#stupid wizard franchise

[leam1983]

It might be pithy consolation, but as someone who's coming in from literary studies, what seems to really lie behind the sense of wounded pride and spurned attachment that a lot of Potterheads face is the fact that, well, JK Rowling is still alive.

Compare and contrast with HP Lovecraft. Guy was a racist douchecanoe with terribly offensive theories about race, segregation, miscegenation, and the roots and value system of the Western world. In today's world, he probably would've turned full-on Trumpanzee before his death. Thankfully, that never happened. HP Lovecraft died of pancreatic cancer a virtually unknown and forgotten fanzine author, and survived his own literary agony only thanks to the works of friends and fellow literary theoricians who managed to extricate him from his own works - and who preserved them.

Today, his legacy spans all of Weird Fiction and is covered by POC, Native, Trans, Nonbinary or generally Progressive writers of all stripes. Cosmic Horror is appreciated by people from a wide massing of backgrounds and only pays lip service to some of his more contentious themes - usually to denounce them in the same breath, or to flip them around. See Frogwares' The Sinking City and its town of various fish-men and ape-persons in expensive designer suits realizing they harbor a chapter of the KKK, and your only interaction with the group being the act of gunning them down where they stand. You might be facing off against the Spawn of Chtulhu, but you've still got time to fill criminalized bigots full of lead...

Distance, I think, will eventually be a balm to most Potter fans. Unfortunately, that's not something that could just be granted to them just right then and there. Rowling's going to die, her supported charities will peter off, her dissonant tone will settle - and it'll probably be easier to be a Potter fan, from then on. Plus, all it takes is a few surviving fanzines for Rowling's oeuvre to follow the same path as Lovecraft's, where the Wizarding World is divested of her influence. Warner Bros. having a stake in it, it stands to reason the exact year of Rowling's death sees the Potterverse more or less explode with new content.

As distance is good, it could also be good for fans to... maybe take five from all things Potter, too. A better appreciation for the material could then be found, later on.

What makes JKR's shitshow even harder to process is that she didn't just ruin a book series. Harry Potter was an entire subculture. Like Star Wars and Star Trek fans, Harry Potter fans dedicated their lives and careers to the series. I don't know if I'd call it "underground," but liking Harry Potter got you beaten up when I was in school, so it was more of a dedicated indie culture than a mass-appeal fanbase.

Harry Potter was so huge that fan works developed their own followings. Potter Puppet Pals racked up hundreds of thousands of followers and was nearly as relevant as the series itself. For fanfiction, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality got so big that it has a Wikipedia page. The band Harry and the Potters spawned the wizard rock music genre. A Very Potter Musical developed a fanbase and launched Darren Criss's career.

Harry Potter also has extensive ties to fandom history. Everyone in my generation (millennials) remembers coming home from school to read Harry Potter fanfiction on the Internet. Today, most people just post their stories on Wattpad or Archive of Our Own. But at the time, the fanbase was splintered between fanfiction.net and dozens of individual websites and forums, some made for specific ships. Since they all had individual hosts, a lot of those sites have been lost to time.

And there's the infamous My Immortal fanfiction, which is an Internet legend with people still searching for the author. Everybody read that one (and laughed at it) in middle school.

Pre-social media, fan sites like The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet had massive followings because they were one of few sources for news, theories, essays and fan content. Some of these sites still exist after being around for over a decade and building their own legacy.

Before Deathly Hallows came out, fans were so desperate to know what happened that Mugglenet published a book called What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End? Yep...Harry Potter was so big that people wrote separate books about what would happen in an upcoming book.

And that's not mentioning all the book release parties, Harry Potter-themed events, monuments, fan films, restaurants and even a theme park. A lot of fandoms have those, but Harry Potter infiltrated every aspect of popular culture.

Today, there's a thriving culture of "Harry Potter adults" with themed weddings, baby showers and Etsy stores. Putting your Hogwarts house in your Instagram bio is pretty much a prerequisite for joining the "bookish" community. Warner still produces new content, like the Fantastic Beasts series, although we've all seen what a disaster that's been.

