#just because I mention Stringbean

[rockymountainqueen2]

New TOH Content From Disney's Chibiverse Valentine's Day Episode!

Since the episode is both A.) Over 22 minutes long & B.) Features numerous characters from various Disney owned IP's; I will only be posting screenshots that contain TOH characters.

Now that's out of the way... Let's get started!

Considering how Lumity heavy this Chibiverse episode is, it amuses me that Hunter is the first TOH character to make an appearance.

He's manning the kiss cam! He takes the responsibility very seriously.

Lumity arrives! On... Stringbean... wearing outfits that they don't wear in Season 3. You know, the season Stringbean hatches in.

I suppose the Chibiverse never claimed to follow continuity, lol.

The episode has a "couples compete against other couples in a game show" set up. Luz and Amity are chosen as one of the couples to compete!

The Chibiverse episodes aren't really much more than the Chibi Tiny Tales shorts complied together, with some new animated content revolving around a wafer thin "plot" being used to connect the segments.

In this segment, Luz is riding a rollercoaster!

And now she's on a ferris wheel with Amity! Mere seconds after being seen riding another ride, lol.

Game show format.

Lumity tease another couple about how they're totally in love with each other despite claiming to be friends by mentioning that they also started out as friends. (And before that, enemies!)

Anyone else wondering why Amity's eyes have been half-lidded nearly the entire time?

Lumity being recognized and used in official Disney licensed content!

Amusingly, instead of it being called their "ship name", it's referred to as their "power couple" name. Lol.

This little point icon thing-y is adorable.

But I think that the little heart with their faces on it on top of it is even more adorable, lol.

Next bit of TOH related content in this episode, the Lumity Date Chibi Tiny Tales short!

I did not screenshot any of it because it can be found elsewhere online.

Question one for the couples: What's your partner's favorite food?

And Amity's favorite food is apparently fairy pie! This makes the fact that she made a fairy pie was Luz at one point even sweeter than it already was.

And Amity loves it! Luz blushes with pride.

More teasing!

Amity also looks weirdly like a cat in this 'shot, lol.

Second question for the couples: What is your partner's favorite color?

Turns out, Amity's is lavender!

(Also: Glyphs apparently work in the Chibiverse.)

Only that's actually... wrong?!

As it turns out, Amity's real favorite color is... periwrinkle.

Luz & Amity try to argue that lavender & periwrinkle are so similar that they might as well be the same color, but no sell.

Yet more teasing. This is the main running gag for the episode, and yes, by this point, it starts to feel like it's overstayed it's welcome.

And now it's time to watch The Amphibia House Chibi Tiny Tales short!

I don't know what this short has to do with "love" (Since all of the shorts are supposed to revolve around it in this episode), but maybe it considers Luz and Anne's new friendship to be a form of platonic love or something. Lol.

Time for the final question!

What does your partner want to be when they grow up?

We never actually get to see either Luz or Amity answer this question.

Because they tie with another couple and thus "win" the game show basically by default, lol.

But we do get to see them kiss on the kiss cam!

I literally just included this because Luz & Amity are both blushing.

Enough Lumity! Now let's get some eleventh hour Huntlow!

I love how this is how we finally got an official Huntlow kiss, lol. Hunter is about as shocked as I was to see it!

And that's all folks. Hope you liked my rundown!

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

Hey

Want to know your opinion, how would you improve some arcs of toh characters, like Amity, Hunter, Lilith, Willow, Gus and probably anyone whose arcs you think are bad-written?

good question! let's see,

luz: i have mostly no complaints about her character but i wish they made it clear that her running off to the boiling isles was not ideal. i don't entirely blame her because she was a child and she was looking for a way to avoid going to camp, but the show starts off implying that luz's escapism was a bad thing, but then they kinda contradict that in the end, by letting her have access to the boiling isles forever.

also her s3 arc with her palisman was just overall poorly written. it was supposed to be an emotional and wholesome moment but it didn't have that impact on me. if luz's greatest wish was to be understood, they should have built on that more. i mean, it's not like no one understood her, all of her friends and found family in the boiling isles seem to understand and empathize with her. it just felt like the writers pulled this revelation out of their asses, and the fact that stringbean was inexplicably a shapeshifter didn't help their case.

amity: i would keep some parts of her initial characterization, like her ambitious nature and her resting bitch face energy. even if the idea was to make amity grow into a more cheerful person, it doesn't make sense that it happened so quickly. imo her characterization was at its best when she was warming up to luz but not entirely nice to other people (like during the grom episode). i really liked her cold, standoffish behaviour and i think it would have been nice if she had kept some of that, while still being a better person than she was in the beginning.

also, like i said in another post, she should definitely have goals of her own. her character shouldn't have been reduced to "luz's girlfriend". i would definitely show more of her interacting with the other characters (and these interactions and conversations aren't about luz) and pursuing her own dreams. i think steven universe did this best where connie liked steven a lot and she did hang out with him, but she also had her own life and her own dreams to chase.

hunter: i wouldn't put him in a relationship with willow, or anyone, for that matter. the poor boy has a lot of trauma he needs to work through and based on the stuff that he's said, it's clear that he doesn't know how healthy human interactions work, let alone a romantic relationship.

i would make his arc about slowly healing through his trauma or at least being able to express his emotions, instead of suppressing them for willow's sake. i think it could have been done, despite the time crunch. he needed time to grieve flapjack, to grieve himself after being possessed and almost killed by his abuser, and to slowly start his healing journey.

the others would definitely support him through it, but that's what he needs at the time, not a badass girlfriend.

lilith: i think her redemption arc started off okay but then everyone forgave her too quickly. it wasn't as bad as catra's because lilith did put a little effort into trying to be better, but she still needed to do more before she could have been forgiven.

so either i would extent her redemption arc and let the other characters, especially eda, stay mad at her a little longer before she gets forgiven. or i would just keep her as an antagonist.

they didn't even explore her trauma of being in a cult and the emperor's coven never chased her down after she left. not to mention, her experience of being in the emperor's coven is never relevant to the plot. she could have given luz inside information or talked about belos' potential weaknesses, it was such a missed opportunity.

willow: her arc with amity was not terrible and i like that she was allowed to take her time to trust amity. this is more about amity than willow but i think it would have been nice if we saw amity making more efforts to gain willow's trust. her apology in understanding willow was good but they kinda glossed over the fact that amity wasn't just "letting her friends bully willow", she was also bullying willow.

i think we needed more of willow and amity trying to mend their friendship, instead of lumity being the main focus after that one episode.

and in general, willow deserved a bigger role in the series. for the longest time, she was just luz's friend and then they forced her into a relationship with hunter, which did not work at all.

if her intended arc was to work on her insecurities and get more confident over time, they should have shown more of that process. even Any Sport In A Storm was mostly about huntlow (and hunter, to some extent) then willow. and let's be honest, the whole "half a witch" thing was dragged out more than it needed to be.

gus: okay, buckle up because i think i have the most grievances with gus. i need to make this clear. GUS WAS SO UNDERUSED.

i'm sorry. this guy is a child prodigy who can create illusions and use illusion spells to look into people's minds and force them to relive their worst memories?? why was this not more relevant to the plot? gus is such an insanely skilled witch and yet he's always pushed to the back for some reason. he has the most versatile and useful skillset but he never gets to use it, it makes me so mad!

even him looking into belos' mind was only used for that brief moment where he admits that he knew hunter was a grimwalker, but didn't want to force hunter to talk about it. that's it. we get no further conversation about it, gus never addresses the other stuff he saw in belos' memories like him MURDERING his brother and creating all the grimwalkers and god knows what else??

also just the fact that he's able to psychologically torment people with illusions is such an OP move that the series just kinda glossed over. it was used in a few episodes, but it could have been used to a greater extent. i just think that gus could have been such an interesting and powerful character, if he was given enough spotlight.

he also had a good thing going with mattholomule but instead of making that canon, they went for huntlow. i'm not saying that gus has to be in a relationship (or any of them, for that matter) but why create a new rushed ship when you already have a perfectly good one to work with?

i also find it weird that gus and willow were supposedly best friends but we got very few moments between them. i would have loved to see more of their friendship, and more focus on platonic relationships in general.

so yeah, if i were to rewrite gus, i would definitely give him a lot more spotlight. heck, given his powerset, he has the potential to be the main character even!

belos: i've mentioned it a lot before but belos deserved a more climatic end to his arc. all of the implications of religious trauma and puritan culture was thrown in the trash in s3.

he was actually such a compelling villain, genuinely intimidating and with an interesting motive and backstory. what was the point of crafting such an interesting character, just to be like "lol he's evil murder his ass"?

i'm not even mad that he died, i'm just mad that THAT'S how he died. i was expecting his death to be something ironic and self-inflicted, like the people from the human realm being horrified by him and killing him. maybe even burning him to death, the same way witches were burned at the stake. buuuut no, we get king, raine and eda stomping on his corpse because haha that's funny. hunter didn't even get to be a part of all this, and he was the one who deserved closure, he was the one who deserved to see his abuser face consequences of their actions, not fucking eda and raine.

and that part where he tries to convince luz that he was just under a terrible curse was just.. so childish. and not in-character childish, but just childish writing. it was just so ooc for belos, he is a manipulator but this wasn't how he manipulated people. i guess you could argue that he was just too desperate to survive but eh. i think it could have been written better.

eda: i don't have too many complaints here, i think she was probably the most well-rounded and compelling character in this show. her arc about the owl curse was interesting and very relatable to me, as someone who is epileptic. her relationship with raine was the best in the series imo.

the only thing i would change is, as I mentioned earlier, i wouldn't make eda forgive lilith so easily. i also think that she kind of lost her "morally grey parental figure" edge by the end of the series, and i honestly liked that part of her a lot, so i would keep it. but that's just a personal preference.

raine: they were definitely a very interesting character, i just think they deserved more screentime. most of their role in the story was surrounding their relationship with eda, which was very compelling, but we could have gotten more of their character outside their relationship.

the members of the emperor's coven, as a whole, could have been used better in the series. but for a side character with medium relevance to the plot, i'd say raine was written pretty well.

