#bc like. everyone IS using the collector. even king :)

[acaciapines]

nano day eight

words today: 1503

words total: 15933

a bit less today because i actually wrote 1.3k for another creative project of mine jkfgdfg. and i got to a good stopping point here so i figured i'd just write the scene ive been so excited for all in one go tomorrow.

its just so WEIRD, to be here, yall. like, ive written some Monsters in my time, some massive fics that are in the hundreds of thousands of words, but this is longer than all of them. ive been writing it for like, over a year and a half now, and im almost DONE. im in end-game stuff ive been planning for so long, and its just...

wild, i guess. its always hardest to write the final arc, i think--i want, so badly, to do it well.

my favorite part of what i wrote today:

They whimper, the sound slipping out, and behind them King groggily lifts his head. “Collector?” King’s stardust moves sluggish as he shakes himself, creeps to the edge of his bed, and when they look back his head is tilted and his eyes so much like theirs are wide. “Did you—gah!” He jumps back, tail puffy. “You cut yourself! You’re bleeding!” “Don’t got blood.” They scrub their hand across the front of their shirt and wince at the way the fabric catches against the torn edges of their skin. “I’m fine.” “Clearly you aren’t,” King says, and his muzzle rests atop their head as he peers down at them, flattening their hat and hair. Their chest pounds like a heart, erratic. “Um, do you have any bandages? That’s what Eda always did when I got hurt.” “Not,” they say, shoving themself up, and King topples backwards onto his bed, and they tower over him ‘n float a bit higher, and under the glow of the light glyph their shadow cuts across him ‘n isn’t them, ‘cause they’re here and real and REAL and their hand aches still and REAL ‘cause shadows can’t feel that, and they squeeze the wound ‘n watch golden stuff drip onto the floor, “hurt. Don’t need help.” “Okay!” King puts up his hands as he stands, not meeting their eyes. Instead King looks to a point just to their side ‘n it makes something in them burn; burn sharp. “You’re fine. Sorry.”

[running-with-the-feels]

Johnny Cage starts giving people birthday presents (possibly making up birthdays when they don't know or won't tell him.) What does he get everyone, and what does everyone bring to the surprise party they have when it's his birthday? (Of course they let him think they forgot/ don't know/ don't care)

ooooooo, I like how you think

Kuai Liang: A snow cone machine (Johnny is prepared to run for his life only to be terrified when Kuai Liang starts laughing and genuinely thanks him for it) Kuai Liang also doesn't remember his birthday (yet) so Johnny makes one up for him.

Hanzo: Johnny managed to track down a sword that had famously belonged to the Shirai Ryu and bought it off a collector, returning it to Hanzo privately rather than putting on a show like he normally does. Had to get Hanzo's bday from Takeda

Sonya: when they're married, all the kisses she wants along with her favorite type of coffee grounds, in a year's supply. After the divorce, just the coffee.

Jax: Fancy metal polish for his arms, Johnny thinks he's funny (Jax actually really likes it tho bc it does actually work and helps keep the scratches on his prosthetics from showing, and the fact that Johnny doesn't get all squeamish about the prosthetics like most people do is an added bonus)

Liu Kang: A new headband embroidered with flames at the ends. Liu Kang actually really likes it as his old one was getting worn out and it's easier to accept a practical gift than a frivolous one.

Kung Lao: Also metal polish for his hat, as well as a copy of the screenplay he wrote about Kung Lao's family legacy. Kung Lao expects it to be terrible, so he ends up shocked to find that it is a heart wrenching and emotional tale about the weight of such a family legacy and how hard every last one of his ancestors fought to defend their realm, ending with him (bc he didn't die NRS fu, or at least, he and all the other revenants get brought back with Jax Scorpion and Sub-Zero also bc fu nrs) and the acknowledgement of his skill and the pressure he's always been under nearly brings him to tears. When he gives Johnny the greenlight to make the movie, Kung Lao gets the leading role.

Kitana: A collection of Earthrealm snacks and beverages from around the world so that she can get a chance to experience it.

Jade: A jaguar carved from jade that she treasures, as it reminds her of Kotal

Kotal: Another jaguar carved from jade so that he and his girlfriend can match

Bi-Han: a nightlight, bc again, he thinks he's funny, along with all the kisses Bi-Han wants (which is a lot of them the man is Tactile)

Sareena: A bunch of Earthrealm movies bc she wants to explore the world and all the kisses she wants

Raiden: A trip to the spa in the hopes it will get the god to relax

Fujin: Also a trip to the spa, as thanks for dealing with his brother

Nightwolf: Tracks down a couple of stolen Matoka artifacts and "convinces" the collectors to return them to their rightful owners (he does this year round tho, so he also gives Nightwolf a new whetstone for his axes, just to make it a proper b-day gift)

Smoke: Smoke also doesn't remember his birthday, only that his name is Czech and he was found in Prague. Johnny gives him a book on the Czech language and offers to fly him to prague whenever he wants.

Kung Jin: A collection of Outworld delicacies bc he knows the archer misses them

Cassie: Anything she wants, she's his little princess and she Will be pampered.

Takeda: A copy of Carrie signed by steven king as it's Takeda's fav book (sudden telepathy and telekinesis + parental issues, sign him up)

Jacqui: A display case for all the medals she's earned in kombat, so that she can show them off and be proud of her accomplishments, even if Jax can't face them.

Frost: a set of throwing knives that she can terrorize people with, all in bright colours that have Kuai Liang groaning bc they're not stealthy but she is going to refuse to use anything else. Frost is Delighted by this

Lemme know if I missed anyone and I'll add them in.

[fallenrain40]

i just had an idea for a toh show or movie about the collector where they go to the archivists and accidently tell them that a titan is still alive (king) and the archivists are now planning to attack them so the collector has to go back and warn everyone. but like luz they are so afraid everyone will hate them for putting them in danger yet again that when he gets to the boiling isles, he doesn't tell them why he's actually there. they decide that they're going to try to protect everyone without them knowing what he did. so he's all like "Oh yeah I just came back to visit and play! hahaha" and then they are acting so off and nervous the whole time but trying to pretend "it's all fine and good! definitely not in any danger!" and they are pulling such a luz thinking they have to protect everyone by themself. and then, eventually the archivists show up and turn everyone into puppets, getting everyone out of the way so they can find king. a lot like that belos moment with luz in thanks to them, the archivists say smth like "thank you collector for letting us know about the titan >:)" and then for a brief moment everyone gives the collector a shocked and betrayed look, maybe even saying smth like "collector... why?" or simply a "what??!" and then they are turned to puppets. the collector is very upset about this, but knows they have to find king and keep him safe. maybe one of the things he did when he first came back was to play a game of hide and seek (bc PARALLES) and he told everyone to hide and he would be It. they prolong the game as long as possible, and purposely save king for last and pretend "king's just so good at the game!". king being king, probably fell asleep while hiding. so by the time the archivists show up, king is still hidden. the collector goes to king and wakes him up, explaining what happened. he then takes king to an even safer hiding spot where they confess that they lied about just coming back to visit, and that he had put them in danger. king forgives them and just lets them know they should've been honest from the start. the collector -glad to know king doesn't hate them- agrees and then the two figure out how to get everyone back and stop the archivists together. I haven't thought of much past here. I just really really really want more collector content. PLS DISNEY PLS MAKE A SHOW OR MOVIE ABOUT THEM

[eeveearoace]

WOO BOY, i just finished the owl house, and MAN. i am feeling a lot of things, and i wanna talk about them (putting it under the cut just bc there's so much lol)

firstly, i know there's a danger in comparing shows to one another, but i'm honestly WAY happier about how toh ended in comparison to amphibia. i understand WHY amphibia ended the way it did, but honestly? i think it was kinda the wrong way - but that's probably just personal feelings, idk. but TOH?? overall, i really liked the finale. the idea that friends and family wouldn't be able to see each other again after everything they went through is just heartbreaking, and even though i love angst, sometimes it just doesn't work for canon.

