because goddamn is there such a relief in the catharsis of feeling this pain, and knowing it means you’ve felt something, you’ve felt happiness to begin with.

So yeah. The Owl House has always been pretty special to me. But I think this expression of how I felt was low key what I was waiting for, working towards, after the finale. The absence hurts, but it makes me appreciate all the more the presence it entails for TOH in my life. For the community, for the experiences, the analyses, the genuine fun and laughter and speculation! The hype and friends I’ve made along the way, me building up my own skills as a reader thanks to this show!

I remember being enamored by The Owl House’s first announcement in February 2018, the first ever, possible public reveal of that show; You could’ve only known it beforehand if you worked at Disney and/or were one of Dana’s friends. Something about Luz, about Eda, about King... The very premise itself, the magic. Something about this show felt special to me, I had a really good feeling about it I couldn’t explain.

I ended up checking Dana’s Twitter obsessively for updates, was excited when she posted this one art of Luz and King having an ice cream run, while Eda was displeased with a little demon trying to get her dessert. I expected mostly casual things, but something about the vibes, the magic and wonder experienced through the lens of Luz... It got to me in a legitimately depressive state of my life.

Because I was depressed. Suicidal, even. It was perhaps the worst phase of my life ever, and I hope it’ll stay that way. The beginning of 2018 felt like me finally getting over the big hurdle, that enormous halfway point at the top, and how it was all relatively smooth, downhill sailing from here. So it feels fitting that it was the beginning of the easier part that TOH was announced for me. All I knew were Luz, Eda, and King; I eventually gave up checking Dana’s accounts for art, because I was SO excited and impatient for this show, inexplicably.

That’s probably why I missed Dana’s little sneak peek of Amity Blight, haha... But anyhow, TOH gave me something to look forward to. Something to live for. And when I finally got a shot of Eda throwing treats to Luz and King, the former taken aback by the eyeball, the latter having it bounce off his skull. It didn’t make it to the final cut obviously, but it was my first glimpse of how the show itself would look.

I was in despair when The Owl House was delayed to 2020; I had to wait another whole year for it! And going from 2018 to 2019 was painful enough as is! But man... Was it worth it. The first teaser, the mystery and wonder it promised. My Bionicle brain freaking out over the reveal of the Boiling Isles as a giant corpse.

And then the theme song. Me learning Luz’s VA, scouring very obscure media to get an idea of how she might sound like. And finally I heard it, we got other announcements; Eda by Wendie Malick, who made perfect sense, and King by Alex Hirsch, cue those obnoxious Bill Cipher theories I still hate to this day!

Some crew members announced cupcakes they made, complete with banners like “Drinkers Coven” and I got hyped for this little content. I wanted to try cashew meringues because of it, and later recognized the repurposed frames of Luz, Eda, and King in actual episodes. I saw some concept art and expressions removed from the show, and was glad to recognize them later, as I did a frame-in-process of Luz wondering about her magical destiny.

I checked Tumblr but it seemed like I was the only person actively anticipating, and not just including TOH as part of a larger collection of media posts. I wanted TOH for itself, someone was curious if it had owls, I scoured the first teaser for a screenshot to satisfy them! I wanted more people in on it! I saw some clips, figured out Luz’s ethnicity from her squealing “Ay que lindo!” in response to King.

I made a few ancient posts, my first TOH post was me admitting I was excited and wondering if anyone else was. It got NO traction, at least not until much, much later... But that didn’t stop me! I had a dream where Luz was revealed to be disabled, her legs were prosthetics and Eda ended up giving her new magic prosthetics styled after owl feet. This would prove weirdly prophetic... Less so, my dream about Luz being the Anti-Christ (this was framed as a good thing), hence why she found the isles.

I speculated Luz was an orphan who had nobody, hence why she found the isles; But then an article mentioned her mother Camila. I went with that spelling until some end credits confused me with a typo that gave us Camilia, which led to a big fandom debate later until Dana clarified.

I analyzed the trailers, trying to figure out the plot and trajectory, wasn’t quite right there. I was happy to see TOH would have full 22-minute episodes, allowing them to get nitty gritty and elaborated, instead of truncated into 11-minute segments. Boy did that pay off, and looking back I can appreciate what a rarity that was, an achievement. People pointed out the anagram for me...