[mr-damian-s-power]

It’s not just the bad lesson in TOH, The Collecor and Stringbean are good examples of how inconsistent the writing became in the final episodes

In the Collector’s case it’s how their characterization kept shifting from Season 2 to the last episodes of Season 3

And how Stringbean became a “snakeshifter” showing how inconsistent the palismen concept became in the world building.

I am of the opinion that as soon as the writers found out the show was being shortened, they should have instantly cut the Collector. With how late in the game he's introduced, there was no time to develop him, and especially not enough time to give him a meaningful or satisfying 'redemption arc'.

Okay, tell a lie, there MIGHT have been enough time to develop him at least a bit if S3 used its time wisely. Did we really need all that crap at Hexside? Could we not have used this time to further develop Belos and the Collector?

That's not even bringing up what you mentioned! Him going from an aloof trickster God who views everyone as nothing but toys in his game, to a 'poor sad little boy who only wants a friend'. People like to call Lilith's redemption bad (which wasn't perfect, don't get it twisted), but look at how quickly ol' Collie changes!

How about this; Instead of Belos gaining power from the Collector, him and the Archivists just don't exist. Belos has been around for hundreds of years, we won't question it that he's managed to learn and keep some very ancient and very powerful types of magic.

-

Now onto Stringbean! I don't like Stringbean! I don't like what she represents! First of all, she's just fanservice! I'm sure people debated on what Luz's Palisman would be, and the writers couldn't decide so she's a shapeshifter. So, Luz gets a 'weird' Palisman that can be whatever it wants to. Weird? That's the coolest thing ever! Yep, Luz gets a really cool and special Palisman because she's just that great.🙄

Also, I found it incredibly shitty that Hunter loses Flapjack, his best friend and disability aid, then Luz very shortly afterwards gains her super cool and unique Palisman that is better than all the others. Just me?

How about this instead:

Stringbean is a little Snake Palisman (because Luz likes Snakes) who has been abandoned! She was thrown out by her previous owner when she was damaged and was deemed 'useless'. Her old owner couldn't use her to perform magic as powerfully anymore, and tossed her away like nothing. Luz comes across this poor hurt creature and feels pity for her. She finds it unfair to be thrown away when you've 'outlived your usefulness' like some rubbish.

Palismans are meant to be companions, not disposable tools! This is also under the impression Stringbean is introduced a bit earlier on. The whole time, she's upset at being abandoned and tries to help Luz despite her now limited magic capacity. Luz has to reassure her.

"you don't have to be useful to gain my love. I don't care if you're the most powerful Palisman that ever existed, or as powerless as me. You're more than just my Palisman, Stringbean. You're my friend, and nothing will ever change that. Everyone deserves love, and nobody should be made to prove that they're deserving of it."

-

Thoughts?

[myobsessions247]

Hello it's me the guy from the hexsquad ask, I'm back with more questions!!

1: Did Hunter ever try to escape before he was converted into a toy? He would have had his teleport move, and we know from "For The Future" thanks to Willow's vines that he can use the spell to move through solid objects like say the door to a cell. I know we all like to joke about Hunter just being a bad but sad boy, but he is a trained soldier, he knows how to fight, and is probably more than a match for a bunch of human realm security guards.

2: Does Hunter still have his teleport move after he was converted into a toy? If the answer is no, I'm going to resurrect every single playtime co employee and kill them again because how dare they take Flapjack's last gift to Hunter away from him!!!!

3: Did the doctor oversee Hunter's conversion into a toy or had he already been replaced by that point? If he did oversee the conversion then Luz gets to kill at least one of the bastards who took her brother away from her.

4: Did Luz bring Stringbean with her to the factory? In the comic you make of Luz reuniting with Hunter, she doesn't have a grab-pack, so she has to be using something else to get passed all the locked doors and stuff. I can just see Luz and Hunter coming to a locked door and Hunter being all: we need to find the three pieces of the password to open this door. And then Luz just blasts the door down with Stringbean.

And finally not really a question, just more of an observation: out of all the bigger body experiments, Hunter is the one most likely to have a happy ending. Think about it, all the other experiments' familys are dead at this point, they can't go outside with how they look and not to mention their "dietary restrictions", but Hunter not only still has living family members (not Belos, he doesn't count because he's smelly), but no one on the boiling isles is going to look twice at a giant red wolf man eating raw meat.

Oh boy, that is a lot of well thought out questions! :)

1. There is a lot of struggle regarding Hunter and all of the guards. But he is like thousands of feet underground in a high secure prison, there are not many chances to try to escape; plus he’d be easily outnumbered and they have their ways to get these “creatures” to behave. And the food rations are not fulfilling, so he’s weak, outnumbered, in a high secured area… it’s unlikely.

2. Hunter was placed into another body, the essence of Flap sadly did not transfer too, though maybe the reason Hunter is fine after the conversion was because of him. The main point is he does not have his dash ability.

3. I like to think that with Hunter’s need to just, be good and obedient (the ptsd and formality from the emperor’s coven really is shining through…) the Doctor, like with Yarnaby, would love using him. (*COUGH COUGH COUGH*POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND THE NEED TO BE PERFECT REALLY SHINING THOUGH!*COUGH COUGH COUGH*)

Heh… so yeah, there were some interactions.

4. I honestly just forgot that she would have it… Either Luz has Stringbean in her fanny pack, or she left her at home so she won’t get hurt. For “gameplay” having Stringbean at home and using the grabpack, but your scenario is really funny lol

And lastly, your question but not:

Yep.

And Hunter still can eat normal things, I just interpret the hungry toys had nothing else to eat but the people they killed yk?

Thank you so much for the ask, I really love that people love this au! <3

[mdhwrites]

I feel like I remember you mentioning Luz inheriting Owlbert as her palisman instead of Stringbean a while back (I've checked but nothing comes up, so idk if I'm just imagining this or tumblr is just being tumblr lol) and if you did, how would that work exactly? I'm very intrigued by it, but I wonder how it would play into the story, especially if Eda stays alive. I'm curious to hear your thoughts!

(Sorry if you haven't haha, I just remember reading somthing about it and I'm 70% sure it was you but..)

This is kind of both where I've mentioned it, so Tumblr should be able to bring it up, but I've never talked in depth about it I think. Let's fix that here.

So I still believe this take. The core premise is that it is a passing on of who Eda once was to someone who can now hold her rebellious torch. For Luz it is true acceptance of her being Eda's apprentice and her daughter, a family heirloom effectively passed on. Also, Owlbert would have been carved while Eda was still at her most rebellious and probably has missed the side of Eda that could do a lot of that but the curse tamped down and now Momma Eda just can't act on as much. Not like Luz. Owlbert is also more family for them than Stringbean literally had time to be. All of this is thematically WAY stronger than almost anything to do with Stringbean, leaning into new homes, found family and the mentor/student side of the show. I've DEFINITELY talked about why Stringbean doesn't work though, as cute as they are.

All of this would also have paid off the Owlbert episode in S1 or felt like it was happening already with how Luz kept borrowing Owlbert in early S2. She was growing a bond with the palisman and Owlbert is even why she's able to trick Belos during the S1 finale because otherwise she wouldn't have been able to activate the glyphs remotely.

This is also without getting into the fact that once Eda has Harpy Mode... She just doesn't need Owlbert. She can fly, she uses glyphs, it's potentially dangerous for her to use her old friend who might still want to spread their wings, etc. like that. The palisman is no longer required, kind of like how we don't see Lilith's palisman in the finale because she has her own wings now. I am happy they have their wings but... Are their palisman just being left at home, without their companions?