Everyone has at least a few memories associated with Harry Potter even if it's just watching the movies. I had great memories associated with Harry Potter. But looking back at the subculture, history and thousands of fan works, it doesn't seem fun anymore. Studying the fandom or being part of it comes with an awkward tension because you don't want to seem like you're condoning JKR's bigotry but can't divorce her from the series. This subculture was spawned by a woman who turned her legacy of magic and wonder into one of abuse and hatred.

I don't expect people to write paragraphs about how much they hate JKR every time they post about Harry Potter, but it's still uncomfortable to see people make new content or wear their Harry Potter Etsy tote bags like nothing happened. Even if they clarify that they don't support her, it's just a weird, tense situation for everybody.

People dedicated years of their lives to running Harry Potter fan sites, writing fanfiction, cosplaying characters and making fan movies. If I were in that situation, I'd have a mild identity crisis. I'd ask myself "Did I waste all those years? Should I delete my content? Where do I go from here?"

So ultimately, JKR didn't ruin "just" a book series or even "just" a fandom. She tanked an entire culture, which inspired people to look at Harry Potter more critically. The issues that people brought to the light tainted the series's legacy even without JKR's personal issues.

Once, Harry Potter was a series for generations. Now, former fans hope that the series fades into irrelevancy. Unfortunately, JKR didn't just tarnish her legacy--she took decades of history, millions of fans and a worldwide subculture along with her.

[bowsersforeskin]

i just saw an ad for some new h*rry p*tter media and I just want to make it painfully clear that if i am reminded of its existence in any capacity i'm blocking your braindead ass

[novemberthewriter]

while i'm #bitching ... something that's always irritated me about hp fandom, like, even when i was in my halcyon grade school days of obsessing over the series -- it's the ... ubiquitous nature of slytherin fans? like, modern me understands what people were trying to do w rehabilitating slytherin, but i also just felt like people would say they were in slytherin just for the sake of it. like before the theme park and the pottermore site, back when sorting was just you picking a house based off vibes almost every super vocal hp fan was slytherin and it drove me nuts cuz they were so insufferable about it like /they/ were an oppressed class IRL lol

[leam1983]

MUDA MUDA WRY and Other Sundries

Them: "What's your Hogwarts house?"

Me: "No. Stop trying to figure out who to block on here and go back to living your life knowing your choices as a consumer are meaningful and consciously performed. Don't read who you don't want to support, read whoever it is that makes you feel good about yourself or this fucking shitty dust ball we live on, and free yourself from the shame and dishonor incurred by an author whom you don't even like anymore.

You want her business to flounder? Then stop thinking about it. Stop posting about it. Stop demanding that others stop thinking about it. Stop expecting fandom to be a moral litmus test. Focus on your goddamn own, personal battles and be aware of how much you can take. Caring too much leads to madness.

Also, incidentally, my Hogwarts House is a 1967 Montreal bungalow with a cathedral roof and a spacious back yard with room enough for a pool, a few brick paths and some floral arrangements."

[tiktaaliker]

ok ok I promy I won't be talking about blood libel the video game but it's so so so SO funny to me that if you look up hogwarts legacy on here almost all the top posts are people saying how shitty it is. as it should be

[pinkshgum]

my friend got really mad at me bc i told her to boycott harry potter...

wow no wonder i, a trans person, told her to not give money to infamous transphobic author jk rowling. she kept telling me "just let me watch harry potter!" bitch you know that supporting that shitty little franchise actually harms people right? trans lives are worth more than a stupid movie. now she won't talk to me because i "annoyed" her

i've got some friendships to reconsider becauss wtf

[infinitelilith]

It's actually so incredibly easy to not support R*wling or her stupid ass wizard franchise unless you're a cis person in which case it's apparently fucking impossible

[bluescluesposting]

So in recent years, I've been seeing a LOT of posts, especially on Tumblr, about how "weird" it is that adults (or even teens) are into kids shows, how anyone over 25 that still watches kids shows are "cringe", and just overall a lot of people making fun of anyone who likes something aimed at a younger demographic when it's all harmless.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. If you're saying stuff like this, you're an asshole.

