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sepublic · 2 years

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We got ANOTHER promo y’all!!! It’s technically a trailer but it’s thankfully very brief, given the runtime it’s hyping up is only two episodes, compared to usual TOH trailers that are advertising at least nine episodes! This is an official release and NOT a leak!

First off, Luz’s laptop!!! She’s doing this 11:09 pm at just 20%, she’s got references to Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight on her desktop, and I think that one Hades game? The one with Zagreus? Anyhow the Hollow Knight references are REAL, coupled with the S1 intro, makes you wonder if it influenced stuff like Hollow Mind…!

Luz also has a Good Witch Azura fanfic file! And she’s recently made art since her return to the human world; You can’t see all of it, but it appears to the Owl House’s roof, in a parallel to how the intro usually ends with Luz, Eda, and King on the roof when she ignites a light spell and pushes it into the sky! Augghhhh she’s coping…! And her username is @FriendofOwlsandTitans… Oh my GAWD! She accepts King as a TITAN she’s a friend to TITANS!!! Original art do not steal, just like her GF!

“All I ever wanted was to be good at something”… Good lord, if that doesn’t summize SO much about Luz. Her feelings of inadequacy. Her initial dreams of being a chosen one. Her desire to help others and be of service to them. Her need to JUSTIFY her own existence, to quote her girlfriend… That hit hard. Like I know but OW.

She’s making video diaries again as we guessed, but this time to HERSELF; Girl needs a place to vent, good for her! She probably stayed up and snuck to the kitchen to let herself indulge in her dark feelings and thoughts alone. Did Luz make a video for Eda and King and eventually give up, being forced to confront herself inward without any distractions? She says she knows what she has to do now, is… Is Luz about to do something rash? Something involving Belos? Babey don’t hurt yourself, or maybe she just means the general principle of making thing right!

Then skipping past stuff we DO know, we see Luz and Hunter dressed up for Halloween! Hunter has a HOOTY mask, likely meant to invoke his Golden Guard persona, and Luz is honoring King OH MY GAWD WAAAIIIIII!!!!! She’s MOURNING her Titan brother, just like she mourned Eda! They’re in a dilapidated house, the shack where the Portal opens? They’re armed… Probably investigating paranormal activity, AKA Belos. This fits with another shot of them entering a basement with the same coloring as the house, atop the stairs!

We get a proper look at Amity and Gus’ new designs in the show’s own art style! They look AMAZING… They painted Hooty’s face on the door, pffft, but also ouch. The longing. Treating this place as an earthly version of the Owl House because it kind of is with its role and even coloration! If they miss Hooty you KNOW it’s been a while. Willow must’ve grown flowery vines outside to spruce up the place, it seems to have been converted into a fulltime hideout! If this was the old Wittebane home, I’m sure Caleb would appreciate it… Philip on the other hand.

The door seems to have just… Opened on its own as Amity looks back. Or did somebody, probably Luz and/or Hunter (seeing a glimpse of Gooplos?) quietly leave, and Amity only notices when she hears the door swinging behind them?

We have a hand, either Amity, Willow, or Hunter’s, reaching out to some glow-in-the-dark night decorations; Including a symbol of the moon and sun. This is likely one of the characters mourning and being reminded of the Collector, rather than in-universe connection.

We see our cast, sans Luz, looking at some sort of box with styling reminiscent of the Portal! Not only does it suggest it was actually Caleb and his wife who made it (and Philip plagiarized), but also! Caleb must’ve left it behind in the human world. When Flapjack was pecking at the floorboards, was it to find this? It must be a clue, perhaps on how to make a portal, a Titan’s blood rift, etc.! Is this distraction what got Luz to sneak out earlier?

There’s some sort of book page we see next, presumably the contents of the box the kids found given their hands! I’m not sure the significance of the symbols, but the bottom one reminds me of the curse… Or is it just a reference to Clawthornes loving birds, AKA his wife? Is that some sort of teardrop? Maybe it’s Titan’s Blood and that’s meant to be a FURRY arm of a Titan! And what even IS that thing to the right?!

Hunter says “Did you know that HE was here?!” In a distressed voice. Is this him potentially confronting one of our protagonists for keeping information about Gooplos’ potential survival, regardless if they actually knew and were hiding? Or him talking about Philip and Caleb to perhaps Luz, with the realization that either was a town founder, and inquring as to how Luz didn’t notice!

Then we get Gus and Hunter THE BROS dressed up for Halloween, Hunter doesn’t want to hear spoilers because Gus is likely talking about a recent human hyperfixation of theirs! Brothers.

And then, finally… Luz and Hunter aren’t here, it’s just the other kids, maybe those two are at some other part of the zoo more personal like the aviary…

WE GET THE LONG-AWAITED ANSWER TO THE GIRAFFES!!! AFTER TWO YEARS, ARGUABLY THREE IF YOU CONSIDER WHEN THE FIRST TEASER THAT MENTIONED GIRAFFES WAS RELEASED!!! Since the very beginning, we have been haunted by this question and whether they’d answer it, but now… NOW…! It all comes to light.

The kids are obviously scared and locking arms in preparation, that’s so cute, venturing into ancient territory that hasn’t been traversed for generations. WILLOW HAS HER HAIRCLIP FROM WING IT LIKE WITCHES!!! Was it a gift from Amity, I MISSED IT SO MUCH! She takes a picture and a Giraffe, recognizing natives from its home realm, FREAKS…

We get one idea of why Giraffes were banned and it makes sense. God the kids’ reactions are so funny. Of course Willow the Bravest is bold enough to step ahead and take pictures for the rest! This is such adorable levity and I appreciate the closure, this is their one chance so of course they’d take it after two months of debating if they should risk it! Mayhaps they regret that risk now.

#the owl house #the owl house season 3 #analysis #luz noceda #the owl house hunter #willow park #amity blight #gus porter #augustus porter #vee noceda

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hand-picked-star · 2 months

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(continuation of previous post)

NARRATIVE 01

If I consider no time gap happened and take into account of characters description of events and only remember 12 days are left of their contact marriage.then I reach this conclusion, that the last day was this day.

And the thing that happened that day was the main reason of their contact marriage ceased to exist. The child died.when Arnav revealed the reason of their marriage he said that after the child was safe he would throw her out of his life.

so to my understanding that was the last day of their contact marriage (aka 13 August). They had a long night. And further into the very night or in the early hours of the next day (aka 14 August) when Khushi told Arnav that she was going home, Arnav said, ' Don't leave'.I like this narrative very much.

So did he or did he not make her KKGSR within 12 days? He did. That was achieved by 10 days at their roka. Mission Accomplished.

Note: suddenly all the characters stopped mentioning 'next day' or 'kal e hoga,woh hoga' in their conversation after mehendi.

NARRATIVE 02

it's very difficult to co-ordinate with real time.that's why when Khushi took Arnav on date her mentioning 24th August is kind of jarring,coz more than 10 days are missing.Then it is vey sad that the crucial days are missing on the screen.but if the real time dates are to be considerd, then rakhi was celebrated on 2nd August of 2012, the day Arnav started 24-hours track,but that day they didn't celebrated rakhi. If consider rakhi was celebrated late by the raizadas as akash was in mumbai then janmastami was on 9 August,2012 and after janmastami all the days are one by one.So when they went to date, was on 13th August.It can't be 24th.The episodes were telecasted around that time, that's why they included that date.If they didn't mention the date then there wouldn't be that much confusion.

If a time jump to be considered,then when the time jump happened. only scope is this day.

In between these scenes. If you think there was a time gap between them,then there was a time gap between them, if you don't, then there was none.

So, either khushi woke up on 10days later or they went to bed on some other day.But the gap between rakhi and janmastami more than 10 days? wouldn't be much of a problem if the audiences don't have the knowledge about these occasions. then the deadline of the contact passed in this gap, which is sad coz we didn't got to see it and Arnav had tried even less, like 4 days.So, I don't like this narrative very much. I just ignore the date of THE date as the date of telecast,nothing more,nothing less.

Note: If there was a time jump,then raizadas were very dirty fellow or also 'kumvokorn ke aulad' slept for a long time.aj sota hain toh,10 din bad uthta hain or Arnav is a typical husband not doing anything on time.kal bolke 10 din bad karta hain 😁.

NARRATIVE 03

On the other hand,If I count the standard gap between rakhi and janmastami of 8 days,then in rakhi 9 days were left and then there were only one day left at the end of janmastami.(with a time jump of 4 days that are missing on screen)

That's will do also.Arnav going to remarry her with proper ritual this time and he sought her forgiveness for every hurt he ever caused at about 11 pm of 13 August,2012,at the very end of their contact.

NARRATIVE 04

And this is the actual episode that aired on 13 August,2012.

So,it's understandable why Arnav was desperate to consumate their marriage on that specific day. Discussed in details here.

Note: And at the end, I didn't know why I wasted so much of my brain cells in figuring out the end date. 😁 But it was fun.

My scattered thoughts (5c/?)

#ipkknd #iss pyaar ko kya naam doon #arnav singh raizada #khushi kumari gupta #arshi

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waitmyturtles · 10 months

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CONTINUED UNPOPULAR OPINIONS ABOUT STEP BY STEP, EPISODE 11

I will spare y’all my biting criticism with a read-more. But, TL;DR -- my review is short (for me, HA!), and I hand this show over lovingly to anyone who wants it.

(Thanks to continued conversations with the inimitable @lurkingshan and the utterly lovely @neuroticbookworm to ensure I’m not going insane with these thoughts.)

At this point, I don’t know what narrative lens we’re supposed to be watching this show through*. Maybe a few of them, together, but that is striking me as an understudied, overambitious, overworked, and confused approach to understanding this show.

