#AND I ALSO NEEDED HIM MORE WITH EBERWOLF AND RAINE :((

[agrebel18]

Reblog if Darius Deamonne. 

[welcometogrouchland]

I feel like for the first few years of guardianship Darius and Hunter really struggle to figure out how to refer to each other.

Like it's easier for Hunter, he pretty quickly settles on "guardian" for explaining their relationship to other people and just referring to Darius by name when talking to the man himself. Overtime the phrasing gradually warms, becoming "foster parent" and eventually, once Hunter's already an adult old enough to move out, "Dad".

(Sidenote: he doesn't move out til he's in his mid to late twenties, bc he's under no obligation too, Darius low-key doesn't want him too, and the two of them want to make up for lost time in a sense, since Hunter only had 2 years of legal dependency on Darius before aging out of the system. Darius adopts Hunter retroactively as an adult)

Darius on the other hand has a real conundrum on his hands for those first few years. He has a lot of options! But "ward" is too formal and makes it sound like Darius picked him up off the street like after his parents were murdered, "apprentice/student" isn't really accurate considering the focus of Darius and Hunter's relationship has less to do with Hunter learning magic and more to do with Hunter being housed and fed. "Kid" and "foster son" are there...but...

Look, Darius isn't going to refer to Hunter more familiarly than Hunter refers to him! He's not gonna make it WEIRD. He's not a dad, because Hunter doesn't want/need him to be (and also parenthood is scary <3). Darius doesn't know the first thing about being a dad, despite how his friend group teases him.

Eda and Eberwolf are the two who are worst about it. They torture him with how 'fatherly' he's allegedly being (allegations Darius will DENY til his GRAVE!!!) And Eda specifically compares his journey to hers, saying it always starts off with you referring to them as your apprentice (again, Darius doesn't plan on doing that), as your roommate (...kinda weird in Darius' opinion? But okay Eda), or even your pet (????HELLO???). But eventually, they always become your dumb kid when you least expect it.

She's had a couple cups of appleblood by this point, but Darius knows on some level she's right and he's steadfastly ignoring that fact, even as Eber continues to refer to Hunter as his "cub" (kinda cute but Darius doesn't know how Hunter would feel being compared to an animal). The only people who are even remotely reasonable about all this (besides Lilith who's a bit disinterested in kid talk) is Raine and Alador, who both sort of neutrally, a bit awkwardly refer to Hunter as Darius' Boy.

Darius referring to Hunter as "my boy" is funnily enough what sticks the longest before it evolves to son boy. Hunter's crushing it at a derby match? Darius is whooping and cheering, yelling "THAT'S MY BOY!!!" At the other parents in the stands. Hunter is doing something dangerous or inadvisable where others can see him? "Darius, your boy-" "AHH! MY BOY". Hunter, a year into his stay with Darius finally comes clean about everything to do with him being a grimwalker, and is afraid that he's going to go back to seeing him as just an inferior replacement for Darius' beloved mentor? Darius (who has just had to process some of the most bonkers, emotionally heavy information in his life) gently, hesitantly puts a hand on his shoulder (the 'good' one Hunter doesn't mind people touching), and says that Hunter's much more than that. He's Darius' Boy and he's not going to kick him out or get angry or love him any less for things out of his control. It's good. They're good.

Like I said, it evolves over time and 'boy' becomes somewhat obsolete as the two get caught up in the joy of finally feeling able to explicitly refer to each other as family. But unlike "guardian" or "ward" the word never gets fully retired. Even when Hunter is 30 and is arguing that he's more of a man than a boy now, he is still getting referred to by Darius as "his boy", the way some parents never really stop calling their adult kids baby or kiddo (Camila and Eda respectively btw).

Hunter makes one of those corny matching shirt sets at some point for a father's Day gift when he's 17/18, where the two shirts say "if lost, return Boy to me" (Darius) and "I'm Boy" (Hunter). Hunter mostly did it so he could own a funny shirt that says "I'm boy". Darius openly weeps upon seeing them. Like Oh my Titan he's boy. He's my boy. Oh wow

[chameleon66]

Pushed down

Pairings: Alador x Darius

Words count: 1,586

Warning: Angst, abusive parents, Odalia, (Tell me if I need to add anything else)

Author’s note: This is my late christmas gift to you all, this also has no connection to any of my previous Fics and I may or may not post another new fic tomorrow we’ll see what happens. I was also thinking about maybe writing something not about the Owl house but maybe about other shows that I enjoy so we’ll see how everything works out.

“Alador, what's wrong? Why are you crying?”

“Nothing’s wrong Raine, I’m fine.”

“No you’re not Alador, come on you can tell me anything.”

“No I can’t.”

“Alador, you know you can trust me, I’m your friend.”

“Well, ok but swear you’ll never tell anyone.”

“Of course, anything said between us stays between us.”

“I…I-I broke up with Darius today.”

“What! Why? You both are crazy about each other.”

“My parents arranged a marriage for me with Odalia and I don’t marry her then they swore to make sure Darius will never get into the Abomination coven and that’s been Darius’s dream forever. what kind of person would I be if I let that happen?”

“Why didn’t you just tell Darius that?”

“I didn’t think of that, but now it’s too late Darius probably won’t even breathe in my direction now.”

“...Well Alador you might just have to try.”

“What's the point? I’ll still have to marry Odalia and you swore you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Ok, you’re right Alador, I gave you my word so I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks Raine.”

Despite the fact this conversation happened over thirty years ago Raine still remembered it. Well more like they remembered it after they started the rebellion with Eberwolf and Darius and Darius was always talking about ‘That hack’ A.K.A Alador.

On the outside their rivalry might have looked childish or just driven by jealousy but for Raine who knew the actual backstory of the two it was actually quite heartbreaking to watch.

But Raine was a witch of their word so they at the time just listened to Darius rant about Alador. Even if Darius wouldn’t admit it to Raine or anyone else, they could still see Darius still had some kind of feelings towards Alador but most likely just tried to bury them away and turn them into spite towards him.

Now with the death of Belos the Boiling isles had returned to something near normal. There was now a permanent portal between the Demon realm and the Human realm, Raine had gotten back together with Eda, Alador had divorced Odalia and he was now working on an invention that could remove coven sigils with Raine and Darius helping him work on it.

Darius was still trying to act like he didn’t care for Alador but Raine regnonized the way that Darius would look at Alador when they were both working as the same look that he’d look at Alador with when they were dating.

Maybe if Darius wasn’t so bitter about the break up they would actually happen but that would mean some one who knew why Alador broke up with Darius (Raine) would have to tell Darius and Raine gave Alador their word and they didn’t want to break Alador’s trust.

Raine needed Advice from someone who was stable, rational and had self-control.

—Timeskip—

Darius arrived at Alador’s lab with Raine, though Darius was the old one talking, Raine was being very quiet. Alador also took note of this but let the thought go and continued on with his work. By lunch Darius had enough of the silent treatment and asked.

“Raine, are you ok? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

Raine’s arms stiffened and he looked away but still nervously answered. “I’m ok.”

Alador took the initiative and spoke next. “So why have you been so quiet all day?”

Raine pressed their lips together as their eyes darted around the room, this silence lasted only a few seconds though.

“I accidentally drank a vial of blabber serum instead of my migraine medicine this morning and I”ve been trying to avoid talking all day because I don’t want to say something that wasn’t meant to be said out loud.” Raine blurted out all in one breath.

Darius and Alador looked at eachother then back at Raine. “That’s all.” Darius shrugged, “Raine come on, you're an open book, you don’t have any secrets to spill.”

“Actually I know a lot of secrets.” Raine’s expression conveyed a look of hesitation and embarrassment by the blush on their face. “Like Hunter’s secret fear of thunderstorms, that time I caught Eberwolf sleep walking through the castle, why Alador broke up with you, Eda’s unpaid tab for apple blood at-.”

“Hang on, hang on, hang on, back up.” Darius held out his hands in a stopping motion easing Raine to silence themself. “Did you just say why Alador broke up with me?”

“Yes.” Raine answered back to Darius, Darius glanced back at Alador who was frozen like a deer in headlights on the freeway. Darius turned back to Raine with a hint of a flush on his face. And then came the million dollar question past his lips.

“Raine, why did Alador break-up with me?”

Alador began shaking his head back and forth vigorously at Raine but it was of no use.

“Alador’s parents were forcing him to marry Odalia and he didn’t want to but when he said no they swore to make sure you’d never get accepted into the Abomination coven and Alador knew how much that meant to you, so he broke up with you and the only reason I know is because I found him crying in the bathroom and I promised that I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Raine’s voice was squeaky through his explanation and after they were finished talking they shut their eyes tightly unwilling to look at the two witches.

Darius’s world went blank for a minute, after the break up Darius had always looked at that snake (Odalia) and wondered how Alador could be so blind to her abuse and manipulation. Why had he chosen to be with her when he and Alador were happy together? This led Darius into thinking that he wasn’t good enough and that was a burden he had to fight for a long time.

But it turned out that Alador didn’t break up with him because he didn’t love him quite the opposite. Alador broke up with him because he loved him and wasn’t selfish enough to hold him back from his dreams just because he wanted to be with him even if that just made things worse for him in his life.

He had done it all for him, endured all of those years with Odalia for him.

“Alador?” Darius looked back to Alador who’s eyes were fixated on the ground and his right hand was fisted in the fabric of his coat and the blush was clear on his face. Darius sighed, they couldn’t go on like this. Something had to change.

“Raine?” Raine’s eyes opened to look at Darius and he waited for Darius to speak again. “Can you give us a minute?” Darius’s eyes darted to the door then back at Raine.

“I’ll go make myself some tea.” Raine quietly excused themself and quickly walked out of the room.

Darius turned on his heels to face Alador who still refused to look at him, Darius knew that it was now or never and took a deep but silent breath then spoke softly to Alador.

“Is what Raine said true? About you breaking up with me?” Darius knew it was a dumb question but needed it to be confirmed for him to fully believe it.

“Yeah it’s true.” Alador admitted. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to be held back.” Alador blinked a few times, probably trying to disguise the tears in his eyes but Darius had already taken note of them.

“Don’t apologize Al.” Alador froze, Darius hadn’t called him that nickname in so many years. “You’ve really just wanted me to be happy, even after we broke up?” Darius felt his throat tighten as he finished his sentence.

“It wasn’t easy but I knew how much being in the Abomination coven meant to you and I also figured you’d find someone new, sooner or later.” Tears were now rolling down Alador’s cheek yet he was trying to wipe them away.

Darius acting on pure impulse took both of Alador’s hands in his and spoke again. “What if I don’t want to find someone new, I like what I already have.” Darius watched a flush made its way up Alador’s face “or at least what I used to have.” Darius added.

