#otgw pumpkin head people

[oldsoulsoupbrain]

A story in two parts.

[rskacreates]

HAPPY SPOOKY MONTH TUMBLRS FAVORITE HOIDAY LMAO

Some Over The Garden Wall fanart for y’all! Enjoy =}

[whitherward-art]

Another OTGW piece, this one just a bit of fun. The Pottsfield pumpkin folk!

[Image description: A painting of various citizens of Pottsfield, the pumpkin-headed people from Over the Garden Wall. There are eight pumpkin heads in a circle surrounding the head of their leader, Enoch Two wheat stalks stretch up from the bottom of the painting, flanking Enoch's face. The background is marbled yellow and light brown. End image description.]

[just-my-thoughts-about-stuff]

Alright y’all

I just got done rewatching Over the Garden Wall and I NEED to hear some theories!!

I’ve watched it a number of times, and I always absolutely adore it, but, though I’m usually quite good with symbols and deeper meanings...every time I watch it I feel I only have the vaguest senses of the symbolism, especially in regards to individual episodes, and it drives me a little up the wall.

Then when I try to look up theories, while I still love them, they’re almost always about the plot as a whole, not individual episodes.

I really want to hear people’s deeper thoughts on what individual episodes, characters, and items mean.

I know full well the answer could just be that it’s not supposed to make sense/is nonsense, but I do feel and hope there’s a deeper meaning to them, and that’s what I’m personally here to discuss.

I also haven’t done too much research on tumblr yet, so my apologies if there are theories galore here I just haven’t seen!! And please do feel free to link me to them if so!!

So, a very brief summary of some theories from other people that I’ve heard/read (spoilers ahead!!):

The Unknown is purgatory/limbo, or a purgatory/limbo of sorts. Asides from them being between life and death, this is especially evidenced by images like the trees being like those who committed suicide in Dante’s Inferno (and they are indeed people who lose hope in OTGW), and the fact that they have to pay a coin each to get onto the ferry, like the river Styx. (I’m sure there’s many many more but those are the ones off the top of my head).

The Unknown is a place where all stories exist. At the end it becomes clear Beatrice made up a story that her family became bluebirds, not that it was their punishment is some purgatory. Much of the episodes can be thought of as the stories people made up (wanting animals to talk, the cat could have thought up Pottsfield, Quincey creating a beautiful ghost out of his loneliness, Fred wanting to talk...)

The seasons: it starts with autumn because autumn is a symbol of life waning, and then it becomes winter when they are truly starting to die.

The Beast is a symbol for despair. People turning into trees is very clearly a symbol for lost hope. The lantern is a blind sort of hope that can people going with despair ever at their shoulder reminding that person what would happen if that hope goes out. (And Wirt proves a number of times before the actual scene he’s not the kind of person to follow blind hope.)

“Over the Garden Wall” could refer to the fact that the graveyard is called “Eternal Garden” and they go over the wall. Or it could refer to the comics and how The Woodsman tells his daughter not to go past the wall and into the unknown (I’ve not read the comics, just heard people mention them in theories. Anyone have links to where I can read them online?)

Personally I’ve also always wondered if some things in individual episodes are more literal plays on things that really happen:

Like I can definitely hear old ladies saying “close the door, I’ll catch my death of cold!” And I’m curious if Adelaide is a more literal play on that (I suppose that could be a story she would be telling herself—she told herself she’d catch her death of cold and did).

Lorna and Auntie Whispers seem to be a play on the Puritans. They’re wearing Puritan garb, and “don’t do XYZ because it’ll cause you to become evil/an evil spirit to take you over” seem true-to-form for Puritans. It seems like a play on that where there’s actually an evil spirit. (And again, could be a story they told themselves)

But for the most part those don’t answer much of what happens in individual episodes:

Why does the big pottsfield pumpkin/aka the cat say everyone comes to pottsfield eventually a) if only a few people are there, and b) if the story theory is true rather then the purgatory one?

Just...what is up with everything in the school episode, especially with regards to symbolism?

What’s the symbolism of everyone having an occupation in the tavern?

Is there any symbolism in the Quincy episode or is it just a cute little story?

Why can Fred talk?

What’s the symbolism of Greg’s frog being able to sing in that one episode? Is it just a funny unexpected thing? And why are there no other humans on the ferry if the coin thing is common knowledge?

What does it mean (literally and symbolically) that Adelaide does what the beast commands? She’s not a lantern bearer nor a tree yet she’s his follower, what does that mean?

What’s up with the threads in her house? Is it an old lady knitting thing or a Moirai thing, or something else ?

If Wirt has such a strong crush on Sara why does he seem attracted to Lorna that way? Is Lorna a symbol for Sara herself?

What does it mean that Adelaide and Auntie Whispers are sisters? (And is there a significance to both of them being voiced by male voice actors?)

What the heck is up with Cloud City and how is the Cloud Queen able to grant wishes? The North Wind being the real north wind upon them is really the only thing about that episode that makes sense to me. (Though Greg being able to bottle it makes less sense)

What’s the significance of Greg stealing the rock?

Is there symbolism behind the frogs name changing every episode, and then landing on Jason Funderburker or is it just a funny little throughline?

How can the bell be inside the frog if the Unknown isn’t a physical place they were in, either way?

And for the love of all things holy what do the black turtles mean?! This drives me absolutely bonkers every time I watch it. Why does that dog become so feral and beastly when it eats one turtle (not to mention look like it’s dripping with Edelwood oil), as well as have the same eyes as the Beast, but Autie Whispers just looks uhh...weird when she eats a bunch, but remains in possession of her faculties?

So uh, yeah! Anybody got any theories? Please reblog this with them or tag me with your own posts, or link me to posts you’ve seen!! Nothing is too big or too small!!

[julie1706]

Julie’s incredibly aesthetic incredibly autumny list of movies that she maybe recommends (part 2)

Oh sweet joy! It turns out that there are many more great, fantastic, cosy movies (and tv-series!) just absolutely perfect for autumn. By popular demand, I return with even MORE autumny recommendations, and this time, there might even be spell-checking. (Looking at you, “Silence of the Lamps”) (I won’t edit that, because that’s just funny.) 

Thank you for reading the previous one, and I hope you’ll enjoy this one too! We have some GREAT ones coming up. I hope! Maybe! But what I believe will really perfect this second list, is the fact, that autumn is close to being at its peak right now, with it being October! Woohoo! 

Pumpkins, Jack’o’lanterns, spooky movies, Halloween, tricks and treats, fog, rain, candles lit in the dark, delicious tea, and scarves, because the chill is back in the air! Amazing! The aesthetics are to die for! 

I’m on a small break from university, and have actually been having some allowed free time, to do autumny stuff. By this I mean I can do autumny stuff with my family and friends, and not feel guilty, because this time I’m not procrastinating. Well, I’m a little behind on some books, but it’s not that bad. You’re allowed free time on breaks! They’re supposed to be mostly free time, anyone knows that. I refuse to be a good student on breaks! 

This free time means that I have actually had time to watch some of these movies and tv-shows myself, and so I can feel a little better about recommending most of them, since I’ve actually seen them. Hehe. Still. I do have other, boring stuff to do, like reading for uni, emptying the dishwasher, cooking, vacuuming, etc., so there will be some of these I’m including, I have not watched, and those will be, again, backed by the power of optimism. Yay! Anyway! You’ve read enough not-halloween recommendationing, and is getting bored - Let’s get to it! (Also, these are still in random order, and I will put warnings at the end, again <3)

Coraline

I remember watching Coraline when it came out in theaters, years ago. I also remember that we had a little closet-thing in the wall, small and closed-up, but still very similar to the one she goes into, in the movie. Needless to say, this was not a favorite for little Julie, who was absolutely scared shit-less by this movie. I remember button-eyes, decaying puppets, and a very scary mom. Now, I have not watched the full movie since, but from bits and pieces through the years, I can wholeheartedly recommend this one. It’s stop-motion, the details are incredible, and wow, this movie is great. If you, like me, are no longer 9 years old, watch it! It’s wonderful, and surprisingly, very feel-good in the family aspect. A great movie!

Official synopsis: 

An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.

//Warning: do not watch this, if you are around nine years old. It will absolutely traumatize you about small closets in old houses. If you are not nine years old, I think you’re good! Just the right amount of spookyness, I believe!

Sense and Sensibility

I watched this with a good friend in february, I think. So I’m not sure why I think this has to go on an autumny list, but I stand by it! Maybe it’s the beige and brown, beautiful clothing, the many shots of nature, and the relationships between these characters, that fits very well with the cold and chilling air, we find ourselves in, here in lovely October. I don’t know. Food for thought. But this is a great movie, and I really think you should try watching it under a blanket, with tea and a good friend. We didn’t know the story before we saw it, and it had us guessing! And there is a part my other friend Sif told me, always makes her dad cry, and I think that should be taken as a compliment to this movie! It’s great! Love, sisters, crisis and period drama (and great clothes), this movie has it all! (also - Emma Thompson!)

Official synopsis: 

Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.

//Warning: It might make you cry. But I promise, it will be a good experience, in the end. It’s not scary, though.

