Nowhere King - Tumblr Posts

"I'll be here to help turn the key"

I watched centaurworld a while ago and felt inspired to make something from it! I really loved the plotline between these characters.

A plush I made of the Nowhere King from Centaurworld

I really did just look at this lovecraftian nightmare elk and say "Yeah, you seem pretty cuddly!"

Was experiencing some horrible art block the other day, so I grabbed some felt tip pens (a medium I rarely use) and did a bit of doodlin'

Thought I might as well dig up another batch of sketches I've had saved on my phone ^v^

I should also mention, I'll be away on a road trip for the next few days. Expect photography!

There was some real nice lighting in my room yesterday A real Golden Hour indeed

Shoutout to all of the people that started centaurworld thinking it would be a cute and dorky animated series only to end up having nightmares over the nowhere king's fucking lullaby and crying their eyes out because of horse and rider

My Thoughts on Centaurworld

Centaurworld is a show that’s pretty much impossible to describe to someone else. It contains such a wide variety of heavy themes and wildly different tones that any description wouldn’t really do the show justice. It can be colorful and quirky one moment and then be dark and tragic the next. One moment you completely understand why this is a Y7 show then the next you have no idea how it managed to get a rating below a PG rating. I will say for certain though that Centaurworld is a wacky, fun, and surprisingly heartfelt ride from start to finish. There’s so much to talk about and cover so I’ll just get right into it.

With season 2 having just released I can talk about the series as a whole. I really enjoyed the whole thing but I will say I think the first season is overall stronger than the second. The first half of the second season meanders and doesn’t quite seem to know what it wants to do and as a result it makes it so that the second half is jam packed with all this progression, character development, and twists that I think would have been better served being spread out over the course of the season. One big thing is that the general should have gotten more screen time and his relationship with rider should have been expanded upon because of how important he is in the finale. Also Wammawink gets sidelined pretty hard in this season in comparison to her role in the first. They seemed to be setting Wammawink up for a much bigger role in the finale in the first season with her being revealed to be a shaman in training, have powerful magic and potential, and have a tragic backstory that makes her the perfect candidate of the characters from centaurworld to want to take the minotaurs down. It just seemed really strange that they would backtrack on Wammawink’s importance especially with how well received she has been.

Pacing issues and Wammawink’s sidelining aside the final 4 episodes of season 2 were really good. They managed to fit a lot of backstory and world building alongside the main story without it feeling overcrowded which is a struggle for most shows to do. And while I think the character build-up between The Nowhere King, The General, and The Purple Haired Woman in the present timeline was lacking I still found their ending to be emotional especially the reprise of the nowhere king lullaby during his final moments.

The characters are probably what is most likely to make or break the series for you. I had a lot of fun with the characters. The only one I wasn’t a big fan of was Durpleton because I wasn’t a fan of the humor that he was used for especially in the first season. I liked him more in the second when he became a father to Stabby and we learned his backstory. Everyone else I really liked with Wammawink and Zulius being my favorites. The reveal of Wammawink’s backstory was really well done. Horse seeing her home destroyed and thinking that she’s returned home only to see a baby Wammawink alone among the wreckage was devastating. That one reveal makes so much about Wammawink snap into place and you completely understand her character in just a few minutes. This along with her moment in the season 1 finale where she asks the purple haired woman to let her go back into the void with her friends really cemented Wammawink as a favorite of mine. Zulius is just pure fun and I love his larger than life energy while still being a team player and caring about his herd which is a welcome departure from his character archetype.

Horse herself has a strong arc in season 1 and I was invested in her getting back to rider. I didn’t expect how far the show would go in exploring the pain and effects of losing a loved one. Episode 8 was a thinly disguised metaphor for depression and suicide that actually covered the topic with quite a lot of tact that I wasn’t expecting from the show because the marketing does not prepare you for the darker aspects of centaurworld at all. I like how Horse becoming more emotional and soft, both literally and metaphorically, is shown as horse growing and doesn’t make her a less capable warrior in the slightest.

I had a lot of fun with this show and I really think that other people should give it a shot. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did and I can’t wait to see what netflix and Megan Nicole Dong do next in animation. (Netflix is on a roll with its animated originals. They’ve had so many great animated shows release this year. Centaurworld, Arcane, Maya and the Three, Inside Job, etc. Netflix has become my go to for animated shows.)

Best of Animation 2021 - The Last Lullaby (Centaurworld)

Centaurworld is a deceptively deep show*. From the marketing it received the show felt jarring and disjointed almost as if two incompatible worlds had been thrown together haphazardly but the moment you boot it up and start watching it is obvious this is far from the case. 

Centaurworld is about grief, loss, depression, and learning to heal. It uses its vastly different tones and visual styles to elevate these aspects of the story. 

It’s a fantastic and fun ride and I believe its finale “The Last Lullaby” is the best example of how it uses all these seemingly contradictory parts to get all these themes across, especially with the music.

Centaurworld is a musical that has a lot of songs that I have fun with but I would say it is usually “all bops and no bangers” (credit where credit is due. I heard this from Sarcastic Chorus). 

