#gahoole analysis

[gahooliganspod]

Hi! Dropping by to say that, first, I love your podcast so much, and second: when CJ called Madame Plonk the party bard and PB mentioned music as part of therapy, I remembered something: the story never focuses on that again, so its easy to miss, but Rogue smith of Silverveil and Madame Plonk are sisters, they had a really messed up abusive stepmother who favoured Brunwella(Madame Plonk), and they basically stopped talking after Rogue smith became a smith's apprentice. And Madame Plonk is described as a party girl - it is mentioned that she drinks until she passes out during festivals once her official job is done, and owls on the Tree are used to that. I'm pretty sure Madame Plonk is drinking away her feeling of guilt for what their stepmother put Thora(Rogue smith of Silverveil) through. And it is never mentioned anywhere else except when Thora tells it to Soren, if I'm not mistaken.

I love this take. It’s a little sad, but it reflects a lot of the traumas Guardians aims to show.

See, and this is why I didn’t bring this up during Episode 6: it’s less than two pages, and you’re right: it never comes up again! It’s a real disservice to Plonkie!

Talking about music through episode 6 puts the owls’ ideas of “nobility” and “civilization” and “goodness” under a certain lens. Music as a ‘cure’ for Eglantine, music driving evil to literal distraction through Twilight’s battle songs, music as lullaby and peace for Ocavia, and — I think you’re absolutely right — music as therapeutic guilt release for Plonk. I think part of the thematic argument of the Owl Kingdoms is that healthy, good owlets need music, stories, creativity in order to *be* healthy, good people. We saw it with moonblinking in book 1, and we see it again here!

It is WILD that Plonk’s theme, music’s theme, boils down to about 3 sentences to the tune of “Oh yeah, Plonks my sister, but we don’t talk cause I killed our abusive stepmother. No regrets.” SO MUCH theme seems to be stated offhand in single sentences! I just wish we could hope to cover it all in an hour 🥲

KEEP THOSE WONDERFUL OBSERVATIONS COMIN!

CJ DROOLS OVER ANALYSIS. 🦉

[incorrectguardians]

On Otulissa, and her similarities to the villains.

I don’t have to go into why she’s such a loved character, I could gush so much about Otulissa just in general, any day of the week, but there’s something curious about her growth and development throughout the series. 

Otulissa is a very fun character, because she very much, more often than not, acts as a foil to the major and sometimes minor villains. Most notably to The Striga and Gemma, yet surprisingly, also to Nyra.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to call Otulissa and Nyra foils, they are connected and quite similar, Otulissa is the one who gave Nyra her scar, after all.

Here, so:

Nyra’s a very vengeful and vindictive owl, she’s named after an ancient tradition of Nyrolian Owls, and takes pride in it, reminding everyone of it when she can. 

She believes that violence is the only way to achieve what she wants. Violence and conquering, to achieve full and total control of the owl kingdoms. 

She loved Kludd cause he was the only one who could match her, they could create a powerful union together, and bring the Pure Ones to a new era. They were perfect for each other, complimented each other. 

That sounds a little familiar, doesn’t it? At its core at least.

While I would not call Otulissa a vengeful owl as in that she believes in an “eye for an eye,” but she is vindictive as in, how to put it…

It’s partly due to the fact that Otulissa and the rest were only just ‘grown’ when the first whispers of the Pure Ones arose, they still had so much left to learn. The scar she gave Nyra was during the first official battle she ever fought, and it was out of revenge. Nyra had just killed her beloved mentor, Strix Struma. 

Otulissa has a very strong sense of what is right, and what is wrong. When she feels she has been wronged, she’ll do whatever she can to make it right. This does lead to spats, disagreements, this can lead to violence. She's demonstrated moments of rage and anger when she has been wronged, but it’s not because she believes in an eye for an eye. 

Otulissa is a very traditional name for a female spotted owl in the Northern Kingdoms, a mark of very distinguished heritage, and she takes a lot of pride in that fact. 

