#peter ratri

🦋

The Owl House and The Promised Neverland are both series that hold a deep place in my heart. TOH is often compared to Little Witch Academia, another series I am very fond of but there are also a lot of parallels to be found between TOH and TPN with similar characters and themes. Both are empowering stories that contain themes of liberation and ask the question of how does one stay true to themselves while maturing as a person?

Right off the bat, one could point to the protagonists themselves, Emma and Luz, both of whom are energetic and optimistic. Yet there’s a double sided aspect to that optimism that can lead to recklessness. Both are hit with that “Mary Sue” label by critics who view them as selfish, Luz for being too wrapped up in her fantasy world and Emma for wanting to liberate her family without further bloodshed. I actually disliked Luz for a period of several months and it was Emma that started making me warm up to her again.

I have a complicated relationship with The Owl House. I was a casual enjoyer and had a shirt I’d wear to queer youth meetings. Over time, I came to feel negative towards it especially when I got involved in #toh critical community on tumblr, making anti TOH and anti Lumity posts. People really love to call her a terrorist over the snakes, fireworks and spiders incidents. I kind of viewed Luz as a spoiled brat who got to live out a wish fulfillment escapist fantasy and wanted to be enabled, not understood. Now I have a better appreciation of Luz’s character and have thought about why I hated her. She reminded me of the parts I disliked about myself. I had a therapist who told me I was the problem in my relationship with my parents and I was being ungrateful and projected that onto her. Yet now I find both her and Emma’s stories as both equally empowering despite some viewing Luz’s as self serving and indulgent.

Despite Luz’s longing for self acceptance and to be understood being seen as more selfish than Emma’s desire to liberate all humans, both are empowering for young girls beaten down by a cruel society that demands conformity and is built on institutional abuse. How many queer, brown, neurodivergent women are accused of being selfish for wanting a more affirming world where no one has to suffer like what they did again? How often are people, especially the youth silenced and told they are selfish or weak for wanting an end to societal injustice and violence? I’ve seen some negative takes about TOH from conservatives that it encourages selfishness and following the heart as opposed to good Christian self sacrifice but Luz is very self sacrificial for those she loves. It’s just not always treated as a positive quality.

Something else TOH and TPN have in common is the way a character’s qualities can be positive or negative depending on the circumstances. I saw it in this Reddit thread on Luz’s character. Emma’s refusal to leave anyone behind and desire to save everyone are noble but bringing the youngest children with them would weigh them down which is why she promises to return to Grace Field for Phil. She’s reminded repeatedly that she cannot save everyone especially those who are unwilling to change. Luz’s optimism and creativity are good qualities but she needed to find a balance as her ways of expressing herself were unsafe for her peers. Her self sacrificial nature is noble but it can be harmful as well like when she falls into self loathing over accidentally helping Philip.

There’s some other small parallels I’ve noticed. Luz meeting with the Titan is a bit like Emma making a new promise with the Demon god. Some of the characters of both series fulfill similar roles. Others have pointed out that Don and Gilda are a bit like Gus and Willow especially Gilda and Willow’s role on their respective teams and friendships with Luz and Emma. I think Violet complements and contrasts Amity well in terms of design and character. Despite Camila being far better as a person and mother, both her and Isabella are persuaded to continue a cycle of cruelty, believing it’s what’s best. Camila eventually embraces Luz and Isabella redeems herself while helping the children and dying in the process. There’s a strong theme of Found Family in both series as well as breaking rigid gender expectations with Luz, Emma, Violet and the Goldy Pond kids.

One other parallel I picked up on was the similarities between Queen Legravalima, Peter Ratri and Belos. All are stuck in a prison of their own making and a perpetual immaturity. Luz is able to grow beyond Belos’ level and appreciate the Boiling Isles and its people while Belos never grows out of his ambition for genocide and hero complex. Emma finds a balance between being herself and maturity as well as ensuring that all the other children are able to grow up without fear of being eaten. Ratri and Legravalima never grow out of their toxic worldview and strangled in a web of their own repression. Ratri’s suicide implies a level of guilt but he believed himself too far gone to be saved by Emma. Belos and Legravalima are both turned into eldritch abominations as they are dying in a sea of their own self delusion. It’s quite fitting that Ratri was named after the character of Peter Pan and the series’s title is a reference to the fairy tale Neverland where everyone stays in a perpetual childhood. All these villains destroyed themselves because they imprisoned themselves in a toxic, rigid and immature mindset while the children they wanted to drag down with them were able to grow up and live freely.