Over the Garden Wall (animated series)

Well, this one, I’ve been dreading to add to my list. Now, you must not misunderstand, it’s not because I don’t like it. It’s because this series is so great, so weird, so beautifully drawn and made, that I’m afraid I could write a whole blog post dedicated only to Otgw, and still not feel that I have done it justice. It's just so good. It’s like the someone just decided one day, to make a series, that absolutely, perfectly encompasses autumn and halloween, and then did just that. The storyline is good, the art is good, the soundtrack is good. God, the soundtrack. I’ve also made sure to listen to this show’s soundtrack, since we left summer behind, and it’s just so good. There’s a reason tumblr went wild, when this show was first released. But since this is an AUTUMNY list, let me focus on those aspects. Big dark woods, scary noises in the dark, red and golden leaves, fantastical beings - this show has it all, and trust me, it WILL get you in the mood for autumn. I almost started puking leaves and pumpkins when I watched this with my friends, that’s how pumped it got me. This show has a special place in my heart, and if you promise not to tell all the other movies and shows on the list, I’ll admit something: this might be a favorite of mine. Maybe THE autumny favorite. 

Official synopsis:

Two brothers find themselves lost in a mysterious land and try to find their way home.

Warning: May be a little spooky, but I have it on good authority from a friend that is a true scaredy-cat, with nerves of whipped cream, that’s it’s fine. She  could handle it, watches it every year, and she’s fine. Good levels of scary.  

Corpse Bride

Believe it or not, that same scaredy-cat of a friend, I just mentioned, actually instructed a musical, based on this story. Is she a horror-fan or not? I have no idea, but her show was so well-done, that it actually made me like this movie a bit better. I have seen it before, but she convinced me, by telling me the original story behind this movie, that it’s pretty great. And by association, this movie became pretty great, too. It’s been some years since I saw this, but it’s a pretty good halloween movie, I think. Dead people tormenting the living. Classic autumn stuff, I would say. And it’s pretty well-made, I think, stop-motion again! I like the aesthetic of a corpse bride, though you have to admit the actual thing is pretty sad. The premise is haunting and scary, but it’s more morose, melancholic and depressing, I think. Poor Emily. But a good movie! Sorry, maybe that wasn’t a very enticing description, but I promise, it will do you more good than bad, to watch it. And then go google the original story, the movie is based on! 

Official synopsis:

When a shy groom practices his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a deceased young woman, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her.

//Oops, nearly forgot a warning! Warning: some people are dead, and therefore rotting a bit. If you’re squeamish, don’t watch. If you love sad love stories, definitely watch!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Yeah, I’m not sure why this has to go on my Autumny List either, sorry. It just has to. I know it takes place over an entire year, but in my head, it jut fits very well with the whole magic, supernatural, foggy halloween times we find ourselves in. I mean, look at the cover! Maybe it’s the iconic scene, right before the troll is discovered in the girls’ bathroom (sorry, spoiler), with the floating jack’o’lanterns, and tables almost crashing undet the weight of candy and cakes, that convinced my brain, that this is a halloween movie. I don’t know. Just trust me on this, and watch the first Harry Potter movie. It’s pretty good. 

Official synopsis: 

An orphaned boy enrolls in a school of wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world.

//Warning: Nah, you’re good ;-)

Little Women (Important: 2019 edition)

Alright girls, we’re hopping genres again! This is another period-drama (sort of), about sisters, and wow, I cried to this. I bawled, I sobbed, I choked on snot, and was a little inconsolable, when I watched it with friends, at the cinema. One of the best experiences this year, and one of the greatest movies I have watched in a long time. I love everything about this movie: the family-bonds, the clothing, the many nature-shots, the developments of characters, (almost) all the characters, and just, wow. No good way to end that sentence, because I want to just keep describing all the good parts of this movie, because it's everything. It’s amazing, and yes, i’m exaggerating, but I can’t help it. I forgot to eat my popcorn or drink my water, when we watched this, that’s how mesmerized I was by this movie. I love Jo, I think I can empathize a lot with her, and if I could talk to her, if she was real, I would thank her for telling her story. This movie is great, you should watch it, because it makes you feel so warm inside. 

Official synopsis:

Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.

//Warning: Might make you break down crying. But in a good way. Very cathartic, actually.

Alien

I watched this for the first time last year, when I decided I was going to watch the classic older horror movies, and not freak the fuck out. I mostly succeed. And this movie was a joy to watch. That’s maybe weird to say about an alien horror movie, but wow I just love Sigourney Weaver, and the aesthetics of this movie. The story is thrilling, and I really did not like most of the characters, I thought they were hysteric and annoying, but I still rooted for them. It’s a different kind of horror movie, that’s for sure! But when I watched it, I totally understood why it has become such a classic.

Official synopsis: 

After a space merchant vessel receives an unknown transmission as a distress call, one of the crew is attacked by a mysterious life form and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

//Warning: Uh, yeah, Sif, this is not one for you. It’s gross and scary. Malin, I think you’ll like this one! Go ahead! Maybe we should see it together?

Edward Scissorhands

Haven’t seen this one! I want to, though. I think I’ve seen one scene, where this man accidentally pokes a water-bed, and younger me felt that was a very tragic thing, on more levels. Johnny Depp yet again, so it has to be good, right? I know this poor guy, Edward, has it rough, and was given some really not that practical hands. Man, he looks sad, huh? So maybe more sad than scary, yet again. Dont know! But I really do want to watch it. Winona Ryder is in this, too, so really, it’s a no-brainer!

Official synopsis:

An artificial man, who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands, leads a solitary life. Then one day, a suburban lady meets him and introduces him to her world.

//Warning: I don’t know? Maybe not that spooky? I think it’s more sad, to be honest.

Pride + Prejudice + Zombies

I mean, why the hell not - right? I love Jane Austen. I love Pride and Prejudice. And I really like halloween, so OF COURSE, I’m including this one. I’ve seen it, too. My friend Malin and I watched it a couple of years ago, and yeah, it’s good. It’s not high cinema, no, but I don’t need that. It was a fun, weird twist, and sometimes, that’s all you need. There is a very interesting scene with a corset, that was NOT in the book, and I think it really added something to this story. And Lily James. Whew. Great movie. Great for autumn. I will be watching this one again.

Official synopsis:

Five sisters in 19th century England must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies.

//Warning: I can’t really remember, but I think there’s some pretty gross scenes with zombies. Rotting flesh is NOT pretty. But just close your eyes for that, and  you’ll be good!

The Haunting of Hill House

I first watched this series when i came out some time ago. I never finished it, I don’t think my heart was in it, but by no fault of the show. Now, that the same creator has made another show, which my mom and I are hooked by, and almost through, I think I’ll be returning to this one - it deserves another chance! A great old house, ghosts, family secrets and INCREDIBLE aesthetics, mean there must be something here! Also, I think it’s based on a novel by Shirley Jackson, and it’s supposed to a classic horror novel, and Stephen King tweeted that he liked it, so yeah, it’s promising! The series I’m watching with my mom is spooky, but tumblr says the Haunting of Hill House is supposed to be much more spooky, terrifying, even, and I really want to find out if that’s true!

Official synopsis:

Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.

//Warning: Very Scary! Faint of heart - Beware! Just enjoy this beautiful gif of Nell dancing by herself, and move on <3

Psycho

Another old classic! Woo! Have not watched, but really, I feel like that’s almost a crime by now. I HAVE to watch it. Soon, I’m planning to. Sadly, It’s old, and I grew up with the internet, so I’ve been spoiled oh so dreadfully, and knows all the bloody details and plottwists of this oldie but goldie. But I still want to watch it! It must be a classic for a reason - right? Also, I’ve never seen the full version of the famous shower scene, and that’s just embarrassing. Shame on me.

Official synopsis:

A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

//Warning: It’s a horror classic! It’s gotta be scary. Then again, it DID come out in 1960. Be careful about this one! Sorry, I have no idea, have never watched it.

Hannibal (the TV series)

It’s gross, it’s scary, it’s aesthetic, there is a danish elegant man eating people in snowy Baltimore, and you really shouldn’t pay him to be your psychiatrist. Hannibal! I first watched this as a young, edgy teenager, and all the blood and gore didn't get to me at all - I just enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game between Will Graham, our main character, very mentally unstable, and a dog-lover, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a renowned psychiatrist, elegant, high-society - and also, he talks like a mixture of the bible and an old greek sonet. What I'm trying to get at is that this show is weird. Good weird. But also, now no longer an edgy teenager myself, it’s really gross. A man’s leg is cut off and served to himself. That’s gross. I didn’t like that, and I definitely covered my eyes. Other than that, it’s a very vivid show, with great focus on presentation and symbolism. I would love for someone to analyse each episode, because there's so much attention to detail. It’s honestly impressive. And after having watched many, many shows about crime and murders, I must say, this show has THE most buckwild, creative, never seen before ways of killing people. How the hell do you come up with a murderer using people’s different skin colors to make a mural? I don’t know. It’s disgusting, but man is it different. I’m halfway through season two, and there is a lot to unpack! Also, have to mention, very homoerotic - that’s a plus. Don’t think I could’ve stomached all the blood, otherwise. I hate blood, and wow is there blood in this show.

Official synopsis:

Explores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter, and his patient, a young FBI criminal profiler, who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.

//Warning: Yeah. You read how many times I wrote ‘gross’. Just trust me on this one, it’s gross. It’s good, but maybe don’t watch it. You don’t need to introduce your brain to this.