"it'll be nice to see everyone again after all this time." "luz, you saw them last week." i had to pause the episode after that, because THANK FREAKING ARCUES. if luz got separated from them,,, UGH. SO glad they didn't take that route lol

one minor complaint i have about the episode is that the beginning made me feel like i was missing something, or had somehow skipped ahead, or was watching the wrong thing, or just. idk. i get why they did it, it definitely made the collector's game hit us as an audience harder, but since i didn't see it live, the beginning. just made me feel like i was missing something idk lol

and the episode did get a bit "power of friendship!"-y, but whatever. it wasn't too bad lol

but OH TITAN when the animation got SMOOTH??? i went a bit feral ngl (it!! was so good!!!!!!!!!!!)

also, i'm just. so glad that raine didn't die. i wish we got confirmation about raine and eda, but honestly, i'm just SO RELIEVED that one of the few nonbinary characters in media didn't die (and that the only nblw ship in media that i know can still sail!!)

"i'm sorry for everything" going feral going feRAL GOING FERAL (they knew what they were doing. they wanted to traumatize us. *velociraptor screech*)

TITAN. LUZ. that design was SO GOOD AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (also, HARPY LILITH?? HECK YEAHHHHHHHHH)

titan dad ;^; his nonbinary vibes,,,, ;^; i loaf you,,, ;0;

willow becoming a grudgby player just makes me so happy, but HUNTER CARVING PALISMANS??? SCREAMING SOBBING YES :,))))))))))))))

blue flapjack,,, pancake,,,,(?)

i'm really happy that with titan luz, her powers were still all sigil-based (i'm really glad that the show didn't cure her "disability", even if it would've only been temporary)

the collector learning and growing :> we love to see it

okay, so i know belos is evil and everything, BUT. okay that goopy cursed design kinda slapped super hard idk what to tell you-

also LETS GO RAINE the way they FOUGHT AGAINST THE POSSESSION?? heck yeah. nonbinary bards let's goooooooo

the way that luz just. is so done with belos. she's not falling for the "oh the curse made me evil" stuff. she's just like NOPE and honestly? we love her for that

"i'm sorry for everything" i already mentioned this. but i'm still reeling from it

flapjack tattoos ;^;

HOOTSIFER AND LILLYYYYYYYY ;0;

it's honestly really kinda cool that luz looses her connection to the sigils until king gets older (i mean, it sucks for her, but still) because sigil magic was ALWAYS connected to the titan, ie, king's dad - but it starts to return as king gets older (but it's still nowhere near as powerful yet, which makes sense)

there's probably stuff i'm forgetting tbh, but it was just. really good. and i'm so glad that raine didn't die and that luz can still go back and forth between the human and demon realms :,)

[speaking-at-the-theater]

watching and dreaming

WATCHING AND DREAMING! i’ve got popcorn and soda ready :D 

OH SHIT

–

the in-between? yay?

funky little in-between places between worlds, the unknown, the in between, the nowhere realm, gotta love them

–

FUCK

–

AMITY VS LUZ! the fight to the death literally no one wanted!

–

oh shit. poor…..everyone!

–

terribly sad moment but the color coordination or purple+green+red´+yellow+blue was great (couldnt get a pic w amity’s hair in it that didnt exclude hunter

–

gotta love those tiny details in dream sequences that remind the mc that something is wrong. toh is so good at that, keeping consistency across eps! a witch’s duel was introduced in s1, and yet now they are recalling the concept, drawing attention to it, in a way

—

it’s interesting how ‘light’ here also has implications of truth, reality, knowledge. reminds me of hs in a way, though ik the idea is not exclusive to that

–

family reunion time!

-

rai-rai? really?

collector is soo cute!

collector is just an amoral child propaganda yes!

(can you guys tell i love collector???)

–

spiders are cool yes!!

-

wow! character who does bad stuff but doesnt realiza it’s bad? sign me right up! i love collector, did you know that?

-

the interesting contrast of childish innocence plus terrible atrocities is always fun to watch

-

watcha playing eyyy!!

–

love how luz, eda and king are kind of showing collector what his games feel like (getting injured, painful) for them, while being part of the games themselves! i imagine this si setting up for a ‘stop! this isnt funny anymore’ ‘well, that’s what everyone else feels too’ moment

–

poor collectorrrr nhghhshshshsh new fave character ig

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O COLLECTOR IS THEY THEM I DIDNT NOTICE

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love this shot

–

collector is so like a child, they encounter a feeling they dont like and immediately become mean

–

couldnt help but notice their eyes were without that white dot- kinda like the amity-puppet, yk?

-

collector spinel kinnie, also older-collectors are archivists? cool

-

ok so my predictions about the archvists taking collector in where wrong, cool. might wanna do something with that later tho

-

man that’s- that’s sad. collector literally got abandoned by their siblings, and then made new friends, just to see their siblings practically genocide everyone there, just for one of their friends to blame them for that and trap them in an empty dimension for a lot of years (and obviously leaving collector w some trauma). even if they dont say it in grown-up words, what happened to them was awful

-

luz collector parallels yes!

-

fuck you belos! go raine!

–

texts i found

-liar

-i gave up my palisman for you (i think?)

-im done

–

oh they really said ‘go big or go home’ w the horror here didnt they? 

–

i think it’s cute, seeing luz tell her story of the owl house. kinda like those end of movie narration where the mc describes what they learned. very…heartwarming, excuse me while i cry bc this is the series finale

-

the knee! i love that theme of ‘can you hear the world singing?’ i’ve seen in so many other places. real magical. and TITAN MAGIC?? gimme.

-

no but fr they baby

-

collector saying a baby could do what it took luz like 6 eps to learn

-

i love!!!!! the idea that luz and the titan/isles are connected to eachother, have loved it since i first came upon it in s1, i should do a (heavily canon divergent basically full on au) fic of it.

–

at first i heard ‘he must really like you’ as ‘he was really like you’ and honestly i like both.

–

‘hear that?’ ‘hear what?’ didnt that also happen last ep? i’ve been watching so much media it’s mixing around in my head

—

oof. collector recognizing raine’s earring. 

-

oh?? collector tell us your plan??

-

‘kindness and forgiveness’ wont help you now collector.

-

also isnt belos kinda a titan now??? should he be inmune to collector’s magic?

-

what a load of second-hand embarrassment

-

collector is such a child!! they see a new rule in this game we call life and they assume it always applies and are surprised when it doesnt! .

‘no, you did good, collector’ yes!! bc collector wasnt completely in the wrong for wanting to understand belos! it means they learned from what luz taught them!! it’s not their fault belos is an asshole!

-

wow! for everyone who thought king was gonna be the petrified one this season, not quite!

-

that silent ‘oh no’ look

–

no dont say that!! that’s sad!!! i’m sad now!!

–

luz! light! she became light!!

-

gotta love ‘tiny golden sparks representing magic through a connection with the world surrounding you’ sounds too specific but both toh and spop have done it!

-

collector i gte you’re grieving but please stop putting yourself in dangerous situations you have to be rescued from

even so: ‘the archivists arent here! the couldnt have taken her!’ noooo

-

oh. luz’s…..shards, return to the stars. the light glyph is written in the stars. huh.

-

‘i should have thanked them’ oh. bc everytime they get separated, the separated party thanks luz (‘luz, thank you for being in my life’ ‘thank you for being my big sister’)

i’m crying now.

-

KING’S DAD????

i should be more surprised but this was set up since the beginning

-

‘luz is a noceda! you know what that means? it means she’s too strong to let any of this bring her down’ literally!! the name noceda means ‘don’t give up/yield’ theory of language my beloved

-

‘I’m sorry for everything!’ reminds me of catra. damn. and ‘i don’t want anyone else to go missing……’

-

i need the music for the titan luz scene.

-

love this logo?? bc 1 it reminds me of the solar system which correlates w the space theme we’ve got going but also, it reminds me of like, connection. how mixing glyphs together makes them stronger. how luz’s strength is in her friends, her attachments, her connection to the world!

–

OH!!! THE INTRO LEITMOTIF IN THE TITAN LUZ SCENE!!!

-

is that collector screaming????

-

no he looks like a cat fr

–

no but??? the isles being overtaken by green vegetation?? utterly natural for humans (belos, and to an extent luz) but utterly alien to the people of the isles?? then luz giving back the red vegetation??? smth about accepting other people’s differences even if they dint align w yours???

-

gotta love all the callbacks this ep is doing. i could make a compilation of them but it’s like they’re saying ‘we know this is the end, but remember the journey’ remember remember remember ughhhhhh toh will never die.

-

love how all the glyphs have their natural element form, but also other connotations! the light glyph deals w light, but also knowledge, truth (it helps wake up the people of the isles) but also the obscuring of truth (the invisibility glyph) while fire is both fire and like, movement, the sphere titan!luz travels in is made of fire glyphs while the teletransporting spell has a fire glyph in the middle, light also seems to have themes of ife? and it makes sense for fire to be movement: the more hot something is, the more the atoms in it aare moving and just…. hajdjakd.