Alador’s face was now bright red; his eyes quickly went from Darius’s eyes to his lips then back down to the floor. “I…I still…love you too, Dar.” Alador mumbled and Darius smiled hearing his old nickname.

Darius leaned into Alador and captured his lips in a tender kiss, even after all these years the kiss still felt familiar, the way Darius’s hand fonded through Alador’s hair while the other rested in Alador’s hand, it all just felt so comforting and like home.

The next day at work Alador and Darius told Raine they were going to try again and Raine couldn’t have been happier for them.

But Raine really needed to hand it to Hooty, they had not thought that his insane plan would work.

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Headcannons for Darius, Eberwolf, and Hunter as a family

Darius and Eberwolf already lived together (well truth be told mostly Darius spends nights there. Eberwolf shifts between out door campsites, and the house’s basement when the weather is to cold/hot/stormy) in an older house just outside of bonesborough, and inside the country. They like the quiet of it. They clear an extra room out for Hunter and offer to help him with setting it up and decorating.

As soon as he can Darius drags Hunter to the healing coven get his scars looked at, find out what kind of medicine they need, and if their are any cosmedics that will iritate them. You best believe Hunter is getting a crash course on skin treatment from Darius.

Darius also takes Hunter to get some new cloths. Hunter at first tells Darius he doesn’t need him to because Camila already took him to earth “thrift stores” for cloths

When he shows his new cloths to Darius, and lets him see all the mismatching colors and clashing patterns, Darius has to bite his tounge and forces a smile as he comments that it still looks Hunter only has a few outfits, and could use some more. He also suggests they look for plainer cloths that’s colors will maybe match what Hunter already has, or that Hunter can sew designed onto.

The last part actually turns into a really nice continuation of the sewing lessons they already bonded over at the castle between ASIAS and HM. Darius helps Hunter work on formatting and spacing his designs. Hunter starts telling Darius everything he learns about this awesome earth concept called “cause play”.

Hunter is quick to decide he wants to learn Eberwolf’s language, which delights Eberwolf because apart Darius and Raine few witches have ever made an attempt to

Eberwolf does most of the cooking in the house. Yes when they eat meat it is often very fresh. He will let Hunter help sometimes with side dishes or setting the table. No Hunter does not have to help clean or gut kills. Like Darius Hunter perfers to not even be in the room while Eber is doing that

Eberwolf will also allow Hunter to come with him to his stables and help take care of the beast he keeps there. Hunter decides he wants to learn to Ratrace after hearing Boscha smugly brag about winning a race. Hunter wants to learn to to race on the big, scarred ratworm that Eberwolf brought on the mission in ER. Eberwolf growls at him that that worm is a rescue, from a really abusive situation, and does not trust anyone except for Eber himself on top of it. He points Hunter to a smaller, more gentle ratworm to learn riding with. Hunter listens to Eberwolf, but makes befriending the scarred ratworm a personal goal afterwards.

Hunter also gets the mistaken idea that Eberwolf must be really slow, because he is always riding everywhere either on one of his worm creatures, or On Darius’s shoulders. Darius learns Hunter thinks this first and just laughs and says “well what can you do? He is to suborn to improve”.

After that Hunter goes to Eberwolf and tells him that speed is important and Eber should start joining him, Darius, and Willow on runs in the early mornings. That is how Hunter finds out Eberwolf is actually the fastest out of all the former coven heads. His reason for hitching rides so often is in fact due more to his small size and wanting to see over peoples heads.

Oh yeah Willow comes by before for school, so she and Hunter can work out together. Darius makes changes to his sleep/morning schedule to make sure he is up too. Even if Hunter and Willow are generally trustworthy individuals, he remembers what teenagers can be like, and does not like the idea of Willow and Hunter being completely alone together.

Willow’s is as nervous to properly meet Darius and Eberwolf for the first time as Hunter is to meet her dad’s. She tries to bring them flowers to make a good impression. When she tries to give them the flowers they both back away, Eberwolf starts hissing. Through his cloak Darius impassively tells her that he is allergic to pollen, and that the type of flowers in her hands also happen to be poisonous to Eberwolf’s species. The Flowers quickly go in the trash and Willow is certain she has messed up both first and any impression the pair will ever have.

Willow cannot understand Eberwolf, and Darius is his usually stoic self throughout dinner, so neither really alleviate Willow’s concerns. At the school the next day though Hunter excitedly tell Willow that after she left they remarked that she seems like a very nice girls, and that Darius said he was impressed by how neat and tidy she is.

When Hunter first moves in he ask for the house rules. Darius tells him the basics. No shoes worn in the house, wash dishes after eating, do not leave your things out in the open. Bed rooms, which include yours, are a private space and no one will go into them without your permission. Keep your scroll on you when you go out encase you need to call us or vise versa

After Hunter has lived with them for a short time, and they learn just how foreign a concept relaxation is to Hunter, Darius has to give him some new rules. You need to be home by this hour and in bed by this hour. Do not try and get up in the morning until this hour 7-9 hours later. Eating three meals a day IS required. We are going to carve two hours out of every day for mandatory down time, during which time you are need to find something relaxing to do. That is not training, school work, or rebuilding plans for the isles. Hunter uses relaxing time to work on sewing, carving , or geeking out over cosmic frontier.

Because of the current state of the isles school moves first to online, then to partially online partially in person. Hunter is allowed to come with Darius and Eberowlf to work on clean up and repairs to the isles. They also give permission for him to attend therapy with Luz (Luz goes to Therapy in the demon realm because no human therapist will understand what “gliphs” or “tricked by belos” means) and to research alternative ways of using magic with Luz and the Clawthorne sister, (thank you to the poster who told me that Hunter does not infact have a bowl-sack after TTT and can only do the teleportation trick).

It seems like in the time skip Darius and Eberwolf become police, for keeping supporters of Belo’s form of tyrannical government from trying to bring it back. I also notice that they do not have Hunter with them while on the job. I imagine that he wanted to join them on that, and tried to pitch a fit at not being allowed. But they told him very firmly “No. This is dangerous work. Being a teenager is your job now”

Generally Darius and Eberwolf will have set their schedules so that one of them can be home with Hunter, or are only both working when Hunter is out. Sometimes they will both have to be away overnight, or for a couple days at a time though. Then Hunter will sleep over either at the Noceda residence, or the Porters.

 One time when they come back home early from what was supposed to be an overnight trip only to find out that instead of going to the Porters house like he said, Hunter invited the hexsquad and EE’s to a house party, which totally trashed the living room. They send everybody home, and Darius angerly yells at Hunter to clean up this mess and that he is grounded indefinitely. Hunter cleans the mess and then goes to his room to text some of the adults he visits houses that he thinks he needs a new place to stay

Darius gets several messages on his scroll wanting to know what happened, and why he is kicking out Hunter. He explains what he came home to, and that he is not kicking Hunter out of the house, he has just grounded him. Because this is the first time Darius has ever had to ground Hunter, he is honestly not even sure what he is supposed to do to ground him. Once they understand the situation the other parents are happy to give Darius some suggestions based on how they will be grounding their kids for lying about their whereabouts and sneaking off to an unsupervised party.

Darius later goes up to Hunter’s room and tells him that he is not being thrown out. He and Eberwolf love having him here and will never do that to Hunter. But that lying to him is wrong and its also dangerous for Hunter to stay in the house alone at night. What if someone got hurt, or somebody tried to break in? Yes Belos used to leave Hunter alone in unsafe environments, but that was one more thing Belos did wrong. He finished by saying that Hunter will have extra house chores and an earlier nighttime curfew for the next two weeks, but that is going to be the extent of grounding.

Darius and Eberwolf go to all of Hunters Flyer Durby games once teams start back up.

 Before carving waffles Hunter uses Darius’s palisman (The mini abomination thing Darius hid in his hair). Darius does not fly anymore (teleporting is faster and poses less risk of wrinkled cloths or bugs in his teeth) So Hunter reasons that he is not replacing Flapjack, he’s just helping gooey get to have a little more fun and activity in his life.

When Hunter tells them he wants to be a palisman carver, and has been asking Luz and Amity to get Eda and Lilith to recommend him as a student to Dell, Darius and Eberwolf help him create a pitch and practice interviews. This turns out to be over preparing. When Dell learns Hunter wants to learn the trade his only concern is if Hunters scars are anything like his and weather or not they impact his mobility.

Hunter calls Darius and Eberwolf by their first names, and that is also what he refers to them as in conversations. But eventually he gets to where he starts introducing them to people as his father and his Patruus (Latin for paternal uncle). Darius and Eberwolf love this.

Hunter is sad to learn that kids are supposed to move out of their parents house at or shortly after turning 18. He never had a real home or family until he was 16, and does not want to leave it after only 2 years. When Darius and Eberwolf learn this they tell him that he is welcome to stay with them as long as he wants.

Hunter lives with Darius and Eberwolf until he and Willow become engaged, then they get their own apartment close enough for both their families to visit.

Darius and Alador become friends again during the rebuilding of the isles, but do not start dating until after all their children have become adults. Emira and Hunter are the first two to learn about their dads being a couple. One day Hunter goes to hang out with his friends to find Amity distressing because her dad has just told her he has been dating someone for a while now, and wants to do a dinner between their two families. Alador did not say who his boyfriend is, Ed does not know, Em does but will not say who,  just that “I’ve seen him at work. He can be pretty alright”. What does that mean? He is dating Amity’s dad, and his last partner after all was Odalia!

Hunter laughs, puts his hand around Amity’s shoulders, and tells her that he is sure things will be alright and her dad’s new boyfriend is not someone she will ever have to be sacred of. When Amity see’s Hunter at the restaurant, and learns that Darius is who her Dad is now dating, she informs Hunter that she will get him for not telling her so earlier.

[oryoucouldhavemine]

TOH Headcanon Dump Post

(Mostly the De-lights because i write them the most lmao)

Hunter:

Autistic

surprisingly tall but like in a lanky "towers over everyone" way except he has terrible posture

gets overwhelmed with sound, light, people, basically everything if it was unexpected he's probably overwhelmed

Darius is his dad but Raine and Eberwolf are like, honorary parents at this time. Eda and Camila are more like the really close aunts he always visits to me, idk i dont see Eda being a parental figure that works for him (Luz however that is her daughter fr fr)

has lots of scars from Belos trying to "teach him a lesson" about bravery and such and Hunter doesnt think anything about it until hes like changing and Darius does a drama queen dramamgic gasp, hand over chest while leaning against a wall for support

HATES tight clothing, its too restricting he enjoys oversized and loose clothes. in the human world, luz introduces him to skirts and hunter is like "WHY WOULD ANYONE NOT WEAR A SKIRT THEYRE AMAZING"

he also likes purses he thinks theyve gotta be magical or something

touch-starved but has loving friends and family who are here to help him through it

discovers fire trucks and engines in the human world and despises the boiling isles for NOT HAVING THEN WHY DONT THEY HAVE THEM THEYRE SO COOL????