I speculated on the titles, confused bits from Covention with scenes from the first episode, wondered if Escape of the Palisman referred to the tower. And in the end, the first episode finally came out, after I was enjoying Infinity Train Book 2, and I was enamored. It was wonderful, it utterly blew me away and was all I wanted and more. I had to get more! The moment Luz spoke of liking editing anime clips into AMVs and all that other stuff, I felt seen, and that was just the beginning.

I spoke my praises, but alas there was no fandom. The next week, I was surprised to find posts for the next episodes so early, and learned the episode was released ahead of time on DisneyNOW, so I immediately subscribed. I was excited to meet Amity Blight, Willow and Gus; And I was caught by surprise by how openly mean Amity was when she debuted! But I analyzed the sub-text of her actions and dialogue, and was vindicated.

Amity was such a fun and interesting character because she really felt like a puzzle that we unlocked more and more pieces of, to better understand her. And I really got the sense of TOH’s re-contextualization and surprising character continuity, such as when King’s B-plot in one episode actually became the focus of the very next! You could tell the writers really cared about making a deeper story for kids and teenagers.

One nice memory was when I wrote a post appreciating Willow and Luz’s friendship, the idea of Willuz as a ship; I took a shower and went back to check afterwards, and got notes! I analyzed the mechanics of glyphs deeply when they were first revealed, getting nitty-gritty; I remember the events of a few nights and what happened around me writing a post, comparing glyph magic to artificial replication of dragon breath!

I looked for crew art, which alerted me ahead of time to the existence of Emira and Edric, thought I didn’t know their names, and was delighted to learn Amity had older siblings!!! They were hers! Shoutout to @anistarrose who was one of the few people in the tag at this time. I really appreciate that post where you called out people constantly trying to make King into Bill Cipher in a serious manner, and the annoying implications of it. And how you realized a tweet poem by Dana foreshadowed Warden Wrath and the Emperor’s Coven... AND THE CODES TOO!!!

I distinctly remember this one meme video in the tags, a song singing “This girl is a lesbian” as Amity showed up as the punchline. I thought it was cute and loved the idea, I had no clue...! I even tried to analyze the dates on her diary entries because I was so obsessed with the show and wanted more, trying to see if I could figure out a calendar...

Spoiler alert, I didn’t. but it was FUN trying! Putting in all of this unnecessary effort for a detail nobody cared much for, because you could tell the crew were people who did the same, Dana even confirmed it later for herself! I remember being shocked about Eda having a curse, that one theory it was a Blight who did it. I suggested King being the Boiling Isles Titan, some Youtube channel even asked permission to use my post in discussing that theory! I was skeptical but checked and it was legit, and was pleased.

I went through that godforsaken Witch’s Apprentice game, realized too late the artifacts represented each episode and gave hints to the rest of 1A. I watched Look Hoo’s Talking, with Owlyvia and Horus, shout out to those who remember! I was amazed by Eda’s self-awareness in deciding things for Luz, especially after Luz briefly called it out in Covention. I found myself so ATTACHED to the characters, which makes sense since I hyped myself from the start!

I remember being surprised to see King wasn’t an overlord... Or was he? The original 2018 announcement suggested as such, but the way the show played around even after the premiere seemingly disproved it was fun. I speculated on what Luz’s magic track would be, enjoyed fanart of her in Potions as Eda was. Seeing Young Eda was a blast, and I remember being so distraught at the idea of her being cursed! I made a post wailing about it and Cat-Harman Mitchell commented LOL as I ranted about taking vengeance on the curser. Little did I know...!

I was afraid of a cliffhanger with Season 1A, but nope! Eda made it out despite the demon hunters! With a hiatus, I was left impatient and needing more. I scoured crew art, speculated on what Emperor Bellows would be like; Covention’s subtitles mispelled him as such, and Dana had to clarify in a tweet when 1B’s trailer released! I got into deep discussion with @fermented-writers-block about the show, about the mysterious owl mural.

I guess TOH was my first start at really analyzing a show from the start, especially since nobody else was around to do it for me. And coming fresh from reading the meta of those who did inspire me, I went HARD, reasoning that even if it was disproven, the process was fun! I analyzed snake motifs, the mysterious green hand that stole King’s crown. I made a whole diagram about parallels between Luz, between King and the Gildersnake, between ‘human counterparts’ to Amity and Willow and Gus. This definitely fed the revelation of Creepy Luz later on...

