#like he lowkey reminds me of luz from toh

[greenapplebling]

Kabru definitely feels like the kinda person to make a ships chart of the people he knows

[blehblarghblah]

Reverse Unpopular Opinion: Them's The Breaks, Kids? What did you like about the episode???

Clever, a way for me to gush about the most recent episode of TOH?

This episode might just be my favourite in the entire season so far. Yes, season 2a AND b. This is one of those, "Ahh, this could be considered filler because it's just fluff and backstory" debates that I could EASILY disagree on. Purely because, as always, there's nothing wrong with backstory development and character growth. But also, there's at least two major plot points introduced at the beginning and end. Luz is learning new glyphs from Philip, some of which are incomplete, and Raine isn't actually under the influence of a spell and Darius is aiding them in some way.

Quickfire things I liked as well:

Darius and Alador were, at the very least, amicable classmates back in Hexside.

Eda covering for Lilith.

Eda's Illusion pranks. Emira and Edric joining the Bad Girl Coven means they've got a lot more to learn.

Raine being a complete badass and showing why Bard Magic is awesome (it's one of my favourite of the Covens).

Raeda combos, Raine appreciating and liking Eda's humour while Eda just adoring Raine's nerdy side and appreciating Bard Magic.

Raine's whistle. My sister noted it was weird they blew on the drink back in Follies of the Coven's Day Parade.

Implication that whatever is planned, Raine doesn't want Eda involved because they know she has kids now. Eda's Requiem showed Raine was willing to sacrifice their life for the cause, but they're not willing to put Eda's life on the line knowing she has family.

Raine's influence of Bard Magic possibly being a factor in Eda wanting to learn all kinds of Magic, given she didn't think much of Bard Magic at first.

Bump and Eda as a sort mentor-mentee duo. I bet he was lowkey proud of her returning to help during the Palisman Adoption Day. It's like a star student coming back.

Dorky Lilith. Poor girl is trying so hard and for how little she speaks, Abigail Zoe Lewis does a good job a conveying her awkwardness.

All the VAs of the younger characters wonderfully capture the cadence of their older counterparts. It's great!

That aside, HUGE ramble of appreciation coming in so read more if ya'd like. It's about Bump. ( ^‿^)

Set that aside, this episodes reaffirms so many things about the characters we already know and just adds so much more love to why the way they are. I love Lilith, I really do, but there's something so rewarding with seeing Eda be so casual with her academics and still possess greater knowledge than her older sister. It just reminds us that "The Most Powerful Witch on the Boiling Isles" wasn't just something that was made up.

But another thing? Principal Bump was easily one of my favourite aspects of this episode. And I'm willing to go on a ramble as to why because I feel like Raeda is going to be the highlight of mostly everyone's points (justifiably so, I'd say). It shows so much of how he has changed but also tried to do better than his predecessor. Think back to The First Day: I know I'm probably alone in this, but I always fell Bump's turnaround at the end was so jarringly abrupt but was like, "Eh, not a big deal. Just weird." But if you add the context of Them's the Breaks, Kid you suddenly just understand he's trying.

He says he's smart enough to admit when he's made a mistake. It's as if he just recognizes that, "Man, the stuff I'm saying is something Faust would be so hard about" and steps back and agrees. It's the fact that he had an amicable relationship with Eda, setting aside all the reports he made for her rap sheet, he still looks back on those moments fondly. Because after the chaos of The First Day, he knowingly pulls out and reveals the photo of a student he knew wanted to study all the tracks. And then you think of Escaping Expulsion, where he seems to also think fondly of Luz, Gus, and Willow, a trio of misfits who are barely on Eda's level of chaos, but still just enough. And yet he still adores them.

He just represents aspects of an educator trying to change system bit by bit, in my opinion. He tells Terra that endangering children is against the law, but later in his life he's technically guilty of doing so with his detention system. Faust kept Eda in school for the most part because he recognized her talent, Bump supposedly is willing to let Boscha get away with murder. It's just facets of how as much as you want to change the system, adapting its techniques within your own is how life grows. But above all else, he's willing to change his perspective in favour of his students. Bump is by all means, a pretty good guy. Yeah he's a principal, but he's not a stooge.

Until next ask,

- Bleh

[corpse-bl0g]

So Uhm, elsewhere elsewhen huh.

Toh spoilers!

first of all, STEVE!!!!!!!!!! :d and second of all, FLORA?????