But Otulissa is not from the Northern Kingdoms, she knew that her ancestors came from there to the south at some point (evidenced by the discovery of her beloved Strix Emerilla), but she’d barely have an idea of how many generations separate her from that era. Otulissa was born and grew up in the Southern Kingdoms. She was also orphaned very young, like the rest, it’s likely she only knew the tip of the iceberg regarding her family (added to what Audrey may have told her). Everything she knows about them is from her own research. She wanted to be just like her distinguished predecessors. 

Nyra, however, is from the Northern Kingdoms, and she’s similarly named after an ancient tradition that spans back centuries, maybe even before the time of the legends. She carries the name of that first, ancient, Nyra. She also takes a lot of pride in that fact, naming her son after the same tradition. Nyra is just like her predecessors, born on the night of an eclipse, but she uses that power for evil. In comparison to Otulissa, she knows her heritage, grew up at her roots. She also describes herself as a very practical owl, much like Otulissa.

Regardless, Nyra thought she was better than everyone else. 

But in Otulissa’s case, if her peers only thought that Otulissa thought that she was better than everyone else, it didn’t matter. Because whether or not she, at some point, actually believed so, very soon her and everyone else were going to get a shock that made them stop believing that. You can thank the Pure Ones. 

There’s a dangerous slope there, between what is simply just pride in one’s heritage, and the great evil that Nyra was threatening. 

Everyone is going through their own struggles, everyone is just like everyone else. Otulissa just needed to learn how to live with it. 

Even so, Otulissa puts quite a bit of emphasis on this heritage of hers, something that I cannot accurately claim is unique to her, but is definitely brought to attention more through her than anyone else. 

This gives her a contrast to other characters we meet, who are often instead proof that it is not someone’s origin that matters, it’s their actions that count. While Otulissa still knows this, she struggles with it at times, and is shown to be close minded, calling Soren treasonous when he had refused to train Skench and Sproon in The Burning. 

When she met Cleve, she grew interested, they were much alike, he was perfect, such a distinguished gentleman, in her eyes. Like Nyra, It certainly felt like another match made in Glaumora (well, Hagsmire for Kludd and Nyra). 

Otulissa was shocked to find out that he was a pacifist. Because he was a prince with such an illustrious history! From a long line of warriors! From the same hollow Strix Emerilla came from! For Glaux’s sake! 

If Nyra were here, she would have spat at something and called him a coward, yeepish, etc etc. 

Otulissa? Otulissa did not say any of those things out loud.

She’s instead just, extremely confused. Because why wouldn’t she be. For one, she’s from The Great Tree, she’s been growing up and learning how to fight. At the moment she met Cleve in The Burning, she’s coming into her own, preparing for a war strategy that she came up with, that she knows is vital to stopping the Pure Ones and vanquishing the evil. She knows that there would be no simply talking to them, that there would be no ‘negotiating for peace’ with the Pure Ones, that war is the only option. 

And for another, Cleve is from an aristocratic family that is drenched in a history of warfare. Otulissa herself is very proud of the weathertrixes in her own family. She doesn’t understand why he would still choose to be a pacifist, isn’t he proud?

On the other hand, a Nyrolian owl is always destined for great things. To Nyra’s credit, conquering the owl kingdoms believing it is their Glaux-given right as Barn Owls, is a ‘great’ thing indeed (Even if horrific). In fact, in her eyes, the only great thing worth striving for. As a Nyrolian Owl, shouldn’t her own son agree? Be striving for it as well?

But… back to Otulissa, if there’s one thing she’s been learning to do so far, it’s how to open her mind. So she and Cleve begin to understand one another, even if their differences are vast.

And then when Coryn, the son of Nyra, came to the Beyond and met Otulissa. It was part of a continuous lesson she’s been learning, that heritage doesn’t have to mean anything to you if you don’t want it to, and it dictates nothing.

It’s what you do with it, whether it’s in spite of, or with respect to, or in defiance of it, that matters from start to finish. 

