#look at what they ended up doing to owl house. we're not even getting a legitimate third season

[astrolavas]

So, I have a theory that at the end of Thanks to Them when Hunter absorbed Flapjack (that’s the best word I can think of but you get it) he also gained Flapjack’s powers and to use them he turns into a similar form to Harpy Eda I thought that would be cool but what’s your opinion?

yeahhh, it's a popular theory and i'm 👁👁 !

tbh i feel like what is CERTAIN is that flapjack is a part of hunter now and we're definitely... gonna see more of him, in some form. i can imagine that he's a part of hunter's mindscape (similarly to how palismen consumed by belos were a part of his mindscape, except in this case flapjack willingly sacrificed himself; so i imagine his experience would be pleasant: being able to exist in his favorite boy's mind knowing this sacrifice saved his life, as opposed to being tormented by having your soul trapped in your killer's head... oof), especially when we take this crew member's ig post into consideration:

"For Flapjack... See you in our memories." AND IT'S?????? a mystical-looking forest, flapjack's (empty) staff stick, and (hunter's?) hooty mask? okay...... OKAY. i see what you're doing....

flapjack being a part of hunter's mindscape is also a way for us to get an actual look into the past, cuz we still haven't seen what happened between caleb, philip and evelyn directly (we have an idea thanks to, for example, all the hollow mind paintings, but what they showed us in the last episode and how they showed it to us makes me think they're definitely setting it up to fully reveal what happened sometime in the next episodes). so i think hunter is going to get a look into flapjack's memories, since they're literally connected now, and he's gonna see what exactly happened with caleb, philip and evelyn (that's how he's gonna find out clawthornes are descendants of caleb as well), from flapjack's pov. (hoping that if we enter his mindscape, then we also get some more direct look into hunter's past and some of his pre-canon memories 🕯🕯🕯 but like, we're definitely seeing some of flapjack's imo, that's for sure)

so.. tbh what i wonder is..... what's next.

we do know that grief is one of the main themes of season 3 (or, even the owl house as a whole). we're shown different ways grief can manifest and diff ways it can be approached.... luz, camila, darius, flapjack, even belos in a way..... hm. and now hunter.

luz and camila lost manny and we see it's affected them a LOT. we see this grief throughout luz's character journey, throughout camila's too. we see how painful this loss was... but they've also dealt with it in a rather healthy way. they carried on and got better, and even though they're forever going to miss him, they went on with their lives and adapted to that loss. and luz got azura from her dad and read it thanks to him, and now part of this big special interest of her also comes from and reminds her of her dad's love. and it's sooo so 🤲

we see that darius cared abt and respected his mentor a lot, to the point where he thought hunter wasn't worthy to be the next golden guard and was taking that feeling out on him, thinking he didn't deserve to inherit such title after his mentor had died. (hoping we see them talk abt the mentor and other golden guards in the next eps tbh cuz.... come on, they have a lot to talk abt still.)

belos.......... it's hard to call it a typical grief but it IS in some way, maybe has even been since the moment he saw caleb with that witch, cuz that's when he died in his eyes. this grief manifested into almost an obsession, where he keeps re-making caleb over and over, obsessed with the idea of them being witch hunters together, wanting to make a version of his brother that wouldn't "betray" him even though that's sth that is always always ALWAYS going to happen, it's inevitable. refusing to let it go and spiraling more and more... HM.

and now there's.......... hunter. hunter who already went through so so much, and who just lost his best friend, someone he loved the most. hunter who definitely feels guilty, but he also knows it was BELOS' doing, and he wants belos to pay for what he's done. hunter who.. was finally FINALLY happy, yet had all of his happiness taken away just like that. hunter who knows flapjack sacrificed his own life so that HE can live, and that he's forever going to be with him; his palisman soul.. but also the memories they made together. hunter who's clearly so so shattered, but trying not to focus on that pain he's feeling, cuz then he'd completely break. hunter who's angry at belos, who isn't going to rest until he gets some justice for flap. hunter who's going to have to go through this grief and loss... just.

there are so many ways his grief can be approached. especially comparing it to other characters' ways of dealing with grief, especially belos'..... showing how unhealthy holding on to sth we've lost might be.. showing acceptance of loss, a healthy way of letting go... showing that even if someone is gone, they're still going to be with us forever.... showing the anger and the feeling of unfairness that often accompany the feeling of grief.......... hm.

so i feel..... there are a few things that can happen.

the probably saddest but realistic scenario is that... hunter gets to have a final goodbye with flapjack. he gets to talk to him, gets to find out what he's been hiding from him, he gets to experience flapjack's love again and build a happy last memory for the future. and then.. flapjack is gone. and it's sad as HELL.. but promising for the future, cuz then hunter can healthily move on with his life. he can keep on, feeling less guilty, less heart-broken, with a happy last flapjack memory to accompany him. it's.... extremely sad, but when it comes to losing someone..... having that chance, to say goodbye, to have your last memory with a person you love be a happy, full-filling one, it can do wonders for grief. it doesn't make the loss hurt any less ofc but..... it makes you feel like you can go on, like there's no "unfinished business" weighing down on your heart. 

the other still rather sad scenario is that yes, they do talk, etc. etc. but flapjack DOES stay with hunter forever, as a part of him. i'd say it's bittersweet, cuz then flapjack IS alive, in a way, he's not gone, he's forever able to communicate with hunter, he remains by his side til the very end. 

sth abt flapjack having been alive for hundreds of years, all alone, but then finally finding a new person to love, and deciding to sacrifice his own life in order to save that person, deciding to stay with that person forever. it's so— OUHHGHHGGG. there's this bittersweetness here cuz then hunter doesn't lose flapjack, not completely. but he's still..... gone in a form that hunter would prefer. flapjack's with him but they can no longer fly together. he's never gonna tuck hunter in after he falls asleep reading a book in the middle of the night anymore. he's not going to tug on his hairstrand or annoy him (cutely). he's never going to race with other birds or catch an early rattle-worm anymore, he's never gonna sing in the morning. and it's SAD, it's extremely sad and tragic and.. sad. but he's with him, so it's also sweet. and it works as (a bit more literal but..) a metaphor of "even when you lose someone, they can live on in your heart, and in your memories". but... ouch.

there's also the theory that hunter may find a way to carve flapjack back, since he has his soul inside of him (and maybe it's "extractable" somehow??), has expressed the want to learn how to carve palismen, and eda does have that palistrom seed, and he might have to talk with clawthornes anyway (since he is gonna find out they're.. kinda sorta related, and i feel like the clawthornes would like to know abt that too so jxjsk). 

one of the big enigmas of that scenario, though, is the question: "how would he go around doing it?" would he carve him out identical? would he give him a new shape, a completely new form? or would it be a completely “new” palisman but with a bit of flapjack’s loving soul inside? would hunter form “flapjack” with a new "goal"/"intention" in mind? since they previously bonded by hunter's shared-with-flapjack desire to be free and able to make his own choices, so... . AND, if flapjack could just be carved back out like that, wouldn't his sacrifice feel.... more weak/kinda worthless in the end? this just feels a bit too easy but... HM. i can’t imagine it would be easy, though. there’s always sth that’d make it a challenge, and tbh.. even if it wasn’t, at this point hunter DESERVES to have sth good happen to him, even if unrealistic or “too easy”, but yeah. that’s what makes me wonder if they’d go for this writing choice.

.....there’s also the fact that “re-making”/”bringing back” someone you’d lost is exactly what belos has been doing, albeit in a very different way and with very different intentions, but with a similar end goal, so i could see them going for a contrasty parallel here; never moving on from someone’s death vs acceptance of loss. however, on the other hand, belos also never cared abt any of the golden guards, he wasn’t bringing “caleb” back out of love. so i COULD also see the contrasting scenario in which hunter would be able to bring back flapjack, but because he’d do it out of love for him, it’d be a genuine second chance in life, a successful happy ending. sth belos could never even realistically achieve, because he’d only cared abt himself and his own forced vision of what he and “caleb” (the idealised version of his brother that he had in his head) would do together, not abt what the actual caleb (or hunter, or any of the previous grimwalkers) actually wanted or who they actually were; he couldn’t care less abt that. so yEAH, this specific idea has so many “what if”s and “what about”s, narratively it could either work or not, depending on what direction they decide to go with hunter’s grief but...... HM. yeah.

i’ve also seen ppl propose that flapjack sacrificing himself for hunter and “merging with him” gave him some actual magic and made him like a “full witch”, spell circles and all; and.. that'd be awful actually, sure hope the crew didn't go there. i’ve talked abt it before but, in general, hunter's arc as a powerless "witch" works as a strong disability metaphor. and it's just...... it's about acceptance, it's about finding self-worth, it's about accommodating your needs, it’s about becoming proud and comfortable in your identity, NOT.... about whatever the hell him actually permanently getting witch magic would be; it’d be a “fixing disability” trope, which is just..... bad. awful. so, so wrong for so many reasons. sure hope they didn’t go there cuz that'd be so pointless and take away so much importance from his arc.... but also i don’t think they’d do sth like this?? because eda’s arc (which serves as another disability metaphor) is written well and with care; they didn’t cure her curse or give her her magic back, so.. i doubt they’d give hunter magic, either. but, y’know, just to be safe and clear. (also, even symbolism aside, i don’t think hunter (who’s already made of palistrom wood) absorbing a palisman’s soul/magic/energy would result in... him becoming a “real witch” and being able to create spell circles, like? 😭😭 i doubt it’d work that way)

NOW, him getting some grimwalker-specific features/abilities unlocked, though? OR even being able to just do flapjack’s teleporty thing? that could work. him getting at least something nice out of this whole situation, still having flapjack with him, without having the metaphor behind his character erased, would be soooo nice.

now, as for harpy hunter! 

it honestly makes a lot of sense too. belos, having consumed palismen, gained his whole..... y’know, goo form, which is a clear indication that absorbing palisman magic/having palismen as a part of your mindscape may change you physically. the way he’d gone about it, though, is he consumed many, MANY different palismen, and he literally..... sucked magic out of each one of them, after killing them. so i imagine that if hunter were to gain his own palisman-based form, it’d be more similar to eda’s harpy form rather than belos’ goo form, because it’d be based on flapjack only (rather than an amalgamation of all these different creatures) AND it wouldn’t have come from, y’know, sucking literal life out of poor little creatures, but from a loving friend’s willing sacrifice. à propos harpy eda, too, her harpy form obviously came from her facing her curse, bonding with the owl beast and accepting it as a part of her; so it feels like if hunter were to get a harpy form, obviously he wouldn’t have to “accept” flapjack (like that’s his little darling baby, that’s his bestie, that’s his sweet little bird), but he would probably have to deal with something in order for that to happen. the mechanics is different but.. in both instances, the “creature” (the owl beast and flapjack) inside of them is a part of them, exists in their mind (most likely/somewhat), and they’re able to somehow communicate with them and feel their presence (in hunter’s case it’s not confirmed but we may speculate that’s the case, based on what we saw in the last episode post-flapjack’s-death), so the mechanics also is sort of similar. different, yet... not.

so, in all technicality, it seems like harpy/red cardinal form hunter WOULD make sense, from the magical pov. it goes along with the logic of how some other characters’ different “monster” forms originate. although, the rules aren’t very set in stone, each of these situations is its own unique thing, so in the end it all just depends on (again) what direction the crew decides to go in.

however, the thing that makes me hmmmm about it is, i’m not sure if they'd.. implement the same metaphor as they did with eda, y'know? like, her curse and harpy form function as this whole symbolism of living with a chronic illness/disability, so hmmm would they go for the exact same conclusion/endgame with hunter? especially with the grief motif of season 3? not sure, not sure. they MIGHT though, who knows.

........there’s another thing that makes me think it MAY happen, though, and it’s like. hunter has this cursed tendency to say things that'll later come to haunt him in the MOST ironic way, like this boy literally projects on people in the most random ways and manifests every single unfortunate thing left and right, and i just 😭😭

"ew why are you touching it with your hands?" *touches a suspicious-looking substance with his finger with a FRESH OPEN WOUND on it and gets possessed* “because none of you can use real magic" *is magicless* “you don't tend to think things through, do you, human?" *never thinks things through* *is also technically partially human* "hello criminals" *becomes a criminal* "these things are made of wild magic, it’s dangerous" *is literally a grimwalker made of the same wild magic, like literally the same type of wood as palismen* LIKE..... BOY.   STOP SAYING THINGS. IT NEVER ENDS WELL.

so i just. 

that damn “at least i'm not delusional enough to think i can turn into a harpy" line is absolutely hysterical to me, cuz if he DOES end up being able to turn into a harpy, then......... 😭😭😭😭😭 look. a throwback to this line, a callback to this line.. it’d be so funny.

but yEAH.

there’s one more thing that makes me wonder abt where this all is going and it’s, like. flapjack basically counted as hunter’s support animal/disability aid. for someone powerless, having palisman while living in a world based around magic is... EXTREMELY helpful. hunter can’t fly without flapjack, he can’t play flyer derby without him (something he expressed he’d like to continue doing), he can’t teleport..

so, does he get a new palisman? because... there’s very little time for us to get attached to it and to kinda.. get to know it, if that’s the case. and also flapjack is still a part of hunter, so. hm. (unless that changes too, but. GAH) i feel like he loves flapjack so much, it’d be hard for hunter to replace him. he’d definitely feel so so happy being able to create palismen for others, or just for the sake of creating life, but creating a new one for himself.. that might be hard.  or does he get another artificial staff? because that is a thing that represents hunter’s time at the coven, time before he bonded to flapjack, before he realized wild magic is not, in fact, dangerous at all. so hm..... OR does he indeed get flapjack’s teleporting ability?? or the ability to turn into a harpy, and that replaces the use of a palisman? (+ starts using glyph magic) could he play flyer derby like that? i suppose he could..... i hope so. or does he not replace flapjack with anything, because he spends most of his time in the human realm? 

LIKE, IT’S JUST. GAHHHH. hunter... :(

i’m sure there’s gonna be lots of grief-related themes, some anger, some acceptance, some sadness, some justice, and finally some happiness in the end, something hunter deserves and needs just... so, so much. he deserves to heal, he deserves to be HAPPY. but it’s still just..... gonna hurt a lot first. 

there’s honestly so many ways this can go and so many things that can happen, so........ yeah. hm. thinking.

#love being in denial! can't wait for flapjack to wake up next episode :) he's just meditating #anyway this ended up being another mini-essay so 💀 i could talk more too. have many thoughts abt that nerd. #his eye color change is also very interesting and can mean so many things........... #like. GAH. many thoughts. head full #toh spoilers #nicole answers #hunter toh #sleepy-paint #hunter #the owl house #my toh talk

[silvervioletvalentine]

🖤Long story short…it was the wrong guy!🖤

Pairing: Trevor zegras x Cherrie! / Quinn Hughes x Cherrie!

Word count: 10k (I have a problem k)

Summary : in which long story short he was the wrong guy. -or Trevor thinks back to times when he should have realised that he was never the one. Because best friends don’t look at each other like they do.

Warnings- angst. Like , heartbreak for trev. A tiny bit of fluff at the end? Depends how you see it I guess. A bit of a different story than usual, wanted to try my hand at writing more angst. I want to write a oneshot for Crosby next but I have no idea about what. Hopefully inspiration will hit me in the face because I miss writing like I used to so easily!! Anyways lemme know what u think please. U guys up for more angst or nah? 👀Xoxo

Trevor thought that maybe he had been in denial about his relationship with Cherrie for a while now , unable to believe that what everybody was telling him could be true . Refusing to see what was right in front of him all along , the red flags waving and all the clues were set out in Stone for him to see.

But he looked away each and every time because Cherrie was so fucking beautiful and Trevor wanted to be her boyfriend , wanted to her call her his girl.

But was she ever his really?

It shouldn't have taken as long as it did for him to see the truth. For him to take off his rose coloured glasses and moved past the gaze of her beauty and his foolish hope . To see that her eyes doesn't look for him like his did for her. To realise that his friends were right.

It took Jamie coming over to him one Saturday while they were at the lake house , sat beside Jack as the sun started to set. Beers all around as they chatted between each other , tired from the day of hanging out and just having fun while they could .

It had been a good day , he called it. Refused to think about the fact that his girlfriend had hardly even spoken to him since the summer began , the only time that he got her to himself was when the lights went out and Quinn went to sleep. The she snuck back into their room to join him, let him kiss her like he had wanted to everyday.

But she was too busy with her best friend and Trevor was busy trying not to see the looks his friends were giving him, pushing away the uneasy thoughts and doubt that crept in each time he saw them together.

Then Jamie winced sympathetically and patted his shoulder , handing him a beer . Oblivious.

"I can't believe how well you're taking this." Jamie spoke in amazement , getting both of their attention.

Trevor more than confused as they both followed his gaze down to see his friend looking down to the lake , to where Cherrie and Quinn were messing about together .

Both had Big grins on their faces as they splashed at each other in the water , Cherie squealing with laughter as he hoisted her up into his arms , her arms sliding around his neck as she giggled loudly , Quinn beaming up at her as he spun her around . Laughing as she clung to him , threatening him not to drop her. Everybody knowing that he wouldn't dare. He clung tighter to her instead. Eyes never leaving her pretty face .

"I know breakups are hard man. It's gotta suck-" he slowly trailed off when he looked back over to see Trevor frowning at him , looking more than confused at him, while Jack just hid his grin behind his bottle of beer. Shaking his head at poor Jamie slowly.

"What?" Trevor looked at him like he was insane.

"we're not broken up? What the hell are you talking about dude?" He forced out a laughed . Acting like everything was completely fine and normal.

Tearing his eyes away from his girlfriend on Quinn's shoulders now, refusing to watch the way he clung onto her bare, wet thighs and the way she gripped onto his waist with her legs. More than comfortable with each other, something that came from years of friendship and love.

Jamie blinked like an owl at him. Lips parting in disbelief as he flickered his eyes between Quinn and Cherrie messing about in the water together , then back to a scowling Trevor and face palming Jack.

"Oh." Was all he could get out , shocked .

He then laughed awkwardly , slowly nodding his head. "Sorry. I just thought-" he glanced over just in time to see Quinn push her wet hair away from her face gently , softly stroking at the sunburn over her cheeks .

His eyes widened incredulously . "Never mind ." He mumbled .

Patting trevors shoulder again, this time in silent pity before quickly making his Leave. Not wanting to be the one to explain what he was currently thinking . He didn't want to be the one to break it to him. No way.

Trevor felt a surge of irritation hit him, hearing his girlfriend sweet giggle and Quinn's low laugh as held her .

He scoffed , gripping his beer bottle tighter between his fingers .

"Why the hell does everybody think that?" He snapped. Sick of it.

Jack slowly turned his head to look at him like he was insane , brows furrowing in disbelief at how stupid his friend could possibly be.

He scoffed at him incredulously "dude come on..." he nudged him, trying to get him to admit it. To get him to see what everybody else did.

When Trevor just looked back at him blankly , refusing to even look in their direction .

Jack sighed long and hard, deciding then that he was going to have to be the one to uncomfortably break it to him.

He shifted on his seat with a grimace , cursing out his brother a thousand times in his mind. Wishing that he didn't have to do this, but it was getting harder and harder to watch. Getting more difficult to ignore .

Because Trevor was a good guy and he was his friend after all. But Quinn was also his brother and Cherrie was also his friend.

So it put him in a sticky position, of not wanting to pick sides but also wanting to bash all three of their heads together to get them to see what was right in front of them. Knowing in him That this really wasn't going to end well.

Somebody was going to have their heart broken and Jack had a feeling that it wasn't going to be Cherrie.

He looked at Trevor and sighed "I didn't want to be the one to have to have this conversation with you but ...I can't just not say anything. You're going to get hurt man. I don't want you to..not like this." His eyes pleaded for him to make it easy for him and just say he understood.

But Trevor was locked in a self induced game of denial, so he sipped his beer and glanced away. Scowling darkly .

"I don't know what you mean. We're fine." He denied Quickly. Fingers tapping against the bottle harder each time he heard them laugh together. Holding each other closer.

Jack shook his head , pursing his lips as he felt a surge of both sadness and anger for his friend. Just wishing that he would stop pretending .

He was stuck right in the middle wanting nobody to get hurt but knowing that the ending would be impossible for someone’s heart not to be broken. They were playing the long game and it hurt him to witness.

He was angry at Trevor for pretending to be so blind to what was playing out right in front of him.

He was angry at his brother for being such a fucking coward and pushing Cherrie straight into his friends awaiting arms. and he was angry at Cherrie for Leading Trevor on like this.

Jack hated it. Because he just wanted them all to be happy but he knew that none of them are going to be happy like this.

It was all so wrong .

He shook his head "look at her smiling right now Trevor." He determinedly pushed his friends head to force him to look at the scene playing out right in front of him to see.

Quinn was pulling her up onto the giant floaty , pulling her between his legs while she rung out her wet hair . Laughing at something he said , Quinn picking up some sunscreen and pulling her leg onto his lap as he gently rubbed it into her burning skin , eyes fondly watching her as she babbled away to him about something or other .

Trevor watched them, then swallowed his suddenly dry throat . "She's always smiling." He muttered , chest feeling heavy.

Jack nodded his head, pursed his lips and added "but you know who isn't?" He didn't give him a chance to guess. The answer was easy.

“My brother and look at him now!" He threw his arm in their direction, towards the beaming smile on his older brothers face as they chatted , in each other's personal space . Hands never far from her skin.

And Jack hated having to be the one to say it but, he just couldn't let this go on any further. It was getting ridiculous now.

"I mean , shit z! They look like more of a couple than you two do! They never leave each other’s sides and she only ever comes running to you when he can't be around! Come on man.." Jack was looking at him incredulously . It was so obvious to him.

But the truth was hard and Trevor just got angry instead . "she's allowed to have Friends! I don't know what you're getting at." He snapped at him, crossing his arms across his chest . Empty beer bottle tossed to the side in Annoyance . Not wanting to hear it.

Jack scoffed at him, not letting it go. "Yes you do! That's why you're getting so defensive right now. Because you know I’m right."' he shot right back at him . Just as annoyed at his refusal to listen to him.

"My brother has never been so fucking happy and you know who's making him smile like that?" He stuck to it even when Trevor glared at him and muttered for him to 'shut up' warningly .

"You're girlfriend." He told him bluntly , shaking his head. "Cherrie makes him happy. Genuinely . She always fucking has."

"So fucking what?" He spat at him angrily , heart pounding n his chest as the sinking feeling kicked in.

His eyes stinging "she's funny and she makes people happy. There's nothing wrong with that!"

Jack was getting angry now , looking at his friend in disbelief . Unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" He wanted to know. Confused and angry and done with it all.

"I know that you're not this stupid. And you're definitely not blind. This has been playing out right since the start man...she was his friend first and you..." he couldn't even finish his sentence before Trevor snapped again.

His face was desperate as he ran a hand through his hair angrily "I made sure that he was okay with it! I asked him if it was okay for me to go after her and he said he didn't care and to do whatever I wanted!" He butted in. He was not the bad guy here.

He knew how close Cherrie and Quinn were , knew the stories of how inseparable they were. But she was just so fucking beautiful and Trevor would have been an idiot not to shoot his shot when he found out that she was single and that Quinn was just a friend.

He had made sure to ask him, because he was a good guy. He had been drunk, they all had been. And Trevor could hardly take his eyes off of Cherrie that night as she danced with anyone and everyone , dressed in a tiny dress and a Hollywood smile on her face , he had been hooked .

So he asked Quinn if he could ask her out, and he had looked at him silently for a long moment before swallowing and muttering 'sure.' Not giving him much more of his time before he was making some excuse to leave. Leaving Him with the perfect position to slide in and accompany a confused and disappointed Cherrie when she asked him where Quinn had went.

"Home. Said he was bored and left." Trevor had told her with a charming grin. Love struck.

He had missed the way her smile had fell and the way she swallowed and let out a small 'oh'. Then he asked her out and her eyes had lingered on where Quinn had been sitting before telling him yes. Then the rest was history.

Jack groaned in Annoyance , head in his hands. His brother was an idiot .

“Yeah well, he's a fucking liar! Come on man, he's always been in love with her. And he's always been at the top of her list . Always. Just think back T. You know it's true." He pleaded with him.

So he did. And his heart broke to pieces .

He thought back to the day in March when he had arrived at her apartment after a long day of practice , wanting to just see his girlfriend and relax. Have quickie , some good food and get the hell to sleep.

Instead , as he walked through her door, he was met with the sight of Cherrie and Quinn sat crossed legged on her velvet couch . His girlfriend in between his spread legs , humming along to the movie on the tv while Quinn braided her hair , well, attempted to.

"It's only forever! It's not long at alllllll!" She sang out of tune loudly , leaning her head back against Quinn's shoulder to shoot him a cheesy grin. Serenading him on the couch , sounding absolutely nothing like bowie.

Trevor hovered by the doorframe for a moment as he watched them, putting his training bag down on the fooor with a slight frown. Having not realised that she had company , she hadn't told him.

He watched as Quinn chuckled at her dramatics , tugging on her hair on his hand a little to get her to lean back more , then he smacked the top of her forhead with his palm. Snickering when she gasped and send him a faux wounded look.

"You don't like my singing?" She pouted at him , letting him rest his arms around the front of her shoulders . Hugging her from behind as he leant back into the soft cushion on the couch , taking her body with him as she laid between his legs.

His eyes were glued to her singing lips as she continued to screech along to every single song that played on the labyrinth , doing her best to imitate them all. Terribly . But she was having fun and the smile on her face was so wide that Quinn felt his own smile begin to mirror hers .

Cheeks flushing a little with colour when she squeezed his cheeks between her fingers , head tilted back as she sang up to him without any embarrassment. Years of friendship solidifying the fact that there was no longer any shame between them.

She did and said whatever she wanted with Quinn , because she knew that his teasing was only ever from a place of love and humour. And that her stupidness was his own personal entertainment , and what was better than that?

"I think my ears are bleeding screechy." He told her with a shit eating grin on his face , easily dodging the slap coming his way.

He finished tying off the messy braid he had been working on as he laughed . Squeezing her to him fondly . "You're got the goblin voices down though. That's how you usually sound when you sing." He teased .

Cherrie gasped out a laugh , twisting in his arms to pinch at him. Grin too wide to be offended . "Hey!" She exclaimed , still not spotting Trevor by the doorway yet. Neither of them had, too far gone in their own little bubble to notice anything or anyone else. It had always been this way.

Their mothers had said that they got tunnel vision whenever they were together , needing to be physically pulled apart for them to listen to anybody else. It was like they went both blind and deaf, losing all senses when they were like this. Too lost in each other to care.

It had always been just Quinn and Cherrie, so adding a third party to the mix was strange and weird and not something that either of them were used to. And quite honestly , on Quinn's part, he wasn't keen on getting used to it anytime soon either.

And it wasn't that he didn't want Cherrie to be happy, because there was nothing more in the world that he wanted than to see her smile. But he just didn't like seeing her toothy smile being directed at anybody else but him.

He didn't like the ugly feeling it brought to his chest when she laughed at someone else’s jokes, he didn't like the way his stomach dropped when she told him that she had found someone. That she was dating again .

And Quinn hated it but mostly because he knew that this was his fault. He had been the one to give Trevor the go ahead in dating his best friend, he had practically encouraged it and pushed her straight into his arms by not saying a single thing.