Also, LILITH MY BELOVED MY LIL MEOW MEOW OH MY GOD I LOVE HER SO MUCH, like she's such a cool aunt to Luz and I love her she's super nerdy about history?? Like I love her getting excited and rambling ejdvshsdh

EDA IN THIS SHOT REMINDS ME OF MEDUSA? EJDHSJRIDHDJ also i love the scenes with her and her dad, also I didn't screenshot it, but king calling Dell grandpa!? JDNDGSJSJSJEJWSNS

And ofc, LITTLE BRITISH BOY!!! PHILIP MY BLORBO

Lowkey when I saw him for the first time, i was so confused ekdbdjsjs, like I'm so used to blonde fanon Philip and then you see this bitch???? Like who are you?????? While fanon little silly Philip will forever be in our hearts, I lowkey lovin canon Philip. Like he's such a manipulative bitch and I love him??? Like something about him????

Off topic but everytime I hear his voice now without the tape effects and stuff, he keeps reminding me of James from teotfw (bcs ya know Alex lawther) but still?????

UHMMMMM LITTLE BRITISH BOY??? The entire time I was doubting myself what if I'm wrong about belos being Philip, and then lilith saying how he's familiar, oh my god did I screamed and started running around, AND THEN THAT SCENE WITH PHILIP EATING A PALISMEN??? OH NY TITAN DID I GASPED

LIKE?????? First of all, lilith is such a badass for punching Philip's nose that it literally left a bump???? Like you can still see it in belos to this day the very nose that lilith punched and honestly, I love her for that.

There's a whole lot of stuff I wanna talk with what's up with the picture of wittebro's silhouette??? Like it was so short I didn't have time to screenshot it. Also Luz is a crab maiden now.

In conclusion : I wanna draw Philip's canon design now.

[sepublic]

You know, I've seen plenty of great ideas for Amphibia x TOH swaps, but there's one thing I haven't seen anyone point out yet. If Luz takes Anne's place and goes to Amphibia, then she gets something she's always wanted at the start of TOH: Being part of a prophecy.

           …That is, a VERY interesting concept, not gonna lie!

           The thing about Luz’s fundamental issues prior to meeting Eda was… She really had a problem with distinguishing fantasy from reality, learning to set the boundaries between the two, and fully respect said boundaries. She wasn’t malicious of course, but regardless…

           This is an interesting ask because we don’t know yet how the prophecy will unfold and be revealed within the show, or even its exact nature! But regardless, this is making me imagine Luz meeting the Plantars, and… Really, I can see Hop Pop’s more down-to-earth nature helping Luz learn to distinguish fantasy from reality, to an extent. Especially since Hop Pop himself is lowkey like Luz in that they’re very unorthodox heroes who don’t quite save the day the way they expected to; But their methods are –usually- valid. Such as Hop Pop accidentally inspiring a revolution among the Frogs, or that time he served as a martyr for those tiny frogs, with his mistreatment by the Hasslebacks being the final injustice that pushes them to fight back and defend themselves, without having to rely on any outsiders to do the work for them. Then there’s him projecting a Noir Film onto his search for Sal, to the point where he straight-up kills an innocent man…

           And, that’s making me imagine Luz and Hop Pop kind of bonding over this (not the murder though), especially with Hop Pop’s failed dreams of becoming an actor. I can see Luz being pretty sympathetic and a lot more involved in Hop Pop’s stint with Renee Frodgers, a lot more than Anne did- And considering we see her try out for Romeo and Juliet at one point, maybe she also has a taste for theater herself! Not to mention, all of this discussion of confusing fantasy with reality is just reminding me of Marcy… Specifically, the speculation of Marcy low-key seeing her time in Amphibia as more like a videogame with its tropes, to a potentially harmful extent as she might not treat this situation as a very real one with actual stakes and living, breathing people.

           Of course, the thing to remember is- Luz takes a lot of initiative in her own character development, too! She’s a receptive person and self-reflects. I feel like even if she never met Eda, it wouldn’t have been out of the question for Luz to still resolve her own issues… It’d have just been a much more difficult and tedious journey, especially if Luz had to go through that Reality Camp. But regardless, when you remember that Hop Pop also goes through similar character development, albeit more around the Season 2 timeframe… With Hop Pop making the conscious decision on his own to call out Renee on her thievery, without Anne nor any circumstances goading him into it, because he’s a very moral character at heart…

           Maybe Luz could have issues like Marcy. It’s worth considering if Andrias is manipulating and feeding into Marcy’s dreams. But regardless, I see Luz and Hop Pop working together, mutually, to get past their own issues, well before the prophecy is revealed- And we still don’t know when that’s going to happen! Maybe Luz and Hop Pop could be a duo reminiscent to Luz and King during Sense and Insensitivity. I can’t say for sure if Luz’s character development will be as potent by the prophecy’s reveal, as she is as of the Season Finale in HER show… I think Eda is ultimately a wiser character than Hop Pop, and characters like Willow and Amity serve as neat narrative contrasts/foils to Luz’s own antics. Though, I can imagine Luz getting caught up in shipping Sprig and Ivy, and possibly the fallout of this leading to a lesson or two…