But yeah. To think the snakes did pay off with Luz’s palisman Stringbean; Back then people speculated as such with the title’s design, and I’m so happy to see it came through! I speculated on lore, wrote my first TOH fics, The Bile Coven and Amity’s Diary Entries, the latter of which I feel particular pride for since it was a character study of her that proved rather on the spot!

I was obsessed with the worldbuilding, came up with my own ideas. Imagined what Bellows and Kikimora were like. I waited IMPATIENTLY, and even had a dream where Eda was captured by Lilith, Kikimora, and Wrath, as well as some covenscouts... But then it was revealed her curse was a result of possession by the creature depicted on the mural; And it progressed to the next stage of converting her body to its own as she got more feral and escaped on her own!

The airship used by the Emperor’s Coven proved prophetic. And after 1B seemingly disproved this idea, 2A brought it back after all and I was delighted! TOH was and is a show that keeps giving for me, makes me feel rewarded for engaging with it, and is grateful even when I’m wrong, as Any Sport in a Storm’s B-plot attests. I made jokes about King being Mata Nui because I was a Bionicle fan. Someone saw a Grom poster in the background of a shot and suggested Lumity, but I didn’t get my hopes up... Hah.

There was a trailer that alluded to an episode of Luz and Eda in a snowy place; I knew of an article on TOH that mentioned a ‘Witch’s Arena’ at the Knee and guessed this was it. I liked the song that played because I associated it with TOH, found out for myself.

Rebecca Rose, shout out to one of the OGs talking about the show on Youtube! She made a wonderful video discussing Amity’s development and potential, speculating on her, and I felt SOOOO vindicated and followed her for it! As you know, she became THE fan channel for TOH, and was eventually ascended to a full-on crew member for it. We’d all watch her reactions and discussions afterwards.

Adventures in the Elements leaked, I correctly guessed it wasn’t the next episode but the one after it. I was delighted to see the twins be good siblings, and Amity’s casual outfit... Before that, I read a fic during the hiatus of Lilith adopting Amity from abuse (Remember when we thought she was that functional?), and it understandably depicted the twins as mean-spirited and basically apathetic. It was a good fic.

I remember joke-speculating that Bellows would be short, because I was projecting analyses of the Pale King from Hollow Knight onto him! I considered making an animatic of Farquaad’s reveal from Shrek but with Bellows, but alas I’d never actually done an animatic and had zero clue lol. I had another dream about Bellows coming in with the Emperor’s Coven to apprehend Eda, who became an even larger version of her Owl Beast form in response.

Then Summer 2020 came around. What a wonderful time of my life... New fans came in when they saw the possibility of canon sapphics with Lumity, and I was exhilarated! So careful not to get my hopes up, but look now... I was hyped to see Belos’ appearance. I analyzed the 1B trailer, took screenshots and organized them to guess which episodes they were. Rebecca Rose found foreign titles of 1B and translated them, and I did note how translations could skew the intended anagram. I remember “Mini-Problems” being an episode title...

You can probably guess the rest from here, since this was about when the fandom really kicked off. And boy did people stick around for it all. I felt delight in knowing Grom was sooner, due to Understanding Willow being paired with Really Small Problems on the same day! Two episodes at once, instead of the original plan for the last two episodes of the season together! I ended up regretting that low-key with the angst and pain of Agony of a Witch, which made me realize how much I cared for Luz, Eda, and King, and made me the closest to crying from the show.

I felt vindicated to see a popular artist like MoringMark begin making fan comics, I had no idea that’d be THE thing he’d be known for, after I knew him as the Gravity Falls guy. I followed Matthieu Cousin on Tumblr, got excited for that trend of dressing up TOH characters for Grom and sending in your designs, with a winner announced! I don’t think that ever happened. Anamanaguchi’s Prom Night became a thing thanks to a crew member, and who can forget Little Miss Perfect? Kwame rolled with the success and I was glad for him. Eda’s gray eye appearing after the season finale in the end credits shocked me.

There was the Reddit AMA, where I prepared lore questions afterwards and had none of mine answered, but we learned a good deal! Especially the telling “Clawthornes are a bird motif” from Dana, her being put into a headlock by a nun. Amity and Lilith weren’t close but as I mentioned a while back, Dana expressed that she also made connections with cartoons as a kid. Odalia liking her kids color-coded, hence Amity’s hair, and Alador being interesting. Which led to a bunch of fanart that proved off the mark but also not? Alador wasn’t THAT well-put but otherwise...