You don't have to still like kids shows as an adult. You do you. Just as we're doing us. There's nothing wrong with being over 12 and loving kids shows. There's nothing wrong with being over 18 or 25 or WHATEVER and loving kids shows or any kids media. If it's not hurting anyone, it's fine (read: this is NOT about the crappy wizard boy franchise since it's giving a known TERF profit, so yes, engaging with it IS hurting people. This is just about most kids stuff in general). Why the hell should you or anyone else care? I'm 27. I run a Blue's Clues blog. I also love horror movies, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and The Kids in the Hall. Most adults who love kids shows love other things not for kids, too. And if they don't...who cares, really? It's what they enjoy. All of you who make posts like that just sound like those high school assholes who gave you a hard time for liking something, so now you want to do the same to everyone else.

Keep loving kids shows. Keep loving Blue's Clues. Keep loving Bluey or SpongeBob or My Little Pony or whatever. Anyone who says otherwise is a jerk and an idiot who hate to see anyone enjoying themselves in anyway that isn't "acceptable" to their tastes. Just screw 'em.

(I know this isn't completely Blue's Clues related but I keep seeing those stupid posts so I felt like this blog was the place to say it).

[autumnalhalcyon]

the cass report, and all of the fallout its liable to cause (i;e puberty blockers and gender affirming care for minors potentially being outlawed) is exactly what support for JK Rowling was always going to result in. and i will always be pissed at the fragile cis people who refused to listen to the pleas and warnings of literally any marginalized group about dropping her and her stupid wizard franchise.

to all of the trans youth in the uk and beyond that are liable to be affected by this, i am so sorry that this has happened, and i pray that you manage to escape terf island if or when you can or want to.

[mirakurutaimu]

Opinion on Ral Zarek now being an Otter in both meanings of the word?

rant time i talked about this on Twitter a bit yesterday but it's so fucking stupid. like it's kinda cute that Bloomburrow has the kingdom hearts lion king world "if you go here you're an animal while you're here" thing, but also the only thing we were really told about Bloomburrow leading up to it was "there will be no humans on the plane". so we're all like oh shit, cool, sounds like it's gonna be its own unique thing without a bunch of Dudes You Know in it since there's no humans in it, right? we can finally escape the cycle of banal, tropey sets that are mostly just "Characters From Magic's History Dress Up In Costumes" (MKM, Cowpokez, NEO, Capenna) but nope. of course not. if you planeswalk/omenpath to bloomburrow, you turn into a furry! now watch them sell secret lair packs of fur-tfed planeswalkers, because of course every set needs to be a vehicle for a bunch of stupid gimmicky Products™️ they can sell to gamers with extremely loose wallets

oh, yeah, and alongside this announcement was that they're cutting off printing of portuguese cards. it's not the Biggest deal since I've heard firsthand in non-English speaking countries that they usually just end up using the English cards anyways (gee I wonder if this has anything to do with the globalization of American culture lol no problems there). but they only decided to cut off the printing of portuguese (and simplified chinese) cards because they're facing a 2% drop in profits this year... because of all the stupid royalty fees they're paying on their dumbass Universes Beyond crossover bullshit lol

i've loved Magic since i started playing in high school, but as of late that love has been waning a good bit. the game is so bogged down by corporate product shilling bullshit. every card needs 900 alternate arts. 900 alternate borders. every set needs a hideous alternate card treatment. every set needs 56 different kinds of booster packs. no more Block-format releases, no more core sets, just products, products, products, products.

i used to be a big fan of Commander/EDH, but ever since it really caught on and Wizards/Hasbro decided "well, this is the most popular gamemode, we now need to design the entire game around it" and it kinda completely ruined commander imo. what was once a gamemode about running weird, niche interactions and building something with a unique flavor or playstyle now boils down to "well, just pick one of the 92849634796782435678 legendary creatures they've been printing for the past few years and run all these extremely pushed commander staples they keep printing" and it just ain't fun anymore. gotta sit down at the table and look at entire Doctor Who decks and Transformers cards and Tomb Raider cards and etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc. Commander tables are just fucking billboards now lmao