–

eda’s requiem???

-

what the fuck  is going on here what does that do

-

also ‘i am the good witch luz child of the human real student of the demon realm’ YES????? BC SHE’S NO LONGER PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE, SHE’S ACCEPTED WHO SHE IS AND WHERE SHE COMES FROM

-

MORE CALLBACKS

collector seeing the hex-children and curling up…… gonna save this

-

whoa!! belos is a bastard!! come on, still attepmting to manipulate luz??

also ‘you’re human, you’re better than this’ ‘WELL WE AINT’ (stomps) YESSSS 

and the acid rain not hurting luz….nice detail. the titan does look upon her

-

’Hunter deamonne is canon!!’

–

uh??? no- no more glyphs???????  nooo

–

my babies!!!! theyre all so grown up now

–

in remembrance of flapjack 

ToT

…..

i’m going to cry now. bye

i have no grand speech about how much this means to me, mostly bc there are no words to describe it. it’s just…..thank you, TOH, for being in my life.

[rappaccini]

toh finale thoughts

as before, the animation is stunning. the attention to detail is unmatched and the fight scenes were gorgeous.

damn vee literally did nothing in the end huh

and the caleb-evelyne thing sure never mattered.

the dreamworld was cool. wish they'd gone into more depth with luz and belos paralleling to make that hallucination feel much more impactful. as is, it just feels like luz is cosplaying him rather than we're learning some deep-seated fear in her psyche. the 'you've been the whole villain all along' thing really falls flat if we never receive any indications that it's possible for luz to become that.

bringing it back to luz eda and king was great. i missed this trio.

i find the collector clip show funny.

deeply appreciate them not asspulling a redemption for belos. yes, most people can be reached with kindness and forgiveness... but some can't. most people are doing the best they can. some are not.

i definitely think that the whole 'Luz is a Good Person, You Guys' thing that takes up the first half of the special is the writers trying to address the bullshit criticisms of her character and the badfaith flattening of amity in particular into a generic mean girl. which, well they're not assassinating the chars to appeal to those fans, but they also didn't need to address it either.

love the symbolism of luz getting killed and resurrected, getting to meet god and gain power from him

the gnarly entropy luz's body gets was a great design.

so's her titan form. it's so magical-girly but that's part of the charm. luz gets to not just dress up as her favorite character, but be something her own.

the animation in this fight sequence is stunning.

don't like hunter being demoted to support crew in the final showdown with His Abuser. no one deserves this confrontation more than him and he doesn't even get a chance to tell belos to fuck off and give luz the green card to beat his ass. she just goes lion turtle while he's stuck on the blimp. again, they wanted season 3b zuko so bad they skipped all the most important parts of that arc. in this case, zuko facing ozai during black sun, telling him he's wrong, and saying he'll leave his defeat to the avatar.

like. this is Luz's Fight, being that she's the protagonist and the emperor's foil. but hunter needed to participate too. the bare minimum would've been him and luz having a private moment where he gives her his blessing to pulp his uncle.

sure, give hunter something to do helping the folks at the archives, but he doesn't know them like the hexsquad do.

also again i wish they let luz keep her glyph magic instead of moving on to a palisman. toh spend three seasons building up luz's new unique magic style only to say 'sike! it was a placeholder until she could get the Exact Same Thing Everyone Else Has'. yes camila and the hexsquad get to use it in the climax, but it's luz's magic. it feels wrong that she dropped it as soon as she got a cooler replacement. there had to be some way for her to integrate it more prominently into her titan magic.

belos as final boss had to happen. relieved they didn't make it the collector at the last second. giving him no forgiveness and handing over his destruction to the people he hurt and the literal land he colonized was excellent. smart sidestep of the Kid Protag Can't Kill rule that feels thematically coherent (stares at atla). especially him being melted by water like a classic fairy tale witch

and making him the literal heart of the rot, to match the metaphorical one he was the whole time.

luz keeping her dorky self, but now having the confidence to call herself luz instead of luzura? wonderful.

archives. clever way to sidestep killing everyone bc kids cartoon.

love hunter being adopted by darius. it was properly built up and they seem like a great match personality wise. it caps off hunter's need for a new family (not to mention a new father figure who actually loves and cares for him), and darius's need to redeem himself for his complicity in letting belos abuse his nephew.

salty fandom side note: my controversial opinion is that Hunter Noceda the headcanon reeks to me of a group of people who earnestly wanted to see a pair of adopted male-female siblings being the main characters of a cartoon of this nature, projecting that dynamic onto two friends who aren't related or the same species, who definitely do have romantic tension that just never goes anywhere, who briefly live together as teens being cared for by the same adult after having never known each other as children, and whose parents aren't/will never be married, hallucinating it into Two Literal Siblings, having that interest whipped into an insistent fury that it's the Only Interpretation Allowed by lunter antis/the most rabid lumity stans who wanted an excuse to declare the ship problematic, and since it being abusive would mean blackwashing hunter's character and that was out of the question, they went with it being incest by the vaguest of technicalities, therefore literal 100% no-different-from-two-bio-siblings-fucking incest, therefore anyone who likes lunter becomes depraved, abusive, somehow also homophobic and therefore a 'valid' target for mobbing.

anytime i see art of luz and hunter in a pose that could be interpreted as romantic, and the word 'siblings' is slapped in the description i just think 'so you definitely know what you drew and that people would see it that way. you're just too insecure to let people interpret it as they please, huh'

anyway, hunter deamonne was the right choice. given how quickly hunlow got smashed together to Protect Lumity's Innocence, i'm relieved the writers didn't asspull hunter into the noceda family just to please the fans.

(.... to the people who want luz to have a sibling from the boiling isles who was adopted by camila to protect them from belos, THAT'S VEE)

speaking of ~hUnTeR nOcEdA~ who wants to bet the next ironclad luz-and-hunter-are-siblings pivot will be 'obviously darius and alador marry because they were onscreen together for one shot, and since lumity marry, and hunter is darius's adopted son, they are siblings-in-law and therefore the Exact Same Thing as literal full-on-related-siblings-who-were-raised-together.' fucking. idiots.

or maybe the even more elaborate mental gymnastics routine of 'obviously darius and camila will marry, making luz and hunter stepsiblings'.

either way, it's canon that these two characters who aren't related... aren't related. i feel like people need reminding of that.

i love ending on a time skip epilogue

i appreciate that rebuilding the isles is a work in progress that'll take years. no magical everything-is-fine-now-that-we-killed-the-bad-guy

their college designs are great

palisman carver hunter works. give him a quiet life surrounded by the wild magic he was denied, helping to create things

gus and willow's endings are solid. gus living his human world loving dream, willow getting to beat ass. good for them.

amity certainly was doing... something?

luz staying in the magical realm is great. this story is about not having to choose a category or group to ally yourself with, and finding your own path. it was never going to involve luz going back to the human world forever.

i do wonder if she finished hs in the human realm though. i think that's an important aspect of her character that's been overlooked-- she came to the isles to find the belonging she didn't find in the human world. she needed to go back to the human world, even if only temporarily, to show how her adventure changed her as a person. i'll give it a pass given how truncated this season was. her hs days were probably cut for the first special. still hope she got to have them to some extent.

love the nocedas buying the portal house. best of both worlds is the best ending.

pour one out for flapjack.

again i acknowledge that hunlow's buildup got totally wiped out because s3 had to be truncated. yes, it probably would've been much more developed if s3 got to be a whole twenty or even just ten episodes. sucks. still don't like them as a couple. still reeks of 'we need to pair up the biggest threats to lumity together so Nothing Can Touch Our Baby' and it's still annoying when they coulda just written all four characters better from day 1.

again amity is here to be The Girlfriend. it's wonderful and groundbreaking that a disney cartoon gets to have its main couple be two female characters who get to be a couple onscreen during the run of the show but it's still such an undersell of amity as a character. wish she got her own role in the story as an individual.

so in full review... yeah toh is a mostly-great show with some gaping weak points. even with all the issues i have with it, it's unquestionably beautiful to look at, full of fantastic ideas and characters, made by people who deeply loved what they were doing and mostly stuck to their guns. if this came out when i was a preteen, i'd have loved it.

but that being said, preteen me didn't watch it. adult me did.