He didn't tell her that he didn't want her with anybody but him, he didn't tell her that his heart was breaking each time he saw her kiss someone that wasn't him. He didn't tell her that she was his best friend but so much more than that at the same time. He didn't tell her that he was certain that she was his twin flame, his soulmate , both romantically and platonically. That She matched him in every way.

She made him so unbelievably happy . Because he loved her. He was in love with her. Always had been and always would be. Because it was Cherrie. It was just as simple as that. How could he not be? She was everything to him.

But he never told her that. Which was why he knew that he had no right to feel the ache in his chest or the jealousy in his blood just at the sight of them together.

Because he had done this. By being such a coward , too afraid to tell his best friend how he truly felt. His future was on the line. Because to him, Cherrie has always been in that picture. . Well, every picture in his mind. She was the starring role.

He saw them being best friends forever , even as he got down one knee. Even when he married her, when they had their own family . When he got his own happily ever after.

She was his. Because she has always been there and he had been Naive to think that he was the only one that pictured Cherrie in their future . That he was the only one that wanted to love her like that forever .

He had waited too damn long and now Trevor had beaten him to it. And Quinn had to listen to her tell him all about each and every date they went on together , about the first kiss, the first time they slept together . The first time Trevor had told her 'I love you'. Quinn had to sit there and hear it all, like his own personal punishment for not opening his mouth and telling her how he felt all these years ago.

And now he has lost her to fucking Trevor of all people and he had to face the consequences of his own cowardness.

But he wasn’t going to lose her . He wouldn't let himself . Or them . Or Trevor . Or anything or anyone else get in the way of who they were.

They are still the same Quinn and Cherrie that did everything together , that had no personal space and no boundaries between them. They are still them and Quinn would have to be happy with that.

For now.

Before Cherrie could open her mouth to resort back to him, they both jumped when Trevor finally made his presence known to them.

Scoffing loudly as he entered the front room, cherries eyed widening in shock as she placed a hand over her racing heart, not realising that he had come in at all.

"You're not seriously watching this shit again Cherrie?" Trevor groaned , rolling his eyes as soon as he spotted the movie that they were watching.

Quinn tensed up for a moment , brows furrowing as he saw cherries smile drop for a second bedroom she quickly masked it and let out a laugh instead , but he could tell that it wasn't the same laugh that she been giggling with him. It wasn't as genuine or as light , more strained and accepting instead.

"Hey! It's my comfort movie Trev! I love watching it." She reminded him as though everybody didn't already know about her obsession with it.

But she had been watching it repeatedly since she was a kid and it wasn't going to change how. She usually alternated between the labyrinth and the Addams family . She was a woman of taste after all.

Trevor snickered as he wandered into the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge . "And what to do you need comforting about?" He called to her in slight amusement .

Cherrie just sighed long and hard. Leaning her had back against Quinn's arm as she responded dramatically "life dude."

Quinn snorted , flicking at her forhead with his finger in amusement . He briefly looked up from her pretty face just as Trevor came back into the room, his eyes darting down to their position on the couch before arching his eyebrow at him.

Quinn just relaxed further into her , raising a brow straight back. He wasn't moving anytime soon.

"It's David Bowie In Tights". He stated like that was all Trevor needed to know . "She's never going to turn it off." He said.

Cherrie laughed , grinning at him as she levelled him with a look. "Don't put this all on me! You love it just as much as I do! You're the one that told me to put it on." She reminded him swiftly . Tucking her feet breath her to her more comfortable.

Quinn bashfully looked down at her hair instead of meeting her knowing eyes , fiddling with her braid he made .

“Cause I know it makes you feel better." He muttered quietly .

She looked at him for a long moment , taking in his scabbed nose that was still healing , his messy hair that was sticking out below his ears . Eyes trailing down to the sweatpants and her oversized hoodie that he was wearing .

Smiling a little at way they always ended up wearing each other's sweaters , even when they had they're own. Cherrie was certain that the reason most of her oversized hoodies had been going missing was because of him.

Both of them preferring to wear each other’s sweaters instead. It made her chest arm and she smiled .

"You make me feel better." She told him softly , honestly . Forgetting for a moment that they weren't alone and that her boyfriend was still in the room with them , watching their interaction with a frown on his face.

She added as an after thought "and you’re getting so much better at braiding now. I might make you do it for me all the time." She praised him , taking her braided hair out from his hand to admire his work.

She knew that he had been watching videos to learn how to do it for her after hearing her complain about how she hated doing her hair but hated having it straight down . Yet refusing to cut it.

So he had been learning how to French braid hair to make her happy. It was working . Quinn saw the soft smile on her Pretty face and blushed.

Trevors frown deepened . He coughed a little , feeling annoyed when both of their heads snapped over to him. Seeming to only then remember that he was even there at all.

Seeing his annoyed look, Cherrie gave him a smile "you want to watch it with us?" Having been trying to get Him to like her interests . But he just refused to bite. No matter how many times she begged him to watch her favourite Movie or listen to her favourite songs . He just wouldn't .

Quinn did.

Trevor scoffed out a laugh "fuck no. I can't watch this shit again. Not my thing." He said while leaning down to steal a kiss from her .

Deliberately deepening it for a moment for Quinn to see, narrowing his eyes at him a little when he finally pulled away.

Quinn's jaw was clenched as he stared straight ahead at the tv , kicking Trevor away from him seeing as he has to lean down onto his space to kiss Cherrie since she was still laid in his arms. Quinn wanted to kick the smug smirk Straight off his face , he really did.

"I'm gonna go play Xbox. Order me some takeout please? Quinn's paying." Trevor said with a smirk as he gave her one last kiss before moving away to head to her gaming room Instead.

Cherrie let out a disappointed sigh, watching him go with a small frown.

Quinn scoffing beneath his breath as him. "Fuckhead." He muttered moodily "I'm making sure they soak his pizza in pineapple." He said.

Cherrie looked at Him in amusement "he hates pineapple ." She replied. Letting him pull the fluffy blanket around them .

Quinn dimming the lights as he pulled her closer to him. Gently Stroking at the soft skin of her stomach where her shirt has ridden up with his thumb.

"Exactly." Was all he murmured . Grinning at her as he tucked her into his side. Pressing his lips against the side of his head, content that she was still there with him. Not leaving him at all.

"He's an idiot by the way." He commented quietly a few minutes later as they watched her favourite film "this is great." He told her in a mumble he, not looking at her. Grateful for darkness in the room so that she couldn't see the dark flush on his cheeks.

They grinned at each other and cuddled even closer on the couch . Forgetting that Trevor was even in the same apartment as them at all.

Then Trevor thinks back to the time when he had walked into another close scene of them, having become more accustomed to their closeness and weird moments together the longer that he dated her .

So He wasn't that surprised to find them in her bathroom Together , Quinn sat on a stool with Trevors girlfriend in front of him in just a tshirt, gold eye masks on her face as she held his face in her hands . Plucking his brows.

Trevor paused by the open door , sighing in exasperation as he looked at them. "What the hell are you two doing now?" He wondered. Getting their attention.

It was only Quinn that glanced at him, cheeks red as he sat still on the stool for her. Eyes warily eyeing Cherrie as she brought the tweezers closer to his eyes.

"Making him look pretty." Cherrie murmured in concentration . Tongue poking out between her teeth as she plucked some hairs , Quinn wincing like she had cut him.

Trevor laughed. Loudly . "You got magic baby?" He teased. Smirking at the unimpressed look Quinn immediately shot him.

"Fuck you! You're girlfriend thinks I'm pretty." Quinn shot back at him just as quick .

Trevor rolled his eyes "my girlfriend hugs wet dogs and thinks rats are cute. Her opinion can't be trusted." He said.

Cherrie shot him a glare over her shoulder at that, shaking her head at them. "And your girlfriend is right here. Shut up." She snapped at him before looking back down at Quinn.

Gently tilting his head to get a better angle , feeling the heat of his skin beneath her fingers . His eyes flittering around her face, counting her freckles now that she was so close . He let out a slow , shaky breath.

"Keep still Q." She murmured to him softly "they're gonna look so good." She promised him.

Quinn just sighed , letting her do whatever she wanted to him. If she told him she wanted to shave his head he would let her. He never could say no to her.

"Just- just don’t make them too thin alright?" He muttered instead. Wincing at the pinching pain as she plucked some more.

Trevor shook his head in disbelief at them , leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched them .

“I can't believe you're letting her do this." He said to Quinn honestly.

Quinn didn't even glance at him as he answered in a mutter . "why not? Have you seen her brows? They're perfect and she does them herself. No better person to do it." Meaning it.

She always helped him take care of his appearance the best that she could, knowing how lazy he got with it. It was thanks to Cherrie that his hair was in nice condition at all. She had been the one to go out and get him some fancy shampoo and conditioner , making him do hair masks with her when she did one.

She trimmed his nails when she did her own, even painted them when she was bored. She was the reason he now had a skin care routine .

Having enjoyed the way that she would take her time and softly rub the lotions and creams into his skin, carefully showing him how to do it .

Yet he always complained to her that it didn't feel the same when he did it, grinning smugly to himself when the night would turn into a mini spat night for him instead. With him lying lazily against her pillows as she did his skincare for him, her hands gently rubbing in oils and creams until he was halfway asleep on her bed.

He loved it. So what? She was making him feel good and look good at the same time. He wasn't going to say no to that. He wasn't that fragile in his own masculinity, thank god.

He Liked her doing his nails and his hair, liked her making him all soft and pretty. Simple because it made her happy and that made him happy In return.

Cherrie grinned down at him, pushing his cheeks together until his lips puckered as she cooed down at him . Flattered. "Awww! Thank you." She finished off his brows quickly. Nudging Him over to the mirror to take a look.

"Alright weirdos." Trevor took this time to slide in behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he tucked his face into her neck. Sighing happily as he gave her a firm squeeze.

"We still on for tonight baby?" He checked in with her lowly .

Kissing down her neck as he pulled her close to him making her sigh quietly. Eyes fluttering closed as his hand slid beneath her shirt to rub at her hips gently. Teasing her .

“Italian food and Netflix in bed?" He pulled away to wiggle his eye brows at her suggestively .

Turning her body around to face him , her back now to Quinn as he watched them through the mirror l with a scowl on his face . Blood burning and heart aching.

Quinn diverted his eyes as soon as he saw Trevors hand wander to her ass in the reflection , catching sight of the way he squeezed and slapped at it playfully , rocking her hips shamelessly into his as he kissed her. Not caring that he was there.

Cherrie was giggling against his lips, blushing a little at the attention . "Sure. Can't wait." She mumbled into the kiss, getting lost in the feeling of being kissed for a moment .

Moaning a little as she felt his hand slid between her legs teasingly , titling her head back with his free hand as he sucked at her neck, leaning his mark for Quinn to see .

"So good for me huh?" Trevor murmured smugly as he teased her, lifting his head to make eye contact with Quinn through the mirror.

The tension rising in two different ways as the older hockey player glared back at him hatefully , Trevor feeling smug for a moment that she was finally Paying him attention like she should have been.

"You two make me sick." Quinn snapped while turning around. Sick of seeing them. Sick of seeing Trevor hands on her soft skin , touching her in ways he could only dream of.

But most of all he hated that it was his fault for wasting his chance. Hating the way that it could have been him taking her back to her room, pinning her ahinst her bed as he fucked her loudly for everyone to hear.

But instead it was Trevor that got to do that now and Quinn had to suffer through the night , grinding his teeth as he laid in the spare bedroom to her own room.

Hearing her bed frame big off the wall over and over again . His eyes squeezed shut in both anger , jealousy and shame as he listened to her getting fucked by Trevor. Her moans Loud as she screamed his name , her crys and whimpers making him hard as he clenched his jaw. Blocking out Trevors grunts and his stupid voice calling her a slut and demanding her to tell him who fucked her this good.

And when she moaned 'you do.' Quinn pretended that it was him she was fucking. That it was him she was sucking off. That it was him she was cumming around that night .

He kept his eyes tightly closed , his heart pounding in his chest as he wrapped his fist around his rock hard cock and jacked himself off to the sound of her screams in the room next door. Rutting into his hand frantically as he clenched his teeth together painfully as he heard her scream , begging to be fucked harder .

Hating that it wasn't him , knowing that Trevor could never fuck her the way she wanted. The way only he could .

He came into his hand Wishing that it was him.

Then there was that moment in the bar when someone Thought that Quinn and Cherrie were together . Like he was just the extra friend .

He was Busy talking to Jack with a beer in his hand. Barely listening as his girlfriend chatted away to a girl she had made friends with in the toilets , all of them tipsy as she showed off the bracelet on her and Quinn's wrist to the girl proudly.

"I made them! Look.." she beamed while gently twisting his wrist closer to show her Quinn's bracelet.

"It’s supposed to bring him luck and good health. I put little crystals and gems on it too for protection since he's always getting his face busted in games." She rambled to her , leaning onto his side with a grin.

Quinn wrapped his arm around her shoulder, just sipping on his beer as he watched her fondly as she rambled on and on, having fun. Making friends.

He has always enjoyed watching her like this, it amazed him to see how magnetic she was, how easily she could make friends and talk to people like she has always known them. Making them feel special. It made him smile against his bottle as he watched the girl gush over their matching bracelets she had made them.

"Babe! Tell her- it worked didn't it? Like- he scored as soon as I gave it to him! The woman at the Crystal shop told me it would give him luck. I even put it out to charge under the moonlight for extra luck! Didn't I babe?" She nudged Quinn drunkenly , nodding for him to tell her.

Quinn chuckled , nodding along . Gently squeezing her shoulder with his hand . "She did and it did. It works good. No pucks to the face so far." He confirmed with a laugh. Ruffling her hair affectionately.

The girl cooed at them, just as drunk. Pressing her hands to her cheeks as she beamed at them. "Awww! You two are so cute together! Such a perfect match! How long have you been together?" She gushed obliviously . Assuming they were in love. They looked it.

That caught Trevors attention. Body freezing as his conversation with Jack paused , both of them glancing beside them to see Cherrie and Quinn blushing , Trevor laughing loudly as he smacked jacks arm, as it to say 'believe this?'

Jack just grimaced.

"Oh no!" Trevor shook his head quickly asserting himself into their group.

"she's my girlfriend! Not his. They're just friends!" He let her know. Pushing away the churning in his stomach . Shaking off his sudden unease .

The woman frowned at him. Then she looked between Quinn and Cherrie in surprise . "Wow really? I never would have guessed!" Was all she said before exchanging numbers with his girlfriend . The two giggling and promising to hang out , Cherrie grinning to herself as they wandered off the bar together to meet the rest of her friends she came with . Just Happy that she made a new friend.

It left Jack stood between a scowling Trevor and uncomfortable Quinn who was refusing to look at either of them. Just sipping on his beer quietly as he fiddled with the bracelet around his wrist .

"Jesus...that was awkward ." Jack muttered. Nervously looking between the two of them.

Trevor scoffed, glaring over at quinn who refused to look at him. Just pursing his lips and staying quiet.

"That was weird right?" Trevor tried to brush it off. "Like, why would she even think that?" He laughed weakly.

Quinn didn't answer . Leaving Jack to silently

shake his head in disappointment and disbelief , giving his older brother a disapproving look that he refused to see.

Sighing to himself, knowing that this was not going to end well.

Then Trevor thought back to all the times that Cherrie had cut a date short because of Quinn , some lame excuse . Just like the time that Quinn had called her halfway during their date night at a fancy restaurant.

Trevor had been enjoying himself , chatting away to her about how good his season had been recently. Just admiring how stunning she looked in the candlelight , dressed in a pretty dress with her hair and makeup done perfectly. Looking like a supermodel.

Only his mood quickly came crashing down when she got done with her quick phone call and gave him a small grimace , already pushing her plate away from her . Mind made up before he even knew what was happening .

She was calling over to waiter to make her soup to go, looking down at Trevor apologetically while he just gaped up at his girlfriend in disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing? Where are you going?" He rushed out , annoyed and embarrassed. Feeling eyes on them.

Everything had been going so good until Quinn called. It was always Quinn and Trevor was starting to hate it. He knew that they were friends but this was ridiculous .

They were on a date for fucks sake!

"Quinn's sick and his head is flaring up from the hit on the rink! We're gonna have to rain check." She tells him In a hurry.

Offering a smile to the waiter returning with her packed up soup that she planned to give to Quinn now. Hearing his throaty voice on the phone as coughed and sniffled , not sounding good at all.

She was already planning on stopping at the store to grab some painkillers and cough syrup, maybe some ice cream too. Going through their usual plan for when one of them was sick.

It didn't matter that she was in the middle of a date, all that mattered to her then was getting to his apartment to look after him. Knowing that he was alone and hating that he was while feeling like this too. They always looked after each other . That wasn't going to stop now .

Trevor wasn't letting it go so easily this time and before they knew it, they were arguing about it in the middle of the restaurant.

Glaring over at his girlfriend in disbelief "he's a big boy who can take care of himself ! I don't get why you have to be the one to look after him!" He snapped at her angrily .

Cherie glared straight back "because he's my best friend? That's why!" She shot back at him. Annoyed. Grabbing her bag.

Trevor scoffed humourlessly , crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her pull out her phone to tell Quinn that she was on her way.

He shook his Head bitterly . "are you serious? You might've well have had him on the fucking date with us. You've been texting him the whole night too! It's always Quinn this and Quinn that, while I'm right fucking here!" He almost shouted at her, frustrated and jealous that her attention was never 100% on him.

Cherrie just looked at him then , guilt on her face as she wrapped her arms around herself. Not knowing what to say.

She swallowed "I'm sorry Trevor. I don't know what to tell you. You know we're close-"

He had heard it all before. So he just waved off her excuses with a heavy sigh, rolling his eyes in defeat .

"Yeah I do. Whatever Cherrie." He muttered . Not looking at her.

There was an uncomfortable silence, Cherrie glancing over her shoulder , rocking on her feet. Wanting to leave to get to Quinn but the guilt keeping her standing there for a moment longer .

She winced and softened her voice "are we okay trev?" She asked him quietly. Guilty.

But they both knew where her loyalty lied and it wasn't with him. She wasn't going to stay . Not while her best friend was sick and alone and needing her.

Trevor looked at her, taking in her pretty face and stunning dress and sighed. Rubbing at his Face , he nodded his head. Shrugging as well.

"We're okay." He lied.

Then there was the wedding where it all

Came crashing down . Trevor has been stuck watching as Quinn walked Cherrie down the isle, best man and maid of honour . Cherrie looking as beautiful as ever, and her arm firmly hooked through his as they both grinned each other . Looking perfect together.

He barely soldiered through that but it got too much when he noticed how Quinn couldn't keep his eyes off his girlfriend . Gazing at her longingly as they stood at either side of the bride and groom , grinning at each other occasionally .

Quinn smiling softly to himself as he watched Cherrie get emotional as the vows were said, his eyes never leaving her pretty face the whole ceremony.

Sat miserably on the wooden benches beside Jack, Trevor glared at him . Chest feeling tight.

“You're brother has a staring problem man." He snapped quietly to him, visibly annoyed. Rose coloured glasses long gone .

Jack just sighed, also annoyed by now. Having been putting up with this for months . Wishing that it would just stop. And that they could all see sense . But it wasn't happening. And it was frustrating to sit back and watch, unable to do anything .

"You have a problem . He's not looked away from her since the moment they met Z. This isn't new." He said to him honestly .

Not getting it at all. It all seemed to simple and easy to him, he didn't understand why they were all even playing this game and hurting each other Like this. It made no sense to him. He thought they are all being incredibly stupid.

Then Jack watched Trevor sulk at the table with a glass of wine in his hand and sighed , having enough.

He sat beside him with a frown "come on dude, what are you doing?" He snapped at him. Sick of it.

Trevor frowned  at him, lips pursed. "At a wedding?" He tried playing dumb. But it wasn't working at all.

The sadness and headache was written all across his face after watching them the whole night together, seeing the way they so naturally fit by each other's side. She had even managed to drag him to the dance floor with her, hands around his neck and Quinn's low around her waist as they swayed together to the music . Smiling at eachother like nobody else existed.

They looked so happy . Trevor felt sick.

Then he watched as the bride finally threw the boutique of flowers behind her , and low and behold they landed straight into cherries hand.

As though fate was laughing at Him Cruelly , tears stinging his eyes as he watched his girlfriend glance straight over to Quinn , not him , as she caught them. Clutching them to her chest tightly as she giggled , flustered with all the girls cooing at her, nudging her and laughing along as she looked straight at quinn. Raising a brow at him in amusement . Showing him the flowers .

And Quinn was already looking back at her , of course he was , a shy smile on his face as he shook his head affectionately at her .

Opening his arms to pull her into his embrace , before plucking one of the smaller flowers from the bouquet and putting it behind her ear gently. Neither of them even glancing his way. Seeming to forget he was even there at all. Like they always did.

He sniffled sadly he felt Jack pat his shoulder sympathetically , muttering curses about his brother and how sorry he was . But he was glad that he knew now. That he was seeing what he was seeing finally. At a wedding of all places.

And Trevor could only groan and put his head in his hands, heart falling to pieces .

"Shit." He groaned sadly. Seeing the truth a little too late. Denial has been a nasty birch but it was over now.

He saw it all.

Trevor finally got the courage to corner Quinn later that night. Seeing him sitting by the edge of the dock after the reception , everybody else still inside getting plastered and having fun.

But the air was somber as Trevor slowly lowered himself to sit beside Quinn, startling the older player from his thoughts as he looked at him in surprise .

"Z-" he knew. He knew that he knew. Of course he did. How could he not? The guilt was written all across his face.

It had been a long time coming hadn’t it?

Trevor shook his head angrily, clenching his jaw as he tried to refrain from punching him straight in his face like he wanted to. That wouldn’t solve anything.

"Why did you let me date her if you're in love with her?" He's blunt with it. There was no other way to say it.

He Sick and tired of all the lame excuses  and long roads of denial. Of all the cowardliness and half bitten truths. It hurt too much now and he just wanted it to stop.

This was too much . It didn't feel so good anymore . Not when he knew for sure that he wasn't the right guy. His heart was sore and he fucking hated feeling like this. He couldn't believe that he had been so stupid and so naive to think that he could have been the one. Believing That she could ever had loved him like she did Quinn.

That was sick dreaming but now his eyes were wide open and his heart was breaking. Because he knew what everyone around him already did.

And it hurt. So fucking bad.

Quinn's eyes widened in shock, shame and guilt almost shutting him down and he stammered out nervously , heart pounding in his Chest.

"I am not! Z- come on- I don't-" he can't even finish his lie. Tongue tied as he tried to deny the truth but he just couldn't anymore  , the dark, ashamed flush on his face easily giving him away.

It was hurting him too. So fucking much. Because love had never been easy and it was finally knocking at their door, begging to be let free.

The truth hurt. It always did.

But Trevor just shook his head , face going blank .

"I asked you if you were okay with it and you  said yes. I never stole her from you."He muttered angrily .

Eyes Staring blandly out at the lake , not wanting to look at him anymore as his heart was finally shattered apart , as the truth came crumbling down around them. Cutting the both of them open, but only one of them was getting out of this unscathed and with the light.

Quinn swallowed guilty , lower lip trembling as he followed his gaze out to the water surrounding them.

His heart dropping to his stomach, knowing that he really did know now because Trevor wasn't stupid. He liked to act like he didn't know what was going on but he did.

But sometimes it was easy to ignore the signs and to brush away the unease and suspicions when love was on the line .

Because Trevor had wanted Cherrie so fucking bad that he had been willing to overlook the truth, to ignore that she wasn't in love with him . That he wasn't the one she searched for in every crowded room.

He wasn't the one . Would never be.

He had wished so badly to be, had done everything he could to get her to return his love but it just hadn't worked.

Because she was never his to begin with .

"She...but she said yes to you." He mumbled  out quietly , swallowing anxiously as he fiddled with her bracelet around his wrist that he had yet to take off  .

The lump in his throat only growing bigger as Trevor laughed sadly, shaking his head bitterly at him .

"yeah she did. 'cause you  didn't say no. I was the other option. The other guy . I was so fucking stupid.." he laughed humourlessly , wanting to slap himself for being so foolish with naive hope that it really could have been him.

Quinn went silent . Not knowing what to say. What could be said that he didn't already know?

Quinn was in love with Trevors girlfriend and had been long before he had even met her. And deep down. Trevor had always known that it was true.

He had seen the looks, the touches and the obvious love between them but he has still pursued her. Because she was beautiful Cherrie and he was just a man who fell in love.

He laughed in disbelief while rubbing a hand over his face in both anger and sadness . Because this was it .

“I can't believe that I've been so stupid to think that it would stop , and that you would two would get over each other , and that she would be happy with me!" The tears filled his eyes . Sniffling to himself as the pressure mounted his chest . Heartbroken.

“She is happy with you-"Quinn croaked guiltily . Watching him from the corner of his eye as he harshly wiped the tears from his face , snapping his head over to glare at him. Done with the lies.

He cut him off angrily. "No. She's happy when you're there with us! I've been third wheeling my own relationship trying to convince myself that everyone else was wrong. That I could be the one! Like that was ever an option!"

Quinn looked back at him then, and frowned defensively. "What? You wanted her to ditch me for you? Relationship or not . That was never going to happen. We're best friends-" he started to argue back because the guilt was killing him and he hated the way it was making him feel.

He didn't want to be the bad guy in Trevors story but some things just couldn't be helped. It was too late now. Trevor was the other guy and he was only finding that out now, and it hurt. Of course it did. This was what Jack had tried to warn him about from the start.

He laughed or maybe it was a cry  , he really couldn't tell anymore . His heart was fucking breaking and he had never felt so stupid in his life.

"Oh come on! cut the shit Quinn! Stop fucking lying to me and to yourselves . You're not just 'friends'. Friends don't look at each other the way you do . At the wedding-" he took a deep breath to push down his anger , his sadness quickly taking over for him instead. Pushing him on.

"You looked at her like you were imagining her walking down that isle to you. And when she caught those flowers- you smiled. So fucking hard man! That was the moment I knew. It’s never going to be me is it?" He realised out loud. Looking straight at him.

The truth cut deep. But the knife went both ways.

Quinn blinked back  the tears from his eyes, guilt clouding his face horribly. Feeling like complete and utter shit as he saw the hurt written across his face.

"Z-" he started say but his voice cracks with pain ,  feeling horrible for what he had done . The hurt they had both caused him without even realising  it.

He laughed humourlessly  , shaking his head as he wiped his nose with his sleeve. "No! No. Don't try to sugar coat it or make me feel better! Cause that's not going to work. I just want the truth! Tell me the truth Quinn!" He shouted at him. Tired now.

There was a long , tense pause where they both just looked back out at the lake again , hearts aching.

Quinn swallowing as he looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, gently caressing her initials  on the small stone beside his .

"Are you in love with her?" Trevor asked him quietly . Already knowing the truth. But he wanted to hear it. Wanted some sort of attempted closure. Wanted to know that he wasn't insane. That he was right. That everybody else was right.

Quinn sighed shakily, cupping his mouth with his trembling hand as he tried not to cry.

"do I really need to answer that?" He breathed out quietly, voice barely a whisper  . Eyes blurry from the tears. Unable to look at him from the guilt he felt.

Trevor sighed long and hard .

  "yeah. You do Quinn. It's the least that  you owe  me. The respect to look me in my eye and tell me the truth." He told him seriously. Meaning it.

Quinn turned  to him finally and his face read everything that he needed to know.