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Ooh boy. Ooooh boy. This series is very good. VERY good. I’m watching it with my mom right now, I think we’re at episode 7, and wow are we hooked. It’s spooky, it’s haunting, it’s thrilling, it’s mysterious, and wow is it scary. We both agreed to go together, the first night we watched this, and our dog had to be taken out on his night-walk. She didn’t want to go alone, and i didn’t want to stay back at the house, alone. So we went together, and I was so freaked out that I nearly peed my pants, when some kids screamed in our neighborhood. It’s so very much what I want a ghost-story to be, but it’s also a lot more, and much greater for it. I love all the characters, they’re all so well-rounded, and most of them are good. The big manor is spooky, and the woods surrounding it are foggy and dark, and yes, this is really a great series for autumn and halloween. It’s the second series made by Mike Flanagan. There are some similarities between the two shows, and surprisingly, some of the same actors! I think that’s very interesting, and it also made me very confused, as I watched the first episodes of the Haunting of Bly Manor, and could not, for the life of me, figure out where the hell I had seen these people before. It made it even more eerie in a way, and I appreciate that. I love this show, and I think I’ll be very sad when we’re through with it. I guess the natural thing to do, will be to follow up with Flanagan’s previous horror series, The Haunting of Hill House! Also, there’s lesbians in this one. Very nice. I appreciate that. Also, surprisingly - I love the children! They’re so cool and brave, and it would be very nice if especially Flora could go with me, the next time I’m going to a haunted house. Such a badass.

Official synopsis:

After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose.

Warning: It’s spooky. It’s the perfect halloween series, so of course it’s very spooky! This gif I chose is spooky, and I promise the show itself is worse. But if you can handle dead people creepily staring in the background, and maybe has someone to watch it with, I think you’ll be fine!

Alright! We made it! Another spooky, aesthetic, autumny list, for us to enjoy this crispy season! Woohoo! Also, I’m sorry if there’s any spelling mistakes or whatelse, I hope you enjoyed reading anyway! Thank you! Now go drink some tea and relax, you’ve earned it. I recently tried chili-tea, and damn, that’s another recommendation from me! It was amazing!

Hope you have a great Halloween, it’s close now. Watch out for the cold weather, remember to bundle up, and don’t let the impending darkness get you down. Light some candles! And also, watch some of these spooky tv-series and movies with your family and friends! And have a great fall! <3

Love, Julie

[iarixai]

Over the Garden wall

Ok screw it im talking about ‘Over the Garden Wall’

For the entirety of otgw something always felt off all the time. And the end just gave me more questions. So spoilers, here is my theory on the unknown. also TW I am going to be talking about death and hospitals.

I don’t actually think the unknown is purgatory. Everybody there came back to the real world. However I do think you can only go there if you have a near death expierence. The reason I think this is because of Greg. Greg is very young that means his body isn’t very strong. That means if he really died in the river and then was brought back at the hospital, his body probably couldn’t handle it. It would be a miracle if his body could handle it. As well, everybody Greg and Wirt met in the Unknown were in the past, and didn’t have access to the resources modern hospitals have. But we see them all come back. That is why I think they almost died.

I think the Unknown can only be accessed when you are in a near death situation. For example,

- Beatrice and her family could have very well starved to the point to almost dying.

- The woodsman woke up in a blizzard, so he could have almost frozen to death.

- We know its halloween (fall) so Greg and Wirt could of had hypothermia.

Now you must be saying, Ari, what about the other inhabitants. Well, the main similarity between the characters i mentioned is that they were trying to leave The Unknown. The other characters didn’t seem to want to leave the unknown and had a life there. A good bunch of them had jobs too. Well, they are all dead in my opinion. Because they didn’t want to leave.

- Pottsfield seemed very happy in their cult, and since they are all skeletons, I think they have been there so long their bodies have started to decay. 

- the Tavern folks were all cheery and happy and had jobs.

- The animal school people seemed to be having a normal life. With their own problems.

- The tea company couple seemed very happy with their wealth and with each other

But there comes another hole in this theory, Pottsfield. They have been there so long that their bodies have started to decay and that is why they use the pumpkins as a body. Well, the Unknown doesn’t really exist on a plane of time or at least our plane of time. While yes, stuff does occur and people have proper memories of a timeline. Its not the same as our timeline. You can see this with Beatrice, the woodsman, and Greg and Wirt meeting in the same general time, but they are all from different eras. Its another plane of existance, with its own timeline running on whatever shape or line it is. So while there is passage of time in the unknown, it is seperate from our passage of time. The Unknown picks up its residents at different times on our timeline, at random times. That is why Pottsfield is decaying, but Beatrice is still a Highschool age girl when Wirt meets her. 

Also time dialation. From when Greg and Wirt fall into the river, to when they wake up in the hospital. At most that time would be 1 maybe even 2 hours if I am being generous. But the expierences in the Unknown would have lasted at least 1 or 2 weeks. I personally think one month. That would mean the plane of time and space they were on was not the same as their own. And it was all real, as we see with the frog with the bell in its stomach. Thats because its another plane of existance, grabbing people from our universe.

And the final nail in the coffin for the theory that the Unknown is a seperate plane of existance. The moon. When Greg and Wirt are walking to Pottsfield, which is North, they are walking towards the moon. And the moon was in a moon cycle not possible on earth. As well, if they were walking towards the moon, they would be going East or West. And seeing as they eventually make it to Pottsfield going that direction, that means they aren’t on Earth.

Now, the question is how does the Unknown choose its victims. For one, there has to be a near death expierence like I said before, but if it was every single one, the Unknown would be very crowded, which it doesn’t seem to be at all. Most of the residents are animals. But for now we are talking about humans. I think the Unknown chooses you when you feel small. When you feel forgotten about or everybody has forgotten about you. When you feel you have no hope. When you feel like nobody is going to help you. When you feel like people don’t care about you. For example,

- The woodsman felt like there was no hope for his sick daughter, and that people even forgot about them. 

- Beatrices family if my starvation theory holds true, felt out of luck and they had no hope because it was winter and they couldn’t grow any food to eat

- Greg and Wirt were running from the cops, and literally jumped over a garden wall in order not to get caught. And Wirt definitely has some insecurities about his worth as a person and whether people will actually remember

- The tea couple both show signs of narcissism, meaning they got all of their money so that people would pay attention to them and not forgotten about.

- The schoolteacher shows signs of measuring her worth on her accomplishments, hence why she gets really sad about her boyfriend leaving and how the animal school is not working. 

- The tavern people don’t even have proper names. They don’t feel important to the story which is why they introduce themselves with their job. They were meant to be forgotten about. 

The reason I say this is because of the short OTGW was based on, had the Tome of the Unknown, and it had everything that was forgotten about in it. 

But we have one more thing to address, and that is Greg.

But Greg doesnt seem to be a likely canidate to be lost in the Unknown right?

He doesn’t fit those requirments?

Wrong!

Greg is shown to have memory issues or having later reactions to things. That is why the frog seems to have a new name every episode, Greg forgot. And Greg knows that he has these memory issues. He may be a kid but he isn’t dumb. So I think he fears that these memory problems is going to make him forget about the people he loves, most of all his brother. So in that, he tries to please them in anyway possible. He raked his neighbors yard. He tried to get Wirt a date. In the boat episode, he is even willing to have his head drummed on so his friends will stay safe. When Wirt complains about Greg not leaving a trail, right after, Greg starts to leave a candy trail. Greg wants the people he loves to be happy incase he forgets about them. That is why Greg is willing in the last episode to sacrifice himself for his brother. 

And the final thing to address is the trees and animals. As we know, the trees are actually souls that have already died, and the woodsman collecting them is using their souls for oil in the lamp.  The Beast is a very obvious metaphor for death, more specifically the death of the hope they are going to survive, and through the trees that is how he carries out his duty of killing people in the Unknown because they died in there plane of existence. 

But I think the animals are people who have been in the Unknown long enough to start losing hope.That is why a lot of the animals have some sort of sentience. They aren’t animals, they are people. When we meet Beatrice she is pretty obviously a Bluebird. That is because her and her family aren’t very hopeful they are going to make it out of the Unknown. Her only chance is to find someone who lady Adelaide wants. 

As for the pets who come along on the journey, I have literally no explanation for that, unless the pets were tied to their owners souls. That is the only reason I can find.

The actual people in the series are still inbetween death and life, they still have hope they are going to live. Remember time dialation and the other plane of existance. But all the people who go into the Unknown and stay, will eventually become trees or animals. 

Now leaving the Unknown is a task in itself. But after the main cast left to Unknown, they got some sort of wish granted after the got back. The woodsman had his daughter get better and even being able to walk. Beatrice and her family got food. Wirt finally got that date. And Greg got to see his brother happy. The lack of these things also almost got them killed. So I think after they came back, the universe fixed those things, so that they wouldn’t go into the Unknown again, and give them hope, that their life is going to get better. While yes, they definitely did have hope before, this gives them hope about their lives and loved ones, not just their life not being in danger. 

I know this might have been really long and confusing. You can always ask me to clarify. But thank you for making it this far. 

[jeremys-blogs]

OTGW: What is the Unknown?