Gemma was the creator of the Guardians of the Guardians of the Ember, so otherwise, she’s not a major villain. There’s a bit of foreshadowing at the beginning of The Golden Tree, where she constantly mentioned Ezylryb and how she shares a kinship with him because they were both Whiskered Screeches. Trying to claim things about him that were completely incorrect, of course everyone in the moment who knew him personally had something to say about it. But again, it sounds familiar. 

You could say that Gemma started out the same way as Otulissa, not knowing who she was, relying on how others similar to her, who came before her, were like. Gemma never knew her heritage face to face, neither did Otulissa, she likely read about it, just like Otulissa. 

Like Otulissa, Gemma has a strong sense of what is right in her eyes, and what is wrong. But Gemma didn’t care whether or not what she was saying was factually correct or not, she was okay with lying as a means to getting her way. Because, according to Gemma, if she’s just like her ancestors, then clearly her ancestors were just like her and believed the same things she did. Otulissa however, all she did was read, read, read, and read, searching for what was fact and separating it from what was false. Otulissa leaves very little to assumptions, and further still has very little patience for what’s fictional. 

However, I’m not sure if anyone tried to help Gemma or not, because it’s clear that she’s younger than Otulissa, or at the very least hasn’t been at the Great Tree for as long. But not young in general, because she’s in parliament. 

Yet she remained as she did, and the events of The Golden Tree happened as they did. Gemma did not develop an open mind and instead let herself get consumed by her own fear and ignorance, and Otulissa didn’t. 

Mostly because Otulissa was sitting in jail the entire time.

In general, Otulissa always hated anything and everything that could be considered flashy, vulgar, and completely unnecessary. Always has and won’t budge. No owl would need to wear clothes, that’s an Others thing. Her hollow only needs what is beneficial to her work, and of course, a perch and nest to sleep on. She’ll pursue her own comfort, evidenced by her keeping a coal grate in her hollow in The Hatchling. But she wouldn’t keep anything solely for its aesthetic value, and, when she was younger, actively scorned others when she saw that they did. 

Of course, as an adult, she now mostly begrudges it, accepting that it’s just not for her, and would not deny an owl the right to have them. Even going as far as agreeing to hide Madame Plonk’s teacup for her during The Golden Tree.

Similarly, Otulissa despised joke books because she found them completely vulgar and they taught nothing. She didn’t mind, but could not find herself interested in fiction. She wanted to know what was real and true. But she loved poems and music, because they often reflected things like the writer’s personal life, the state of the world, and the feelings in one's gizzard, and that was real to her. 

Once again, despite her reservations, she would never prevent another owl from reading any sort of book. 

She couldn’t stand it when others would mess around and make unprofessional what an important outing with the chaw was going to be, especially when it’s her own teacher perpetuating and encouraging it. It’s very undignified, nothing like her. 

So when The Striga was welcomed to the Great Tree and began talking about ‘vanity,’ Otulissa, now grown, found that she could agree, to an extent. But what The Striga was suggesting bordered on dangerous. 

At a glance, The Striga assumed that he and Otulissa were very much alike, two birds of a feather, but the feeling was absolutely not mutual. 

When he met Otulissa in the library, The Striga claimed that only the practical studies were free of vanity, that anything else was “anti-glaux,” and that he approved of Otulissa’s choice of book at the moment (a book on atmospheric pressure, by Strix Emerilla, of course). But added on that one should never be too prideful, that pride was another vanity. 

Otulissa was very proud of her ancestors, but was never one who did something for the approval of someone else. Everyone is different, going through their own struggles, just like everyone else. Due to previous events in her life, Otulissa was also instinctually wary of any owl that attempted to preach an ideal Owl World based on quantities of “purity.” Even if The Striga had tried to call it “true owlness.” 

The Striga then attempted to use this encounter to get Otulissa out of the Great Tree, along with the band, but he clearly underestimated her, since she elected to stay behind. The encounter also later gave Otulissa what she needed to make the decision to smuggle books out of the Great Tree, the ones she felt were at risk of disappearing thanks to The Striga. 