Despite knowing the truth , Trevors face crumbled anyways. A small part of him hoping that it wasn't true. That he was crazy. That she could be his.

But it was never going to be him.

"I'm sorry man." He pleads for him to understand "it's not my fault alright? I just-I tried not to be. I tried to ignore the feelings and push it away but-" he placed his head in his hands, feeling terrible. Shaking his head in frustration at himself . 

"I can't. I've loved her since she opened her big mouth and called me a stupid idiot when we first met. And I've loved her everyday since. And I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry for hurting you but I'm not sorry for loving her. I can't be." He whispered brokenly .

Trevor doesn't say anything for a while. Just Shaking his head slowly in both resignation and disbelief. Unable to believe that he had let himself lie to himself  for this long.

And All because he loved a girl.

Now look at him. Heartbroken and crying. So fucking sad. It was pathetic .

He was letting kind of wanting to kill Quinn. Kind of wanted to push him into the lake. Kind of wanted to pretend that none of this had ever happened just so he could get to kiss Cherrie goodbye one more time.

It just hurt. This whole thing had splintered him in half , he never knew that love could be so cruel.

"and she loves you too?" He sniffled.

She never said it back to him. No matter how many times he told her that he loved her. He really should have known.

Quinn swallowed thickly  , guilt keeping his eyes down to his feet in shame . "I think so. I don't know.."

"Yes you do!” He muttered in annoyance while rolling his eyes ,  scrubbing at his face roughly with his hands . Heart shattered on the ground by Quinn's and his  feet .

So He slowly pushed himself up from the ground and took one last look out at the calm waters around them.

Then looked back down to the tearful hockey player below him and nods his head to himself , accepting  what was meant to be.

"You know she does. I know she does. Don't waste it man. I wish I was you. She's a forever kind of girl isn't she? " he lets his truthful  words linger for a long moment  "just not for me. Not my forever.”

"Z-" he calls up to  him quietly , face confused , eyes wide as he looked at him.

“are you-why aren't you punching me?" He wanted to know. Having expected it. Or worse.

Trevor just cracks a sad smile and shrugs his shoulders . Tucking his trembling fingers into his pockets instead .

"what's the point?" He says honestly,  exhausted .

“I can't change how you guys feel. I'll just have to change my feelings instead . She's really easy  to fall in love with huh? Go tell her man. Don't be as stupid as I was." He advises him, not longer having anything left to say.

Not risking staying around any longer , not wanting to actually give into the urge to hit him. That wouldn’t solve his broken heart .

So he simply left. Never looking back.

Then six months later he's watching them kiss underneath the New Years fireworks. Tears of happiness in both of their eyes as they held onto each other tightly , everybody cheering loudly around them .

Quinn laughing tearfully as he held her face in his trembling hands. Telling her he loved her over and over again while she cried . Laughing along with him, the diamond ring glinting underneath the sparkling lights , proudly slid onto her finger as people congratulated them. Both of them lost in their own world together. not much had changed there  .

They didn't see anybody else but each other .

Trevor downed jacks champagne glass for him and laughed a little to himself , watching in silent defeat as Cherrie looked over her shoulder with a grin worth a thousand goodbyes and hellos on her ruby  lips .

He watched as her smile softened as she met his gaze , then as she gave him a small wave , Quinn to busy crying happy tears into her neck as Luke Wrapped his arms around the both of them . Shouting his congratulations and telling everybody that this has been a long time coming.

He couldn’t have been any closer to the truth if he tried.

Trevor’s face softened too and instead of causing a scene , he just winked at her . "Nice ring." He mouthed over to her , smirking a little. Heart still aching but she looked so fucking happy and he knew that she would look just as pretty in white.

She laughed. Then shrugged gently back at him, the apology in her eyes clear before Quinn was pulling her down for another kiss. Lost in her. As always .

And Trevor understood what that felt like . He didn't feel any anger then. Just an ache . A lingering feeling of 'what if?' And what could have been. That he knew would forever follow him around.

But they were happy. He couldn't , wouldn't, ruin that. He didn't want to.

Because he knew deep down that he could never have made her as happy as Quinn did. It was just the truth.

Jack was patting his shoulder gently . Happy for his older brother but also feeling sorry that his friend had gotten his heart teared in the process , caught between all the love and mess that love created.

But here they were. And time was moving on. They all were. Older but never wiser .

"What happened man?" Jamie was his clearly

gobsmacked.. way out of the loop as he gaped at Cherrie and Quinn kissing shamelessly in front of everyone , never letting each other go .

Having watched the eldest brother get down on one knee and cry his love for her in front of all their friends and family . It was safe to say that He was a little more than shocked.

Looking over at Trevor In disbelief , wondering what the hell he has missed. And how he could be there and not sobbing on the floor in grief.

Trevor just laughed quietly and shrugged his shoulders. Sighing long and hard Bedford he simply told him 

“long story short I was the wrong guy."

But she has found him now. And she didn’t have to look very far because he was right there all along. Waiting for her to see him. And now that she did, she was all about him now.

And Trevor was just another star in her sky, while Quinn was her entire universe.

And long story short …he would survive.

#nhl oneshot #nhl imagine #quinn hughes oneshot #Quinn Hughes imagine #ice hockey imagine #ice hockey oneshot #nhl fic #Trevor zegras imagine #Trevor zegras oneshot #hockey imagine

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I’ve seen people state that Dana Terrace has a tendency to emasculate the characters she doesn’t like, especially villains . Like often making them be defeated incredibly easily or making them do things that go against their established characters. From what you’ve seen do you think this is true?

Honestly, I think you can make the case that she does this to characters she DOES like as well; not the emasculation part, but the out-of-character moments. The most recent offender is The Collector who was previously established as enjoying watching Belos abuse and murder grimwalkers and is looking forward to the Day of Unity, but in For the Future, none of these malicious traits are present, and he seemingly does a 180 in his characterization. They're just a Lonely Kid with superpowers instead of the chaotic god child who apparently delights in misery.

It's one thing to present a character one way and gradually reveal the layers underneath but such a drastic change with seemingly no explanation is not character development, it's a retcon.

The show also has a problem with setting up how some characters change: Darius was initially presented as being contemptuous of Hunter but warms up to him once he stands up to him. Considering his history with the previous Golden Guard, shouldn't Darius know what Hunter goes through instead of assuming Hunter is spoiled? Darius' rebellion against Belos is also muddled; he becomes a fully-fledged CATs member because he cares about people and is suspicious of the Day of Unity. Except, I don't believe we're ever shown why this is the case. Darius is a Coven Head and it's his job to get more recruits and was trained by the previous Golden Guard. Logically, he should be a firm believer, but instead he uses his status to climb the ranks to act as a mole. This is a great starting point but we're missing what triggered this in the first place. The only hint is that the death of his mentor is what started his rebellion against Belos. But this isn't really expanded upon and it raises more questions. How did he find out that it was Belos who killed his mentor? How much did the Golden Guard tell him? If the death of the previous GG is what made him turn on Belos, then why does he treat Hunter poorly? If you're going to have a character act as a mole, then at least explain what their motives are and how they were developed.

This shows how fundamentally flawed the world-building in The Owl House is; characters only follow Belos when it's convenient to the plot. So in the end, you have characters who oppose Belos because they're on Team Good Guy (Darius, Raine, Eberwolf), the ones who support him because they've always been Evil (Kiki and Terra) and the rest of the isles who either celebrate him at a parade or denounce Eda's potential execution because two teenagers said so.

Anyway, onto the villains...

Odalia is essentially a war profiteer who doesn't care that her entire species is about to be wiped out by the DOU, even though logically she should. She cares about her company and a company can't profit if the majority of your customers are dead. She is tyrannical, cruel, and greedy and it's fun to watch her be reduced to a mere servant. I don't mind this development for Odalia, however, it does point to the trend of taking powerful enemies and reducing them to a shadow of themselves for comedic purposes.

Kikimora was presented as a terrifying enforcer of the Emperor's laws but she got progressively more pathetic to the point where she had to impersonate a teenager and serve as the right hand to Boscha, a character we haven't seen properly since Season 1. She is presented as power-hungry, pathologically ambitious, and has an intense desire to earn Belos' favor, but when he turns against her, she helps King find the Collector, effectively helping defeat Belos. But recently, she is back to her Season 2 shenanigans by taking over Hexside and the question is why exactly? We saw her world crumble before her and she reverts back to her previous traits instead of actual characterization. A common interpretation is that she is just THAT obsessed with power that nothing can break it, which isn't...realistic. FtF doesn't show why Kiki does this, she just does. Perhaps because of the psychological damage of Belos betraying her she decides to continue with what she's always done, except that this isn't telegraphed clearly. Instead, she just comes off as a mini-boss before the final showdown.

That leaves Belos as the only real credible threat and while he is terrifying on a personal level, we never see him at his full power; for apparently being the most powerful "witch" in the isles, his magic doesn't really stand out from what was seen before. And in King's Tide, he was just playing with Luz. He is ultimately brought down by his own hubris and misplaced trust, and an over-powered god child. Belos' defeat is thematically appropriate so it's not as egregious as Kiki's but it does fall into the category of "Easily Defeated." Obviously, we'll have to wait for the finale to see if that trend continues.

Belos' defeat by the Collector seemed to set them up as the new threat in town, that Belos, for all of his power, was ultimately nothing and the mysterious Collector is a force to contend with. But no, the Collector is largely kept in check by King. So Belos' defeat doesn't do anything for either character; we don't get any reaction from Belos about his centuries-long plan blowing up in his face and the Collector isn't even bad, just misguided. As for the misunderstanding between King and the Collector and their "new game"? I don't think the Collector will actually do anything that will have lasting damage, not while Belos still breathes.

And that's a common problem the villains in this show have, any attempt at interiority or psychological depth is explicitly rejected by the show (remember Kiki and her family, how she was worried about being disowned? Psyche! She'll drop everything for even a smidge of more power!) and the lesson seems to be "these characters have always been Evil and nothing will change that."

It can be fun watching villains go from intimidating to pathetic, but if that's all you do with them then it becomes boring fast, at least for me. Ultimately, I think the biggest problem with the villains is that you're supposed to take them at face value: Belos, Kiki, Odalia, are Evil for petty reasons and will do anything for power. Not all villains need to be nuanced with complex characterization but if all of your villains are just Evil all the time and the text explicitly does not want you sympathizing with them or even showing a different side to them, then that's just a wasted opportunity to flesh out your world with interesting characters.

#the owl house #toh critical #toh criticism #emperor belos #philip wittebane #kikimora #darius deamonne #odalia blight #toh collector #asks #long post

[moiravim]

I Miss When We First Met: Chapter 10

YN Potter falls in love with Draco Malfoy. Along with that, her relationship with her brother, Harry begins to fall apart as she was sorted into Slytherin. Will Harry find out about the relationship between his enemy and his sister?

IMWWFM: Masterlist

Neville hadn't talked to you for the rest of the school year. Harry was also ignoring you, and when he wasn't he was just talking about how evil you are.

No matter what you did, he wouldn't listen to you. "Come on, Harry! You know me better than anyone, you don't actually think I'm that bad..." You say, trying to get him to drop it and apologize.

But he doesn't. "Did Neville tell you something..?" You ask. Maybe It was because he knew about Draco. You didn't think your brother would really hate you just because you were sorted into a different house.

Harry's head immediately snapped to you as he asked; "What? What would he have told me?".

"It's nothing! It's none of your business. Can you please just talk to me?" You ask, tears almost filling your eyes.

"What did you do to him!" He yells at you, his stance getting defensive. You immediately ran off to your shared room, closing the door before making sure to lock him out.

You sobbed, letting all your tears out. You didn't cry often, so when you did you also let out the build up of tears.

You cried out, thinking about how everyone hates you. Both Harry and Neville. You had convinced yourself that Neville had been sending you letters during the summer.

You knew if he had been, the Dursleys would have been tossing them out. You told yourself that's what had happened, but deep inside you knew he was still mad at you.

You unlocked the bedroom door and laid back in your bed, immediately falling asleep. It was only 5pm, but you couldn't stand staying awake any longer.

You woke up to Harry being scolded by Vernon and Petunia. You had watched as your freedom slowly got more and more limited as the school year approached.

The door slammed and you heard the door lock both you and Harry in your room. "What happened..?" You ask, rolling over from your comfortable spot in bed.

"It's none of your business. Go back to bed" he responds, sitting on his bed. You looked over at him to see him intently staring at his owl.

You turned back around and closed your eyes, falling back asleep. The next day, The Dursleys had guests coming over and they told both you and Harry to stay in your room and to make no noises.

The two of you awkwardly walked back to your room, but when you arrived you saw a house elf jumping on Harry's bed.

He introduced himself as Dobby and said he had heard a lot about the two of you. You sat on your bed, trying to tune them out as he talked to Harry.

Eventually Dobby ended up getting Harry into trouble, causing a huge fit from the Dursleys.

They put bars up on your window, complicating things even more. "Any chance of us going to Hogwarts is gone now" You said, glaring at Harry.

"I haven't done anything! If it's anyone's fault it's yours" Harry snapped back. "What have I ever done? You're the one always getting us in the trouble!" I yelled back, my eyes filling with tears.

He rolled his eyes at you and you watched a blue, flying car come into view. You watched in disbelief as he got in the car, leaving you.

"Harry, what about your sister?" Fred said as he made eye contact with you. Your eyes started to water as you fidgeted with your hands.

"She can stay here. She'd just cause more problems at Hogwarts" He said with a harsh voice.

Fred and George gave each other a look, before George backed Fred up. "Yeah, YN. Get your things and come with us. Hurry!"

You got your things and we're forced to squish into the same seat as Harry.

He gave you dirty looks the whole time as you held in your tears. All of the sudden youth been so emotional, things have been too overwhelming.

Harry knew you almost never cried, causing him to believe you were doing it for attention and to get what you want. It only ain't good him more when you showed emotions.

And when he got mad you got more emotional, causing a cycle to form.

The rest of the time with the weasleys had been akward and you hadn't felt at home again until you had gotten back to the Hogwarts Express.

#draco x yn #draco malfoy #dracos sister #draco malfoy story #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy x slytherin!reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco x y/n #draco x reader #draco x you #draco x female reader #slytherin #slytherin!reader #harrys sister #platonic harry potter #harry potter x reader #harry potter fluff #harry potter #harry potter x sister!reader

[romanitas]

look at me go, it hasn't even been a month! we're back with (i think) the penultimate part of the spy au !! thanks to @perseannabeth who helped me figure out some plot points literally irl for the final stretch. there's always been a vague plan for the end, hopefully it lives up! also again available on ao3 if tumblr formatting screws up.

-

Annabeth hasn’t seen Percy for four and a half weeks. She’s been off the Jupiter Industries case for just as long, what with Luke Castellan’s involvement; they’re currently restructuring the plan forward. She’s not used to boredom, but she’s not sure she could consider it full boredom when her brain will not stop churning. She’s aware it’s usually a stomach churning, but no, in this case, her mind is on the go in a thousand different directions. She doesn’t feel nauseous or sick - just overwhelmed mentally, which as far as she’s concerned is one of the worst kinds. She’d rather be vomiting.

She’s back at her apartment - her real one. It’s nearly as empty as the fake one. She doesn’t keep a lot of things around, not wanting too many distractions on top of the fact that she feels like she spends very little time actually in it. The most personalization is an owl throw pillow with a matching blanket on the couch and a few architectural prints across her walls. It feels emptier than it ever has, and she cruelly imagines what it might be like if Percy came here. She really, really needs to stop thinking about him, but it feels impossible, because if she’s not thinking about him, she starts to think about Luke. And that’s worse.

She faceplants directly into the owl blanket with a groan and lays there, ignoring the wafting smell of her Korean BBQ takeout sitting on the countertop. This has been her life each day for the last week: different dishes but a very familiar static and face full of fluff, followed by dejectedly eating lukewarm food. And then she just gets mad at herself for being such a sad sack. She’s Annabeth fucking Chase. What the hell did Percy Jackson do to her?

Reyna checks in periodically. She sends minute updates, but not enough for Annabeth to start doing her own poking and prodding. Frank stops by a few times to make sure she’s eating, and she does welcome his company in an absent way. He brings some of the best takeout, but he knows all her favorites. He carries the conversation in directions that serve the best distractions.

“You should use this time to get out,” he says one day, dragging some naan through the rest of his curry. When Annabeth stares at him, he clarifies. “I mean, maybe think of it like a vacation? You never take a vacation. Do things you’ve always wanted to.”

She grumpily shoves her own naan into her mouth to avoid answering him. But maybe he has a point. Maybe she does need to leave the house more often, if only to refresh herself. To get back on her feet. It’s only a matter of time before they give her a new assignment, and she refuses to fall into distractions again next time.

She takes herself out. She ventures further than a ten block radius and tries a new Pho place she’s been wanting to check out. She looks up a current run of temporary exhibitions around the city, buys tickets for three of them. She makes a reservation for herself at one of the museum restaurants, uncaring that it’s definitely overpriced and she can get a burger down the block for half the cost. She is utterly determined to give herself a good, clean, solid break from her time with Percy, so she’s prepared for the next chapter. Whatever it brings.

Naturally, it’s at one of the exhibitions that she runs into Sally Jackson.

Annabeth isn’t sure she could have been caught more off guard by Luke. She turns the corner and nearly runs into the woman, but her instincts make her sidestep at the last second. She’s not fast enough to avoid eye contact, because Sally moves at the same time, an apology on her lips.

“I’m so sorry - Annabeth?”

Why is this her life? Annabeth freezes, and she can feel the guilt rain down on her like a tsunami. She’s very rarely caught off guard like this, but this warm, wonderful woman unnerves her in an unexpected way. She just assumed she would never see her again, another casualty of her break with Percy.

Despite it all, Sally offers her a small, tentative smile. “Hi,” she says, tone infused with that very same warmth Annabeth knows she doesn’t deserve.

She swallows. “Hi,” she replies, weakly.

Sally reaches out to give her arm a gentle squeeze, and Annabeth nearly combusts on the spot. But the older woman can sense her discomfort, because she pulls her hand away just as quickly and sighs. “Will you get a coffee with me?”

Every single part of her is telling her to say no; every rational, logical piece of her being knows this is a bad idea, but there’s a quiet desperation that wins out against her better judgment, and Annabeth nods mutely. Sally smiles again, then walks them both towards the museum cafe. She orders Annabeth’s coffee exactly the way she likes it and orders herself a chai latte. By the time they sit down at the table, Annabeth’s nerves are shot, so she just wraps her hands around the cup and takes a sip, burning her tongue immediately. She winces, and Sally offers her a napkin.

“Percy told me you broke up.”

Annabeth almost laughs, hollowly. There’s no way he would have told her anything - Percy might have been royally pissed at her, but he’s also not cruel, and she knows he wouldn’t jeopardize her by spilling all the beans to his mother. He also wouldn’t want to put his mom in danger. Instead, her shoulders sink, and all she can do is nod once.

“He didn’t really tell me why,” Sally continues, wringing her hands around her own cup. She gets a thoughtful wrinkle in her forehead that looks so much like her son Annabeth almost flinches. “He said it wasn’t his place to share your history, but he did tell me you lied about a lot.”

She doesn’t know if hearing that from Sally is worse than her whole exchange with Percy a month ago. She doesn’t say anything, but her lack of answer is its own confirmation.

“My son is everything to me,” she says, and Annabeth prepares to be reamed out. Why wouldn’t she be? She just broke this woman’s son’s heart, and they’re two of the kindest, best people she’s ever met. “And I have never seen him so miserable.”

It’s not yelling, but it might be worse for real this time. Which is why the next thing Sally says is the most surprising part of all.

“I think he misses you.”

Annabeth’s head whips up so fast, and she says the first thing since her awkward greeting, which isn’t much more articulate. “What?”

It’s Sally’s turn to be quiet, again looking thoughtful as she finally takes a sip of her own drink. “I’m only telling you this because I know he was happy with you. Happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. And I know what he’s like now. I’m not going to ask you what happened. I know you hurt him, deeply, and I know maybe it’s not my place to sit here with you and tell you all of this. I know maybe things have been damaged too greatly. I know it’s his life, not mine. But what I want to ask you anyway is if you want to fix it, and if you still love my son.”

Annabeth’s eyes well up. She can’t answer this one with a nod. It’s everything she’s been trying to push away, the impossibilities of Percy chasing her down more harshly than Luke in the alleyway. “I love him,” she admits, and saying it aloud to someone else nearly knocks the wind out of her. “But I don’t know if I can fix it. I really, really hurt him, and there are parts of it that feel too broken.”

She shouldn’t be sharing this with Percy Jackson’s mother, but there isn’t another person who’s spoken to her about Percy specifically like this. A person who prioritizes Percy the way he should be, no matter what her own stupid heart and head are doing. Frank worries about her, but she’s the one who needs to grovel, and Sally will always, always put her son first.

Sally takes another sip, watching her carefully over the brim. She’s never felt more scrutinized in her life, and she’s a goddamn spy. Annabeth’s been alone for a very long time, and those months with Percy and his friends and his family were the closest she felt like a real, normal person in a long time. But she isn’t normal. She can’t just slip into a real architect’s life and become a new Annabeth Chase.

“Are you willing to try?”

She’s taken aback by the question and the way it connects to her thoughts, and she’s sure the surprise is on her face. “I don’t think he wants me to. It should be his choice, not mine.”

Sally hums. “Will you give me your address?”

“He’s not going to come to my house.”

“It’s for me. Not him. I won’t give it to him.”

She hesitates. She’s unlisted for a reason, her residence deeply under wraps. She still gets mail, of course, and it’s not like she lives there most of the year. But then she stubbornly takes the receipt from the drinks, scribbles the P.O. box on the back before she can second guess herself, and slides it back over. “Can you memorize it and burn it?” she says teasingly, trying not to feel ashamed of joking about it.

Sally slides it into her pocket. “I’m giving you a chance now, because I love my son and I want his happiness more than anything else, but I can see you're in just as terrible a state as he is. I wanted to see for myself, after I realized it was you.” She lifts her drink again, and Annabeth’s not sure if the pause for dramatic effect is intentional or not. “This is not forgiveness. It’s not my place to give it. This is me having a conversation with you, because you’re a very smart, put together woman who has spent a significant amount of time with Percy.”

Annabeth doesn’t feel very put together at the moment, but she’s hardly going to interject.

“And above everything, Percy is my son.”

It’s not a threat, but it almost feels like one. In lieu of another response, Annabeth takes a cowardly sip of her coffee.

“Thank you, for having coffee with me,” Sally says, and it sounds like a goodbye. Like this might be the last thing they ever say to each other. They sit in silence for a few more minutes, finishing their drinks, and it’s Sally who leaves first. She climbs to her feet in a cool movement and adjusts her bag before giving Annabeth a nod, then walks away from the table.

Annabeth sits there for another thirty minutes, though what she spends it thinking about, she doesn’t really remember.

-

Three days later Annabeth receives a package in the mail, with Sally’s return address. She holds the box in her hands and doesn’t really know how to process it. She sets it on the kitchen island and stares at it, afraid of opening it for stupid reasons. Watching it out of the corner of her eye, she heats up a box of frozen mac and cheese, then reaches for a steak knife to slice open the packing tape as the microwave beeps.

Inside she finds a dozen chocolate chip cookies, wrapped up neatly in a transparent blue bag. Underneath them is an envelope, which she nervously lifts and carefully opens. There’s a note inside, and what looks like two tickets to - to an aquarium. Not just any aquarium, the one where she met Percy - or rather, where she orchestrated her meeting of Percy. Puzzled and sad all at once, she reads the note in Sally’s loopy writing.

Annabeth,

I bought these for you both a month ago. I’m giving them to you alone now as a final gift from me to you, and I hope you use them. Use the time to think about everything. Don’t try to return them.

Perhaps one day we’ll see each other again. Take care.

Sally

#percabeth #annabeth chase #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #i still don't know what the kids are using for tags anymore #it used to be just the first five would show up??? but i don't think it's like that anymore????? #tomato writes #spy auing

[ordinaryschmuck]

Why I Love The Owl House-Part One: The Characters

Salutations, random people on the internet who are already skimming past this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Back in 2018, when The Owl House was announced, I didn't think much of it. I looked at the teaser poster and knew that it would be a show that would gain a following, but I didn't think it'd appeal to me specifically. Then, in January 2020, just before the world made an oopsie, I saw that Disney Channel uploaded the show's first episode on YouTube. Having finished my homework and studying at the time and having nothing better to do, I clicked it out of morbid curiosity to gain a first impression of this series. And I'm not kidding when I say that the second the episode ended, I said, out loud, to myself, "I think I just found my new obsession for the next few years."

Yeah, I went from thinking the show wouldn't exactly be my thing to being obsessed with it. And obsessed I was! I wrote fan fiction and reviews and even drew a handful of fan art you are NOT allowed to look up due to how bad it is. The Owl House, with no exaggeration, also changed my life as it gave me quite a decent following on Tumblr for thoughts and stories I've crafted regarding the show and even gave me a new friend or two to share those same thoughts and ideas together. One of my closest online friends is someone who once reached out to me as a proofreader for a fic I wrote once upon a time, and I probably wouldn't have talked to them if not for The Owl House. I owe so much to this series that I adore that to explain what makes it so great...can't be done with a single review. I even considered writing a long review after Season One ended but gave up on the idea after realizing there's so much to talk and praise about the series. And that was with Season ONE! That was before Season Two made the show more spectacular in nearly every conceivable way!

So, yeah, we're gonna have to do this in parts, each dedicated to a specific theme. However, before we discuss THIS review's theme, I should get one thing out of the way: I'm not just going to praise The Owl House in every single review. There are problems to be had with the show, and I can't ignore them because the praises are stronger. I love The Owl House. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't. But it's because I love it that I have to point out problems as they come because to truly love something means to take the bad with the good. And while there's a lot of good, there's still some bad worth mentioning.

With that said, let's finally begin by discussing the backbone of any series: The characters. And BOY, does The Owl House have a LOT of great, well-written characters, to the point where I initially considered that there wasn't a bad one in the bunch...I say initially because I finally woke up to how much I despise Tibbles (Yeah, wait until we get to him). Although, know that while discussing characters, we're not talking about one-offs like Bria and her lackeys in "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" or ones who weren't named in the show, like Amelia and Cat. We're focusing strictly on frequent players and fun side characters that nail the short time they appear. And we're also going in order from my least favorite to my most favorite. And just know that this is in order based on how good they are as CHARACTERS and not as PEOPLE. There’s a difference, and I’ll be able to explain as I go.

Now, without further ado, let's begin this wild journey together with the worst character in the series.

(Also, be warned, this is going to be the LONGEST post you’ll ever read. The Google Doc is 33 pages long…)

Tibbles: Yeah, really no contest here.

Tibbles is, quite frankly, the only character that I consider inadequate. I get the idea the writers were going for: He's a secondary antagonist for lighter adventures amongst heavier ones. The problem is that type of character does not function for a show like The Owl House, a series where the writers were told they'd be cut for time while working on Season Two and having little time for lighter tales. Maybe if the show had enough room for twenty more adventures or if The Owl House had a slight lean toward episodic misadventures like Amphibia, Tibbles might have functioned better as a comedic villain that occasionally screws with the main characters for filler. But because The Owl House has so much to do and would eventually become a series with no time to do it, Tibbles becomes more annoying when he distracts from the plot. Fortunately, he's only in three episodes. Unfortunately, Tibbles never becomes as entertaining as he could have been. He has one good capitalism joke, and that's all the good I can say about Tibbles. Let's move on…

Jacob: Another secondary antagonist that would have worked better if the show had more time. Maybe make him a constant threat (read: annoyance) to Vee or the rest of the Hexsquad while they're stuck on Earth. Instead, he's nothing more than a one-and-done threat who makes a singular cameo in the best episode of the series ("Thanks to Them"). At least Jacob being a crackpot conspiracy theorist is kind of funny. Otherwise, he'd be lower than Tibbles.