adult me appreciates all those aspects and especially how the creatives chose to die falling on their queer sword instead of letting the mouse censor things and water down the message. but adult me does think there are some gaping holes in the writing that keep toh from being one of the All Time Greats. avatar come again, this is not. it's close, but not quite there. i'll recommend it to everyone forever, but i Will talk about the issues too.

yes, the romance is one of my big issues. lumity was just wlw kataang. it was cute and you saw it coming, and Yes I Sure Am Glad It Was Able To Exist... but it totally overpowers and consumes amity's individual character. not to mention that all luz and amity's individual character arc moments could have been better satisfied by pairings with hunter and willow respectively. it's just odd that a show this strongly written failed so hard in this regard, and either didn't at all realize that their two main couples should have swapped partners, or definitely knew and consciously chose to go with the worse option because they wanted wish fulfillment.

but more than that, the biggest problem with toh isn't actually that it was shot dead by disney before it could finish its story on its own terms. if anything these three supersized episodes showed that it was capable of efficient storytelling all along and just didn't do it. season 1's pacing was really fucking bad, and introducing hunter in s2 was a massive mistake. even if they did get two-and-a-half seasons, they still could've ended on such a stronger note if hunter was in s1, and if they actually let the plot get rolling before s1e18.

and on the fandom end of things i'm most happy that the worst people in the fandom will move on to find another children's cartoon to make unbearable for everyone else. ideally the lunter shippers can finally poke their heads out and have fun with the (disclaimer, in the event some nutjob reads this:) non-canon ship. including and especially multishippers.

in general, it's always fun to see how fandoms develop after the dust settled. which headcanons, aus, and theories gain prominence, which discourses are forgotten. which ships and characters aren't remembered fondly, which ones will get a retroactive groundswell. what aspects of the show will be loved, which will be critiqued.

[radfae]

plz give us your opinions on the new toh ep queen <3

okay i apologize in advance bc i’m like almost done writing this while i add this disclaimer and i’m realizing it’s VERY ramble-y and my adhd brain keeps rapidly switching topics but i hope this makes sense HAHA

IT WAS GOOD! it wasn’t nearly as gut-wrenching as the last one but i do appreciate some good ship action (raeda and huntlow tugging on my heartstrings fr). a lot happened this episode and i feel like a big theme was character development and personal exploration, we saw that a lot with hunter, but most of all luz and willow! it makes me really happy to see luz get her palismen (palisman??) finally and string bean is so adorable! i was team snake btw so i’m happy with this outcome. a lot of people say that boscha was really annoying this ep but honestly i didn’t think so? i mean, she was a bit, but she’s clearly not a villain here; she’s just a traumatized mean girl teenager handling things badly. she’s developed some pretty bad abandonment issues from losing her grudgby team to the collector, and ended up taking those out on amity, which isn’t…great, but people are treating her worse than belos this episode lmao?? but ANYWAY i’m very happy to see hunter again <3 and i’m happy that his development is moving in a positive way. not everyone is happy about him having magic from flapjack, but i think it’s nice; it reinforces that flapjack is still with him, even if he’s not physically present, which is a nice sentiment. and like i am sorry he is going thru it or whatever but i MISSED him being an annoying angry boy,, and OH MY GOD “you mean a lot to me too” “cool, happy to help” KILL ME NOW?!?! THEY’RE SO ADORABLE.,,,, and i’m glad they focused on willow here too because it made me like her a lot more than i did previously. and ok going back to raeda the “i just like to come out and see raine” i don’t remember if that’s exactly what she says but eda literally risking being caught by the collector who still thinks she’s the owl beast just to see raine,, AND RAINE’S LOOK IN THE BEGINNING WHEN SHE GOES INTO HARPY MODE…… omg they’re in love. and i’m choosing to say raine is a lesbian bc it makes my heart happy. switching gears completely to camila,, just,,, in general,, her being a mother figure to so many of the kids and her conversation with luz to amity saying “you and luz are a lot alike”,, i love her so much i cannot believe there was a point in which she was controversial in the fandom. i’ve always been a camila defender. OKAY BUT THE ACTUAL EPISODE ANYWAY the collector is obviously being set up for a redemption arc of sorts; they’re really pushing the idea that he’s just a kid and doesn’t want to really hurt people, and it’s clear that he really did care about king (defending him from the coven head i forgot her name sorry lol, respecting his boundaries with his rabbit and not touching it, calling him his best friend, immediately not trusting belos when he said king has it out for him) and that’s why he’s taking his ‘betrayal’ so hard. i did NOT expect him to team up with belos ngl, i thought that this episode would be them defeating the collector and next ep would be belos, as like a first and final boss type of thing, but this is like. so much better lol. AND SOMEONE ON TWITTER POINTED THIS OUT BUT belos is ALWAYS looking down on people, specifically at hunter; there’s always a specific camera angle to showcase it, but in this episode, in his weakened state belos finally looks up at someone: caleb. belos has always been in a position of power in every relationship we’ve seen with him so far, EXCEPT for caleb. caleb is the only situation in which he’s been the dependent. which is really being showcased here and i liked the imagery,, and i’m curious as to why belos chose raine in particular? like obviously this is going to be used for some raeda plotline which i personally don’t mind actually but like. obvious excuse for ship angst is obvious. but i hope there’s some other reason than just “let’s make eda upset hehehehe” u know what i mean. oh and raine mullet,, pretty. if i had a nickel for every time belos possessed someone and they got a mullet i would have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice right.

i’m excited to see how things go with the collector next episode (new noceda sibling real?) and i’m excited to see king, eda and luz’s reunion! i really need eda and camila to meet like NOW. i also really hope that hunter is the one who gets the final blow on belos, like sorry to luz or whatever i know ur the protagonist and that’s your moment but he DESERVES it. and obviously luz isn’t going to stay in the human realm indefinitely but with her mom i’m wondering how they’ll work things out; maybe there will be a more stable portal and luz and camila will be able to pass through both worlds and visit as they please? or will camila just stay in the demon realm with luz? idk!!! i can’t wait for next episode but knowing we’re officially on our final hiatus and that the cast just finished recording for the last episode is also :’D a bit miserable. sad to see it go but excited at the same time

[noa-ciharu]

These are all occupations clamp characters had:

False prophet - half of X cast. Kudos to Hinoto tho she's false false prophet, knows it all but lies for funsies

Wrecking ball operator - sounds like something Hideki would do once he fails to graduate from high school 5 years in row because half naked Chii clings to him every morning and he can't find determination to get out of bed. But neither can he do a thing in bed without fucking up his gf's CPU

River styx ferryman - tell me Kujaku doesn't give off those vibes. He'd hit the waterfall then use wings to fly away while you're still trapped on the boat plummeting to second death

Urban legend - Clow the clown

Court jester - also Clow. Alternatively entire Dyklion cast. Nokoru is the king of palace tho, he's only 9 but owns more land than any of us would ever see in our lives

Paranormal investigator - Subaru literally. I bet post TB ghosts were consoling him, not vice versa. Ghosts see him and decide it's better for them to move on to afterlife immediately

Death omen - baby Ashura canonically. Also Kamui since everyone is dropping dead around him but it's not his fault. We can add Seishirou too. Everyone is dropping dead around him and it's his fault

Catacombus tour guide - trc!Syaoran. He'd be so engrossed in Catacombs he won't notice he's been talking for 8 hours and half of tour is on verge of starvation. There's earthquake going on but once hyperfixation kicks in not even that would stop Syaoran

Curiosity collector - Yuuko's entire shop. Her most beautiful and most deadly items. Touch that dead blowfish and 1000 years of suffering my dude. If Yuuko is on the roll she'd pin you against her evil cabinet, homoerotically smoke pipe into your face and make it 2000 years

Medieval falconer - there had to be at least one rg veda characters that used birbs as Twitter. If not then we have trc fake priest Seishirou and spilled ink hawk. Sadly said hawk has nowhere to sit bc Seishirou paid with his shoulders to persuade his vampire fetish

[bodylanda]

Wanted to draw this but ended up tired today so ill just write it down and pray i dont forget it tmrw lol:

Sticks vs ffxiv

Keep in mind some charas may have multiple jobs!

TSC: I think they’d be a Warrior ! Its a bit of the poster job of xiv, and they have their giant hammer. Theres no hammer looking weapon in xiv but the warrior axe is close enough. (Plus inner release + equilibrium and all that). An omnicrafter who just likes to make stuff for their friends. Tl;dr: Warrior!

