I think I just had the most beautiful interaction of my life.
I had a little bit of a breakdown outside of a pizza place earlier today. I cried harder than I have in years, tears pelting the concrete like rain and cloudy glasses. In the moment, I felt as small and powerless as an infant, one that had been dumped into a vat of quicksand. All I could do was sink farther and farther into that fear and sob. I can't remember a time that I've ever felt so defeated. So useless. So broken.
But then...
One small act. That's all it really took to remind me of the good in the world.
Two parents, around my mom's age had passed by just a little earlier. They had seen me sitting on the ground, calling my mom, and trying everything I could to slow my breathing through choked out breaths. I apologized for being in their way just moments earlier.
But... They didn't look at me with hatred or disgust or even pity. All of the emotions I felt towards myself in that moment, and I was SO sure anyone else would feel towards me if they saw me... Just wasn't there.
They asked if I was okay and gave me a pat on the shoulder. A stranger. A sobbing, absolutely pathetic looking, sniffling stranger. A soft act of kindness. Connection.
"You'll get through this, I promise. I know it's really hard right now, but I swear it won't last forever."
The two of them just kept going on. Telling me that I was loved and cared about and that I was going to get through this. These two absolute strangers. I thanked them so much, still sobbing, telling them that they made my day. And again.
"Do you know who else's days you make? Your parents. We have two kids of our own, and I know... I know every single day they make ours better. And I know for sure you do that too. College is rough, but you're going to get through this."
"And if anyone treats you bad, fuck them!"
"Yeah! You got this. It's all going to be okay, I promise. You're so strong."
I don't know who those two people were, but I swear they made me believe in the goodness of the world when I needed it the most. I wish them nothing but the best in their lives. I hope that if the time ever comes that either one of them, or their children, are alone and as terrified as I was... That they're given the same treatment. To look at that broken, petrified teenager and simply treat them with kindness. Reminding them that they deserve kindness.
The world is a dark, scary place, but it's never as bad as your mind makes it out to be... Because we're all on this little blue ball together. So please, the next time that you see someone a little down... Do me a favor. Give them a smile.
It makes all the difference.
SENSHI would want you to get enough sleep and have nice nutritious meals
CHILCHUCK would want you to know your worker rights and what your labor is worth
LAIOS would want you to embrace your passions and try new things
FALIN would want you to take care of your health and treat others with kindness
MARCILLE would want you to practice necromancy and have gay sex
sorry neil gaiman the post was too godot-coded
y'all know what time it is!!!! twitter doodle crosspost to tumblr. for context of the last image: someone over on twitter posted a headcanon that bobby fulbright and sebastian debeste were brothers, and i couldn't help but draw it
"Way too reliable narrator" where the narrator provides documentation and proof for how they know every detail in the narrative and an estimate of how confident they are in it.
the doctor says three sips a day will make the visions go away
Would anyone be interested in an Owl House Fangame RPG? (Spoilers for finale insuing)
I'm considering turning my old fanfic plots into a playable fangame, but I wanna make sure that's something that people would actually, yknow, play. So, here's my ideas!
This would primarily be a game focused on wrapping up some unfinished storylines/rebuilding the Isles. I believe one of the main bosses would likely be the Titan Trappers since they were puppetted in WAD.
I think this would be the closest to a traditional rpg game, but I'm leaning more towards an unconventional combat style considering the way magic works in TOH. Regardless, combat wouldn't be a primary focus of the game. It'd be more exploration based and decision based, fleshing out the other areas of The Boiling Isles and all that jazz.
Possibly, the final boss may be the other archivists? I think in this one, by the end, you'll have the Collector in your party.
This would be more so a collection of routes trying to tell the stories that, sadly, The Owl House team never got the time to tell. These likely wouldn't actually be RPG games, but they're RPG maker, but I'm not sure how many of them there'd be, but I do have a few ideas for various routes, like:
-Wittebros Backstory (You play as Caleb, and it covers bits and pieces over the years up until... Well, you know the rest.)
-Hunter, Dale, and The Bat Queen (Focuses on two different interconnected plots. One is a story about The Golden Guard being tasked to find the last known Palistrom forest, only for those plans to get detailed by one sweet old man. Yadda yadda, learning ensues. And, the other is a story focused on Hunter going into the Palistrom forest with a few friends to start on some conservation efforts, facing his past, and him getting a new job.)
-Divorce Simulator (I think you know what this one's about :) )
-Vee (Have no idea what this one would be about, other than a game adaption of that MorningMark concept of Cabin ???- or one focusing on just her adapting to the human realm.)
Okay, so I know probably nobody will vote for this one, but it's one that I have too many ideas for!