That starts getting kind of close to why the Bat Queen didn't trust Luz in S1. And hey, it would have been a GREAT way to end Hunting Palisman. Rather than a brick of wood that was going to take a REALLY smart hand to make eventually work without either feeling awkward in execution or feeling pointless because whatever Luz said was going to end up feeling like something she could have said here, both of which are Stringbean frankly, it's that Owlbert comforts her. Eda sees this, smiles, frowns then shuts her eyes. When they open back up, it's to Luz and Owlbert, now in first person perspective from Eda's eyes, looking up at her and asking if she's okay. She wipes her tears, knowing what's right for her friend and her daughter and tells Luz that until she figures out what she wants, what fits her, she can use Owlbert. He has been getting a little chubby sitting around The Owl House after all and she's more likely to keep him from getting into mischief. Owlbert hoots in indignation while Luz puffs out her chest and goes "And what if I want to get into Mischief?" and Eda just smiles before saying that then they BOTH can keep each other out of trouble.

It's a genuine Mentor/Student moment that also has SO many shades of when someone hands down the old car that's been around for so long and meant so much to the older generation. Now it can be useful and ride anew with the sons and daughters who originally ran those tires into the ground. How it can cause mischief all anew while the old generations also knows how reliable it can be.

It even fits with what Luz's statement is eventually. "I want to be understood." Why not the family who took her in and showed so much understanding? Hunting Palisman is one of the genuinely good moments for Luz, Eda and King, brief as it is, in part because it is showing so much understanding of Luz. That she would appreciate the gesture, needs time, needs opportunity and doesn't need pressure. But that understanding never really goes anywhere. Eda never passes anything on to Luz. She barely ever teaches her anything, even when that was ostensibly what the show was about. This could have at least been a gesture bringing the elements closer together, rather than keeping them apart.

Instead, even when the family is all together to fight Belos, Owlbert just... Isn't there. He's gone from the finale until the endings start. Someone who always protected Luz, helped her, even back in the first episode when Eda tries to send Luz away with Owlbert and he's just... gone. Left by the wayside like so many elements that seemed to matter at one point.

Left to rot like so many abandoned palisman. That doesn't feel like how things should have gone. Not when there was so much to be gotten out of keeping him around.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[loupy-mongoose]

i know its not entirely related to the series in general but more towards the author ofc.

do you have a top 3 or top 5 favorite characters In pokemon? (game and anime included if you wish to have 3/5 of each) and if so any reason for those characters? :0

Interesting question! I'll try to pick based on their canon selves, and my own opinion of such, rather than the fandom's or my own portrayal of them.

They're listed in no particular order. Just tacked on as I settled on them.

Now, I'm super basic (a lot if not all of these are fan favorites, honestly) and can easily include N in my top 5. Growing up I was one of the peeps who subscribed to the "N is a Zoroark" theory, and I fell in love with the mystery of it all. (I may have had a slight crush on him as well lol) I will say that I recognize that accounts for most of the attachment I have toward the Gen 5 era. X3 (Music being another big factor.) (Cheren and Bianca are honorable mentions. I also had a crush on Cheren. XD)

Another top of mine is Zinnia, mostly because she reminds me of one of my oldest and favorite ocs. (We'll be meeting said oc at some point. :3) She's such a wild, thrilling character!

I'm gonna have to include Arven in the list. He's one of them gruff-but-secretly-sweet guys. Also, tragic backstory ftw. XD

Rika can be included, I suppose. I like stringbean characters, and she's as stringbean as they come. XD Plus her actual character is pretty cool.

Hmmmm... Who's my last one...? I might go with Jacq. I liked him from the moment he was revealed, and just find him a fun, comfortable guy to be around in the game. He makes me happy. ^^

I'm aware that three of them are S/V characters, but... I like S/V, darn it, and they did a bang-up job on the characters! XD But anyway, those are my top picks, at least for the time being. ^^

[lampmanliveblogs]

THIS. THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE. STUNNING. JAWDROPPING. GORGEOUS.

You guys know how much I love pretty lights, and this is like… the prettiest light.

Hold on, I gotta go back and rewatch this entire sequence, it’s just that beautiful. The animation!

When Luz and King do their second roar, Luz bounces back from the force, that’s so cute. And then when she flies up, she lets go of Stringbean and catches the butt of the staff and the she and Eda spin around to draw the big spell circle. And then they twirl around inside the circle and cast the spell together. Good stuff, good stuff.

Inside the Archive House, the witch kids and Camila are doing their best to make sure no one gets hurt even as the Tiara Halls begin crumbling around them. And hey, glyphs still work, that’s good.

Aw man, what will Amity say when she sees Luz’ transformation? My guess is she’ll say nothing, because she will be too stunned to speak.

(Future Lampman here: I think I noticed the first time through but didn’t bring it up, but Amity is using a plant glyph and Willow is using a fire glyph. Plants are of course Willow’s thing, and aside from abomination magic, Amity is known to use a fireball spell. They’re using each other’s elements.)

Gorgeous.

…

HOLD ON A MINUTE! How come King and Dad Titan in the In-Between only have three fingers, but the Titan’s skeleton clearly has five?????!?!?!!!!?!?? How???? Okay, uh,,, c’mon Lampman, you’re good at coming up with weird ideas for this kinda stuff…

I guess… maybe… maybe the strange big claws we see on King and Dad Titan’s hands are actually like… some sort of covering over their four fingers? Not sure what purpose that would have, evolutionary, but then again, these are magical beings. Plus, King doesn’t have wings right now, while he’s small enough to use then, but Dad Titan had wings (we can even see remnants of them in the water on The Titan’s right side) while he was WAY too big to possibly use them.

Anyway, time for something completely different.

We can see quite a lot of bones from other Titans lying around. On the left side of the image we can spot a skull (and I think there might be another corpse in the upper right corner, but it’s a bit difficult to tell with the clouds). Not only is there a skull, but there is a pretty large landmass. Which is odd, because didn’t that book King was reading at the beginning of Young Blood, Old Souls say that there were only a few, smaller remains of other titans to be found in the boiling sea?

I dunno, maybe I’m misremembering.

Also, tough luck for anyone who lived on the left arm, your house is now sideways. We can literally see entire villages or towns in some shots, so, uh… the people of the Boiling Isles are gonna have to learn how to build high-rises with cheap apartments real fast, or find some other way to deal with the large chunk of the population that is now homeless.

One downside with this super smooth, super gorgeous animation is that it makes it slightly more difficult to get screenshots in motion that looks good. Whatever, they’re gonna cut Philip Phungi off from his source of power. Callback to season one episode four, The Intruder, where, when asked by Eda where magic comes from, Luz replied ”The heart.”

(Future Lampman here: We have a trio of heroes who crashes into the large body of a monster in order to get inside and take out the core which is the source of its power… am I taking about this scene right here, or am I talking about Chrono Trigger, if you chose to crash the Epoch into Lavos’ shell in order to skip the first eleven phases?)

(Future Future Lampman here: I can’t believe I forgot to mention it, but the music in the background here is the melody from the opening theme. And you know things are hype in an anime when the main theme starts playing.)

Raine is alive! YES! Ha, Belos, you absolute failure! You buffoon! Raine was literally in the midst of things, and you couldn’t even kill them. The only person you’ve managed to kill so far was a powerless human, and she came back strong.

And that is Raine’s Rhapsody/Eda’s Requiem Raine is whistling.

[and-so-he-rambled]

(Got amputation on a whump wheel and chose Leo)

Leo rolled out of bed with a groan, stumbling a bit as his balance was briefly thrown off. He was still getting used to this.

His arm lay in ist capsule, disconnected and sitting pretty like a Halloween decoration. He hated looking at it.

He used to be the weak one, but now, with his arm off and a metal hole where his bionic arm was made to slot in, he felt weakest of all. He was back home again, never quite able to be away from his mom for too long. Janelle liked the visits too, growing up into a firecracker of a lady and studying engineering at the local college. He’d always wanted to be cool for her, but he was a bit of a trophy boyfriend these days.

He made his way to the kitchen, his left arm habitually opening doors as his stump hung uselessly. The right arm was too powerful anyways when it was connected, so he’d taught himself to be left handed. He still slipped up sometimes away from the reinforced walls and doorknobs of the island, but he was getting better at it.

He found his way easily in the dark, familiar with the house as he pulled a glass from the cabinet.

“Leo?” Light filled the room, his mother standing in the doorway in her robe. Her baby belly was barely showing, but he found that he noticed it every day. A reminder he’d have a little sibling, one he swore to keep safe from their crazy life. Was this how his mom had felt when he started going on missions?

He was startled by a cry from his mom, a hiccuping sob that she tried to cover with his hands. The glass slipped from his weak fingers, exploding on the floor.

“Mom? Are you okay? Is it the baby? Do I need to call Davenport?” He asked in a flurry, watching her shake her head while tears began to escape her eyes. She took a step forward and he held his arm out to stop her. “Mom, there’s glass, stop there!”

She didn’t respond, just staring with her hand over her mouth. He followed her gaze, right to his stump.

Oh.