Is it a queer narrative about how Jeng has been closeted-ish/held back in his public queer identification for so long that he’s turned into an inconsistent, incommunicative, distrusting putz? Is there a connection between his family being disapproving of his sexuality, and/or him running away from a filial fate of taking over his dad’s company -- and him being a bumbling asshole to Pat?

Is it a trust narrative about how Pat can’t trust ANYONE? Put, Jeng, Jeng’s dad, the company, Toh? Maybe even Chot? (I’m just throwing that out there, since Chot sent him into the battlefield with Jeng during the last episode -- I love Chot, I ain’t blamin’ Chot.) (Maybe I analytically get to this narrative by... assuming Pat can’t trust anyone, since his loving, COMMUNICATIVE parents ended up getting divorced?) (And in the process of that divorce, we learn, in part, that Pat’s mom couldn’t find her full potential in life unless she was outside of the marriage?) [So maybe that’s what needs to happen to Pat? Since Jeng is CLEARLY UNDERMINING Pat’s efforts to be successful on his (Pat’s) own, in multiple ways, by really not allowing Pat to have control over his (Pat’s) own life?]

Is this a MACRO MACRO narrative commentary on the failings of BL tropes and the BL industry as a whole? (The reveal of the once-toxic Ying as a fujoshi?)

It could very well be all of these narratives at the same time. However, the execution of this storytelling, at this point, is so inconsistent and choppy that 1) I can’t exactly tell, and 2) I’m so frustrated about the amount of time that I’ve spent trying to understand this show that at this point, I don’t really want or care TO care.

To refer back to my first point (*) -- I think it’s unfair for me to demand that ANY show have a singular narrative lens. But I propose that Step By Step would have been an actually successful drama if it hadn’t tried to do so much. I’m EXTREMELY biased right now on this kind of analysis, because I’ve just finished Until We Meet Again for the Old GMMTV Challenge, and watched two narrative lenses in DeanPharm and KornIntouch come together into one cohesive story. (And, fuck, I cannot believe I’m saying this about a New Siwaj show.) I mean -- you can take filmmaking classes that can teach screenwriters and directors how to handle multiple narrative lenses successfully.

Maybe that’s the word: cohesiveness. I’m not seeing cohesiveness in Tee Bundit’s Step By Step. Instead, I watched an episode with actual minutes -- MINUTES! -- spent watching an office team held in tension as internet “likes” poured in. Looking at computers. I spent MANY MINUTES watching Jaab WAFFLE over MULTIPLE episodes going back and forth on Jen... only to discover that he missed Jen’s departure to Japan -- a Very Big Life Decision that Jaab just *missed.* Okay.

And.... we are left with the break-up of Jeng and Pat. And a time jump.

I mean.

All that growth of the previous episodes, all that slow burn, all that processing of Pat’s growth into a hopefully successful professional digital marketer. For what. No cohesive character development or a sharpening of any narrative lenses.

The last thing I’ll offer is that I understand that Tee Bundit added themes to this show that were not present in the original novel, such as the aforementioned macro commentary on the BL industry and other workplace storylines. And, starting with episode 10, he was on his complete own, outside of the novel’s romance arc (thank you to @lurkingshan for confirming this for me). I’ll theorize, therefore, that what we’ve been watching these past few weeks is a Frankenstein-ed approach to this story where the novel focused on the romance aspect of Pat and Jeng, and Tee’s been wanting to drive home themes of workplace success (I think); professional growth (I think?!); homophobia in the workplace and the harms of either being disapproved of and/or being closeted or closeted-ish in general (Jeng, Chot/Krit, Pat), plus that macro commentary on the BL industry that got edited out.

But, and I emphasize here: not a SINGLE one of these threads has been illuminated to the point of clarity. I’ve wondered in the back of my mind if Tee maybe threw the baby out with the bathwater on this show AFTER the whole ZeeNew debacle, but -- whatever. The seams on this show were fraying weeks ago, and it shows.

Again -- I can’t think much longer on this show. It’s over next week. After a break-up and a time jump. We’re on the express train to a likely happy ending that I’m going to guess will be totally unearned. I had high hopes for each episode, only to be sorely disappointed since episode 8, when the drag got so unbalanced that I started to raise red flags. I want to see a surprise turn towards good storytelling for this finale next week. I want to be proven wrong about my instincts, but I ain’t putting any of my money on it.

#step by step #step by step meta #jeng x pat #pat x jeng #ben bunyapol #man trisanu #i think ben and man improved over the course of this series but were vastly underutilized #i think a better structured script could have leveraged both of their inexperiences much better

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bengiyo · 10 months

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Step By Step Ep 11 Stray Thoughts

Last week on HR Violations, Chot got Pat together about respecting people's feelings, and then received news that his fiancé is finally taking him home to see the parents after eight years in a beautiful scene worthy of Bruce. Pat confessed to Jeng with a gross carrot cake, but Jeng was checked out of most responsibility all episode. Rumors started to already at work, Jeng waffled, and now Pat has resigned. Also, Ae and Khanun got married, and she gave Beam closure.

See, and this is why I felt the need to write last week. Rumors about Jeng end with him cornered in a meeting where executives tear him apart as his dad looks on. Even rumors that he's queer have cost this company money.

This is gross. They're worried about Fjord, who just hired them to use BL to sell their gas stations. This is what we're talking about with the underlying commentary in this show. The wealth class only wants marketable gays. Jeng is not allowed to be gay because of his position.

Jeng's dad has always known.

Not them using the gate as a barrier!!

It does make me really sad that Jeng has to admit that he can't protect Pat from any of this, because his judgement has been clouded. It's also sad that Pat had to do something drastic to force them to face this situation.

Oh, the hands fiends are gonna lose their minds this week.

Crying because they're all finally a team and Pat and Jeng aren't alone. Chot said, "Don't look at me like that. They have eyes!"

Oh my god a SWOT analysis.

So Put posted that picture huh?

Why does everyone have these loud conversations with the doors open?

I'm glad Pat finally handled Put, because dude needs to do his goddamn job.

SPIES AND THIEVES!!! Toh was the traitor all along!

We called it on Jeng holding the duties of heir so Jaab wouldn't be required to.

Ben and Saint have good scene chemistry.

Time for an Oishii ad break.

Okay, I love the office team. I don't mind Ying being a BL writer at all. I am enjoying everyone yelling.

Put and his conditions.

Hey, Put came through for them!

These hoes ain't loyal! Jeng bought their loyalty from Pat with a single meal!!!

Ope. Jen went all the way to Japan. The disappointments keep on coming.

Pat, that is clearly your father in a bad wig. What are you going to do with a broom?

We don't get gay boys and their dads that often. This is nice, even if the scene is a bit sad because the dad is foreshadowing the base conflict Pat and Jeng are facing.

The president is ruthless, and Jeng fell right into that trap when he used his own money for ads.

Pat isn't wrong. He can't stay here if his skills are always going to be in doubt.

Well, there's our breakup.

Okay! So Pat is going to work with Put for the next two years? This final episode is going to be messy. Still, I am enjoying this. Pat only seems to thrive in small teams. There's something to be said about how some of us just don't fit into corporate environments.

#step by step #step by step meta #thai bl #bl series #Ben watches

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idleglowingpixels · 1 year

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talk about Collector

WHYYYYYYYYYY okay now that I got that off my chest let's get serious LMAO

Before I dive in too deep, to any other ppl reading, THIS IS YOUR FAIR WARNING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ANY CRITICISM OF TOH. Something that is really apparent in this fandom particularly is that a lot of ppl refuse to allow and accept genuine criticism discussions, dumbing it down to personal biases, misinterpretations of the text (or in this case, the show), and proclaiming "It's intentional that the show did that!" every time someone breathes something negative about it. This is ESPECIALLY annoying with the "Blame Disney/the shortening" nonsense -- a key skill in television writing is to be capable of working with the allotted time that the studios give you. After they were told Season 3 got cut short, they still had 11 22-minute episodes of Season 2 and all three 40+ minute episodes of Season 3 to conclude the story in a satisfying way.

Seeking and reading criticism posts outside of the general tags, ignoring warnings on posts that give forewarnings, then getting mad and upset that someone criticized your comfort show is generally an unhealthy behavior, especially if you're not in a good mental state. If you can't take people criticizing something you enjoy, and more-so if you deem it your comfort media, and feel the need to bother them because you made yourself upset reading their posts, you've got a lot of soul searching to do. That, or maybe you should log off until you can handle it.

Also, obviously, spoilers ahead for TOH, as well as Amphibia because these shows parallel a lot more than I want them to. :')

---

I have a LOT to say about The Owl House from a critical and writing perspective, and I feel like the show is EXTREMELY overhyped for what it actually is. I feel its sister show Amphibia executed much of the same/similar themes better, and that's not even a bias thing. Just from the way both shows are written, you can tell which one feels more competently structured from a narrative standpoint (and, let's be honest, which one is actually funny).

Okay enough about general opinion, let's get to Collector. From a character design perspective, GOD I love this little guy, both the reflection/shadow form and the actual form are distinct from the rest of the cast. I'm a big Sun and Moon design/symbolism enjoyer (Sun and Moon from FNAF, Sun and Blake from RWBY, Celestia and Luna from MLP:FiM, etc.) so these types of characters are always welcome. And while their voice annoys me personally it ABSOLUTELY fits them, so no matter how annoying I find it I don't think I'd want them to have any other voice.

But that, unfortunately, is the only props I can give to Collector.