Luz

ADHD + genderqueer (p sure both are canon)

SHE WOULD LOVE NEO/XENO PRONOUNS theyd have sm fun with chosing ones

Loves to dress masc and fem and soemtimes combine them in asburd ways but she always surprisingly makes the outfit work

wants a guinea pig farm. no, NEEDS a guinea pig farm. She wants to name them all after her favourite book characters and sew them tiny outfits to match she would KILL a man for a guinea pig farm

considera hunter her older brother and looks up to him a lot

LOVES her gf would also kill a man for her she is the light of her life. luz tries to do grand romantic cheesy gestures like writing amity poems or getting her a massive bouquet of flowers but something ALWAYS goes wrong (amity loves all the gestures regardless)

luz's favourite colour is purple (because of amity ofc)

she HAS to sleep either sprawled out taking up every inch of the bed possible or curled up and swadled like a little baby there is no inbetween

very tactile if luz isnt hugging someone there might me something wrong

im cutting this short i could make fifty posts about luz hcs alone

Amity

autistic + sapphic

npw that shes free from her mom, she LOVES to be imperfect, she gets happy whenever she fails a test or a spell because shes ALOWED to be imperfect now

she and hunter did NOT get along at first like even post-s3 they didnt mesh well but they both care for Luz they had to get over it (and now theyre practically ever apart)

admired lillith even more now, she thinks lillith is like, THE COOLEST person in the world but feels akward telling her

has poor circulation so she gets cold really easily

whenever shes stressed or worried, shell pull at two strands of her hair next to her face and like twirl or pull on them to ground herself

Gus

unlabelled he/they

brags about having gone to the human realm to anyone who will listen

considers himself an expert on human things despite barely actually knowing anything human

loves playing pranks but is literally terrible at them but everyone humors him and acts surprised (he knows theyre acting)

once took a human SAT just to see if he could and got a higher score than Camila got on hers and she calls him Boy Genius for it

like in Flyer Derby, hes really good at a lot of sports but he plays untraditionally. hes always underestimated by the other team but then ends up scoring all the winning points

hes a silly little guy love him

Willow

her comfort person is hunter, she feels strong all the time but it weighs on her and hunter makes her feel strong even at her weakest moments

she likes to knot and crochet! she picked it up in the human world and she finds it so calming and fun except it took her a bit before she actually got the hang of it (she made like five sweaters that had three arms but in her defense!!! she knows a lot of creatures and beings with three arms!!!)

works out! not necessarily to get strong but because working out makes her feel accomplished

amity has been trying out new hairstyles and Willow loves being Amity's pracitce head. You can barely ever find willow without some sort of fancy braid or bun hairstyle nowadays

she wants a horse. shes not actually sure what a horse IS but she wants one

super sweet to every new person she meets until they mess with her friends then she is the scariest person alive

Darius

OCD + gay

he discovers what drag queens are and becomes obsessed

"a place for everything and everything in its place" hehas harsh rules about what does where and gets easily upset if his system is ruined

he DESPISES "if you hate messes so much whyd you pick the messiest magic to learn" comments because how DARE you insinuate that abomination matter (PART OF WHAT HE IS!) is ANYTHING like mud its actually very disrespectful of you to think so he says

he and alador had a falling out in their later years of school and to cover up the hurt, darius will argue and tease him but deep down he really just misses him

at the start of him trying to care for hunter, he refuses to admit that he is like a father to him. anytime eda or raine call him a dad, he'll go out of his way to try and prove hes NOT (cut to five months layer when hes legally adopted hunter and they meecilessly tesse him)

acts like eberwolf is the biggest inconvience hes ever met but would kill anyone who tries to harm them (and hed rather die than tell them that)

does things in threes, he doesnt even notice he does it at this point but he'll like rub his hands together three times, tie his hair up with three twists, eat three waffles for breakfast, and when smth isnt in threes it feels verry OFF to him

Alador

queer + autistic

very fixated on his work, he needs to be constantly creating and if he isnt creating then hes falling behind and if hes falling behind its the end of the world

doesnt know how to properly show affection, his parents had been pretty strict and neglectful so he doesnt know how to properly show his kids that he loves and cares for them

NOT a tactile person at all. don't touch him and DEFINTELY dont touch him without permission. he has very few people who are exceptions (his kids and Darius) and even then there are limits

hates the feeling of showering so hes a bigger bath person despite darius telling him thats not an effective way to get clean

he has like eighty pairs of the exact same outfit because its the only texture he can stand

darius and his falling out was due to his parents telling him darius was dragging him down and he itched him in an attempt to make his parents proud. he deeply regrets his choice everyday (they fix their shit eventually)

he DOES have a favourite kid but he refuses to tell them such

Edric

bisexual + autistic + transmasc

this man gets NO BITCHES none zero trying to find a partner is borderline IMPOSSIBLE for some unknown reason

he runs on a schedule and if something breaks the schedule no matter how small it can ruin his whole day

vrry open with his emotions. he will tell you right away if youre bothering him or did something to upset him

WHY THE HELL IS SCHOOL SO HARD he despises english because why are all answers right and wrong he loves math because there is only one right answer but its still a tricky subject for him

dinosaurs

his biggest fear is dying alone he hates being alone its the worst thing ever

WHY IS MAGIC TRICKY AS WELL WHY IS EVERYTHING SO HARD? hes getting better though and hes really good at beastkeeping

clingy emotionally and physically he needs the constant reassurance that people are there and care for him and hes close to his sister and tends to stick to her like glue

Emira

bisexual + AuDHD + transfem

when she and edric were younger and realised they were both trans they just switched names and clothes and it took ten years for their parents to notice the switch

RSD [Rejection Senstive Dysphoria] she hates that she has it because someone can say smth as simple as "sorry i cant make it my grandma died" and she'll start thinking of a million different reasons why that person actually just hates her (shes communicated this with her siblings though and they do their best to commincate clearly back with her that no they dont hate her at all)

SO MANY BITCHES people fall at her feet they swoon when she walks by but NONE of them are her type its terrible!!!!

loves her little sister but doesnt know how to show her love through any other way outside merciless teasing

she loves her brother, she does, she just wants to be her own person outside him, to be able to turn around and not see him two feet behind her

loves english and the fact you can make any wrong answer right with enough arguing and debate. math is her least favourite subject WHY THE HELL IS IT SO HARD

has years of detention stacked up but has not attended a single day (she got suspended for a week because of it and was just like YAYYY FREE VACATION!)

will sometimes just sit in her dads workshop while he works and watch in silence because she likes hanging out with people but knows alador cant focus with sound. its both of their favourite times

Raine

lesbian + nonbinary

post-s3 runs a music therapy group where they teach people how to play instruments or how listening to music can greatly help their mental health

has been in love with eda since their breakup, they never stopped loving her and would watch from the sidelines with terror as wanted signs got hung up around the BI for years

doesnt mind dressing fem or masc but prefers the more androgynous outfits

has watched hunter from the sidelines and tried to protect them from a distance but could only do so much. post-HM raine goes out of their way to make sure hunter is safe

sees luz as a sort of step daughter and then promptly panics over that realisation for a whole day

gets flustered really easily like why is everything so embarrassing what the hell

very agile, can do backflips and stuff

Eberwolf

Unlabelled + he/they

COULD JOT STAND DARIUS AT FIRST darius and eber did NOT get along in their early years of being covenheads but then eventually learned they were both rebels and got closer now theyre kind of like begruding brothers

could kill a man in their sleep and has

loves being dirty, mud is so much fun why doesnt everyone roll around in the mud more?

has also watched hunter from afar for years, hunter used to be sent out on overnight missions into the woods and stuff and eber would follow along and protect hunter so he could focus on his mission and not random forest creatures trying to kill him

Most of these are based on my dadrius series and stuff so if you enjoyed these hcs uou should go read my fics (KaztielCS118 on ao3!!! used to be Im_Basically_Shakespeare but i changed it recently)

[thousand-winters]

Do you think Hunter has any extra attributes due to being a grimwalker? Like his teeth are sharper than the average witches or his eyes shine if a light is shined in them etc

I have two answers for this.

I get the feeling that in canon he wasn't intended to have any "unusual" traits or anything of the sort, the formula to make the grimwalkers probably ends up mixing into the closest being to a witch/demon you can have, without the bile sac, unless that's a Caleb specific thing since he was a human. There are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to the grimwalkers, honestly.

Which is why my actual answer is yes. Because we really don't know exactly how grimwalkers work and it's the more fun option so that's usually the assumption I work with. Because why not.

It honestly depends what I'm thinking the headcanons for, a casual discussion, a fic... it's one of those things for me that's like "whatever works for this specific thing I'm doing but I can change it for another".

In general, I like to think that because he's sort of a mix when it comes to witchy and human traits, he needs a diet that includes food from the demon and the human realm. He can go without one of those but to be the most healthy he needs both.

The eyes are a really fun one as well, I do like to imagine they reflect the light, especially because along with Darius in his abomination form and Eberwolf with those glowing eyes of theirs, they end up being a family with unsettling eyes in the dark and Hunter probably would have such a blast with that. They're not family by blood but precisely because of that, it's more fun to him that they share a trait like that.

If he also had sharper teeth than whatever is the norm for witches, Eber could help him with that. He probably would need to get some chew toys, I imagine, especially if it's a trait that developed a bit later because before all the energy and nutrients his body got had to go to him surviving instead of developing properly, considering how his needs were going neglected.

I love the headcanon too that he gets particularly sleepy when someone scratches the back of his ears justs like the stonesleepers, except he doesn't actually turn to stone, he's just as hard to move as it once he falls asleep over someone like that. Very useful trick when for whatever reason he's having trouble sleeping, especially since he really has to make up for years of sleeping as little as possible.

That he has an easier time connecting with palismen (not bonding properly like witches do with their unique palismen, just befriending them) is also a good one, though very bittersweet, especially if he notices only after he's out of the Coven, because he's already going to be thinking about all those palismen he handed to Belos and feeling guilty and now he's gonna realize they might have had an affinity with him and then if they were aware enough at the moment, that probably made them trust him. And then... well. As a palisman carver that would be a boon though.

Oh! And can't forget the good old HC that he might be more resistant to boiling water. I figure he wouldn't have as high of a resistance as an actual selkidomus, but still higher than the average witch, so he can't be careless about it but he doesn't have too worry to death if he ever gets caught for a bit on the Boiling Rain and such. It doesn't keep Darius from having a couple of big frights there.