“It’s okay mom, it’s okay.” He tried to assure her, stepping away from the mess to reach out and touch her. It felt safer, hugging her without fear of crushing her. He missed being able to hold her with both arms and squeeze, the way she used to groan dramatically as if he was the strongest kid in the world instead of a stringbean little punk.

“I-“ She attempted to speak, swallowing. “I’d never seen it off before. I didn’t realize…”She held him, pressing her teary face into the crook of his neck. When he’d she gotten so small? When had he gotten so big?

“My baby. My baby.” She repeated, one hand around her boy and the other on her small bump. It made his chest ache, hearing his mother cry. She never cried, said there were always better things to do than cry. She used to tell him she cried to say he was born and when he got his first shots, but he’d never seen her cry in front of him in all his years. It felt wrong. He was the emotional little kid who would run to her and son into her chest. She was the strong woman who wiped his tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.” She whispered, squeezing his hand.

“Mom, you have nothing to be sorry for.” He tried to assure her. “This wasn’t your fault, none of it. I just got hurt, it happens. I’ve got training now, it won’t happen again. It’ll be okay.” He just spoke in a stream of consciousness, word vomit that seemed to help. Her little sobs died down, hands frantically wiping away the traitorous tears.

“I’m your mother Leo, I’ll always feel responsible for you, no matter what you do, or how old you get. It’s my job.” He wisely didn’t mention the birthdays she missed for reporting or all the times she forgot to pick him up from school. It didn’t really matter now, she’d been a good mom, taken care of him after his dad died. He loved her.

“I’m okay.” He promised through the phantom pains and nightmares. He’d try and remember to wear it when he left his room, to hide the reminder. Just because he’d gotten used to the sight doesn’t mean the rest would.

“Just be careful baby.” She pressed a kiss to his head, standing to get the broom as she gathered herself together, shooing him away when he tried to help.

He promised he would, going back to his room to hopefully sleep. He’d be heading back to the island tomorrow.

-

A week later, Mr, Davenport built the space elevator.

[toffee-and-tandoori]

13, 24, 66

hi nat - thank you so much for your questions!

i'll put my answers below the cut! i wanted to give thorough answers to your questions but as a result, i ended up writing a lot for the first one. that's honestly very typical of me - i am a wordy person! so sorry about that and hope you enjoy <3

13. which driver do you like the most: pierre gasly or esteban ocon?

i have to go with esteban because i adore that stringbean <3. i think i've said this before but i have to thank you for introducing me to the glory of esteban. not only did i learn to love a ratboy whose equal parts the ultimate dork and an absolute menace who angers entire countries for simply existing, i gained so many lovely online friends because of it.

when it comes to pierre, i honestly like him a lot and i think he's a very talented driver. i love that pierre tends to wear his heart on his sleeve and is very open with his emotions. i love that pierre appears to be someone who loves fiercely - he seems like a wonderful and loyal friend. not to mention he's a fellow aquarius! i have a number of absolutely lovely and kind mutuals that are pierre fans and seeing their pierre posts make me smile.

unfortunately, some of the cruelest people i've encountered on f1blr (who i won't name and have blocked) were certain pierre blogs. to be clear, these were blogs who viciously insulted alex's mom because they felt alex was insulting pierre when he was actually just defending himself - that is toxic behavior that i'm not okay with. it wasn't about them making fun of drivers i like - i make fun of the drivers i like! as a result of those people, sometimes i find myself annoyed with pierre. except it's really not pierre that i'm annoyed with but the fans of his who use what he says to belittle esteban's abilites and character time and time again.

for example, i was a little irritated with some of pierre's comments where he implies that he got a poor result because the team favored esteban (e.g. japan, abu dhabi) while never acknowledging when the opposite happens (e.g. australia, netherlands) or the unusual circumstances that led to the decision that appeared to benefit esteban (e.g. las vegas). in all honesty, this is something that every driver does due to post-race frustration and it's never actually a big deal and it blows over after a few days. the problem is that pierre's comments (like fernando's or checo's or max's) are used to fuel the bullshit narratives of 'esteban is a shitty teammate' and 'no one on the grid likes esteban' that i am so sick and tired of.

24. underrated ship you like?

i can't believe bono/lewis is as underrated as it is! i love the endless support and affection that those two have for each other. i love that they've experienced the ultimate highs together and now they're currently fighting the lowest lows together. i love that lewis, who has spoken openly about feeling alone in the sport, has someone that he knows will always have his back.

66. if you had to add a track in a country of your choice, which country would it be?

as long as it's safe for the drivers to compete, the construction of the track is ethical, and it's not a burden on the nation, i would love to have a race in egypt! i think that f1 should definitely have more races in africa and the history of egypt is so interesting. in an ideal scenario, i think a night race near the pyramids would be stunning!

[tinyowlthoughts]

"Do you think we should tell them?"

King Alexaton Redmane (Alex to his friends) glanced over at his wife, who was peering out the window at the city below. The tower was high enough that the roads and stone buildings looked toy-like beneath their gaze, and the colorful convoy of carriages approaching was easily spotted. Heralds with trumpets and flags were gathered in the courtyard below, stationed between guards in brightly-polished armor and servants carrying baskets of flowers. He'd give it half-an-hour before the multitude of carriages were properly parked and emptied of passengers. Plenty of time before he and the queen needed to make an appearance.

"Tell them what?" He sat beside her on the wide window seat, and instinctively one of her hands slid into his, skin cool and smooth against his rough-worn palms.

"About the - you know. The letters. The meetings. All of that."

"All of that." Alex leaned forward to watch as the first carriage bumped through the gate, heralded by trumpet blats and flowers being tossed in the air. "Would that include the sneaking about? The hair cutting? The amazing ability of one Pearl Dawnsun to get into enormous amounts of trouble and then somehow wiggle her way out of them?"

Said Pearl Dawnsun pursed her lips, looking away from the caravan of carriages to peer out over the city - her city. Their city. The crown jewel of their empire. "Well, maybe not everything..."

"What should we leave out?" Alex turned his back on the courtyard (he'd be seeing enough of his various relatives for the next week, no need to inflict them on himself early). "The time you blew up a cannon because you double-packed the powder?"

"Mother always said women don't need to learn chemistry." Pearl shrugged, mimicking his pose so both were sitting with their back to the window, cold glass behind them and warm bedroom in front. "'Maths make a woman unattractive - no man will want a lady who knows more than himself.'"

Alex snorted. "Gods above, I'm glad you never listened to her. So we won't mention the cannon incident. How about the time you rode that Clydesdale bareback for fifteen miles because I forgot one of my medals on your windowsill?"

"Father would have a field day, knowing the little 'stringbean prince' from the empire managed to bypass his guards on the regular." Pearl pulled the hand she was holding into her lap and began to fiddle with his rings - engagement, marriage, royal signet, a variety of magical protections. There was a lot to fidget with.

"He should have hired better guards." Alex shrugged. "We could always tell them that instead of attending your last year of finishing school, you snuck off to join the army, faked all your letters home, and ended up falling in love with the enemy commander when we spent a week in that cave-in."

"Do you think they'd believe it, if we told them?"

"Of course not. Our fathers were so proud to strike up the marriage deal - they'd never let anybody convince them that it wasn't their idea." Alex waved his free hand about, dismissing the very notion. "It's not like we wrote letters for months after you returned home and conspired with our royal advisors to end the useless fighting."

"Ah, of course. All our fathers idea." Pearl snorted, leaning against her husbands side. "Speaking of fathers," she glanced over her shoulder, "it appears the last of them are here - oh shoot. Aunt Carole made it this year."

Alex followed her gaze and grimaced at the raisin of a woman currently raising hell about something to the servants in the courtyard. "Is she the one who complained about the tax policy for five straight hours last year?"

"Yeah." Pearl let her head thunk against the glass and, for a moment, entertained the thought of just staying there. She was queen of the empire, who would make her move? Alex - dear, beautiful, loving Alex - gave her about thirty seconds to think on it, before standing and pulling her with him.

"We'll just have to do our best to avoid talking politics this year." The king drew his queen into a tight hug.

Pearl hugged him back just as fiercely. "Yes," she sighed against his shoulder. "Avoiding politics during the holidays - it should be easy."

"Easier than digging ourselves out of a collapsed mineshaft." Alex pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"But harder than ending a centuries-long feud." Pearl joked, before returning the kiss to his lips. "Alright, let's get ready. Can't greet our family in our bed clothes."

"I mean, we could. Do you think Aunt Carole would have something to say about it?"

(When, three days later, both King and Queen joined their family at the breakfast table in their bed clothes, exhausted from dealing with a fire in the shipping district through the wee hours of the morning, Aunt Carole did indeed have many things to say. None of them were heeded, and at the end of the visit the pair decided that family holidays were perhaps not as necessary as their parents had led them to believe.)