it's very clear WOTC/Hasbro has no idea what to do now that they did the Giant Multiverse-Ending Threat of the Phyrexians in All Will Be One. much like the marvel movie franchise which MTG has been so emulating for years now (AND HAS EVEN SIGNED A FUCKING CROSSOVER DEAL WITH AS OF LAST YEAR, SEE YOU IN 2025 THANOS COMMANDER DECK), we're at the period where they're just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, twiddling their thumbs with these boring, tropey sets, all the while drowning players in a deluge of alternate arts, secret lairs, crossovers, etc. a common complaint among magic's playerbase is that nowadays they're literally selling too much shit. preview/teasers season for one set will immediately be followed by previews and teasers for another set. there's no time for anything to breathe it's just buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy.

anyways stop giving hasbro money, print proxies and play magic for free :)

[enby-of-the-stars]

Just in case it wasn't clear

If you play Hogwarts Legacy I will block you on sight.

Even if you pirate it.

The lives of trans people and jewish people are much more important than Blood Libel Simulator the game.

Harry Potter needs to die already, because how can you possibly feel comfortable supporting a franchise created by a racist, ableist, TERF that is using the money and support for her stupid IP to further her bigotry to make the lives of trans people worse.

The game is literally stopping an uprising from an enslaved race that are BLATANT antisemitic stereotypes. At a time where antisemitic hate crimes and rhetorics are on the rise. And you are stopping them from kidnapping wizard children, aka blood libel. Something that has been used to justify KILLING jewish people.

How can you possibly feel comfortable playing a game like that? How could you ENJOY playing a game lile that?

How fucking hard is it to not play the game? That is the bare fucking minimum you can do to support jewish and trans people!

So if you play the game, either by buying it or piracy. BLOCK ME RIGHT NOW YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES

[foulfirerebel]

Preserving these tags, they are true. #i dont mean to defend ignorance and i really hope im not

#this is specifically about the terf wizard franchise

#u need to understand that not everyone actually hears abt what the terf has done to trans politics for whatever reason

#and its not like theyre ignorant or deliberately ignoring it but people Actually just Dont Know n its not really their fault

#u need to stop assuming that everyone has read the same articles and tweets and posts that you have

i think some terminally online people here and everywhere need to understand that a LOT of people just. don’t know a lot of things. for many different reasons.

[most-datable-undatable]

Your Match-Ups!

Because I am a complete mess of a person, I forgot to put a few on my original list, so good news for the person who suggested Wizard from Stardew Valley a bit late: Because of my stupidity, he is now on the bracket!

We have a total of 104 contestants! This will be a standard single-elimination tournament. Match-ups were completely randomized, although for the first round I did not allow match-ups between two characters from the same franchise.

Voting will begin tomorrow morning at 9am PST. I will post one poll every ten or so minutes. I will do 26 tomorrow and 26 on Tuesday. Be sure to follow so you don't miss out on a vote for your favorite!

Without further ado: Your Most Datable Undatable Character Round 1 Match-Ups!

Day One

Kai (Harvest Moon: Back to Nature)/Hytham (AC: Valhalla)

Aphrodite (Stray Gods)/Robin (Stardew Valley)

Cole (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Dame Aylin (Baldur’s Gate 3)

Sten (Dragon Age: Origins)/Helena Blake (Mass Effect)

Kent Connolly (Fallout 4)/Asterius (Hades)

Serana (Skyrim)/Bo Calloway (Scarlet Hollow)

Perry (Harvest Moon: Animal Parade)/Cliff Holden (Our Life: Beginning & Always)

EDI (Mass Effect 2 and 3)/Soma Jarlskona (Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla)

Kasumi Goto (Mass Effect 2)/Shandra Jerro (Neverwinter Nights 2)

Mel (Fallout 4)/Neeshka (Neverwinter Nights 2)

Vivienne de Fer (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Pasqal Haneumann (Rogue Trader)

Carlos (Rune Factory 4)/Hypnos (Hades)

Scout Lace Harding (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Bishop (Neverwinter Nights 2)

Deacon (Fallout 4)/Theseus (Hades)