[dazeddoodles]

hey heads up open talk of sexual (raedius) things in here I love polycule dynamics where its either two allos one ace or two aces and one allo darius is someone who's asexual but only disgusted by sexual activities if it involves himself. if it involves eda and raine he is very supportive the way any partner would be for their lovers - including gifting them "bedroom toys" - he'd never partake in sex himself as an asexual but that wont stop him from being a supportive wife raine & eda absolutely destroying each other meanwhile darius is in the other room happy as can be doing self care - eating snacks - sewing some new stuffed animals for his room and playing his favorite show at full volume taking a nap all at the same time - absolute heaven for her bc she loves her alone time then afterwards raine and eda are done and darius gets even more excited because aftercare time!! (yippie!) and he'll actually join in most of the time it'll just be the 3 of them having a fancy bubble bath together - raine & eda are often too tired to prepare it bc of how much they exhausted their bodies out but darius is full of energy and very giddy (for reasons discussed below) and this is where the "whore in the asexual way" part comes in; Darius is an absolutely whore for any physical affection - like he needs affection. As soon as they're all in the bath Darius is stuck like glue to them for the rest of the night. Kisses, cuddles, pet names, compliments, etc. All of them will praise each others' bodies in a way that isn't really sexual but rather simple love & admiration - especially Darius. Raine is mostly silent (eda exhausted them so much LMFAO) while eda and darius are playing with each other's hair as they clean each other up Also also - Darius has two forms of affection that he ended up getting from eberwolf (and possibly impulses & instincts from his abomination form bleeding through) which is - nuzzling his face against his loved ones' face, playfully biting them, and sniffing them aggressively - he can identify where raine & eda is just from their scent even when they're far away once aftercare is done they all pile into the nest and pass tf out - the next day raine & eda are well rested, still a bit sore and woozy from last night, but overall feel very satisfied while darius is feeling well rested, and very refreshed, but maybe a little bit lazy - he just wants to keep cuddling with his amazing partners for just a little longer <3 I love raedius - rant over

We love to see Allo and Ace romantic relationships working out

[theowlhousesaga]

Here are some Infos about the CovenKidsAU!

The Logo (which has a secret in it)

Story

The CovenKidsAU focuses on Darius and the other Coven Heads in their school days. When Darius and his new friends found a mysterious egg, they decided to take care of it. While researching what this egg is and where it belongs, they will have exciting adventures or face the truth and make difficult decisions.

Characters

Main Characters

Darius

Raine

Eberwolf

Adrian

Hettie

Vitimir

Mason

The Golden Guard

Side Characters

Eda

Lilith

Odalia

Alador

Perry

Harvey

Gilbert

Faust

Bump

Terra

Osran

Belos

Gwen

Dell

Roselle

Dottie

Palismen

Slitherbeast

Unnamed Characters

All Parents and other Family Members of the CovenKids Gang (including Eberwolf)

Boscha’s Parents

Previous Coven Heads

Teachers and Students

Background Characters/ Characters I don’t know what to do yet

Steve

Kikimora

Warden Wrath

Katya

Amber

Derwin

Episodes

I'm not 100% happy with these episodes, so don't be surprised if I change some things. BTW, the episodes are not in order and the titles are not the actual episode titles, just keywords.(Excuse my non-existent writing skills)

20-25min Episodes

Episode 1 (Third Wheel)

Introduction to the main character Darius and his goals, problems, family and friends. One of the problems is that his best friend Alador and Odalia start ignoring him and excluding him. Raine wants to find a solution by searching for new friends. They end up taking part in a school play where they soon meet their new friends.

Episode 2 (School Play)

So Darius and Raine participate in the school play, but while Darius keeps complaining about the script, Raine has to fight their stage fright as Eda has become ill and cannot comfort them during the school play. Nonetheless, they have to team up with the two new students Adrian and Hettie. Hettie seems really open to making new friends, but Adrian is very skeptical about the two as he has a passion for acting, he would be very mad if someone screwed up his performance...

Episode 3 (School Trip)

Days later, Darius bumps into Adrian and Hettie again during a school trip. They decide to go for a walk and talk about recent events when they come across a cave that Hettie wants to check out. Even though it's dangerous, they go inside and explore. In the cave, they noticed an egg all alone with no parents nearby. They ignore it and don’t think much about it, but when they found out that this was a Slitherbeast's cave, they just want out as quick as possible. Darius didn't want the egg to get eaten, so he tries to save it, which leads to Adrian and Hettie getting captured by the beast. Meanwhile, Raine and Eda are just talking when Eda mentions a witch who also goes to potions class.

Episode ? (Top Student)

Darius wants to be the best in the abomination class, but that's not so easy when you have a rival in class. His new friends help him train for an upcoming test and become the top student.

Episode ? (Grudgby Match)

Arguing over who should keep the egg, they decide to make it a challenge. Whichever team wins can decide who takes care of it.

Episode ? (Research)

Searching in the library for infos about Eber, they can't seem to get any clues as to what the egg might be. As the six split up to find more information, Vitimir finds a mysterious man who may knows something about what they are looking for.

Episode ? (Call for Help)

Darius introduces a special person to the his five friends, the Golden Guard. Maybe he knows more about this topic, but even someone as almighty as she is needs help sometimes.

Episode ? (HECK)

When Adrian got sent to the Helping Enhance Coven Knowhow he wants to prove he’s way better than everyone else. But as an illusionist and with his old bullies following him, it’s hard to get that attention.

Episode ? (Vitimir’s Past)

Curious as to why Vitimir always speaks badly of himself and never talks about his family they meet Vitimir's sister. As she tells the kids the tragic story of the past, it begins to make sense.

Episode ? (Disguise)

Vitimir wants to spend time with his sister, but his adoptive parents don't even allow him to be near her. Adrian disguises himself as Vitimir so he can enjoy the days with his sister without fearing that his parents are looking for him.

Episode ? (Flyer Derby)

Mason want his parents to see that he’s also good at something like his cousin Harvey but nothing seems to work. His friends suggest to participate in a Flyer Derby tournament. What he doesn't know is that his cousin is also participating and is many steps ahead of him.

Episode ? (Backstory)

Terra tells Adrian about her school days while Osran also tells Vitimir about his school days. It seems that the two stories have a connection.

Episode ? (Cure)

Hettie is desperate to find a cure for Vitimir’s disease. As they work together, they grow closer and gain trust.

Episode ? (Season 1 Finale)

Some demon hunters mistake Eber for a demon egg and the kids have to get it back somehow. (At the end of the episode Eber hatches)

Specials (45-50min Episodes)

Episode ? (Night at Hexside)

There's a Halloween sleepover in Hexside, but those who venture out in the hallways at night must face Hexside's spooky guards.

Episode ? (Where‘s Eda?)

When Eda goes missing for days Raine asking everyone to help find her. Together they explore the boiling isles to search for Eda.

Episode ? (Eber‘s Parents)

Darius and the five others make their way back to the Knee to finally find Eber's parents, but there are dangers along the way

Episode ? (The Truth)

(This episode has some intense final scenes. It might be scary for younger viewers.)

As Hunter goes through his daily routine, she finds a door he has never seen before. It leads her under the castle, but what and who he finds there is the last thing she wants to see.

Episode ? (Season 2 Finale)

It's Darius' last days in Bonesborough before moving to Latissa. Everyone comes together to make these days the best.

Episode Ideas

Episode for each Backstory of the Main Characters

Grom Episode

Gland Prix Episode

Mindscape Episode

Darius x Adrian Episode

Hettie x Vitimir Episode

Raeda Episode

(Okay I probably have more ideas but I’m too lazy to list them)

What happens after all that?

Well there are two options…

Canon Ending (the Events of The Owl House)

Fanon Ending (the Events of the CovenSpiesAU)

[polyhexian]

Raine's entire experience in the eventually AU cracks me up.

Like, on the one hand, the rebellion seems to have a bit more steam earlier on here? (is that a result of Jasper being alive? or just headcanon?) In canon there didn't seem to be much organized rebellion until, like, a month before the Day of Unity. So they've got that going for them.

And they've got the Martlet! Who is a very strong ally, even if they can't figure out what the guy's whole DEAL is. Who is he? Where'd he come from? What's with the lack of magic? What's with the broken hawk palisman? How does he seem to have better castle intel than Raine does despite Raine WORKING IN THE CASTLE? Why is he so standoffish about getting more involved when he OBVIOUSLY hates Belos? He is weirdly obsessed with fighting the Golden Guard but also insanely protective of the Golden Guard? His motivations are inscrutable and make no sense. But beggars can't be choosers and the Martlet is really good at what he does, so Raine doesn't question him much.

But the guy isn't all that great at cashing in favors? He just keeps racking them up. What does he WANT??

When he DOES cash in a favor or name his price in a trade, it makes no SENSE.

"I want more information on the Golden Guard."

"You probably know more about the Golden Guard's fighting skills and tactics than anyone else at this point."

"Not that kind of information. I want to know ABOUT him. His likes, dislikes, personal history…"

Raine squints at the Martlet. "Okay, I'm aware you two are rivals, but this is a bit much." They can't afford to worry too much about the Golden Guard, aside from worrying that he doesn't get in the CATTs' way. The child soldier thing is messed up, but the kid is severely brainwashed and there's not much Raine can do when they need to focus on saving all of the Isles. Still… "Are you aware that the Golden Guard is a teenage boy?"

The Martlet straightens up. "Aha, so you are aware that the Golden Guard is a teenage boy."

"That…doesn't answer my question."

"Nope, but it's answered several of mine."

Raine groans, but the Martlet's price is relatively inexpensive and while the guy is weird he's never been a creep, so they say, "I know of a few people who were involved in his upbringing, I'll see what I can do."

Things progress generally along the same lines as canon for a while. Raine's got the CATTs, and they reunite with Eda for a bit, and then Darius and Eberwolf "protect" them in the stupidest way possible but at least it ends with them joining the CATTs, and they've got to fake being brainwashed by Terra's STUPID tea, but everything proceeds as usual.

And then Any Sport in a Storm happens.

"Darius," Raine says, staring blearily at the other man, "it is four in the morning. WHAT is so important that YOU are skipping out on your beauty sleep to knock on my door at four in the morning?"

"I need the Martlet's contact information," Darius says, wild-eyed.

"…Why?"

Darius draws a blank. "Um…classified?"

Raine decides they don't want to know and gives him the Martlet's scroll number.

And then things get weird. Darius doesn't leave his room for like two days and when he does he's oddly jumpy now? Eberwolf seems to think he's depressed by WHY is anyone's guess. And then Darius starts trying to befriend the Golden Guard?? Why?? Darius we're running a rebellion we need to stay UNDER the kid's radar - You're going on a camping trip? What? YOU? What's this about eating bugs??

If they try to contact the Martlet during this time period they are. taken aback. by what a bad mood the guy's in.