Then later, when she lost her eye, she went one step further to separate herself just a little bit more from The Striga’s ideals. With Trader Mags’ help, someone who she historically never got along with, she picked out a rather “jaunty” bandana for herself to wear over the injury. Saying that there was nothing wrong with a bit of vanity. 

I don’t believe that were Otulissa left to her own devices, she’d grow up to be something evil. Likely only just bitter, snooty, stuck-up, and snobbish and a ryb who was a horrible teacher that everyone hated and would celebrate when she died. Much like Dewlap, who I omitted from this analysis because …. I forgot, my bad, because this is long enough as it is.

But she had friends and rybs who taught her as much as she taught them, and instead she grew up to be a, still a bit snooty, ryb whose a great teacher… despite the mixed opinions of her students. 

I just think it’s very interesting that she’s had so many similarities to the villains that seem purposeful. 

Because Otulissa was never something to be fixed, there was never anything wrong with her, she didn’t have to get a new personality. Everything she grew into was something she did herself, she just needed someone to see who she truly was, what she could do.

[arthurian-owls]

CORYN IS THE BEST AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL: A SLAPDASH MINI-ANALYSIS

(please forgive if this is repetitive or incoherent; I am running on very little sleep and an ungodly amount of ibuprophen)

A lot of people don't seem to understand why Coryn is my favorite GoG'h character, so I will put it as simply as possible:

His story marks a very sudden conflict shift from man vs man to man vs self, and that can be jarring. However, I think it represents the heart and soul of the series very nicely and is a well-placed narrative transition.

Coryn’s story moves slowly because it is less about fighting an active threat like many of Soren's stories- Instead of a physical enemy, what Coryn fights is a cycle of abuse; all physical conflict takes second stage to the emotional conflicts he experiences. In The Hatchling, he leaves home and takes the first step to break out of the mindset and environment that he was raised in, but in The Outcast the pace of the story slows down because he isn't running away from Nyra and the Pure Ones- he is in hiding. Coryn spends the book fighting an entirely mental and emotional battle, learning how to really and truly break the cycle of abuse that started with Nyra grooming Kludd into the racist cult of the Pure Ones. *

The fact that Coryn needs to learn basic self-care from a stranger, even though he had long since been flying and hunting before he left home, is a testament to how neglectful Nyra was. In The Outcast, it says “He had learned from Mist how to take proper care of his plummels…” (p 41). Mist had known Coryn for less than a month at that point. That is like never teaching your children to brush their hair, because what use is detangled hair in battle? And that Kathryn Lasky would show this scene, such a small victory that means the world to Coryn, really drives home that the slower pace of his story is a purposeful, meaningful choice. 

Coryn's story has always resonated with me because his battles are entirely internal. Yeah there's action and fighting and adventure, but most of his journey is purely metaphorical. He rises above his circumstances and learns how to love, learns how to think for himself, learns how to become great. Growing up with a mother eerily similar to Nyra, Coryn's story has always served as a huge inspiration to me. He rose above his circumstances and by god, he gave me the courage to rise above my own and believe in the inherent goodness of the world. 

Coryn’s story is an *important* one, even if it is less flashy and exciting than Soren’s.

Thanks for reading! 



*I have spent weeks working on a whole other post about how Kludd was groomed much like how irl teens are groomed into white supremacist spaces online, and will link it here once I am finished.

[melissa-titanium]

OC QUESTION!! :D

which kind of stories do your ocs like? (can be any oc) like, how we read books and watch shows, which kind of stories would your ocs like?

OMG HI AZ. HI HI HI HI fuck ok that is a very good question.

oryx because i've been thinking about him lately... he's a doctor, so very analytical and has similar interests to mel (though he LOATHES that fact.) often reads nonfiction, usually factual things like studies of the brain and soul magic. despite being a physical doctor, he reads a LOT about mental disorders & the like. if you asked him what stories he liked, in terms of fictional ones... he'd probably like something like evangelion. he'd definitely watch house md, and find the medical practices funny. though again, humans don't really exist in this era so house md wouldnt.,... like.,......happen . eva either. but like HYPOTHETICALLY. you know.