Though I've always had a love of the aesthetic of Halloween, the ghosts, the pumpkins and all that stuff, I'll fully admit that I've never really had that many Halloween traditions, at least not to the degree that I would for a time like Christmas. When this spookiest time of year creeps along, it's usually just me watching a few old favourites that seem appropriate for it, like the Halloween Tree or Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. But a few years ago, I stumbled on a little gem on Cartoon Network that has since become an absolute must for the month of October. The 2014 ten-episode miniseries, Over the Garden Wall. This show has rightfully gained a great deal of critical acclaim since it first came out, being regarded as one of the best shows Cartoon Network ever put out, which is saying something. The strange journey of Wirt and his brother Greg through the mysterious world of the Unknown as they attempt to find their way home was creepy and engaging in a way that few kids' shows were, and make no mistake, I loved every single bit of it. But while I could gush about it all day, what I truly wish to discuss about it is the question of its central locale. What, exactly, is the Unknown itself?

You see, from the moment I first watched this show, its main setting has always fascinated me. This bizarre other world where magic and monsters exist, yet contains far too many elements of the ordinary and the mundane to be as fantastic as other fictional worlds I've seen. A place where young girls can be controlled by mystical bells, yet also had old-timey schools run by seemingly-ordinary teachers. It's a weird one to be sure, and a lot of the show's feel can be attributed to the sheer mystery of the Unknown itself. Now, I am by no means the first person to speculate on what this place really is, and indeed you'll find that the show in general has been picked apart by numerous others over the years. So don't be surprised if you see ideas here that have been discussed in greater detail elsewhere. But while I fully acknowledge that the nature of the Unknown isn't really what the show is about, nor does it ever try to give any definitive answers about it, there are at least enough things in the story to give some idea of what we're dealing with, most notably in the big question on whether or not the Unknown is actually a real place, though I'll discuss that later.

Now the first of these ideas is pretty straightforward. The Unknown is simply a magical alternate world that Wirt and Greg somehow managed to transport themselves to after falling into the water. A gateway to another realm, like the wardrobe of Narnia. Admittedly, this isn't a very complicated or revolutionary notion, but the law of Occam's Razor is that the most likely explanation is usually the correct one, and the simple framework of children going to a magical place beyond the normal world is about as basic as you get in these sorts of tales. But simplicity in and of itself is no bad thing, as it provides a good foundation to build great stories on. And that's certainly the case here, as having the Unknown just be some world the brothers could journey to after their traumatic fall is a fine start to give old-school fairy tale and folk story episodes for. It's solid urban fantasy of the unreal hiding just beyond the world of the real, that just so happens to be pierced and entered by these two unwitting boys. It might not be the most imaginative of explanations for what this place is, but I think it was worth getting the easiest explanation out of the way first.

The second major theory on what the Unknown is might be less extraordinary, but it's also an incredibly plausible one, that being that the entire experience is just one big hallucination. That one or both of the brothers, but most likely Wirt, was knocked unconscious by the aforementioned fall into the water and the entire journey was all the creation of his own mind. Now, I realise that the trope of "it was all just a dream all along" isn't exactly a popular one, but let us not forget that plenty of other popular stories have managed to portray it well, like Alice and Wonderland. And to the credit of this show, if that was indeed the angle being worked then it was certainly an interesting way to view it. The biggest hint that this is the case is that much of what we see in the Unknown has to deal with people donning alternate identities to what they truly are, hiding their real selves, which would be an appropriate thing for a boy like Wirt to make up in his head given that he and his brother had just come off from a mass Halloween experience, where costumes and taking on fantasy personas are commonplace. To be sure, there's some ambiguity on whether Greg has the same experience as Wirt if it is indeed a hallucination, but there's no denying that the possibility of it being the work of imagination is there.

The final of the major ideas concerning the Unknown is that it is some sort of afterlife for the two boys. Specifically, that it's a kind of Limbo, between Heaven and Hell, where they must overcome some trial or work through some personal issue before they can move on. To me, this is the theory that seems to hold the most water, as it is only through working past their personal issues, like Wirt learning to be responsible for Greg, that the two manage to get back home. And when you couple that with things like the show's antagonist, the Beast, a clearly demonic-inspired tempter who leads people to their doom, there's definitely some religious undertones here. The fact that the Unknown is a place they only go to after going through an experience that could have killed them certainly adds to this. Consider also that throughout the show we get a gradual transition from an Autumn-like environment to the Winter we see in the final few episodes, a sign of things dying, perhaps to show the boys losing their way and going down the wrong path. Contrast with the likes of the Woodsman, who made a deal with this effective Devil and, as a result, got stuck in a terrible situation for who knows how long, trapped in his own personal Hell.

What gives this particular interpretation a great deal more weight is the inclusion of the show's third major character, the human-turned-bird Beatrice. Now, her being here is very likely to be a reference to the character of the same name from the famed story the Divine Comedy by Dante, better known as Dante's Inferno. Within that tale, Beatrice is the lost love of the book's central protagonist, and acts as a guide to him after he leaves the realm of Limbo and finally makes it into heaven. And since the Beatrice in this story also serves as a guide to those who are no longer within their own world, the connection is pretty easy to make. Granted, there are differences, like how the Unknown is no Heaven and that this particular Beatrice is in no way romantically involved with Wirt, but the general role she plays is far too similar to ignore, and lends massive credence to the theory that the Unknown is indeed a Limbo of some sort. But again, since Wirt is the poetic sort, it could also be that he knew of the literary Beatrice and, if this was the hallucination scenario instead, imagined her along with everything else without even realising he was doing it. Because naturally this sort of thing just couldn't be clear-cut for me.

As you can see from all of this, there's a lot that can be interpreted and theorised about the world of Over the Garden Wall. And really, you could probably take any single episode and create an entire thesis of what all the imagery and characters might mean, it's just that sort of show. As for the central question here of the nature of the Unknown, I don't think it's something we're ever going to get a proper answer to, and anyone watching it will likely have to come up with their own conclusions about it. As for me personally? Well, I've been of one school of thought or another over the last few years since I first watched this underrated gem, but if you were to hold a gun to my head and ask me to pick one and be done with it, I'd likely go for the Limbo theory. Mostly because it seems to strike the perfect balance between being both a fine fantasy idea as well as having just the right level of grimness and macabre for a story like this. After all, for a cartoon that aimed and succeeded to be a Halloween classic, what better scenario to give us that a world found within the place between life and death? 😉

[yellowmechanicalcat]

fic: the boy and the bird (AU, plance + gen, part 3)

so when I said fingers crossed for daily updates I apparently meant that I will work on it daily until the next chapter is ready to update. (whoops?) a quick word of warning: things are getting spookier in this chapter! as some of you may have already notice, this isn’t an exact adaptation of OtGW, I’m cherrypicking elements as I go. please watch the original if you haven’t!

the boy and the bird Over the Garden Wall AU. At the Harvest Festival, Pidge and Lance get closer; Hunk is asked to dance. (Slight Pidge/Lance; 3,520 words.)

Part 3/7 (previous)

Pidge had been right about the festival looking like fun. The small town was decorated with garlands of autumn leaves and twisted crepe paper, brightly painted pumpkins and buckets of chrysanthemums lining the dirt streets. A cloth banner was strung between the houses, large painted letters welcoming them to the Harvest Festival.

They followed the sound of folk music to the center of town, where a crowd of people had already gathered while a band played. Everyone was wearing old-timey outfits with carved pumpkins on their heads. Some of the men were wearing suits like the man they’d seen in the cornfield had been, while others were dressed like farmers in overalls, plaid shirts and work gloves. Some of the women wore silk evening gowns, their hands and arms covered by long white gloves, but the rest looked more like pioneer women in calico aprons with plain cotton gloves.

Lance’s foot was already tapping along to the music. “Man, I love festivals!” he said enthusiastically. “I bet there’ll be line dancing later-���

“-and food,” Hunk said wistfully. “Pies and cider-”

“-and games and maybe a costume contest-”

“-caramel apples and sandwiches-”

“You two have very different priorities,” Pidge noted dryly, startling Lance. He’d forgotten about the pigeon.

“Jeez, Pidge, that was right in my ear,” he whined.

Pidge sniffed but tried to shift away before speaking in a slightly lower voice. “Look, it’s not like there’s a lot of room in here, okay?”

When they’d first decided to investigate the town of New Beginnings, it had seemed like a good idea to blend in as much as they could. As Lance had pointed out, the best case scenario was that they would look like everyone else, while at worst they’d look exactly like the couple they’d seen earlier and at least they wouldn’t be the only weirdos there. So they’d stolen the jack o’ lantern heads from the scarecrows in the cornfield, as well as the scarecrows’ gloves.

The plan got more complicated when Pidge had decided to tag along, because after a few pointed questions from Hunk the pigeon had admitted that talking birds were unusual even in this weird-spooky-woods part of the world and that it didn’t really want to attract any attention to itself. That had left them with no choice but to include Pidge in their disguise, although they’d quickly figured out that Pidge would have to share Lance’s pumpkin, since Hunk’s was already a tight fit.

Pidge pressed a little closer to Lance’s neck, feet digging into his shoulder. The bird was trembling slightly. The feathers brushing against his neck were surprisingly soft, although they kind of tickled.

“You doing okay?” Lance asked quietly.

“I’m not a big fan of small spaces,” the pigeon mumbled.

“You must have been really excited to leave the nest, then, huh?” Lance teased, grinning.

Pidge made a stifled noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Oh, you have no idea.”

The music ended, the band promising to return after a quick break. The crowds began to disperse, finally clearing the way for them to get a good look at the rest of the town square. Just as Lance predicted, they had booths set up for a few simple games, like a ring toss and, bizarrely, bobbing for apples. Plain wooden tables lined the perimeter, places set with plates but no utensils, and people were already starting to claim their seats on the wooden benches.