And there's a million ways Hollow Mind could go down, but if it goes down in such a way that Raine remains oblivious to the whole Jasper situation, they are just. So confused. Like, okay, we didn't get into the Emperor's mind, but we got the intel we needed. Time to stop the Day of Unity!

The Golden Guard ran away for some reason and Raine is like, okay, one threat eliminiated, yay? Except now Darius is freaking out over the missing kid and it's like, Darius. Darius can you please focus? Darius we are all going to die.

They try calling the Martlet like 50 times before he finally picks up and they're like, look, we figured out what the Day of Unity is, and it's bad, we need all hands on deck! Are you in or what? What do you mean no? So just because you're a wild witch you're gonna leave everyone with a sigil to die?

"I'M A LITTLE BUSY, WHISPERS."

"Busy doing WHAT? What could possibly be more important than - did he just hang up on me?!"

Eda's house gets raided but Eda herself isn't captured, so that's a relief, but Darius is really cagey all of a sudden, and - what's this about the Martlet single-handedly holding off an Emperor's Coven attack squad at Hexside? What is he DOING?

Darius finds the Golden Guard. Yay? The kid isn't on Belos's side anymore so that's good and Darius wants to give him a mission and you know what, knock yourself out Darius, Raine is just going to ignore whatever's going on there and focus on the ACTUAL plan. The Martlet STILL isn't answering their calls. Why does Raine feel like they're the only one who cares about this rebellion?

And then, y'know, Day of United, puppetization, possession, final battle, stomping Belos into an unrecognizable puddle of goo before seeing the spirit of their god ascend into the aether. Raine has had. A long day. Week. Month. Whatever. But they've won! Everyone's alive! And there are reunions!

Darius is with the Golden Guard kid, because of course he is. There is a strange man glaring very intently at Darius. Darius looks terrified of the guy but that is not stopping him from listening to Hunter's ramblings.

The strange man is the Martlet. The Martlet is the previous Golden Guard. And also Hunter's father. WHAT? WHAT??

And Raine looks at this enigma of an ally whom they have never been able to figure out, who is apparently the Emperor's old lackey and infamous bogeyman, and who the CATTs owe approximately five million favors to.

Shit.

And Raine is like, okay, what do you want. Are you after money? Power? What is your GAME?? I'll have you know we aren't going to replace one tyrant with another BUT I admit your leadership experience COULD come in handy so if you want a seat in the new government we've got to build up I could probably arrange SOMETHING.

And this man just looks at them and says, "I'm going on paternity leave. Don't call me."

And Raine is just like. What is HAPPENING.

DONT CALL ME FIRUABNDJFOWKRF

god raines perception of this man is so funny. He's a weirdo who won't listen to them unless they bring him a plain boiled egg for lunch. The only favours he ever cashes in are "can you find out what the golden guards favourite animal is" and "if anyone but me touches a hair on the golden guards head I'll blow up the boiling isles myself." He's so fucking DRAMATIC. And after the day of unity they don't see him again! It's three months and until Raine is captured they keep an eye out, but he appears to be gone. Either he ran away like he seemed to want to, or he got killed. Either way he's out of the picture and he's probably never coming back. Then. Who the fuck is that guy over there with Darius and Hunter.

Actually I imagined in hollow mind jasper shows up to the party late because obviously this was NOT on hunters mission schedule, and it is also not the weekend or his day off!! By the time he gets to the owl house eber and Raine and Darius are panicking in the bushes frantically arguing about what to do when the Martlet fucking emerges from the brush panting for air like what the FUCK did you DO. And they explain what happened as quickly as they can and he's like SO GO TELL THEM HOW THE FUCKING SPELL WORKS???? SO THEY CAN GET THEM OUT??? and they're like but our secret identities and-- at which point jasper just grabs Darius and drags him across the yard, kicks open the door and throws him on the floor. Everyone inside like HELLO and the Martlet like HE IS GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO FIX THIS NOW.

And here, for DRAMA, it's like when Luz went in that portal she made for the vee episode, where they had her tied with a rope so they could pull her back? They have to send someone in to grab them so they can pull them back, and obviously jasper insists. Because how fucking cool would it be for the kids to be finally cornered by Belos like they were just before they got teleported back only for jasper to show up out of nowhere with a flapjack staff to block a big dramatic blow and Belos to freeze like YOU-! and a moment of absolute terror on jaspers face before he grabs the kids and yells he's got them and gets pulled back. And then they all drop on the floor, hunter panics and bolts, and jasper frantically goes after him but oh god, jasper just got hit hard, maybe he hurt a leg or something and he can't CATCH him and Hunter goes off on his exciting homeless era while jasper is left to collapse in the woods and wail angrily at god because he was so fucking close!

And of course he doesn't go back to Eda's or explain shit lmfao he's just gone again like fucking always

Can you imagine Raine seeing THAT. He drags Darius away. Enters the owl house all dramatically. Long silence. Flash of light, lots of yelling. Door slams open, hunter sprints into the woods. Martlet runs after him, bleeding, also vanishes into the woods. Darius stumbles out with a thousand yard stare. Raine is like what the FUCK happened??? And Darius is like I need a nap goodbye

[dio-icarticaae]

Work in Progress Wednesday (Owl House)!

So I am really hopeful that I'll get the Raine and Hunter talking about possession (plus post-Watching and Dreaming stuff) done by the one year anniversary of Watching and Dreaming airing! In the meantime, here's a snippet from it for Work In Progress Wednesday!

Hooty slunk away from Lilith and began chasing a fly around the house. Raine didn’t question it, but Camila looked vaguely weirded out. To be fair, Hooty’s seemingly infinite ability to lengthen his body was disturbing if you weren’t desensitized to it.

Lilith was the one to break the awkward silence. “So! Yesterday was eventful.”

“Titan, how are you still this awkward?” Darius rolled his eyes. Lilith glared at him.

“Yes, yes it has been a very eventful couple of days.” Camila said, looking somewhat dazed.

Raine softened, refraining from saying something snarky to Lilith. It wasn’t just them and old Hexside friends here. Camila had to be overwhelmed by being in a new realm, not to mention recent events, and she didn’t know anyone here.

“It has.” Raine agreed. “And lots of things have changed. Lilith, I’ve never seen your hair that short.”

“Eda cut it.” Lilith sighed. Well, that explained everything.

Darius snorted. “Why did you let her cut your hair in the first place?”

“I set some of my hair on fire by accident while making elixir and she offered to even it up.”

“And you believed her?” Eberwolf asked in Beast-Speech.

“Enough of that!” Lilith said hurriedly. “Raine, your hair is longer, it looks nice!”

Darius made a cutting motion to try to get Lilith to stop talking but did not succeed.

“Yes, Belos is a goop monster who possessed me and decided I needed a mullet while also eating my skin.” Raine said drily.

Lilith looked very apologetic. There was a prolonged moment of silence as everyone at the table stared at them. Then, Lilith spoke.

“Belos was a goop monster?”

“Apparently,” Raine said tiredly. That was the takeaway here?

Darius looked contemplative. “That seems like something that would have been hard to hide. How did we not notice?”

“Well, he did wear a mask most of the time,” Lilith said.

“Sometimes you’re an abomination goop monster but that isn’t immediately obvious.” Eberwolf added.

“That’s not entirely accurate –”

“Similar principle though,” Lilith said.

“No, Darius is just abomination matter. Belos was stringy bones and kind of rotten flesh goop.” Raine said.

Darius made a supremely disgusted face. “I am nothing like that.”

“I figured that wasn’t normal. So this is something he’s done to more than just Hunter?” Camila said. It was then her turn to get stared at.

[non-bee-knees]

The Owl House Headcanons that I have

Coz my head won’t let me sleep

Raine now has chronic pain. It’s not great. They use their palisman as a mobility aid most of the time.

Hunter also has pain issues, but it’s not as severe for various reasons:

He’s younger (so recovery was faster)

He seems to have been possessed for a significantly less amount of time

He’s got the whole ‘flapjack healing magic’ thing going on

He’s part tree (?) so, idk man, healing or whatever

Raine is afab - I NEED MORE AFAB ENBIES IN STORIES MAN, AND NOT JUST VAGUELY GENDER NEUTRAL AFAB’s, I WANT FEM AFABS ENBIES okay rant over

Willow and Hunter are in a QPR (Queer Platonic Relationship) - I know it was said that they were Bi and Pan respectively, but headcanons are headcanons 🤷

Darius is a pining fool ; Alador is oblivious:)

Darius was in a relationship with the past G.G. Sorry, that headcanon grabbed me and wouldn’t let go, THERES SO MUCH ANGST POTENTIAL

Odalia was abusive. Alador flinches when people touch him randomly or move too fast around him ; Darius is Not Pleased about it

EberWolf uses He/They :)

When they first became friends, Eber cast a spell on Darius that allows him to know what they’re saying. If Darius isn’t around, no one has any idea what Eber is saying

This spell got destroyed during the Day of Unity, and Darius freaked out when he realised.

Eber sleeps in Darius’ room, curled up on the mattress like a dog would

Eda tried to propose to Raine at some point: Raine obvi said no. They explained (once Eda had stopped crying) that while they loved each other and would literally die for each other, they had a lot to work on, and through, after everything

Darius took in Hunter. It took some convincing, and once he was told everything he had such a massive breakdown that everyone reconsidered it for a second, but Hunter chose to go with Darius and that was that, they couldn’t not let him.

It took a while for Raine and Hunter to talk about the Belos stuff. Obvi Hunters friend and Camila knew, and Darius was told before Hunter moved in, coz he needed to know incase anything happened. But Raine didn’t tell anyone for a while. They knew Eda wanted to know, so she could help, and she put some pieces together after hearing about Hunter, but still. She waited for them to go to her.

The only person to know about Raines deal before Eda was Hunter, who Raine found crying in the Owl House kitchen the first night back in the Isles. Hunter started talking about it all (coz it’s a lot of stuff to happen to a kid in 24hrs) and after a minute, in an attempt at comfort, Raine admits to having been captured by Belos too. They don’t go into it, but they know that Hunter knowing helped him.

When Hunter had time to process everything for real, he realised that he technically committed suicide. This freaks him out, especially since by that point ‘he was supposed to be doing better’. Darius, of course has no clue how to handle this, and calls Camilia as soon as he calms Hunter down a bit.

Darius is the kind of guy to shove all his shit aside to help others first, because it’s easier than dealing with it. All his anger and hurt and frustration over The Day of Unity, and the Emperor’s Coven gets shoved aside to help Hunter and the aisles rebuild. His grief over the past G.G is never brought up because he doesn’t want Hunter to blame himself. He pushes his grief about almost loosing his friends, almost dying himself, away, because there are more important things to worry about. It’s not healthy, and he is fully aware, but he doesn’t know how to stop, when it’s kept him going for so long.

