I still think the animas have to have something to do with K'Z'K or related demonkind. It's just too similar to the bug, Skip, etc.

They look similar, true. But I don't think it's quite the same. IIRC the hosts of skip and co. actually talked to each other, we just saw the "demonic animas" as a help to understand who's talking. Since the demons sometimes switched hosts it would have been confusing to see dude x talking to dudette y, while later there would be dude z and dude n, but still the same demons.

Or did any of those demon animas exist outside their host? Like K'Z'K when Zoë became the Bug Squisher? I have trouble remembering, it's been a while.

Anyway, TLDR: I always thought of them as a visual help for the reader, not as an actual thing that could have been seen by a particularly gifted person in the sluggy universe.

On another note: Why is Frog's companion named frog backwards? Didn't he have a name before? Did Frog name him? Coincidence? I think not...

Praise froggus! It's his post-baptism name, I'd wager!

Ssso I guess we're about to find out that in addition to seeing the Bedeviled and altered animas, seers like Zoe see something anima-related regarding Hedgedales?

That is an interesting thought. Maybe all animals have anima but only seers can see them?

I figured she saw it more like eating a horse burger, given their previous ownership of a hedgedale. Hedgedale's don't have animas, I believe.

If it were just her pushing the away, I'd probably be leaning towards that.

On the other hand, her interposing her hand between Riff and his sandwich as she tells him they have to leave now feels like it might as well be subtitled, "I can't let you eat that and I can't explain why in public."

I know we haven't seen an anima on a hedgedale previously, but I also don't know if we've been in the presence of a hedgedale at the same time we've been obviously looking through the Eyes of Zoe.

Regardless, it feels like there's more to it than her unease at eating a familiar sort of domesticated beast.

I think she stopped Riff because she saw the bedeviled anima outside and she needs to be able to see it to track it.

Maybe. That's what she's saying, absolutely, and to be completely fair the last shot we saw of outside wasn't from her POV (at least we didn't see any visibly altered animas).

On the other hand?

1.) We don't see Zoe looking outside; she pushes it away, staring at it in horror, and then *immediately* tells Riff she's seen a Bedeviled and they need to leave.
2.) Again, placement of her hand. She's directly stopping Riff from putting it in his mouth. She's not touching him. She's not pulling him away. She's keeping him from eating.
3.) Maybe it's just me, but that "Oh no!" She opens with sounds forced.

...And it looks like I was wrong. Okay, then!

If Torg brought advertising to this world, does that mean Jo's anima was shaped that way purely through self-image?

I forget who commented on that before, but that's horrifying.

Do you mean self-image of the diner she works at or her personal self-image? Either way, I agree with you.

Dr. Dastarde, could this be a descendant of the Shankrafts? It would be nice if they could show up again that way. Someone committed to removing bedeviled animas.

Probably me. I had a few good long rants on how sad her life must be if that was the case. lol.

But I'm sure various forms of advertising MUST have existed all throughout time. I mean, you can't buy services from the world's oldest profession if you didn't know they existed!