But it was the long table loaded with platters of food and cornucopias stuffed with vegetables and fruits that interested them the most. They beelined towards it.

“Look at all the food!” Hunk said eagerly. His stomach growled loudly, echoing his appreciation.

Lance leaned in so he and Pidge could both get a closer look at a heaping pile of corn on the cob. The kernels were pale and the ears were still largely covered with silk.

“Is it just me, or does everything look kind of raw?” Lance said doubtfully.

“Maybe it’s like Mongolian barbecue?” Hunk suggested. “You know, you collect what you want to eat and then they cook it for you later on?”

“But there’s no fire. If they were planning on cooking anything, they’d have built one by now, and I don’t smell anything,” Pidge pointed out.

Hunk and Lance sniffed the air, but all they could smell was the damp pumpkin odor from their jack o’ lanterns. Their investigation was interrupted by one of the pioneer-like women in a long plaid dress shooing them away from the table.

“The feast isn’t ’til later! Run along and wait your turn like everyone else,” she scolded, her voice a jarring contrast with the wide, happy smile carved into her jack o’ lantern face.

They mumbled apologies and moved away, although Hunk couldn’t help casting one last lingering glance at the food.

“I think that cat’s staring at us,” Lance said suddenly. He pointed over towards one of the houses on the square.

But Hunk didn’t see any cat. Neither did Pidge.

“There it is again!” Lance said, pointing a few feet away from the first house. This time, Hunk almost caught a glimpse of something black, although he wasn’t completely sure whether it was a cat or just a shadow. Pidge still couldn’t see anything.

“Let’s go find it!” Lance said excitedly.

“Let’s not,” said Pidge with considerably less excitement.

“Sorry, but I’m with Pidge. What’s so great about cats, anyway?” Hunk said. “Dogs are cooler. They can fetch.”

Lance gestured expansively to the rest of the square. “Look, it’s find the cat or join the line for ring toss until the music starts back up, and honestly? I’d rather go pet a cat. Besides, any cat would have to go through me to get to you, Pidge, so you’re safe.”

Pidge gripped Lance’s shoulder a little more tightly. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Hunk could tell when he’d lost. He sighed. “Okay, fine. Let’s go.”

They headed off in the direction Lance thought he’d last seen the cat and ended up in a side street, where a low groan made them stop in their tracks.

A man was sprawled out behind one of the houses, flat on the ground. A carved walking stick had rolled a few feet away from him. He must have tripped and hit his head when he fell down, since the pumpkin he wore had a deep crack running through it.

Hunk and Lance each took one of his arms and slowly helped him to sit up.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked, crouched next to him.

“I’m fine, thank you kindly,” the man said in a smooth, slow drawl. He reached up to check his disguise, sighing mournfully as he ran his fingers across the crack. “This is liable to break apart any moment, though, and I’ve no time to find another…”

“I can probably fix that!” Hunk offered. He shrugged off his backpack and rummaged around inside until he came up with a roll of duct tape. He tore off a few pieces and covered the crack just as carefully as if he’d been sewing stitches. “There we go. It’s just a patch job, but it should hold for a while.”

With Lance and Hunk’s help, the man stood back up, leaning on Hunk while Lance fetched his walking stick.

The man reached up and felt Hunk’s repair job. “I don’t know what you did but it certainly feels much better. You’re a very resourceful young man.”

Flustered, Hunk reached up to scratch the back of his head, but ended up beaning himself when he forgot about his own pumpkin disguise. “Well, any engineer worth his salt should have duct tape on hand. That’s what my dad always says, anyway.”

“What’s duck tape?” Pidge muttered, Lance shushing in response.

The man was distracted and didn’t seem to have noticed. He was looking down at his shirt, making a puzzled humming noise as he patted down his suit jacket and checked his pockets.

“…I seem to have dropped my badge,” he said finally.

Lance turned and spotted a small piece of cloth on the ground, half-covered by some stray leaves. It looked like something was written on it. He picked it up, brushing off the leaves and dirt before handing it up to the man.

“Is this it?”

“My, you’ve a good eye,” the man said appreciatively. He pinned it back on his jacket lapel, the badge now clearly reading ‘MAYOR’ in shiny gold lettering.

“One kindness deserves another,” said the mayor. “I believe I owe you a favor.”

“Don’t–” Lance started to say, but Pidge cut him off with a swift peck to the back of his head.

“Thank you,” the pigeon said, speaking loudly to mask Lance’s whimper. “We’ll remember, sir.”

“You do that,” said the mayor. For a moment, it almost looked like his jack o’ lantern eyes glinted yellow. “Enjoy the rest of the festival.”

He nodded graciously at each of them and wandered off in the direction of the square, leaning heavily on his walking stick.

“Why’d you say that?” Lance complained to Pidge, trying unsuccessfully to reach through the jack o’ lantern mouth to rub the sore spot Pidge had left. Pidge nudged his hand away with another sharp peck of its beak.

“If someone owes you a favor, that’s valuable. You don’t just let that go,” Pidge scolded.

“Yeah, but we didn’t help him so we could get something out of it! That’s not how being nice works.”

Hunk bumped shoulders with Lance. “Stop arguing with yourself, people are staring,” he whispered.

They were definitely getting a few odd looks from the handful of people who walked by on their way back to the square. Lance perked up when he realized the music had started up again. This time, it looked like people were starting to pair off for dancing.

“Yes! That’s more like it,” Lance cheered, dragging a much more reluctant Hunk with him to go watch.

They squeezed through the crowd until they were at the front, ending up next to a tall, broad-shouldered couple. The man was dressed in a brown suit with a deep green bowtie, while the woman wore a cotton dress in the same green color as his tie, a patchwork apron tied around her waist.

They looked over as Lance enthusiastically clapped along to the lively music, which, as far as Hunk was concerned, was kind of embarrassing.

“Sorry about him,” he apologized to the tall woman. “First time here. He’s a little overexcited.”

She tilted her head, her hands flying up to her face as if surprised.

“That’s wonderful!” she said, sounding completely sincere. Her voice sounded younger than Hunk had expected from the way she was dressed. “Is it your first time to the Harvest Festival as well?”

Hunk nodded. “Yeah. I’m Hunk, and that’s Lance.”

“Welcome, Hunk and Lance!” the girl said. “I’m Shay, and this is my brother Rax.”

Rax just grunted, turning his attention back to the dancing just in time for one of the dancers to pull him into a circle, ignoring his loud protests.

Shay laughed at the sight. Lance whooped encouragingly, Pidge quietly scolding him for the unnecessary loud noise. It turned out that Rax, while reluctant, really wasn’t a bad dancer.

A little shyly, Shay touched Hunk’s arm. “Would you care to dance, Hunk?”

“Huh?” Hunk said, startled. “Oh, um, sure! Just a sec.”

He slipped off his backpack and held it out to Lance. “Do you mind?”

Lance shrugged and took the bag. “Sure.”

Shay took Hunk’s hand and led him away.

Being stuck inside a hollow pumpkin meant that Pidge had very little to do but stare at Lance’s face. So the pigeon couldn’t help but notice him sulking as Shay and Hunk danced together. Lance was twitchy, and Pidge could tell that he was disappointed he wasn’t dancing, too.

“Hey, Lance. I have an idea,” Pidge said quietly, trying not to startle him again.

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t we hit up the food table while everyone’s distracted? It wouldn’t hurt to have a few leftovers for later, and it’s not like it’s going to spoil…”

“But what about that lady who yelled at us before? Isn’t she, like, guarding everything?”

“I’m pretty sure she’s going to be busy for a while,” Pidge said. “Looks like she’s a big fan of the band.”

The grumpy guard had indeed left her post to stand directly in front of the band’s fiddler, loudly cheering. Lance had always thought guitarists were cooler, but he could kind of see the appeal. The guy was a showy musician, managing to dance and play at the same time even in his crazy costume.

“… okay, you convinced me. Let’s do it.”

Pidge let out a soft coo of triumph.

By the time the dancing was over, Lance and Pidge had successfully stuffed Hunk’s backpack with enough food to last a long time, and Lance’s mood had improved significantly. Shay threw her arms around Hunk and hugged him tightly as the music ended, Hunk shyly hugging back before rejoining Lance.

“Have fun?” Lance asked.

“Actually, I did. Shay’s really nice. She was telling me how she and her brother have a farm or something? She invited us to sit with them at dinner. Anyway, thanks for holding my stuff, man.”

“No problem,” Lance said cheerfully, thrusting his bag back at him.

Hunk nearly dropped it, unprepared for it to have doubled in weight. “What the—”

“Pidge and I may have grabbed a few snacks for later, don’t worry about it,” Lance said, throwing an arm around his shoulder to guide him over to one of the long tables, where Shay was waving for them to come join her.

Plates of food were being carried from the center table and distributed to the tables across the square. They slid onto the the wooden bench to sit opposite Shay and Rax, Hunk’s chest protector giving him some trouble, but he managed to sit down in the end.

“Remind me why I’m wearing this again?” Hunk said under his breath.

“It’s part of your look,” said Lance.

Before Hunk could say anything else, the crowd broke into cheers. The mayor was making his way to the center of the square, still leaning heavily on his walking stick.

“Speech! Speech!” the crowd called out.

The mayor raised a hand in greeting. “It’s wonderful to see everyone again! It’s good to be back here, isn’t it?”

Cheers and applause.