And that stream! That wonderful stream! I contemplated spending so much money via donation to get something. Eda drinking Apple Blood, Spencer Wan almost spoiling Lilith having a Raven form. Our first sneak peek at Hunter’s face, not counting his appearance as the Golden Guard in S1; We all guessed he and the Golden Guard, or “Owl Mask” were the same. I was stumped and baffled how he fit into Belos’ dynamic... Hoo boy. And we all thought Hunter was an adult, even Alador at first, because of those eye bags!

I wanted to see the coven heads, based on their banners we saw; I liked the Potion Head especially and even when his design proved different than I expected, it was still my favorite! I thought Darius might be a Blight grandfather and he DID have a connection... I had a dream of the twins working for Osran at a library and messing with him, recognized Mason from Covention, and dreamed Terra was named Botanica.

Christmas art of the cast came out, I was happy to see Emira and Edric happy there, after being saddened by Dana’s Grom art of them and even writing a whole fic about it, which I’m chuffed about! She also drew Mattholomule... I recall in the wait for Season 1B, she did some art of the characters. Gus playing games, Mattholomule losing to him; King despairing over stubby thumbs.

Fanart of the kids in quarantine, Amity declaring it’d be easy to stay away from Luz, to Luz’s sadness; Boscha being mad because she couldn’t talk to her friends. Remember when Boschlow was a big thing, until Understanding Willow killed off some of the hype? And confirmation that Willow worked out, which we saw come to fruition in Season 2; People were surprised but I wasn’t! And of course, Frewin being his own entity from Bump, and not Bump himself.

But back to chronology, I guess this is where I should end off. Sorry, this ended up being MUCH longer than I intended, and really you could write a book about my experience with TOH and the journey on a meta level. But those were interesting times, those beginning eras. Back when I didn’t feel the need to always add screenshots to posts unless necessary. And it’s making me nostalgic. It’s making me appreciate everything we’ve been through, the roots of my hyperfixation. And how it all led to me finally crying, because I really did build up THAT much of a love for the show.

I found my first fandom I really felt a part of, found so many people who enjoyed my meta and validated me for it! I feel I’ve grown so much as a person because of TOH. And as I nostalgically reminisce on how different the show was then, I appreciate all the more how far we’ve come, and what it is now. Snapping back to the present does make me sad over how much has passed and changed, but I also appreciate it while remembering the ideas I once had.

I’ll miss that era, and TOH as a whole. And boy do I associate that classic ending theme, how I loved the melancholy of those end credits, speculated on them paying off in the finale. And they did...! It feels good to hear it one last time after a year without it, due to the end credits being removed or redone. There was something so idyllic and dreamlike about that original sequence, capturing the feeling of coming home, and I’m glad TOH did that once more with it.

#the owl house #ramblings #long post

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squirefire · 1 year

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Okay but like hear me out, wonder if tom was originally supposed to have two eyes but he actually did meet bill cipher and he won so he took one of bill’s eyes and that’s how bill only ended up having one eye the entire show of gravity falls and how tom had that third eye the entire show.

it is just a theory i thought about but it is interesting how it actually came together. i also just randomly thought wonder if dipper is marco and wendy is star in another universe and tom was the ex and they had to jump and leave their dimension/universe because bill got mad that tom took his eye. Also he took over earth which is why they had to go to a planet that looks like earth and is livable and why wendy(star) had to go live on mewni before moving to replica earth. Also in the theory wendy(star) planet mewnie kept having monsters and others attacking because bill sent them there after finding out where she went and he is currently trying to find tom in the under world in hopes to take over the underworld and overthrow the king and queen and tom. dipper(marco) wendy(star) knew back in their old dimension on the real earth they couldn’t be together so that’s why they take the opportunity in the replika earth to be together. Pacifica NW(jackie lynn) his ex became more understanding and less mean and more sweet and nice as she transferred from the old planet which is the reason why everyone got along.

The end of my little theories lol

#bill cipher #gravity falls #dipper pines #wendy and dipper #star butterfly #star vs the forces of evil #starco #svtfoe #marco díaz #pacifica northwest #the battle for mewni #cartoon theories

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catboymoments · 5 months

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Hi, I was wondering your opinions on the mini theory that King is a bill cipher reincarnate, even if it's not for the Canon, just general opinions?