Red: Paladin! I really debated summoner for them, but I think seeing them in AvM 25 with a sword and shield convinced me. Plus their tendency to rush ahead + how tanking is about love (and a side of that “dont look at these other hoes look at me” post) just made me think this actually really fit them. They can still be summoner, but I think they’d also just be a minion collector haha. Tl;dr: Paladin and Summoner!

Yellow: I think they’ve started off as a Black Mage (cool explosive magic!! Planning out your positions!! Knowing the technicalities of the content!! Yay!) but eventually migrated to Scholar or Sage to be a better playmaker. Scholar definitely fits their personality and aesthetic > Astrologian (even tho that’d be cool). I kind of see Yellow as a more supportive playmaker, making opportunities for everyone else to do more y’know. Tl;dr: Scholar, Black Mage and Sage!

Blue: Machinist! I do think they started out as an archer but just ended up enjoying machinist more. I think they got to bard, saw all the crafting stuff and immediately focused on that. By the time they all had to do combat, they just picked the least complicated ranged DPS. I think they’d also be the other healer, I think white mage, closest thing to a druid in this game lol. They spend most of their time in the island sanctuary tho. Knows the second most about how free companies work compared to yellow. Tl;dr: Machinist, White Mage!

Green: Dancer! I think they started out as conjurer, basically swapped with blue and started playing bard until they could be a dancer. I debated red mage as their main job here, but i think dancer fits both the musicality that green would enjoy with the mobility that they display (iirc they use the fishing rod for mobility the most, even in combat). They do have bard tho, theyre a Limsa afk musician ��� Tl;dr: Dancer, Red Mage and Bard!

In case it wasnt obvious i made everyone have a little to do with the 5 warriors of light in ARR (warrior, paladin, white mage, bard, black mage) ^^; but some of them dont rlly fit it.

Purple: Hello it is now later, and I think they’d be a Dragoon! The jumps kind of simulate what its like to be flying, no? I think they’d enjoy the story a lot and pays attention to the job quests. Probably has the most jobs unlocked just so they can listen in. Their favourite stories is probably Reaper and Ninja but they really only play Reaper and Dragoon. Tl;dr: Dragoon and Reaper!

King: probably didn’t initially want to play but ends up tagging along because purple wants to play. King isn’t very good at fighting a lot of the times it seems, especially at close range, so I don’t think they’d be a tank… I think they might be the actual Black Mage of this group lol. Though I can see them also picking up Astrologian so they can run around healing (read: queue popping) for Purple.

TCO: Samurai for sure lol. It lacks a lot of the like, actual powers or abilities TCO has, but all of their like. Coolness factor I think. Its also the stormblood poster job so I think it fits ahaha.

TDL: Monk! If almost purely bcs its the second poster job of stormblood. There’s also them beating TCO in a straight up brawl in AVA5 even if they were enhanced by some thing.

Victim: omnicrafter lol. Just like tsc/tsc is just like them

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

Poor willow and amity lmao like no one told them anything all episode. No one tells each other plot relevant info in general in that friend group except luz and hunter and thats just those two amplifying each others Mentally Ill Dude Behavior but like. Luz and hunter know all the information about belos and gus knows about the grimwalker thing at least bc he speedran hollow mind but willow and amity? They had no idea what was going on the whole time they were in gravesfield. Do they even know what a grimwalker is? Hexsquad share your belos notes with each other challenge

[acaciapines]

Your nanowrimo pieces are soooo goooood they hit so hard fr fr. I’m especially LOVING today’s one with the owl & the collector even tho I don’t rlly know that much abt toh bc I haven’t watched it but I can tell that u LOVE IT & I can’t wait to learn more thru osmosis once the fic is poooosteeeed✨ (i WILL read it i PROMISE i SWEAR)

Anyways give us the thoughts, the tea, tell us how you make the words do that✨ anything u wanna give in regards to today’s bit!! We’re not picky!

Hope y’all are doing okay! Gal says hi :) Remember to eat and drink something, take breaks, and look after yourselves and each other! We love you! This has been a Daily Interaction Ask <3

he he :3 im glad youre enjoying!! its been really fun to pick out my favorite bits even when usually those are the ones w/out context lol. look at my owl and weep boy. firefly <3

YOU WILL LEARN SO MUCH VIA OSMOSIS....literally now that im also doing something for s1 its like. why watch owl house we have owl house at home (the owl house at home is a 1 million word daemon au) (<- 1 mil is not a joke btw idk if it'll hit it but itll at least come very close. no idk why i did this.)

as for today! hmmm...

its truly so fun to write the collector. like im not joking about him being my favorite owl house character despite his maybe twenty total minutes of screentime, so its been such a JOY to expand his role in this series!!

bc like. god. actually i think i wrote a whole like. bit of flash fiction/prose poetry type thing for them a while ago. probably in my files somewhere. but just. youre an immortal eight year old. you are in these years where you need to interact with other people for your own mental stability and health. to figure out the whole Being A Person thing. and you are trapped for like, centuries. trapped away from everyone and everything and DUST, which, in universe, in literally connection personified. you're cut off from all of this.

and you are, let me say again, eight years old.

truly the collector is just. hes had everyone he ever cares about leave him--his siblings the other archivists left him behind not out of any sense of cruelty, really, but because caring about people just isnt really a thing they do. quite frankly they live so long they didnt even notice. theyre far-away stars. not far because they're mean. just because thats what stars do.

and then king's dad (who um. doesnt have a name <3 this is why the collector calls him 'the big bully' its literally bc i never gave him a name--) was an adult the collector actually trusted and looked up to (he meshed REALLY WELL into titan society until the archivists started Doing A Murder since titans are the only beings that match them in power and they have very very different ideas about dust). like ive said before the collector is owlbeastkin but before that they never had a super stable sense of identity--in another world where they stayed w/ the titans they wouldve ended up a titan.

and then king's dad just. trapped him in a tablet forever.

and like, to be fair to king's dad he was reacting out of fear and the best knowledge he had (he assumed the collector led the archivists to the titans, and like, he did, but its not like he knew he was doing that, and, you know, poor guy had seen a huge chuck of his fellow titans killed including babies and eggs of which he had an egg to consider), but it still TRAPPED THEM. and then he died and so did all the rest of the titans so nobody could free the collector even if they wanted to.

and then BELOS, who manipulated and lied to the collector for so long and was also literally his only friend after being alone forever, so like, of course the collector just blindly went along with whatever he said. he was gonna free them!! he listened to them when they talked about stardust which nobody else ever did! he had no idea what the fuck a witch was! he just liked being able to see the stardust sometimes, and belos brought him to places with a lot of stardust. to destroy it, but like--you know. it was THERE.

but all these people were just USING them, and they never really understand that until king comes around. and king's also a scared eight year old!! but like. king's also not wrong. the collector did aid belos in destroying the entire isles. like no joke belos SUCCEEDS here. like not long-term obvi this has a happy ending but at the point we're in at for the future? it doesnt matter that the draining spell failed. all the palistrom trees are dead. witch society Cannot come back from that even if they did end up beating the collector. theyre doomed.

anyways what was i saying. collector. right.

so like, then they meet firefly/grr-click-growl/wings-across-night/the owl beast (king of having so many names i love her <3) and shes like, the first person who cares for them and ISNT using them. even king is using them!! but firefly has seen Some Shit. she sees the collector as a hatchling who was kicked out of his nest and is doing her best to be some sort of stable figure for him, but she doesnt Not see the stuff he's done.

the collector took over the world bc he's scared--all he's ever known is being used and trapped so he doesnt exactly trust most people easily. firefly would Love to not be in this world anymore. shes also got a loyalty to eda and king and luzmari. and, like, cool motive, still trapping an entire society of people.

but like. shes the one who is here right now and nobody else is trying to help this kid.

but the collector just. hes just an eight year old. a very, very old eight year old. but he doesnt understand things like "you can make the wrong choices and still choose to do better later" and "im mad at what you did but that doesnt mean i dont care about you."

he just sees someone upset with him. just sees another person who used him and doesnt care and is going to leave bc everyone leaves him and in a world where EVERY SINGLE PERSON comes in pairs, hes the only one who stands alone.

basically tl;dr: collector my beloved <3

[wr3nns]

More More More

Luz finally gets to be the one who is picked up and spun around

Fixes the plothole of Luz not being able to use glyphs in the human realm even when King was with her. They weren't his glyphs, they were the island's.