The show is FULL of redeemed antagonists that range from okay (I'd like to think Amity was decent enough and Hunter was alright but definitely should have been introduced earlier so his redemption was a slow burn but this post isn't about them so I'll end this note here) to "what the actual fuck" (Idc what anyone says, there is no excuses PERIOD, Lilith's redemption was the absolute worst redemption arc I think I've ever seen AND I'VE SEEN CATRA'S), and Collector is very much on the lower end of that scale. We hardly see them overall and their character writing is rushed beyond belief -- and again, I'd like to reiterate that that is ENTIRELY on the writing team for the show. Disney and the shortening DID NOT DECIDE TO KEEP COLLECTOR IN. The writing staff were aware of the time they had left and made the decision to shoehorn them in and expect everyone to just be okay with it.

From a writing perspective, they bloat the story exponentially and 100% should have been left in the drafts or saved for future content like what Dana said she might do if she is able to through books and such. If we only get hints of the other Collectors, this one should have STAYED hints with them.

We have essentially no significant amount of time with them outside of Hollow Mind and the season 2 finale before season 3, and what we DO have of them in season 2B is so drastically different I'd consider 2B Collector and 3 Collector as two different characters entirely. And before you tell me, "They're different because sun/moon symbolism!" "They're different because Belos and King influence them differently!" etc. etc., don't waste your time. Yes, those are good explanations as to why they feel so different between seasons, but that does not make the writing of the character inherently good. Allow me to elaborate:

In S2B, of what little we see of Collector, they are extremely sadistic in nature, and while they appear childish the writing of that lack of care for others is ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. And it seemed that way even as Belos first encountered him as Philip in the flashback episode. There, they weren't yet "influenced" by Belos and his plans; hell, he hardly had an actual plan yet.

Skip ahead to Hollow Mind, easily the best episode of Season 2 imo, and Collector is taunting Belos, mocking him and his schemes. Saying things like "Ooh, you were mad!" and "I'm starting to think you make those [grimwalkers] just to destroy them. You have fun with it, admit it!"

I cannot find any reasonable explanation as to how or why Belos would influence Collector into doing such things. Why would he want a little pain in the ass making fun of him for hundreds of years? And by his response to Collector's taunt about the grimwalkers and Hunter, "Of course I don't, Collector. It hurts every time he chooses to betray me," he took offense to their words, but kept his tone from shifting to anger as he does with everyone else because of Collector's power.

Belos doesn't want Collector thinking he doesn't like them because of their abilities, but he does want to stay on their good side for information. For knowledge of spells. And he puts up with Collector's annoyances because of that.

Essentially, that wasn't something Belos taught them or influenced them to do. All Collector knows is to adapt to their friends' behaviors, yes, but Belos is like, over 400 years old. I don't know about you, but I doubt with the way he speaks and how he's written that he would taunt his underlings in the same childish vain as Collector, and do so enough for Collector to pick up and mimic that behavior.

Now to the finale, their appearance is pretty much just them getting duped by Belos and sent into the depths of the titan skull, where King ever-so-conveniently finds them, making the pinky swear that releases them.

They maintain that mocking attitude even after Belos betrays them, calling King "boring" for calling them Mr. Collector and feeling generally disinterested by King before he promises a game to play. And even after they're released, they continue the attitude further with the whole "I remember someone throwing me off a bridge...I'm not angry, though!" bit, only to send Belos to his "death" moments after, deeming it as a game of tag. They've seen Belos kill grimwalkers first hand, fully aware that their lives mean nothing, and replicated the behavior by returning the favor to Belos (or so they thought). Their lack of care continues when they nearly try to do the same thing to the Hexsquad, people who didn't even do anything to them, before King stops them, changing the subject before they can cause further harm.

After stopping the draining spell, Collector continues the destructive maliciousness they have all the way to the end of the episode, and that's the impression of them we're left with. They were sadistic, uncaring and childish, but only learned the behavior of killing from Belos -- even though Belos didn't actually die, the intent was to kill him, and they were fully planning to continue with the Hexsquad.

And then...We get to Season 3.

Just a side-note, I think it's a safe assumption to say the first 2 seasons of The Owl House took place between roughly 2 months, as Luz was outside waiting to leave for a summer camp after the school year ended before initially arriving in the demon realm. Going off of that assumption, in Part 1 Luz returned to school as she returned to the human realm, presumably in late August/early September due to her living in Connecticut. And since Part 1 takes place in the timespan of about 3-7 days, the last day being Halloween, the timeskip only brought us about 2 more months ahead. Keep this in mind.

After Luz and co. return to the demon realm in Part 2 -- objectively the worst episode of the season -- we already see King's influence on Collector since they turned everyone into puppets instead of actively injuring or killing them when they don't comply. Still bad? Yes. But from how it looks in Part 3 with the Hexsquad, it seems more like the puppets' consciences are just comatose or an alternative to sleeping, maybe in a REM-like state. But of course, the show didn't have enough time to explain that further over all the nonsense in Part 2.

Anyway, when we see Collector in Part 2, they're still being childish, which is unfortunately the only thing that stays consistent with this character. They then say two lines that were the most god-awful writing decisions I've seen in a hot minute, and this show is STOCK FULL of really bad "this is peak humor LAUGH" moments like this.

They say that Eda has this "cool aunt vibe" and such, which sounds like one of those "character dynamics/tropes" posts on social media like Tumblr and whatnot. It comes off as really pretentious in the writing, and was shockingly unfunny to hear for a show that calls itself a comedy. Another line that frustrates me, more-so for lore reasons, is when they ask Odalia to make pizza bagels, when it was previously stated that human food is inaccessible to Luz during her time in the demon realm. So not only is it contradicting that whole thing (Eda actively struggled to find food for Luz that she could eat), how would they or King even know what one is or how to actually make one??

It seems like a small point to get heated over, but it once again feels like one of those stupid one-liners that one of the writers thought was the funniest shit they've ever thought up and kept it in because they knew die-hard fans would just laugh it off and brush it off as a joke, and that the writers forgetting about Eda's maternal struggle to feed her adopted kid is Disney's/the shortening's fault because they're at fault for everything wrong with the show...and not the ppl who wrote it.

Regardless, this whole shtick is extremely out-of-character for the way they had spoken in Season 2, and from what I can recall (I'm not gonna rewatch the entire show for the sake of a single post), King never talks like this. Luz does around him, but he himself doesn't talk like this.

I've discussed with friends before about this, including Robin (the one who asked me to talk about this), but from Part 2 onward Collector gets the same Luz-like writing every character that gets redeemed suddenly dawns out of the blue. I started calling it luz-ification, but it doesn't just happen to Collector.

It happened to Hunter, where his more cocky and ego-centric dialogues from early 2A was dropped for a more "comedic" personality and an anxiety-ridden character, though it's later eluded to that his cocky attitude was him masking his true self, so I try to keep it to that perspective.

But this happened to Lilith as well, where she suddenly started acting like "Cool Aunt Lilith" IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING HER ADMITTING TO CURSING EDA AND ALLOWING HER CAPTURE. WITH NO CONSEQUENCES TO BE FACED OTHER THAN THE CURSE SPLIT WHICH IS HARDLY UTILIZED IN THE SHOW.

(Side-tangent: Characters facing little to no consequences for their actions is something that goes on so much in this show but this is long enough already and I really don't like talking about this shit for long 'cause I could be using my time on better pieces of media, I'm sure there's plenty of posts explaining this point elsewhere by ppl who enjoyed TOH more than me)

Hell, it even happened to Amity for a hot minute. For some moments in the show she's written really off-character and saying things that just completely contradict how she's typically written, but then goes back to the more sassy and balanced character later on.

This post has gotten WAY longer than I wanted it to be, but to keep me from spending even more time on this, Part 2 shows a drastically different Collector, to the point that they do not by any means have the same character writing as they had before. They got luz-ified. Using social media lingo they couldn't even have access to in canon, and being written to quite literally just sound like a mini-me of Luz with the more obnoxious undertones of the childish thing.

Point is, they mimic these behaviors of Luz that they wouldn't even have reasonable access to learning from, because she's in the human realm for almost all the time after their release. It only makes sense in Part 3, when Luz is actually there for them to see her behaviors in action, but even that is so contrived and rushed that it feels unrealistic and narratively unnecessary. Remember what I said before about the timeskip only being 2 months? Yeah, 2 months isn't nearly enough time for a character to fundamentally change who they are as drastically as Collector.

Now to the part where I talk about Amphibia really quick and mention how it did the whole "having an alternative threat acting as a mini-boss" thing a million times better than this shit ever could. King Andrias, paralleling Collector for this particular scenario, is shown relatively early on that he's an antagonist to the audience. It's later revealed as a plot twist not to the audience, but to the characters, who least expected it. They don't waste time trying to throw off the audience with red herrings or telling its audience "He's not a bad guy, he's totally not going to be evil later on." They just show the audience he's evil and keep the story moving.

He's given enough time to feel like this ominous, looming threat, and True Colors masterfully showed how messed up this guy is and the lengths he is willing to go to ascend to the Core and cheat death, just as the souls within the Core had. His motive to avoid death and return Amphibia to the world-conquering ideologies from centuries' past is what made him such a love-to-hate villain. And the motive to cheat death in a children's cartoon? Metal as hell. The Core also parallels Belos here, and further on in Season 3, being the one manipulating Andrias through his fear of death in order to make him do what they want him to.

In the third season, Andrias continues his work by the Core's demands, only giving up in the final battle when he's read a letter from someone he had considered a friend long ago, which admittedly didn't have much set-up but it was at least the focus of an entire episode prior to the big pre-finale.

At the end of the series, he's shown to have moved on, allowing himself to age naturally and to stop using technology to keep him in pristine condition for eternity. He accepted the natural cycle of life, and in turn accepted that he will come to pass one day. He wasn't a perfectly written character, but considering what it's being compared to? Leagues better.