You were offered a thousand ways out of this marriage however you decided to go ahead with it to end your kingdoms ceaseless wars. Everyone, your siblings friends and parents thought it would be a disaster, your spouses family thought the same, 10 years past and it's been surprisingly wonderful

[amnotaqueen]

My husband's friend visits

My husband told me beforehand that his friend would be staying with us for "the holidays". He said he would stay with us for a week. When his friend was at our home and was speaking to my mom on the phone (because she remembered him and wanted to be friendly) and she asked him how long he was staying with us, he said until about Jan 5. That means that he planned to stay for two and a half weeks, not one. Big difference. My husband simply does not speak in truthfulness and accuracy.

He has been enjoying all the attention and supply he gets from his friend who is also a Nigerian Jehovah's Witness. His friend saw the calamitous state of our marriage when he visited the first two times a couple of years ago. Now, he is seeing how I have removed myself from most interaction with my husband. I mostly talk to him about matters concerning our son. They are like two kids having a slumber party, while I am cooking, cleaning, caring for our son, or retreating to my room so as to avoid inevitable conflict that would occur if I were to attempt to join them in their socializing. Were I to join them, I would have to agree with any and everything my husband said. He could not hear my opinion on anything without trying to debate it or minimize it. It would be too much of a strain on me to socialize with them and cook and clean and take care of our son all at the same time.

He prepared a meal for a family of four and another sister in our congregation on Saturday. They wanted to try his jollof rice. He said they were coming after field service to eat lunch with us. My husband does not know how to manage time or plan well most of the time. When everyone got there, ready to eat, he was still cooking the food. When I arrived from jogging,they were standing around watching him and his friend run around trying to prepare everything. I had cooked some stringbeans (because I didnt think he had in mind to serve any vegetables) and had left him to prepare his main dish.

He had went shopping and I later found out from him that he spent "not up to $80" on food and drinks. Around $70 dollars spent on socializing, to try to impress people, and feed off their energy when you can't scrape up enough money to put good tires on your car, pay the bill that has been past due from when you last took your son to the ER, or buy car insurance because your last car insurance has been expired for almost 2 months. Also, he doesn't have money for the afore mentioned things, but he has money to host a friend at our home for 2.5 weeks.

This friend is eating extra food, using extra water, washing clothes with our laundry detergent, using our tissue and paper towels. He is requiring my husband to use more gas as he has to be driven around as a form of entertainment. This friend is using my toothpaste because he didn't bring his own. His friend is using all of my pain medicine because he doesn't want to go to the store and buy his own apparently. I have no problem spotting someone some toothpaste or ibuprofen because they forgot to bring their own or because they didn't anticipate getting a headache, but I think it a bit much for a guest who is a grown, working man to not have gone out and purchased his own toothpaste and ibuprofen after a couple of days. There is no need to drain someone completely just because you are a guest. Anyway, if it were I, I would have gone to get my own items after a day or two and returned what they lent to me so as not to impose more of a burden than is necessary.

Turns out his friend also was driving around without car insurance. My husband finally purchased car insurance and when he sent me a copy of the policy, I saw that his friend's name was on it too. They are so forgiving of themselves for driving around illegally. My husband said, "things happen." Like it's nothing to break the law. I said that I know that things happen, but again, if it were me, I would not choose to take an unnecessary social trip, driving hundreds of miles on the interstate, knowing that I don't have car insurance. In fact, since I became aware of our insurance-less state, I cut down on driving. I had arranged to have my son dropped off to our home by school transportation instead of me picking him up (my husband said he wanted to keep driving him to school). Forgiving of themselves, but unforgiving of me and my son. My son gets no forgiveness. Always wanting to punish, spank, hit without even considering his special needs.

Speaking of hitting... Yesterday I was sweeping up after cleaning the kitchen and I heard my husband's friend hit my son. Then, I heard my husband say, "That's what he deserves," nodding approvingly. I was going to try to ignore it so as to avoid conflict, but my mother instincts made me speak up. I asked my husband, who was sitting right beside my son and his friend when our son was hit, "What happened?"

I guess my husband was going to ignore me as usual, but his friend turned to answer me. He said that my son was sticking his finger in his ear and wouldn't stop. Sounds like something my son would do. He is fixated on playing with my husband's friend. It has caused me much trouble trying to keep my son focused on tasks while this friend stays with us. It's harder to get him to finish eating, to get dressed, to do academic work, etc, because he wants to watch and play with my husband's friend. My son, being autistic, does not respond normally or typically to social cues. When someone is annoyed with him and all he wants to do is play with them, he will make it a game. Of course, this is annoying and frustrating. But I explained to the friend that he is autistic and probably has adhd. That's the lense through which he needs to view my son's behavior. But if he is like my husband, he doesn't care about my son's diagnoses. He will hit thinking he is disciplining and correcting a child who is just bad and needs a spanking... all the time.

I made it known that I didn't like that his friend hit our son. It's reinforcing to our son that it is OK to hit people (he has had issues with this in the past). I said that no other Jehovah's Witness hits my son. It hurt me to know that an adult Jehovah's Witness hit my son. How is my child ever going to have any type of decent upbringing if every adult person in his life hits him all the time because he annoys them and that's the only thing they can think of to do (which only helps in that moment, not longterm). My husband tried to shut me up, talk over me. He said he told his friend he could hit him. They had talked about it. I told him that he didn't tell me that. He goes to work and leaves his friend home with my son and I. What am I supposed to think if I saw him hit our son out of nowhere one day and my husband had not discussed with me what was said between them regarding our son? If I know my son is being particularly annoying in some way, then I can take measures to prevent it without my son being struck by anyone. If the last resort is to spank him, I should be the one to do it, not his friend, because I am my child's parent. My husband was sitting right next to my son and his friend at the time my son was apparently sticking his finger in the friend's ear. Why couldn't my husband have been paying attention to intervene? Why couldn't his friend tell my husband what was happening and my husband be the one to discipline our son? I don't trust that any and everybody's hand should be on a child. I know what they used to say about a village being needed to raise a child, but we are in a different world than decades ago. The village can do hands off types of things like giving verbal instructions, setting good examples, telling stories to educate, etc.

Also, I take issue with my husband and his friend. kind of, imposing their will no matter what. My husband knows how my son is, he has special needs. He can be a handful. I, for one, would not think it a good idea to have a guest stay 2.5 weeks because I could envision problems arising, such as my son getting annoying and overly distracted, doing socially inappropriate things. For everyone's sake, I would keep visits short to minimize annoyances and bad experiences. If and when my son matures, learns better social skills, and develops better self regulation, then we could entertain the idea of longer visits. But no. My husband's will must be done. It doesn't matter at what cost or to whom. He must get his supply of attention for as long as possible.

My husband's friend drove here in his car. He is free to leave whenever he wants to in his car. He does not have to be here. If my son is such a brat and ill-behaved, then he can pack up at any time and go back to his own home. He doesn't need to lay finger on my son. He had my husband's permission but not mine. I keep getting these feelings that kids are treated as second class citizens, almost despised in a way by Nigerians. He and his friend, at times, have acted like my son was a burden, bothersome. Sometimes they laugh at him in such a belittling way. It hurts me to pick up on those vibes. If you have such a strong dislike toward my son, don't be around him. Don't come to our house because my son lives here, you don't. My son will be asking him questions, trying to engage him on a friendly level the best he knows how and the friend may ignore him. That's a bit mean to me. He can shorten his stay, or better yet, he can have my husband stay with him at his home for 2.5 weeks and he feed him, and wash his clothes, and buy his medication and toothpaste, and clean up after him. I will stay home with my son so they can socialize in peace and my son won't be getting smacked multiples times a day, every day.

Anyway, back to the social gathering.... My husband really enjoyed it. He got complemented on his jollof rice. At one point, in the conversation, a sister asked my husband what food he liked, if he ate everything. My husband lied to her. He said he eats just about everything. That's a laughable lie. Truth is, he eats just about nothing normally eaten in the United States. If I cook with processed food he won't eat it, no canned food, not too many carbs, no sweets, no soda, no pasta. When we used to go out to eat, he would embarrass me because he would take so long to order anything. Nothing they served him was to his liking. Meat has to be burnt for him to trust that it has no "chemical" in it. I had to chime in and tell the sister that what he said wasn't true. That is part of how I was tricked, by the way. He didnt speak truth then and he doesn't speak truth now. He is misleading. He wears a mask. If no one exposes him, he will continue to deceive people.

After the social gathering, guess who was left to clean up all the mess and dishes, scrub pots and pans that my husband burnt food into? I was left to do that. They hustled to get things ready in front of the guests. After the guests left, they were done, didn't care about anything then. I asked them to return the chairs they had brought in from the garage and they ignored me. I did it. My husband had changed the trash bag in our trash can in the kitchen, but he left the full bag outside our door leading to the backyard. He didn't throw it in the big neighborhood garbage bin. I had to do it.