“As you all know, the Harvest Festival started in the Old Times, when folks gathered together to celebrate another successful year of harvesting souls and feast on the best of them…”

Hunk froze. Beside him, Lance inhaled sharply. Pidge said nothing, but Lance could feel the bird shiver as it nervously pressed against his neck.

The mayor’s speech continued. “Of course, a few things have changed since those days.”

Scattered laughter.

“Today, the harvest of souls is symbolized by the bounty before you, and we gather together in remembrance of how delicious life can be. And with that, let’s feast!”

“Let’s feast!” the crowd roared back in approval.

All around them, people began to take off their gloves and burst into excited chatter, loading their plates with food. Hunk and Lance felt chills run down their spines as they watched everyone reach for and grab and prod at the food.

Their hands were nothing but bones. And with their gloves off, most of their sleeves were loose enough that it was obvious that their arms were bones, too. In fact, there was a pretty good chance that behind those jack o’ lantern grins were just skulls.

And no one seemed to care. They were all perfectly at ease with the idea of having dinner with someone who was part or maybe completely a skeleton.

Lance and Hunk had both come to the conclusion that it was safer to keep their gloved hands hidden under the table until they figured out what was going on.

Lance reached out and tapped Hunk’s knee. “I think we may have a small problem,” he whispered, Pidge still pressed against his neck.

“A small problem?” Hunk replied shrilly, forgetting to whisper in his panic.

Shay looked over at them, holding a tray of new potatoes in her literally skeletal hands. “What’s the problem?” she asked curiously.

Hunk shook his head and let out a strangled laugh. “I don’t know where to start–”

Sensibly, Shay put a potato on his plate, and another on Lance’s. The potatoes were freshly washed but very obviously raw. “Well, why not start with these? Rax and I harvested them ourselves.”

“Oh, thanks. That’s great, really great,” Hunk said, his voice choked, staring at her hands.

“You must’ve worked yourselves to the bone,” Lance said without thinking, then groaned quietly as he realized what he’d just said.

Luckily, Shay just giggled. “The Harvest Festival only happens once a year. It’s worth working hard for.”

“So remind me again what we’re doing here? The Mayor said something about, uh, eating souls?” Lance asked, trying to sound casual.

Shay’s brother snorted. “You really don’t know anything, do you, first-timer?”

“Rax, that’s rude!” Shay scolded him.

Rax just shrugged and turned his attention back to the food, ignoring her.

“Every living thing has quintessence, it doesn’t matter whether it’s animal or vegetable. So we get our quintessence from the food we gather each year,” Shay explained. She gestured to the rest of the table. “See? It’s simple!”

All around them, people were pretending to eat, holding vegetables and fruit up to their pumpkin-head mouths and inhaling deeply. But as they watched, they started to realize that it wasn’t just pretend. They could see something — was it quintessence? — come out of the food and be sucked into each carved mouth. Whatever it was faintly glowed with a pale blue light.

The more light was sucked from the food, the worse it looked. Apples turned brown and rotted, skin practically slipping off and leaving behind only the core. Squash melted into mush, carrots curled and wilted.

But the people’s skeletal hands were starting to look more substantial as the pale blue light extended from the food in their hands and wrapped around their bones. Later on, Hunk would describe it like watching a gelatin mold set, and Lance would argue it was more like a watching fruit slices freeze inside of ice cubes.

Shay inhaled her potato with gusto as it sprouted eyes and dripped moldy puddles onto her plate. “Mmm. Everything even smells better this year. The quintessence is a lot fresher than usual.”

Hunk shuddered. “I think I’m gonna barf,” he muttered queasily.

Lance looked over at him and noticed he was starting to glow with the same faint light they’d seen on the food. Horrified, he realized that it wasn’t just the food’s quintessence that was being sucked in, but theirs as well, tendrils of light beginning to rise from his own arms as his stomach started to churn.

Pidge made a shrill noise of alarm, right in Lance’s ear. “We can’t stay here! We’ll be drained, too!” the pigeon hissed.

Lance abruptly stood up and dragged Hunk with him, startling Shay and Rax. They looked up, half-absorbed food in their bony hands.

“Sorry, just gotta take Hunk for some air,” Lance said apologetically.

He stumbled over the bench as they climbed over, but Hunk managed to catch him before he wiped out (much to Pidge’s relief). Unfortunately, Hunk didn’t let go of his arm, clinging to him the same way he had earlier that morning. If this kept happening, Lance’s arm was going to be permanently black and blue.

“There might not be anything here when you get back,” Rax warned.

Shay, apparently fed up, elbowed her brother in the stomach, causing him to choke and cough out some quintessence. The corn in his hand suddenly reverted from wilted and brown to dry and brittle.

“Don’t listen to him. I’ll save you a plate!” Shay called, the concern audible in her voice.

Hunk could only manage a wheezing noise in reply.

“We’ll be back in a few!” Lance called in a voice that was much higher than normal, saluting as they backed away slowly until they’d turned the corner.

Once out of sight, they pulled the jack o’ lanterns from their heads, tossing them aside and gasping for air. As the pumpkins smashed on the ground, they froze and looked at each other with wide, frightened eyes, but behind them the Harvest Festival continued. No one seemed to have noticed. Their skin was back to normal, the eerie blue light of escaping quintessence no longer visible.

“Time to go?” Pidge suggested in a small voice, wings flapping nervously.

“Time to go,” Lance agreed.

Hunk heaved, decided he wasn’t actually going to throw up, then gave a shaky thumbs up.

They tossed their stolen gloves next to the pumpkins and took off running straight out the gate and down the road, wanting nothing more than to put as much distance as possible between themselves and New Beginnings.

To be continued.

[genaleah]

oh god I remember jack o lantern!!! do u have any headcanons?

WHY YES, I DO. And I come armed with new knowledge from re-listening to the soundtrack and reading the comics! Which by the way, if you want to read the issues that include the story of the Woodsman and his daughter Anna, that would be these: Special #4 (their entire backstory), and then half of each of these issues is about Anna: #1, #2, #3, and #4.

And if you want my previous TL;DR regarding this ship, here’s that too! (That post also includes as link to Luc’s otgw tag, which has some really cool headcanons regarding Enoch and Pottsfield.)

I’ll start with my music-based headcanons.

- Based on the hymn that they’re singing at the huskin’ bee, I think the folks of Pottsfield are Puritans. The Woodsman and Anna strike me as vaguely Christian too, but… not in any active way. They live in the middle of nowhere, they’re not going to church.

- The Woodsman has a very short leitmotif that plays through the series. I think this is the sound of the music box from his home, which receives a lot of attention in the comics. It’s what wakes him up to go rescue Anna from the Beast, and it plays again to comfort Anna when she’s all alone. The comic strongly suggests that it’s one of the few things that the Woodsman’s wife can manipulate from beyond the grave. So it’s not just *his* theme, but the entire family, and how they’ve all been trying so hard to protect each other. The tune of it is also taken from “Into the Unknown”, these lines in particular: “Where have we come, and where shall we end? If dreams can’t come true, then why not pretend?”

INTO THE DEEP-DIVE THEORETICAL HISTORY HEADCANON HERE WE GOAfter reading the Woodsman’s backstory, I’ve decided to re-work my timeline for how he and Enoch meet. This is entirely theoretical, but I’m gonna try to connect it to the canon as much as I can:

The Woodsman was completely unaware of the presence of the ‘Unknown’ for a long time, his fears regarding the forest were generally vague. After the death of his wife, he was forced to go outside their property to fend for himself and Anna for the first time. His only real outdoorsman skill was chopping firewood, so he turned to that as a way to make some money to purchase the food and supplies that they couldn’t grow themselves. He left young Anna at home as he traveled to the nearby towns, because he trusted her to tend to the homestead, but not enough to be safe in the woods without his constant supervision. (He’s VERY anxious). (Also I’m bummed to re-work this bit of the timeline, because I liked the idea of Anna also encountering Pottsfield when she’s really young. BUT it seems like her first encounter with the Unknown is the Beast when she’s a young teen, and a few glimpses into it here and there while she’s stuck at home. I think it’s likely that she would explore the Unknown a bit more after she befriends Jordan, but I don’t think she’d want to leave the home empty for too long, either.)

Anyway! One day, out in the woods, the Woodsman gets a bit lost… and officially wanders into the Unknown. What better place for a first brush with this space between life/death, reality/dreams, than Pottsfield? And what better time than the harvest season?

It’s not common for people to wind up there. I’ve mentioned before, but Pottsfield seems like an incredibly unusual place by the Unknown’s standards. It’s very straightforward about its association with death while the rest of the Unknown seems much more vague, or more related to dreams and memories.

But Pottsfield seems like a natural place for the Woodsman to wind up in. He just had a traumatizing experience with death, and he’s got a bit of a grim personality already. A concept that is expanded on in the comics is that the Unknown LOOKS different to each person within it. Here’s how Greg sees the Unknown:

Here’s how Wirt sees it:

I get the feeling that the Woodsman has a similar outlook on the Unknown to Wirt’s. Melancholic, dangerous, perhaps more grounded in reality than dream. Also, I think that Pottsfield is one of the few places that would be historically contemporary and familiar to him. He and his wife survived the Civil War, and the design of Pottsfield was heavily based on vintage Halloween postcards from that time period (mid 1800s). So this reality-based guy is drawn to a place that makes sense for HIS reality. …Aside from the magic shape shifting town leader and the pumpkin-skeletons, but we’re getting there. 

