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Mask off! Today we will be doing an analysis of the face reveals in The Owl House--how they are executed, their relevance to the narrative, and why they're so effective.
This video is a polished, expanded essay based on my original post over here on the face reveals in The Owl House.
Thank you @sercezgazety for the awesome quote.
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#the owl house#hunter owl house#toh hunter#hunter noceda#emperor belos#principal bump#phillip wittebane#toh#video analysis#idlescree#sercezgazety#thanks again for letting me use your quote#and to everyone who encouraged me to do this#thank you and enjoy!#miss ari#fernacular#annabean#thank you for the amazing beautiful adorable sprites#theyre about 90 percent of the charm I think#Youtube
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Congrats @idlescree!!! Aaaaaaahhhh thank you for having me on board to collab a bit for some of the Owl House stuff!
#thanks Ash and team for sharing so much with us#also I need to watch Cyberpunk Edgerunners#(I'm the fox eheeheeeee)#(the cats are sercezgazety and polyhexian)#idlescree
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10 Fic Recs for Feedback Fest 2024/International Fanworks Day
There are so many amazing fics out there, but here are a few recs in honor of @transformativeworks's Feedback Fest.
But We Don't Have to Talk About It (The Owl House, by @halcyonhue): This is a brand new fic and so, so good. Excellent post-finale Luz & Hunter messiness.
A Potter's Field (The Owl House, by @sercezgazety): I can't make a fic rec list without this fic (I also had the pleasure of beta reading it). Fairly Hunter-centric. Written before WAD, but deals with post-finale politics, lustration, trials, grimwalkers, personhood.
phantom pains (The Owl House, by @crimeronan): RATED E AND MIND THE TAGS — SA! Not an easy topic, so gorgeously, hauntingly written.
get through it (The Owl House, by @polyhexian): Alador-centric. Excellent use of second person.
things we lost in the fire (Nimona graphic novel, by @prodigaldaughteralice): Wonderfully-written Comic!Ambrosius and Meredith Blitzmeyer.
Lunch and Other Obscenities (Star Trek 2009): Uhura & Gaila cross-cultural misunderstandings.
An Ever-Fixed Mark (Jane Austen, by @amarguerite): Augh, this series. Some of the best fic on AO3. Fantastic writing, Soulmate deconstruction, war, grief, politics, AU spin offs.
i'll write you a harmony in C (Jane Austen): Modern Jane Austen AU featuring Mary Bennett and Henry Crawford. I don't even remember when I first stumbled across this fic but I've revisited it multiple times over the years.
Beside me singing in the Wilderness (80 Days): Amazing work that really takes advantage of (and builds upon) the worldbuilding of the game.
have you heard (Star Wars sequel trilogy): Written between movies and no longer canon compliant, but a great fic about the power of stories.
#ifd2024#feedback fest#fanfic rec#fic rec#toh fanfic#nimona fanfic#star trek fanfic#jane austen fanfiction#star wars fanfic#80 days#not my fanfic
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@sercezgazety BESTIE HOW DO YOU DO THIS :O
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Illogical by SerceZGazety
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Oh, Cato! You poor, desperate thing.
textures listed here: https://www.deviantart.com/sercezgazety/art/The-finish-line-854041305
#my crap#cato weeksbooth#cato#terra ignota#ada palmer#fanart#the will to battle#seven surrenders#too like a lightnining#my art
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Artwork by SerceZGazety.
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Fanfiction Writer Bingo
All the cool kids on my dash were doing this, so I decided to give it a go.
I honestly don't know about the multiple kudos since I made an account not long after I started reading on A03 and I'm basically always signed in (multiple kudos aren't technically allowed). As for professional writing - I've been paid for analytical/non-creative writing (not my entire job description, but part of it). It might be fun to actually write/self-publish a book in a few decades (know people who have done it), but I'm nowhere near able to do that anytime soon and don't plan on making a career of it.
Here's the template:
No pressure tagging: @sercezgazety @drev-the-procrastinator @watery-melon-baller @gakriele-lvs-blog @abstract-moth @thegrimshapeofyoursmile @enigma-the-mysterious @kestrel-wylde and anyone else who wants to do it
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Totally Random theprincessofdenial Appreciation Day
It is no secret that theprincessofdenial/@sercezgazety is one of my favorite fanfic writers. She does unreliable/brainwashed narrators so well, leans hard into character flaws, often includes a bathroom break, and isn't afraid to leave things messy.