Like I said before, TL;DR, Collector is the bloatware of The Owl House's plot. They were shoved in as a last minute addition because they were the writers' "precious bean silly goose little gremlin blorbo" that they couldn't just keep in the drafts with the rest of the collectors. So instead of maintaining what little integrity the show's writing had to begin with and follow through to the end with the Day of Unity plotline being the series finale (Which was VERY OBVIOUSLY WHAT THEY WERE GOING FOR), they essentially made a side quest distraction that dragged the story on for longer than it needed to, wasting the audience's time.

I'm not mad that the Collector exists, I just find that their inclusion in the series did more harm than good for the writing. The show has a serious issue with giving screentime to unnecessary characters like the miscellaneous Hexside students, giving characters too much screentime (The biggest offender for this is Amity, there's more episodes centered around her than Hunter, Willow and Gus combined) and not giving ACTUALLY necessary characters enough screentime (Looking at you, Emerald Trio).

I really want to rewrite TOH, and if I feel the need to rewrite a show, it's usually because there's too much fundamentally wrong with it for me to give it anything higher than a 6/10 overall. But I've already got a whole AU and a whole rewrite in the works for two other series I care wayyyyy more about, so that's gonna have to be left to other writers in this fandom.

---

If this post is how you've stumbled upon my page, hi :') Feel free to ask me about more or to elaborate on smth I said here if you want clarification, but if you check out my intro post and see another mutual interest we have maybe ask me about that instead of TOH please and thank you

#toh criticism #toh critical #the collector #heed my warning or get blocked #I'm not dealing with ppl that take general media criticism personally #anyway have fun with this novel ig #amphibia is so much better than this show and I'm tired of ppl not seeing that

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rainbowangel110 · 29 days

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My little sister watches Toh saga

We uh... got through episodes 8-11 so a bit to cover!

Episode 8

Starting off the episode with Hooty. She was already invested.

"I'll never find a way into Amity's heart!" cue Rock face from here

So uh as much as she loves Hooty she still was weird out by him... swallowing King

"What is Hooty eating???" Cuz King was covered in some stuff.

Oh shit this is puberty talk I thought in a panic

Anyways!!! Bug dance was funny. She was re repeating DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER for a while.

"HOW BIG IS THAT SYRINGE??"

Voice powers had her hyped actually, she was all "What is that?? HE HAS POWERS NOW???" Cute

Onto Eda!!

"I want those cookies." I am not letting you get roofied by a baked good, kid >:(

Oh she was not ready for Owlbeast to attack Dell lemme tell ya.

We got the Archivists part of the Owl Beasts memories and I popped off

She really loved the segment where Eda talked to the Owl Beast.

"I want a plush of it."

"THAT'S SO PRETTY!!!!" in reference to the ending of the dream sequence

SAY HI TO HARPY EDA KID :DDDD

"SHE CAN DO THAT???"

Onto the Lumity segment (y'all were waiting weren't you)

"Stop blushing so much oh my gosh." "They do that a lot trust me."

She was all "ohh nooo" at the reveal of the Tunnel of Love and I was dying inside.

"Amity calm down oh my gosh!" I am in tears rn

she was sooooo hyped at the part where King used his powers again

Little tiny gasp at the Lumity part immediately after

the part where Luz was dancing around asking Amity out she was YELLING

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!"

Hooty receives a letter from someone

"KING'S DAD!?!?" no

Episode 9

She has been obsessed with what Belos looks like under the mask ever since we first saw him

"Oh man sure hope Little Rascal doesn't get caught...." "Why?" "... Remember how Belos eat-" "NO I DON'T WANT TO-" (Doing just fine here-)

"That's what he looks like?? ... ew what's the green for??"

I am freaking out right now kid, don't ask me

I paused so much because wow implications when you know the full story are REAL

"What did you think of that conversation (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)" "... Creepy." GIRL SAME

"Is that-" "Dragon Ball Z? Yes" (knows through memes okay?)

"Oh what happened to her??" "She's sick :("

we will now skip over a bunch of stuff nothing too exciting happened here tbh

I am pausing so much during this episode and it's annoying her (YOU WILL UNDERSTAND I PROMISE!!!)

"Lotta projection going on here." "... what?"

Had to explain some stuff about the convo between Hunter and Amity over the Tamagotchi (give her a moment)

"Oh. That's not good." "It really isn't."

Don't mind me just sobbing inside at every Hunter/Flapjack interaction.

Was so so so worried for Owlbert there.

"It's in the key?!?" Yeah uh so here we are :)))))

She was so entranced with the animation and so was I (with internal screaming though)

"SHE CRACKED IT!!!"

"Mushroom Luz."

Was awwing over Flapjack and Hunter at the end (don't mind me just... gonna go over here and AUGHHHHH)

Episode 10

"Who is that?? How is she in the mirror"

"Weird door."

In between is really interesting actually

"IT'S!!! HER!! THE SLUG!!"

Again I found her watching this show at S3E1 at the intro part (all she remembers was Hunter and Vee thank god) so she popped off here.

"She's cute. I like her."

*pause* "Okay so you see that?" *points at Gravesfield logo* "Remember that." "okay..."

"Oh and those two." *points at the the Wittebanes* "Okay I will sheesh 🙄" /lh

She will not

"The basilisks remember? "OH YEAH-"

Not much from her until the rain sequence.

"HOW IS SHE HOLDING HER??" girl don't sweat it, cry with me instead :)

"I feel bad for Camila.' SAME

Episode 11

Honestly not much happened here with her so uhhh....

Biggest take away for her though

"CAT COVEN PERSON!!!" (coven scout)

"King read her diary-"

#the owl house #just posting #little sister saga

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theprinceandthewitch · 2 years

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I mean, to put it as simply as I possibly can - if they wanted to go the whole siblings route they... would have done it. Because of how detail-oriented this show is, the writers clearly have the capability to weave that kind of symbolism into the story...

...But they didn't.

I already talked about how detail-oriented TOH is here. And I also talk about how the Luz/Caleb parallels don't work here

So, for this one I'm going to point out all the... totally Sibling symbolism... between the two of them and specific details that tie them to Caleb/Evelyn.

Witches Before Wizards: Luz crushing on the prince character. First of all, you do know Nevareth didn't have to be a prince right? Also, Hunter, at this point in the story (Thanks to Them) is nearly identical to him, character design wise, because:

He's older than her.

2. The angsty, warrior teen prince archetype

3. Has a compelling backstory.

4. Is on a quest of vengeance with Luz,

5. Had an animal sidekick.

6. Very similar shoulder armor Hunter has when he's in his GG uniform. There's no reason for him to wear gold shoulder armor so similar to the only other prince character in the show. it's also on the same shoulder Hunter wears his on

7. Their hair length is the same and the hair on the top of their heads is slicked back

8. Missing eye. Okay so this one is a theory of mine. I think Flapjacks eye wound is foreshadowing Hunter losing his left eye - since he inherited Flapjacks eye color, he might "inherit" his eye wound. Hunter still has to give Belos a beatdown, so it's possible he's going to lose his eye in the Final Confrontation.

9. Edit: 11/20/2022: I can't fucking believe I forgot to mention this but Nevareth and Hunter now have the same eye color.

Now you might be thinking "Oh, that episode was a deconstruction of romantic expectations." and I'll say...

No.

Because first of all, this entire episode was a deconstruction of The Chosen One story archetype - which is what TOH is in it's entirety. Secondly I'm literally just pointing out Luz's taste in boys, because they keep bringing up she likes princes after this episode. They even gave her a fake-out kiss moment with Hunter in Hunting Palisman. They didn't have to do that you know... just like they never had to tie Luz and Hunter to the Caleb/Evelyn story.

Sense and Insensitivity:

"Luzura's tears fell on the frozen prince bringing him back to life."

So, I just wanted to highlight the dialouge here:

King: Luzura's tears fell on the frozen prince bringing him back to life? It feels a little unrealistic.

Luz: I see what you're saying, but in your version Ruler just destroys everything. I think a little romantic tension can help the scene.

I highlighted that part in Luz's dialogue because that's... literally what Emperor Belos tried to do - and what he's going BACK to do. While i don't think Hunter will have another near death experience - I do think Luz will. Because of the foreshadowing on the stairs in Thanks to Them:

But yeah... how can I not help but think there's gonna be some kind of romantic scene between Luz and Hunter during their Final Confrontation with Belos based on Luz's dialogue... Because the parts with Luz and King feel like the writers are dropping story spoilers.

Like... Luz is literally writing a story with "Romance, magic, and heartbreak with shimmer tears" based on her self-insert character.

Also... WHO is the girl supposed to be on the heartbreak card... that's not Luzura because Luz pulls out her self-insert character literally seconds after - and she just looks like Luz in a witches outfit. So...

2. Luz drawing of herself kissing a prince that looks like Beta Hunter in a story she wrote about her self-insert character.

Edit 10/27/2022: I forgot to point out how King's dialogue in the picture above is extremely suspicious

(/looks suspiciously at the the writing board in Sense and Insensitivity because the word "prince" comes up 4 times)

Edit on 11/14/2022: I forgot to mention Luz's line in the episode, "The First Day"

"And maybe [I'll] meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassmen."

Amity IS NOT Luz's upperclassman, since she tells Luz exactly what she needs to do to get into her class in "Adventures in The Elements".

Hunting Palismen:

Fake Out Kiss moment:

This...

Is literally a callback to this (proof of concept video)

I mean... do I really need to explain that this isn't a sibling thing? Luz is into boys like Hunter - the angsty warrior princes who are older than her - that... is enough of an explanation for why this isn't something you do for characters who are always meant to be siblings.

Moving on....

3. Hunter is... i don't really know how to describe this - but he's associated with princess tropes. In this episode he's "the sleeping princess needing to be woken up by a kiss" and " the princess stuck in a tower guarded by an evil sorcerer"... And Luz frees him from the evil sorcerer in Hollow Mind... as if she's like his knight in shining armor...