Basically, it's just going off the idea that after The Collector got that gross green stuff on him, from Belos, he was affected by Titian magic; screwing up his magic a little and making him semi-immortal rather than fully immortal. The Collector says they're going off to "grow up," but really, their main goal is to just find their siblings and find out what's going on with them.
This leads the little guy to the last known whereabouts of one of his siblings, Gravity Falls. Again, the dude's magic is kind of iffy, and he ends up crashlanding near the Mystery Shack and gets taken in by the new Mr. And Mrs. Mystery... Who... Somehow, are way more connected to Luz than he thought.
This is the closest thing to an RPG out of all of them because the main focus of the game is basically trying to stop the multiverse from splitting entirely. It'd be the casts from both TOH and GF; with a healthy addition of amphibia references.
In this universe, all of the archivists are just God's from other Disney Channel cartoons. And yeah. Told ya I had a lot of ideas!
Btw if anyone would be down to help either with writing, art, or music- please dm me! I can totally do it on my own, but I thought it might be nice to put it out there.
I think this is a really valid criticism, OP! Though, maybe I'm just optimistic, but I actually took the ending in a different way. I do agree with you that a lot of these mutliverse shows and movies lately have had that pattern of, "lmao get good loser", in response to valid issues, which is absolutely infurating to see. It feels demeaning, handwavy, and just overall frustrating!
But to me, I think the story of FC was about stagnation vs. growth; and about how wish fufillment isn't quite the way to achieve life of your dreams. Both Simon's and Fiona's stories are about acceptance about the shitty aspects of their lives, but more specifically, they're about how that acceptance begins to pave the way towards joy. At first it seems like it's the same message, but when you look a little deeper, it takes on a different form. Especially once you take in GolBetty and the Lich into account.
Fiona wants nothing more than to live in a magical world, one where she doesn't have to deal with the infurating nature of modern life. But once she goes on her big ol' magical, life changing adventure, she realizes that the world she holds dear is special in its own right. Her joy doesn't come immediately. She definitely seems happier after seeing Gary and Marshall together and not trying to kill eachother- but I think her true development comes from her being able to finally fulfill her dreams; and then being given a purpose: to rebuild their world and town. Sure, it's a lot of responsibility, but she's Fiona!!! I don't think this girl will ever go back to a traditional 9-5 ever again. She's their world's hero now.
Simon, on the other hand, is a bit slower to change. Yet again, though, his story is less about acceptance and more about ingenuity. As much as I hate to say it, because Finn is in no way a "mental health king", I think he was on the right path when tried to take Simon on an adventure to make him feel better. What Simon needed more than anything was to know that he was still needed. That he still mattered. Even though he felt alienated, like an artifact in a museum, he still had a point to be on that shelf. What Finn screwed up, though, was how he went about it. Simon could've gotten through this period by just talking to Marcy and being honest, but he's far too scared of letting her see him that unstable again. But once he's able to talk to Fiona about it, and see for a fact, that his actions mattered: that the simple act of caring for Marcline kept the Vampires from taking over Ooo- he begins to develop.
Again, although his final development wasn't shown until the montage, I think that's simply because we haven't seen the last of Simon. Or Fiona, for that matter. They aren't being told to accept the fact that they have nothing to live for, but to find it.
It's a story about how wish fulfillment doesn't always work out for the best and that sometimes, the true slice of heaven that you've been craving was just a world where you felt like you had a place. It's one where even a god who can make all your wishes come true can end up depriving you of a purpose once it's achieved. It's one about how dreams come true in stranger ways, like Scarab becoming Prismo's apprentice and being given the chance to make his own worlds, too. It's one where even when given the chance to imagine a new reality with your lover, you know it's time to accept the one you have for what it is.
Still, absolutely valid analysis, this was just my take! :D
A lot of things were fine. Good even. this isn’t about something as simple as “Simon didn’t end up with Betty 😡” because frankly I didn’t ever see that happening. No, it’s about this wishy-washy message I keep seeing in all this multiverse media. Tell me if this one sounds familiar: our heroes are unhappy with some aspect of their lives, like maybe they’re struggling to get by due to bad finances. then they go on some zany, multiverse-spanning adventure where they eventually learn that their universe is just fine!!! and that they’ve got to make the most of it!! (Also usually the big problem is cheaply resolved, like it never even mattered.)
and frankly, this style of story, which we keep fucking seeing, is starting to sound a hell of a lot like “suck it up, buttercup! if you wanted a good life you should have tried harder. have you ever considered getting out of your own way?”
you see this in EEAAO of course. “oh is the world too financially cruel? is your mom homophobic? well have you ever considered just asking nicely about both of those things, you dummy?” And honestly in a lot of ways the ending of Fionna and Cake is even worse. Why should Simon be happy with his shitty job at the fucking human zoo? Why should Fionna be happy with working a shitty job her entire life?