Luz saw Azura the 3D movie, she was an artist tabling at a comic convention. Luz has Amity's necklace. Luz has a hair noodle

I'm trying to figure out the design of the University of Magic majors paper. There's definitely the Owl Beast, Owlbert, and a snake. There's also gold detailing in the corner, which might be King yelling

All the fun bird decorations on the little house across the street. Weathervanes on the roof, birdbath, so many birdhouses, even a hummingbirdfeeder. Not to mention the probably-deer skull, for good measure. The string of lights very light-glyph reminiscent

All the people theorizing that the stars would be how they could travel between dimensions... they were almost right

All the buildings on the arm

Emerald Entrails logo

Flapjack being the palisman center logo

Braxas has braces, and it looks like he's in the healing and beast-keeping tracks

,,,, Hunter matches the angler fish palisman when he turns to look at Del. Both got a little forehead noodle

Del can take care of palistrom trees!!!! And his scars have faded!!!

Gwen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hunter has patches for Darius, Gus, and Willow. Abomination, Gus' magic amp (previously Adrian's), and the EE logo

Hunter's scars have migrated on his left arm. Maybe an error, maybe not, but it's consistent.

Huntlow has progressed to full-on hand-holding and also running together and also she can pick him up. When I tell you I have rewatched that scene frame-by-frame so many times,,, their advanced friendship means so much to me

Finally realized that Del is spelled with one L because of the credits. But it does credit Mattholomule as Matt Tholomule, even though one of the crew members I think said his name was Mattholomule a bit ago? I know not, I'm just happy to be here. And delighted to see the credit of "Papa Titan"

Speaking of which ARIN HANSON IS PAPA TITAN???????????

Clover comes out to say hi to Flapjack

All of the buildings are covered in plants

Boscha has settled! And she has her own stand!!

Looks like Amity has gained some muscle. Everyone is getting a body type update and I am here for it. Good for them. I am having so many feelings. They're growing up

Is Amity holding a history book. You can see the Collectors, the Titan, a big ol burst of light

Amity incorporating something that looks very much like her Grom Queen crown into her hairstyle. I don't think it's the crown itself bc it looks different enough but it's very reminiscent and that's just so cute I love it so much. And she ALSO gets a little hair doodle, but less curly. Everyone gets a hair doodle

Harpy Lilith is SO CURLY

Bump gets to retire!

Edric and Emira might still be using their concealment stones, but it doesn't look that way

Alador looks so happy when the sigil reversal works!! And the little abomination in his pocket,,,, aa,,,

The sigil reversal happened in a hospital! Which is a thing they have!! And it looks like Latissa!! It even looks like the... IT WAS POLICE PRECINCT 206 LATISSA IS DOING SO MUCH BETTER NOW

RAINE PALISMAN

The demons are okay!!! The demon hunters didn't cause too much damage!!!! Baby slitherbeast!!!!!!!!!!

The university is where the old castle used to be

The university uniforms are reminiscent of Hexside!!! I can't tell if Edric is teaching illusions or beast-keeping but he is TEACHING

AND SO IS GUS. You just KNOW Hunter has been sewing patches for everyone

The old light glyph above Eda's door,,, the photos she has outside and inside,,, INCLUDING her old wanted poster, her grudgby photo, and the cute little sweater photo with Luz and King

THE PLANT WHICH KEEPS SHOWING UP IN RAEDA SCENES IS INSIDE BEHIND HER

Did she give the basilisk her old instrument because she can't play it anymore?? That's SO sweet,,,

The various owl and bird carvings around her door,,,

Why does Steve have belts on his leg. Sir what are those doing. In any case he is slaying

King's star sticker on his skull,,, boo-boo buddies,,,,

Amity laughing as she runs up to Luz

THE CAKE HAS BI FLAG STRIPES INSIDE

Amity leaning her head on Luz,,, Huntlow side-hug,,,, Raeda point,,,

HhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh,,, I love this show so so so SO dearly. There's so much to say, so much to feel. I am still processing. There's so much they didn't get to do, but we still get infinite content. I'm so so SO thankful for what we got, and I still wish we could have gotten more, because they deserved it. They did so well

Things I thought about after Watching and Dreaming, with no particular order. Much of this is pulled directly from my notes document

Hunters tv tropes page says Caleb is hinted to be albino

Lilith may have let Luz fall in Agony of a Witch if Eda hadn't sent Owlbert to catch her

Hunter relaxes slightly with everyone else at the beginning of For the Future when Luz says she's okay after coming out of the portal. He's relieved she's okay, even wrapped up in his own head as he is

Belos lights up the Titan's opposite eye from the one the Titan has lit. The Titan has a functioning left eye but a dim right one, and Belos lit the right one. King has a crack on the left side of his skull, Eda has a grey left eye, Luz has a scar over her left eyebrow. All of the Flapjack tattoos are on the left side except for Hunter's, which is where his sigil was (or is, if they had just started developing that technology and hadn't removed it yet)

The palistrom shortage was not only from Belos taking palismen, but also using the wood to make grimwalkers

Oh no did he ask Hunter to kill the Selkidomus because he expected this grimwalker to be the last and he wasn't giving himself room for failure. He needed to complete his mission, and failure wasn't an option if he couldn't make more grimwalkers. Because he had to have Caleb in the picture.

The fact that the show itself says point-blank that Belos is genuinely delusional and his goals are self-serving (through the Titan talking with Luz)

King never saw the room full of Titan skulls in Edge of the World, so he's seeing it for the first time in Watching and Dreaming

Luz's scene of standing and watching Belos melt while he tries to talk to her perfectly mirrors the scene of ghost Caleb standing and watching Belos melt while Belos tries to talk to him. They have the same expressions, angles, shots. And it's flipped. The scene is flipped. It's literally mirrored. And she has a similar hair thing going on. A fluffy hair noodle.

The speech Belos gave to Luz probably parallels how he tried to convince his brother

Luz's Titan magic orb is like the light glyph. King also had one when he yelled at Belos. Also Luz was zapping around like Hunter, the sound effect is even reminiscent

The parallels between Belos' skeletal form and the Titan's skeletal form

Waffle/s sitting on Hunter's head at the very end,,, feels familiar. No I'm not crying

Alador doesn't hunch anymore, and his belt has three symbols for each of his 3 kids

King finally got to play catch

Willow is definitely about to kiss Hunter in the Grom photo. Also look at his suit. Atrocious. Absolutely wretched. Perfect.

Green fungus vs red grass. Just. The colors in general there's so so so much going on there I have so many thoughts about it

Polly

The fact that Caleb's kindness and forgiveness did not work on Philip. Caleb hugged his brother even as Philip was corrupted and monstrous and it did not work. And the Collector ran into the same problem. Can you stop haunting the narrative for five minutes

Dana as a Hexside student cameo

The earrings exchange

The basilisks!!! At least two others survived!! And maybe reunited with Vee! This is excellent news

The airship with the abomination styled like the way Luz styled the Blight's household abomination to look like a cat

Dana signing Luz's writing scholarship. Luz getting a writing scholarship. Remember at the end of ASIAS when Lumity had the idea of their book club also being a writing club

Amity recognizing Luz quoting Azura in Covention (which Luz also outright states) but not saying anything. Imagine her inner dialogue, must have been so confusing

The kid who introduced sigil application way back when being the one to introduce the removal process. Good for him

Amity and Lilith have a good relationship. They were sort of like a mirror of Luz and Eda's mentor-mentee relationship such a long time ago, but less healthy. Now they're friends

Hunter gets all the family ties. Clearly a Noceda because of Thanks to Them, clearly a Deamonne from Watching and Dreaming, which also makes him a Blight, and he also gets Eberwolf with Darius because of course. If you include being a clone of Eda & Lilith's great-something grandfather AND being Luz's sister AND the fact that there may be a shared guardianship of Luz between Camila and Eda, which also includes Raine, he gets to be a Clawthorne, which also means he gets to be a Whispers. And let's not forget how he's obviously also a Park. If desired, for good measure, you can cite brotherly relation and tack on Porter as well. And don't forget the actual canon where he is adopted by the entire school as the resident cryptid

Hunter is literally a cryptid and I have been thinking about this for a very long time. I wish they got to talk about that more but they didn't, which means it's free real estate

The sheer amount of love and care baked into the finale. It's splendid. The hugs and kisses and words and actions and feelings