Must i really go in depth about why these concepts are romantic... to you, the viewer who watches a Disney cartoon?

Here's his tower:

4. Thanks to Them makes a connection back to this episode by putting Flapjack in the play... an incredibly specific detail that didn't need to be here because the painting in Hollow Mind doesn't show him. The collage of paintings is further down so you can see what i'm talking about with your own two eyes.

This means Evelyn carved Flapjack for him.

The point is though, without Evelyn, Caleb would have never received Flapjack. Just like how without Luz, Hunter would have never received Flapjack.

I want to go more into this detail: This play and the vial of titans blood confirms for me that Flapjack was not hers and her palismen was an owl.

Because if you look at the vial of Titans blood in Thanks to Them, you can see it has an owl head for a plug.

And the way she is depicted in the play is heavily inspired by Eda. Her name is very similar to Eda's actual name: Edalyn (who is an actual Clawthorn by blood btw), So, for me, this is the proof I need to say her palisman was an owl, just like Eda's. And that she definitely carved Flapjack for Caleb because Clawthorns are famous for being Palismen carvers. She looks very similar to Eda so that it's undeniably clear to viewers that Evelyn was a Clawthorn:

Another reason why Flapjack is Caleb's and not Evelyns: Flapjack was searching the house for the rebus... because that was Caleb's house... he knew Caleb hid it somewhere under the floorboards. Also, Flapjack is based on an animal that's not a native species of TBI...

ANYWAYS... Now do you see why Luz giving Flapjack to Hunter is inherently a romantic gesture?

Any Sport In a Storm:

When looking for a first and last name to call himself by, Flapjack coins in the name "Caleb". Which Hunter uses for his first name.

Hollow Mind:

We have the Grimwalker that looks the most like Caleb running away from Philip with a witch from another world... Both at the end of the episode and during the episode. You might be thinking, " that monster wasn't Philip"... but... that is what he looks like as a monster...

This is the episode where we get these portraits, which by the way were not shown in this order during the episode. Someone on reddit put these images in this order. Again, TOH was made for nerds who like to look for the hidden details and find out how they fit together (me, im the nerd this show was made for.):

... The first portrait in the second row is a memory of Caleb running away from Philip with a witch from another world... shown to us in an episode where Hunter runs away from Philip with a witch from another world... Hunter by the way, is the only Grimwalker who meets a witch from another world...

I just want to say: in the painting where Caleb and Philip meet Evelyn for the first time, Caleb looks around Hunter's age - I'm basing this on how young Philip looks here and that he's holding the mask Caleb carved for him. So, while the play implied they met as adults it actually looks like they met as teens.

Also take note of the fact that Evelyn is pregnant in that painting.

OH WAIT, I need to point out that they did these parallels WHILE LUZ IS DATING AMITY. This episode comes after Knock Knock Knockin on Hootys door, the episode where they officially start dating.

[I wasn't sure where to put this point... but another connection Hunter has with Caleb is that he's also a witch-hunter... His name is a short-hand for witch-hunter... Belos has been training him to be a witch-hunter without his knowledge because he expects every clone of his brother to be a witch-hunter... because you know... Caleb WAS a witch-hunter before his "betrayal"...]

Kings Tide:

This is the first instance where we get Philip calling Hunter "Caleb".

2. Both Caleb and Hunter run away to another world with an expecting witch. Philip crosses worlds to hunt both pairs down.

Luz counts as an "expecting" witch because she is waiting for her palisman to hatch... MUST I say anything more about this one? Like... why are they doing this when Luz is dating Amity? Isn't it suspicious as fuck?

Thanks to Them:

Okay where do I begin with this one... Let me say this again, they're doing these parallels WHILE LUZ IS STILL DATING AMITY.

First of all, they didnt need to give Hunter Calebs hairstyle. It's the same length but Hunter's is more unkept. They could have done that trope where the possessed characters hair returns to normal after they're unpossessed.

2. They did not need to make Luz look like Evelyn

3. Philip calls Luz Evelyn before he tries killing Flapjack right in front of her. Then moments later, when Philip leaves Hunters body, he calls him Caleb AGAIN.

4. So, this isn't a parallel but I still want to talk about it: When Hunter asks Luz how she feels after what happened in Hollow Mind, she gives him a straight answer and even tears up in front of him. This is a big deal because when Luz has been prompted by other people, including her own girlfriend, about how she feels after a great emotional upset, she'll be vague, make something up, or tell them not to worry about it.

(more in detail here. and here, aaaaand here. one more)

5. Hunter has his most vulnerable moment with Luz and not the girl he's crushing on.

6. While I don't know every single detail about Hecate (the goddess) i do notice some similarities between her and Hunter. I also want to point out that the wolves on the shirt are Luz, the Hexside gang, Vee and Camila.

... People do not fucking get that this shirt didn't need to look like this... but they went out of their way to make it pretty clear this is supposed to be Luz, Camila, Vee and the Hexside gang.

The wolf with red eyes is obviously Hunter, the one behind it is Luz, the biggest one on the bottom left-hand side is Camila, the brown one is Vee, the blue one is Gus, the magenta one is Amity, and the greenish one is Willow.

But isn't it suspicious that the wolf representing Luz is right behind the one that represents Hunter...

7. Hunter has the same death pose as Caleb:

8. Philip : "Caleb, you would stab me in the back?"

Luz : "You did it to him first."

... Please just look at the painting of dead Caleb...

9. Flapjack only let Hunter and Luz use him. And he flies to Luz when he's badly injured.

10. They also made sure Luz was the one to express the most worry over Hunter drowning and not the girl he's crushing on. Luz was about to jump into the water to get Hunter if Camila wasn't faster on the response.

Sooooo.... do you see why none of this shit looks unintentional to me? Especially in a show like TOH, which pays attention to the details - and even goes out of it's way to add story details in the background - even though MOST people watching this show aren't going to notice them or even LOOK for them?

NOBODY thinks that's worth noting? Really? All the OTHER details matter, but not the ones that tie Hunter and Luz to Caleb and Evelyn?

OK.

I wasn't sure where to put this point but: Luz and Hunter have parallel storylines where they go through a deconstruction of the chosen one archetype. Luz believed she arrived on TBI to fulfill some kind of grand destiny while Hunter believed the Titan had big plans for him... While Hunter's isn't as indepth as Luz's, because he's not the protagonist, it's still there.

Again, it's not like Luz and Hunter are minor characters: Luz is the protagonist and Hunter is a major character (and former secondary antagonist) who has deep history with the MAIN VILLAIN. They parallel past lovers whose actions are the only reason this story exists in the first place...

But I'm sure this isn't intentional... i'm sure this isn't working up to some payoff down the line... I'm sure they put all this effort in for nothing LMAO.

#lunter #this show was made for nerds like me #im... pretty sure I covered all my bases... and I dont see any fatal typos so just take it

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msbhagirathi · 21 days

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IPKKND LIVE BLOG SEASON 1 [Epi-4]

Cooooooooommmmmmmeeeeeee onnnnnnnnn. Letzzzzzzzzz beginnnnnnnnnnnn.

Lol. Episode starts with Arnav talking about 'aukaat'.

2. And, now, he's being an a__hole, here. Where Khushi is so hugely horrified over what happened last night. Arnav, ever the a__hole that he is, is smirking and having the audacity to ask, "Kyun? Kya kiya hai maine?" (Why? What did I do?)

3. Like. Really? Arnav? You want her, to spell out, what you did to her last night? Fckin a__hole. And look at that face. Fckin smirking.

4. Their debate about god and his existence is -kind of- interesting & thought-provoking.

5. Khushi is coming from a place of absolute surrender to god and an unbreakable faith and trust on her devi-maiyya. We can see that, in her words.

6. But, Arnav. His words, indicate that he has an absolute distrust on the existence of god. He believes that, had 'any kind of god' been there, then he won't have faced the situations, that he had to. He believes that the amount of pain that he faced, any god, if there, won't have let him face it, all alone. "Iss duniya main agar bhagwaan hota naa, toh dard naam ki cheez nahi hoti."

Now, who is correct, you ask? I will say, both. Yes. Both are correct, in the context, of what they faced in their pasts, what their history, with god, is. It's just that, they don't want to consider any other opinions apart from what they think is 'correct', for them. And, that is the problem. That's what's wrong with these two egotistical idiots.

7. Look at his expression when he says the first line. He is raw. Vulnerable. In the truest sense. Almost in tears. Voice trembling with anguish that he has for 'his god', who did not help him out when he needed him the most. All his guards are down. At this exact moment. We get a glimpse, of what is hidden behind, that, usually unreadable expression.

8. This is a huge thing. That, even if, he is not exactly showing his face. BUT he is, indeed opening up, about his pain, in front of Khushi. He does not have any reason to do so. In fact, he does not have to stand here, waste his precious time, explaining this naive girl, about the evils of this world.

9. Instead, of going on his way, to attend that important meeting, which can't be cancelled. Nevertheless, he does so. Something inside him, is intrigued, by this girl. Something in this girl, sparks an urge, inside him, to explain himself, even if, he doesn't need to.

10. Coming to the second part, of what he said. He thinks that money and only money gives a person, the authority, to have all the powers and make decisions related to his own fate and destiny. "Iss duniya mein jiss insaan ke paas paisa hai, ussi ke paas taakat hai."

11. Notice that, he believes this, SO strongly. Because he has seen this, with his own eyes. When he and his sister were ousted out of their own home, by their 'beloved' chachaji. He has seen that, money, indeed, has the powers and authority; all that he needed to avenge for his betrayal.

12. Look at his expression, when he says the second line. There's this confidence in his face, that he feels, when he knows, what he has observed, is totally correct. Because, he is, indeed, totally correct.