Virgil (Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura)/Avitus Rix (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Nathaniel Howe (Dragon Age: Awakening/Dragon Age 2)/Wynert (Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate)

Quinn (Dream Daddy)/Karliah (Skyrim)

Nick Valentine (Fallout 4)/Nakmor Drack (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Dagna (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Terry (Rune Factory 5)

Rolan (Baldur’s Gate 3)/Talos Drellik (Star Wars: The Old Republic)

Shiala (Mass Effect)/Jodi (Stardew Valley)

Tiran Kandros (Mass Effect: Andromeda)/Trickster (Hooked on You)

Arthur Maxson (Fallout 4)/Brassidas (Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey)

Brynjolf (Skyrim)/Briala (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Mary Christiansen (Dream Daddy)/Chaos (Hades)

Olgierd von Everestu (The Witcher 3)/Wizard (Stardew Valley)

Day Two

Frea (Skyrim)/Rose of Sharon Cassidy (Fallout: New Vegas)

Legion (Mass Effect 2 and 3)/Yuthura Ban (Knights of the Old Republic)

Qyzen Fess (Knights of the Old Republic)/Dammon (Baldur’s Gate 3)

Isobel Thorm (Baldur’s Gate 3)/Athena (Stray Gods)

Sandy (Stardew Valley)/Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII)

Kaelyn the Dove (Neverwinter Nights 2)/Medusa (Stray Gods)

Bao Dur (Knights of the Old Republic)/Evfra (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Arcade Gannon (Fallout: New Vegas)/Jeremus (Mount and Blade: Warband)

Nyreen Kandros (Mass Effect)/Shale (Dragon Age: Origins)

Urdnot Wrex (Mass Effect Series)/Marnie (Stardew Valley)

Talvas Fathryon (Skyrim)/Nihlus Kryik (Mass Effect)

Cremisius “Krem” Aclassi (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Gatekeeper (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Keldorn (Baldur’s Gate 2)/Lin Fa (Rune Factory 4)

Johnny Silverhand (Cyberpunk 2077)/Veronica Santangelo (Fallout: New Vegas)

Tarquin Victus (Mass Effect 3)/Aveline (Dragon Age 2)

Judith (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)/Varric Tethras (Dragon Age 2/Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Evelyn (Rune Factory 3)/Sagacious Zu (Jade Empire)

Jarun Tann (Mass Effect: Andromeda)/J’Zargo (Skyrim)

Joker (Mass Effect Series)/Vault Tec Rep (Fallout 4)

Eder (Pillars of Eternity 2)/Iorveth (The Witcher 2)

Atris (Knights of the Old Republic 2)/Vernon Roche (The Witcher 2)

Kharjo (Skyrim)/Lambert (The Witcher 3)

Mordin Solus (Mass Effect 2 and 3)/Eskiel (The Witcher 3)

Raphael (Baldur’s Gate 3)/Takemura (Cyberpunk 2077)

Craig Boone (Fallout: New Vegas)/Canderous Ordo (Knights of the Old Republic)

Mira (Knights of the Old Republic 2)/Wistful Deviless (Sunless Sea)

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

I'm still watching this incredibly long analysis of all the bullshit in Harry Potter (and WOW is this franchise unquestioningly colonial in a way that I, who only ever read the core books, was not aware of I mean HOLY SHIT) and I am so randomly pissed off right now.

Skolala Refujeyo in Curse Words uses a colour coding system for magical mastery (your school colour denotes your academic rank, standard wizard stuff) and I am just now learning that Rowling's stupid racist Japanese wizard school also uses a colour mastery system but badly. I KNOW that there are a limited number of common tropes and setting details in magical fantasy and they're gonna show up but every time I find a new coincidental similar detail between Harry Potter and Curse Words I just get more pissed off.

[marine-indie-gal]

Been awhile since I haven't drawn any Tabaluga lately, not since that I've finally got a chance to watch the Kristin Fairlie version online since I first found the Mackenzie Ziegler version from it's Alternate Stupid Title, "Ice Princess Lilly" only to fool a lot of people into thinking it was a Frozen knock-off from a Regular Old Dollar Store. Though it's still not a big surprise from Me for the US to give out some CGI Movie Adaptations of Kids Shows from an Old Decade under their own Cheap Titles like "Here Comes The Grump" to "A Wizard's Tale" and even "The Magic Roundabout" to "Doogal" (seriously, the last one sucked ass. Even though I haven't had a chance to watch the British version, I heard a lot of good things about the OG version of that Other Adaptation much better than how Weinstein butchered it with their own Pop Culture references).