For no reason I feel free to disclose, I am doing a round up of a few of her greatest hits.
TOH Fics
The Silver Platter is an amazing look at Hunter from Lilith's POV. @ashanimus made a great podfic of this one.
The Matter at Hand has so many hand puns. All during a discussion about what the new government should do with the former Golden Guard.
Family Portrait explores the complicated nature of family and the ultimate family tree Lilith makes is cursed wonderful.
A Potter's Field is one of my absolute favorite fics. It has: politics, lustration, trials for former members of Belos's regime, archeology, multi-media storytelling, puns... I love it.
Non-TOH Fics
The Fairest of Them All is an excellent Spones fic that is disorienting with a good payoff.
Mourning Sickness is a fic I haven't actually read yet because I keep being derailed when I try to watch Re-Animator. But please read it if you have!
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Last Line Tag Game
Thanks for the tag @sunshine-zenith!
I believe the last line I wrote was this (as always I bounce between WIPs and write out of order):
Maybe in some other universe he would become a knight-inventor, but he couldn't imagine a future like that in this one.
Some no pressure tags if anyone wants to share the last line they wrote:
@sercezgazety @childlikegoblinqueen @branmuffins22 @abstract-moth @halcyonhue @gakriele-lvs-blog @sir-ballister-boldheart @violet-prism-creatively @watery-melon-baller @thegrimshapeofyoursmile @tristenthekitty @candyskiez @mr-jaybird @fairytales-and-folklore @drev-the-procrastinator @somefishycat
If you see this, write (posted or not), and I failed to tag you, please please please consider yourself tagged if you want to participate.
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Tag Game: Ten First Lines
Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.
(This is practically a fic master list post - has all but one of my fics on AO3. I'm not including WIPs since those are too in flux, but you're welcome to.)
Tagged by: @sl-walker
All The Owl House. Also included the character speaking or the narrative POV and the link.
Jody's parents didn't exactly love the idea of her getting her Plant Coven sigil at just nineteen, but she knew what she was doing. (Jody, an OC created by @sercezgazety)
It wasn’t fair. (Lilith)
Gus Porter was a genius. (Gus)
No one else seems surprised by the demon with Luz's mother, and Hunter figures that there's a story he missed. (Hunter)
At some point, he had taken his gloves off and never put them back on. (Hunter)
It was hard to place the exact moment he became a mere observer inside his own body. (Hunter)
Camila was so pleased that she could have all three of her children home for Thanksgiving week (Principal Bump had grumbled a little bit, but had quickly given in). (Camila)
Most evenings in the Human Realm followed a predictable pattern. (Hunter)
In many ways, it had been a blessing that they had had a few years to prepare. (Camila)
Back when Hunter was the Golden Guard, he was sometimes required to inform next-of-kin about casualties among the scouts. (Hunter)
Tagging: I'm going to take wild guesses about who might possibly be willing to do this, but please 1) speak up if you don't like being tagged in fanfic memes/ask games and 2) speak up if you DO like being tagged and I failed to tag you.
If you weren't tagged and want to do this, consider yourself tagged! And of course, no pressure to do this if you were.
@sercezgazety @watery-melon-baller @childlikegoblinqueen @gakriele-lvs-blog @tristenthekitty @drev-the-procrastinator @mr-jaybird @foibles-fables @crimeronan @somefishycat
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20 Questions for Fic Writers
Thank you for the tag @fairytales-and-folklore! No pressure tags: @violet-prism-creatively @candyskiez @branmuffins22 @gakriele-lvs-blog @angelcloves @midnights-dragon @abstract-moth @thegrimshapeofyoursmile @sercezgazety @drev-the-procrastinator @watery-melon-baller @sir-ballister-boldheart @kestrel-wylde @madlad06 @unniebeans @mr-jaybird @halcyonhue and anyone else who sees this
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
29, but 12 of them are drabbles/drabble sequences based on Whumptober/Angstober prompts
2. What's your total AO3 word count?
41,643
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Mainly The Owl House and Nimona, but I've also posted I Was a Teenage Exo-Colonist and have WIPs/plot bunnies for other fandoms
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Dear Bat Queen is still beating out Blood Brother, but I wouldn't be surprised if their positions flip. like a bolt out of the blue is a far third, then World's Best Turkey Carver, then arm-upgrading is a love language.
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I try hard to respond to every comment since I enjoy the community aspect of fanfic. However, there are a few comments that I haven't replied to yet, mostly because I wanted to give a thoughtful response but wasn't in the right headspace for it.