Perry Porter: He has next to NO character. Barely even a scrap.

He’s the father of one of our primary characters, and Perry has NOTHING going for him other than that and being a reporter. At least he’s not annoying.

The BATs: Yeah, might as well lump these three together because they started off making you think they'd do SOMETHING, only to have very little to do with the plot, with only one of them having a definite personality (It's Amber, and I love her).

Katya's kind of fun as this weird fanfic writer who has a hint of appreciation of showmanship, given how she very clearly wrote Raine's speech. But then you also have Derwin, who's so forgettable that I know for a fact that you had to Google his name to remember who Derwin is. These three are a mixed bag of sometimes being fun yet forgettable, to the point where I don't blame the writers for forgetting their existence when it came to the rest of the series. A shame, really, because there could have been something interesting to explore with this secret resistance organized by Eda's ex. The problem is, just like Tibbles, there's not enough time for characters like the BATs to flourish. They're missed potential, sure, but that doesn't make them bad. Just less than remarkable members of this very extensive cast.

Gilbert and Harvey Park: Have slightly more personality than Perry with Gilbert having more of a playful and laidback side to him and Harvey being the more serious and worried of the two. You can see glimpses of this through the little details like Willow falling onto Gilbert in that swinging memory in “Understanding Willow.” Gilbert laughs with Willow while Harvey looks a little worried. That’s sweet. They balance each other out.

Also, they’re gay, and gay characters are always better. It’s why they’re a step above the BATs. NEXT!

Warden Wrath: He has the same problem with Tibbles and Jacob, where Warden Wrath is a secondary antagonist in a show that doesn't really have the time for him to be as effective as he COULD be. What makes him BETTER is that Wrath is at least funny. Like, the man chopped off Eda's head and then asked her out. That's humor, baby.

Also, he's a good dad to Braxus, so...you know.

Though I will admit, I'm surprised how little a role Wrath played in the show. In "A Lying Witch and a Warden," he gave off main antagonist energy with his look and menacing demeanor. Turns out he's just a throwaway character, and that's for the best. He doesn't overstay his welcome, never distracts from the plot, and has a few hilarious lines and moments. Not the strongest threat or character, but decent's good enough for me.

Kikimora: I might be the only person who doesn't hate this little gremlin, and even I have to admit she's not that great.

Don't get me wrong, I adore how insane she acts and how obsessive she can be in wanting to beat Hunter, specifically. She has a lot of fun moments and, weirdly, looks adorable when not wearing a cone of shame. She has her fun moments...but fun enough to be a recurring antagonist throughout the series? To the point where the characters have boss fights with her in three prominent episodes?

I...don't think so. I like Kiki just fine, but only in spades. Her voice can get grading after a while, and you do get sick of her obsession with the Emperor's coven given time. She's at least funnier than Wrath, though. I will ALWAYS stand by that. But that's not enough to get her higher.

Adrian Graye: He's yet another secondary antagonist that would have benefited from more time...I'm noticing a theme here.

Eh. Either way, this guy's great. His whole schtick is being a bad and nitpicky director, and that's funny to me. It's what I would expect from the head of the Illusions Coven, who are witches best defined as ones with a sense of showmanship. Some might find Adrian annoying, which...yeah, he's kind of intended to be. But I get it. Not everyone would laugh at this guy as much as I do, and that's okay. Comedy is subjective, after all. My only complaint with Adrian is that we don't see more of him. He's too fun of a villain with an equally entertaining concept to be wasted as a one-and-done antagonist that resorted to only cameos in the future. Still, if the worst I can say about a character is that I want more of them, is that actually a problem?

Tinella Nosa: Also known as Dana Terrace's self-insert. She's used primarily for comedy, and thank goodness for that. I don't know if I would have appreciated this character as much as I did if Tinella was best friends with the main cast or had some stake in the plot. In fact, the one plot and subplot that feature Tinella in a prominent role was some of the worst the show has ever had. Thankfully, she's mostly a character for random comedic bits, and I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Barcus: Another character whose primary purpose is to be funny. At least Barcus is a dog that radiates stoner energy, giving him a ton more bonus points.

Braxxus: ALSO a comedic character, but is only better because the joke's funnier. I mean, Braxxus is just a character who's a little toddler that looks and sounds disturbing. How can you NOT laugh at that?

Eberwolf The Huntsman: Quick aside: Was anyone going to tell me that Eberwolf was apparently a man, or was I supposed to find that out for myself? I mean, shame on me for assuming genders, I guess...But I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one on that.

Anyways, Eberwolf is fine. In the short time he's in the show, Eberwolf offers great humor by being this feral little rascal that primarily annoys Darius. Not much to say other than that, and I doubt having more time would benefit Eberwolf. He really does scream "Comedy Relief" to me, and sometimes being entertaining is enough. Not everyone needs depth.

Boscha: Speaking of depth, I will forever stand by my claim that Boscha worked better as a one-dimensional bully than a three-dimensional one. Sure, three-dimensional bullies can be interesting because it leads to us learning why they do their harsh acts and that there are reasons why they're bad kids...However, that's why we have Amity. And for a redeemable bully like HER to work, you need an irredeemable one to show up to prove that not every little s**t can be better with time. Some are just sadists for no reason. And that's where Boscha comes in as a bully that knows full well she's hurting people but doesn't care because her only justification is that they deserve it. Why? Because Boscha believes she's better than them. That inflated ego makes her the perfect mirror of what Amity could have been and causes Boscha to be the best rival to Willow. Willow starts off with confidence issues, where even though she gains more of a boost thanks to her friends, there's still lingering self-doubt in the back of her brain. Boscha lacks that. She may do some affirmations to her reflection, similar to what Willow does in "Any Sport in a Storm," but while Willow briefly second guesses herself, Boscha says every word as if she knows its universal truth. So when these two go up against each other, it's great because it allows Willow to prove that she IS the best while proving that Boscha's the worst. It was perfect, and it's why I had no issues with Boscha remaining one-dimensional...But then the writers had to SCREW IT ALL UP!

Now, don't get me wrong. Revealing that Boscha had codependency issues with Amity and Boscha's other friends is interesting. There's just one problem: They introduce this idea in the second to last episode of the series. There's next to no time to fully flesh it out, leaving Boscha with a character arc that feels both forced and rushed. It might have been better if this idea had been established from the beginning instead of using most of that time writing Boscha as a one-dimensional bully with no depth to her. I still say she's entertaining, but maybe the writers tried TOO HARD with her.

Matt Holomule: But sometimes, it's better to try for a character that used to be the most universally hated.

How in the hell did I go from hating this little stink rat to being genuinely entertained by him? He's not my favorite or anything, but, like...compare Matt's first appearance with his last. He was an insufferable little prick who caused problems for Luz and Gus all because Matt wanted power and drama. That's it. Just those two things: Power and drama. Yeah, those are not great motivations for a character.

In fairness, it was clear we were supposed to hate Matt, and humor comes from watching him fail miserably. The problem is that he didn't do it enough, and while I'll laugh at the little stink nugget getting messed up at the end of "Something Ventured, Someone Framed," Matt still won by the end of the day, getting everything he wanted. He just got a little messed up along the way, is all. So while the idea is there, it's not strong enough to make the character entertaining.

But then the writers decided, "Hey since we're not going to try with Boscha, let's try SOMETHING with Matt." And it worked! "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" showed why Matt was such an insufferable, slimy weasel because he attended a school where the more powerful received more respect. Matt never got that in his old school, so he tried again in his new school, looking for power and drama because it's all he knows. Then by "For the Future," not only is the guy actually competent, but he's hilarious through false bravado and not being smart enough to know that he's been crushing on a robot. It's a huge improvement...but only from a character that makes three primary appearances and sucks with one of them. A character who's decent two-thirds of the time isn't too bad, but that still doesn't make him high up on my list, where characters are better for far more than that.

Viney: Or a character that has a better vibe despite...barely having anything to work with.

Viney...is insane. She dumps friends over the tiniest of misunderstandings and uses her griffin as an assistant for everything. She's clearly not well in the head...and that's what makes her entertaining.

Vine is a looney nut who might be unaware of her crazy actions. It's good fun, but the problem is that there's not enough of it. Like Matt, Viney has very few prominent moments in the series, and you can tell she's not as entertaining as she could have been. If the writers went all the way with her insanity or made her a character that's the textbook definition of "zero chill," you can bet Viney would be one of my favorite characters. As is, her craziness is only...a scrap of what could have been a great personality. I like her, don't love her.

Jerbo: Jerbo's higher because he has more of a well-defined personality. And he wasn't instantly unlikable, so...

And that really is all there is to say about Jerbo. He's fun as a fearful boy down on his luck and has a bit of intrigue with how he wanted to change the coven system forever. And he does, which is honestly pretty cool. Still, not a lot to make him higher.

Owlbert: Hey, look! It's a character that had a ton of prominent appearances in Season One and was all but forgotten in every season after!

This is a shame because Owlbert is one of the two palisman in the series that feels like a genuine character. The others are cute (my favorite is a tie between Ghost and Stringbean), but Owlbert, for a few episodes, felt like a prominent member of the cast with his loyalty to Eda and the connection formed with Luz. In fact, he and Luz had such a great connection that, for a while there, I assumed the show would do a thing where Eda passed down Owlbert to Luz as a form of passing the torch from the master teacher to the master student. But that didn't happen, which I can be fine with because Stringbean's perfect, and I will not hear any argument about it.

Still, it's weird how Owlbert showed up a fair amount of times in Season One, even having an entire episode dedicated to him, only to be forgotten and discarded by the time Season Two rolled around. And I know someone who'll be mad about that.

Bat Queen: And she's a character that had her own kind of potential only to be forgotten in Season Two. Only in this case, I'm willing to be more forgiving toward Bat Queen. It sucks that we'll never fully know who her owner is, but that always felt like a minor story beat for someone who wasn't that major of a character. Or, at least, someone who never had TIME to be a major character. The Bat Queen had intrigue as a discarded palisman who dedicated her life to looking after abandoned ones, but someone like her doesn't really have a place in the grander story of the show. Plenty of characters in the series have good reasons to have their stories continue or their personalities develop, whether having close ties with a main character or having a narrative purpose. Bat Queen doesn't really have either of those things, so it's why I'm not someone who’s losing sleep at night just because she has this engaging backstory brought forth but never followed up on. I'd still like to see it, but I always knew that after hearing Disney shortened the show, it was always going to be the Bat Queen's story that would fall on the cutting room floor. Missed potential for sure, but at least we had an interesting character for a short while.

Odalia Blight: And the winner for the worst mother of the year goes to--Yeah, I know. An easy joke to make. But I can't help it! It's always served on a silver platter!

Anyways, Odalia's the worst. Yet that's what makes her the best, funnily enough. She's the most snobbish snob that's ever snobbed while having zero respect for other people, least of all her family. You hate her with every fiber of your being, and you cannot wait to see her fail miserably despite trying so hard to reach the top. And Odalia absolutely is a character one loves to hate. She called Amity and her friends into the office and soon scolded Amity for not being in class. It is a challenge to make someone that kind of entertainingly despicable, yet the writers nailed it. However, they might have worked too hard to make us hate Odalia and not enough to deliver her just desserts.

I have no problems with Odalia being an awful mother, wife, and overall person throughout the show. I figured it was only a matter of time before she got hit in the face with SOME karma that would make it all worth it. Sure, it was nice to see her bend to the whim of a literal god that craved pizza bagels, and I do love that Belos, who values life less than her, didn't even want to use Odalia as his meat puppet. Still, she deserved worse. After everything Odalia did and the bridges she burned, it would have been nice to see either Amity or Camila knock her lights out for being a terrible mother. Hell, we even saw Kikimora doing community service and grunt work after her crimes, so it would be fitting to see Odalia right there with her. Or giving her SOME punishment other than making the last time we see her being Odalia standing off to the side and acting like she doesn't care that she lost everything. And that...doesn't feel right. After everything Odalia's done, we, the audience, and her family, deserve to see Odalia receive the worst punishment she had coming to her. Maybe not death or even going to jail. But SOMETHING is better than nothing. She was entertaining, but being so goes only so far without a proper failure.

...But at least she's hot. I know that's out of left field...but we all know it's true...Camila's still hotter, though.

Gwen Clawthorne: ...At least she's a better mother than Odalia?

Alright, I might be the only person who doesn't hate Gwen like others in the fandom, just like with Kikimora. But unlike Kiki, Gwen has much more to like...at least to me. Yeah, her falling for scams isn't great, and realizing the error of her ways could have been done better if not...quickly paced, but I don't mind her. Upon her introduction, it's clear that Gwen wants to try and help Eda with a vile curse. She may have been a bit hostile with her wording, but we soon learn that the curse not only turns Eda into a savage beast but one that clawed Gwen's husband's eye out and ruined the family business that's been around for generations. You can't really blame Gwen for being...agitated about the curse. Or wanting to try anything and everything to cure it. Yes, Eda's curse is often used as an allegory for a chronic illness. And a pretty decent one at that. But sometimes, with a story, you have to remove the allegory from what's shown, and doing so helps you gain more of a perspective for why Gwen reacted the way that she did. Was it right? Well...Not really. I guess she could have seen sooner that she should have been there for Eda instead of scaring her off, not to mention the damage Gwen caused in her debut appearance, but Gwen was at least quick enough to come around and realize what she did was wrong, and APOLOGIZE. Most parents like her won't be that easy, obviously, but another thing about fiction is that you have to realize that it's...fiction. Not everything equates to real life, and you should accept a character's choices and actions if it suits the story. Not many kids can do that, sure, and that's where the hesitation fits, but I think Gwen's kind enough to prove that she's worth believing in. She still spent years trying to help Eda, even if it was misguided, and was ready to kill the guys scamming her. Gwen is not a bad person. Her heart's mostly in the right place despite the troubles she caused, and I'm willing to bet she learned her lesson in the end. Just listen to her speech to Eda (and a little to Lilith) near the end of the episode. That's a mother's imperfect love if you ask me.

Masha: Admittingly, there's not much to them. Masha's a solid character. They have tidbits of personality as someone who's into the grim and horrifying but has a good sense of humor about things when they laugh off reading Vee an accurate fortune by saying she needed bath bombs or humorously sum up Belos' backstory about him being upset that his brother got a hot witch girlfriend. Plus, there's the genuine representation of having Masha be non-binary but still comfortable dressing and looking feminine. From what I've learned, being non-binary doesn't mean sticking to a gender-neutral style. Some like to look feminine, while others are fine appearing masculine, and it's cool for The Owl House to represent that through Masha. I only wish there was more about them. I could go on and on about most of these characters, but for Masha, there's not enough to go off of. It really is the good vibes and representation carrying them, but that's not much to complain about if you ask me.

Skara: SKARA IS THE BEST GIRL!

What's that? She barely has much of a consistent personality and is an over-glorified background character, if anything else? Well, too bad, because she's the best girl.

Honestly, I don't know why I love Skara so much. She hardly has any character to her, but something about her is just so gosh darn endearing. I'm telling you, sometimes a character can be entertaining by having a good vibe alone.

Steve: THIS MOTHER F**KER, however, had NO RIGHT being as entertaining as he was! Nor how popular!

Steve. F**king STEVE! All he had was one or two lines in a less-than-stellar episode, yet the fandom ADORED this mother f**ker! And, yeah, they were funny lines, but not "OMG, best character EVAH" levels of funny! But sure enough, people loved him! So the writers brought him back, and gosh dang it, he's so endearing! He's the most chill and reasonable character in the entire show! He gave King insight into who he was in one of the biggest character moments in the series! He's...NOT the golden god that I think people were picturing him as under that mask, but DAMN, is he still a handsome fella! He's so great, that I honestly wish he was in the show MORE! Gosh, DANG IT!

"If you love him so much, why are you acting angry about it?"

Because it's FUNNY!

"No, it isn't."

Yes, it is! Moving on!

Terra Snapdragon: Finally! Some good frickin' secondary antagonist!

Terra is why I hoped the series would dive deep into the other covenheads, primarily the clearly evil ones. This woman radiated supervillain energy as someone who seemed super sweet but would kill you with zero hesitation. And we learn in the flashback episode that Terra was somehow more bloodthirsty, having zero care for the lives of others, least of all children. The woman was despicable, and it was a treat seeing her return when she did. And, unlike Odalia, Terra had a proper amount of punishment. Sure, it sucks that she slinks away in the finale, but her forced to play pretend with the Collector while in an outfit that...did not work on her is pretty decent karma for someone who saw others as below her. Plus, she at least turned into a puppet for being too big of a big mouth, which is more than what Odalia got. I'd prefer if Terra had MORE punishment, but who knows? Maybe she went to jail or...tripped and snapped her spine off-screen.

If anything, my only complaint was that Terra wasn't in the series more. Make HER the main threat in "For the Future" instead of Kikimora and Boscha. THAT would have been fun. Regardless, she's entertaining enough as is, even if more screen time would have made her better.

Principal Bump: This man deserved more love...He said, while still leaving Bump below several characters.

For real, though, Bump deserves more credit, even from me. He's the school principal in a children's animated series, but instead of making him the demonic, overbearing dictator, the writers made him...the exact opposite. If anything, Principal Faust is more of what I would expect as a cold, careless, and horrifying hater of fun and children. Thankfully, that's not Bump. The man may be strict and have no problems throwing a kid into a detention pit, but he still cares about the safety and well-being of his students. Hell, he loves his students. Even with trouble-makers like Luz, Gus, and Willow, Bump can't help but cry because he has fond memories about the three of them and the trouble they caused. And while he can be dead-set in some ways, Bump is still willing to admit when he made a mistake and chooses to correct it, like in "The First Day" by letting the Detention Kids pick multiple tracks to study from. He's kind and reasonable, and that's what's to love about him. Plus, Bump's got some Grade-A snark on him. Some of the show's funniest and most quotable lines come from his dry remarks, and it's partially why he's bumped (ha) up so high. As I said, Bump deserves more love...It's just unfortunate that there are more entertaining characters than him.

Lilith Clawthorne: Admittedly, Lilith would not be up this high if she remained the person she was in Season One. Back then, Lilith wasn't the worst. She functioned nicely as a foil to Eda's wild side and had a great design for a secondary antagonist. The problem is that Lilith was a little boring, her motivations weren't made clear until the finale for the sake of a twist, and that same twist REALLY hurt her character...for about a week until everyone was quick to forgive and forget after a poorly paced redemption. And that's another fault of Lilith: Her redemption. She cursed Eda, ruined the family, ostracized Eda from society, hunted her down for YEARS because of blind faith in a man playing her like the cheap-ass kazoo that she was, and it all got wiped away almost instantly. Granted, there is one asterisk to this: It was all an accident...Sort of. 

Lilith did mean to curse Eda but didn't intend for it to last as long as it did. And you at least get a sense that Lilith feels some remorse for doing so, even stopping their first duel together the second Eda brought up the curse. The problem is that she doesn't feel enough, still treating Eda as lesser than her despite the two of them being close and Lilith supposedly feeling guilty about cursing her. And, again, it feels like everything got resolved too quickly. I accepted everyone is quick to say, "Everything's good for now" in "Young Blood, Old Souls," but only because I expected Lilith to get dragged through the coals in Season Two. But she didn't. She was quickly treated as one of the gang, and Eda did nothing but jokingly remind Lilith that she cursed her. You do that after years of getting over something, not after a week. So, as a redeemable antagonist, Lilith might as well get a C-...Thank goodness she became an entertaining character, regardless of that.

By Season Two, Lilith becomes an almost different character. Better yet, she becomes what I wanted Viney to be: Bats**t insane. Lilith is violent enough to tell Philip that he better be digging his own grave and punches him in the face without hesitation, ecstatic about banisters and having barnacles on her head, and willing to devote her whole life to an eight-year-old and perform blood sacrifices in his honor. The woman lost her mind, and I was all there for it. Even then, though, she still had a bit of intelligence, being hesitant to trust Philip after seeing some similarities to Belos and studious enough to figure out glyph combos herself. It's just that now because there are fewer worries and fears about keeping an image and being the best, Lilith can let go of inhibitions and go nuts. Her redemption could have used a lot more polish, but being so dang entertaining in Season Two is what made Lilith a character I couldn't care about to one I was excited to see when I could.

Alador Blight: Wish I could say the same about this guy...

I think I love the idea of Alador much more than his execution. Upon his introduction, he's presented as the lesser of two evils between him and Odalia, with Alador being easier to talk to without threatening to kill anybody and trying to find compromises that could stow Odalia's fire when she becomes unreasonably angry. Initially, one could assume that he's on the same agenda as hers, only to later find out that Alador's being mistreated too, with Odalia working him to exhaustion, too tired to even notice his children's problems half the time because he's too busy working for Odalia to the point where he never even took a sick day. In Season Two, this lines up with a lot of his behavior. It's why he acts so scatterbrained and unsure of what to do in most appearances. Or the way he tries to tell Odalia they've demonstrated enough with the Abomiton and how he forces a compromise by making Odalia stick to her word and sneakily tell her that being with friends makes Amity stronger, and how he promises to Amity to let Odalia back down in "Reaching Out." If you look solely at how he acts in Season Two, I believe it's pretty decent character work/development, showing a man who loves his kids but can't be the father he wants and needs to be because of his overbearing wife...However, there is ONE moment that spoils everything.

Yeah, that one. This is the scene that everyone points back to when discussing Alador's change of heart and whether or not he earns Amity's love despite it. He's very clearly on Odalia's side in this argument, being just as cold as her. Some argued that because this memory came from Amity as a kid, she might misremember the details and misconstrued how Alador acted that day. Even his silhouette seems different from how he looks in the present, and I was willing to agree because I remember days when my parents got a LITTLE mad, and it was the scariest thing in the world. However, not only would you be surprised how more traumatic experiences stick with kids, but the show makes it very clear that memories inside one's mind recreate things to the exact detail. Sure, there's the fact that it's Amity's recollection in Willow's brain, which, as far as we know, isn't as perfect as a picture. But The Owl House never explicitly establishes how weak a witch's memory could be while already inside a memory. It's a very weird distinction to make but necessary to prove that Amity's memory isn't as exact as it looks. Although, if you want explanations, I have some of my own. One realistic, another analytical, and one argumentive.

Realistically...this is a retcon. The writers had a new idea of what to do with Alador and realized, too late, that they had to make changes to his character for it to work. Changes that go beyond a scene where all we see is his silhouette. And when a retcon's made, it's sort of a team effort between the writers and the fans to explain how it works, with the writers providing the information and the fans analyzing previous scenes to see how it holds up. And after writing about how he's under Odalia's abuse and manipulation, here's where the analysis comes in.

Alador works so much and dismisses his kids because, if he doesn't, Odalia will have the kids do work for him. Not wanting to let them go through what he does, Alador reluctantly goes along with what she demands, only getting her to back down when he sees an opportunity, like in "Escaping Expulsion." Unfortunately, just like that episode, he's still on her side most of the time, doing what she wants and saying what SHE thinks is right even if he probably doesn't want to. Because if he doesn't, he and his kids are in WORSE trouble. That day, when Alador scolded Amity, might be a day when he felt like there was no other choice because Odalia left no room to back down and was forced to do and say what she wanted.

Plus--and here's where I get argumentive--We forgave this:

Granted, there are some arguments against this as well, one I'll get to when talking about Amity. For now, I will say there are three reasons why we're willing to forgive Amity: One is that she's a kid. People are more willing to forgive a child's behavior because they can outgrow it and become better. People have this idea that adults can't do the same thing, that they should already know better...even though adults rarely do, and they could live up to seventy while still unaware of how their behavior is wrong. Number two is that we spend more time with Amity, learning how much she regrets her actions and proving how she'll work hard to be a better person despite them. We can't have that with Alador because the show has to do so much and has very little time to do it. Some corners can be cut, and Alador was one of them. Thirdly, and this is the one I can't argue against, people understand Amity's plight because they WERE Amity. They've had experience with neglectful and abusive parents, and that experience beats any argument a person has. It doesn't matter if you, me, or anyone else argues that Alador isn't badly written. THOSE people, the ones who had an Alador of their own, will always feel uncomfortable by how the writers made him because those people know not every parent is like him, and they don't want kids thinking THEIR parents are the same. I mean it when I say I can't argue against that because that's a fair reason to not like a character.

Personally, I like Alador enough. At least, I like the idea he represents. It's good to show that parents can be mistreated too, especially a father because not enough people take men getting abused in a relationship as seriously as women do. The execution is a little sloppy because of that one scene in Season One, but it doesn't bother me. It DOES, however, bother others, and for reasons I can't help but sympathize. I won't call Alador a bad character, but I won't stop others from disagreeing. But at least his kids are great (and, yeah, we’ll get to them).

Dell Clawthorne: Dell's kind of both a symbol and a character.

Symbolically, he's the physical representation of Eda's biggest regret. She blinded and crippled her father, ruining the family business in the process. But the sad part is that none of it was her fault. Yet Eda still blames herself, not even wanting to go and SEE Dell because the pain of knowing what she did to him is too great. He proves that Eda can turn into what she is afraid of becoming. Something that we see in her nightmare in "Watching and Dreaming." Something that no one wants to be: A monster. A monster that doesn't deserve forgiveness or love. A monster that should be locked away for the safety of the ones she loves. But the crazy thing is that Dell DOES love Eda. He DOES forgive her.

Dell has every right to be angry. He lost his eye and his job. Who wouldn't be angry after that? And maybe he was for a bit, but I doubt he was ever angry with Eda, let alone resent her for it. Instead, after years of her running away and never wanting to talk to him again, Dell only wanted to see his daughter again. His scene with Eda in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen," where he clarifies that what happened was tragic but still loves Eda despite it, is one of my favorite interactions between two characters in The Owl House. And trust me, that's a hefty list to get on.

Dell's time on the show wasn't long, but what he does gives a lot of substance to the show for a guy who probably has less than five minutes of screen time (I don't know, I didn't do the math). Maybe he could have offered more, but I'm glad with what we still got.

The Titan: The same goes for this fluffy individual. We only knew them for a short amount of time, but holy hell, did the Titan make the most of it. Even though, technically speaking, we knew them the whole time.

I don't think I've seen a show where the setting happens to be an essential character in the plot. I'm pretty sure everyone assumed the Titan was a corpse that our characters had adventures on, and that's it. Any idea that they were a being that could talk to others could get shot down because the only person to "talk" to the Titan was Belos. And with him being the serial liar that he was, any fan could assume that even talking to the Titan was impossible, and meeting them was even more so. Turns out it wasn't.

And the Titan, the powerful being whose corpse is big enough to form a landmass, also turns out to be a chilled-out individual. There are brief moments of seriousness and even nobility in their final moments, but for the most part, the Titan is just a laid-back, jovial person. Personally, I'm into god-like beings that are like that. Not one that's wrathful or vengeful, but kind and acts like someone you could, I don't know, have a beer with. Not that I drink beer, but...you know.