I think that would be a little silly tbh

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demonicchicken1121 · 1 year

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Why i still think that "King is Bill" is a valid theory (Owl House and Gravity Falls spoilers)

ive had this on my mind for a while, and i really need to get it out. so ive always really liked the theory that the axolotl reincarnated bill cipher as King Clawthorne, and i think that the newer episodes have actually proven more evidence than they have disproven. the generally accepted theory is that bill was reborn as king to give him a chance for redemption. (evidence includes the same voice, the connection to yellow/yellow eyes, and kings false memories of grandeur actually being bills memories.) now here are my ideas: the axolotl wanted to give bill the perspective of the rivals that ultimately led to his demise, dipper and mabel (yeah, i know that stan and ford technically were the ones who killed him but shush). King is a nerdy kid with a squeaky voice and wants to know everything, but sometimes doesnt like what he learns. he was nearly killed by a creature named bill with yellow eyes and blue fire because he has a connection to a higher power. when the apocalypse starts, he loses his sister. he spends the next few months trying to show a show someone that their complete control over a fantastical world is hurting people.

King would have ended up like bill after discovering his powers if it wasnt for eda, who loved him and cared for him. King is the way he is because he is truly loved by his family and friends, and had a life where he was one the same power level as those around him.

i doubt this will ever be canonized or confirmed, but its still a fun thought

#bill cipher #king clawthorne #the owl house #gravity falls #crossover #headcanon #king is bill #sorry if my rant is not understandable

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drabbles-of-writing · 2 years

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Have you heard of the collector possessing luz theory?

Wouldn’t that be messed up?

It’s not like child possession hasn’t already happened twice in disney shows

i HAVE gosh I hope that happens. not because Luz needs any more trauma that girl has had enough but because I think it would be interesting. it's like with the grimwalker & belos murdering his brother theory. it's definitely not a good thing but we wanted it to be true simply because "wouldn't that be fucked up". belos slaps luz's head like "this child can fit so much terrifying entity into it."

which actually I wonder if Luz being a human and not a witch will make a difference in the possession. cause Luz physically has no magic so does that make her a better or worse host? i'd think it would matter, wouldn't it? would it be Bill Cipher kinds of possession or is it more of shoving her consciousness into the back seat? would Luz have the ability to fight the Collector for control or no? its very intriguing to me.

also. not to be a downer but I am 90% sure that King is going to lose quite a bit of blood in the next episode to summon the Collector. we know there's a ritual involved with killing King to free him. Titan's blood is a very powerful substance. I'm just saying fellas. not looking pretty but I sure as hell am looking

#asks #the owl house #toh #luz noceda #the collector #possession #headcanons #magic #king #titans #luz #witch

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animation-recaps-by-sean · 1 year

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The Owl House For the Future Recap

The gang tries to navigate the Collector’s new playground while dealing with the fallout of their fight with Belos. Spoilers below.

Cause even the shortened season couldn’t even go without some controversy, Canadian itunes leaked the whole episode two weeks ago. Urg, anyway, like last episode we pick up from the end of King’s Tide, except from the Boiling Isles point of view. The Collector rains down stairs turning people into puppets, including Lilith and Hooty. Oh Hooty, We hardly knew thee.

Once back in the Isles, Camilia has a hard time dealing with both what is normal for the demon realm and what the Collector is doing. But I love her little mom moments with Luz. Willow is trying to be everyone’s rock but this causes her to push down her own fears about her missing Dads. Her stress manifests as planets popping up until she nearly smooshes herself with vines. Hunter summons the magic inside him and talks her down and allows her to cry. It’s so sweet. And they hold pinkies. Oh my shipping heart, let them get together!

Meanwhile at Hexside, the kids have predictably fallen into chaos. Boscha is the puppet Queen of Kikimora whose big villain plan is.. Hide in a high school and pretend to be a teenager. Luz doesn’t see her as a threat. Camilia hitting Kiki face with the bat is fantastic!

And Boscha, whose friends were some of the only teens taken by the collector, just wants Amity back as queen bee so she could get some kind of normal. But Amity just isn't that person anymore. But she can save her friends. I do find it hilarious that Boscha just wants to be the beta bitch to Amity's queen bee. In the end she redeems herself by leading the other kids against Kikimora, which was a pretty fitting end for her.

Without any palismans to eat, Belos is now falling apart. He sees the ghosts of Caleb and the other Hunters; it's about 50/50 between hallucinations and actual ghosts.