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
My Whumptober/Angstober drabbles are pretty angst heavy, as are many of my other drabbles/ficlets.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
arm-upgrading is a love language is almost entirely domestic fluff. World's Best Turkey Carver has more twists before a happy resolution.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not yet!
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Not currently. I haven't entirely ruled it out, but I've mostly written genfic.
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?
Nope. I've gotten inspiration from other media, but nothing that counts as a crossover.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not to my knowledge!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Nope.
14. What's your all-time favourite ship?
Hrm. Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy are old friends, though Anne Elliott and Frederick Wentworth give them a run for their money. Alanna the Lioness and George Cooper were also a formative couple in my early teens.
(My TOH fics are mostly-gen even if they nod at ships, my IWATEC fic does strongly imply Sol/Dys, and I am writing Goldenheart in some Nimona WIPs.)
15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?
I still have hope for my favorite WIPs!
I need to pick up my TOH grief Christmas fic again if it's ever going to be written.
My Palistrom & Promises series has been on an extremely long hiatus because I am (still) having trouble deciding how much of FTF and WAD I want to keep and how much I will ignore (this may also involve rejiggering the WIP that's furthest along).
I am not sure I can fully execute my phantom limb pain WIP to match my vision, but I think I can salvage at least a shorter fic from it and I am regularly plugging away at it with the help of WIP Wednesday asks.
16. What are your writing strengths?
I can occasionally write punchy 100 word drabbles. I like to think I also do a decent job at character studies. Dialogue is fun to write, but I am less sure that I am good at it.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
description, action, real plot, anything longform
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I've done a tiny bit of it.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Umm... probably Star Wars? It was mostly snippets of dialogue handwritten in journals.
20. Favourite fic you've ever written?
Oooph. I'm going to show Intervention some extra love - I didn't realize how much of my soul I poured into that one until after I started reading comments.
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for the ao3 reader ask game- 13, 25, 29?
from this ask game
13. What trope do you think you read the most of?
In the last year or so probably Found Family/Families of Choice - I've mostly been reading The Owl House and Nimona and that trope is part of why I like those fandoms.
25. Do you read on your phone or on your computer?
Phone is more convenient for me and that's what I do over 95% of the time, but computer is definitely easier for pulling lots of quotes for comments.
29. Do you have any works you think are required reading for (fandom)?
I want to rec all the fics!
I love love love all of amarguerite's Jane Austen Soulmate AUs and I plan on another reread of Pyeongchang & Prejudice once I get around to actually watching Yuri on Ice since there are a handful of references.
I am once again asking The Owl House fans to read @sercezgazety/theprincessofdenial's A Silver Platter for a great Lilith and Hunter-centric one shot and A Potter's Field for a longer look at what might happen after Belos (I did beta read the latter and am grateful for the honor!).
As for Nimona... there are lots of good ones. I know most Goldenheart fans enjoy the how familiar the danger series. @thegrimshapeofyoursmile has excellent worldbuilding in the Strange Infatuations series. @abstract-moth has a lovely one shot that I hope gets a sequel and an amazing Ballister & Valerin drabble. @bright-thorn has a great Ballister-focused WIP. I could keep going... :P
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🪰 Recommend a fic that makes you sad (in the best way!!)! Some great angst and/or hurt/comfort!
🐝 Recommend a fic with great symbolism, or themes, something really clever, or like. just something you could write a whole literary essay about!
🐛 Recommend a great WIP / unfinished chapter fic everyone should leave a comment on!
These are all The Owl House fics.
Recommend a fic that makes you sad (in the best way!!)! Some great angst and/or hurt/comfort!
Warning for sexual abuse - read the tags! - but @crimeronan's phantom pain is so... ooooph. Beautifully written as well!
Recommend a fic with great symbolism, or themes, something really clever, or like. just something you could write a whole literary essay about!
I love @sercezgazety's A Potter's Field so much. Brilliant, brilliant work.
Recommend a great WIP / unfinished chapter fic everyone should leave a comment on!
This is technically a series, but I absolutely recommend @somefishycat's Golden Ghost AU! It is complete through the Season 2 finale, but does not currently include Season 3.
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For that "directors commentary" ask game, from LuLuRoe:
Lilith found just the right shade and started applying concealer. Nothing could quite disguise the ridges and grooves left on his skin, but at least now the bright pink scars were the same color as the rest of his face. You’d have to get pretty close to see the disfiguring marks now, and she assumed the list of people willing to do that must be fairly short.