But because I don’t want his first visit to Pottsfield to be identical to Greg and Wirt’s, I decided to steal an idea that was scrapped from the show: 

A trial! Which probably would’ve been due to the Woodsman doing something worse than the boy’s little party-crash. Maybe he got scared and tried to protect himself from the scary undead villagers? I’m not totally decided on what he did. But either way, the Woodsman would do his best to defend himself in court. He used to be a judge, after all.

I’m not *sure* if he would win or lose this case (again, not exactly sure what he’d do to wind up in this situation to begin with), but through it he would come to realize that oh… these people don’t mean any harm, they’re actually quite nice.

The citizens of Pottsfield aren’t the type to hold grudges, and they’re quickly endeared to this jumpy old city-guy with no sense for farming or living in the woods. It’s not long before they’re able to make a deal: his lumber in exchange for some basic farming lessons and necessities. He has a little girl to take care of, and they’re going to do the best they can to make sure he’ll be able to. If it weren’t for Pottsfield, they might not have survived their first winter alone.

The Woodsman doesn’t tell his daughter of this, or the other strange things that he starts to see in the forest. He doesn’t want to scare her, or worse, encourage her to go exploring. There are still dangerous things out there, and he’s not entirely convinced that there isn’t something dark behind Pottsfield too. The dead shouldn’t still be among the living, right? And yet… He keeps going back. Just for the work, he thinks. Just for the supplies, just until he can figure out what he’s doing, and then he’ll stop dabbling in this.

During this time he gets to know some of the townsfolk a bit better. Especially Enoch. I’ve already covered a lot of why I think they’d get along real well, so I’m gonna skip that for now.

Some more assorted headcanons:

-Enoch has a few additional seasonal forms for each of the major solstice celebrations. A huge snowman in winter, and a large sunflower-headed maypole in the summer. The harvest season is the most important, and his personal favorite. The other citizens of Pottsfield will also dress up for the different seasons, but otherwise just wear normal working clothes.

-The first form that the Woodsman ever saw Enoch in, aside from the pumpkin maypole, was as a black cat. He prefers his human appearance the most.

- At some point, the Woodsman mentions his wife, and asks that they keep an eye out for her, in case she comes to rest. Enoch readily agrees. In truth, she’s too far gone in another resting place. It seems difficult for her to reach Anna.  

- SPEAKING OF HER, she’s very supportive of the Woodsman’s relationship with Enoch. The hard truth of the matter is, she can’t be with him or Anna right now. It’s not fair for her to keep appearing and make them entirely secluded in their little cottage, forever talking to a ghost in the walls. It’s not a healthy way for their family to exist. But she’ll ALWAYS be a part of them, despite the distance. Enoch would not be replacing her, he’s a different part of their family and a loving presence in the Woodsman and Anna’s lives. She has no ill-will toward him.

- Anna may feel a bit betrayed at first, especially since her connection to her mother has grown since her death. It doesn’t seem fair to let her go now. But she’s the one to realize the Woodsman’s true feelings towards Enoch even before he knows it himself. And she can understand her mother’s perspective after some time and thought.

- After the Woodsman is tricked into the servitude of the Beast, I think he becomes a permanent fixture in the Unknown. He’s not really a ghost, but not a normal living man, either. I think his status of life is not dissimilar from the boys or Quincy Endicott. He doesn’t need sleep or sustenance, doesn’t age, etc. Meanwhile some folks seem to go about like normal and never have any peculiar side effects from living there. Anna is still going to grow old and die as she would’ve, but he may not. Not until he make the conscious choice to, at least.

- That’s all I’ve got right now but there may be more later. Adios! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ 

[duhragonball]

ediblenonsense replied to your post “Keeping it 100”

AWWW i'm so glad you liked OTGW!!!! :D

Watching the first four episodes, I could tell it was good, but I couldn’t tell where it was all going.   Like, there was clearly more to it than the musical numbers with the pumpkin town and the animal school, but I couldn’t figure out which parts would be important later and which were just there to set the tone.   I hoped that the second half would bring everything together, and it was just very satisfying to see it come together so neatly. 

I guess I’ll put some more under a cut, for spoilers.

Like, now that I look back on it, the pumpkin town thing makes way more sense, knowing that Wirt’s worst enemy is his own crippling self-doubt.    The whole episode felt anticlimactic, and it was funny, but it also makes sense as a Wirt story.    He feared the worst, and then it just didn’t happen. 

I was thinking about how they didn’t reveal a lot of the backstory until Episode 9, and why that worked as well as it did.  Generally, I prefer stories to be told in chronological order, not because they have to be, but just because a lot of writers can trip themselves up by trying to play cute with flashbacks and flash-forwards.   Matt Fraction did an issue of Hawkeye that was completely out of order, to the point where a fan on tumblr made a post explaining how to sort the pages into chronological order.   I wondered if the whole trip was even necessary, since each page had a date and time on it, so any reader could do the same thing, and what purpose did it serve to print the story all mixed up?

The most egregious example I’ve seen is the movie Seven Pounds.   My ex-girlfriend wanted to see it with me, and it’s one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.   Will Smith is a successful... doctor, I think?... and he spends most of the movie acting very mysterious and erratic, until we finally find out that he caused a car crash years ago, killing seven other people including his wife, and he’s so consumed by the guilt that he’s plotting to kill himself and donate all his organs.   Most of the stuff he does in the movie is giving way his worldly possessions, putting his affairs in order, and vetting the people he plans to donate his organs to, I guess because he wants to make sure he’s helping people who deserve it. 

It’s not a bad story when you write it out like that, but the problem is that they got really cute about the timing.   The movie opens with Will reporting his own suicide, then it flashes back to the days leading up to his death, then it occasionally flashes back further to hint at the car crash, and then, as you see him giving away his material possessions and hanging out with sick people, it starts to become clear what he’s up to. 

The problem I had was that I figured it out about halfway into the movie, and I’m not sure I was supposed to.    I say that because I got really bored watching the second half of it, because it was still teasing and hinting, and I already knew where this was going.   He had this big pet jellyfish, and it turned out that was how he planned to kill himself, because he had learned that the sting would be fatal without damaging any of his organs.   But when they actually paid all of that off, I didn’t care much, because I already knew the jellyfish must have had some role to play in his plan. 

Anyway, Over the Garden Wall kind of does the same trick, but successfully.    You have to wait until Episode 9 to find out how Wirt and Greg got lost, and what it is that they’re trying to return to.    Up to that point, I wasn’t sure if they even really had a home, and maybe they’d been trapped in an endless loop or something weird like that.   I started to think about why they didn’t just put Episode 9 up front, since that information seems worth leading off with. And this is what I came up with:

1. In Episode 8, Wirt blamed Greg for getting them lost.   That scene is more effective when we don’t know if Wirt is telling the truth or not.  

2. Episode 9 is completely different from the others, and it wouldn’t set the proper tone for the rest of the story.   By introducing the boys in costumes--but not acknowledging that it’s Halloween, we have no idea that they came from a modern setting.   To the audience, Wirt and Greg are completely unmoored from time.   We don’t know where they belong, which makes it seem plausible that maybe they don’t need to go back home.

3. What we see in Episode 9 isn’t needed to get the story started.    We don’t need to know about Sara, or the tape, or the cop who’s always kidding, or why Greg wears a teapot on his head.   We just need to know that they’re lost, and how they feel about being lost.   It’s only later, after Wirt has talked about life back home a few times, that it becomes necessary to reveal what home was actually like.  

4. A lot of the information in Episode 9 only works when it’s presented as a revelation.    If the story opened with the revelation that Greg’s teapot is a minimalist elephant costume, we wouldn’t care.   But because he wore the darn thing the entire time, and no one in the story seems to know what it’s for, it works as a payoff.    He could have told Beatrice or someone else in the present, but it works better as a flashback.   If we’d known about Sara from the beginning, it would distract from Wirt’s adventures.   He’d be doing all this stuff, and we’d be thinking about how things will end up with Sara when he gets back. 

So yeah, it’s just a really effective use of a flashback.  I think Seven Pounds made the mistake of being too guarded with its secrets.   They made Will Smith’s motivations so mysterious that it became impossible to tell who he was or what he was doing.  OTGW did it right, introducing Wirt as a sympathetic character with a clear goal in mind, and then slowly revealing a larger character arc that supercedes his immediate need to get out of the forest.   The revelations about him add to the character we already like, instead of just building him up from scratch.

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: Simple Melody

For our final AMA of Resbang 2017, @alliope, @bbbutterfingers & @daciafu stopped in to answer questions about their Resbang, Simple Melody! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: My first question for Allie is what inspired you to do this AU?

Allie: Well I've generally had the idea for an Over the Garden Wall AU for a while, not necessarily for SE, but as the first check-ins deadline was approaching I ended up rewatching bits of Over the Garden Wall and it just kinda clicked? Mainly I think it came from Crona's betrayal and Beatrice's betrayal and everything fell into place from there. I thought the eerie atmospheres would work well together! So I ended up scrapping my previous idea and wrote 3k plus a summary like three days before the first check-ins, rip.

Q: For butter/dacia, what went into how you decided which scene(s) to art?

butterfingers: HM well there was some chitchat when we started about what kind of work we wanted to do and I said that I loved the Boom comics covers, and then I shouted WHAT IF I MADE  COMIC BOOK COVERS! and I think Dacia went WHAT IF I DID BACKGROUNDS and I guess we just approached it as if we were doing something comic-y haha!