mel will read anything and everything. stories, anatomical reference books, automotive mechanic books, pre-koboreal invasion literature, fucking give him a 600 page book on cleaning bathroom floor tiles he Will Read It. he wants to KNOW shit. he fucking HATES movies, but because he's a contrarian there are some instances where he'll watch them. he can't sit still long enough to watch entire hour long movies/episodes etc but if you give him something to do while listening in the bg he'll be set for life. he's ME so he'd watch what i watch, mp100, dunmeshi, murder drones (he would LOVE murder drones. ep 4 would make him hungry for oil, which is dangerous because he works as a mechanic on occasion LOL) you could never get him to admit it but he's probably watched twilight. he's a vampire and he LOVES wolves. (i... don't share this trait. i haven't watched twilight. mel would NEVER watch true crime/horror movies. not because he's scared of them or anything similar, because he much prefers when the violence is actually happening in front of him, ESPECIALLY when he's the one doing it. don't forget he is a mass murderer & a cannibal who enjoys violence.

draco is illiterate. she's not stupid, but she, similarly to me, struggles in investing herself in a story unless she really clicks with it/its characters or story. she probably likes MAKING stories more than reading them, honestly... the issue with that though is that she can't write because of her claws. she's too insecure about her own opinions to think too hard about characters & stories and even MORE so to even share them, but maybe at some point she read with magmivit, & they helped her write! you gotta consider she was living away from civilization with nothing & no one but her freak ass of a mom & crazy bitch dad out in the woods, she never had stories, so she really likes them. she'd much rather cozy up and struggle to read a book than go out and do something on her own, unless the "doing something" involved being useful for others. stories that are more blunt & obvious in their delivery but still handle mature themes would be good for her... atla, mlp, guardians of gahoole would be good for her. i think she'd like warrior cats if it didn't make her sad.

TROUT! manga reader. anime watcher. she's kind of a weeb... DEFINITELY WATCHES RWBY & AMPHIBIA & HOMESTUCK my main inspos for her were ruby, marcy & june after all . haha. she watches eva because of oryx, when your weird adoptive cat uncle/past life recommends you a show you HAVE to watch it. she doesn't *read* a lot, she likes picture books & comics more than big walls of text because of how easily she's bored. action movies would be something she likes. she's museful, but likes to shut her brain off sometimes. not very character-analysis-y, prefers when characters are easy to read & relatable.

THJANK UOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME THIS I LIOVE QUESTINS ABOUT MY; OCS. *DIES

[ninja-yogurt]

Gahoole tag is like 80% fanart, nostalgia, and good analysis (which is all very good and I appreciate y'all) and 20% teenagers (I hope) and fully grown adults complaining about either the movie, which was a very good adaptation for all that it didn't get enough buzz to actually go anywhere, or the fact that they're reading the books for the first time 20 years after they were published and at least 10 years after they were actually in the target demographic. Like I'm not saying either thing is flawless, but you really don't need to complain about them in the tags for the thing. They're not for you. That's fine. Unless you're trying to plan lessons around reading comprehension for seven year olds there's pretty much no reason to read them with that critical of an eye. Lasky was (and somehow still is, I love her dearly) pumping out books at a ridiculously fast pace, there's going to be mistakes in them. These books were the first place I ever found a typo in a published book. If I could handle the knowledge that some editor couldn't be bothered to use spell check on a book that was almost definitely written in a software that had rudimentary spell check at age 7, you can handle some awkward wording at age 30. I promise it'll be ok. You can just put the books down nobody is forcing you to read them. You can read books for your actual reading level. They'll be more engaging, I swear.

[arthurian-owls]

THE PURE ONES RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES: A VERY FAST ANALYSIS

In book seven, chapter fifteen, we learn Phillip’s backstory. Phillip, otherwise known as Dustytuft, was a Greater Sooty owl, one of the lowest-ranking members of the Pure Ones and Coryn’s best friend growing up. It is here that we also learn how the Pure Ones prey on vulnerable owls to expand their ranks; in a deeply predatory move, they offer safety, brotherhood, and power to owls with nothing left but desperation. 