Darius knew Hunter was a GrimWalker, because the past G.G told him all of it before he ‘disappeared. What he did *not* know was the extent of it all. When the grave is found in the skull, Darius goes mental, then blacks out, then spends the next week ignoring everyone, even Eber. He sent Hunter to Eda’s for that week. Then he went back to work like nothing has happened. He still refuses to talk about it.

The Draining Spell fucked people up big time, mainly the elderly and the Coven Heads. For a while after, if any of the Coven Heads tried magic, they would almost pass out. This frustrated Darius the most, since he used his for travel a lot.

Also his hair stopped being animated for a while, until he could do magic properly again. He hates it. He has a lot of issues with it not looking the way it normally does, and wears a head wrap for a while because of this.

Eber had the hardest time recovering from it all, and couldn’t do magic for a while. People were starting to get worried he wouldn’t be able to do magic again at all, but he’s fine now.

Darius’s hair goes all funny when he gets emotional. He isn’t aware of this til Eda points it out.

Alador is stronger than Darius. They are both aware of this. Neither acknowledge it

Vitrimir has a personality that’s a cross between Gyro Gearloose from the Ducktales Reboot, and Varian from TTS. He’s an eccentric, genius guy, but a bit of an ass (this is after it all, when he’s stopped being a Belos Ass Kisser :3 )

Hettie was the first to apologise, and offer her help. Terra is still currently the last (she fucked off to live out her retirement alone)

Eda changes her hand every week. It’s payment from Al in exchange for her making sure his kids didn’t die while he was busy being stuck in a toxic relationship.

Eber is older than Darius- technically. In ‘witch years’ he’s older, but because Direwolves age differently to witches, they’re technically only in their early 30’s

Darius, Odalia and Al were all in Liliths year, where Raine and Perry were in Eda’s :)

Aight I think that’s all I have for now :)

Add more if you want

I apologise that most of them were Darius - centric

[stelladoesstuff]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okokokok. I watched Watching and Dreaming several hours ago at this point, and the hype still hasn’t gone away. So here were are: Welcome to Stella’s ranting about different parts of the Owl House finale to cope with the absolute insanity in my brain.

This is all incoherent rambling.

OWL HOUSE WATCHING AND DREAMING SPOILERS BELOW

1. Raine. Raine Whispers is a fucking badass. They were fighting against being possessed not only by the Collector but by Belos at the same time, and still managed to break through TWICE. The Collector lost control over them the first time, and they managed to push Belos out second. And then. After ALL OF THAT. They get up and chase Belos into the throne room to try and stop him from possessing the Titan. Absolute powerhouse.

2. King’s DAD???!!! Bi-gender icon, over here wearing a bad girl coven t-shirt and pajama pants. And a tiny Hooty sticking out of his eye?? Gosh, I really wish he’d been able to talk to King, but the bread pun message hit hard regardless. He’s been watchinggggg ;-;

3. Eda and King’s reactions to Luz’s ‘death’ were HEARTBREAKING. And the Collector processing the concept of death- that entire sequence hurt. Seriously, I cried twice during that scene alone- once when Luz died, and once when she came back. Eda and King immediately calming down from their rampage upon seeing she was okay I’m not ok-

4. DARIUS AND HUNTER. All of the parent-child reunions were adorable, both Gus and Willow seeing their dad’s again dhdhdh, but Darius and Hunter’s little moment aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. And Eberwolf too! I really wish we could have gotten more, but the show gave us so much with what little time Disney gave

5. The flapjack tattoos. And Hunter being a palismen carver. AND HIS NEW PALISMEN- I heard Dana confimed the new bird’s name was Waffle and I love him so much. ALSO HUNTLOW SIDE-HUG???? I’m going to need fanfics for all of these ships and moments to cope with this finale istg. I’ll probably write a pile of them

6. RAEDA EARRING SWAP. I was already crying watching the end credits, and then I spotted Raine’s earring on Eda and immediately had to rewind. I didn’t even notice Raine wearing Eda’s earrings until I went back- canon or not, I’m interpreting the earring-swap as a boiling isles alternative to wedding rings. Sue me.

7. DALADOR CONFIRMED??? I now need content about Amity and Hunter being step-siblings because that shit is hilarious. And when Amity and Luz eventually get married that would make Hunter her brother-in-law ddhdhdh I’m fine. Also, Alador removing the coven sigils- we love to see it. And the fact that Odalia is nowhere to be seen is perfection

8. LUZ GOT HER QUINCENERA!! Lilith tried XD

9. Lilith and Hooty’s reunion was everything I hoped it to be. Their friendship means so much dhdhd. Lilith aroace icon u.u

Ok, that’s some things out of my system for now. I might be back with rambling round two later because I’m sure there’s a dozen tiny details I’ll notice upon rewatching and looking at other people point things out. Till then, I shall be writing fanfic and drawing fanart :D

[charizardstolemynickname]

THE OWL HOUSE SEASON 2 HAS CAPTIVATED ME, so here are my reactions/thoughts to episodes 18 and 19

Episode 18: FINALLY MORE GUS TALK!!!! We get so much information about all the other characters I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK MY GUY GUS WAS BEING NEGLECTED!!

His power is so cool, I need more people to be as excited about illusionist magic as me and Gus are! HE LITERALLY CHANGED THE WHOLE SCHOOL AND TRICKED THE HEAD OF ILLUSIONIST COVEN!

Speaking of, the head of the Illusionist Coven being just some wanna be director is fucking hilarious, he is a snob and I hate him with a passion but I want to laugh at him, so much

Gus literally saving all the students at the school too is being SEVERELY looked over right now, like DUDE HE LITERALLY SAVED ALL OF YOU!!!!

All the guards this episode had me in stiches!!! I WANT MORE GUARDS BEING FUNNY IDIOTS!! ESPECIALLY SEVERINE, god, someone get Severine some therapy, like SLAYYY GO BACK TO THE TINY CAT COVEN! GET SOME SELF ESTEEM BACK!

Obviously, i cannot talk about this episode WITHOUT talking about our boy, Hunter.... who was living in the school stage. Listen, I won't judge the guy, he is homeless, his whole life has been thrown upside down, I feel for the guy it was just a surprise! (/lh) ANYWAY, I LOVED THE GUS AND HUNTER FRIENDSHIP GROWTH! From the sharing of the breathing thing (TWICE!!!) and the comforting each other AMAZING

Amity and Willow learning how to be friends again was also an amazing plot line, I love to see how their friendship will expand

Episode 19: THE WEIRD DREAM THING??? AND KING BEING CONNECTED TO THE COLLECTOR?!? Listen, I still don't fully understand who the collector is BUT THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THEY HAVE APPEARED IN ONE OF THE GANG'S DREAMS! Yeah, I haven't forgot about it being in Eda's dream too! I am very confused, it seems lonely, but evil, but also just a chaotic vibe, I am conflicted

POOR KING! He literally just found out traumatising news and THEN people keep treating him differently now?? I spent the whole start of the episode wanting to just hold King and keep him safe from everyone, HE IS JUST A LITTLE GUY!!! HE IS JUST A BABY!!!

BUT! Steve to save the day. I am now a Steve Stan. I am a Steve fangirl. If Steve has 1 fan, its me, if Steve has 0 fans, I am dead. BRING BACK STEVE!!!! I adore Steve, with every essence of my being, HE WAS ACTING LIKE KING WAS FAMILY AND- AHHH, best friends your honour, they are best friends

FUCKKK The Eda and Raine and Luz angst was a plotline I was NOT ready for after the absolute fluff that was King and Steve helping people and vibing. SOMEONE GET MY PAL RAINE OUT OF THERE!!! Plant coven girl is literally obsessed with them, tf

Eda just wanting to save the kids, to protect Luz and King- I will admit, it hit me in my feels, Eda still treating King as a kid (AS HE SHOULD BE) and Luz and wanting them both away from danger AHHHHHHH

Luz bestie, I love you, but PLEASE EDA WAS RIGHT

HOWEVER HARPY EDA CAMEO!!! RAHHHHHH, I am still obsessed with it, we need more of Harpy Eda in this show.

AND FINALLY, THE ALLIES!!!! GOD. I am obsessed DARIUS I KNEW I COULD TRUST YOU!!! I don't know if I posted, but I REALLY liked Darius but knew (well, thought) he was evil, BUT NO I CAN NOW FINALLY LOVE HIM! AND EBERWOLF! Didn't forget him (did just have to search his name tho)

OH AND! The Palisman!!! I was going to mention this as I hadn't been mentioned in a while, BUT CARING FAMILY BONDING BETWEEN EDA, LUZ AND KING!!! I fucking love found family. Can you tell!!#

IN OTHER EXCITING NEWS! I am about to watch the season 2 finale episodes! No idea what to expect, but I am literally addicted so will take anything, i am sad I am so close to finishing it though, as Season 3 has less episodes

BUT it means I can finally interact with the fandom, etc etc

Thank you to all following my journey watching the series for the first time

[bicsbec]

Natural Melodies

Chapter 4: places to rest (ao3 link)

Raine loved every single aspect of performing, except the performance itself. As they saw it, the point of music wasn't to show off natural talent or how well one could perform a particularly nasty piece. Music was nature condensed into sound, the musician its translator. But Raine was a bard, performance came with the job description.

As their little concert came closer, Raine felt queasier at each rehearsal. 

"I think Raine needs a drink," Derwin joked when he saw Raine’s pale face. They were packing up, spelling away their instruments and repertoire. 

"I think Grimgrub's Pub is still open," Katya suggested. Amber immediately perked up.

"We're getting wasted? With Raine? Sign me up."

"Oh, no," Raine interjected. "If I'm drinking anywhere, it's in the comfort of my own home. I can't keep up with you kids."

Katya nudged them with her elbow. "A bottle of apple blood with Eda sounds like a better time than us, that's for sure."

Raine felt their face go red. "I miss when I was your superior. You kept your noses out of my personal life."

"No, we didn't," Amber said. "We just did it behind your back."

"I'm flattered," Raine said sarcastically.

"So, that's a no to Grimgrub's?" Katya asked.

"Thank you for the invitation, but no. I have to get home. Kids and a girlfriend to get to."

Katya and Amber cooed at that, but Derwin gave Raine a smile.

"A family looks good on you, poet," he said.

Raine smiled back. "Thank you. I think so, too."

But Katya wasn't wrong. And Eda always did like to put Raine on their back. 

Darius and Eberwolf had taken up residence near the heart of the Titan, where most Coven Heads had lived during Belos' reign. It was now an empty villa, occupied by them as they set up a council that was separate from the coven system. Raine had given them Luz's notes and they'd taken off with a running start, trying to set up before anyone made a dangerous grab for power.