My son has been coughing for a couple of weeks now. I think he may have allergies. There is no health insurance, no money, to get my son checked out. As far as I know my husband still gets paid $80,000 a year or so, but I wouldn't know because he doesn't share with me and what he does share may not be the truth. I know he pays mortgage on the home we left in Georgia. I know he pays our current rent of $1800 a month. We have the usual utilities, water, electricity, internet, phones, now car insurance, gas, groceries. He doesn't spend money on my upkeep like hair and nails or clothes or entertainment. I only eat and live in the house. At any rate, there is no money to properly care for my son right now. I'm working on some things, but will take more time. It's alarming to me that even though our son has been coughing with runny nose for a while, my husband still expects him to go to meeting, go out in field service. He sat with the friends at the table on Saturday, coughing around them. I wouldn't feel right having my son around people while he has a bad cough. Sick people should stay home. I get the impression that Nigerians don't think being sick is a reason to stay out of people's company, so as not to get them sick. It is the loving thing to do. My husband's friend is sick coughing and sneezing too yet he goes to socialize with other people. Very weird and inconsiderate to me.

I will also add that his friend arrived with gifts for my son. A helicopter toy, a package of oreo cookies, and two coupons for free kids meal at Whataburger. My husband said nothing about the items he despises so passionately when he is dealing with my son and I privately. He hates processed food. He hates packaged cookies or any sweets for that matter. He hates hamburgers and fast food in general. When my mom mailed our son some gummy bears, my husband protested, asking me why I haven't told my mom not to send that junk. But earlier, our neighbors gave our son some candy, starbursts and peanut butter cup, etc. My husband smiled at them and seemed happy to receive it. There was no issue. The other neighbor gave our son a fritter she had made, it was sugary. My husband accepted it from her without protest. Now his friend came with his processed food and junk food, yet he didn't tell him not to give that junk to our son. Make it make sense.

[o-lanterns]

If Camila were to ever get a palisman I think a little wolf would be perfect.

Protective and wise with a playful side.

I was thinking Avery for its name like Cosmic Frontier but I'm not 100% on that

[ID: sketches of a wolf palisman in a tall sitting position on its staff and a more puppy-like animated form with a wagging tail. it is a violet-burgundy color with a mauve underbelly and a darker stripe along its back from forehead to tail-tip. its eyes are bright amber. overall it bears resemblance to Stringbean. the staff also features two decorative sci-fi inspired rings. end ID.]

[lampmanliveblogs]

While the rest of the Hexside students distract Kikimora, our heroes have just enough time to draw up the complicated teleportation circle… with a bit of help from Luz’ palisman, who has yet to take on its true final form.

Kikimora is able to shake off the attacking kids long enough to take one last shot, just as Luz activates the teleportation array and and a brilliant flash of light, their whisked away from danger and into the vast cranium of the Titan.

There they stand now, under The Collector’s Archive House, so close, yet so far away. For I fear that the hardest part is yet to come…

Listen, I don’t know anything about Star Trek, but I do know that ”Beam us up Scotty” is a Star Trek reference. So yeah, shoutout to that, as well as Camila coming out as a fellow Cosmic Frontier fan, which also doubles as a light-hearted reference to the fact that Hunter, like O’Bailey, is a clone.

And let’s not forget Amity and Willow being best friends again, that’s super precious too. You love to see it.

Alright, first things first, I love the guesses the squad had.

Camila guessed a dragon, because dragons are THE fantasy creature, and she knows how much Luz loves her fantasy books.

Hunter guesses a bird, not just because of Flapjack, but because Eda (and the rest of the Clawthorne family) has a bird palisman.

Amity guesses an otter, which is a callback to Enchanting Grom Fright, when Luz wondered if she should go to Grom dressed as an otter… with a dark side!

Willow guesses a bat because…. because… um… Bat-Queen? Maybe? They did have that excursion in the Bat-Queen’s forest back in Escape of the Palisman.

And finally, Gus throws out snake. And I’m going to be honest with you guys, I might’ve maybe had a few hints at what Luz’ palisman was gonna be. Enough to figure out it was a snake, or more accurately, snake-related.

As far as in-show foreshadowing goes… at the top of my head, last episode we had a bunch of snake imagery around Luz. We had her finding the ”snake pajamas” in Camila’s nightmare/flashback, we had Luz wearing that shirt with a staff and a snake on it, and I think she might’ve had a drawing of a snake in her notebook? As far back as episode one of season one, Luz was playing with snakes and I think Camila might’ve even said something about Luz making some friends that weren’t reptiles. That’s not even to mention the fact that Luz’ newly adopted sister is a snake.

So yeah, there’s been plenty of snakes around Luz. But of course, this isn’t just any old snake, it’s a…

A SNAKESHIFTER. You guys know I love a good pun. And just like Vee, this little cutie is a shapeshifter. Which is so perfect for Luz, the child of two worlds, a chaotic being, always on the move.

Her name is Stringbean! Now, David ”Stringbean” Akeman was an American singer-songwriter, musician, comedian, and semi-professional baseball player. String bean is also one alternate name for green beans. You can also call them haricot verts, if you wanna charge extra.

So yeah, I gotta agree with Luz here: she’s perfect! She is Luz' own infinite potential given physical form.

Now that things have calmed down just a little, Willow takes the opportunity to thank Hunter for his words before, he really helped her, and he means a lot to her too. and then they blush and almost hold hands and it’s so cute.

In fact, it’s almost a little too cute, I’m starting to get nervous here. Because surely, they’re gonna end the episode on a cliffhanger, and there’s only just over a minute left of the episode…

But before that, I’m gonna get what might very well be the last cute screenshot of this episode.

Look at the babies! Look at them!

Aaaaaaand there we have it. Good vibes ended. The camera pans upward to The Collector overlooking our heroes, with Raine still possessed by Philip looming behind them, ready to whisper yet more poisonous words into the ear of the Lord of the Fireflies.

”I think I wanna play a new game.”

And with a snap of their fingers, The Collector ends the episode right then and there as everything goes black.

Treat me like I'm evil Freeze me till I'm cold Beat me till I'm feeble Grab me till I'm old

Fry me till I'm tired Push me till I fall Treat me like a criminal Just a shadow on the wall!

[trippy-maskow]

oh ho ho, lets begin desecting this.

1: “missed the entire point of his death/character but whatevee keep your bias”

You're the bias one here you non analysis non crtical idiot.

The one way to know if a persons take on the show or other fans in toh is valid is if theyre willing to criticise all of it , analyse all of it ect.

The fact you're is calling it a “bias” to like a character more than the others, and just know more about them bc we analysed them bc they actually got personality is laughable.

2: “I truely do not care” And i am a reincarnation of jesus christ. we’re both lying.

3:”will never let my own bias towards a show or character affect how i critize a series “ Bro. You literally do that in THIS POST?? You're so biased you think saying “B BUt iM nOt biAs!!” will solve anything.

4:”who will get life long trauma because of belos”

A: She stopped being angsty after her ‘look at me’ moment in FTF ,the one where Stringbean hatched. She’ll be fine.

B: She was perfectly fine in the time skip, I doubt there's any problems. There was no mention of her going to therapy, if she is, then she is fine. She IS going to therapy then and doing good. If not, then she clearly doesn't need it because she's a-ok.

C: She's fuckin fictional she isn't real how do non of you dweeps realise this??

5:”And wanted to die” ??? No? She wanted to stay in the human realm and not contact her friends or see them ect after the stuff with belos was over, but bitch didnt want to die?? The fuck you getting this from? Your fanfiction? If you mean the finale where she sacrificed herself for the collector, she clearly didn't realise she would ger hurt?Or die? I mean when she looked at the stuff taking her over she was in shock, she didn't expect it, she was scared.

So where ya getting it from pal.

6:”not falling for any bullshit tropes” FTF: shits on common tropes in the fantasy genre Amity: "the power of beliving in myself?"

Hunter"The power of friendship?"

Belos: "The uh power of your kindness?"

WAD: USES THOSE EXACT FUCKIN TROPES

Luz: Breaks out of the night mare bubble using the power of friendship.

Luz: Befriends the collector using the power of kindness. (and friendship if you wanna be cheeky)

Luz: cames back from the dead and defeats belos, via the power of beliving in herself, and the power of god herself.

they used tropes. all the time. dont come at me.

The ''dumb' nerd is actually really smart and strong' trope.

The 'bully is really sweet once you get toknow her trope'

The 'qUIRKYYY protagonist' trope.

and on, and on and on.

7:”didnt want some cheesy happy ending why the hell watch the show?” A: The way we got to it was shit. B: Luz is just a mary sue and it shows. C: Dana literally said she hates happy endings, getting everyone to think there will be none. she never took it back until after the finale and basically just said “it was a joke guys"

and those who havent watched the live where she said this or read the tweets which documneted this, will never know she said this.

8:”Like this show has been cringey! it always has been!!” No, the writing has been. there has been some ACTUAL GOOD ideas and ACTUAL GOOD MOMENTS, but the rest of the episode/s or dialouges shit on it. Not to mention Dana can't commit to ideas less than me which is impressive.