In fact, on page 107 it outright says: “This is one of the Pure ones’ best strategies for finding new recruits. They go into regions where forest fires have destroyed the land, where owls feel lost, confused, disoriented, and are almost starving to death. They promise them a good hollow with soft moss, plump voles, and rock rats. The new recruits are promised a chance to become the pioneers and leaders of a new empire”. 

So the Pure Ones find vulnerable owls, manipulate them, strip them of their old names and identities, and enforce a very strict caste system within their own ranks. From the “purest” barn owls (tyto alba, with the big white faces) to the “least pure” (lesser sooties, with grey-black faces), no owl is truly equal as promised. 

I don’t even need to read between the lines here- it’s literally outright stated in the text that the Pure Ones specifically prey on desperate owls with nothing left to lose.

In fact, similar tactics are how they end up getting Kludd, who would go on to become the High Tyto, to join them as a barely-fledged owl! (There is a whole other essay to be written on that particular subject, which will be linked here once finished) 

[arthurian-owls]

What do you think about the changes they made to shove the first three books into the movie? I just finished book 3 so no spoilers please :DDD

Ooo ok so maybe a controversial take but I love how they adapted it! some things were better off left alone, like the weird romantic tension with Otulissa?? But overall I really liked it- Unfortunately, I can't go into much more detail because I'd spoil quite a lot but let me just say. U might recognize some names and plot points from the movie later on ;P

[arthurian-owls]

First, hi and hope you're having a good day;

Second, I really like your analysis posts, and I'd love to read the theories you've got. Do you have any theories about Spotted owls? Specifically why they seem to be so important, because while I have my guesses, it still puzzles me how owl classism is a thing if they have no stable agriculture and next to no metalworking outside of the Ga'hoole Tree (and how it was an established thing way before metalwork was discovered, apparently).

Ooooo- This is a good one, and something I've wondered myself!

I have a boring theory and a more fun one. Boring first!

Honestly, my personal theory is that it started as an excuse to have Otulissa be as snooty as she was in the beginning of the series, and then it sort of just got out of control the more was written; since I've never heard of a mixed-species owl, at some point "family lines" are going to turn into "well, there are just a lot of (species) that do (x)". To me, it feels like what was supposed to be a throwaway bit of character building (Otulissa is stuck-up and very proud of her ancestor Strix Emerilla and her lineage in general) that grew a mind of its own.

Fun theory time!

If we decide to delve a little further and ignore the probability of it just being a plot bunny that went out of control, I think it is pure coincidence that spotted owls gained so much power. Again, I'm really not sure whether or not it's a known phenomena for owls to have cross-species offspring, but for the sake of argument I'd say in this series, it's just not a thing.

So you have one family of spotted owls that gets some power, right? Through fighting, I'd assume, as they seem to be centered in the Northern Kingdoms who are known for their propensities for war; and then the spotted owl in power finds a mate and has some chicks- all spotted owls. These spotted owl chicks go on to be trained for fighting, inherit power, find mates and have chicks of their own. Eventually, because those in power have the privilege of better training, better resources, and better support, their little lineage spreads. And grows. Their power really solidifies. And that is one way I think spotted owls came to hold so much power in the world of Guardians of Ga'Hoole! A combination of nepotism and sheer luck!

*side note/edit: I think owls want territory because it's mentioned in book 7 or 8 that owls can be really possessive of their hunting grounds- so having more power means better pick of hunting grounds and whatnot

[arthurian-owls]

Soren "pure of heart, dumb of ass" and Gylfie "walking thesaurus" are the world's best pair of best friends

[arthurian-owls]

Being part of a small niche community is nice because every post is just shared between you and like twelve strangers you would kill for

[arthurian-owls]

Finding out that Kathryn Lasky is Jewish was amazing to baby Arthur; to discover that one of their idols and biggest inspirations shared that part of their identity? Completely life-changing. To me, it made the books *that* much more special as a kid. I'd still be here if she wasn't, of course, but how awesome that felt to know that me and her shared something in common!!