The one place I really love their music and think it makes itself stand out is in its reprises. The way it brings songs from earlier on back and completely changes the meaning through the context of the scene. 

This episode does the same thing with Rider’s Lullaby and The Nowhere King’s lullaby. These songs are closely associated with the protagonist and antagonist of the show respectively and the way they are brought back in this finale really brings their arcs full circle. 

I especially love how the Nowhere King’s lullaby is brought back because it really accentuates the tragedy of his character and his relationship with the purple haired woman. I wish this relationship was explored in greater depth throughout this season but what we did see of these two characters was hauntingly beautiful in a way that you wouldn’t expect from what is essentially a single episode exploring their relationship. 

The Nowhere King’s death didn’t feel triumphant or glorious like you would have expected after his introduction in the two part finale of season 1. It’s quiet and personal. He returns to his original form one final time before the woman he loves ends his life once and for all.

The purple haired woman hesitated to go through with this before this point but she’s resigned herself to the fact that she must be the one to bring this nightmare to an end. Despite the love between the two their story doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s very tragic and the last lullaby the purple haired woman sings gets across the emotions of the scene between the two characters accentuates this.

The backstory of the elktaur chronicles the slow self-destruction and mutilation of someone who feels trapped on the outside looking in due to his internalized self-hatred. It becomes a tragedy about someone who felt undeserving of love to the point where their internal war with themselves became external. 

“They’re the same being locked in this everlasting fight with himself.”

This is an interesting exploration of morality that accepts that people are steeped in shades of gray. It’s like what the Nowhere King says to horse “we all have good and bad”. 

This episode shines brightest when it takes a microscope to all these characters and forces us to look at them for all they are. 

The Nowhere King is a horrible monster that has caused so much suffering but he is also a victim. 

The general is a monster wearing the mask of a hero that perpetuates a conflict he will never end because he ultimately holds his own self interest and preservation of utmost importance. 

The purple haired woman was blinded by her love and awe of the elktaur and centaurworld and it is ultimately her love that prevented her from ending this conflict when she had the chance. (She isn’t evil. I’m not blaming her. She understandably struggled to end the life of someone she loved.)

That being said I do have a few issues.

My issues with this episode don’t stem from the content within the episode itself but rather the lack of screen time and build up to certain important aspects of this finale. 

I think there should have been more of the general before this moment because the twist that he’s part of the nowhere king is meant to completely flip the kindly, righteous leader visage on his head but since we didn’t spend enough time with him it doesn’t hit as hard as it could have. The general’s betrayal of Rider would have been even more of an emotional gut punch if we trusted him like Rider did, which could only be built up if there was more time allotted to him. 

I think the purple haired woman should have had more screen time because it’s the tragedy of her life and love of the nowhere king that is a driving factor in the entire story. In fact it’s her ending with the nowhere king that is what I would argue to be the emotional climax of the episode and by extension the series so I wish more time was given to them.

Everything that happened in the episode was great and it hit all the beats it was aiming for but like I said above I feel like some of them could have been strengthened if the series had given the characters involved more focus.

For example Rider being stabbed by the general is comparable to Marcy being stabbed by Andrias and yet I would argue that Marcy being stabbed is much more of a gut punch due to the amount of time their relationship was afforded within the show. We see how much Marcy trusts Andrias and we know why. Even if we knew he was up to no good we got to see how well Marcy and Andrias clicked and how much they had in common. 

Marcy is also given more screen time herself which allows us to grow attached to her in a way we couldn’t with Rider. So when the moment of truth happens and Andrias makes the decision to stab Marcy in the back it is a complete gut punch. We care about Marcy, we know how this relationship made her feel seen, we understand the full depth of the betrayal. 

I’m not saying this to hold one show up on a pedestal above the other, I’m using it as an example to explain why I think this certain plot point would have benefitted from extra attention earlier in the series.

That being said, I believe the way the general’s betrayal played out was very effective coming from Rider’s perspective (just not as much when it comes to the general and their relationship). The show has done a good job up to this point portraying Rider’s unwavering belief in the general. She is a child soldier that has dedicated her life to this cause that the general leads and yet he never meant to actually end the war or his people’s suffering. 

It also leads into a very touching reprise of Rider’s Lullaby. 

This was the first song we heard in the series and it was the defining song of Rider and Horse’s relationship. Having the song come back around with Horse being the one to sing it to comfort Rider in an inverse from the pilot would have been a fantastic bookend to their relationship.

This is why I’m mixed on how they chose to have this scene play out.

I’ve never been a big fan of fake out deaths and this one still has me conflicted. This is purely a personal preference thing. I’ve just never been big on these types of scenes. 

This leads me to the episode’s ending.

Centaurworld is a story of two wildly different worlds and tones that come together to elevate each other rather than detract. On the one hand the show can cover the bleak reality or war, loneliness, and loss and on the other it triumphs family, love, and connections. This episode is a nice blend of the two with the finale showing the clash of the tragedy of the past (the elktaur and the purple haired woman’s story) and the hope of the future (the ending with horse and her herd).