and then you think about who’s actually writing and directing our oh-so-uplifting multiverse stories and it’s like. oh yeah. millionaires. successful people. who actually got what they wanted out of life. they’re not saying *they* should be happy with nothing, no no no. they’re part of the *special people* who get to dream. *you’re* the one who should be satisfied with nothing. and let’s take it even further why not. how many of these successful types even deserve it? how many of them even make beautiful things? not a lot!!
personally, being told by someone who’s living their dream that I should just be happy being a little scrap of nothing makes me want to burn down the whole world. and I would have at least preferred at least a drop of that catharsis in the ending of Fionna and Cake
✿ so i am a complete vanderwood trashpit, and this is my attempt to write a detailed fan-route about our favorite confused spy. if you enjoy my work and want a vanderwood route as desperately as I do, please feel free to sell your soul to cheritz in the interests of giving our leopard-print love a little more limelight.
In celebration of 1,000 followers and 100 posts… on with the show!
W A R N I N G
This is not spoiler free, and it assumes that you have played - or are at least aware of - many elements of 707′s route.
There are some mentions of suicide, abusive childhoods, and other potentially triggering topics in this route. They are not described in depth though. If you can handle the game, you can probable handle this.
General Notes
After completing 707′s route, new options will be unlocked in the deep route prologue that allow dark purple hearts to be gained. Accumulation of enough of these hearts will, much like all the other routes, cause the player to get Vanderwood’s Route on Day 5.
Calling and texting Vanderwood will not be available from the beginning of the route, but after a certain point it will be unlocked.
In the interests of making this accessible, I use ‘they’ for Vanderwood. Please, feel free to insert whatever headcanoned pronoun and gender identity you wish for them.
I have also done a little work to create a more detailed backstory for them. It felt necessary, since we know so little about them in comparison to the others. I hope this only enhances your enjoyment!
D1 - D4
The new options in the deep route initially seem to focus on 707. Much like accessing his route, you joke around with him, but the topics focus more on embellished stories from his secret agent life and his relationship to his “maid”, Mary Vanderwood the III.
This gives the player a lot of background into 707′s life as a secret agent, providing more stories like the potato chip incident. All of them are told humorously, of course. Through them, the chat begins to get a sense that Mary Vanderwood the III is actually a dear friend to Seven, who has saved his life on multiple occasions and whose life has been saved by him in return. However, Seven does not admit this, instead saying that they simply work in the same spaces, and ‘their relationship does not go beyond maid and master.’
The good options include asking about Vanderwood’s habits, hobbies, and personality, and also telling Seven that Vanderwood sounds like a very loyal friend who will go out of their way to take care of him. The other members will agree with this - (particularly Jaehee and Yoosung) - saying that Vanderwood goes above-and-beyond what would be expected for a ‘maid’, given they help him with his work, bring him tea and coffee when he’s having a hard time, and they’ve put themselves in significant danger to ensure his safety.
MC: Wow… It sounds like she really cares for you! (+1 Dark Purple Heart)
Zen: Yeah! She’s totally in love with you! I’m so jealous!!!
707: i guess we know that Zen’s into maids lololol
On Day 3, if you select an option that gets 707 to talk more about Vanderwood, he’ll send one of the first Vanderwood CGs - a picture of 707 cross-dressing accompanied by Vanderwood in a suit. It’s a surprise selfie taken by 707, and Vanderwood clearly doesn’t look happy about it.
(Seven says that the person in a dress is Vanderwood, and Zen predictably believes him.)
Seven is veeeery slowly starting to accept that Vanderwood is actually his friend by the evening of the fourth day, and he’s becoming extremely comforting pal-ing around with MC. In Vanderwood’s route, Seven is basically your bestie.
The route proper is underneath the read more due to length!
Keep reading
I'm pretty sure I'm just becoming an AT/FC account, and y'know what? I'm just gonna roll with it. I was going to do a more thematic analysis today, but since it's my birthday and I only have so much time, I'm just doing a short one. I think it's interesting how Simon was once an archeologist/antiquities collector; and his character arc began in FC with him on display like the very same artifacts that he once collected. As an anthropology major, the whole idea of taking artifacts of long-gone civilizations to study is seen as normal, but it's also a hot button issue in the field. What right does one human have for the sake of science, yknow? Specifically, though, I find it interesting because it seems that the scene was meant to be taken less literally? Maybe I'm over thinking it, but I think the very idea of being put on display for the whole world to see, like a caged-up animal in a zoo, goes to show just how disconnected Simon felt with Ooo at the start of the series. He didn't feel like he belonged in anything other than a museum. Perhaps he tells himself that it's purely for the sake of authenticity and preserving the history of humanity as much as possible; but really, it's just another way that his past has left him chained and trapped in despair. The crown was never Simon's biggest threat, he was.