Hunter was quiet and thoughtful when she showed him his reflection in her mirror.
“Keep that sample." She really was being generous. "The next one is full price.”
*****
Her niece did not seem not happy when she came down to the basement later that night. “What exactly did you do with Hunter’s face?”
Lilith was bemused. “I just helped him look a little less…off-putting.”
“He’s self-conscious now!” Luz fumed. “He didn't need anything more to worry about!”
She shrugged. “I’m surprised he didn’t notice all the horrified stares before. Speaking of which,” she cleared her throat, “don’t you think you should do something about your own eyebrow scar?”
Luz’s right eyelid was twitching for some reason — maybe Lilith should get her some Avon lavender essential oil if she was under this much stress.
“I can find some concealer for you — you’ll need a darker shade than Hunter — and I think we can use an eyebrow pencil to hide that gap a little better.”
The twitching increased as Luz took some deep breaths.
“Not cool, Aunt Lilith. Not cool.”
For the rest of her visit, her niece was a little distant. No matter — while she waited for the remaining deliveries, Lilith occupied herself on the AVEN forums and managed to attend an in-person meeting with Camila as her chauffeur (and moral support). She even had one of her new AVEN friends almost-convinced to help her sell LuLaRoe. Lilith didn’t know why Luz seemed so upset, but she was sure she’d come around in time.
Here's the director's cut ask game.
You picked a doozy of a section in a very niche fic.
First of all, some context.
LuLuRoe wouldn't exist without @sercezgazety/theprincessofdenial. We had a long thread going in the comment section of one of our fics in which she suggested that Lilith might join/create a cult or get into MLM (multi-level marketing). Lilith+MLM made me think of Lululemon (not actually an MLM, as Google later informed me), but further research got me to LuLaRoe (which is an MLM). That inspired me combine Lulu and LuLaRoe to get LuLuRoe, and once I had a punny title, I felt obligated to write the fic. (And yes, I included a Lululemon/LuLaRoe mix up.)
theprincessofdenial often leans into character flaws, and from the get-go this wasn't going to be Lilith at her absolute best. I wanted to write a Lilith who had undergone the character growth of Season 2 and generally meant well, but who was still struggling and would make mistakes along the way. In other words, that oh-no-Lilith-what-are-you-doing feeling is intentional.
I wrote the fic between Thanks to Them and For the Future, so that also informed my take on Lilith's character. The last time I saw Lilith, she still had dyed and straightened black hair. She was less polished than she was during her Emperor's Coven days, but she hadn't quite let go of the mask she had crafted for herself. Appearances still matter to her, and she's not at a point where she's embracing her natural hair. (This isn't to throw shade at anyone who dyes or straightens their hair - that's a perfectly valid choice - but this show has used hairstyle changes to reflect character arcs a few times.) This would probably be a different fic if I wrote it further into Season 3.
Now onto the excerpt.
Lilith found just the right shade and started applying concealer. Nothing could quite disguise the ridges and grooves left on his skin, but at least now the bright pink scars were the same color as the rest of his face.
Oooph, writing this brought back some flashbacks of trying to disguise acne and old chicken pox scars in high school (these days I hardly ever wear makeup but do need to find a good face cream). It's fine to hide scars and/or even out skin tone if that's what you genuinely want, but this is very much Lilith-driven. She's trying to minimize features that could make Hunter stick out - just as she minimized aspects of herself for decades and just as the ubiquitous masks of the Emperor's Coven helped promote uniformity - even though he hasn't really demonstrated any hang ups about his scars before. (It would be a little different if the scars reminded him of Belos and if minimizing the scars helped him heal - like his TTT haircut.)
You’d have to get pretty close to see the disfiguring marks now, and she assumed the list of people willing to do that must be fairly short.
This also pained me to write. In this fic, Lilith and Hunter haven't had much of a chance yet to get reacquainted after leaving the Emperor's Coven. She still associates him with the annoying thorn in her side when she was Coven Head. Back then, he was pretty isolated, and while she sort of knows he's less alone now, she hasn't fully realized the extent of his new support network.
Hunter was quiet and thoughtful when she showed him his reflection in her mirror.