Granted, the Titan WAS a bit wrathful with how they treated the Collector, but they clearly feel bad about it after finally realizing the Collector meant no harm, and it was the Collector's SIBLINGS who did the dirty work. The Titan admitted to making a mistake, making them both a kind god and a humble one. It amazes me how much characterization was given to the Titan in how little time they were officially introduced in the show. There are characters who are better after having more time, but there are also ones who might just be worse. So I appreciate that they made the Titan so top-tier, even if making them nothing more than the Isles, and the show's setting, would have been more than enough.

Emira Blight: I will forever be grateful for the course correction that the writers took with Edric and Emira, not only making them great supporting characters instead of semi-antagonists like in "Lost in Language" but also giving them their own personalities that help them stand out instead of being exact copies like most twins in media. Unfortunately, Emira might be the least interesting Blight sibling.

THAT DOES NOT MEAN BAD! Just because Amity's more engaging and Edric's more entertaining, that doesn't make Emira a horrible character because of it. It just means that, comparatively, she's not as high as her siblings. With that said, Emira's still pretty fantastic as the only Blight with a functioning brain cell. She calls Edric out for his occasional stupidity, gives proper advice to Amity when she's freaking out, and has her thoughts together because Emira didn't work herself to exhaustion. It also makes sense why Emira's a healer. She's there to keep her family physically and emotionally safe, making sure Edric doesn't hurt himself or counseling Amity when things are too overwhelming. Not only is Emira the most sensible, but it might make her the glue that keeps the family together. But despite that, she's still playful, still mischievous. Except, unlike her brother, there's a more controlled intelligence behind the fun and games Emira pulls. It's a bit more subtle, but it's there. So, while she might be the weakest Blight sibling in terms of story value, Emira is still a great character in her own right, being a fun yet essential family member with that perfect older sister energy...Mainly because she's the older sister, but my point still stands!

Edric Blight: Ah, the one Blight sibling that proves how most of the brains went to Amity and Emira while he got only the scraps.

Edric is not smart. And that very fact leads to two kinds of entertainment. Firstly, it's funny seeing his dumbass stumble through life. He tried to eat snow, attempted to keep a wild bat as a pet, couldn't pick up a hint to save his life, and ended up in a full-body cast after a reckless rescue mission. The poor boy is a riot because of how dumb he acts, which leads to the second thing entertaining about Edric: He's aware of his lack of smarts and how others see him as "The Dumb One." It causes Edric to be a little insecure about his talents, despite having great knowledge of Beast Keeping and decent skills with Potions. It's as if the writers saw the fans' preconceptions about Edric and decided to do something with it. Unfortunately, they only did it for one episode because we're strapped for time, but that brief instant of character insight is what's to love about this show. We have so many characters to use and so little time that instances like Edric helping Eda and King make a potion is enough to be considered great character development for someone who could have easily been "The Dumb One" and nothing more. He was funny enough with that simple character trait, but one tends to appreciate when a show goes the extra mile, even if it's for one episode only.

Hooty: Oh, Hooty. Sweet, dearest Hootcifer.

At first, I did not like you. You were an annoying addition as comic relief, whose screechy voice only made me hate you more. But then something interesting happened. As time went on, you became less annoying and more endearing by nature. Having an eagerness to please others mixed with a constant ignorance of social cues made you quite humorous. Yes, quite humorous indeed. The laughs brought forth by things you have done and said were plentiful, and I was delighted by each appearance you've made.

And best of all, dearest Hootcifer, you've made Luz and Amity a canonical couple. In an episode that will be nearest and dearest to many fans' hearts, you have not only brought out beautiful development between King and Eda but also managed the most adorable display of young love to occur. A young love between two girls, no less, meaning this moment of spectacular representation for the LGBTQA+ community is all thanks to you, a character best described as a "bird worm." That is both mildly hilarious as well as incredible.

Unfortunately, dearest Hootcifer, your time on the show was not perfect. Whilst Season Two was you at your best, it took all of Season One for me and others to warm up to you. And by Season Three, with every other characters taking story prominence, there was nary any time for you, Hootcifer, to add anything of value. You hardly had any lines, nor did you manage to have any final words in the series finale. Other characters in the series had faced this injustice too, but it is extra ludicrous for you, Hootcifer. You were there since that very first episode, becoming the fourth member of the Owl House family. To think that your last line was only in the second to last episode, despite how much of an impact you've left on the others and the fans, it pains me that you were one of the few cheated out the most with that final season.

Regardless, despite everything, Hootcifer, you are a well-done character with humor and heart. Tis no wonder that the show is named after you, for you are worthy of such an honor.

...In short, Hooty is funny, endearing, and surprisingly grows on you. I have...no idea why I gave that sentiment across in such a fancy way, but oh well.

(He deserves it anyways)

Flapjack: *Sigh* Another loving bird...

Just like Owlbert, Flapjack's the only palisman with enough prominence in the series to feel like a character, but unlike Owlbert, the writers actually explore more with Flapjack. But that may be because his story is tragic.

It is heavily hinted that Flapjack is Evelyn's palisman, who also lured Caleb into the Boiling Isles and indirectly sparked DECADES worth of...bad stuff. And within that time, Flapjack lost an eye and an owner and spent so much of his life alone. That is until he met Luz...who then introduced Flapjack to Hunter.

It really was a solid expectation subversion that Flapjack chose Hunter as an owner. He had a kind and playful energy that matched Luz perfectly, but no. He wanted Hunter, possibly because he looked so much like Caleb. And not wanting to lose another Caleb, Flapjack seemed to make it his number one goal to help Hunter in every way possible. That's when it hits you why Flapjack is perfect for Hunter: He's what Hunter NEEDS. Flapjack may have worked well with Luz, but Hunter needed him more than she did. Hunter was all alone for most of his life and went through so much emotional and mental stress in his unfortunate existence. Then here comes Flapjack, cheerfully supporting Hunter in his interests and literally pulling him to people who will make him happy. Flapjack's basically a therapy bird if I've ever seen one. And it really was nice seeing the majority of the time he's spent in the series be dedicated to making someone else happy...because it makes his death all the more tragic.

All Flapjack wanted was to make Hunter happy, ignoring the fact for so long that being near Hunter was the biggest risk that Flapjack could have ever taken. The second Belos might see Flapjack, he'd be as good as dead due to Belos' need to feed off the souls of palismens and because of Belos' hatred for everything that Flapjack represents. Yet Flapjack still stuck it out and stayed by Hunter's side despite these risks. His death was all but inevitable, but it hurt all the same because while we knew, deep down, it would happen, we didn't WANT it to happen. But it did, and it stings that a bird that wanted to do nothing but good only paid a horrible price for his kindness. On the bright side, Flapjack died doing the one thing he did best: Helping Hunter. No, SAVING Hunter.

Flapjack was loyal to the end, and we all love him for it. And miss him all the same.

Darius Deamonne: Hey, look! It's another character that's important to Hunter! And this one is FABULOUS!

I'll forever be blown away by the expectation subversion the writers did with Darius. Upon his introduction, you think he would be this menacing secondary antagonist the characters would have to fight through in a final battle against Belos. That was definitely the vibe I got from the guy, with how menacing he acted and how he looked in his abomination form. Turns out, most of that was an act...Most of it. I'm willing to bet that he really was ticked off by whoever was screwing with him, and his annoyance was real with Ebberwolf. But by using what we NOW know, it's clear that Darius was playing SOME of his behavior up to make it convincing enough that he's on the Emperor's side in case any ears are listening in. Belos does have eyes and ears everywhere, after all...somehow. Plus, it makes the reveal that Darius is on the side of good all the more pleasant of a surprise. He's certainly less menacing, but not as a fault. Darius still has the same snark and agitation towards people who are more, let's say, foolish than him, just as Darius did in his first appearance. It's just that now he's more subdued because he's surrounded by people who Darius doesn't need to scare. Even when dealing with the Emerald Entrails, Darius acted cold but reasonable. And when actually TRYING to scare the kids, you can argue he wanted to further scare them away from joining the Emperor's Coven, showing them what type of person they'd be dealing with.

But the biggest surprise came when he turned out to be a decent father figure for Hunter. Unfortunately, we never get to see him as an actual father, but it's still sweet seeing Darius show Hunter the first amount of respect and care from an adult the poor boy ever got. Darius shows interest in Hunter's interest, respects his decisions, and encourages him to be a kid and not a soldier, likely because Darius knows full well where that leads for the previous Golden Guards. It warms the heart to see how much Darius cares for Hunter, getting worried when he's in danger and feeling joy when he's safe and sound. It's all great...and it SUCKS that Darius is one of the few screwed over in the finale. No final lines, just pure silence...and some shipping fuel between him and Alador. At least there were still moments of Darius showing he cares for Hunter, and they're both happy together. I didn't really expect much from Darius. He was already fun upon his introduction, but having him become this stern yet caring person was such an interesting twist that I can't help but admire more. It's not what I expected, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

Vee Noceda: That IS her last name, and I will hear NO SLANDER ABOUT IT!

...Anyway, Vee's a great character.

I am forever impressed by how great of an, yet another, expectation subversion Vee is. Everyone, including Luz, upon first seeing Vee, saw her as an evil doppelganger trying to steal Luz's life. I still remember the shock and fear I felt when first seeing Vee, worried about what this could mean for Luz and Camila. And then we got to know Vee...and I much prefer the character we got over an evil clone or whatever the popular theory at the time was.

Vee, quite possibly, might have the most tragic life out of everyone in the show. She was born in a cage, was treated as a lab experiment and nothing more, gained a ton of PTSD surrounding rats and cages, and likely never knew the feeling of a warm bed or a good home-cooked meal until meeting Camila. Vee's life was a nightmare before running away to the human realm, and after learning about all that, it makes her finding a home with the Nocedas, being a part of their family, all the sweeter. A friend of mine said that her plan was a LITTLE flawed because Vee didn't know whether or not Luz would return, but in fairness, Vee said that she didn't mean to keep the act up forever, but Camila was nice to her. Vee was operating off of emotions due to getting an inkling of what love feels like, even if Camila's motherly love wasn't for Vee exactly. And with the family she's found and the friends she made in the Human Realm, it's no wonder that she prefers a life there, graduating high school with Luz and having a form for herself to gain an identity of her own. It's amazing how much care and attention the writers put into Vee and her story...Especially since she's basically a minor character.

Yeah, it's crazy to think that a lot of this stuff that happens with Vee is for a character with a substantial role in TWO episodes. Honestly, I wish she had more and could have time to bond with Camila and Luz, showing how much of a happy family she's gained. But, even after "Yesterday's Lie" ended, I already assumed the odds of seeing Vee again in something big were NEVER to become a reality. The shortening of the series, leaving fans with only half a season and three specials, meant that the odds weren't in Vee's favor to grow and develop more than she already did. In a case like that, you have to learn to accept what you HAVE instead of complaining that you didn't get what you WANT. And as for what we have with Vee, it's still good and compelling stuff for a character that makes two appearances. Sure, the potential of a greater character is there for Vee, but for a minor character, she's still really great. Now, if she was a MAIN character, THEN it'd be an issue...Speaking of which.

Gus Porter: Ah, NOW we're getting to the important characters.

Gus is...probably the least interesting out of the main cast. That doesn't make him bad, mind you. I mean, look how far he's come in this list. It's just that, compared to everyone else, Gus felt as if he had less going on. While everyone else was dealing with trauma, family issues, and self-worth, Gus was always kind of...there. The worst part is that there are a lot of hints of there being more to him. He somewhat admits to Hunter in "Thanks to Them" that, while things aren't awful, Gus isn't happy. He missed his dad, and Gus was the first to break down and cry after "King's Tide." There's something there to explore, but because it's a season where so much is going on and there's little time to focus on everybody, Gus, unfortunately, gets the short end of the stick when dealing with HIS trauma. And there's not much going on with his family. There's no discussion of what happened with his mom or any animosity between Gus and his dad. They have a healthy relationship together. Which is appreciative, don't get me wrong. But it's NOTHING compared to Amity's issues with her parents, Eda's strained relationship with her sister and mother, and Luz's difficulty in getting her mom to understand her. The closest bit of intrigue we get with Gus and his dad is how bored and kind of annoyed Gus looked during the Grand Prix in "Eda's Requiem." There could be something to explore there, maybe talk about why Gus went with his dad even though he clearly wasn't having a great time. Unfortunately, this was during a season when the writers were told the series would get cut, and they had to rush to close up as many character arcs as they could before reaching the end, with Gus, again, getting the short end of the stick. Thankfully, the show does something about Gus' self-worth, showing his doubts as an Illusionist and some anxiety about being used by others for personal gain. It's engaging stuff, but it comes at the cost of Gus being overshadowed by an admittedly cute couple and the fandom's favorite white boy.

We definitely get a good amount where I say that Gus is an engaging character, but never enough to stand above the others. And that, right there, is why Gus is the least interesting in the main cast. There are great things about him to explore, but he's never given a chance to truly shine. Thankfully, Gus is still great in a supporting role, acting as the group's cheerleader and hyping them up to do something. Or how he acts as the little brother, having sometimes naive optimism and playfulness compared to everyone else. He's still a smart cookie who knows when to be serious, but it's clear that he's the second or third youngest in the cast, right next to King or the Collector. So, while Gus would have been even better with more time dedicated to him and him alone, that doesn't mean he's any worse of a character because of it. He's still endearing with how supportive he is, even if that makes him less interesting than his friends.

Speaking of which...

Willow Park: Willow...has a similar problem as Gus, but it might be a little worse. Because while Gus has entire subplots in episodes dedicated to him and his issues, Willow has consistently shared the spotlight with other characters throughout the series, where they get a lot of development, and she gets the scraps. To the point where fans talk more about the people Willow has a relationship with instead of Willow. She used to have a friendship with Amity? They latch onto AMITY'S side of things. Hunter's her boyfriend? They latch onto HUNTER'S side of things. In fact, I think people talk more about her BULLY than they do about Willow. Rarely does Willow get any attention in the fanbase and even in the series, which is a shame because she IS a solid character.

Willow's your typical shy girl who learns to gain more confidence. Only this one has more of a violent edge and seems more than capable of killing someone for hurting her but doesn't due to her self-confidence issues. Plus, instead of stretching out those issues throughout the entire series, Willow gains more confidence at the end of Season One. An annoying thing about shy girls is that they remain progressively so, getting better through inches instead of miles. With Willow, she gets over it pretty soon, to the point where I genuinely thought Willow didn't have much to do in Season Two because the writers figured her character arc was done. Which is a shame because even though her friends have more development than her, Willow is a great straight man to their antics. She's often remembered as a friend with the one functioning brain cell in the group, acting as the voice of reason when her idiot friends have a dumb idea. But she's still supportive of their ambitions and adventures because THEY were supportive of her. It's her way of paying them back. Willow just has a better idea of when to draw the line.

Plus, there is an interesting idea about Willow that the writers manage to explore beyond her shyness, even if it's not to as great of an extent as everyone else's development. You see, Willow has a problem processing trauma. In "Understanding Willow" (which ironically helps us understand Amity better), Willow states that it's best to hide away what's upsetting her while saying, "Out of sight, out of mind." Only for that to QUICKLY backfire as Amity takes things further by burning the very thing Willow only wanted to hide. They both learn it's better to confront the things that make them uncomfortable, gaining an understanding (ha) that you need to face your pain to heal from it. Except that Willow somewhat forgot that lesson in "For the Future," which showcased what makes Willow great. She's there to help her friends and their issues but ignores her own because she believes her friends’ are more important. All the girl needed was a good cry over her dads, but Willow instead repeated to herself, "Keep it in," not wanting to let her own problems overshadow everyone else's, which caused her emotions to grow more out of control. This side of her is an engaging idea, and it sucks that it's only been explored twice while her friends got more development. I'm willing to blame the shortening of the series for this one because there's no way she only had such a small role to play in the series upon conception. Willow acts as great support like Gus, but she could have been so much more. And that's a "What if" that's going to unfortunately be lost to time.

King Clawthorne: I have mixed feelings towards King, at least in the first season. I didn't hate him. It's just that, within Season One, King hardly had a direction. More often than not, he was the comic relief that went off doing silly things in the B-Plot while everyone else went on the real adventures. It led to entertaining bits, like gaining an army of sentient stuffed animals or using the Owl Beast as a tool to dominate the playground. But then there were times when they felt like an unnecessary distraction, like being an MC at Grom or being mistaken as a substitute teacher. And most of the time, it's all for the sake of an unrealistic goal. I could tell from the beginning that he would NEVER be the actual King of Demons, and it was just something the other characters played along with because even THEY knew it would never be a reality. So there was never anything King could add to the show besides humor, which he did well due to Alex Hirsch's hilarious delivery with a few jokes. If King stayed the same as he does in Season One, he'd go just above Hooty as someone entertaining with a few solid scenes of heart with the rest of the main cast, but nothing more than that.

...But then the writers decided to make King an actual character in Season Two.

King became more consistent and engaging in the series from "Echoes of the Past" to beyond. In most of the series before this moment, King always went back and forth as either a child, a pet, or an immature adult with delusions of grandeur. Post "Echoes of the Past," it's pretty clear that King's a child but one with a bit more maturity than others. He acts naive and has a definite need to be protected at all costs when he acts sad. And Alex Hirsch KILLS it when portraying King's youth, where the times King cries or gets emotional sounds like an actual kid rather than a grown man playing a kid. His delivery isn't just good for humor but for some amazing voice acting that surprisingly adds to the illusion. It's sort of like how John Roberts convinces me that Linda from Bob's Burgers is a New Jersey Mother in a way that's better than any voice actress ever could manage. Sometimes, you need to give in to the illusion.

As for what makes King engaging, that's where his purpose comes in. King wanting to become the King of Demons and have people bow down to him is...cute and results in some good humor. But King wanting to know what he is and where his Dad came from? Now THAT is a way to make someone invested in a character we already enjoyed. King was entertaining before, but seeing his struggles to find answers about his past and heritage was always endearing and helped you feel for the little guy. And when he finally DOES get answers, it cleverly gives King what he wanted in Season One: To be something that people would bow down to in respect and fear...and King doesn't want that anymore. After learning he's the last of his species, that his blood family is dead, and everything is falling down around him and his found family, King doesn't want to be the monster everyone fears. He just wants to be King and have things go back to normal. Or, HIS version of normal, anyway. It's pretty compelling to show King's growth as comic relief to an actual character by giving him everything he thought he wanted, only to practically refuse it. King is almost a completely different character by Season Two, and it really is for the best. Season One King wasn't too bad, but his Season Two self really gave him the boost he needed.

Raine Whispers: Raine is best defined as a pretty flawless character. At least, in my eyes, they are, as there's not really a bad thing I can say about them.

Upon conception, Raine was nothing more than a love interest to Eda...and that tracks. So much of Raine's development and story occurs when Eda is there, fawning over them and wanting to reconnect. Even their debut episode was more about Eda's issues and how Raine was there to guide her to the right path when it mattered most. They're very much a character severely connected with Eda and never had the chance to star in the spotlight instead of sharing it. A shame, really, since Raine organizing a resistance against Belos could be enough for an episode of its own, but, unfortunately, not the case for a series that got shortened. However, just because Raine's a character connected to Eda, it doesn't make them any less fun or engaging.

First and foremost, you GET why Eda is so in love with Raine. Where Eda is an agent of chaos, Raine is more for CONTROLLED chaos, willing to join Eda to cause some mayhem but in a way where they don't get caught or in trouble. And that's just them as kids. As an adult, Raine wants to destroy a militaristic dictatorship from the inside out, determined to keep the act going and fight literal brainwashing no matter how often they get caught. They're also pretty determined, fighting against Belos infecting Raine's brain and fighting with their last breath when Belos tried to get to the heart of the Titan. Because while Raine was one for chaos as a kid, they're still a good and caring person. Raine didn't want Eda involved so she wouldn't get hurt and MEANT their promise to Luz to make sure nothing bad happened to Eda during their mission on the Day of Unity. But on top of everything else: Raine is a charismatic dork, having enough charm to make Eda the Owl Lady blush but still having the dorkiest smile when announcing their crew's name is "The CATs." Raine is ALL these things, and the result is someone who's a blast to watch, even if they're simply Eda's love interest. They still add enough entertainment and drama, even if some of it, unfortunately, focuses more on the Eda side of things. Would I love more of a spotlight to shine on Raine? Of course. They're an outstanding character who unfortunately got put through the wringer, what with being physically tortured, used as Belos' meat puppet, and MAYBE groomed by Terra Snapdragon (That creepy witch). But when a character's conceived as a love interest, even if there's more to them, you gotta take the good moments when they're badass and awesome and appreciate when they contribute to the story on the sidelines as a supporting character than a leading one. At least they were right there to kill Belos and lived happily ever after, snuggling with Eda. Not too bad for a love interest, huh?

Oh, and Raine's also the first non-binary character in a kid's cartoon with a major influence on the characters and the plot. That's pretty cool too.

The Collector: Here we have a character that turned out WAY better than I imagined. I didn't admit it in the past, but I was a LITTLE worried that the writers would make The Collector like Bill Cypher: A chaotic god-like character who takes pleasure in treating others like his playthings. And The Collector IS that...but there's something that makes them a different yet intriguing character: The Collector's a kid. Yes, he's a kid who turned the Boiling Isles into their playground and the residents into toys, but they’re still a kid.

Upon our introduction of The Collector, we're given this idea that he’s a sick and twisted little gremlin who's just as excited as Belos is about the genocide of the Boiling Isles (which might be an image aided by the fact that it's Belos' memory). But every time we saw them since, the more the writers leaned into the Collector's child-like behavior, showing that the reason why he might be all for Belos' genocide and treat people as literal playthings is that they don't understand what life and death means. He doesn't MEAN to be a problem. It's just that no one has ever taught them otherwise. And that's a more interesting way to go about this character instead of making The Collector a new primary antagonist. It might have worked fine, but when you make a character with god-like powers, it becomes difficult to believe anyone could defeat them. So, the idea to stop The Collector by TEACHING him what's right and wrong before it's too late is a clever way to go about things, especially when it's King that does most of the teaching, using his newfound maturity to teach The Collector what Eda and Luz taught HIM. The result is a new, engaging character that also shows the stellar development of another. Not too bad for someone added to the series at the last minute...Yeah, no, that's what The Collector is, though.

After finding out the series would get shortened, Dana Terrace and the writers thought, "Hey, let's just go NUTS this season!" So, they threw in The Collector as a way to add more spectacle to the final three specials of the show. Sure, the writers had SOME idea of what to do with The Collector beforehand. But after getting the bad news from the executives who decided the series no longer fit the brand, it was the final nail in the coffin to shove The Collector in there. And MAN, there is no better representation of the show's forced conclusion than The Collector, as they're this thing that ALL the characters react to, whether protagonist or antagonist, and are forced to work through their story arcs and character development around within the last few minutes of the show. It's a pretty fun way to look at The Collector, even if he's still a great character despite all they represent. Regardless, I'm still grateful the writers didn't just turn him into the new primary antagonist who killed the old one to show off their threat level...Especially since the old one is REALLY good.

Emperor Belos/Philip Whitebane: "YOU LIKE BELOS MORE THAN WILLOW, GUS, RAINE, AND EVERYONE ELSE?!"

Yes...As a CHARACTER. Not as a PERSON. Because he's NOT a PERSON. He's a FICTIONAL CHARACTER.

I'm serious. People should stop equating "good character" to "good person," especially in this fandom. You can't talk about how well-written Belos or Odalia are without someone coming around and saying, "THEY'RE AWFUL PEOPLE!" I know that. Most...SHOULD know that. But here's the thing: Belos is an antagonist. A character whose purpose is for the audience to love to hate him. If that's done well, he's a good character. And guess what: Belos does it REALLY well, to the point where he's one of my favorite antagonists in a Disney property. Probably one of my favorite antagonists of all time.

Upon his introduction, Belos scared the crap out of me. From his design to even the way he spoke sent chills up my spine. He didn't even SOUND all that threatening, with a deep and scary voice. He sounded like a dude, but it’s in the way he said things, as if Belos knew what he was saying was messed up. But he didn't care, almost like it was because he thrived on people fearing him. And that was just on his INTRODUCTION. From a few of his future appearances, the writers showed Belos acting MORE horrifying, having disturbing spells unlike anything we've seen before, being aware that SOMETHING is spying on him, and revealing that he has a curse that turns him into a somehow MORE terrifying monster. It was pretty effective in getting me to fear this creepy son of a non-witch...And then "Eclypse Lake" showed us his face, revealing that he not only SOUNDED like an ordinary dude but LOOKED like one too. Sure, he had that weird green mark that went down his face, but so much fear I had of Belos went away when I saw that he looked like someone's grandpa who forgot to wash his face. But as the show went on, the more it made sense to make Belos look like a regular man. Instead of portraying a fantastical evil, the writers went for a more realistic one...with supernatural powers, yes, but consider the villains of OUR world. They're people who look like you and me, using their faces to hide dark intentions and charm their way to a position in leadership. That fits Belos' actions to a T, and you see how perfectly it matches in real life when Luz voices her frustrations that no one can see how evil Belos really is, only for King to tell her that no one wants to realize that they've been following the wrong guy. Do you want to know why members of your family refuse to accept that a LOT of Republicans are evil? It's because they spent years, even generations, believing the opposite. So to tell them the truth, even if they NEED to hear it, they'll refuse any facts given to them. So having Belos be the exact representation of all of that, showing kids what to be wary of, is a great way to educate them to learn that sometimes the most dangerous people in society are those who control it in the first place. Even making him a grotesque monster doesn't really take away from the allusion but adds to it, letting Belos' true, inner self take physical form and showing kids what happens to these monsters when you're too late to stop them.

And that's not even getting into the motivations! I didn't feel TOO shocked when it was revealed that Belos was Philip Wittebane. Don't get me wrong, I was still a LITTLE shocked, but I predicted it and expected that Belos' big plan was to return to the Human Realm in some way, but that left some holes into why he spent so much time controlling the Boiling Isles to do it...And then it was revealed that Belos was a WITCH HUNTER. And I'll never forget the dread I felt when I realized, "Oh, they're doing THIS. Oh, no..." The level of fear that I once had for Belos skyrocketed once his real plan became clear and how INTENSELY close he was to reach his ultimate goal.

The scariest part of all is how believable it is. Given how real-world politicians are willing to wipe out an entire group of individuals just for existing, someone like Belos isn't too far of a stretch. Neither is how he came to be the monster that he is. Philip was only an orphaned child raised to believe that witches were Satan's spawn set to destroy everything. And one witch "stole" his brother, the only family Philip had left, and left him feeling like his rage was justified. Except...it's not. It was NEVER justified. Caleb left Philip on his own volition and, when Philip found him again, tried to convince the twit that Evelyn was fine. Philip could have easily taken his brother's word for it and changed. Philip would later have YEARS, possibly CENTURIES, to learn that he was wrong, but he never did. The conditioning was put too deep into his brain, and Belos was the result. I wouldn't say that makes him a tragic character, but it DOES explain so much about why he acts the way he does.