[arthurian-owls]

I think if I was an owl in the world of Ga'Hoole I'd be either a very golden-red Great Horned Owl or a very greyish Burrowing Owl.

[arthurian-owls]

Ooooh see as much as i ADORE how the movie handled the adaptation, I do agree that making Otulissa a romantic candidate was so unnecessary :') And I agree w your theory that they made her a small-eared owl because they're "sexier" and more feminine (it's giving 'cats are girls because theyre sexy and mysterious and dogs are boys huehuehue') and like *shakes the character designers* WHY! I thought it was nice that the owl that Soren does end up with is just some random barn owl cause that's how it goes IRL!!! You have your friends, your adventures, but you don't always form romantic connections w those u adventured with??? To me, the whole Band reads as a QPP group, with Otulissa, Ruby, and Martin being the next closest friends collectively. I LOVE the lack of romance <3 I think it's IMPORTANT for the characters! The whole Chaw of Chaws is a big ol found family! And I liked how in the books, unlike the movie, we are gifted with offscreen character development. It makes for an absolute field day for people like me :3. From a purely visual standpoint I can see why the visual directors changed Otulissa's species, and considering that Ruby is markedly absent that kinda ties into my bigger theories about why the movie was the Way It Was but it really feels like kind of a cop-out to me idk

no notes on gylfie, i still choose to keep my blinders on and read their relationship as smth closer to a qpp and also i stole my gender and most of my personality from her so i have no legs to stand on here asdfgf

So we can all acknowledge that movie Otulissa straight-up isn't a spotted owl right

Spotted owl:

Movie! Otulissa:

That's a whole short-eared owl right there

just something I noticed!

[arthurian-owls]

Hi! Not sure if this is a mobile-only issue, but I noticed that tumblr search treats "guardians of ga'hoole" and "guardians of gahoole" as two different tags for some reason; your posts don't show up when I search the spelling with the apostrophe and I'm not sure which tag is considered more common, so tagging with both of them may help with search stuff (because you're doing god's work in this fandom and more people deserve to read your analysis posts)

Oh!! Thanks for letting me know, I'll have to start doing that!!!!

[arthurian-owls]

On Owls and Storytelling

I find it very interesting how Guardians of Ga’Hoole treats mythology as a tool and as something of importance rather than “just stories”- how storytelling is often, within the narrative, a tool to better see the world of owls and better understand how they work.

In book one, The Capture, it is written: “Soren started to say that the story of the serpents was just a legend and not true, that such sea creatures did not exist. But then he realized deep within himself it didn’t really matter. These owls did exist and maybe they wanted just what the imaginary creatures of the legend wanted”. This is written in response to Gylfie mentioning the legend of the sea serpents who could walk on land and who wanted world domination. 

It brings up an interesting thought; historically, myths and folk tales are based on true events, loosely or not, and can provide a stepping-stone for children in specific to begin to learn about the “real world”. I think of this fact because in this part of the book, Gylfie and Soren are at the equivalent developmental stage of a young preteen, maybe 10 or 11, and still interpret the world through a very naive lens despite their hardships. Stories provide them the points of reference to fill in the gaps in their knowledge in an organic way, like training wheels or guard rails. 

I find it fascinating that the owlets are able to use the Ga’Hoolian legends as a way to interpret the real-world actions of the adults around them; the owls of St Aegolious Academy for Orphaned Owls are, indeed, much alike to the serpents in the story. 

Storytelling will always be a way to free your soul and to teach the younger generations to notice the world around them. 

Like owls, like people, stories echo our truest nature in a digestible form. 

I’ll probably expand on this later, maybe go back and edit as I re-read the series again and notice more details. 

Thanks for reading! :) 

[incorrectguardians]

Otulissa: What's our squad called?

Soren: I dunno but you're not in it

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Hey, small thing, on the GOG wikia Otulissa is listed as only an honorary member of the Chaw of Chaws, but Otulissa was always included when referring to the Chaw…

So what is the truth… Have this textpost while I think it through.