Like, the Coven system, King teaching Luz about demons, Eda being a thief and selling trash!

You may say "B-but the shortenningg!!" okay then.

What about aaall the loose ends in S3 everything the crew introduced but never closed in? All the time they wasted? One of the biggest examples of something not exampled upon or closed in S3 is Hunters arc. It begun, but wasn't finished. He was trauamtised again for nothing. He was jsut used for shipping, the nshoved to the side.

And the biggest example of a time waste is Hexside in FTF. To be honest, entirety of FTF feels like filler. which is BAD. "oh but its jsut a filler episode!"

When you have only 3 episodes to conclude your series, which is 3 more than most series get, I'd say no filler should be included at all.

9:”very rarely does disney cartoons have a happy ending “

happy ending there's also bitter sweet endings, which is what we got in, Gravity Falls for example.

They won. But they have to leave, they’ll be able to come back next year but, it still feels slightly bitter sweet. Especially with the things that are still clouded in mystery.

And, as you said before, Amphibia. It is very slept on.

And The Hardest Thing does almost everything TOH's finale does but better?

-The whole thing with the core being properly consistent for how weak of a villain the core is in a narrative sense. -The thing with the calamity stones being PROPERLY built up to, rather than with Titan Luz which had NO buildup (unless the glyphs were supposed to be buildup…?) -Each core character getting their moment to properly shine -The way they resolved the whole conflict with whether or not Anne gets to visit Amphibia whenever she wants to in a bittersweet but more appropriate way -Dunno if this is a hot take but Andrias' redemption being better than most of the redemption arcs in TOH despite how rushed it is -Anne's death being more permanent and having more consequences/making more sense than Luz's death

There's probably some I'm forgetting but these are just all the things I came up with off the top of my head

And, next isn't a Disney IP but another example of a bittersweet ending, especially one that keeps getting misinterpretted.

Steven Universe.

Those who clown on the ending have never seen the Movie or Future series and it shows. Anyway.

Bittersweet. they are all okay yes, and the colony will get better, but its at the cost of letting the diamonds live. And Steven, with how young he was when he had t osave everyone, lives with trauma of what happened. And of course, not every gem will just, be okay with the changes, nor like Steven.

Now, why the fuck is there this thing that theres only ‘good’ snd ‘bad’ endings???

10:”the fact people wanted Hunter to go through even more trauma by watching his uncle die??”

? He already did? He already saw him ‘die’?? And he was possessed to retraumstise him with no end of the arc. people didn't want him to WATCH him die, they wanted him to be the one to finish him up, to stand up, to conclude his arc and finally stop the hunter traumatising train that Dana loves so much. Also, again, he's not real.

11:”for real like I’ll never understand belos stans bc truely they are the only people with this kind of criticism and it’s genuinely so weird”

Bro, I'ma be honest, very real and honest here. I dunno where the fuck you're finding these posts at. Because every belos ‘stan’ (we prefer the terms ‘simps’ and ‘enjoyer’ thank you fam) would have to actually fuckin analyse the show/belos to even get to the point of enjoying him to that point? they wouldn't go “more trauma for hunter/luz” they'd probably go “ luz is a oddly perfect character to an inhuman level, to what many know as mary sue” “hunters arc after he was traumatised after belos possesed him in TTT was never concluded, he was shoced off after used for shipping.” like bro.

12:”Want kids that suffered enough to go through even more trauma bc you wanted more for your fav who doesn't even deserve it”

They, aren't, real. Also why are you all of a sudden trying to make Belos enjoyers sound like damn super villians. "They want KIDS who have SUFFERED ENOUGH to go through EVEN MORE TRAUMA!!" like dude. They aren't real. It's the same as throwing a plushie around. It ain't hurting no body. Also who gives a fuck if we make aus or fanfics with a little more angst or trauma than canon? TF you gonna do? Cry?

13:”since when is pulling villians through more misery any better.”

Now im getting confused on which side you're on. And, have you not heard of the “love him, hate him, wanna stuff him a washing machine” meme???

We love him, hate him, and wanna throw him around and stuff him a washing machine <3

14:”i like him to an extent”

oh. Do you now? Is the extent tolerance in a show because i doubt you like him at all from this post.

I mean, wow.You 'like him' enough that you you don't think belos enjoyers should be allowed to, making angsty stuff with him like aus/fics with him, but not enough to think he deserved a a proper send of, as he was meant to be the main villian of the story, yet the 'second main villian' got more of a screen time in not only the second special, but the finale. Hm.

15:”but again you're weird for wanting an abuser to have a proper way out”

A: He isn't real.

B: He didn't hurt real people.

C: Is the only arguement belos haters got “bUt heS aN aBwUsTer!! hEs a CoLoNiSER!! hE hUrT bAbABa! “ ??

16: “ yes i have my own personal criticisms” Do you?? You seem like a yes men dude. Are you one of the yes men from The Owl Crew sent in by Dana trying to make the fandom even more toxic??

Only saying this cuz Belos Stan’s have been annoying lately (I like Belos myself, but man y’all have terrible takes holy shit)

Like if you like him cuz he’s a good villain, fine. If you’re mad he didn’t get a proper death, you missed the entire point of his death/character but whatever, keep your bias I truly do not care. I like Belos myself, in fact I like this show a lot but I have never and will never let my own bias towards a show or character effect how I criticize a series and how they handle certain things because I like to criticize the things I enjoy.

But the fact that people wanted Luz to suffer more, lose a limb, lose somebody close to her for good, etc. is fucking insane to me she is a 14 yr girl who is going to have lifelong trauma because of Belos. She has literally lost enough. Girl literally thought she deserves to be hated by those she loves and wanted to literally die. All we’ve ever wanted for this poor girl was for her to have a happy ending and she got it!!! This show does a good job at not falling into any bullshit tropes lmfao.

If you didn’t want some cheesy happy ending why the hell are you watching this show? It has been cheesy and bs since the beginning “weirdos have to stick together” like this show is CRINGEY!!! It always has been!!! It’s a Disney cartoon what did you expect!!! Very rarely does a Disney cartoon not have a happy ending honestly amphibia is the only one I can think of that wasn’t completely happy (correct me if I’m wrong???)

The fact people even wanted hunter to go through even more trauma by watching his uncle die???

Like god what is wrong with you. LEAVE MY KIDS OUT OF IT!!!! UR FUCKING WEIRD!!!

For real like I’ll never understand Belos Stan’s because truly they are the only people with this kind of criticism and it’s genuinely so weird you’d want characters, KIDS, that suffered enough to go through even more trauma because you wanted more for your fav who doesn’t even deserve it anyway. Lol. Like “wanted him to suffer more” since when is putting villains through misery any better .. Luz does not forgive Belos but she’s not gonna freakin torture the guy, she’s wants him gone as fast as possible and she isn’t wrong for that. She provided justice for all those that he hurt.

Again idc if you like him, I like him to an extent. But again, you’re weird for wanting the abuser to have a proper way out (something he wanted, something that’s taking mercy upon him and feeds into his delusion) and wanting the abused kids to suffer even more irreversible trauma.

Yes I have my own personal criticisms, I don’t think the way he went out was bad but they did nothing with Caleb and all the others. Not even a moment where they watch Belos die. Just feels like they added that in ep 2 for nothing.

But the whole Luz and hunter didn’t lose enough bs? You’re out of your fucking mind.

[sepublic]

Watching and Dreaming

         It’s over.

         It’s really over.

         …Man! We really had a timeskip and everything!

         Was it Luz’s eighteenth birthday? Sorry, I was just. SO caught off-guard and disoriented and in such a daze. I remember hearing them mention how Luz was there for the 16th and 17th, which confirms what we already know about Luz’s 15th happening during the timeskip to Thanks to Them. So we have a general range for birthday and all and.

         THERE’S SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT!!!

         I’m feeling numb y’all. Genuinely numb and in a daze. I think I need to sit down and catch my breath. Just… Fine, let me start from the beginning. That’s a good place, right?

         That nightmare sequence was so HORRIFYING, the way it called back to Lilith and Gwen’s betrayals of Eda over the curse, her trauma over Dell with him losing his second eye! King seeing the skulls of his siblings and being confronted by Bill! And Luz’s dream, being told she’s Belos… Seeing everyone dead, having it reminded to her that she helped him meet the Collector!

         But the way she knows her friends enough that in a final moment of crisis… She knows not to trust this! Reminds herself they’d never do that! And just shrugs it off, the way it all comes around to her original light spell! And it’s what saves and awakens everyone from this dream, because it’s called Watching and Dreaming, beat the fantasies of Adegast like before!

         And that reunion! They’re so glad to see each other… Eda’s excitement to see Stringbean, the way it loops back to that original trio! And the Collector, aww the Collector… The way they’re so mad but also still reasonable, they’re not THAT mean just not aware of boundaries.

         And how Belos manipulates them and GAUGH the age-old theory of the Titan being possessed and halfway resurrected by Belos, covered in his goopy mass… It came true!!!