           But in the end, as I said- Luz has a good heart, and she goes around to do the right thing, in the end. She’s like Hop Pop in that regard, and of course there’s also the existence of Sprig and Polly, not to mention what a fellow weirdo like One-Eyed Wally might have to say, here or there. I guess a lot of it depends on the exact context of how this prophecy is revealed, and how it even works… But I see Luz as being grounded by the more down-to-earth Wartwood, well before she gets to Newtopia. This does raise the interesting idea of her possibly backtracking on her character development, especially with Marcy’s influence and Andrias’ potential manipulations…

           And yet, I can see Luz still turning around to do the right in the end, just as Hop Pop did; Even when his dreams DID come true, and he became a renowned actor! I think Luz would come to the conclusion that even being ‘chosen’ by some divine force doesn’t really make her any better than anyone else… Not to mention that the people and world she’s saving is still very much its own thing, not beholden to her. So I see Luz accepting the mantle of being a hero, if only because she’s a good person and of course she’s not going to let something bad happen… And I can imagine the Plantars helping to gently nudge and remind Luz of her past lessons, to not get confused with fantasy and reality again. The prophecy would definitely be a twist antithetical and contradictory to Luz’s character development, given how she’s being transplanted into a different show with different themes, originally intended for a different protagonist…

           But, if Marcy is going to learn her lesson and get past her own issues –assuming those specific issues ARE a thing of course- then I can see Luz being a guiding light and force for her… Maybe the two mutually navigate past potential delusions together, who knows? I’ve speculated in the past how Luz would handle the revelation of having powerful magical heritage... How Luz would truly show off her character development by rejecting even this seemingly objective, tangible cosmic reason for her being special, and still asserting her equal standing with everyone else. Even when placed on top of the hierarchy, Luz rejects it, showing how much her lessons mean to her. I can see Andrias trying to set Luz up to agree with his hierarchy under that concept of divinely-ordained ‘specialness’, and how it’d all just tie into Luz working to abolish the caste system with Hop Pop.

           I can see it being a contrast to Sasha and Grime, who want to topple the current Newt Hierarchy… More than likely, so they can switch it around with Toads on the top. Not exactly the most helpful change, in the end… Luz decides that instead of reversing the roles, it’s best to just get rid of the roles entirely. It could play into a discussion of privilege, and it’d be interesting to see how Luz, Marcy, and Sasha would all bounce off of one another- Sasha low-key has her issues with dismissing the people of Amphibia, and once talked about ‘having fun’ there. Obviously her respect for Grime has changed this a lot… But there’s still that willingness to conquer what she fully recognizes now as an actual civilization of people. She would certainly take the revelation of a prophecy as full justification that she was never wrong about anything, and that Sasha is of course entitled to taking over Amphibia- Especially if Grime feeds into this both out of genuine support and his own desires.

           Then there’s that idea of Sasha and Grime enabling one another to be worse, even if they also still go through a little bit of positive character development… And as for Marcy and Andrias, I can’t quite say because the latter is still quite the enigma. Either way, Luz has to serve as a grounding force for the other girls with Hop Pop’s help… And really, it sounds like the set-up for total chaos, a battle royal, a complete free-for-all with every Amphibian and Human for themselves as they navigate one another amidst the backdrop of this prophecy. If we want to apply Luz’s motif and themes of being a guiding light for other characters in her own show, I can see her forcing Sasha and Marcy to confront the reality of what they’re doing… And I think interactions between her and Grime would be fascinating, as she’d be VERY much in favor of toppling the monarchy- But specifically to undo the hierarchy entirely, instead of switching it around to the Toads’ favor. If Sasha and Grime enable one another, perhaps Luz will have to act as a voice of reason and buffer between the two- And again, it depends on how Sasha and Grime’s character development goes.

           Overall, this sounds like QUITE the debacle, and I’m kind of fascinated, imagining how these different characters with different motifs, meant to be compatible with narrative parallels and contrasts, amidst the themes of their particular show; And how they’d adapt and fit into another show’s cast and themes! Anne taking Luz’s place in the Boiling Isles would be interesting, given how Anne has clearly internalized Sasha’s idea of ‘knowing what’s best for someone you care about’, and how this seems to be a recurring trend amongst people like Emira and Edric toward Amity, Lilith with Eda, etc. And, I guess I could go into a whole ‘nother discussion of how Eda has to help Anne recover from this low-key abuse and toxicity, and Anne having a similar moment of standing up to Sasha with those characters, possibly citing her own experiences… But, that’s probably a discussion for another time, I think. I guess it depends if I have the time and energy for it, and my cyclical focus aligns just right…