The best part about Belos is that he's consistent. Because of his conditioning, he never once wavers his opinions or questions if what he's doing is wrong. Belos considers himself the hero of his story and views Caleb and Luz as tragic losses. When met with the LITERAL GHOSTS of his sins, Belos yells at, or flat out ignores, them, proclaiming that he was doing the right thing and it's not HIS fault that their souls were too far gone. And with Luz, Belos tried to kill her on three separate occasions, actually succeeding the third time around. And when backed into a corner, realizing he's as good as dead, does Belos ask for surrender? Does he beg for forgiveness? NOPE! He initially tries to manipulate Luz, attempting to take advantage of her good nature into thinking he's good now. And, when THAT instantly fails, Belos yells at Luz, saying she's betraying her humanity and is nothing more than the very evil he spent his whole life fighting against. Luz doesn't buy a word of ANY of it, least of all when he says they're better than this petty revenge and killing out of a twisted form of justice. Even though that's exactly what he's been doing all his life.

Evil to the end, Belos is an antagonist that works because of how perfectly diabolical and realistically despicable the writers made him, making him interesting to dissect while having it feel so cathartic to watch him get stomped to death by the very people he hated. I could honestly go on and on about what makes Belos so engaging to watch and easy to hate...but this gosh dang review is long enough already, and I haven't even gotten to my top five favorite characters yet!

Speaking of which, let's talk about the ONE good thing Belos did with his life...After we talk about Amity.

Amity Blight: How's THAT for a smooth transition?

Anyways, Amity's great because with nearly every new appearance she's made, she becomes a better character, and I mean that in two ways. For one, she becomes more intriguing as we learn about her home life, interests, and motivations, all three being connected in some capacity. Everything that Amity did, she did because her parents (her Mom, mostly) told her to do it. Ending her friendship with Willow, forcing her to be friends with Boscha and her mean girl squad, be the best of her class no matter what, and join the coven that she slowly doesn't want to join anymore. These are all the things Amity was forced to do, and had no choice to do it.She had almost no free will, but that doesn't mean she couldn't rebel in the tiniest ways. She took time out of her day to read to kids and used the cover of it being extra credit to keep doing it. She has a secret room with a collection of Azura books to enjoy a fantasy series, idolizes the purest hero, and has some creative freedom if that fan art on her diary's cover is anything to go by. Even her bullying has SOME ways of cheating. Amity may have said that Willow had no talent, but it was an attempt to get Boscha and the others to stop while covering her tracks so they won't tell anyone she went soft on Willow. And in "I Was A Teenage Abomination," some of Amity's words almost sound encouraging. There's a mocking tone to a lot of it, but the subtlety of her going "keep it up" is still there. Sure, Amity would later have a rage later regarding Willow and Luz’s cheating, but even that is more or less justified. They broke the rules, and, knowing how Odalia reacts to failure, Amity is NOT willing to let go of her "Top Student" badge without a fight. Maybe I'm stretching, and maybe I'm looking deep into things that aren't there. But it's the same thing I do with Alador: When presented with new information about a character, it's a collaborative effort to look at what came before and figure out how it works. And I think there's enough to Amity's actions in the past that are justified by her motivations yet still have a bit of her good side shining through. Which is good because that brings me to the OTHER reason why Amity gets better with each episode.

Piece by piece, bit by bit, Amity becomes a better person after learning a new and valued lesson by the end of every episode. And unlike a blonde-haired character I hate from that frog show, Amity has a clear and definite desire to become a better person. The writers SMARTLY confirm early on that Amity doesn't want to be cruel. She specifically can't show weakness, so she builds walls to hide away her good side, believing that part of herself is weak. But through Luz, the best thing that ever happened to Amity, all those walls come crumbling down, and the Amity SHE wants to become would soon blossom. She's less reserved, more open about feelings, smiles instead of sneers, and acts nicer to Luz and others around her. There's still some anger, annoyance, and the occasional snark, but it was nowhere near as bad as how Amity USED to act. And through each wall that falls gives Amity courage to stand up to her parents and finally become her own person, to the point of dying her hair to reflect the kind of person she wants to be. By a quarter of the way through Season Two, Amity finally gains an identity that reflects what she always had hidden underneath. And it's satisfying...And then writers made her Luz's girlfriend.

Yeah, this is a complaint you'll often see floating around. The second Amity and Luz start dating, a lot of her individuality tends to trickle away, with most of Amity’s problems being related to or overshadowed by Luz's. Just look at "Reaching Out," which has Amity dealing with her issues of Alador's neglect and wanting to form SOME connection with him. But it's barely touched upon due to the real meat of the episode being Luz using the event as a distraction towards her own issues, which I remember more regarding that episode than anything Amity went through. And things get worse by Season Three, where almost every character has something to go through or a chance to highlight their grief, and Amity is...just kind of there, being looped in with supporting her girlfriend and dealing with an ex-friend instead of dealing with her own problems.

It definitely sucks that after all that fighting that Amity went through to gain independence and discover her true self, only to be sidelined once she gets it. But I will say that while Amity is forced into being categorized as Luz's girlfriend, that role still highlights Amity's development. She acts warm, kind, and, most of all, understanding towards Luz and her issues, the same way Luz acted towards Amity, proving she can give as much as she can take. It's not how I wanted things to turn out, but hey. At least Amity got a complete character arc before being pushed to the side. That's WAY more than what I can say about Gus and Willow, the characters introduced to us as Luz's best friends. Guess a girlfriend takes more of a priority.

But that's enough about the fandom's favorite white girl. Let's NOW talk about the fandom's favorite white boy AND the writer's favorite punching bag.

Hunter: In all seriousness, Hunter feels like a character where the writers went, "Hey, remember Amity? Let's just...f**king do THAT again. But BETTER."

And they did! Hunter pretty much has the same journey that Amity did as a character, but with all the strengths and NONE of the weaknesses. Upon his introduction, you think he's a charismatic yet evil little brat who doesn't value the lives of others with how quickly he threatened to kill Luz, Eda, and King. But, just like with Amity, the more we learn about Hunter, the more we realize why he WOULD act the way he did and even why he SHOULD.

Hunter is the supposed "nephew" of Emperor Belos, a man who hates failure to the point where he's ready to kill after you let him down ONCE, and you don't want to push his limits too many times. Hunter knows AND fears this fact, so he learns to hold his tongue when possible so as not to gain another injury during one of Belos' temper tantrums. So, Hunter does what he's told, acts carelessly toward others beneath him, and constantly tries to prove himself as a valued soldier instead of acting as a teenager. The poor boy has his own set of walls built up, and instead of letting the cracks grow, he often tries to patch them as quickly as possible because he fears Belos WAY more than Amity fears her parents. And rightfully so, because Belos would absolutely kill Hunter if he betrayed him. He's done it before.

Hunter being a Grimwalker shouldn't surprise me, as the pieces were there and...not really subtly hidden. Yet that doesn't change how horrifying it makes Hunter's situation. It's one thing to fear being replaced by a better soldier in his ranks or something. The fact that Belos can and will attempt to make a better, more efficient clone of Hunter and kill him if needed...makes Hunter digging his own grave in "Eclypse Lake" more fitting than we realized. It makes him not only replaceable but disposable, with that newly acquired knowledge making Hunter shatter, having a panic attack as it hits him all at once that his fears are more than justified. The worst part is that Hunter spent YEARS with that monster, never standing up because he couldn't do it as easily as Amity did to her parents. She can always run away, hide out in someone else's home to escape a mother who probably doesn't even want her. There's NOWHERE Hunter could go that could keep him away from Belos for long, what with him being the Emperor and Hunter having little to no friends. Thankfully, the ones he had did a lot of work.

Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, and ESPECIALLY Flapjack all helped to give Hunter a better life. Luz offered perspective, showing Hunter that there's more to life than being told how to live it and that the authority figure he listens to isn't perfect. Amity represents evidence, showing Hunter that if you let good people in your life, they will help you with what tortures you. Willow gave companionship through herself AND a group of people that made Hunter genuinely smile for what must have been the first time in his life. Gus then offered comfort, showing Hunter how to calm his anxieties and fears he'll continue to have. And the one to provide all of these things is Flapjack, who gives Hunter perspective, evidence, companionship, and comfort through his own actions and dragging Hunter to people who could offer more. This gave Hunter a support group of individuals that slowly but surely gave him the desire to be the person he wanted to be and gain an identity. Sure, Hunter would build his walls back up each time they tore them down. But there were always cracks that made it easier to convince him what was the right thing to do for others AND himself. And it all gave him the courage to finally stand up to Belos, who saw Hunter as nothing more than a meat puppet, metaphorically and literally.

Hunter's journey does share a lot of similarities with Amity's. I will admit to that. But where she's later demoted as a character defined by a relationship, Hunter is a character that grew because of the support system he gained and was allowed to keep a sense of identity after his friends brought out his good side. They're the ones who guided him down his path, but what Hunter chose to do after was all his own. Plus, it feels SO GOOD to see that after Hunter's grief and knowing how many others before him died tragically to Belos, he gets his happily ever after. Hunter has a home life that's healthy, friends to support him, a girlfriend to LOVE him, and a chance to genuinely smile every day. He LIVED. He SURVIVED. And that must feel inspiring to those who feel there's no escape from the tragedy of their own lives. I love Amity's journey, but Hunter's definitely better and more impactful in ways you won't believe.

And he'd be the best character in the show...if it weren't the fact that I love three more. At this point, you can probably tell who they are, so let's get started with the fandom's favorite MILF.

Eda Clawthorne: I swear that Eda being hot isn't the reason she's in my top three...Maybe.

But for real, Eda is the only character on this list where if the show was about HER...I would watch it. There is SO MUCH about Eda that makes her a blast to see and a lot to dissect that makes her engaging as she is entertaining.

When regarding her personality/character traits, Eda is an instant gem. She's a con artist, frequently driven by greed, has NO problems breaking the laws, and is more than willing to beat up anyone who messes with the kids she's grown attached to. Now many, myself included, have pointed out that Eda's character shares similarities to Grunkle Stan from Gravity Falls. And...yeah, there's definitely a lot to compare, but there's much more to contrast to help make Eda stand out more as a character. For instance, while Stan one hundred percent loves Dipper and Mabel, Eda still feels warmer towards Luz and King. She may show some annoyance at Luz's enthusiasm or playfully mock King believing he's the most dangerous creature alive, but when it matters most, Eda's there for her kids. To protect, counsel, and sometimes cry over them when situations seem dire. Though she'd probably hate to admit it, Eda has a good heart and one that isn't buried after years of emotional baggage (don't worry, we'll get into that). And she doesn't need much bonding experience to help bring that goodness inside her. When Eda saw a little creature alone in a dangerous environment, Eda took it in and raised it as her own. When seeing a young girl with the same amount of spirit as Eda did when she was younger, Eda decided to accept that young girl's offer and teach her the best she knew. Eda was a caring mother figure to King and Luz when they needed her. As for being a teacher...she could have been better, what with barely teaching Luz anything. Still, she tried, and that's primarily in part because of her own love of magic.

Eda may be a criminal striving to get rich, but those two things aren't mutually inclusive like it is for Grunkle Stan. Eda's a criminal because she disagrees with this close-minded rule that witches should be in a coven, doing one kind of magic for the rest of their lives, except for a small group of elite soldiers picked out by the Emperor himself. Anyone with half a brain can see the flaws of this, and Eda was one of them, breaking the law for years because Eda couldn't help but see how it never made sense. So, she never joined a coven, something considered a major offense against Belos' rule, with Eda being considered a wild witch by her community. And the woman RELISHED that idea. Due to not joining a coven, Eda was allowed to do any type of magic she wanted without being in a stuffy uniform and listening to the vague lies of an evil emperor. It left her with a bit of an ego boost, claiming that she's the most powerful witch on the Isles, but at least Eda gets to do what she loves. Even as a kid, Eda had a PASSION for magic, wanting to learn as much as she could and knowing more than Lilith, a character proven more studious than Eda. It's why you can buy Eda being the better witch than Lilith, because while Lilith can understand the technique, Eda has a better grasp of how good it feels to do magic. After all, she loves doing it in a variety of ways. Even her being a new headmaster of a magic college makes a lot of sense. She may not have been the best teacher for Luz, but they were both dealing with a form of magic that neither really knew much about. The only time their teaching clicked was that moment when Luz had natural magic, and Eda could finally offer advice she KNEW would work. Natural magic is what she understands and has a greater passion for, and teaching "wild magic" to the new generation, giving them something she always wanted and a chance to learn further, makes all the more sense when you take the time to think about it. It's a side of Eda that I don't think fans talk about much. A shame, really. It's an interesting part of her that's worth sharing and deserves to have more attention drawn to it. The show certainly didn't...Though, to be fair, there was one last aspect of Eda's character that's, admittedly, more engaging.

Eda's past, from her family to her ex and to her curse, is a subject that follows Eda throughout her life whether she likes it or not. One way or another, something keeps crashing back into her life, and the results lead Eda into an emotional rollercoaster that ends in tears or violence. Some healing comes from it, but the tears and violence are still prominent. Her fights with Lilith, turning into a rage monster due to her mother's meddling, losing Raine, and her father wanting to talk are all emotional situations with Eda and the tattered relationships she had over the years. The hurtful part is how it all leads back to her curse, one way or another. I'll talk more about Eda's journey with her curse and the allusion it represents in future parts, but I'll still say that so much of Eda's pain, her drama, became prominent because of something Lilith did and how Eda reacted to it. She always ran away or denied there was a problem in the first place, making a horrible situation even worse as it left her burning bridges she'll want to rebuild later. And the worst part is that this is something Eda struggles with the most.

Despite all her pain and trauma, Eda tries to cover it up with jokes and a cocky smile or anger and determination. When the curse started overtaking her in “Agony of a Witch,” she looked at Luz with a smile to make things light, but the fear in her eyes betrayed everything. When losing Raine to Darius and Eberwolf, she choked back her tears and forced herself to focus on anything else. Because to her, it's better to deny how hard you're hurting than face it. She'll voice her worries from time to time but often hides just how strong those emotions are for her. And she definitely doesn't want to relive emotional memories due to how hard it was keeping things together the first time. The only time when Eda tends to embrace her inner turmoil is when things are so intense that she can't help but cry and voice how scared/worried she is. It weirdly makes sense that the only thing that could make Eda finally open up is facing the end of the world where it's not just HER who's in danger but the people she loves too. Because above all else, while she may hate to show it, Eda is a softie to the ones she cares about, especially Luz and King. The three of them have gone on so many adventures together and faced so much danger that you can understand why it's almost always them that brings Eda to tears. Luz's attempt at a goodbye in "Young Blood, Old Souls," King's adoption in "Eda's Requiem," knowing how deep in trouble Luz is in "Edge of the World," and finally revealing that there's no plan in "O' Titan, Where Art Thou." Those kids mean the world to her, as she would be nothing without King and Luz giving her purpose, love, and a healing heart...Which makes it weirder how little Eda got to do in Season Three.

Yeah, a lot of characters got the short end of the stick in Season Three, even members of the main cast like Amity and Gus. While most got some narrative or development, others got forced into the supporting role to help those more important characters. But for Eda, it feels weird because she's part of the main trio. Nearly every poster and promotional material featured Luz, King, and Eda. Nearly every episode featured Luz, King, AND Eda. And every version of the show pitched, even if they didn't look the same, it was always Luz, King, AND EDA. So to have a season where she takes a narrative backseat while Luz and King have more relevance to the story feels off. Although, to be fair, it's not like there was much to be done with Eda. Pretty much every narrative she had got wrapped up with Season Two. She's accepted the curse as a part of her, made peace with her family, and reunited with Raine (even if they didn't seal that deal with a kiss). It's almost as if the writers knew they wouldn't have a chance to explore Eda further with a shortened season, so they completed every arc they could with her in the remaining time they had left. So I can see why they didn't do much with her because what else could they have done? But it doesn't stop how weird it is that Eda could have easily been written out of the season if not for the fact that she's part of the main trio, and it'd be even WEIRDER to have a final season without her. Because, truth be told, the series wouldn't be the same without Eda.

Eda offers humor, heart, and tragedy to The Owl House. Her past, trauma, relationships, and love make for someone that deserves main trio status. Probably even main character status too. I would love to see more of her with how much intrigue Eda has, even if a lot of it is done already. Would I want to watch a spin-off of her as a teen? Probably not. But I wouldn't mind seeing more adventures this wild witch would get into.

Also, I'll say this much about her: There's a consensus in the fandom that Eda is the best mom in the show. And while she certainly is a great mother like no other...there's someone we ALL know, deep down, deserves the title for Best Cartoon Mom.

Camila Noceda: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, I have been waiting for this one...

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I am incredibly biased towards Camila. Upon her introduction, I always thought she was neat as a mother who truly cares about Luz, her interests, and her wonderfully creative mind. She said so within the premier. And even when sending Luz away, all Camila tried to do was look to the bright side and convince Luz that her summer won't be as miserable as she might predict it to be. Camila could tell that going to Reality Check Camp was the last thing Luz wanted to do, so Camila tried her best to make it seem like a fun time despite how down it made Luz feel. It shows that while she may not be a perfect mom for sending her daughter away, Camila is still caring enough towards Luz, and she wants her to be happy despite encouraging a decision Luz wouldn't like. I considered that a fascinating angle towards a mother like Camila, providing a reason for Luz wanting to leave but never out of malice. I liked it...But a quantifiable portion of the fandom did NOT, with too many people claiming Camila was an awful mother who hated her daughter. Camila had maybe a minute, maybe TWO minutes, of screentime, and that's somehow the interpretation people made. I wouldn't say I'm the best at analyzing and interpreting characters, which is a crazy thing to bring up THIS FAR into my longest review yet. Still, even I have to say that people's interpretation of Camila was a MAJOR reach. Like...how do you look at a woman who explicitly states she loves her daughter, gives her multiple kisses goodbye, and you immediately go, "Oh, she HATES Luz." How do you do that? And how do you claim she's a worse mom than Odalia? Yeah, that was a thing! People genuinely would defend Odalia for being a good mom with their last breath and then turn around to s**t on Camila. Even after finally meeting Odalia and seeing how bad SHE was, people still somehow considered Camila worse. I never understood how it got out of hand, and I'm convinced the writers somehow picked up on all this overreacting and decided to make Camila better with every single appearance she made soon after.

From that premier, I already gathered this idea that Camila was a flawed but caring mother trying her best despite mistakes. By "Yesterday's Lie," I was convinced she was the best mom Luz could ask for, even if powerful emotions caused Camila to make mistakes. When Vee acts like the "perfect daughter," you can see, on Camila's face, how Camila noticed something was off and how much she didn't like it. To her, "Luz" was throwing away everything that made her Luz, and Camila didn't WANT that, made even more evident by bringing all of Luz's stuff back in after Vee tried throwing them away. Then when the real Luz "calls" Camila, acting like her true self again, Camila seems ecstatic and is willing to play along with what she assumes is a weird game because she's so happy to see Luz be herself again. Through these small moments, you understand more how much Camila cares for her daughter, despite sending Luz to a camp to teach her to fit in better. It was an action done out of love, not malice. Camila couldn't be FARTHER from a bad person, as proven by how she reacts toward Vee. There may have been initial fear of finding out what Vee really was, but through some coaxing from Luz, all Camila can see is a poor girl locked in a cage and needing help. It's there that you understand where Luz got her kindness from. Because even though everything is going beyond Camila's comfort zone, the woman's still willing to kick a flat-Earther's ass to protect Vee. She's kind and warm to the people she cares about and violent to the ones that hurt them. Like mother, like daughter. But Camila isn't all too perfect. As the events finally come crashing down on her at once, she feels ALL the emotions as she has this breakdown. There's fear that Luz is stuck in a demon realm, anger knowing she WILLINGLY went there, and despair at the idea that Camila might never see Luz again. All of this leads to Camila BEGGING Luz to promise to come back, with Luz interpreting her words as "stay here and NEVER return to that awful place." This caused Luz to be fearful for the future, and more fans hyper-focussing on the negatives instead of the positives. They saw a mother telling her daughter to abandon everything that made her happy when anyone with a single functioning brain cell can tell you that it's just Camila being worried about Luz and not fully grasping the whole story. She knows Luz had SOME fun in the Boiling Isles, but Camila's strong emotions at the moment caused her to fail to understand why Luz loves it. Or, at least, misconstrue the facts, thinking it was just Luz living out a fantasy, the same thing Camila sent Luz to summer camp for. It might seem weird that Camila also focuses on the negatives instead of the positives, but in fairness to Camila, the woman went through the worst thing any mother can go through: Losing contact with her child for who knows how long. I can't blame her for her judgment being clouded by everything she's going through. Still, fans clung to the negatives, too...So it's good Season Three shut them all up for good.

Season Three might as well be the season of Camila, because of all the things Season Three did right, diving deep into Camila's character is one of them. Where her first two appearances showed how much of a caring mother she can be, Season Three took it up to TEN notches. She took so many children into her home when they had nowhere else to go, stayed up late to figure out how to get them everything they could need for a happy life, acted nurturing when they had a tough time, chose violence for someone even saying ANYTHING mean about her baby, and dove head first into a dirty graveyard pond to save a child. Camila earned the title "Mother of the Year.” And she wasn't even trying. But while the season shows how kind, nurturing, and even badass Camila can be, it also had her face some mistakes. Camila wasn't bad for sending Luz away or asking her to stay home. She's a single mother who lost her husband, who probably connected to their daughter in better ways and left Camila to do everything alone. She wanted to be the best possible mom but second-guessed every decision and was unsure if she was doing the right thing. So I like that most of this season is about her trying to LEARN from these unintended mistakes, asking for advice from Luz's friends, and finally sharing with Luz the mistakes Camila made and how she now comes to regret them. What's even better is that Camila tries her best to understand Luz's world. A lot of it scares Camila and makes her uncomfortable, even years after being aware of the Isles in the epilogue, but she still puts in the effort to TRY. It's because Camila loves Luz and wants to be a part of every aspect of her life. Camila may struggle, but she still wants to try. And THAT'S what makes her the best mom.

Camila is warm, loving, and just so much fun to see. She isn't perfect, but instead of denying those imperfections, Camila chooses to confront them and TRIES to better herself. It's evidence that not every parent gets the assignment as they receive it, but they're not instantly failures because of it. Yes, there are horrible parents who refuse to change, but I like that the show teaches kids that there are those who care enough to do better. That's what Camila is, and I love the hell out of her for it.

But do you want to know her GREATEST achievement? She gave birth to the best character in the show…

Luz Noceda: Luz Noceda. Luz fickin' Noceda. A character so good that I made an entire post discussing how she's a fan-frickin'-tastic character. And even then, it felt like I barely scratched the surface of what makes her so good. I mean, how can you accurately explain everything that you love about your favorite protagonist ever? Better yet, how can you summarize it for a review that's gone long enough already? Well, I'm at least going to try...Emphasis on try.

Luz is a character that won me over instantly. The happy, goofy character is always fun for me as I think they're perfect for humor and endearing entertainment. That's Luz to a T, as her antics and attitude towards so many things cause me to smile to no fail. How can I not when she has a kind smile as a snake bites off her doll's head or when she has an argument with her hands? Luz is almost always a delight, but what's interesting about her is that while she's primarily happy and fun-loving, that doesn't make her naive or stupid. Luz has a good sense of maturity, even before her angst arc (Yeah, we'll get to that). In "Covention," I was impressed by her response to Eda's disdain about joining a coven. Luz made it clear that she understands Eda's outlook but wants to go and make her OWN decision. In fact, Luz is mature enough not to follow ALL of Eda's orders. There are times when Luz DEFINITELY should, but I like how the writers gives her enough emotional intelligence NOT to listen to ALL of Eda's wild and free ideas of anarchy. She has enough emotional intelligence to know what's right and wrong at times but is still young enough to learn more when put in danger at a time she really SHOULD have listened to Eda. Luz IS a teen, after all. She wouldn't have all the answers.

But now that we're talking about her intelligence, that's probably an aspect of Luz that's looked over the most. Because Luz is smart, and that shouldn't be an argument. It should be a fact. The girl endlessly worked on glyphs until getting them right, often having scraps of paper lying around her after past experiments. And not only is she studious, but Luz is also crafty at any moment. Some of my favorite scenes with Luz are ones where she comes up with a great plan on the spot, like how she thought up a way to brand Belos as he was killing her. It makes sense the girl wanted to try out for theater because her improvisation is on POINT. And she has the power to back it up. I said in that character analysis that Luz is powerful but not TOO powerful. My good buddy @l-egionare pointed out how I misjudged how powerful Luz CAN be, given how a single plant glyph made that big tree in "Enchanting Grom Fright" and how she wiped the floor with Emperor's Coven members and Conformitorium guards. She certainly has the power. I highlighted her intelligence more because I love characters who win fights by outthinking their opponents rather than overpowering them. The truth is, Luz, CAN do some epic stuff. She's just not AS powerful as Eda and Lilith were at their best, due to Luz having limitations to her glyphs and how she sometimes casts them. Luz can be invisible but only for as long as she holds her breath, and the strength behind her glyph depends on how much she uses and how big they are. She can do great stuff, even with very little, but nothing TOO grand until the Titan gave Luz that power boost in the finale (which I didn’t initially want, but DAMN amI not complaining). Besides, as cool as Luz CAN be, and how underappreciated that part of her is, it’s not her best feature.

I think we can all agree that the best thing about Luz Noceda is her kindness. She’s not naive enough to believe that there’s goodness deep down inside everyone. Her kindness has limits and it says something that Luz’s first instinct upon finally meeting Belos for the first time is to go for the head. While she will help others that need it, Luz will still take the violent route if you mess with those she loves. Speaking of, do you remember your favorite characters? You know all that development and growth they all went through? Do you know who’s responsible for ALL of that? Luz, that’s who. She helped reconnect Eda with her family, led King to gaining a sense of identity, helped Willow blossom into becoming more confident, indirectly helped Gus make new friends, and helped Lilith, Hunter, and ESPECIALLY Amity become their truer, better selves. They wouldn’t be who they are now without Luz, as every person she made a connection with had their lives changed for the better. And the crazy thing is that’s…not entirely mutual. Another great point my buddy @l-egionare made is that Luz’s life wasn’t doomed for the worst, and his argument has legs. Luz could have made friends like Vee did at summer camp or befriended those two kids in “Thanks to Them” who seemed to love Luz’s brand of weirdness. After high school, Luz could have also gone on to be a writer, sharing her love of fantasy to the world. Heck, she might even  fall in love with someone else one day, like with a horror nerd that loves gore and doughnuts…Just spitballing ideas here. The point is that while Luz’s friends on the Boiling Isles ABSOLUTELY need her for a happier life, she doesn’t necessarily need THEM. It’s an interesting interpretation to think about that makes Luz even BETTER. She’s a protagonist that leads others to their change and growth, which is a primary directive for most protagonists. Not only should THEY grow and change throughout the story, but they should lead the rest of the cast to do the same. It gives importance to the main character, showing just how much they’re needed for the world and the people in it…Which is why it pains Luz to find out she’s indirectly responsible for some strife too.

Like most plucky protagonists, Luz goes through an angst phase, mirroring how the show started off as light-hearted only to become darker as time went by. Luz’s angst, in particular, started in “Young Blood, Old Souls,” where a bit of Luz’s wackiness remained, but she still slowly got more serious as Season Two continued. By the time we reached “Hollow Mind,” an episode that forces Luz to realize she accidentally helped BELOS, most of Luz’s silliness and optimism became fizzled out, with damn near all of it being gone by Season Three. This is due to her seeing what Belos almost accomplished and the damage that The Collector was already capable of. Luz was accidentally and unintentionally the cause of these issues, and it broke her for reasons that ARE understandable…but they’re not justifiable. You DO get why Luz blames herself for everything that happened. She prides herself on her kindness and helping others, with the idea of being a burden crushing Luz in “Separate Tides.” So, to find out that she’s accidentally responsible for Belos, it hurts her because it makes her believe she’s a burden to EVERYONE, to the point where she believes that the Boiling Isles would be better off without her. Even though we LITERALLY just established how that’s false. There are some haters and idiots out there who do like to point out how none of Luz’s friends wouldn’t have had any strife if she never came to the Isles. Except…No. They absolutely would have. I mean, do you SERIOUSLY think Belos wouldn’t have tricked anyone else? The man pulled off a genocidal scam for DECADES. He could have easily tricked somebody else to do his dirty work for a few minutes.