13. Only that, from now on, every time, after this, whenever Khushi would do or say something, that would be against his belief or would be something, that would force him, to re-think his opinion. It would make him, question his judgement, over her character, only then, he would find his confidence, 'of knowing girls like her very well', wavering away.

14. Wow. Enough. Now back to the epi.

15. So. She challenges him with her beliefs and he retaliates, in the worst possible sense.

16. He orders his PR team to release the fashion show footage to all the TV News channels.

17. He has, again, repeated the same thing. He did not think this through. He did not think, to the extent, to which it could destroy Khushi's life. He, also, did not think about his own reputation, here.

18. Living in a society, like that. Where your honor is the family's honor and that it should be kept hidden and protected at all costs. He did not realize that she is a middle class 'girl' in the truest sense possible. He did not realize how much it would affect her and her family's reputation.

19. After all, what was her mistake? She just challenged his belief system. He could have retaliated, in any possible way, but he chose to involve the whole world, including both their families, into this.

20. He, even, could have easily ignored a chit of a girl, who had said something about his belief on god or lack thereof.

21. He should have 'farak nahi padta' to her.

22. But, no. He is the mighty ASR. He, indeed, 'farak padta hai'. And thus, went on, to torture her, in new ways.

23. Fckin A__hole.

24. Back to Gomti Sadan. Khushi offers a cup of chai to her Amma but she refuses.

25. Amma is also upset for being a little too harsh on Khushi, I think? What's with that look that she gave her when Khushi went away?

26. Payal asks about the broken pearls of the blouse and Khushi is, again, reminded of the horrific night. Payal notices her distress and asks the reason and Khushi starts ranting about (her) 'laard governor'. I think, she -kind of- likes talking about her 'woh'. This scene, also, indicates that no one knows about their 'meeting' yet.

27. Arnav asks about Mul Rajani. "Chote log aksar aukaat se bada muh kholte hain." (People with small status often have a 'big' mouth. *pun intended*) This line is for both Mul Rajani and Khushi.

28. His meeting with Khushi, is still very fresh, in his mind.

29. "Roop suhana lagta hai, chaand puraana lagta hai, tere aage o jaanam." Can you see me jiggling my shoulders? I -kind of- got hooked to this song. Wow.

30. Amma catches Khushi dancing and jumping on the -sofa?-that furniture. Whatever. And she cannot stop herself from smiling at her daughter. Finally, Khushi notices her and hits a direct six and the ball is straight out of the stadium. Lol. I mean to say, that she is finally successful in pacifying her Amma.

31. Initially, I thought why did she give an example of cricket, out of the blue. But then, I realized that, it was 2011. That year, we had world cup going on and guess what, India had won it, under MSD's captaincy :)

32. The writers did a great job, here, if you ask me ;)

33. "Arre naach toh hum dikhawat hain." (Let me show you how to dance!)

34. Wow. Babuji joined them. What a classic 'papa' dance. Lol. I don't know but I just felt that somehow I have seen my father dancing like that too. Like. Not exactly like this. But the body language. Pata nahi choro.

35. Buaji, the Hitler of GS (Gomti Sadan. Lol. I kind of love the sound of this name.), comes and scolds them. Why Buaji? Can't they have a sweet family moment? I don't know what's your problem, Buaji. But you need to chill.

36. Lol. "Joru ke saamne bandar ban sakat ho, bitiyan ko naahi sambhaal sakat ho?" (You can be mischievous (like a monkey) in front of your wife but can't handle your own daughter?) By the way that question doesn't even make sense, Buaji. Your existence doesn't make sense, Buaji.

37. What? I did not say that, ok? I have manners.

38. LMAO. Everybody escapes from Buaji's presence. The unity that they have. My god. It's just amazing. Lol.

39. A note here. This hairstyle, for Khushi, here, was the perfect. They kept it, this way, till the office track and somewhere in the midst, they changed it, to a plain braid which was....fine, but, this one suited her more.

40. The head of Panch Bhog Caterers (Shop no. 14 Hazrat Ganj Lucknow) is -kind of- taunting them. The disgusting line of the century- "Ab e toh uhi baat ho gyi, ki thaali mein utha liya par khaya nahi; par jhutha toh hua naa." (Now this is the same thing as being picked up in a plate but left uneaten, nevertheless it would still be considered a left over by others.")

41. Guess what. He is talking about Payal. I mean. Wow. The audacity. The disgusting comment thrown around for a girl's character, so casually, as if her character really depends on whether some money-hungry family 'accept' or 'reject' her for marriage.

42. Khushi wants to speak up, but, Amma stops her.

43. And, if you thought, that was enough, then, it was not. Now, listen to him, talking about Payal, being like his own daughter and taking care of her ('dignity') after butchering her character, a few seconds ago.

44. Amma pulls her hand away. Khushi, taking the cue, speaks up. But, is uncharacteristically calm. But, what she says next, not just wins Babuji's heart but ours' as well. Wow. Writers of this show are so freaking talented, man.

45. WOW. This is amazing. The Mul Rajani sequence is just amazing. See, I searched up a bit about this name, but, turns out, its actually a surname, precisely, a Rajasthani surname.

46. So, Mul Rajani is actually a Marwari business man and has dared to stop a photoshoot for AR Designs. Because of a balance payment. He demands his balance payment for 50 lakh. Only then, he would let the photoshoot, continue.

47. But, that is not enough. While demanding, he addresses Arnav, very disrespectfully. That was fine, too, but when he crossed a line, by mentioning his mumma, Arnav lost it.

48. He slaps him. Oh. Damn. What a slap. WOW.

49. Lol. Mul Rajani says that, this slap will cost him 1 Cr. , an incomplete photoshoot and a bad name (getting blacklisted) in the industry. Arnav slaps him, again. Lmao. And then, tells Akash to give him a 'dhaai crore ka cheque'. "Pachaas hazaar iski payment aur 2 Crore do thappadon ke." (A cheque of Rs. 2.5 Cr.) (50k for the payment and 2 Cr. for two slaps.)

50. The sassy-ness in that smirk, when he sees, MR realizing that he is getting paid in surplus. Take a bow, Mr. Sobti. *bows down with joined hands*

51. You see? This is the problem. Why Arnav thinks money can solve everything. He uses his money to shut people up. And each time it works and his theory of "Paisa hi taakat hai" is proven right, each time he feels a little bit more proud of himself. That, he cracked the code to deal with 'this world' and 'it's ways'.

52. LMAO. Listen y'all, I don't care what you say, but Buaji makes me laugh. Period.

52. Ohh. So. The clip is out, finally. My poor baby. She is, again, getting insulted without any fault of hers. That freaking b_stard. ASR. Or, whatever.

53. He again managed to hurt Khushi, in the most unimaginable way, possible. Wow. Just wait till you fall for her, Bitwa, madly, shall I say so, then you will feel yourself falling into an unending pool of guilt, engulfing you, for the rest of your life. And, you will not be able to stop yourself from feeling guilty, ever again.

P.S. : No P.S. today, coz too tired to think of anything. Ok. Bye. Have a good day/night ahead. God bless you.

Next Episode!

#arnav and khushi #arnav singh raizada #arshi #ipkknd #khushi kumari gupta #iss pyaar ko kya naam doon #ArShi #Done with the exam today #Went well-ish #i know some of you might have missed this #lol how bold of me to think so #pardon my bold-ness #very tired and sleepy #but couldn't stop myself from publishing this #i did this blog as a draft to keep my anxiety at bay and my nerves under control before the exam #i guess i too have an outlet for stress just like our beloved khushi kumari gupta #ok bye y'all #have a good night's sleep lovelies

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d0rky-0utfits · 1 year

Text

Fandoms and other stuff i like

Fandoms I'm apart of 👍

Anna and the apocalypse

Babar

Beastars

Black butler

Camp camp ✨

Casper's scare school

cirque du freak

Clone high

Dan Vs

Dexter's laboratory

Dhmis

Dorohedoro

Drak pack

Drawn together

Eene

Fbacc

Fhfif

Glitch techs

Gravedale high ✨

Gravity falls

Gremlins

Hazbin hotel

Hellsing

Helluva boss

Hey good lookin'

Hi Score Girl

I hate fairyland

Inside job

Invader zim ✨

Jjba ✨

Johnny Bravo

Jthm

Knd ✨

Kotaro lives alone

Lost in oz

Lwa

Mad god

Maximum ride

Mha (kinda)

Mlb

Moral Orel

Nanbaka

Otgw

Pecola ✨

Re-animator ✨

Renfield

Santa Clarita Diet

Saw✨

School for vampires ✨

Scooby Doo mystery incorporated

Smiling friends

Sweet tooth

Strange hill high ✨

Steven universe ✨

Super crooks

Superjail

The adventure zone

The boys

The house

The lost boys

The midnight gospel

The office

Toh

Total Drama

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Vampire in the garden

Welcome to eltingville

Wendell and wild

Wordgirl

177013

Video games I like 👍

Ahit

Animal crossing

Anything Mario related

Battleblock theater

Botw

Cats are liquid

Celeste

Crk (idk much about new cookies)

Danganronpa

Earthbound/mother

Fnaf

Fnf (not including mods)

Franbow

Little misfortune

Little nightmares

Nintendo as a whole

Nsr

Sally face

Skullgirls

Sonic and the black knight

Sonic colors

Splatoon

Ssbu

Starfox (only for Wolf)

The end is nigh(still gotta finish the game)

Music I like 👍

Stray cats

Gorillaz

Studio killers

Patrick wolf

The smiths

The cure

Mcr

MSI

Soad

Mother Mother

Jack stauber

Rabbit junk

Marina and the diamonds

Autoheart

Yfm

That handsome devil

The correspondents

Fever the ghost

Machine girl

Lemon demon

Tikkle Me

Oingo boingo

Extra/random stuff I like 👍

Mothman/other devious creatures

anything animatronic related(like the rae)

Posic related stuff

Wendy Williams ✨

Spilling the milk ✨

Desbug

Razzle

psyiconic

[will slowly update]

DNI-proshippers,zoophiles,maps,terfs,homophobes, transabled,transage,trans racial

Kinda random but for the love of God do not talk to me about season 2 episode 11 of sfv. I refuse to talk about that episode we don't mention that episode here. you know what that never happened that episode never happened. If you mention the episode I will remind you that it was probably a dream and that it never happened.