They seemed busy every time Raine stopped by. Even as they stopped by to pick up Hunter. 

"Raine, what brings you here?" Darius answered the door. Raine was almost surprised to see that Eberwolf wasn't perched on his shoulder.

"Eda sent me to pick up Hunter early," Raine said, holding up Owlbert. "We're having dinner with Camila. She wanted to give Hunter some time to get ready."

"Hm, the human mother, yes," Darius said, looking over his shoulder. "Well, come on in. We've been wondering if we could bother you with a few questions." He stepped aside, opening the door further.

"Uh, sure," Raine gave him a funny look. "What about?"

"More like pick your brain, get your opinion." Darius led them to the office, where Eberwolf was buried under various scrolls. He seemed to be straining his eyes; Raine suspected he had a migraine. 

"Hey, Eber," Raine greeted. He only closed his eyes, raising a hand in return. "So, what did you want my take on?"

"We've been looking into this parliament business, how to set up democratic elections, who can qualify as a candidate," Darius started.

"Sure, right."

"We figure the Isles would have a representative per body part."

"Mm-hm."

"So, uh," Darius was fidgeting, talking with his hands too much. The next words tumbled out of his mouth. "How would you feel about being a candidate for the Knee?"

"Wouldn't I have to live there most of the year or something? And more importantly, I'm not a politician, Darius. Leading a coven and making decisions for the whole population are two different things."

"Yes, but see, most people don't know that. You're already a step ahead."

The proposal wasn't particularly appealing to Raine, as they recalled Coven Head meetings and the headache of dealing with self-important idiots with a fragile ego. But they also considered every other person that might want that seat, being a driving force into the decisions made over the Isles. Raine could see why Eber had a migraine.

"I don’t know, Darius," they said honestly. "I'll think about it. But I'm not moving back to the Knee for this."

"Yep, no, that's perfectly fine," Darius said quickly. "We just couldn't imagine doing this without you." The tension in Eberwolf's shoulders seemed to ease. 

"You'd be fine, I'm sure of it," Raine said dismissively. "Opposition to authority doesn’t equate to having the means to lead." 

"You underestimate yourself, songbird."

"Ha! Sure," Raine smiled at the nickname. "I'll just grab Camila's kid and twitter my ass out of here before you force me to be in your parliament."

Darius laughed at that.

"Dang, you can hold a grudge. Fine, take the princeling. And please give this some thought."

"I will," Raine said, waving to Eberwolf before calling for Hunter. 

They heard his footsteps before they saw him. "Raine? What are you doing here? I told Miss Eda I'd be back before dinner."

"Camila and Luz are coming over, Eda thought you'd like to be there before they arrived."

His eyes lit up, his palisman turning into a staff as soon as Raine finished. They barely had to wait for Hunter to dash and say his goodbyes before he was hurrying out of the house, flying on his palisman.

The flight back to the Owl House was tranquil. Hunter seemed to be in his own head, his passive smile the only hint of what he might be thinking. Even with the damage Flapjack had received in the Human Realm, he seemed to be able to fly smoothly enough, a few hiccups here and there that Hunter didn't seem to mind. 

Raine had always gotten along with Owlbert, the palisman had been playful and endearing, often focusing that energy on Droplet. Their heart thumped heavier at the thought. Magic with no companion to flourish. 

Owlbert was no substitute. No one palisman would be, really, but…

"Hunter, Eda told me you carve palismen now," Raine started, still not loving the idea of a new palisman. Palistrom wood was still so rare.

"Oh, um, yeah. I do. I'm still learning. Mr. Clawthorne says I have a good steady hand."

Raine chuckled. "I suppose you do."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I lost my palisman to—um, she's gone. And Eda said you could help me out. But it's not urgent," they said. "I'm aware of the state palistrom trees find themselves in." 

Hunter softened, his eyes falling to Flapjack. "I'd be honored, Raine. I have a feeling that palistrom trees will be fine, we just have to wait a little."

Raine could do that. After all the years in the Bard Coven, ascending ranks, patiently plotting, carefully organizing to strike against Belos, the countless hours spent trying to disentangle themself from the Collector's grip, waiting a little was easy. 

Luz was an eager student. Even when she was away at her human school, she continued to practice on Eda’s lute. Before Tassie had hatched, all Luz could do was learn the pieces and patterns that accompanied bard spells. With Tassie's aid, she could now produce magic. Their lessons had taken off after that.

Every time she saw Raine, she was a little bit better, her fingering and chord progressions growing smoother.

" Mamá really liked Raine's Rhapsody. She told me she wanted to hear its original composer play it," Luz told them, much to their tiny horror. 

"Right, but I'm sure you do it justice," Raine said anxiously. An audience of one was significantly more terrifying than a faceless crowd. Smaller groups, especially if it was just their family, were more manageable. 

"Say, when are you gonna teach me all the cool spells Eda said you knew? Rearranging molecules, manipulation spells, all that stuff," Luz said excitedly. She cradled Tassie in her lap, the weird creature clicking its odd chatter contently. 

Raine brightened at the question, sliding into teacher mode.

"Well, basic bard magic consists of altering the 'mood' around you, working with the atmosphere and how it affects people's feelings. Technically, you're already doing one of the cool things you wanted to do. Bard magic works through sound, which is just variating vibrations, which we can manipulate to our liking. It's anything and everything you want it to be. That's why many overlook it and underestimate it. They just think it's limited to entertainment," they explained, summoning their violin. "So lets say I were to play a tune with pizzicato," they plucked at the strings with their index, "and my only intention is atmospheric, how does it affect you?"

"Right now it just feels jolly or bright," Luz said, trying to find the right word. It was always difficult to verbalize how Bard magic felt. Raine changed the pattern. "Agitated, like I have to run," Luz amended. 

"Good, now I'm going to move your feet," Raine warned her. It was a subtle shift, like a grace note placed at the end. Luz stood up, Tassie moving toward Raine to avoid her feet, and started marching in place.

"Woah!"

Just for fun, Raine made her feet dance a little before releasing her.

"It takes practice, but you're already messing around with cool spells," Raine said with a smile, dispelling their violin.

Luz got a look of excitement that made Raine understand why Eda said she'd get starry-eyed. It was a spot on description.

"I'm gonna practice 'til my fingers fall off!"

Raine chuckled nervously, believing her entirely capable. "Maybe not until they fall off , perhaps just until they're sore."

"I'll make no such promise." 

Weirdly enough, Luz was very much Eda’s kid.

Unfortunately, not all days could consist of enlightening bard classes, mirthful rehearsals, and family dinners. Some days started with a fright.

"RAT! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"EDAAA!"

"HEY!"

The door to their room slammed open, a stumble and a crash making Raine jump awake. They'd taken to waking up a little later ever since moving into the Owl House and were deeply regretting it. They sat up against the weight of Eda’s arm around their waist, startled by the claws crawling up their sweater and the weight settling in the back hood, pulling at their neck. Their bow was in their hand instinctively. 

There were two figures crashing into the room, frozen at the entrance. 

"Sorry, sorry!" It was Luz's voice.

"This is low, King," Hunter accused. 

"What the f—" Eda cleared her throat, starting again. "What the heck is going on? King ."

Raine pulled him out of their hoodie, which made King hug their neck so as to not be pulled off. "Hunter was chasing me," King said desperately.

"Care to tell them why , rat?" He was using his Golden Guard voice. Hunter was pissed .

"Stop calling him that," Luz interjected. "He said he was sorry."

Raine was too blind and too tired to follow the conversation or connect any dots, so they laid back down, hugging King like a pillow and dispelling their bow. 

" Really? All I heard was—"

"Alright! That's enough! Out!" Eda said, getting up and ushering them out. "You, too, King."

King was lifted out of Raine’s arms, picked up by his scruff.

"Weh! Wait! Hunter will skin me!" 

"And why's that?"

"I, uh, I might've scratched up a palistrom log?" King said timidly. "It had the bark off! I didn't know what it was!"

"Ignorance doesn't exempt you from guilt," Raine mumbled, almost asleep again.

"Raine’s right, King. You gotta make it up to Hunter."

"How? I can't just grow a tree!— Wait ." Small feet padded out of the room. And King's voice, now muted, called, " Luz! "

Quiet settled over the room again, Eda’s arm returning to Raine’s waist.

"Sorry about the kids," Eda said in a low voice.

Raine shook their head. "Nah, it's nothing. I know what's the deal. I just wish they'd fight quietly." 

Eda snorted. "You and me both." She held them closer, kissing their cheek. "I lucked out with you, huh?"

Raine shook their head again. I'm the lucky one.

Heart attack and all, Raine would do it again. The headaches and the scream-fights and the occasional wrestling matches that had to be pulled apart. Raine would do it forever; they loved those kids and they loved the woman that mothered them. 

King made it up to Hunter. Raine was still a little dumbfounded by it. King had grown a tree.

As he told it, he asked Luz to help him cast a plant glyph on a palistrom seed they had snatched from the Bonesborough Botanical Garden. Raine thought they probably could've asked to the same effect, but that wasn't likely with a Clawthorne and Eda's apprentice. 

King had excitedly dragged everyone out of the house, even Hooty had slithered out to follow King into the red pine woods. Where there used to be a clearing now stood a young palistrom tree. 

Hunter marveled at the tree before rushing Luz and King into a tight hug.

"Oh, my Titan," Hunter laughed. "Do you know what this means?"

"I've found my next summer project?" Luz half joked. Raine could see she was already set on the idea.

Hunter gave her a bright smile. These kids were going to single handedly change the Isles.

Hunter walked up to the tree, running an appreciative hand over the smooth bark. The bark under Hunter's hand shone, spreading through the rest of the tree. The trunk grew thicker, the bark rougher, the branches taller, the leaves fuller.

He laughed, almost hysterically. " Luz ," Hunter called with a tone of incredulity. 

"You kids are really something," Eda said, taking a step closer to inspect the tree.

Raine was pretty sure their jaw was hanging open. Only Luz seemed unfazed, excitedly jumping on the balls of her feet.

"We are kicking palistrom butt this summer! But, like, in the good sense," Luz said, shaking his shoulder. 

Hunter had been right, the palistroms would be just fine under the care of the Nocedas and King.

Raine picked up King, saddling his weight on their hip. "Nice work, buddy."

"Thanks," King said sheepishly. "It was the least I could do."

"I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but I'm proud of you. You really owned up to your mistake. And Eda definitely thinks the same," Raine told him.

King hugged them, a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you. It means more than you think."

There was a small lump in their throat that Raine hadn't expected at King's words. A startling sense of relief washed over them when they realized that not only did they love Eda’s kids, but her kids loved them back.

King never told Raine what his nightmares were about, and Raine never really asked, but they had their suspicions. It was likely the same type of nightmare that kept them up at night as well. 