So I had a small talk with my Friend, @djinarocks of how we loved Tabaluga and how that Arktos is one of our Favorite Villains of Musical Theatres (compare to Von Rothbart from "Swan Lake" and even The Mouse King from "The Nutcracker") after I introduced her to this German Franchise.

While that both Me and My Friend love Obscure Media a whole lot, we both ship Tabaluga/Lilli together as a Romeo and Juliet like pairing (since these Two Elemental Kids did reminded Me a lot of that Other Elemental Romeo and Juliet Movie made by Sanrio (not to be confused with the Pixar one that is)). During in one of our conversations, we talked about on how we wondered if Lilli didn't leave Iceland and started her own New Life up in Space if Arktos did raised her and treated her as his own Actual Heir (something as if his own Mother would've liked to have Grandchildren if the Son were to pass the Whole "Dictator" thing to his own Children like a Family Thing).

If you're one of the Fans who both love the Musical and the Show other than the Movie, you'd probably would know that Arktos created Her, only to lure Tabaluga in for exchange of his Fire (in which the 2018 Adaptation did by its own self, but without the Whole "Give Your Own Fire to Me" thing and replace it into having "One Last Hero to be Killed" scenario that made Arktos into a much more Sinister Creepy Dragon Genocidal Monster as an Akin Contrast to the OG Arktos). But since Me and My Friend had this "Thought" if Lilli didn't leave Iceland, what if Arktos had a different way with her? Something like raising a Heir and make them a Future Dictator for your own Country. If anything, that could've had make Lilli give her so much more character other than just a "Love Interest" (akin to the Movie's Lilli as well).

Basically, Arktos creates Lilli through Sculpture (but it goes different than the last one than in the show through a twist), instead of creating a Trap for Dragon Bait, he actually creates Lilli as a single heir of his own so that way she'd beat Tabaluga to rule all over the lands one day. After trying to wind her up with a Wind-Up Key, Arktos thought of a better solution by breathing her into Life to make her Real. He names his own Daughter, "Lilli" because after researching through a Book about Humans, he mispronounced the name "Lilith" (The First Wife of Adam) into "Lilli" and mistaken Her as Eve (Adam's True Wife) (because that's clearly how he created her according to some of the Musical's lore from what I can remember). Although while Tabaluga was deeply in love with Arktos' Humanoid Daughter, Arktos forbid their own love and didn't want to be a Father-In-Law to his own Arch-Nemesis (whose the Son of his First Enemy).

Teaching his own Child everything about Iceland Life, Lilli was somehow fascinated by the World of Greenland and wanted to explore around Other Countries instead invading to in which, She and Her Father have a Huge Conflict about. Unlike the Movie's Lilli, this AU Lilli has more personality than the one in the show of her single appearance; She is more Meek and Shy with a Quiet Personality but is still Curious about the Entire World that she demands to ask a Whole Lot of Questions (even if her Father dares to answer one of them). Despite their own disagreements, Arktos loved his own Daughter deeply similar to how his own Mother passed on her Son's Spoiled Love to Another (even James would still have to be Lilli's own Manny whenever his Penguin Butler would have to keep an eye on her whenever the Father's not around).

When Tabaluga got over his own crush for her after their first meeting, he basically decided on how to teach Lilli to be more "Independent" whenever she'd come and visit Greenland (either with or without her own Father), even with the help of her own Friends. Although that while most of the Greenlanders didn't like Lilli at first, the Ice Princess then expand more of her Kindness to her Surroundings as throughout her own Arc between Seasons 2-3, She and Tabaluga develop more of their Romance (instead of having a Rushed One). After the Frozen Defeat of Arktos, Lilli then decides for her own life that it is best to join her own Boyfriend and become the Rulers of both their own Lands after a Long Journey ahead of having Each of The Four Seasons be released every year as they start their own New Life together, thus, ending their own Families' hate feud.