Anyways have fun✨

#ratposting #cinge edit #dweebdraws #the star himself

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raayllum · 2 years

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I feel like the owl house fandom takes things way too srsly esp with ships and preferences on characters. idk I love hunter and amity's backstory and I love luz but I'm more interested in hunter and amity's backstory that doesn't make me racist their storylines are more interesting

So this probably won't be what you expected or asked for but I'm grabbing the opportunity anyway to address some of the ways I think TOH falters from a Storytelling perspective and why I think those issues (as well as how young a lot of the fans are, although when I was 11-13 in fandom I was much more chill and "live and let live" so just shows what a decade can do in terms of fan community) unintentionally perpetuate some of what you mention.

Also don't think you're racist for preferring Amity and Hunter (Hunter, Gus, and Luz are my faves) but I do think TOH has some issues with how it handles its characters of colour, so I am going to touch on that. While I'm white. this is reflected on / verbatim from conversations I've had with Black and Asian friends / fans of the show and how racial stuff can tend to play out in fandom (circa 2013 onwards from personal experience of how people have treated fave characters, like Finn from Star Wars, in the past).

That said, I do still like the show. I love the strong found family, everything surrounding Eda and her allegories for mental health are super solid and important, I'm thrilled by the queer rep (I’m queer & watched Korrasami happen live), and I don't think a show has to be perfect or to check off my personal preference to be good. But I do think the show is... an interesting mixed bag for a few key reasons I haven't seen anyone talk about, so here they are.

Under a read more bc this gets long, like, real long, even though there’s only four things on this freaking list, LMAO. For whoever reads it, have fun!

1. The Owl House writes like first impressions don't matter.

This is one of the biggest things in the show that breaks elements of setup + payoff. After all, if your setup is misleading or unaddressed by payoff later, characters and plot lines may come across as stilted. This also ties into other areas (such as screentime) that I'll touch on later.

By far the character who has broken setup the most, though, is Amity. For example, Amity is introduced as someone who has bullied Willow for years, even when no one else is around (i.e. it's not a pure performance), and even though they used to be friends when they were young. Their friendship fall out / Amity distancing herself from Willow is explained by Amity being forced to by her parents, and understandably struggling with how to deal with and explain it as a child.

I haven't seen the last few episodes of S2 (aka I got up to "Hollow Mind") and I was disappointed in S2A when it seemed like this plot element would never be addressed again. So I was very pleased to learn that there is an episode in S2B that talks about their friendship. Except... it doesn't address the bullying. Because yes, Amity tried to protect Willow by distancing herself... but Amity also didn’t need to Bully Willow, like, at all. Not within the confines of the story and not within the landscape of the character; her parents didn’t tell her to be cruel to Willow. She chose to do that. Repeatedly. And that facet of their bond... has never been adequately addressed. It could be, in the future (but I personally doubt it).

It’s particularly strange, because Luz was 1) canonically bullied in the human realm and 2) perpetually struggled at making friends. It makes sense that she’d be extra against bullies and protective over the friends she does have, and wanting to see real change before bonding with a practical stranger (even if Amity did show a slightly nicer side at the end of “Covention,” it wasn’t an even ratio whatsoever, either of her niceness or Luz’s meanness). But we’ll circle back to this.

We see this issue of initially bad behaviour being overruled, sometimes retconned, or ignored to the point of being rewritten a few more times in the series.

The one that ties into Amity’s character are her siblings. In their debut episode, they have plans to share private pages of their little sister’s diary. This is mentioned in another episode as something they’re trying to make up for, but they weren’t there when shit hit the fan at the library, anyway. So we never see 1) why they were going to be so cruel to Amity in the first place (and I have siblings myself, so no, it’s not a sibling thing, or just a sibling thing), 2) what exactly made them change their mind, and 3) this type of behaviour never reappears or is addressed in the show, either. While Luz gets called a bully for it, the twins get off basically scot free. Yes, they’re obviously affected by their mother, too, but there’s never even a whiff or a hint about why they felt the need to humiliate Amity on a public scale besides thinking she was uptight.

We see this one more time with Darius, which was the most baffling and completely jarred me the first time I watched it. Darius was being cruel and dismissive to Hunter, but warms up when he realizes the kid does have a spine and will stand up for what he believes this. This is not the heart warming moment or message the show seems to think it is. All I heard and saw was an adult going “Oh, this kid is too indoctrinated and abused to be worthwhile until he proves otherwise, I’ll treat him like trash and ignore that I’m exacerbating his symptoms of abuse until then.” And no matter what comes latter, this is a downright weird set up, emotionally.

I’m not saying that none of these characters can be set up this way, but the introduction and how different they are in all other preceding episodes — or even when information is given to re-contextualize certain things — feels like whiplash. So the setup is a little weird, making pay off either non existent or unnecessary. This stumbling block makes the emotional continuity feel disjointed too, in some aspects. The way this affects emotional continuity can best be seen in Gus, Willow, and Luz’s friendship — but again, more that later.

As for set up and pay off, it can lead to missed opportunities, namely: why the hell was Amity Lilith’s protege in Convention? Again, not saying the show is bad or this is a bad writing choice, but it’s a weird one. I remember watching that episode, seeing Amity be introduced as Lilith’s pseudo apprentice, and being excited. It meant Lilith-Eda, Luz-Amity, and possibly the two menor-mentee relationships could all be developed simultaneously! It’d be interesting to see the parallels and differences.

At the very least, it would give a personal stake to Amity and Luz’s possible developing bond, with Lilith at the very least going to disapprove, and give Amity and Luz a chance to compete against each other and to see that progression.

Then it was never addressed again. And it wasn’t set up as a “one day thing” either. It seems that Lilith possibly tutored Amity for months, maybe even years, for Amity to be considered her “strongest protege” (exact line). So we miss out on that possible, episodic but still connected plot line (especially because after Convention, we never see Amity caring a whole lot about actual school, even though that as her whole thing in her intro and second episode). Then, even when Amity and Lilith are back on the same side (imagine how interesting exploring that fracturing could’ve been!) they... never interact, never mention, and never act like they know each other.

They’re two characters with the same theme and similar arcs split down the middle, have an interesting setup, and it goes.... Nowhere.

Because first impressions don’t matter in the show, which is particularly weird, as typically 1) what you set up in the very beginning of the show is what you want the audience to be invested in, and 2) the audience is going to / has to pay more attention in the beginning of a show because they’re actively trying to learn the rules of the world and character dynamics / personalities.

And it’s not the only time TOH does this, so let’s talk about

2. Screentime, Race, and Chosen Diaspora

Specifically that Gus and Willow barely get any, and how this ties into race. So I’ve touched on this before in an article I wrote on Vocal where I share meta-adjacent stuff that doesn’t fit my tumblr vibe, so if for some reason this is your thing, they may be other stuff you enjoy on there, whatever. I’m not gonna repeat myself too much here, but basically:

The majority of the Owl House cast is white, particularly when it comes to who matters in the plot. Eda, Lilith, and their family are all white. Hooty and King exist in what we’re going to call an aracial space, as they don’t have race and aren’t coded as any particular thing, either; just tried and true demons. Hunter is white; Belos is white. Gus and Willow are regulated to background characters and most of the time when Willow is being developed as a character (“Understanding Willow,” “Any Sport in a Storm”) it’s typically also used to further a white character’s growth of... learning to treat her better? Gus fares a bit better, but gets less screentime.

So not only is Luz the only primary character of colour, she’s largely cut off in forming meaningful relationships with other characters of colour, and having those bonds highlighted and given strong screen time (as thus far in S2, every time Gus and Willow have gotten significant screentime, it’s been largely removed from Luz, with her often doing something else with Amity). Remember when “Star Wars: Rogue One” came out, and there were discussions being had of “a lone woman only having meaningful relationships with men and no other women”?

[ Side note: as for the first point, I’m not going to say things I love, like TDP, don’t fall into the “woman surrounded by men” trope for its two main female leads, as Rayla is friends with the boys and was raised by her dads, and Claudia’s primary relationships are also with other men. However, I believe this is mitigated with plot lines like Ellis and Lujanne in S1, as well as Janai-Amaya-Khessa in S2 and particularly in S3, and I think this will only continue to grow moving forward into S4 and beyond ]

At the same time as Rogue One, there were conversations regarding the films status of “people of colour purely as the supporting cast but never as the primary lead”? TOH meets in as a weird hybrid in the middle, with a person of colour as the main lead, but largely surrounded by white people — and this is the case for most characters in the show.

Raine’s main relationship is with Eda. Darius is in the rebellion with them, but his only meaningful relationship on screen in any way is really with Hunter and the past golden guards. Gus and Willow are mostly side characters. We basically never see their families/parents (and know far more about the Blights / Edric and Emira in every way. Gus and Willow ultimately don’t get the time with Luz for me to call their relationship meaningful. This is especially strange, given that often times kids who are bullied (like all three of them are) cling harder to the friends they do have, and that while S1 was better about making Gus and Willow be extremely important to Luz as her First Friends Ever, S2 has dropped the ball even more so.

Luz is like an island, ironically on the Isles and cut off from her cultural community and from other characters of colour even when they do exist in her new community. So that’s talk about that in full.