Limp limbs and cold skin and unseeing eyes. Impotence and dread. Moments they didn't quite witness but had a part in. Watching and dreaming, a blur of what was real and what wasn't. 

Sleep was a heavy prospect to face with dreams like that, vividly confined.

The nightmares were less frequent now that they were away from the cold of the Knee, but when they did occur, Raine worked on their reminder that things were different now.

They kept playing around with the name, torn between the nomenclature of its composition or of the poetry it emulated. Raine finally settled on The Owl's Ballad, considering how long they'd been wanting to write something about Eda that wasn't about their breakup. And considering that the piece they'd been working on was every feeling Eda brought to their mind. 

It was taking flight and starting anew, warmth that coursed through their veins and pooled in their heart, magic that roamed free and unbound from strings and strange hands. It was love, young and naive, unrealistic and unreasonable; older and well-worn, compromising and understanding. It was home, she was home. In the same way that grudgby matches on hot summer days were home and quiet sunset duets among flower fields were home. Fleeting moments of happiness that felt too good to be allowed, like their existence broke the rules. 

And breaking the rules always felt like a good place to rest.

Raine spent their sleepless nights transcribing the piece into its first draft, papers scattered over the desk in the corner of their bedroom, a few glyph lights illuminating the scrolls.

"Rainestorm?" Eda’s sleep-ridden voice carried over to them, startling Raine. "What're you doing up?"

"Eda! I didn't mean to wake you," they whispered.

"You didn't," Eda whispered back, peaking over the edge of the nest. "Everything okay?"

"Yes. You can go back to sleep."

Eda crawled out of their nest and looked over Raine’s shoulder, inspecting the notations.

"The Owl's Ballad? Is this about me?"

Raine suppressed a smile, only a little self-conscious. "Yeah, it's about home."

"Will you play it for me?" 

They blushed at that, their nerves mixing with the upcoming performance. Raine had played for Eda all of their works in progress, all of their shit drafts, all the embarrassing firsts. She'd heard them all. This one was like an exposed nerve, everything they still hadn't put into words put into feeling. Eda would feel how they felt about her. It rattled and emboldened them.

"Are you nervous?" Eda asked teasingly.

"A little, which is odd," they said, summoning their violin. 

"I can turn around if you want." She used to do that for them the first few times they showed her a draft. Their heart melted.

"Nonsense, take a seat."

"If you say so." She straddled their lap, a very annoying smirk playing on her lips.

Raine felt their face heat up. " Eda ."

Eda laughed in that contagious way that always ended in a snort. "You barely get flustered! You can't blame me for taking advantage of it." She kissed them chastely and stood, leaning on the desk instead. "Let's hear it."

Raine shook their head with a smile and started to play.

With the first note, moments that were familiar to both of them began to bleed together as Raine weaved each feeling to the next.

The jinxes and mayhem that ran through the school as Eda had her fun and Raine tagged along. The rush of getting in trouble but having no real consequences to show for it; the rush of showing Eda the first draft of their Rhapsody, which they'd written for her to play. Eda's erratic nature, Raine always on their toes, always after her. 

When she dropped out of school, shortly after her duel with Lilith; when she ran from home, showing up at their door weeks later. Their first kiss, their first time, their first fight. Their first secret, the curse, and everything they didn't say about it. 

The melody ran through the contrasts of their days together now, the quiet new things Raine noticed about Eda. The way she carried herself, the way she cared for King and Luz and Hunter, her enthusiasm when she got to teach them about wild magic, the way she had let them in her walls, the way those walls continued to crumble.

This was home, this was where Raine finally got to rest.

The final note died out into the quiet of the room, fading into the darkness of the night.

Raine let out a breath, the kind they held the first few times they ran through a piece, like they weren't sure they wouldn't fumble.

"Well, that was—" Raine looked up to find Eda red-faced. She cleared her throat. "Flattering isn't even the right word. This was keeping you up?"

"Only partially. I, um, sometimes get nightmares. Like King. This helps me calm down," they gestured to their annotations, dispelling their violin. 

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Your curse already makes you so tired, you need to rest. A few late nights won't kill me."

"They won't kill me either, Raine," she said, sliding back onto their lap, kissing their nose. "You can wake me up if you need company."

Her weight trapped them in the chair, leaving them with nowhere to go. But the dread never settled. Eda wasn't imposing, wasn't unwelcome. Raine was there, present, free to move their hands to her waist and feel the warmth of her body and see the shine in her eyes as she smiled at them. She was a salve to the Collector's lingering damage. A good place to rest.

"Yeah, I can do that." 

Sleep didn't come much easier, but it seemed lighter to face now.

prologue | < chapter 3 | chapter 5 >

[crimeronan]

imagining Raine, Darius and Eberwolf doing there whole Hollow Mind scheme to figure out what the new empress’ plan for the isles are, and upon entering her mindspace finding a very stressed teenager who wants to burn down the empire as much as they do.

GOD.

this concept is so juicy i might HAVE to fic it at some point. GOD!!! it would be HARD to engineer a situation where the three of them felt like invading luz's mindscape was their best bet -- they'd have to 1) feel like she's keeping dangerous enough secrets to warrant taking such an Enormous and invasive risk to find out more, and 2) feel like she's dangerous enough Just By Herself to warrant needing to know Now, as opposed to taking extra time for subtle spy work

but there are honestly. a Lot of ways to meet those conditions. especially given the circumstances in the AU. luz says herself that it doesn't make any sense for her to assassinate the emperor just a few weeks before she would have taken power anyway -- so IF raine and darius and eber suspect her (like any reasonable person might), then that Alone raises the stakes. because then their question is yeah, actually!! why DID she do it!! and what DOES she want with this power!! and why IS she being so obviously secretive about her plans and politics and alliances!! who Theeee Fuck is she working with and what did THEY get out of the assassination?? even if luz herself doesn't set off genocide-adjacent alarm bells, the potential for political instability would have the rebels on heightened alert

and then there's a potential additional layer here that would make me Fucking Crazy, in that. darius and hunter have had a pretty friendly rapport in this AU for much longer than they have in canon. and darius has also always been intensely mistrustful of luz's whole Bright-Eyed Curiosity thing. so if darius happens to be observant enough to notice just how strangely tense and stressed out and upset hunter is during the time leading up to n immediately following the assassination...... i can only IMAGINE what kind of theories he might have about what went down between hunter and luz. and how that might shape his own actions.

(the funniest irony would be if darius is worried that luz forced hunter to help her with assassinating belos and/or that she's blackmailing him. meanwhile in actuality hunter is like "god i would LOVE for luz to blackmail me. at least that would mean she's talking to me again")

i'm certain that luz and raine would have a positive rapport in this AU, given that they're both sweet people who hate playing political word games and have similar senses of humor. they likely wouldn't be Close due to all of the politics at play, but like. raine at least is like. i don't think she wants the same things that belos did. i don't know what she DOES want but. it can't really be any worse, can it.

& darius being insistent that raine shouldn't trust the very calculated doe-eyed innocent persona that luz projects, because No One around the castle is Actually as kind or helpful or earnest or weird as luz pretends to be. she's manipulating you whispers!! you're giving her exactly what she wants!!

so they enter her mindscape warily prepared for anything, not sure what they'll find, basically braced for anything Except the straightforward teen girl that luz seems to be. & then within like Minutes, raine is like. alright. darius. you overthought this one. this is a baby.

& darius is just like. jesus FUCKING hell. this is a BABY.

[numericalbridge]

i made the blog to post writing, but this one thing has been my pet peeve since the KT aired, so i might just blabber about it. (the bold text is just there to make it easier for me to reread, i'm not yelling)

I really, really disagree with the interpritation that Darius surrendering for Eberwolf at DoU means that Darius was willing to sacrifice the whole isles for Eber and that it was an ultimately selfish act.

First, i thought it was quite clear that at the very moment Darius didn’t have time to think and consciously weight his options at all, he was in the middle of a fight. And i dont think this is unique to Darius, I doubt Eda and Lilith, for example, would’ve acted differently in his position. 

From the writing point, the moment is there to show that Darius does care about Eber, and to cement the point that he is not as cold and ruthless as he likes to pretend to be. (If going into fanon territory, it can be seen as him being terrified of losing other people he loves in general). His actions are not flawless, and there is definitely both irony and tragedy that he was put in the position where he had to surrender, but that also doesn’t automatically mean he is deliberately willing to sacrifice other people for his loved ones. And also it is a kids show, where a friendship moment like this does represent a positive thing.

Second, about what happened immediately after (and the way it is completely ignored was what irked me from the start) - at that point, when Darius had just surrendered, he still doesn’t know that Raine and Lilith and the rest of the rebels were caught! That would mean that he would assume there is still time while the other CHs need to bring in Raine’s replacement or find real Raine. And since it was shown that Katya and Derwin were disguised as scouts, it is probable that there was some plan B. That could even explain why Eda wasn’t trying to fight more - if the Bard Coven Head isn’t there, there is still hope. And once Raine is in the circle, it seems like no one could stop/physically escape the spell. (this part is also why i dont agree that Raine would have 100% kept fighting in Darius’s position, i think it would depend)

and somehow no one, hopefully, thinks that Raine was ultimately selfish for wanting to be there for Eda and the rest of them, even though it would be smarter for them to be far away so they couldn’t be captured.

Third, when Darius mutters “No, we’re too late” - the way it is worded makes more sense if it is about stopping the spell to save the whole isles, and that is still where his main priority is. And, while it is mainly for the sake of the pacing that he says it at that moment, it can be seen as him despairing only at that moment, and that he still had hope before.

I am not even saying my interpritation is the correct one. And i think it needs to be kept in mind that it is a fictional story aimed at children that often relies more on the rule of cool in the tense scenes, and that in such scenes some details need to be sacrificed for the sake of the proper pacing. And the DoU plan was probably very heavily affected by the shortening of the show (and, unlike some other writing choices, the weird logic lapses in the plan is the thing i will excuse with time being cut), so it might be hard to say what was actually going on with the characters and it's an additional reason why different interpritations are possible. It just irks me that Darius’s actions are seen almost exclusively from the worst possible angle.

And, tbh Darius being someone who cares a lot about people closest to him, but also about doing the right thing and saving others, and yet he is put in a position where is has to chose on an impulse and finds out that he can’t let his loved one die, and has to deal with his hard choice, is much more interesting than a character who just easily choses his loved ones over everyone else as some interpretations make him to be.

And it seems sometimes like the fanon just wants to put him into one category or the other - either he is primary a rebel and is absolutely horrid with personal relationships, or he is all about taking care of the other characters but is a terrible irrational rebel, when actually he can have flaws both as a rebel and with his personal relationships, while still being a good person and a good (for a cartoon) rebel - just like every other positive character.