Odalia has escaped puppetification by working with the Collector and by working with, she’s basically a nanny. It is going better for her than Preston Northwest’s attempt to work for Bill Cipher. No Picasso face! I still wonder where Alador is.

Eda and Lilith are being kept safe from the Collector by King. They don't do much here but it's nice to see them.

Now to talk about the Collector. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I’m deeply disappointed that they’re going with a ‘wowowo whiddle baby who doesn’t understand the stuff they’re doing’ character. I really love the sinister build up The Collector had when they were introduced. The creepy cloak when they trapped the owl beast up to his excitement at the day of unity in Hollow’s Mind. But this feels like a very different character. I guess there are more sinister evil Collectors mentioned in the lore, and the Collector who trapped the Owl beast and the Grand Huntsman could be different Collectors. I don’t know, I just didn’t want the big bad to get Steven Universed. We still have Belos at least.

I do feel like Luz’s Palisman was a cheat too. Oh, a snake shifter. Cool would be cool if I knew what the hell that was Luz. I did love how the palisman got hatched though. I love Luz’s little realization that she just wanted to be understood. And Luz calling her mom a secret nerd! So cute.

I continue to be impressed at the show's ability to organically fit in as much plot as it does. It helps that it was a very lean show to begin with, sneaking in plot and set up in even fillery episodes. As opposed to Steven Universe and Star vs the Forces of We Evil which loved to take many brothers with characters that don't back. Which is fine in theory but it left their finals rushed and awkward when they got cut short. I mean we still got one more episode but we don't have much left to cover. Just Collector/Titan lore (differently involving that gold guy Luz saw in the in-between), maybe some more Belos/Clawthrone history, final battle, and the resolution. There is the Bat Queen stuff but that hasn't been brought up since early season two and will most likely to kept in their back pocket in case of a revival.

Grips about the Collector aside, a wonderful part two. 3 ½ out of 4.

#the owl house #toh #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #lumity #luz nuceda #hunter toh #amity blight #king #the collector #animation recaps by sean

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lancerious · 10 months

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I decided to do the same hc you thingy so here we go:

1) You are a firmly believer who Sweet Cap'n and Cakes are siblings

2) You like horrors/romance more than you look

3) You are allergic to a specific type of food or pets

4) You adopt your comfort character's vocabulary in yours and don't want to be stopped

5) You prefer more serious, tragic and multi dimensional characters over the 90s twirling mustache villain but hates them when they are either mysoginist(hope I wrote it right) or homophobic or abusive. Despite this your fav cartoon villain is either Bill Chipeer or Jack Horner (and enjoy Villainous)

I never actually thought about it much, but yeah Sweet Cap'n Cakes all being siblings makes the most sense out of any theory I've heard regarding them

I do like horror a decent amount, though I definitely liked it a LOT more a few years back when I was a younger teen. But I don't like romances, never have

Actually, as far as I know, I'm not allergic to any food/pet. It could just be that I haven't come into contact/eaten anything that I AM allergic to, but so far, I haven't had any allergic reactions to anything

Absolutely true, my god is this true. I do this more in-person than online but even here it's true to a degree

This one is definitely true as well. I've always liked the more complex and emotional villains over the "I'm bad because I can be" type of villains. A prime example of this is Spade King, who DESPITE what some people say, has already shown some depth and isn't a one-dimensional villain, i.e caring for Lancer even if he doesn't show it the best way. BUT I will say I do like some purely evil villains too. My fav cartoon villain is actually Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender (or ATLA)--who is admittedly not a purely evil, one-sided villain--but I do like Bill Cipher and Jack Horner a fair amount as well. Especially Bill Cipher lol, that guy is hilarious. Also it's "misogynist", don't feel bad for misspelling it though lol, I had to look it up

Thanks for the submission, and I like your content as well :)

#ask #mutualio

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robbyrobinson · 2 years

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Villain Review: The Collector

So, I make it no bones that I think Emperor Belos is one of the best-written Disney Channel villains due to how much of a foil he serves to Luz along with being genuinely intimidating and how his influence festers in the setting even when he is not in the flesh.

So, the Collector.

Biography

Not much is known about them other than they were "a child of the stars." Of course, there is some vagueness with it. It was my personal headcanon that there is more than one Collector since the one that trapped the Owl Beast looked vastly different from the one we see that was released. I have heard interesting theories that the Wailing Star is actually related to the Collector. As you know, the Wailing Star refers to a phenomenon in the Boiling Isles where it is responsible for a huge burst of magic manifesting.