         But first, I loved how everyone befriended the Collector. How even at their most malicious, they weren’t THAT malicious. And the way King counted on Luz to reach out to them, as she always has! The way they recounted Luz’s own journey to one of her narrative parallels!

         Raine and Belos fighting each other REAL… They’ve dedicated themselves so much to stopping him, and now they face off! And how CLOSE they were too… Titan I love Raine.

         Belos’ giant mock-Titan design was PHENOMENAL, he really went Bionicle this finale and I love it! And good Titan the way the Collector tried to apply the kindness and forgiveness to Belos, because they’re just so naïve! They’re still learning Luz’s compassion and they think it’ll work on this man they’ve been stuck with for centuries, because they can see he’s lonely too!

         But as tragic as it is, you can only get help if you accept it. You need to want to change. And he kept refusing, time and time again.

         Luz’s death, AUGH… I was panicking because they wouldn’t ACTUALLY, but the way the Collector was breaking up! In disbelief! They don’t understand death and they’re just. They really are a metaphor, or just a straight up example, of kids finding things out! They were lied to by the Archivists, who presumably got killed in the mutual war between Collectors and Titans.

         Titan, you’re a monster Belos. You really killed Luz. But Luz, she GAVE her life for this kid she just met, who antagonized her for so long! Because she sees herself in him, she’s just bristling with so much COMPASSION, it’s overflowing!

         And finally meeting King’s dad, and Belos killing what’s left of him. That hurts so much, but it was wonderful seeing the full shot of his skeleton. And the Hooty parasite in his eye… Well. I guess that just confirms that Hooty is one of those eye-worms that survived after all these millennia! Damn.

         Harpy Luz!!! But also Titan Luz!!! And she got big hair!!! Just like she always wanted, and Stringbean came back for her! I loved seeing King and Eda go FERAL over Luz, I love that trope to death. But the way Camila shed a tear like she could tell she lost the last member of her family, after losing Manny…

         But nope! Luz’s friends have faith in her, and they manage to save everyone! With the Collector, my boy… Ngl I thought they’d go with the reveal that Belos’ growth sapped their magic and left them powerless, but oh well!

         And the callback! The callback to magic coming from the heart, Luz, Eda, and King diving through! Luz knowing what she wants, getting to wield bile magic for just a brief time! And the animation the ANIMATION…

         Raine was blind as a bat and just whistling lmao! But seriously it’s sad when you consider they were possibly trying to access any bard magic, but were too exhausted. And getting to reunite with Eda after all this time… Those tear scars are metal ngl. We got Possessed Raine scars after all, folks!

         And the way they all came together to finally PRY Belos from the heart, even as they made a final callback to the beginning scene! Just as Eda said, if Luz works, she can make her fantasies happen, bring them to life, and she DID! AND BELOS ATE IT!!!

         Him trying to appeal to her one last time. Blaming the magic, accusing Eda of having been cursed by dark magic, once again relying on the curse as an excuse. But the WAY the show finished him off… Boiled, BURNED to death in the rain, after talking about how he missed the cool rain of the human realm. The ultimate rejection of this world towards him, that rain that acts as a signifier for the different worlds.

         Luz just watched Philip burn to death. That shit was ICE COLD, in spite of rain itself! Just letting him beg for his life, feebly trying to appeal to ‘peace’, but Luz was allowed to be a bit feral and get some revenge herself. And of course, Eda, King, and Raine got some too! The leaf umbrella was hilarious and anyhow I think there’s something poetic about Raine being named after the thing that helped kill Belos in the end. So long, you messed up bastard! Killed by the witches, by the world you despised! I love the way his patience wears away to reveal his hatred and rage and truth, and he dies by the people he loathed.

         Seriously, that underwater coral look to everything was so cool but so fitting, given the Titan was submerged in water and everything… Luz bringing back the red leaves that were another thing to distinguish from the green grass of the isles, against the green of Belos!

         The callback to Really Small Problems with the BREAD PUN, THAT KILLED ME!!! And Luz regretting, trying to think of what to say, realizing when it was seemingly too late, to THANK them like the first episode of S3’s title! And now…

         Now it’s over. The timeskip and reparations. I feel sorry for everyone who lived in Palm Stings or on the left arm in general, Belos still got to wreak havoc and devastation one last time… But everyone’s freed, STEVE AND LILITH’S FRIENDSHIP I LIVE FOR IT SO MUCH!!!

         Everyone reuniting at the Owl House, Raine and Eda those hags having some rest in the nest… The Collector bringing back Hooty! Lilith and Camila and Amity! Gilbert and Harvey kiss, HUNTER WITH DARIUS AND EBERWOLF!!! Amity and Alador… And Odalia, just straight up ignored! Would’ve loved to see her and Kikimora one last time, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see Kiki again. Maybe I missed her later on, but lol what if we just took the opportunity to say Boscha and the others killed her off-screen what then.

         Luz losing the last of the Titan, the original glyph that started it all… The pain!!! But the way she makes a NEW LANGUAGE WITH KING!!! And still has Stringbean, so she still has another way of doing magic! So it’s not the end, just a new beginning all over again!

         AUGH WHY DID THEY MAKE THE COLLECTOR LEAVE! When King said he showed up one last time I wanted to SEE them again, sure they definitely wouldn’t have aged given it was only a few years and they didn’t grow after millions but whatever.

         Timeskip… GOD THE WAY IT THREW US FOR A LOOP! A three-year timeskip, three years of the show. The photos with an older Vee, that barista lady with Hooty, Eda introducing Camila to Apple Blood! AND OLDER VEE AND LUZ!!!

         I love the way the show psyched us out, making us think Luz was just gonna settle for human college lmao. And the way she said ‘After all this time’ like she was gone for years, and I was thinking! Please tell me it’s a joke! AND IT WAS! AS I HOPED, Camila reminds Luz it’s only been a WEEK!

         And seeing everyone again. The Bat Queen start a new forest of Palismen with Gwen and Dell, Hunter learning from his lowkey descendants? THE TRIBUTE TO FLAPJACK I’M CRYING, WILLOW!!! DAMMIT WE SHOULD’VE GOTTEN A HUNTLOW KISS IT’S BEEN YEARS IN-UNIVERSE!!!

         Checking up on everyone, from Morton to the Selkidomus, Wrath and Braxas, Tibbles and the Slitherbeast with its baby! HARPY LILITH! I saw Boscha… Hexside’s faculty, BARCUS AS A TEACHER! Alador figuring out how to remove the sigils, Darius’ joy and becoming tsundere! Emira’s short hair, I was worried about Edric but then we saw him as a teacher, bless! ALONGSIDE GUS, who is ROCKING IT with those golden dreads and being an expert on humans!

         The way the symbol of Belos’ tyranny was replaced with a forest of wild magic, unbridled, for people to learn in. THAT being the college. Raine there, everyone there. And then they all come together one last time to say goodbye, acknowledging how we missed out on the Quincenera… THE MESSED UP CAKES! Steve just letting the spiders crawl as Luz did!

         And the final light show by the Collector. And that META joke… Saying “They’re about to leave” which could refer to our favorite star child, but it also refers to the audience! One final BBBYYYEEEEE is perfect. That running gag. Both by the crew in real life and in the show. This show gets so wonderfully meta and I ADORE it…!

         (Lmao that last look at the Coven Heads, VITIMIR GETTING AN EXTRA BIT!!! Does the crew love him too, is it a bone thrown to his fans! HELL YEAH!!! Still salty over his hat lmao.)

         …It’s over. It’s really over. After all this time, this is the last I’ll ever write something like this, about a new episode. Unless we get that Raeda prequel which the finale even jokes about, but for now. Thank you so much everyone. For listening, for reading to all of these posts I’ve made per episode since Season 1B began. With how much I dump here, I’m amazed anyone’s read it, but…

         Thanks so much you guys. It means everything. I dunno how to end this off, I feel like Luz… Oh wait! I know exactly how! Just as my beloved characters did, just as @danaterrace herself...

        BBBBBBYYYYYYEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

[tedturneriscrazy]

The whole "discourse" about Stringbean is so ridiculous to me because it's so obvious that it's a case of a particular segment of the fandom indulging in "Bitch eating crackers" syndrome.*

Like, when you actually look at Stringbean's characteristics, nothing is truly overpowered or out there, and she fits Luz perfectly. The shapeshifting doesn't really affect her powers or abilities. Ultimately, a Palisman's form is just an expression of personality rather than an indicator of power.

"B-but the big energy blast!" That's not a case of being overpowered! It's power incontinence!That's a case of Luz and her newly hatched Palisman still getting used to their magic.

(Not to mention this also happened when the body swap happened)

So no, this isn't a case of poor writing or balance, some people just found yet another excuse to shit on Luz for no good reason because they refuse to just admit they hate her.

*"Bitch eating crackers" is a term I borrowed from @greatcheshire , who used it in her AVGN video that y'all should watch