Allie: You two were the power duo.

daciafu: I've always been in love with the style of the backgrounds of OTGW since that's where all those cozy and spooky feelings of fall and the Unknown really shine and I'm honestly HORRIBLE at designing backgrounds so I wanted to take the challenge and push myself to get better! Mimicking other people's styles really helps me break down how they make their choices and teaches me how to make things look Decent so I was super hyped to pick up the OTGW style! And then when Butters and I were trying to figure out What Do and she said she wanted to tackle covers, I decided to do background-heavy scenes. 😊

Q: What is generally your guys’ process (writing for Allie and arting for butters and dacia)?

Allie: Well, I wrote in little scenes, like I would get an idea for a scene and just go for it, the fic wasn't at all coherent until maybe a few days before posting. This actually posed a problem since linking scenes took longer than I thought it would. Because I had most of my scenes written, I thought I had more finished than I really did. By the end of Resbang, I had 56k written but only 20k remotely post-able. I'm a super obsessive planner though, so my whole fic was outlined in detail early on, which was nice cause I knew what I was doing lol

butterfingers: I loved going through Allie's notes, I was always excited to see how they'd connect the dots! My art process is as follows: scribble something, put it aside, look at it a lot throughout the day with the thought that maybe I can surprise myself into seeing something new, find something I hate, fix it, rinse and repeat. For this project I actually... have a friend who works with Boom Comics and she was able to hook me up with a nice little gallery of illustrations for the OTGW comic so I got to go through and put together my mood board for it 😊

daciafu: I read over the gloriousness that was Allie's draft and immediately picked out some neat scenes or wanted to reimagine the classic OTWG ones. I spent a lot of time studying first! Looking at the art books, and poring over the show’s scenes and kind of getting a feel for the color palettes, textures and compositions. Then I watched a tutorial on Youtube where someone just deadass uploaded their painting process on a piece of official art that made it into the show. So that was EXTREMELY helpful to watch the way they painted back-to-front and kind of blended the planes without like, losing depth?? The internet is so, so wonderful. And then I got to work! Started with a soft brush for lineart so it wouldn't be too prevalent, moved onto base colors, then shading, and then really trying to establish textures and make the atmosphere Just Right(tm).

butterfingers: Genius!! Oh damn that sounds like such great advice vis à vis backgrounds. /takes notes

Q: You sound like the dream art partner Allie, I weep for my artists and my last minute HERE IS 10K I JUST TYPED UP BC IM A MESS.

Allie: Ahh geez, these two were the dream partners honestly, like I'm so glad they could gather stuff from my notes, cause I've always got everything together in my head, but then it gets out there and it's a mess, these two deserve all the love.

butterfingers: There was one thing I regret that I didn't have the chance to draw and it was like a throwaway line somewhere in your notes about Maka presenting Soul with a praying mantis and him freaking out. I resonated with that so hard hahaha.

Q: What was the hardest scene for you to write?

Allie: The hardest scene to write that's actually posted was anything with Justin really, I don't get his character and it was tough to write him. There were a few scenes that were hard to write because I rushed them, but I wouldn't say they were genuinely difficult scenes, I just gotta rewrite 'em! But overall the ending scene I'm still struggling to write and there's a dream scene that occurs which has been difficult to write just for making it dream-like enough?

Q: And what was the hardest to art? :o

butterfingers: I had a hard time with Maka's expressions. I had many scribbles designing a Ragnarok lantern, too, but it was very fun!!

Allie: Your design for the Ragnarok lantern was so good, I still cry over it.

butterfingers: Ahaha thank you! He was very Calcifer inspired ;)

daciafu: I struggled quite a bit with the first one I painted, just because it was all so new to me. I had to base color 3 different times because the soft lineart bothered me if something extended too far, or there was white background peeking through. And then reimagining the texture in the leaves and the ground to try to separate the planes there but also wanting them to be cohesive was a bit of a headache. If I had to go back and do that one over again I think I'd be more prepared to deal with the foliage lmao.

butterfingers: Your textures were very excellent, that was a quality I struggled with as well!

daciafu: The first one I painted was the Golden Light scene where Maka and Soul are leaving the woods and entering the fields.

butterfingers: Trees r hard.

Allie: They all came out so incredible though, I'm in awe of how you were able to create those leaves.

daciafu: Omg ;;;;; At the same time trees are so organic and flowy and the chances of getting them wrong are pretty slim considering they can get janked as hell lol they're super fun to just zone out to. "I’ll just put a happy little leaf here, ooh and how’s about another one right next to it. They can be happy friends. Oh look, the squad showed up!!" Channeling my inner Bob Ross... but yeah you can just do whatever with them and they somehow come together.

Q: Daciafu how do u.....background, like you did so well and all I hear from art friends is various levels of pterodactyl screeching when the word background is mentioned.

daciafu: I heavily based the Leafing the Forest scene and the church scene after stills from the show so I don't get composition points there, but I built the pumpkin fields just based off of the environment’s design elements. I really wanted to push the depth of that scene but also give it that same never-ending quality to it, and I'm super happy with the results. Another note is that I omitted the characters entirely while building the backgrounds. Since I'm usually a pretty character-heavy artist, I wanted to tackle it like I was preparing the scene for an animator later. And then once they were done, I added in our sweet kids. Doing it that way first really helped to cement the characters in the space rather than my usual "character is done, how can I put them in an interesting physical space?" struggle lmao.

Q: Did you guys feel like your writing/arting changed at all or that you learned anything/picked up new skills/honed old ones etc. etc. during Resbang?

Allie: Gosh yeah, it changed a lot. In hindsight a bad idea, but this was the first fic I'd ever written with intention of posting and the longest piece I'd ever written. Before this I had written very little and my longest piece was maybe 10k. Throughout Resbang I've learned most of everything from the ground up, it's taught me a lot about my limits, how I work and writing in general. I've definitely improved a lot from the experience!

butterfingers: Let me tell you all about the airbrush tool that I discovered during Resbang. Amazing. Incredible.

daciafu: I learned how to paint backgrounds!!! Which is something I've always wanted to get better at. And I got super comfortable in Clip Studio (I'd just gotten it) as well as using texture brushes, so overall it was a very helpful and wonderful experience as a Resbang participant and as an arteest.

Q: Oh that reminds me butters, what program do you use?

butterfingers: Paint Tool SAI for the most part, and then Photoshop for color correction, borders, and, like, finesse things! :)

Q: Did you guys listen to any music that inspired you or helped you create?

Allie: Ah, yeah! I had a playlist actually! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjTCaFkFU6rkD1edJwCZmHvJiUwlSUeGZ

If you want I can explain some bits of it? I use music a lot when writing aha. I like to associate certain songs with characters and character relationships, so most of the songs are connected to a particular part of the story. The Monroe Transfer, Wayfaring Stranger, and Mountains were all more general atmosphere stuff. Blame was very much related to Maka, which may not be apparent now, but yeah. Ragnarok I actually connected a lot with Willow Tree March. Soul was probably closest with A Lady. Crona had a lot of songs, but Neptune was most specific to them, as was probably Ghost Towns. Some character relationships I associated with certain songs, Crona-Ragnarok and Soul-Maka were both pretty connected to Always Gold, especially that dang last line "there were holes in you, the kind that I could not mend" oh man. Crona-Maka was definitely We Could Be Friends, Bloom, and Spell. Meet Me in The Woods I thought was a pretty good group song! Those are just some general bits of my thinking with the music aha.

daciafu: Definitely checked out Allie's dope playlist. For most of my working time, tho, I was either listening to TAZ: Commitment or MBMBaM oddly enough lol. I will forever think of Justin's uproarious laughter whenever I look at them lmao.

Q: Were any of the relationships difficult to characterize?

Allie: Mmm this may sound weird but early Maka-Crona was weird for me, cause they were kinda at that point where they want to (or at least Maka wants to) like each other, but they don’t like or trust each other at all and it's a weird spot for them. I'm used to writing them as at least interested by one another, if not enemies or already fond of one another, so this felt like a very odd place to start with them.

Q: Do you guys have future plans for writing/drawing? Aside from polishing and posting the rest of the fic!

Allie: I have,,, too many plans,, I need less plans,, someone please take them away from me, I can't be trusted with them,,,, I do want to do a sequel for this when I get it finished, playing on the detail about crows memory lasting five years so. Beyond that I have a SoMa fic to finish for the prompt challenge!! I'm working on a gift for Crescentcrona, which is a fantasy Kirona fic called Eat The Rich. I have polyam week fics that I'm cleaning up, I think my favorite so far is a Azusa/Naigus/Sid/Mifune one for Through The Seasons. And God I have so many CroMa fics I want to write, I gotta fill the AO3 tag. I think the biggest one right now is a wings-related soulmates au that I've been working on on the side since October I think?

daciafu: Yo there's one scene that I'm like sUPER hyped to do if Allie does the sequel because I already know exactly how I wanna draw it but I wasn't able to fit that in near the end, and it didn't end up in the first part. But there are a couple of other scenes Allie and I workshopped that would be super fun to do and I would love to draw them. Other than that, my drawing plans are pretty much working on commissions as they come in. Surprisingly my queue has been maxed out and I just got a full time job so of course now I'm like.... hm.... I'll get 'em done eventually!!

----

That’s the end of the AMAs for the 2017 season! Thanks again for reading along with us, and see you next year! :)