Eda and King both got mega evolutions. Then Luz did too

Making a stand against Belos at the site of the DOU. Paralleling prior shots, like looking over the Isles and talking about destiny, the parallels between Luz's Titan mega evolution vs Hunter's possession (there's quite a lot)

How they avoided the feeling of powercreep by keeping a lot of the actions very readable and down-to-earth. Even when they were fighting kaiju puritan with decay laser, there weren't world-shattering mega-powers. Everything was built on what we already understood. We got glyphs, we got Harpy mode and Beast mode and King's powers were heightened but they were still the same powers, we got Luz with her staff and Belos with his usual strategy, Raine fighting back in ways we already understood but also ways which meant more (like breaking their instrument). The archives collapsing and the Collector holding them up with ribbons while standing on the shooting star, we understand those powers because we saw them earlier, it made sense

While the archives start falling, Hunter zips toward Willow before stopping short when they stop falling. Hmmm now where have we seen something like that before. For reference I am talking about COTH

Amity finally using a glyph

Amity using vines, Willow using fire. That's the reversal of their usual things. Amity used the fire spell in Adventures in the Elements, that was tough for her. Willow's got plants down. Hunter using ice. Gus flying around and levitating

Hunter being able to save a palisman

Eda's absolutely MASSIVE smiles throughout

Magic coming from the heart, callback to The Intruder

The massive Titan heart in the throne room appearing way back when, and us all wondering about it, and it finally FINALLY came back with significance. Awesome

Luz burning away the rot before making an ice path to give her a clear shot at Belos. Utilizing the glyphs to their fullest, one after the other, super fast. She's become fluent in the Titan's language

Luz's confident speech to Belos paralleling her prior speeches in a moment of pure epicness as she annihilates him. And that's the last she ever says to him

The Collector crowning the Titan

The Titan acknowledging that he went after the wrong person

Everyone being so very gender

The Collector explaining "Hide and Seek" scene was just so. Intense. Them not understanding how mortals work. How empathy works. They're a young child who was raised by the wrong sort of people, they honestly didn't know any better. But that's when compassion comes in

The way the Collector flinched away from Amity paints a bad picture of the sorts of expectations he has

The Hexside kids are okay!!

Belos obviously tries one last Hail Mary, and Luz Is Not Having It

Did the rain come from Luz channeling the Titan's powers?

You can see scarring on Raine's arm. Almost matching Eda. And someone else we know. They should talk

[ahkaahshi]

things only their s/o knows about them pt. 2 [hcs]

characters: tōdō aoi, chōsō, kamo noritoshi

genre: fluff + humor

warning(s): mahito is mentioned

overview: more lighthearted hcs about random things that happen behind the scenes with these guys :)

go to part 1

⭐︎ loves watching soap operas and dramas—with or without you. he lives for the content and for the over-the-top romances

⭐︎ enjoys keeping things clean and taking care of housework, especially while wearing the apron you bought for him with a cute pattern on it (but no shirt underneath, bc when does tōdō ever keep his shirt on?). you catch him using the broom as a dance partner on occasion

⭐︎ has pulled way more muscles than he’d like to admit from trying acrobatic/calisthenics moves he’s seen fitness influencers do on social media. expect “easy! I can do that no problem!” and then finding him flat on his face outside minutes later bc he pulled his groin mid-attempt

⭐︎ has a lil scrapbook filled with pictures of you or the two of you together that he loves adding to whenever he gets the chance. The man can take a good picture considering how beefy his fingers are compared to the button on his camera. turns into a full-on art director when taking shots for you

⭐︎ is never opposed to a good ol’ slow dance with you around the house. but keep in mind this is the same man who will throw it back and expect you to catch it if the music has him feeling that way instead, no matter what you’re doing

⭐︎ has a shirt with your face printed on it that he had made to celebrate your promotion and it’s one of the few he actually wears around the house (plus if he wore it out, the chances of it being ripped off and destroyed would be significantly higher and he can’t have that happening to your precious face)

⭐︎ enjoys tinkering with things and more often than not you’ll come home to a new home modification or “improvement” of some sort (but he struggles with ikea furniture)

⭐︎ has a very sensitive neck and will wrestle you if you provoke him by tickling it bc he’s self-conscious of the way he snorts when you do. think twice about starting tickle wars with him bc he’s a very formidable opponent

⭐︎ the man has a black hole for a stomach. always order more food than you think you can eat bc he’s gonna wanna try it and will end up devouring it if you don’t smack his hand away

⭐︎ sometimes gets headaches from wearing his hair up too tight for too long and therefore appreciates head massages and forehead kisses more than anyone will ever know

⭐︎ is a fashionista who never says no to helping you put together an outfit. follows lots of street fashion pages on social media. secretly wishes more people could see his outfits, but, alas, such is the life of a curse

⭐︎ actually really enjoys playing board/video games and is a charades king (everyone fights over having him on their team), but he just hates that mahito always cheats and complains when he gets called out for cheating

⭐︎ paints in his free time. you hang his artwork around the house bc it’s so nice but always lie and say it’s not his bc he knows that if people found out they’d want him to make shit for them and he’s not down

⭐︎ eats chips out of the bag/bowl with chopsticks so he doesn’t get his fingers dirty/greasy

⭐︎ enjoys knitting. says he does it to improve the dexterity of his fingers and his patience, but you know how much he enjoys using all those mug cozies he’s made and gifting you handmade scarves. if you have a pet together, it will be wearing something he made for it (but he’ll say you bought it when someone asks)

⭐︎ hates spiders with a burning passion and will use his cursed technique to eliminate them rather than smush them or capture and free them. any damage to the walls from using said techniques is covered with pictures. everyone thinks you’re art collectors

⭐︎ extremely sentimental and always remembers special dates in your relationship, as well as the memories associated with places you’ve visited together. even if he acts like he’s forgotten anniversaries or whatnot, he’s already had something planned for months. cherishes every little thing you gift him

⭐︎ bakes to relieve stress. when he’s goin thru it there will be a flight of desserts waiting for you at home

⭐︎ lets you paint his nails sometimes and always tries his best not to ruin your work afterwards

⭐︎ in spite of his haughty and aloof exterior, he always pulls a face whenever you take pictures of him (as long as nobody else is looking). he hates that you made one of them his contact picture though since he knows the face that appears on your phone every time he calls you and he just hopes nobody else knows too

⭐︎ he also sends you memes. specifically those ones that aren’t really that funny but something about the context or the image makes them funny in really unexplainable way

[idk-my-aesthetic]

Toh spoilers for the newest episode (17)

I fucking knew immediately those dudes were sus and I knew they definitely didn’t actually look like King. I was sus from when we got the letter tbh. But the fact that they were wearing the ACTUAL SKULLS. Oh my fucking g-d. I’m deeply upset. He wanted to find his family and they were wearing the bones of his dead species. Probably not even fully grown ones too considering the size :(

Anyway smthn nice I noticed we know magic is a gift from the isles and demons evolved from the decomposing Titian. Meaning life and magic are a gift from king’s ppl :). Even if they’re gone I think it’s nice how their gifts live on

Also uhhh did they find king on the boiling isles or was it a different island? Bc if it was a different island could it. Maybe have been his father’s body? Also who built the protector bot?

Can. Can they use king for Titian’s blood? Is belos going to go after him? What does it mean that the collector made a connection with him? What’s the deal with the plates they use to talk with the collector?? I’m scared

Also I remember ages ago a theory about how Luz isn’t a chosen one but maybe someone else is. In the theory they assumed it was willow but maybe it’s king???

I’m having a lot of thoughts and feelings everyone

[f1nalboys]

the collection live post thing lol

-i like this opening scene way more than the first one i’ll say that

-also asa is literally just going 😡🔪🪓🧨 like go do ur job

-just waiting for everyone in this party to violently die

-asa thot dropping on the light fixtures he’s such a whore

-where’s my sexy man arkin

-there he is <3

-ooooh i like how they show the traps in this one ALSO THE FUCKING TURBINE SHIT??,, BAD ASS

-douche canoe gets to live w only a pinky cut off? 🙄

-this bitch didn’t help arkin like ??? what else can u do????? annoying as mf

-again how does asa even find the time/energy to make these traps?