.・。.・゜✭・🐇・✫・゜・。.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

Mylan Ratri

You could say this is the first decent drawing I’ve made of my TPN OC; she is as special to me as the story of TPN itself 💖.

04/08/2032 is a date that hasn't arrived yet, but that doesn't stop me from celebrating it in my own way. I feel that Mylan has the most elaborate design and backstory I’ve ever created; I love her and wish I could draw her more often 💕.

Her story is basically being the heiress of the Ratri Clan 👀✨:

Peter, in his obsession with maintaining control over the farm system even when he no longer could physically (meaning, after his death), considered the idea of having a direct descendant. A child to teach and train in all the labors of the promise established by the Clan’s ancestor. Peter chose one of the Mothers from the headquarters named Julia—a woman who always hated both Peter and the system she worked for—who, without knowing it at first, ended up being the incubator for the Clan's next descendant. When time passed and Julia gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Peter presented himself to her and revealed the baby's purpose.

Of course, this was a heavy blow for Julia, leading to a tragic end and making way for Myriam (the woman in the drawing). As Peter’s forced right-hand woman, Myriam took on the role of raising and caring for Mylan. Over time, she grew incredibly fond of her, giving her all her love and becoming Mylan’s mother figure.

Mylan grows up with the idea that the Clan’s work is honorable and correct, and that carrying the Ratri name is a source of pride. However, through various events, she begins to discover the horrors behind that surname and the future that awaits her.

Beyond that landscape, Mylan establishes relationships with characters like Andrew, Isabella, Smee, the demons, and the scientists. Also with Emma, Ray, Norman, the orphans, Sonju and Mujika, Yuugo, and even Lucas and those from Goldy Pond. She also has her trances, dilemmas, existential doubts, and so on x)—that’s the best part, lol.

Now, I want to talk about some details in the drawing:

🐇;; The gift box with giraffe prints and an antenna is a clear reference to Emma, who becomes someone super special to Mylan, but whom I couldn't include in a better way due to the little time I had 🥹. Also, as a fun fact, Emma didn't just awaken the desire for freedom in Mylan, but also a few butterflies in her stomach 😹💗~. Emma's presence here is more subtle, but I loved how it turned out in the end x).

🐇;; The rabbit Peter is holding was a gift he gave Mylan as a reward once. Mylan adores animals with white fur or feathers, but she has a high preference for rabbits!! So it was the perfect gift for her, and Peter knew it 😋🫶. She named him "Mr. Bollito" (Mr. Bun), though the joke behind the name makes more sense in Spanish :].

🐇;; Her cake is peach—Mylan's favorite fruit—and it’s decorated with jasmines, which are the flowers that represent Mylan to me.

For such a short amount of time, I think I did a good job so as not to let this day pass by 💞.

Btw, Mylan had a redesign a while ago. Originally, she was going to grow up in Grace Field, but when I changed her environment to the Headquarters, I decided to give her a more fitting appearance. This is how she looked initially:

Also, I’ve been testing a new brush; I really like the crayon-like stroke it leaves—it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I don't think my heart-shaped highlights in the hair are very visible here; I'll keep that in mind for future drawings since it feels weird not seeing them at first glance x).

If you want to comment anything about Mylan, I’ll be delighted to read it. If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I really appreciate it!

I've had this idea attached deep into my brain for a long time now, related to James Ratri and the tragedy of imagining him as your secret lover.

Because imagine being married to Mike Ratri, the man who one day would stand among the highest authorities of the clan. You married Mike young, young enough to understand that entering the Ratri family meant entering a world you were never truly supposed to touch.

Mike was never cruel.

That was the complicated part.

He was composed, intelligent, respected by every branch of the family. A man trusted with negotiations, operations, decisions that shaped the balance between worlds. Older than you by decades, already fully formed while you were still becoming yourself.

But he was distant in the way only powerful men can be.

He never felt like a husband. He felt more like a guardian assigned to your life. Someone who provided, observed, corrected when necessary, but never truly reached for you emotionally. Mike liked control, order, predictability. He wanted his household to be calm, elegant, respectable. He wanted harmony more than intimacy.

And then there was James.

The collaboration is now starting once again.

What kind of world is outside the walls? Event starts today!