Now, there is Luz, who is the primary protagonist (honestly, you could argue Eda is her co-protagonist) and she’s lovely and I love her. However, more than once, Luz’s plot line for an episode is a B plot or less plot relevant compared to other characters (particularly Eda). I touched on this in my Vocal article, but Luz is living in diaspora in the Boiling Isles. Yes, the demon realm suits her much better than Earth largely did, but I would still love to see elements of her culture in ways other than her / her family’s name and her occasionally speaking Spanish. What about holidays, what about missing her mother’s cooking and the cultural connotations it holds?

The show does engage with aspects of the Isekkai genre that are sometimes overlooked, namely Luz being torn between two worlds (and given that she’s mixed, it’s not like the allegory isn’t already there), but it only goes halfway. It only shows Luz wanting to be in the Boiling Isles with none of the possibilities about cultural shock, assimilation, and other aspects that can play into immigrating countries — or realms. I’m not saying the the show not engaging with Luz’s diaspora is a bad thing, but it does feel like a missed opportunity (as most of this is) particularly since they do try to engage with her on a cultural level with her speaking Spanish and writing her as purposefully Afro-Latina and from the Dominican Republic.

But honestly, basically everything I’ve talked about already — occasionally misleading set up w/ a lack of follow through, screentime (both considering and not considering its racial elements) — are all compounded into my biggest issue with the show, however, which are its

3. Disengaged stakes

So while I love Luz, I mostly love her for her personality and sweet hearted nature. I don’t actually love her that much for how she drives the plot forward — even though she does, and even though she’s the protagonist. And this is largely because Luz — and many of the characters — exist in a limbo of what I’m going to call Disengaged Stakes. Basically, they have stakes, but due to a lack of set up, or pay off in regards to emotional continuity (never mind a lack of consistency, i.e. sometimes Eda needs to hide, sometimes she can be flashy in public with zero consequences, sometimes getting caught by guards matters when the story decides it needs a conflict, and sometimes it doesn’t etc) it’s hard to actually be invested in those stakes. At least for me.

For most of S2, this meant I wasn’t really invested in Luz’s efforts to get a portal to see her mom (although this improved when we actually got a singular episode with Camila). It’s clear Luz isn’t going to live full time, if at all, in going back to the human realm. I also wasn’t worried for Camila, as she hasn’t been fearing for Luz this whole time, instead believing things are perfectly fine if not better than they were before.

Let me give you an example, and this was actually pointed out in a youtube review of the S2 finale that helped me put my finger on why it... felt weird as a finale (again, even though I haven’t fully watched it yet, but I have watched the bulk of it).

The four kids are stranded in the human realm, but what does that actually mean, for most of them? For Luz, this carries a lot of weight. She’s spent all season trying to find a way home to see her mother, but is now there under awful circumstances with no way back to the place she actually wants to be. It will also offer Camilla the perfect opportunity to see why the Boiling Isles and her family there is so important to Luz.

But what does this mean for the other three kids? Shockingly little. Like I’ve touched on before, we know nothing about Gus and Willow’s families. Yes, I’m sad they’re separated from them, but I’m sad because generally, kids being separated from their parents is sad. I’m not invested in their specific relationship (same issue I had with Rogue One and Jyn’s relationship with her father, as well). All Luz actually wants, in her core, is to stay in the Boiling Isles. Amity’s relationship with her father is on the mend and her siblings are there for her, but Luz is still clearly the most important person in the world to her, and they’re not separated. Hunter has absolutely nothing back for him in the Boiling Isles, largely, and he’s actually as safe as he can be from Belos’ machinations in the human realm.

So you have four kids tossed into the human realm, and it only really matters for one of them.

This is amplified in their relationships. Willow and Gus rarely have anything beyond interpersonal stakes; Amity had her mother, but now her father has turned over a new leaf, there are no interpersonal stakes any longer for her family (and she radically stood up to her mother very early on in S2 as well). She and Luz have had no problems in their relationship besides very brief miscommunication and Amity’s mother. Amity has hardly any stakes outside of Luz. The characters who are dealing with very high stakes, such as Raine, are largely shuttered away outside of the story — or Hunter.

Dear lord, Hunter. Which, now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about what I think could have aided in remedying a lot of these issues

4. Merging

Now I know TOH had to jump through a lot of executive hoops (including the existence and plot relevance of Hexside particularly in S1) so I don’t know what sort of orders came down, or mandates they have to follow but:

TOH has too many characters, and plenty of them could have been condensed as pairs into half as many characters.

I know this, because I went through a similar process of originally having a central group of thirteen characters, and cleaved that shit down to seven. So what are my proposed mergings?

The twins become one character. They more or less are now, fulfil the same purposes and character points as one another (flesh out Amity’s family, tease her and be a listening ear, show their mother’s control, operate as illusionists, etc). Whether it’s brother or sister doesn’t really matter.

Gus and Willow become one character. I would say keep more of Willow’s backstory (w/ Amity), dads, and plant magic alight, as the merged-twin character could substitute as the group illusionist whenever need be. It means that instead of only having splintered individual episodes with Luz or for their development, the small collection would be bolstered and improved marginally. It still wouldn’t fix where screentime or set up fails them, but it would be a significant start. I adore Gus, he’s one of my favourites in the whole show — but he’s less plot relevant than Willow, who is already largely not plot relevant (at least, not outside Hunter’s arc in S2) and we gotta be economical somewhere.

Economical storytelling is when a character, scene, or plot beat is doing at least three things at once, largely — and right now Gus is doing the least, as much as I love my boy, with Willow right next to him. Thus, there we go.

Now for the big, perhaps flat out unpopular one:

Hunter and Amity should’ve been one character. Like the twins, and even Amity and Lilith, they’re largely one theme split down the middle. The show draws intentional parallels between their world views, callousness, and need to be the best due to their abusive families, their strong relationships / connections to Luz, who works to friendship and who are changed by her kindness. There are also less thematic but still overt parallels, like their artificial wands, opposing palismans (bird vs cat), travelling into mindscapes where they uncover secrets. Hell, they both even have a reformed father figure who works with the Abominable coven with a shittier parent who believes in their own superiority at any cost.

Say Golden Guard Amity is enrolled in Hexside — she has to be trained somewhere — and throughout the season we hear her refer to her uncle, who raised her. He just wants the best for her, and for her to be a worthy member of the Emperor’s coven! It’s only at the end of S1 we learn that Amity’s uncle is Belos, and that her growing bond with Luz may be tested in the future. Then, in S2, she has to make a choice between her familial loyalty, ideological defection, and Luz and her friends (who will have more time to be friends, because there are less characters running around). You can even keep the condensed twin as a surrogate sibling mentor — perhaps one of Belos’ more successful grimwalkers, or flat out not a clone at all.

This merger gives Luz and Amity real stakes in their relationship, a higher sense of drama amid the sweet fluffiness, gives more characters more screentime... And amplifies everything that already exists in Amity’s arc. Yes, seeing a quieter form of child abuse from Odalia is worthwhile, particularly for abused children — but as of S2 she’s basically gone full bad guy and has already done so before in early S2, as her abomaton nearly kills Luz in “Escaping Expulsion” so... moot point? Sorta? Is what I’m saying.

It would also, for the love of god, give Amity a solidified reason to dye her hair after she finds out she’s a grimwalker. She wants to reassert her own identity, she wants to be different than her successors while also honouring their good nature, etc etc. Imagine “Hollow Mind” but with Amity in Hunter’s place, and all the weight that would hold for each of them, and for Hunter’s character, now condensed into Amity’s. Also stronger parallels of Belos’ clones becoming less like his brother (because Amity is a girl) over time and with parallels of the implied plot line, of Belos killing his brother because Caleb fell in love with a witch, and it’s happening again, this time just with Luz and Amity, directly.

Basically the only things that would have to change would be a little of S1′s pacing, some of S2′s Blight parent related episodes (so largely two until the finale, which again, Darius or the condensed twin could easily substitute)oOr, to come full circle, you could have Lilith also play a factor, the way she did in Amity’s arc in the beginning. This would provide a greater sense that characters actually had lives and connections and little ship passing in the night moments before Luz showed up, and they would all feel more like!! REAL PEOPLE!!

The only thing that would possibly, likely have to go is Willow’s history with Amity.But given that the show has never really addressed the bullying, perhaps that backstory element would be better left dropped, in general. Amity can be a jerky bully without specifically bullying Luz’s friend for like, 4-6 years beforehand, y’know.

Anyway I will never not believe in the validity of what I call TOH Merger and how it would strengthen basically almost every single aspect of the show, take it or leave it.

Conclusion / Nitpicks

Other notes before we wrap up.

I got bored with just how many episodes relied on the “Character A doesn’t want to fess up to something bc they’re insecure, scared, or trying to look Cool, but inevitably lie and make things ten times worse, and then learn it’s important to be honest” in S1 (hi King, Luz, Willow, and Gus eps respectively).

Amity’s laser character focus on Luz stifles her relationships with both Willow and Gus (as it is more or less non existent outside of a few lines or group scenes); all of Amity’s character growth is largely because of her relationship with Luz, but the same cannot be said for Luz, leaving their relationship lopsided. This is particularly true for me (and is a total personal Aro-spec induced nitpick) and is all the more glaringly obvious considering they barely had one episode where the two were on friendly / friend-ish terms before crush feelings on Amity’s side came in. This makes me feel less invested in their relationship as a whole, as while it’s exceedingly cute, it feels like it’s based on nothing but Crush™ Feelings and that will also be less compelling to me than a strong Foundational Friendship that develops into a crush. I don’t mind that development happening fast, but this was a little too fast in my book.

Final disclaimer: Still like the show, still think it’s good, these are just some of the reasons I don’t think it’s Great. The lack of a Merger will haunt me. Thank you goodnight

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