“But he was driven out of too many towns! No one would trust him!”

Which is why he made a false identity to fix that problem. For all we know, he could have done it sooner.

“But Luz gave him the light glyph!”

A glyph that did nothing but offer Belos a shortcut to finish a job he was already 99% done with. Besides, he could have learned it on his own or maybe even through The Collector, who already knows that glyphs are the language of the Titans. Belos’ plan would have gone forward no matter WHAT reason you bring up. And what’s weirdly interesting is Luz’s refusal to see it. Yes, Belos could have tricked ANYBODY, but it’s still LUZ that he tricked. That guilt eats away at her and I’m kind of glad it’s not entirely resolved by the series finale. Don’t get me wrong, I want my favorite character to live the happiest life imaginable, but there’s a sense of realism that, even though she killed Belos, there’s still a bit of guilt. It’s hinted that it sticks with her years later, as she missed birthdays just so she could help rebuild the Isles. Although, that doesn’t stop Luz from living her life. She still hangs out with friends, joins her school’s softball/baseball team, and goes out with her family. Luz’s guilt is a lot like that scar above her eye. It’ll be small and hardly noticeable on some days, but it’ll still be there, as a reminder that life isn’t a fantasy.

It’s pretty ironic that Luz escaped to a fantasy world to avoid Reality Check Camp, only to get a reality check anyway. Everytime Luz tries to apply her favorite book series or pop culture to a problem she and her friends face, it always goes wrong. Within the second episode of the series, Luz learns quickly that she’s not some chosen one predestined for greatness…I mean, she kind of is, but not in a way most fantasy stories tend to play it. Luz quickly learns that her coming to the Boiling Isles was an accident, and that the environment she’s forced to adjust to isn’t as pretty as it is in her books. Things are difficult and solutions are complicated with there being no easy answers. Luz learns this throughout her adventures and grows to understand that being a witch like Azura isn’t simple. Luz even goes through a sort of identity crisis, now realizing that her dream to be a witch was always a little too vague and that she has no idea what she wants in life after the adventure’s over. It’s a compelling aspect to her character to have Luz realize that she’s not your average protagonist. So many of us want to be the main character of the world’s story, when we should realize that job would be extraordinarily difficult. Luz learned that the hard way after experiencing pain, suffering, and literal death that will haunt her nightmares for life. I wouldn’t call Luz a cautionary tale of what happens when you continue to live in a fantasy. That’s more like Marcy from Amphbia. Instead, I’d say Luz is more of a representation of a character understanding the cruelness of reality, but through a fantasy setting. We all learn best through the things that interest us, and Luz is no different. And that’s one of the MANY reasons to love her.

I could go on and on about how much I adore Luz alone. And probably would if this thing wasn’t THIRTY-THREE PAGES LONG! And you can’t blame me. She’s my favorite protagonist in anything, and is definitely up there as one of my favorite fictional characters. There might be problems with her character, but I’m more than willing to overlook them because of how much I enjoy Luz and the journey she went on. She is flawless in my eyes, and I will never look at her in a negative light no matter who tries to make me.

And that’s it. That’s EVERY IMPORTANT CHARACTER in The Owl House…My goodness.

As you can probably tell, there’s a LOT of characters here. One could argue too many, as it becomes evident that a few of them could be better if the show had more time to let some of them grow. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a world where The Owl House had three full seasons and all the time in the world to let all its characters blossom into their beautiful selves. But with that said, there aren’t any characters in the show that I’m willing to call bad.

Okay, Tibbles is still inadequate, but he’s still not the worst. None of them are. If any character is lower than the other, it’s due to them being unable to compare to the rest of the show’s standard. Because The Owl House managed to have an expansive cast of lovable, endearing, and complex characters, with a lot of them worth a deep-dive analysis of their own. I can’t get enough of them and they will stick with me for a while.

But as great as these characters are…how well do they work TOGETHER?

Tune into part two, and I might just tell you.

Next part

#the owl house #the owl house review #LONG POST #too long to tag every character #so here are the important ones #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #camila noceda #amity blight #willow park #gus porter #toh hunter #hunter deamonne #raine whispers #emperor belos #toh the collector #king clawthorne #darius deamonne #emira blight #edric blight #what i thought about

[missielynne]

CBS Ghosts Review: The Owl

Hello, everyone who likes to read my reviews! It's great to be back!

We're off to a much stronger start with "The Owl" than we were with season two's premiere episode, Spies, that's for sure.

I know we were all eager to see who got sucked off and I think they picked the one person I was okay with. Granted with the way they did it, I still think there's a possibility that they're mistaken about the ghost actually being gone and if they reappear, I won't be surprised, but I'm not heartbroken about the loss either. I could go either way and be perfectly happy.

I loved how knowing that someone got sucked off brought people together and showed them looking after each other (Especially Nigel and Isaac being so worried for each other and that hug when they found one another again...my heart!)

Also, I want to see some interaction between Stephanie and Crash. His volunteering to check up on her was surprisingly sweet to me, especially since her really brash manner and attitude seems to have driven a majority of the house away (except for Nancy and Ralph).

Loved the cholera ghosts coming upstairs and poor Pete. Nancy continues to be an absolute boss in my eyes, especially the way she resolved the whole thing, got everyone back downstairs, and then was like "See you tonight for bodices and barons!" She's become a begrudgingly accepted part of "upstairs" and I like it!

Now for the most important thing: Jay. He was an absolute champ in this episode and it just reinforced how much I love him as a character and what the writers have done for him.

If I have one complaint about the BBC version (that has nothing to do with British storytelling vs. American storytelling) it's the show's inability or unwillingness due to time to actually give Mike something to do with himself, or have his own relationship with the ghosts. (And it's a real shame too because as we see in Bump in the Night, when it's allowed, it's pure comedy.)

Allowing Jay to build relationships with the ghosts to the point where he even has some degree of authority over them just like Sam does, (or can help them through problems in a way they accept) is just the best.

BBC just kind of dumped all the ghost care and stuff on Alison which is part of why (i think) the show had to end the way it did: Alison naturally couldn't be the "parent" to the ghosts AND Mia and since they couldn't bring themselves to have Mike share the load, they naturally had to pick one or the other and no matter how logically they tried to spin it, the ghosts lost out.

Jay is so damn important. He brings Sam back to earth when she gets too sucked into ghost drama but I also like that he doesn't make her choose one or the other. If the ghosts have a problem, he'll help her find a solution. Them being partners in ghost care allows CBS Ghosts to have it both ways, both the ghosts and their own lives as Livings, even if there are and will continue to be bumps and stumbles along the way that will have to be ironed out. I just don't see Jay and Sam being SO practical that they'd feel like they have to leave Woodstone in order to raise a family. I could be wrong, but that would just really seem out of character to me.

Also it says Nigel and Isaac's wedding planning will be season long and I can't wait to see what they do with that. It should be interesting. And I wonder what new ghosts we'll meet? I need at least one more trip to the Farnsbys' please please please cause that place is a ghost goldmine.

@mayamatlinscello

#cbs ghosts #cbs ghosts spoilers #missie's ghosts reviews

[chipper-asks]

Hi! I've been following you for a good while now and have always rly admired the community you've build, and, your art itself, obviously, it's always very cozy in here. May be a strange question, but as a relatively popular artist on the interned, are there any tips you could share on how to engage and sustain an audience? maybe you know some recourses for artist to get their art seen? I've been an artist posting online for roughly 10 yrs and pretty much failed at accumulating any sort of prominent presence. I don't feel bad about it really, it's not why I do art per say, but these are pretty rough times and unfortunately other means of art monetization grow thinner with stupid updates & algorithms forcing anyone who can't afford payed adds or subscriptions out of business. I kinda have to make use of social media, even if it's not my element in the slightest. Feel free not to answer if you feel like it. Thanks in advance! Also big thanks for your shouts of my art overall, I really appreciate your support!

So I've had a post in my drafts for who knows how long detailing how to build and curate your audience online. But I haven't found a good way to go about posting it because I didn't want it to come off as tooting my own horn xD

BUT YOU HAVE ENABLED ME SO HERE WE GO!!!

(im going to generalize, you may already be doing some of these things but I think its good info for anyone who wants to build an online presence)

1. Engaging your audience

A: First, you have to think of the platform you're sharing your art on and what people use it for. Not even tumblr, but the internet as a whole. It is a place where people form communities and share information. It's also one of the most popular ways to mentally escape; from school, boredom, to the horrors of real life.

So if you want people to find you, make a space where they can escape/feel community.

This means: No callout posting, no venting, no doom posting, no politics, no guilt posting, no anything that would make you unfollow someone else if you were having a bad day.

It's okay to have an occasional vent or political post cause we're human, but trauma dumping is something thats very hard for someone else to read and honestly should you be putting that kind of information online, the internet is a place of community but it also isnt safe.

B: The Value of Fandoms

It's time for some metrics, featuring my own follower count.

I've been on tumblr for 9 years and I have been making an effort to grow my base as a way of getting money as a freelancer (like you) so I started doing this allll the way back in highschool. I can remember each milestone and which fandom I got them in

1,000 I got when I was posting stuff for Undertale

2,000 I got when I was posting stuff for The Property of Hate

there was a big break between these milestones where I was just drawing ocs and object heads and stuff, but nothing I was hyperfixated on

5,000 I got from Hollow Knight

but then something really unexpected happened.

In late 2021 and early 2022 I decided cringe was a worthless social construct and decided to fully indulge in my enjoyment of doodling dragons.

I juuust inched past 5,000 when 2022 started. I Ended Up With 12,000 as 2022 ended. That's more than double. As of posting this I am at 13,600 and its only February.

So how did that happen? I could tout along and say that it was simply luck and I wasn't really making an effort anyway but that's a big fuckin lie, i've been "selling out" this whole time (it's not fucking selling out to post in fandom. You like a thing? You go to the thing's community and post about the thing)

Posting in a fandom is essentially like, now bear with me, advertising for your blog. Fandom is where the eyes are and where the traffic goes. Big tags like #artistsontumblr #tumblrart #art are used OFTEN but they're too general and often people look for things that are specific. Fandoms like Hollow Knight, BNHA, Mob Psycho, The Owl House, etc are currently popping off and have a lot of traffic.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you need to join a popular fandom to post your work in to get followers, it just means that if you're into a show or a media, post it on your main art blog and don't make side blogs. Keep it all together

Why?

Because 5% of those fandom people stick around for YOUR STUFF and those 5% of people are the best goddamn people in the world. You want those 5% to see EVERYTHING you do and THEY'RE the ones who will recommend you to THEIR friends and do outreach on your behalf because they like YOU and not YOUR STUFF.

i fuckin love those guys

So as you hop from fandom to fandom, you're going to lose some people but that's fine. Everyone curates their experience online and if you head off in a direction they don't like then they can deal with it. The rest come along for the ride cause 1: they either really like your stuff or 2: are into the new thing you're getting into.

SO ANYWAY

posting in fandoms under one name is GOOD because it puts everyone in the same bucket that will see your stuff and there's a chance that a few will stick just for your stuff. It is not cheap, its how you reach out to people to help cheer up their day and escape from things stressing them out.

C: What should you post?

So this is something that isn't an exact science but if you're looking to increase your follower count, this is something you can keep in mind.

Because this is the internet and the digital word of escaping from stress, people flock to things that are

1: Familiar 2: Funny 3: Relatable

So i've already been over fandoms and that's something that goes into the Familiar category. Familiar can also mean generalized but still popular concepts, like werewolves, dragons, vampires, apocalyptic scenarios, etc.

The more you trail into something niche, like marine biology, the seelie/unseelie courts, object heads, etc, the less traffic you'll find. There are communities centered around these but they're not massive like certain fandoms.

Which is how you end up with artists who spend hours upon hours on every piece only getting like 14 - 32 notes per piece. It's not lack of people caring or lack of interest, its the fact that these artists haven't "advertised" their blogs in fandom. Those people who end up caring about more personal posts are those 5% you find from fandom spaces. Their Familiar from that fandom begins to include your artwork as Familiar and thus they're more likely to share it.

Funny is simple. Tumblr is a platform of shitposts and memes. Do you have a favorite character in a fandom? Shitpost them. 2 birds with one stone, Familiar and Funny. I can't teach you how to be funny, but if you see something that makes you laugh online, pause and try to find out why and see if you can replicate it. (You wont get it in one go)

Relate-ability is also simple. If someone finds something they can easily associate with they will eagerly tag #mood #me or @ one of their friends in the post.

What doesn't get people following just by itself is your skill.

This sounds really fucking depressing but hear me out.

Your skill in art is a multiplier. It can take those three categories from above and BOOST IT to fantastic new heights. People love things that are from their fandoms that are funny and relate-able. People go FERAL for shit that is from their fandoms that are funny, relate-able AND COOL AS FUCK. If art represented x5 in an equation and you have nothing else, you get 0. If you include any of those three other things and then x5, you get something grand.

2. Sustaining your Audience.

If you want to set up your blog as a platform to eventually gain freelance income from, you need to make it yours and not your audience's.

This is key to prevent burnout and feeling obligation to create for thousands of featureless faces and losing sight of what made you enjoy art in the first place.

It is REALLY EASY to fall into that pit, especially as you grow your audience. When you have a small audience, it's easier to interact one on one with someone. Engagement is exciting when you have a small audience! People? Interested in your work!! Fuck yeah!!

But as you reach those milestones, the vibe begins to change. More and more people demand your attention. People who are new don't see you as an artist they knew from another fandom, they see you as a content creator and that is the worst goddamn stone wheel to get stuck around your neck.

You can still respond to requests and answer silly questions, but now you have to keep in mind that if you draw this little dragon for someone, three other people are going to ask for their own little dragons. And that's fine because you love dragons and they asked so nicely. You make those dragons but now there's seven people asking for their own dragons and you actually want to work on something other than dragons-- but you made those dragon doodles for those other people so wouldn't it be hypocritical to say no-

It becomes a spiral.

So to prevent that situation from happening, you need to respect your boundaries as an artist and what you will do and what you will draw the line at. If someone doesn't like you for that, they can unfollow.

In terms of posting regularly to sustain your audience, i've found that it helps but ultimately doesn't matter.

(this is a tumblr centric view, i cannot say the same for other platforms)

The way tumblr works resembles a massive recycling facility. You will see shit on your dash from 7 years ago but you dont mind, its how this place works.

It doesn't matter how often you post. You won't lose priority on people's dashboards if you don't make your daily art post. What matters is that you just make the post.

Each post you make is like sending out a bucket of chum into the grand ocean of tumblr. The more buckets of chum you have, the more likely you are to attract fish. The more you post the larger your radius is. The more variety you make in spreading out to different fandoms the wider your range is. And these spots of chum don't go away! They're permanent brown spots in a big blue wasteland and fish will stumble across it and then try to find the source.

Basically, you can disappear for an entire month and then suddenly return out of nowhere and shove 57 posts into a week and then disappear again and people will show up and stick around.

THis post is getting really long and there are probably some things im missing but my hadns are getting achy and i think that's my call to stop :p

if you have anymore questions tho im very willing to answer 👍

#asks #long post #nofandom

[ashanimus]

Owl House Face Reveals and Why They Work

I'm so behind on my Huntlow week contribution but I have to exorcise these bees from my brain.

One thing I have noticed that The Owl House does really well are face reveals. Each time we've had them they have been genuinely unexpected and interesting. Now, face reveals are nothing new in media, and in many genres within the speculative fiction box they kind of have their own language and preset expectations depending on the assumed archetype of a character.

Growing up in the 90's, this was quite consistent (particularly with anime). When a Cool, Masked Character or Villain shows up, there's usually an instant of the mask getting revealed in a moment of vulnerability that shows us what the character looks like--but in a wide variety of these reveals...the conclusion is often along the lines of:

Protag: Oh. They're a lot cuter than I was expecting!

There's often a little romantic subtext here too, but not always.

And for all the benefits (and true banes) of anime-type character design, it was/is very common for the resultant revealed face to be conventionally attractive (or drawn to be perceived that way). I know that this is a sort of gentle pushback to the historical VILLAIN=UGLY trope that is nowhere near as prevalent as it used to be, but after thirty years of prettyface mask reveals, it ended up paving the way for strong, sleeping expectation of mask=pretty underneath instead.

And as a result, we're not taking away much more information that what was already expected (re: masked character not so bad) when the character showed up masked to begin with.

Now, this isn't always bad. But in the case of a face reveal, it's supposed to be a moment that establishes really important visual information quickly--and if it's doubled with the "masked character is unconscious/injured" there's a good chance they wouldn't normally let our hero get that close to begin with. The point is, the scene has heavy lifting to do!

Which brings me to our first big face reveal in Owl House, Hunter.

So at this point, the Golden Guard has made his debut--he's been set up as a "genius teen prodigy". This is loaded language that anyone who grew up watching anime instantly understands. Even if you don't though, the way Lilith talks about him sets him up for this expectation well. In this scene, he shows up as a cocky little asshole with a lot of bravado but also, importantly, some key visual indicactors of power. He's got a staff in his right hand, a cage in the other, and is wearing heavy armor and of course the mask. He shows up in a fifty foot fist made of boiling salt water.

Without showing us his face, the show has already laid a pretty strong, unconscious foundation for what the audience is going to see under there! So when we get our classic moment:

This scene moves so much VERY quickly.

First, the Golden Guard's face doesn't resemble the archetypal expectation the audience might have had based on what had been set up. If anything, we're getting a lot of traits all at once we're not used to on a sympathetically portrayed character (more on this in a second). They also wisely destroy any possible interpretation of romantic subtext by giving us a sibling slapfight immediately. But the biggest takeaway from this quick scene visually is the fact the Golden Guard here very young, about Luz's age, maybe a little older--a detail highlighted by our hero herself--and VERY vulnerable. Very murderable. See how his torso (heart) is twisted up, head is tipped back and the eyebrows are scrunched up? Makes him quite a bit "smaller" looking even though he's quite tall compared to the other kids.

But what does this do for visual understanding of a scene? When expectations are subverted, the viewer in a way is able to absorb the visual information with new eyes. When a mask reveal shows us something actually surprising, it actually allows us to absorb the visual details without sorting them into an archetype. So what do we see? Who is the Golden Guard without his mask, his armor, or the trappings of his power?

Well...he has a lot of traits classically associated with unsympathetic characters, to start! He has dark heavy brows, reddish eyes in an ashy face, an aquiline nose and a big ol' gap in his teeth. He's got a ragged ear. Now lately, eye bags and facial scars have come into vogue for heroes, but not usually in combination with all of those other traits (if it was just the scar or even the ear, it wouldn't have told us much). And even here, they're startling because no other character in the show displays eye bags or prominent scarring--not even the mercenaries or adults. He's also fabulously expressive and earnest regardless of emotion, which takes the edge off any potential ability to intimidate (and we know he's about as intimidating as a kale salad as shown when he tries to order the Coven Scouts around at the precinct).

At this point, now that whatever preconceived vision of the mysterious Golden Guard has been blown out of the water, we're able to absorb what each individual character design choice is actually telling us.

This is one busted-ass teenager.

The eyebags show he's exhausted/stressed. The facial scar is a brutal fucking injury and the kind of thing that you get when someone is deliberately trying to hurt you (in combat or...well. what's implied to later be the actual reason). The ripped ear highlights the idea he's seen a lot of combat. The gap teeth highlight the childish imperfection and youth.

One of the things that struck me most about watching this for the first time and watching other reaction videos (a lot of them of different ages and demographics to get a decent sample size) was the incredible consistency of the response to all this visual information! Almost every single one of them were some variant or combination of these two thoughts: "Oh no, he's so young, poor thing! Is he okay?" And even better--the audience understands the answer to that question the minute they ask it, even before the conclusion of the episode. No, he is certainly not! This brainwashed child is in a lot of physical and emotional danger!

Which is GREAT! That's clearly what the intent was. An given how much of a little shithead he was in his first appearances, it was really amazing to see how thoroughly he was able to go from that to instantly sympathetic--as well as visually very interesting.

The Owl House demonstrates a lot of mastery over animation and writing techniques/tropes. You could fill a book on the topic (please oh please let there be an art book at the end please please please). But I REALLY loved how they handled face reveals especially, and to date this one in particular is probably my favorite.

#toh #the owl house #toh hunter #hunter wittebane #the golden guard #I was mulling over these face reveals with boyfriend last night #and I had to write them down because theyre really well done #With how much anime has influenced this show #I have no doubt how deliberate this all was #and Im really glad they made such bold character choices in this show! #ash's owl house meta #ari don’t look! #if I have time coming up I'll maybe break down Belos and Del's but I havent had time to take a fart in peace lately so we'll see #also about that damn scar #Ive talked about it before and i probably will again #as the owner of a few Large scars myself #he probably cant feel much in that side of his face and Im reliably told its a miracle its not paralyzed! #fridge horror!

[mdhwrites]

So, what made the villains in Amphibia, DuckTales 2017, maybe Star vs seasons 1-3, and Gravity Falls like Andrias, the Core, Grime, Sasha, Magica, Bradford, Lunaris, Glomgold, Ludo, Toffee, Meteora, Gideon, and Bill Cipher work better than TOH's villains like Belos and the Collector?

Okay so on the one hand, it's reasonable to ask me about what makes something work if The Owl House is failing at it. I'm assuming the same person though has sent me this sort of ask three times now where it's like "Hey, if TOH fucked this up, what makes it work for these others" and its kind of uncomfortable for me. First there's just the fact that I have not seen any of these series to their endings. I've watched one season of Star, literally a handful of Gravity Falls episodes and a season and a half of Amphibia. I cannot do the deep dives on any of these shows that I can do with TOH that help highlight them. But perhaps more importantly: I don't like the DIRECT opposition of these shows against each other. I have done blogs like that and even on a subject like this I've mentioned Amphibia's monsters. That's to prove an overall point though and to teach about the writing. When the thesis is "Why are these shows better than TOH" it gets... It gives the impression that if I can't prove ALL of these correct, then you won't believe the original analysis which goes into why these elements don't work and thus also does go into partially why they do work. And that's not a good place to be in a debate. It's just kind of uncomfortable and sets a bad precedent. Like if you just want to know what good villain writing looks like... Ask that. Until very recently I was calling myself a professional writer for a reason. I know what I'm talking about. I can just go into what makes a good one off villain versus a big bad, a good organized villain and not, etc. like that and I'll figure out examples that work well for the concept of the lesson. And that's the thing: I talk about this stuff as lessons, not to prove TOH is categorically worse than anything else out there. That's not my goal and explicitly attacking it while uplifting other modern cartoons is explicitly trying to prove why TOH is worse than them and I'm not comfortable with that. Just as a quick example though for what a villains lesson from me would look like, one part of it is absolutely tone. If we aren't SUPPOSED to take the threat seriously, than a goofball villain is great. Look at Jack Cypher from Xaolin showdown. He's the main bad guy for a WHILE and he works really well for while the series isn't that serious and then they swap in for a tonally consistent big bad when they get more dramatic. Jessie and James aren't great villains because they're successful but because they facilitate a LOT of great silliness keeping in tone with childishness of Pokemon. But these are also consistent villains who when they bare their teeth, that shock hits both the story and the viewer but also only if it's earned, just like Zuko turning good only works as a villain redemption because he earns that right to change his inherent tone. The Collector and Belos don't do this. They're tonally inconsistent. We never really know how seriously we're supposed to take Belos because the show has a hard time keeping him intimidating while glorifying Luz. It's part of what makes Elsewhere Elsewhen suck so much. We can't take Belos as seriously anymore and we're not sure what his tone is supposed to be when we're obviously meant to think Philip is kind of an idiot, one note asshole, etc. like that and then all the mystique and threat Belos is simultaneously terminated. The Collector similarly is meant to be tonally a big threat and problem which lasts until the end of King's Tide. After that, his tone is literally anything but threatening so you're just waiting for his redemption that won't be earned and bored the rest of the time. And those are just big bads. One off villains have their own issues with tone and presentation and keeping up some sort of novelty to them. I can ABSOLUTELY do a blog about villains in general. I just don't want it to be explicitly about "Yeah, TOH fucking blows versus the modern cartoon market". That's just not my goal and it never has been.

#toh critical #the owl house criticism

[cutesharkstudios]

Owl House Group Chat Ch. 1

Room Created: Hexsquad

(Hexsquad) 9:03am Luz has entered Amity has entered

Luz: Hola Batata!

Amity: Hey sweet potato!

Luz: Like the new group chat? This, God willing, will make sure we're all on the same page with new events.

Amity: It's wonderful, Luz. Side note, what did you think of my gift for your kingcenera?

Luz: OMT Ams, I LOVED it. Ever since Mildred Featherwile ended the Azura franchise because the publishers thought it "didn't fit the brand", I lost touch with my reading. So to see fans made a spiritual sucessor was really great, and I loved the book so much I read it thrice.

Amity: Wasn't your party yesterday? And the book 700 pages?

Luz: I really liked it, thanks.

Amity: Welcome. So, who else is coming on?

Luz: Basically all our close friends, but not all at once. I say we give it some time.

Luz: Gotta go, mama needs my help at the vet. BRB!

Luz has left the chat

Amity: Well it's saturday, so I'll just wait for the others.

10:16 am Hunter has entered Vee has entered

Hunter: So this is a group chat. Nice.

Vee: So what's up Hunter?

Hunter: Things are going good with me and Willow, Darius is in a MUCH better mood now that he's dating Alador, and Eberwolf is teaching me beastkeeping magic, which I am having a ton of fun with.

Vee: Awesome!

Amity: Hey Hunter! Hey Vee! How's it feel to be official Nocedas now?

Vee: SO GREAT! Camilla has been awesome, and even gave me great dating advice for Masha.

Hunter: She even helped me become a better sewing. Now I can make cute dresses for palismen too. I sold 10 yesterday for a remote buyer, and the money will help out massively in the future.

Amity: 150 snails well spent.

Vee: So, Gus is finishing up his lecture, so he should be here soon.

Gus has entered

Hunter: Or right now.

Gus: Sorry for the wait, student raised some really interesting questions.

Amity: So, where is Willow? This sounds like her kind of thing.

Hunter: Flyer derby practice. I heard she's making up for a ton of the reserve team being sick. Pray for them.

Amity: We will.

Vee: So Hunter, I hear a lot about Darius, but how's Eberwolf?

Eberwolf has entered

Eberwolf: I'm doing lovely, thank you Vee.

Amity: MR. EBERWOLF!?!?!?!?!?!?

Gus: How'd you get on here?

Eberwolf: Hunter gave me access. Before anyone asks yes, he did ask Luz if it was okay, so I thought I'd tell you about Luz and how she's doing in my class.

Amity: How is she doing?

Eberwolf: Well, I can tell her mom is a vet. She is doing SPLENDID in my class. You can see the look in her eyes when she hugs a griffon. Side note, she mentioned you were good with cats, so I have a question.