This decision holds true to the series to this point.

This episode was a fantastic ride from start to finish. There were some aspects of the episode I was mixed on but I ultimately love the end result and find myself revisiting the tale in my thoughts and on rewatch. 

I am interested to see what Megan Nicole Dong does next!

*The marketing for this show wasn’t great. I know many people that were turned off from the show because of the trailers they had seen which is disappointing. But I’ve seen a lot of fairly big youtubers cover the show and help give it the attention it deserves.

Extra Thoughts

I thought almost all of the comedy hit, especially all the gags with Stabby. “I have unquantifiable corpses on my conscience.” is one of the funniest lines in the entire show. I really wasn’t a fan of the fart joke with horse in the elktaur’s mind and thought it really fell flat.

Hush Now (Cryptid AU)

So I got inspired by the song, “The Nowhere King” (NWK) from Centaurworld and this happened. I recommend reading the summary of the SPBNR Cryptid AU & perhaps ‘Watch Your Mouth (Cryptid AU)’ as that is earlier in the timeline, but to quick summarize:

Red (M!Kai) is at the ‘Nest of the Red Blur’ (aka the abandoned apartments Smith took over and stylized to fuel the cryptid rumours about him) when... oh dear, it seems a real cryptid (cough M!Overlord based on NWK) has taken an interest in his apprentice- :3

TW for creepiness, horror, tar, kidnapping, etc.

Waking up in an old decrepit building full of ivy and spiderplants, scrap metal, peeling wallpaper, and washed out paintings of cake was not the ideal scenario, but considering Red had been cryptid-hunting for the elusive cryptid that seemed intent on training him for some reason, the Red Blur, the previous night (or was it still night? early morning? it was hard to tell), it wasn't as frightening as it should have been.

It was still mildly terrifying waking up in the nest of fabric. But he'd been here a few times before, and it was at least appreciating that the Red Blur didn't leave him alone on a rooftop or alleyway in the city when he inevitably ran out of energy and crashed during their late-night runs. 

He untangled himself from the nest and stretched, wincing at the crack of bones. Urgh, he was going to end up like Master Wu at this rate. The Red Blur (in their own way) had shown him the exit (after a bit) the first time he'd woken up in their lair, but he still got lost in the maze of nature-claimed hallways of the apartment ruins. 

Well, at least he could explore then. And it was only mildly creepy wandering around alone. 

But something felt... off. He couldn't quite place his finger on what. Was it that the air was still, a suffocating cold that stung his throat and puffed his breath in little clouds? The way the broken clock on the wall still seemed to tick, chiming just off-key to the steady march of time? The pungent smell of petroleum, something acidic and tar-like like rotten mold?

The apartment creaked and shuddered with every step, which shouldn't have been possible considering it was formed from concrete and carpet. Red felt like he had chugged a gallon of oil; the taste was heavy in his mouth and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. 

𝓗𝓾𝓼𝓱 𝓷𝓸𝔀 (Hush now)

Red froze in the centre of the hallway and batted his ears. He could have sworn he heard a chorus of whispers, sounding both at the ends of the hallway and inside his head. Wind brushed the back of his neck.

There weren't any windows in this hallway.

𝓓𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓼𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹 (Dreamless sleep)

Red's feet were planted- almost as if frozen or glued- to the old stained carpet. A low creak sent a violent shudder throughout his body, but when he looked at either end of the hallway, no one was there. Though... was it just him, or was the area getting darker, the edges tinted with shadows. 

𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱 (Darkness is nigh)

No, it wasn't shadows...

𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓮𝓽 (Quiet)

It was tar.

𝓢𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽 (Silent)

Tar, leaking from the cracks in the wallpaper. Tar, dripping down from the ceiling in fat droplets and tendrils. Tar, spilling out from underneath the carpet. 

𝓗𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓮𝓼 (Hatred that reaches the skies)

Red couldn't move. All he could do was stare at the tar, a choir of ghostly voices resting phantom hands on his shoulders and singing soft melodies in his ears. His mouth felt sticky and he coughed, struggling to suck in a breath through the choking, acidic air. Something cold and wet dripped down his chin. 

𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓝𝓸𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 (You will bring joy to the Nowhere King)

The tar was reaching toward him, forming clawed hands that pushed off from the floor, the walls, the ceiling with a leisurely pace.

𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 (When he sees the light)

It was cold.

𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝔂𝓮𝓼 (Leaving your eyes)

{---------------}

The Red Blur- or Smith, though no one knew his name nor that he wasn't actually a cryptid, heard the scream. It sounded like- but why-

Smith bolted from his room, the only part of the abandoned complex he hadn't changed to match the 'nest' aesthetic of the building and raced through the hallway.

But when he got to the spot where he'd heard the scream from, he found nothing but a smoking scorched stain on the carpet and a message written in black paint on the wall:

𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 (I don’t appreciate curious little pretenders in my territory)

This is so cool!

"Rush now, into the middle of Nowhere." [DO NOT REPOST]