Since it is "wailing," and the Collector is a child of the stars, who's to say that the reason it is called the Wailing Star is that it misses its baby that being the Collector?

Food for thought, but anyway. Regardless, the Collector is one of the most ancient beings in the demon realm, likely older than the Titan making up the Boiling Isles and Belos himself would only be slightly "younger" give or take a few hundred years.

During that time, the roundboy has been a naughty little devil. Should they be the same one from the Owl Beast's dream, they trapped the Owl Beast in a scroll for unknown reasons. But since we know that the Collector is more of an obliviously chaotic kid, I am convinced that they were just playing due to their love of games. But the Owl Beast misconstrued the Collector as being evil. That could also be the reason the Collector appears as tall in the dream as it is just part of the nightmare.

Later, the Collector spearheaded the genocide of the Titans alongside the Titan Trappers. Considering how little we know of why they did this, I feel that the Collector likely did not intend for that development. What if instead, the Collector devised the Titan Trappers all for the sake of a game that went out of hand due to people like Bill either misunderstanding or interpreting, their initial goal as being genocidal? I know I am giving into speculation a lot since the show itself has not gone into the character, and likely will never because of Disney cutting the third season to three 44-minute specials. But because the Collector appears to be amoral, I cannot really say that they were wanting to wipe out the Titans. Especially when they take interest in King.

But we know the gist of it: the Collector is so powerful it took the Boiling Isles' Titan dying in order to seal the Collector in the In-Between Realm for a long, long time. Enough for the Collector to become restless and maybe mentally unhinged?

At least until good ole Philip contacts them with the agreement that he would free them should they help him eradicate the witches and demons on the Isles. Would not be surprised if he presented the deal in the form of a game.

Criticism

First, I do like the idea of the Collector, and I do like them as a character because of how laughably chaotic they are like some Anti-Bill Cipher where they just want to have fun. My problem is not their personality. Rather, it is their placement in the story. So, from what I read of her Tweet, Terrace perceived the Collector as someone that she had in mind but did not add them just because the show was cut short. So what I am saying is that the Collector was probably always a potential character she had on the backburner and was hoping to develop more in the third season, but Disney, being the benevolent company they are, cancel the show leaving Dana to revise her plans.

It's not that I don't think the Collector works. After all, Belos would have to have learned the Draining Spell from somewhere. But we have spent so much time in the second season building up Belos as a threat and going a bit into his backstory, it feels anti-climatic to have the Collector one-up Belos and reduce him to goo. Is it an awesome scene? Yeah, especially because Belos had gone untouched by anyone until that point. But it does feel insulting that they toss Belos aside in favor of the Collector.

The Collector, I additionally feel doesn't tonally fit in with the show.. Belos was a powerful sorcerer with years of experience, but he was not invincible. The Collector is a literal god with reality-warping powers and no known weaknesses.

The reason Belos worked so good was that he stood against the main theme of the series being individuality and finding people to accept you. Belos represented conformity with his coven system up to his attempted genocide. The Collector is a whole other beast.

Sure, they do not have to be a foil much like Belos was for Luz, but I do see that at least one way they can stop the Collector is simply talking to them since they are not a total monster. In fact, the Collector was really much like Luz before her character development: much like the Collector, she did dangerous things such as bringing snakes to school while being oblivious that she could seriously hurt someone. But unlike Luz who found a family to change her for the better, the Collector never had that.

Personality

They are so psychotically happy that it is amusing how oblivious they are that their definition of games would be world-breaking. Really, I struggled to call this a villain review since they are not really evil in the conventional meaning of the word. They just need guidance.

But if you're just as happy as the Collector was when he was warping the Boiling Isles consider yourself #BLESSED.

Abilities

Their main one is reality warping. What more do I need to say? They frickin' booped the moon away with just a touch. Even then, that is where it comes into my criticism again. King's Tide is a pretty good finale...weaker than True Colors, but I couldn't help but compare the two and how much of a stronger finale Amphibia season 2 had (and that does not even get into the Anne Easter egg). Both had villains getting defeated/apprehended only for the bigger threat to present themselves. And then the human character returns home, but bring their friends/family back with them.

It would be more of an impact if we know exactly what the Collector entailed by making an "owl house," but I guess we will have to wait.

They also have a vast knowledge of magic that Belos exploits.

#the owl house #the collector #villain review #review #collector #collector owl house #owl house #season 2

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