Again, while Hunter's had an on screen identity crisis over his hair, he hasn't seemed too bothered by his scars before. He's relatively new to not wearing a mask that hides his face, so it may just be something he hasn't thought about much. Lilith's giving him a new worry that could activate old masking habits from his Golden Guard days. This hits harder after all the progress he's made finding and accepting himself in TTT.
“Keep that sample." She really was being generous. "The next one is full price.”
Lilith genuinely thinks she's helping him, though there's still the drive to succeed in her new business venture.
*****
Many of my fics have short scenes, so I very much need a scene break marker. I've been going with 5 left-aligned asterisks since that's a little more readable for me as I write on my phone than the classic 3 asterisk centered dinkus. However, I have been considering making a change since "asterisk asterisk asterisk asterisk asterisk" may sound annoying when using a screen reader. I don't love plain lines as a scene break marker, and have been periodically looking for something that's interesting, screen-reader friendly, and not a big AO3 formatting headache.
Her niece did not seem not happy when she came down to the basement later that night. “What exactly did you do with Hunter’s face?”
I like how Lilith and Luz almost immediately claim an aunt/niece relationship in S2, but there's no clear term for Eda.
I'm also a fan of Hunter Noceda, though Luz is quick to defend all of her friends.
Lilith was bemused. “I just helped him look a little less…off-putting.”
“He’s self-conscious now!” Luz fumed. “He didn't need anything more to worry about!”
This isn't the first time that Lilith has meant well but made things worse.
Luz has a better understanding of the impact of Lilith's actions, in part because she has a stronger relationship with Hunter. She knows Hunter spent years trying to be the perfect Golden Guard behind a mask, and she doesn't want him to lose whatever self-confidence he's gained outside it.
She shrugged. “I’m surprised he didn’t notice all the horrified stares before.
There are a few things going on: Lilith hasn't spent much time with Hunter since their Emperor's Coven days, she's not always great at reading people (being surrounded by mostly masked scouts for decades didn't help), Hunter's used to drawing some attention as the Golden Guard, and some people in the Demon Realm may be reacting negatively to seeing Hunter because of his history, not so much because of how he looks like.
Speaking of which,” she cleared her throat, “don’t you think you should do something about your own eyebrow scar?”
Luz’s right eyelid was twitching for some reason — maybe Lilith should get her some Avon lavender essential oil if she was under this much stress.
Once again, Lilith's not great at reading people and is (relatively benignly) opportunistic.
Also, while Luz has some experience masking and has absolutely felt pressure to conform, she's often resisted. She frequently expresses herself through fashion choices and rarely attempts to minimize differences (she hides her ears and wears a Hexside uniform, but that's basically it). She's not going to alter her appearance unless she wants to.
“I can find some concealer for you — you’ll need a darker shade than Hunter — and I think we can use an eyebrow pencil to hide that gap a little better.”
The twitching increased as Luz took some deep breaths.
I can imagine that in Gravesfield Luz has encountered some insensitive reactions to the Nocedas taking in a random white boy. Lilith is absolutely not intending anything but a factual statement about different skin tones and Luz knows that, but I can imagine her comment still bringing up feelings in Luz. I wasn't consciously trying to communicate all that as I worked on this section, but those were thoughts I had as I was writing down the words.
“Not cool, Aunt Lilith. Not cool.”
I couldn't resist the Cool Aunt Lilith reference/joke.
For the rest of her visit, her niece was a little distant. No matter — while she waited for the remaining deliveries, Lilith occupied herself on the AVEN forums and managed to attend an in-person meeting with Camila as her chauffeur (and moral support).
theprincessofdenial suggested Avon as an MLM to include and had an idea for an Avon/AVEN mix up, but I went in a different direction. Camila is always Best Ally.
She even had one of her new AVEN friends almost-convinced to help her sell LuLaRoe.
For a while, my partner would read through my TOH fics and provide minor feedback - kind of like a very light beta reader (my partner isn't big on fanfic but is a big fan of TOH and tries to be supportive of my hobbies). My partner realized that Lilith wasn't actually doing much recruiting even though that's a key element of MLMs, so I went back and added a few lines like that one.
Lilith didn’t know why Luz seemed so upset, but she was sure she’d come around in time.
During Lilith and Eda's estrangement, Lilith convinced herself that Eda would come around eventually if she got captured and was forced to join the Emperor's Coven. She's falling into the same pattern here.
And that's a wrap! Thanks for letting me ramble!
#thanks for the ask!#fanfic ask game#sometimes I write#my fanfic#I think only my partner has caught the drag queen reference in LuLuRoe
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