I've probably should've had put this in my version of Tabaluga but oh well, at least this is probably from a Simple AU where if Lilli did had more Character than just being the Main Character's Love Interest. 🤷‍♀️

BTW, when I finally got a chance to watch the First English Dub Movie online, I was so Happy that I got a chance to seeing the Scene where Tabaluga and Lilli sing their own Love for Each Other from one of the Musicals and let me tell you it was sooooooo Adorable to see Tabaluga and Lilli's love for each other, which makes my Love for the Both of Them even more 🥰

And while that I still haven't checked out the Rest of the Musicals and their Songs (since I still can't understand German as Someone who wishes to learn more about Any Foreign Language for the Same Person who watches Foreign Cartoons all the time), I did try out the Original versions for "Devil In White" and "I'm Feeling You" as I still need to practice more of my own Tabaluga homework. XP

I was also afraid on how I would deal with my own first time drawing with Canon Arktos after doing my own version of Him (since his Left Arm was a bit hard for Me), but I think I nailed it after trying to draw out their own Canon Designs from the Franchise.

Arktos and Lilli (c) Peter Maffay, Rolf Zuckowski, and Gregor Rottschalk.

[mislamicpearl]

3Below and Wizards in Retrospect

You know, even though the Tales of Arcadia fandom generally considers 3Below the weakest out of the three series, after watching it again I gotta say, that's giving it too much discredit! In regards to pacing, humor, and atmosphere, it's got a lot more in common with Trollhunters than Wizards did, and even if it might've been a bit more on the sillier side for some people it still had the same amount of heart as Trollhunters as well - the same way I came to love the Trollhunters as a team and family unit, so did I come to love Aja, Krel, Varvatos, Stuart, and even Mother and the robot parents. Aja and Krel especially are such a precious pair of siblings, I love how they bicker and argue over silly things but always look out for one another.

The only thing I could say I didn't like about the show was Colonel Kubritz. My gosh what a stupid annoying hypocritical b*tch! None of her actions made sense and I just wanted her to die every time she was onscreen. Easily my most hated villain in the whole franchise.

As for Wizards, I was right with people in thinking the show was too fast-paced when I first watched it, and I do still wish that it'd been given more episodes. But now it's just 'cause I would have really liked to sit with the show for a bit longer! After seeing it again, I'm honestly incredibly impressed with how much they packed into it without sacrificing any of the great characterization, development, and world-building that I've come to expect from this franchise. While it is technically fast, it didn't feel like it - there was never a point where I thought "oh wait, we're doing this now?" and that might be due to me already having seen the show (though I did forget a lot of the details), but even with that I think the episodes flowed very nicely into each other. Characters were given slower moments to express themselves and their fears, and each next step of the plot was made clear and had a logic behind it. So I think the difference between a show being short and fast rather than being fast-paced is that you always know where you are with the characters and plot.

Now unlike 3Below, which could be viewed without having seen Trollhunters, Wizards doesn't have light filler episodes (which contrary to most people's complaints about them are sometimes essential in a plot-driven show), or a self-contained story, and doesn't really stand well on its own like either of its predecessors - but it didn't really need to. It's a long movie-sequel to Trollhunters focusing on a different area of the story, specifically its history and magic.

And that's cool! Sure I would have liked a third self-contained story about Douxie and new wizard characters (I know the Zoe character was originally supposed to be a deuteragonist alongside him and I do wish we could've seen more of her and tech wizardry), but the show still did a good job making him a likable protagonist, as well as give us a few new characters to love like Deya and Lancelot. The only thing I would nitpick about the show is that I'm not too big on how much of a shift there was with Morgana, who was the big final boss in Trollhunters but is now shown to be on the good side. Like, at least it could've been mentioned before that she used to be an advocate for magical creatures before she fell into dark magic.

But with that all said, my original point is just that this franchise is great. Trollhunters is still unequivocally the best but 3Below and Wizards are also really really good follow-ups. Here's hoping the movie proves to be just as good or even better!