Amity: shoot.

Eberwolf: Why did she nickname our Liger after you? I heard she said it was because it's power and beauty reminded her of you, and wondered why it did.

Amity: 0/////0

Vee: Aw!

Hunter: That's my sister.

Hunter: Man, that feels good to type.

Luz has entered

Luz: Hey guys, glad you could make it.

Amity: Hey Luz, check out Eberwolf's text about you.

Gus: Oh this is gonna be fun

Vee: Popcorn? [image of popcorn]

Luz: I thought it would be sweet. Is it?

Amity: It is. Side note, before I go and help my dad with his project, I ask that you meet me in my manor at 8. I have a suprise for you.

Amity has left the chat

Luz: ok…………

Luz has left the chat

Eberwolf: Oh my.

Vee: Go to horny jail.

(At the Blight Manor)

Luz: (Enters) Hello? Amity?

Amity: (Practically singing) Luz, come here.

Luz then sees a finger beconing here further in the manor

Luz then walks into the room, and sees something that made her gasp in shock…..

….. a room full of otter plushies

Amity: They were on sale.

HAPPY LATE 4TH ANIVERSSARY OWL HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#amity blight #luz noceda #willow park #hunter toh #the owl house #gus porter #the owl house eberwolf #vee noceda #luz x amity #fanfic #lumity #toh

[zutraeumen]

The Final Course

Chef Julian Slowik didn't know what to do with himself. 

He didn't know how to feel about his ruined Menu, and about the two guests who made it so.

There was no time to waste on unnecessary thoughts other than salvage what was left and finish it. Although looking at the corpses of his avid followers, he regretted that not all made it to the journey with him. They deserved to feel liberated too.

Alas, death was nothing. He was the Chef, the Man. He worked with death every day. Death was his business. How could he call himself a chef if he didn't experience death? Two cooks tip the barrel on its side. A vicious liquid poured out across the floor. 

Resigned to their fate, the diners didn't even bother lifting their feet. By now some even felt as if they deserved it. 

Servers have begun draping thick sheets of marshmallow strung together with candy floss over the diners. 

The staff continued to hustle, creating elaborate, Jackson Pollock splatters and swirls of melted chocolate and graham crackers crumbled atop the tables. 

Slowik stood still as an owl and thought. He looked around his restaurant. The ferocious beauty of his food. The havoc he had caused. The totality of his life. And somehow he knew this wasn't the perfect ending to his menu. He shook his head, dismayed.

It was time for him to be done with it, "So. Before our final course, there is the matter of the bill." 

Servers placed checks on the tables, along with little Hawthorn gift bags. 

"We're on a no-tip system, so gratuity is included. Please enjoy your gift bags. A few goodies in there -- a booklet of our local suppliers, some house-made granola, one of Doug Verrek's fingers, and a copy of tonight's menu.

Lillian Bloom reached for her wallet until Ted stopped her, "No, this is on the magazine," He noticed that Lillian was almost about to cry, "I know."

"No, it's just - I just realized I'll never get to write about this."

Richard reached for his wallet with his one good hand and gave it to Anne.

"Can you take out my Amex?" He looked at her, "Anne?"

"I don't want an apology, Richard."

The man looked at his wife solemnly, glowing with shame and subsequent regret, "Happy Anniversary."

Each tech bro tossed in a credit card -- they're going Dutch.

The movie star put down his card.

"I am your friend," Felicity reacted with a sniff.

The movie star smiled at his only friend, "Told you you weren't leaving." 

"Again, thank you all for dining with us tonight. You represent the ruin of my art, and my life, but now you get to be a part of it. A part of what I hope is my masterpiece." 

With Chef's prompting, the guests slowly begin to clap. The movie star couldn't help but give it up sincerely for himself and for a fellow artist. The cooks applauded as well.

"And now, our final dessert course is a playful twist on a comfort food classic..."

"The S'more: the most offensive assault on the human palate ever contrived. Unethically sourced chocolate and gelatinized sugar water imprisoned by industrial-grade graham cracker. It's everything wrong with us and yet we associate it with innocence. Childhood. Mom and Dad.

Chef looked at his mother, who was passed out at her table. 

"But what transforms this fucking monstrosity is fire. The purifying flame. It nourishes us, warms us, re-invents us, forges and destroys us. We must embrace the flame." 

There were tears gathering in the eyes of our diners. They know what's happening and some even began praying. Slowik grabbed a handful of hot coal straight from the grill, not even registering how it burned his palm, and slowly made his way into the centre of the dining room.  

"Please --" Anne begged shakingly.

But was she pleading for him to stop... or to continue?

"We must be cleansed. Made clean. Like martyrs or heretics, we can be subsumed and made anew."

Tears well in Chef Slowik's eyes. He paused, taking a deep breath. He had somehow found... release.

The chef tossed it in the flammable pool. A watery curtain of blue flame billowed across the floor. A warm, metamorphic glow illuminated the faces of our diners. Despite everything that had gone wrong, Chef Slowik was prepared to perish from this world that had grown so inhospitable to him, smiling face in the firelight.

There were screams of torture around him but it was as if the man ascended to Heaven already. 

That was until the Devil came knocking on the door.

And dragged him hastily out of the restaurant.

#romance #horror #the menu #julian slowik #chef slowik #julian slowik x ofc #margot mills #john wick #john wick chapter 4 #keanu reeves #john wick 4 #winston scott #eventual happy ending #eventual comfort #eventual romance #eventual relationship #slow burn #enemies to lovers

[balillee]

im so mentally ill right now i just curated a list of all of the different allusions the owl house makes to caleb wittebane and his witch girlfriend. for anyone interested, i have them in chronological order: (sort of)

the first reference we get to caleb is actually all the way back in season 2 episode 4. at the end of the episode, gwendolyn explains that her great-grandmother told her of a human who lived in bonesborough who left his diary at the library, and who mysteriously vanished one day (which we know now is actually him being run out of town), and also briefly brings up the capability of titan's blood to create rifts between realms. initially, this is just the precursor to finding out who phillip wittebane is - an 'explorer' from the deadwardian era of the boiling isles, but the specific mention that it was gwen's great grandmother, aka eda and lilith's great-great grandmother, suggests that this clawthorne ancestor may have known the wittebane brothers personally. this would suggest that maybe this great-grandmother of gwendolyn's Was caleb's partner, or perhaps caleb's daughter who had never gotten to meet him, however the latter seems a little more unlikely.

the next reference i found was in knock knock knockin on hooty's door. in eda's segment of the episode, she flashes back to the day the owl beast attacked her dad, and this is the first glimpse we get of her dad, who bears a striking resemblance to the wittebane brothers. we get clearer glimpses of phillip in elsewhere and elsewhen, and the similarities in hair and face shape are definitely no coincidence. aside that, he has the same distinct nose shape as caleb/hunter.

more on dell clawthorne, we do actually end up meeting him in the present.

in this shot, we see his palisman - a yellow cardinal. this is important for two reasons. 1) bird palismen are notably tied to the clawthorne family, like eda with owlbert, lilith and her raven palisman (which i have issues with, but that's for another time), gwen and hawksley, and dell and his yellow cardinal. 2) this is the same species of bird as flapjack, who we know belonged to either caleb or his witch partner, but most likely caleb. another direct connection.

we also learn that historically, the clawthornes were palisman carvers, and that dell could no longer continue his craft because of sustained nerve damage in his hand, and the loss of his left eye. another thing i noticed is that i'm pretty sure him, eda and lilith are all left handed, but that's not really an important detail. every afab in my family was left-handed up until me, so whether or not it's a thing that you pass down, i have no idea.

other than that, we learn later on in hollow mind that the very first iteration of belos' mask was carved by caleb, so it may have even been caleb who passed the tradition into the clawthorne family. either that, or perhaps he and the witch bonded over their shared hobbies.

also at the very end of elsewhere and elsewhen is this shot, which to me tells of phillip already beginning experiments on the very first grimwalkers. in this shot i can see what looks like a decaying grimwalker hand tagged '4' - likely his failed fourth attempt to recreate caleb, an early golden guard cloak, some scientific diagrams, and some bones. whether or not those are grimwalker bones or the actual corpse of his brother, i actually don't want to know, thanks. holding out hope that they're whatever the fuck 'bones of ortet' are. but this does confirm, at least to me, that caleb died Before phillip got stranded indefinitely in the demon realm.

there's also this page from phillip's diary in the same episode, a crude drawing of him and caleb distinguishable from the face shapes.

we're actually not doing this chronologically anymore, and i skipped to elsewhere and elsewhen because it was a convinient segue. back to yesterday's lie, folks.

this lil collection of screenshots is pretty much all references to the brothers i could find from yesterday's lie. the statues in the park are clearly of the wittebane brothers, with phillip sporting a signature ponytail, and caleb distinguishable yet again by the bump on his nose that he shares with hunter. also in town is the gravesfield sign, important because it states that gravesfield was founded in 1635, which is the time of the wittebane brothers and in line with the deadwardian era of the boiling isles, and also depicts a town crest bearing striking resemblance to the old golden guard sigil that hunter is seen sewing onto his cloak in any sport in a storm.

the two drawings are a little more difficult to decipher. vee's news clipping, written by the conspiracy theorist we meet later in the episode, is just a small part of the larger book that he has. this slightly less faded image, if you look close into it, we see what i assume is both brothers conversing with a witch, or a interpretation of a witch. it's difficult to decipher who is who, but i'm assuming the brother on the left is caleb, with flapjack on his shoulder, holding the witches hand and being civil. phillip, on the other hand, appears to be holding a torch in his right hand - witch hunter, remember? - and a 'picto-glyph' in his other. you could suggest it's the other way around, but i don't think that's vitally important. what's depicted here are the brothers. jacob even briefly recounts their story from the human world perspective - two brothers lured into a 'realm of evil' by a real witch, never to be seen again.

having mentioned any sport in a storm, i should mention that this is the first time we hear caleb's name. when hunter is trying to come up with a cover name, flapjack suggests the name caleb, and hunter goes by 'caleb jasper bloodwilliams' for the majority of the episode.

this is all before hollow mind, which, as we know, contains the most information about the wittebane brothers. we've all seen the screenshots of the paintings, but we know that caleb bears a very striking resemblance to hunter, and was spotted in the photos with who appears to be a female witch, implied to be an ancestor of the clawthornes. phillip even mentions that 'out of all the grimwalkers, [hunter] looks the most like [caleb]', if you disregard various scarring on hunter's face, the red eyes characteristic of grimwalkers, and the tooth gap.

here we also get a little characterisation for caleb. contrasted to who we learn phillip is, caleb is a lot more liberal and accepting of change. unlike phillip, he learns to embrace magic, embrace witches, and embrace the demon realm despite his puritan upbringing in early america. he even embraces phillip, who had already succumbed to whatever ailment he had given himself as a result of carving glyphs into his skin. however, phillip, despite caleb's attempts to ease him into the demon realm and embrace it as something wonderful, ends up murdering him, and it is very likely at this point that the clawthorne witch banished phillip to the demon realm permanently as a punishment, knowing it was a world he hated, and buried the portal they'd been using to traverse worlds in her estate, later to be found by eda when she ran away from home.

also in this episode we get a flashback to hunter's return from eclipse lake. belos and the collector talk, and after the collector suggests that he keeps making grimwalkers just to destroy them, and that he finds fun in it, belos denies the accusation and claims that every time the golden guard chooses to betray him, it hurts.

not only does caleb's good heart persist throughout his clones, to the point of having to betray his younger brother again and again, but he still sees caleb in them all. he may be beyond the point of no return, willing to kill them each time, but he still longs for a brother that sees the world the way he does, so he can have a brother he seemed to love so dearly in his youth return to him.

to be honest, there's not much mention of caleb, the clawthorne ancestor, or grimwalkers after that until the last two episodes.

in clouds on the horizon, hunter decides to hide the fact that he is a grimwalker from gus and willow, and is unsure if he is a human or a witch. all he knows is that he is a clone of 'someone belos made disappear'.

then, king's tide. hunter and belos reunite for the first time in the finale post-hollow mind, and in this episode, belos finally meets flapjack again. not only has hunter betrayed him, the clone he expected to last longer, the one that caleb looked the most like, but he also wields caleb's palisman. this enrages him, probably because he doesn't see hunter anymore. he sees caleb. he shouts caleb's name, confirming for the first time that caleb was the name of his older brother, and that flapjack originally belonged to either caleb or his partner. i know there was a whole thing about whether or not he said 'caleb' or 'kill him', but dana Has confirmed on twitter that he said 'caleb'.

all the way back in episode 6, flapjack made a decision to become hunter's palisman, and the bat queen said this,

but who knew that line held the weight that it did?

#the owl house #toh #toh hunter #toh caleb #toh wittebanes #toh wittebro #caleb wittebane #wittebane brothers #wittebro #toh flapjack #toh philip #toh phillip wittebane #phillip wittebane

[toastywatchesstevenuniverse]

S1 E40

On the Run

This episode broke me.

I am...

I....

I am a broken creature & my heart has been thoroughly stomped into the ground.

This is....this is the best episode so far....but it's achieved the status of best by absolutely tearing me apart in every way & leaving my emotions as a pile of tear soaked dust.

Okay before we get to that: I have one thing to say....

GARNET HAS MASSIVE AND PLENTIFUL BALLS. Look this post ended up being a lot more personal & emotional than this blog usually has been so I'm giving you a balls joke to balance it out. I have a feeling that there will be more emotional venting if this episode is an indicator of what the rest of the show is like: we're gonna need all the dick & ball jokes we can muster up.

First off: easily the best musical number in the show so far. Yes even better than Pearl's solo number. And I do not say that lightly. That is a tough level to beat. And they did it. Steven & Amethyst take the gold medal for best song so far. 👌

ALSO OH MY GOD THESEE SHOTS THESE COLOURS THIS DJFJFNDIFJW ITS SO FUCKING GOOD????????

WHY DID SO MANY PEOPLE ON YOUTUBE TELL ME THIS SHOW HAS BAD ANIMATION WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT ARE WE WATCHING THE SAME SHOW?????? SURE THERES BEEN SOME WONKY DRAWINGS BUT MOST OF IT HAS BEEN VISUAL GOD TIER SHIT LIKE THIS. This episode was actually quite a step up in the animation compared to the previous ones. It's like the animators stepped on the gas here. I love it.

(Hey there uh so Trigger warning for this post just in case bc I do mention the topics of self harm/self hate/passive suic*de & that kinda stuff. So if that's not your thing, I'm really sorry & I understand if you wanna just stop reading here. If this isn't a topic you like to see mentioned at all, I'll just summarize my opinion here real quick & you can click away, I'm happy you're here at all btw thanks for reading this far!! & I want you to know you're valid for feeling this way btw: Don't let anyone tell you different. Anyways tldr I love this episode & how it tackles Amethysts character & it's the best episode so far & it made me cry really really bad & I am more of an emotional mess now than I usually am.)

So getting a bit personal here: I have said many times throughout my life that 'I never asked to be born'. I still think it now.

(Side Note but oh my god the animation in this fight was fucking incredible. Holy shit. And these shots go so fucking hard they COOKED this shit to perfection.)

Ive been depressed & passively suicidal for most of my life. I honestly cannot really recall a time where I didn't feel this way. I'm just kinda used to it by now I guess.

(This shot. This frame right here. This was when I had to pause the episode to calm down from how bad I was crying.)

So to hear Amethyst say the exact same thing that I have said so many times before: That broke me. That just fucking broke me. And like it's not the first time I cried at this show so far: BUT this IS the first time the show genuinely struck an such an extremely difficult & personal chord with me, not just like being sometihng I relate to, but the chord it struck was deep & painful enough that I had to actually pause the episode because of how much I needed to process it. Like I could not pay attention with how bad it made me break. So yeah it's now score 1 for the amount of times this show has fucking utterly destroyed me. Not every show is able to get me to react like THAT. The only other show in recent memory that got that reaction out of me that I can remember at the time of typing this is well, The Owl House. To be fair I haven't watched too too many new shows but yeah. This got me crying badly enough that I had to take a moment to calm down. Wasn't expecting to have that nerve struck like that.

That just hit on a personal chord for me & just....fuck man. I know that feeling. And they nailed how it feels. Amethysts reaction was exactly how it feels for me, just outwardly anger & tears. It hurts. Obviously anger & crying is simplifying it a lot, it's a lot more than just baseline that but you get what I mean. You could tell that she was feeling that exact way. & holy shit the fact that she's been the "comedic relief" of the gems so far & yet she's had easily the most fucked up & sad backstory of the show so far. Yeah if catching me off guard & completely blindsiding me with this was the goal: Goal fucking achieved because that was like a whack to my fucking face with a frying pan.

So....like, is this gonna be a reoccuring thing? I just.....get the feeling that this is a sign that the show absolutely fucking me up emotionally may become a more frequent thing going forward. So like, if that is the case......fuck. I'm so fucked. I am going to be a fucking wreck by the end of this show. This is gonna fucking leave me a sobbing mess, isn't it? What the fuck have I gotten myself into-

I am afraid. Also I am going to need to buy more tissues.

And the scene where Pearl & Amethyst speak in the hole is some of the best writing in any CN show. Ever.

(Also to break up the depressing talk, OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT PEARL IS SO FUCKING TALL THAT SHE HAS TO BEND DOWN AND SIT STANDING UP ON HER TIPPY TOES. THAT'S SO FUCKING ADORABLE I LOVE HER I AM GOING TO FUCKING LOSE IT.)

This episode was absolutely perfect.

#toasty steven universe watchthrough #steven universe #su #watchalong #cartoon network #currently watching #crystal gems #su pearl #amethyst #pearl steven universe #garnet #rose quartz #rebecca sugar #cartoon #pearl #first time watch #first watch #no spoilers #mod toasty #on the run #amethyst su #amethyst steven universe #tw sui vent #tw sui implied

[itsclydebitches]

Am I the only RWBY hater legitimately happy they're addressing Ruby's trauma and her constant shoving it under the 'i'm a happy dappy shounen protag! you can lean on me!' rug. If it fucks it up I don't think I'll even be too mad - The Owl House fucked theirs up and that's one of the best new shows out. The fact they actually had Ruby faint as her literally shutting down to the new information was neat to me. So tbh despite the rest of the episode being, lmao, bad, I kind of want to be happy and expectant based off that alone. If the focus of the volume really is zeroing in on Ruby's mental health (which it definitely is squaring up to be) I'm kind of interested what they'll do.

You're far from the only one, anon! I'm cautiously hopeful, based primarily on that opening. The fact that we've got Ruby lagging behind the group alongside, our trailer with her past doppelganger seemingly judging her, tells me that yeah, we are squaring up to tackle this. Which is great!

It's also, honestly, kinda frustrating. I was saying years ago that if RWBY finally gets its act together it'll be too little too late in many respects and now we're bumping up against that very problem. I have trouble taking Ruby's trauma seriously when it was nearly nonexistent post-Penny's first death and actually nonexistent after her resurrection. I especially have a hard time taking it seriously when it's book-ended by cutsey mice and vine gags. I'd argue that on one level RWBY already has fucked up Ruby's mental health arc, simply by letting it languish for eight years and introducing the core of it in that mess of a premiere... but that's not to say that there won't still be worthwhile aspects this season, even if the arc isn't all that it could have been.

I'm also just so, so wary after Volume 8. Because Volume 7 had so much going for it. We had the same basic setup of, "This is nowhere near perfect because we had too many problems going into the season, but damn if what they're doing with Ironwood and the team isn't interesting!" And then that crashed and burned so very hard. Obviously that's not to say RWBY will fail again to follow up on what they've introduced, but history hasn't made me particularly optimistic.

Tomorrow is going to be pretty crucial imo. Because Ruby's faint - while yes, emphasizing her shock and tendency to, in this case, literally shut down - is also an easy way to dodge her having a more complex, nuanced reaction. The premiere dodged that further by going, "Ruby says she's fine and conveniently the girls aren't gonna push her about that. Oh look! The episode needs to end now." So tomorrow's 15-20 minute chunk is when the story has to start actually doing something with this revelation - whatever that looks like. If Ruby begins to deal with his somehow (because remember, we only have 9 episodes left), fantastic, we're on our way through a potentially satisfying arc. But if we continue to waste time on silly jokes while Ruby just remains perpetually in this state of, "I'm fine, no need to grapple with what I'm dealing with" - which, notably, has basically been her default state since Volume 3 - then I'm worried we'll get another one-episode "fix it" towards the end of the season, rather than an emotionally fulfilling arc. There's a big difference between actually taking Ruby through this journey of coming to terms with her grief and (fingers crossed) her mistakes vs. introducing us to the fact that She Is Sad and then giving us a scene later in the Volume when she inexplicably, completely Overcomes It. Think Oscar accepting his role as Ozpin's host off screen. Qrow suddenly deciding he's done with drink and look, there are no problems with quitting. Or Ruby's lie never amounting to anything, Ren deciding he's just a bad teammate somewhere out in the snow, even leaving half our characters for a Volume with a potential time-skip on the horizon.

RWBY is very good at saying, "Here's a big problem" and also "It's fixed now," but it's grown terrible at providing the in between; how we got from the staggeringly difficult problem to its resolution. I'm really hoping Ruby's arc doesn't go the same route.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[zapalimesvet]

I just thought about writing more about Estellé even tho my Ideas are stupid making Estellé such an annoying character as possible hshshdbd but here it is! 💀💀💀

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When Estellé was sorted into Ravenclaw, she got later owl from her parents how disappointed they are she's not wearing the Snake and she probably don't deserve to wear it. Later her dad find out that Half blood Tom Marvolo Riddle is wearing that snake that was supposed to be Estellé, and so he started saying "how can that mudblood Riddle wear the snake that is yours. Maybe he did deserved it more than you as I see." "See? Even mudblood like him reached the house but you couldn't, you're not good enough to wear the snake" ....

That's why Estellé got the mindset hating Tom so much, that he have something that was supposed to be her and started to bully him kind of, never saying his name but call him mudblood ( basically for her Father, even half bloods are Mudbloods, there's no difference for him.)

And ofc Tom wouldn't let that slide, they were hexing each other, and call each other disgusting names or even bump into each other and smash each others books. How Estellé started It, it also got ended by her.

There was tradition in her family to became animagus before 17, she didn't wanted to disappoint her father again. She was trying for years, it made her excited and the stories her dad would tell her everyday when she was little. Having the leaf in her mouth for a month, drinking animagus potion on every lighting storm that comes, it was long process until that one day in 5 grade she made it. She thought as young she'll get more respect by her father

"look! She became animagus as young! We're so proud!!" But it was "became animagus as young is good but not good as wearing the snake"

Yet it just hit her that she doesn't care about her father's words anymore, it's tiring how he tells her everyday she's not good enough for the snake.

5 grade she became Perfect just like Tom Riddle and others. She saw how Tom was smiling at her so teasing, and laughed how he saw her scoff and leave right after dinner.

Tom saw how Estellé was changing, she didn't gave a shit about him anymore, what was her reason to stop ? He was curious, it was the perfect time to threaten it out of her. All he need to do is corner her up and say "what's wrong? Scared to threaten me all because you got the perfect badge? You don't deserve it" "you don't enjoy hexing me and nicknaming me anymore Astrée? Not funny anymore? Not enjoying?" The scenarios were repeating in his head, he was trying find the best one to say. It looked like Estellé was trying to run away from Tom, everytime she saw him, he could see how her chest was raising with anxiety and her heart beating, painting for breath running away from him, always find some way to run away from him.

Was she scared or just embarrassed for the years and drama she had with him. She's all grown up, she find out words have Consequences and it was childish to listen Father about the rivality again half bloods. Maybe she wasn't really meant to be Slytherin for so many reasons. Estellé decided to leave Tom just be, it didn't helped her to threaten him anyway

Yet still the words of her father was haunting her mind, never letting her sleep. She felt bad what she did to Tom as child, and now she's scared to even look at him, even go same way as he does. Maybe he would understand the teror she had in her household and the way her father tried to send her against half bloods.

In fact she would tell those things to Abraxas but it wasn't safe anymore when he became Tom riddle's friend and she started to ignore him, he wasn't safe for her anymore. Not mention the fact Boys were asking Abraxas where is his Ravenclaw rat that would stand by him everywhere he goes.

Abraxas tried to talk to her but her best friend Celeste would tell him always the same line:

"she is sick, please let her be." ( even she was healthy) it made him mad how she lied.

So Estellé spend long months thinking about how bad she was towards Tom, and that's when the bullying started, his friends would jump on her for things and even the littlest ones.

"you got more points at your test than Tom! You're such a teachers pet!" And insults. And they would even do it behind Tom's back, what he wouldn't care anyway. Abraxas didn't liked that idea, they wanted him to do it to her too but he denayed, it would ruin her and his friendship that was building for years even before Hogwarts.

~••~••~••~

The bullying kind of stopped for another months, it was relief Estellé, but she still felt she just deserved it.

Kids were excited to go to Rokville, maybe for the butter beer to 3 brooms, candy. She wasn't excited, her mind was still going trough something in her head.

BOOM!!!

A snow ball were hit in her head, little snow flakes all over head

Lestrange along with Avery, Garko were laughing and there he was. Abraxas standing here blank and watching her. Watching them doing this shit to her and not even knowing what was her reason. She could see how Tom was basically OBSESSED with her now.

And Rokville was actually really good reason when Abraxas could catch Estellé and give her talk but she slips her hand away from his.

"what's your problem Malfoy? Wanna throw snowball into me?"

"I didn't even throw one!"

"Just leave me, I don't have mood for any of the things that are with that God damn Tom Riddle!"

~~••~~••~~••

They didn't saw each other for long. As they were leaving Rokville, she disappeared somewhere. There was little frozen lake, yet still some broke frozen windows filled with water, idea lightened in her head.

"look a rat is trying to drown herself!!"

With every step she did, ice was breaking under her. It wasn't even a sec when the ice broke under her and fell into frozen water. She was getting cold so damn fast, cheeks cold, skin pale, nose and cheeks red. You wouldn't expect who came fast as possible, God damn Tom Riddle but she didn't saw who it was, she was losing mind from the cold, it was hella blurry, she could feel herself passing out.

He grabbed his scarf and pull it around her neck and tried get her into hospital wing as fast as possible. He had no idea why he do it, but he saw her from big clock window how she fell into the ice and no one would even save her, maybe he felt sorry for her?

~~~•••~~

Tom would check her everyday day into hospital wing but never actually showing up, he just stalked and listened. Profesors thank him how he saved a student from freezing to death.

Then he heard.

"I see you got Slytherin scarfs! Who it is!" - Celeste

"Abraxas." Estellé smiled warm to herself pulling the scarf around her neck "Abraxas, he..he wanted to talk to me but I was acting like a prick."

«Abraxas? He wasn't even with you!» Tom thought to himself and frowned, he needs to actually say it to himself that he was so obsessed whole damn 5 year with her.

"Abraxas? You sure? But anyway professors allowed me to bring you some soup!" - Celeste

Tom Left, why it should make him mad she thought it was Abraxas? Was he jealous? She was passed out when he came. She should thank him for everything, next time he won't be this kind.

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Opinions/questions are well appreciated!

#harry potter headcanon #harry potter oc #harry potter fanart #harry potter fandom #harry potter #tom riddle headcanon #tom marvolo riddle #tom riddle #abraxas malfoy #malfoy family #estom #estellé astrée #ravenclaw oc #ravenclaw #slytherin