-why would she stay there while he friend gets crushed to death? id hate to see that

-CMON ARKIN LETS GO BAE

-do car alarms just not go off when someone lands on them LMFAO

-ok so why did they handcuff him? my man was KIDNAPPED

-taken meets the avengers

-this mf breathes like he’s 89 years old and an avid smoker

-arkins accent heheh heheheheh

-lmk when a bra strap can actually open a fucking chest

-asas kind of stupid

-asa more like assa amirite

-this guys a douche when is he dying

-‘you already abandoned the girl once you gonna do it again?’ man go fuck yourself SHE ABANDONED HIM FIRST U CUNT

-be nice to arkin or asa will kill u

-i wanna reas the wiki you see if paz dies so badly i love her

-can they just fix the mfing lights already!!???? I CANT SEE W THE FLASHING U BITCH

-my sister can’t watch this bc of the flashing lights so now i’m gonna have to do a play by play

-arkin what is with u man you were in this fucking place for however many months why r u not looking where u walk and put ur hand 🙄 i love my men stupid

-we got arkin in that sexy grey undershirt now 😝😝 i would drink his sweat sorry idk who said that i was hacked

-asa is a little bit of an artist as you can see

-freakazoid

-asa is so mean can’t the man give it a rest for just a second

-also he’s stupid as hell arkin was literally not even 2 feet away from him and he somehow misses him 😐 i think this guy likes the chase

-go find paz u bitches

-these mfs could’ve been saved if they had listened to arkin just sayinggggg

-don’t trust abby that bitch she’s a liar

-can lucello die already i want paz to live forever and ever

-question r we supposed to care abt elena or whatever her name is? bc i don’t

-i like abby i feel bad for her

-abby is a cunt nvm

-haha she died literally quick as all hell hehehe

-OOOH THE SCENE OF ASA KICKING THE DOOR OPEN LOVE JT

-damn rip the dogs my bitches haven’t done anything wrong

-tubi is giving me too many ads 😐

-would the third collector movie be called the collected 🤔

-NOOO HIS ARM 🤮🤮

-elena was a little too happy to break arkins arm 🤔

-asa is such a bitch like man let them leave 🙄 he rlly killed paz and for what????? bc she was a girlboss??

-arkin get tf up and get outta there let the other mfs die idc abt them

-paz should’ve lived i hate asa

-stab him in the FACE don’t punch him

-OH MY GOD HE JUST STABBED ARKIN IN THE FACE

-i was talking to arkin abt u asa god damn

-genuine question here, asa LITERALLY caught on fire so how did he survive?

-anyways

-arkin dropping to his knees abt to die in the fire us so dramatic king u could’ve jumped over the fire but at least elena was literally thinking at all

-ok i didn’t realize how far away from the door he was LMFAO ur forgiven babe

-damn arkin been through a lot :/ i don’t give a single fuck abt elena or her storyline i care abt arkin am i a misogynist

-so annoying that asa somehow made it out of there it rlly makes no sense but i’ll let it slide bc if the end scene

-yesss arkin beat his ass!!! lock him in the trunk king!!!!!! i hope the collected 3 is arkin torturing asa like he deserves <3

-oooh was asa the little boy that they mentioned on the radio? abt the dad going crazy and killing the family and setting them up at the table for thanksgiving bc he ingested chemicals from taxidermy???? interesting

-‘you here to kill me?’ boy get in the trunk

-nice punch arkin babe 😝 do that to me while we fuck

-hacked again sorry

-the stupid animalistic growls asa lets out r so funny to me

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

Meeting Rick a 3venth time

Okay there is a LOT to unpack here so I'm gonna TRY and attempt it chronologically. This was LEGENDARY, guys.

For those who are unfamiliar with my and Rachel's shenanigans, we met Rick twice previously at his art shows in 2019 & 2021 at the Wentworth Gallery in King of Prussia, PA. Rachel was not here with me this time because she was a weenie and had other plans.

I got to the gallery at 9:45am thinking there would be other people in line by then. There weren't. There wouldn't be another soul in line with me until exactly 2 hours later. Now the first two times I met Rick, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in the gallery and waiting there throughout the whole art show. This time, there was hardly anyone waiting outside until the end because everyone spent their time in the gallery (including myself).

I took many, many, many photos of his artwork (and Rick), drank a few mimosas (as I'm legal now), and met a bunch of new people. The gallery curator was trying to talk me into buying a painting (yet again) and I ultimately decided not to for a wide variety of reasons (Rick's artwork is EXTREMELY FUCKING EXPENSIVE YALL.) And was kinda down bc I was half anticipating me to crack and buy something so I could have one-on-one time with him.

When Rick showed up at the gallery, he was holding a little fake vase of sunflowers (see below). I'm not sure why, but these were sitting on the table he was at the whole time and it was cute as hell.

I was right at the entrance, so as he was saying hi to everyone, he got to me and we each said hi (I gave a stupid lil wave).

Fastforward a few hours. I had talked to a good number of people, some of which ended up buying paintings. While I was next to one couple who bought a painting and were waiting to talk to Rick, I asked them what they bought. They said a purple hand print. I said that Rachel would've bought one over the phone if they still had another.

That's when a gallery employee nearby told me that they did.

"Hold on-" I pulled out my phone. I texted Rachel. She cursed my name. She wanted to reach through the phone and strangle me. Chaos ensues.

She decided to buy the hand print.

I began talking to the curator on her behalf and ended up going through with filling out all the paperwork and organizing the payment plan and whatnot, even signing in her name. I also fled to the bathroom for a few minutes when I realized this all meant I'm going to get personal time with Rick.

But focus was key. In a rush like that I tend to black out from excitement, but handling a lot of formal adult information and numbers like that forced me to stay conscious and aware- thank GOD. It's one of the reasons why I can still recall everything that happened, unlike previous times.

I got back from the bathroom, and the curator told me to get in line. After a few minutes, they let me come forward.

There he was, at the table, with the sunflowers.

I'll be the first to admit that you do get a LITTLE used to the concept of him being a real person when you see him irl, because nothing will ever beat that first time. However, the rush never goes away. I was shaking. Oh fuck, was I shaking.

I put my bag down, and waited for him to look over at me.

Our eyes met, he blinked in surprise and went "Hi! :D"

I proceeded to tell him that firstly, I was there in place of a friend who couldn't make it-

Rick: I had a friend once! :D

Me: you have many friends whether you know it or not :D **DORK ALERT**

-and asked if we could record a video for her. We did (I'll post the video separately), and I got to the interesting stuff I brought.

The first thing I pulled out was my Ireland 1986 tour laminate that Mike gave me. I said "I wanted to show you this, that I got from Mike Rogers"- and his eyes lit up and he literally went :o He told me that the pass itself is a "real collectors item" and that it's probably "worth a small fortune" (cue my internal screaming). I told him how I'm in contact with Mike and he was so enthralled by that that he asked me for Mike's address (via me sending it to the gallery people) and also asked me to send Mike his best regards.

I brought that pass, a portrait I did of him, Rachel's inner CD booklet for Slang, my copy of Animal Instinct, and the postcard of Rick from the 12'' collectors edition of the maxi Armageddon It single from '88. With the exception of the pass, he signed. All of them.

He also signed a piece of paper as a dedication for Rachel's painting (we will DEFINITELY post a pic when it gets here), but more on that later.

He asked me where Rachel and I are from and I proceeded to terribly explain where bumfuck nowhere, PA is. He understood when I talked about Reading and then was like "there's been times on the streets there where I don't >_> feel the most safe." and I was like "YEAH IT'S A BAD AREA I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS WENT THERE"

I then brought up pics on my phone of fan art from @amiscreations and jestem.em.em on instagram and showed him, telling him about fan artists and how we just want to be seen, to which he said he would totally acknowledge us more often, but it's hard to come across and he's just so busy sometimes he never can. But he did say he liked the things I showed him! I even brought out my little portrait of him and he loved it so much and complimented my shading and signed it.

I also told him how there's so many young people who also grew up on his music, and how we're the teenage like keeping rock alive, which he said was awesome and he thanked us for that. He also said it's incredible that Leppard's demographic still has the ability to reach to us and that it keeps growing.

And then he said "I mean no offense, but how old are you?" and I told him I'm 21, to which he mused about "wow... that's how old I was when I lost it (his arm)"

And then we got our picture together ((during which he flipped off the curator as a joke because they're friends. He even said to me "that wasn't for you it was for my friend (says the curator's name wrong on purpose)"))

I thanked him so many times, we said goodbye, and off I went.

Until next time, Rick c: