#Added with the context of grimwalkers

[waffietato]

Oh my GOD it just hit me how fucked up it was that Hunter was building a grave for himself in Eclipse Lake. Like that was already fucked up but like. Like. Grimwalkers. GRIMWALKERS-

[sepublic]

Post-Hoot for King’s Tide!

            Let’s go over the lore (and some fun trivia I picked out) for the King’s Tide Post-Hoot!

         Gus’ palisman is named Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo, after some Season 2 writers (presumably Emmy Cicierga, Madeleine Hernandez, John Bailey Owen, Zach Marcus, and Mikki Crisostomo)! She would’ve been named in Any Sport in a Storm but the line was cut out for time; When Gus says “My way is better!” he would’ve added, “Right Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo?” He calls her Emmiline for short… The original line took up TEN SECONDS of runtime, which is why they had to cut it out.

         Dana mentioned that the in-between realm is “where all dreams form” and described it as a “cosmic glue”, presumably one that holds the worlds together and connects them! Hence the cubes allowing Luz to peer into the human and demon realms, and possibly the force that the Portal harnesses and relies upon to traverse! I wonder if this means that Titans themselves have a connection to this in-between, and if the in-between is ONLY between the human and demon realms, or at least not all of them by default, hence why travel is particularly easy and common with the Titan’s blood rifts, which can evidently sync up through the in-between; This may have been how the Titans accessed the in-between to seal away the Collector!

         This one is really funny… When asked to name Lilith’s palisman, chat was split between Mike and Socks respectively; Can attest that Mike comes from a TOH server I’m a part of, and we’ve had that name for about a year… And it’s short for Mike Ass Fungus. And now it’s partially canon; Dana decided that Lilith would name her palisman something super-extravagant after some obscure historical figure, and Rebecca told us to check Dana’s twitter in a week or so for the final name. But so far it seems Dana is going to incorporate “Mike Socks” into the name of Lilith’s palisman; Probably making it short for the actual name itself!

         Dana confirmed that Belos tried naming the other Grimwalkers names besides Hunter, but evidently he wasn’t the only one to have that name; And yes, Belos was totally the person to laugh at his own sick joke, naming Caleb’s clones after “witch hunter”. As she said, Belos is after something unattainable, even if his other goals were attained; And when she saw people calculating the low-balled numbers from Hollow Mind, she could only cringe knowing we had a BIG storm coming in the season finale…

         Also this is just a sweet bit, but Dana reiterated that the other Grimwalkers aren’t failures in HER heart, despite what Kikimora says! She also said that a tragic backstory might happen but it doesn’t justify things, in regards to Kikimora, who she confirmed acted purely out of spite; So I wouldn’t hold your breath on a redemption arc!

         Raeda is Dana’s OTP, Raine is one of her faves. Not much else to say here but like… For those Raeda fans who enjoy the validation!

         Dana also reiterated that ALL members of the Emperor’s Coven have sigils. While Lilith hadn’t been brought up in the context of this, we know Rebecca was looking at different questions in the comments, so I assume this is what prompted that; So this points us towards Lilith having a sigil! Its absence may really just be an animation error, or it’s elsewhere on her body… I hope her sigil didn’t agitate the curse; But given what Eda said about Lilith not having hers as long, it probably didn’t react as severely and thus didn’t necessitate any amputations. This would track with Lilith still being able to summon an ice cube at the beginning of Season 2, compared to Eda who only had a crumbling spell circle.

         Dana described Darius and Eberwolf as having a younger, older brother dynamic, although she didn’t specify which; Eber is the chaotic one, who always knows how to tick off Darius, but there’s a real bond and trust between the two. Eberwolf is referred to as He/Him by the crew, but Dana said she’s open to They/Them for Eberwolf as well! We would’ve indeed explored Darius more had Season 3 not been shortened.

         In regards to neurodivergency in TOH, Dana said that she and the crew wanted to write with different mindsets and ways of thinking, drawing upon their own real-life experiences; She says she doesn’t quite have the language to express specifically, but she’s open. This kind of representation of people who are different but all have something to offer was indeed important to her; THAT much was intentional at least.

         Adrian Graye’s name is confirmed to be a reference to Dorian Gray! And speaking of which, we have some names on the Coven Heads, with Rebecca clarifying the spelling in a tweet (same for Gus’ palisman Emmiline);

Bard- Raine Whispers

Abomination- Darius Deamonne

Beastkeeping- Eberwolf the Huntsman

Plant- Terra Snapdragon

Illusion- Adrian Graye

Construction- Mason

Potion- Vitimir

Oracle- Osran

Healing- Hettie Cutburn

          Dana explained that Darius’ surname is French, and that Mason, who we saw back in S1, actually got promoted since then to Construction Head; So he presumably wasn’t the first head of the Construction Coven, or at least wasn’t one at all until some time after Covention! According to Dana, they were figuring out the designs for the Coven Heads, and suddenly decided, you know what? Mason is promoted now, good for him! I guess Ulrich was a deleted concept for a name, a placeholder, or intended for some other chap who looked like Mason.

        Hettie Cutburn is also a favorite of Dana and the crew’s; She said they would’ve explored her character more, had Season 3 not been shortened… Dammit.

        Anyhow, I’m planning to get caught up on the previous post-hoots I missed out on (all of them), so if you see more and wonder why King’s Tide is out of order, this is why! This was the only post-hoot I watched all of, so I’m gonna go back and scour them for lore!

[thousand-winters]

I love thinking about how frantic Darius must have been when Hunter never came back to the castle after hollow mind. How he must have messaged him repeatedly hoping for a reply and having to be stopped from going out looking for him by Eber even though they’re as worried as he is

He probably figured if he saw Hunter back at the castle, it would mean things are very, very wrong, because Hunter? In Belos' mind? That couldn't end well for him, even without the added bad context of him being a grimwalker Belos saw as more than disposable.

He would know that. He would tell himself that.

However...

That wouldn't work to calm himself down. No news are good news and all that but he would still be worried sick. Alright, he's not in Belos' clutches, that's a good thing, but his safety is not guaranteed. After getting to know Hunter through the sewing lessons, no doubt he would have noticed how deeply lonely Hunter was. Is he running toward those friends of his from Flyer Derby? Or is he completely alone, scared out of his mind? Where is he? Why hasn't he contacted Darius?

(Oh, but he knows why, his cover as a rebel was good and as much as he had to pretend to be loyal or else everything would go to hell, it doesn't feel good now that he imagines Hunter must be frightened of him too.)

He can't even tell him he's a rebel in his messages, because nothing assures him that Hunter didn't lose his scroll somewhere along the line and that someone who shouldn't have didn't pick it up. He's already risking a lot just trying to contact Hunter, but he can't help himself, even if he hates that his reassurances that he won't hurt him and that he can trust him feel so empty like this, as if he could be just trying to bait him into a trap.

But especially because Hunter has gone missing and Belos presumably made it known at least to the people at the castle so they could keep an eye out for him, now more than ever Darius can't run off to look for him, it's gonna feel too obvious. Eber has to remind him of that every time he wants to.

They have to wait until after the Day of Unity to look for him since it's only a week away, and just hope that he doesn't get captured before that. If he does? ... Well, they'll cross that bridge when it comes, if necessary.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I think that Papa Titan's summation of Belos is a pretty fair abridged version of his motivation. He is delusional, and he probably cares more about becoming Witch Hunter General than saving humanity (he would disagree, but he'd also disagree about enjoying killing the grimwalkers). It's just that we never get to see where that stems from. I don't think it's "he was born evil and never cared about anyone, take that Belos enjoyers" like people are interpreting it as, but it's unfortunate that's the last time the narrative examines him. If we had seen his backstory explored in more detail, we could see what brought him to this point and then it'd have been more meaningful, but that's it.

Him "wanting to be a hero in his own delusion" could even parallel Luz preferring to stay in the Demon Realm to become a witch over going back home where she's considered a "weirdo". He could've been an outcast on Earth so he clung on to Caleb, and after he killed him instead of embracing the Demon Realm, he realized he had nothing to go back to, so in his diseased mind he decided he'd kill all the witches to gain people's favor, instead of genuinely wanting to save anyone. It could have been deeper but still ultimately came to the same message.

The Titan's assessment of Belos does sum up part of his motivation and mindset but that's the problem, it's only part of it. And as you said, if we had seen more of his background then it would be more meaningful but the fact that the show doesn't (despite setting it up in literally the previous two episodes), this means the majority of the fandom will take the Titan's words as the final say in the matter.

To describe him as delusional and controlling is accurate but it is missing very important context that explains where and why these impulses come from and why that should matter. The show set Philip and Caleb up as being orphans who became witch-hunters to fit in and weren't even from Gravesfield. This parallels Camila and Luz's journey to Gravesfield to find treatment for Manny only to lose him and rely on each other for comfort and support. When Luz leaves Camila, she is devastated and thinks she's failed as a parent.

Although the show never gets into this, it is commonly interpreted that Philip was dependent on Caleb as his only family and he sees Caleb's abandonment as being taken by witches and that he must save him and that he has never coped with the fact that his brother left him for a witch. The Witch Hunter General thing is only one line from King's Tide and the show puts more emphasis on the brothers' relationship so it's reasonable to assume that Caleb is the main motivator here, not recognition for killing all the witches. Belos' justification of "saving humanity" is also tied to Caleb because when Hunter is possessed, Belos is ecstatic because it means they can finish their journey as witch hunters "together."

It's always been about Caleb.

In your second paragraph, you discuss how Belos may have been an outcast and in his delusion, thought that by killing witches he would finally gain the favor of his community instead of genuinely wanting to save them and that this is ultimately the same message as the show. However, with this added context, this really isn't the same message as the show because the Titan's lines are so bare that casual fans can interpret them as meaning Belos is only a power-hungry bigot, while more astute fans (and let's be honest, Belos fans) would be angry at such a reductive statement.

Ultimately, the Titan's lines are technically true but lack the meat to really make a compelling statement on Belos and ignores the primary motivation for Belos even going to the Demon Realm in the first place. It's an argument with no substance and leaves the audience to fill in the gaps based on their preconceived notions of Belos and how well they've been paying attention to the story.

[theprinceandthewitch]

Edit 9/6/2022: I added context for certain points and cleaned it up a bit.

The main pairing doesn't work for me because there are very glaring flaws I can't overlook. Also when I write out all the stuff Luz and Hunter have going for them it's more interesting compared to what Luz and Amity have going on.

But for this one I'm just gonna be rambling about Luz and Hunter and some questionable writing choices involving them.

I'm putting this under a read more so I can go back and edit some stuff in I might have missed.

Let me start off with a list of all the Good stuff Luz and Hunter have going for them

1. They are literally narrative foils. They both go through a deconstruction of "The Chosen One" story archetype. Luz believed she arrived on the Boiling Isles to fulfill some kind of grand destiny while Hunter believed his destiny was planned out by the Titan.

2. They parallel Caleb and his Wild Witch lover. They really wrote Hunter (the only Grimwalker who looks the most like Caleb) running away from Philip to start a new life with an expecting witch (Luz, who is waiting for her palismen to hatch) like...

Okay so let me explain why this drives me crazy as someone who loves storytelling. Because this parallel doesn't start when Hunter is running away with Luz in Hollow Mind and stop in the season finale. It goes deeper than that - to a character arc level - and it goes all the way back to Hunting Palismen. This episode is the start of Hunters positive change arc and "betrayal." The person to spearhead his positive change arc and "betrayal" is our favorite WILD WITCH Luz. Completely unbeknownst to Hunter, the moment he lets Luz go he is taking a stand against Belos. And he's following Calebs footsteps by choosing a wild witch over Philip. That is so romantic it's crazy to me.

[I want to highlight that in their attempts to escape, they were both unsuccessful. Philip tracked down and murdered Caleb. And in the finale Philip hitches a ride on Hunter to follow him to the human realm.]

I also want to point out that Hunter knows how merciless Belos is. He tells Luz in Separate Tides that "the emperor is not a merciful man." We can see at the end of Hunting Palismen that Belos is physically abusive towards him. But despite knowing the very really threat of physical violence that will come if he fails this mission, Hunter still chooses to let her go. Hunters choice is extra crazy once you remember that his "uncle" was the one who took him in and gave him a future as a magicless being living in a magical world. The same "uncle" who has been telling him how dangerous wild magic is. So dangerous infact it took their (Belos' and Hunters') family away from them.

Luz really charmed her way into his heart during their brief truce to the point he chose a wild witch he barely knows over the man he owes everything to. All because she is the only person in his life to consider him a friend.

And most of the fanbase really couldnt figure out why some of us would ship them.

[Also no he didn't let her go because she saved his life, if he wanted to let her go for that reason we would have never raised his staff at her.]

3. Enemies to lovers potential between a witch and a witch hunter.

Edit 9/6/2022: Okay so again, this ties back to the past. Specifically to Caleb's life before arriving on The Boiling Isles. He would have grown up to become a witch- hunter because of the ideology of his society. In one of the flashback paintings we can see him and Philip as children idolizing witch-hunting. And in another painting, it looks like Caleb may have been on one of those witch-hunts as a teenager. We can also see him being "lured away" by magic, which indicates that despite his upbringing he is openminded enough to unlearn his harmful belief systems. Eventually, his mindset changes so much during his time on TBI that he chooses to run away with a witch and start a new life on an alien world. [There's also the possibility of him hiding the door from Philip, out of fear he'll bring others back to help him wipe out the people of The Boiling Isles.]

BASICALLY, what I'm trying to say is is that I think class traitors are very interesting. Because that's what Caleb was and all of the GG's who came after him follow that same path. They all inevitably forsake their dogmatic belief system to help others and to hopefully achieve a more fulfilling life. That's why I think this witch/witch hunter set-up is really neat.

I gotta say... its seriously fucked up for Philip to name the copy of his friend "Hunter" as a shorthand for witch hunter. And that he's been training copies of a man who fell in love with and wanted to start a family with a wild witch to help him hunt wild witches. That is so deeply deranged. Unfortunately for Philip, it's in Caleb's genes to be a decent human being who will always "betray" him. Because no version of Caleb is capable of being a close-minded and genocidal Puritan maniac like he is.

4. They both have a fascination for wild magic and share the struggle of trying to navigate a magical world without inherent magical abilities. And I do think if we were actually given more friendship development between them, Hunter would have actually learned how to use glyphs. Luz could learn what artifical magic is and maybe try to use it alongside wild magic.

5. Okay so I'm just adding this one because it makes for an interesting dynamic:

Luz: "At least you have your future figured out for you."

Hunter: "At least you can figure out yours." 

6. Complimentary color schemes. This is honestly just something I love to see because it always makes the characters look whenever they're in a scene together.

7. Hunter is literally the type of boy she likes. Luz is into older, angsty warrior princes with facial wounds and tragic backstories who have a cute animal sidekick. Yeah im counting Hunter as a warrior type. Because in Any Sport in a Storm, Hunter tells Gus and Willow what kind of dangerous training Belos has put him through. And like... do you see how beat up the kid is? He's clearly gone through shit. And he's... literally a prodigy with artifical magic. While he's not super ripped like Nevarath he's still physically fit enough to chase Luz through the city and climb on top of a building twice, in Hunting Palismen.

Neverath and Hunter share some other superficial similarities: They have the slicked back hair, heeled boots, and where the same exact shoulder armor.

Also in the episode where King and Luz write a book, Luz draws herself kissing a prince who looks suspiciously like a beta version of Hunter. Like... she's into princes my dudes. Anyone who says otherwise is being deliberately obtuse lmao.

8. Luz: "...and maybe meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassman." Amity isn't an upperclassman because she tells Luz what she needs to do to get into her grade.

9. Hunter is "coded" as a "princess stuck in a tower, kept prisoner by some kind of evil being." Luz frees him from that tower by showing him the truth about Belos. Through finding this painful truth his entire entity as the "special" golden guard chosen by the Titan completely shatters. But through this shattering he can make a new, authentic identity and start a new life with people who actually love him. I really dig this kind of subversion of the princess stuck in a tower trope honestly.

10. Luz telling Eda that she met someone very interesting in Latissa (the city in Hunting Palismen) and referred to Hunter as "a bad but sad boy". Hunter has a very funny reaction to her comment. His whole head blushes and he acts like he wants to give the human a piece of his mind. He's acting as if he wouldn't bend like a twig for Luz if she got in his way, again. Absolutely adorable on Hunters part.

11. Hunter would have never met Flapjack if it wasnt for Luz. Luz guided Flapjack directly to Hunter and showed him that even though hes made from wild magic he isnt dangerous. Edit: Without her he would have never gained his strongest system of emotional support. We also have to add this to the Caleb/Hunter parallels as Hunter is the only version of Caleb he's taken an interest in.

Now I want to talk about the more questionable writing choices that don't make sense to me:

1. What happened after Hollow Mind is incredibly OOC for Luz, Eda, and King. But I just want to highlight how OOC it is for Luz, specifically. It doesn't make sense for Luz to not go after Hunter. She literally saw what Belos does to the golden guards who "betray" him. She knows Belos will send scouts out to look for him. But she just lets him run into the woods in the middle of the night. She doesnt know that hes actually going to Hexside. Its not like he can outrun her because she can just use Edas staff to catch up to him. It doesn't matter how fast Hunter is, a staff is always going to be faster. And if she loses sight of him Flapjack can just take her to him. She doesn't make any attempt to go after him and even stays at the Owl House all night.

This is straight up bad writing. And the only reason why it's like this is because the writers thought it would have been too weird for Luz to spend a night comforting a boy who fits her type in boys and has more in common with her than her girlfriend does. Seriously, what other explanation is there? How else can you explain this OOC writing choice? Luz and Hunter NEEDED this bonding moment. Hunter needed someone there for him after his preconceptions of himself were shattered completely. He needed a strong support system, and he should have got that with Luz, Eda, and King.

But he doesn't get that. Luz, Eda, and King let him run away into the night. And then Luz decides to leave with King to find his family WITHOUT MAKING SURE HUNTER IS OKAY FIRST FOR A WHOLE WEEK.

Excuse me!? She's not even going to make sure Hunter is safe even though she knows Belos wants to kill him? For all she knows he could have fallen to his death in some ditch in the woods. And as you can see by the scratches on his face he DOES hurt himself during to trek from Eda's house to Hexside.

OKAY I GUESS.

Yeah it's totally in character for Luz to leave a kid who just ran out of her house having a full blown panic attack to run off to God knows where in the middle of the night. Knowing full well that the main villain wants to track him down to KILL HIM. And that Hunter, being a literal prince, probably doesn't know how to do basic shit for himself like cook or clean his clothes. Which by the way we get visual confirmation that he doesn't know how to do any of that. The next time we see him hes wearing stained, poorly patched clothes and eating food Flapjack finds in the trashcan.

Also why was it so imperative that Hunter had to go to Hexside and not go into hiding with Lilith and Eda? Seriously, he could have gone with Eda and Lilith when Luz had to leave with King.

What should have happened is that after Luz and Hunter spend the night comforting each other Hunter decided that Luzs suggestion of going into hiding with Lilith and Eda was his safest option. While Hunter and Lilith aren't exactly on great terms at least he knows her. And it's better for a child like Hunter, who doesnt know how to cook or even clean his clothes, to be with two adults who know how to and can teach him how to do that stuff. But more importantly this gives him the chance to learn wild magic so he can have more firepower when he inevitably faces off against Belos. And ya know... he can give Lilith and Eda some insider information about Belos only his former right hand man would know. This would have certainly been better than leaving him to fend for himself for a full 7 days.

2. Removing Hunter blushing from Hunting Palismen is weird to me. Was this removed as a way to deter people from shipping them? Because if so then... it didn't work. Because blushing doesn't consistute as romantic development. I know this show thinks that having two people who like each other blush alot at each other is thrilling romantic development... but it really isn't. Besides, Hunter and Luz got alot of interesting story bits going for them that can't be taken away from them just because you remove this one moment.

[amabeeze3al]

Ok so I have an Owlhouse theory: What if Caleb Wittebane IS Flapjack?

When I first watched the scene of Belos's reaction to Flapjack, that was my interpretation of it. On second thought yeah it probably makes more sense for Flapjack to just be his PALISMAN and not HIM but I still think it's a cool AU/Theory.

I don't have any rock hard evidence of Caleb being Flapjack, but there's some stuff that could be interpreted that way:

1. Belos's reaction to seeing the palisman:

Belos's reaction felt a bit weird to me, like when he said "Caleb" it sounds like he's talking TO the palisman not just making a general statement (If that makes sense).

It feels like a weird thing to say your brother's name specifically instead of just "YOU!" or something like that, also would just seeing his brother's palisman make him THAT mad?? I feel like Belos would've just done a "We meet again" or "YOU TURNED HIM AGAINST ME" ya know? NOPE he just said CALEB and then freaked tf out, seeing Flapjack made him that emotional and I feel like just seeing your dead brother's PALISMAN wouldn't do that, at least not to him.

2. Caleb's Wife(?) Is a Witch:

Caleb's Wife is a Witch and the show makes sure we KNOW that, we also know that she SURVIVED whatever Belos did to her and Caleb, enough to attack him afterwards. We also never REALLY see Caleb die we just, from context clues, know he was stabbed. We never SEE him die (even if we see his BODY but most people theorized that it was a grimwalker and not CALEB'S actual body). So maybe his Wife saved him by like. . . Fusing him with his palisman maybe? Or just turning him INTO one, either because a) His current body wasn't salvageable and that was the "on hand" solution or b) Wifey wanted to save him AND keep him safe from Belos by letting him think he killed him.

And Hunter/The other Golden Guards can still exist, at least with option a), because while Caleb isn't DEAD dead you still have a DEAD BODY.

3. Possible Eye Injury:

Ok, so this one's pretty weak but I'm adding it anyway, Flapjack has a missing eye and in a bunch of Belos's memories of Caleb; the eyes are crossed out or non visible most of the time. Except for directly before, supposedly, attacking him.

Maybe this could be some form of guilt or denial over hurting his brother.

Also the as stupid as this sounds the ANGLE that Caleb is in in a majority of Belos's memories is the same as when he first sees Flapjack (Right side profile) with the missing/scratched out eye on full display.

AND the majority of the "scratched out eyes" thing on memory Caleb is centric on the right, same as Flapjacks missing eye.

The shot of Flapjack

4. Smaller details:

It's a bird, not really more to this one lol

And this scene of Belos killing a bird palisman with all the ✨heavy symbolism of it metaphorically meaning the golden guard/guards. Which gives more associations with Caleb/the grimwalker line being associated with birds.

There's over a million holes in this theory but I love it anyway.

Lmao imagine Hunter's just been vibing with his dead father this whole time 👀.

It makes all of their interactions so much cuter, also sadder but still.

[rainbow-beanie]

My favorite scene from the owl house season 3 special, part two

DEAR GOD HUNTER, PUT DOWN THOSE SCISSORS RIGHT THIS SECOND YOUNG MAN!! I’m really glad that willow noticed when she did, cause I’m afraid that at that angle hunter could’ve cut his scalp. also I tried cutting my hair by myself once when i was younger (with the situation being a lot different) and let’s just say that i quickly learned my lesson.

Also I NEED someone to write a full length one shot about this scene, describing how hunter felt in this moment upon finding out that “dear titan, I look just like him.” And willows reaction and thoughts during and after stumbling across this. you know what the worst thing about this is? Willow doesn’t know that he’s a grimwalker, and so she doesn’t have the added context to truly understand this.

And in the next episode, when she finds out, she’s gonna look back on this and go “OH.” like not oh as in a word, but “oh” as in a feeling.

Anyway, this little scene towards the end is really cute. with willow casually cutting his hair, and hunter blushing while sweating, this time for a completely different reason XD

Also I’d like to imagine somewhere off screen flapjack and willow’s bee palismen are just peeking around a corner while sharing knowing looks

[itsaary]

This will be entirely out of context because I cannot seem to get a comprehedable summary of the AU down without accidentally adding another few details, but a Roleswap AU that has Luz in the position of the Collector, Lilith as Empress and Edalyn as Amber Guard.

Luz is not completely faultless when it comes to blood on her hands.

-

"Come on, it'll be fine! You can do all this crazy stuff I have no opportunity to try, I just have to see how this one turns out! Lilith is out to attend some random meeting, she won't be around before evening."

"I don't know, Luz. She won't be happy with me if she does find out, and I'd hate to disappoint her."

"Good thing she won't then! Come on, last one's a Slowpoke!"

"Hey, not fair, you can literally teleport!" Regardless of her earlier hesitance she broke out into a sprint, catching some odd glances from patrolling guards. "And stop making references I can't understand!"

...

It couldn't have gone more wrong. The meeting was cancelled, she'd caught them setting up small silly traps all over the place, harmless pranks meant to entertain, and of course she was furious. Marilyn had carried the equipment, unable to react quickly enough to activate an invisibilty glyph with her arms currently full. So while Luz could simply slither out of vision to avoid detection, blending in with regular shadows, her buddy in crime remained plain in sight.

Not to say Lilith was foolish enough (Believed her project so utterly failed) to think her niece had come up with the plans by herself. She does not mention this, though, expression blank as she wordlessly drags the Grimwalker towards the chamber designated to make new ones, deliberately telegraphing where they are headed. Of course, only Luz knows the place as what it is, upon realizing what is going to happen reappearing in a flash, admitting to everything, to tell her it was her fault alone and her sister doesn't deserve this she did nothing wrong-

Her eyes narrow, because while she suspected, annoyed, they harboured some kind of connection, this was her and her sibling alone, clone or not. How dare she claim herself part of their perfect family? Was she not utterly out of reach, the Empress would have very well struck her down right then and there, made her suffer through her worst spells for the false accusation. But she remains calm, reminding herself she is a necessary asset to her plans. Besides, she has a much better idea of how to punish her, anyway.

This is the most gruesome death any of the constructs have had to live through, intentionally drawn out, as painful as possible. The chamber is soundproof, however, screams falling on deaf ears. And Luz can only look on in horror as she watches it all play out. (As she begins to doubt that this could be love)

Tone sweet as appleblood she turns around, noise finally beginning to quiet as her artificial life flows out of the woods fibers. "I am sorry this had to happen, Luz, but you know my sister cannot be flawed. I do not blame you for reaching out, but let this be a reminder. You were given a chance and you messed it up, this is ultimately your fault. Go ahead if you want to try again, however, be warned I won't be as merciful next time. Now excuse me, I have to fix your mistakes."

She took a week to make a new one. There's nothing quite as painful as meeting the eyes of one you used to love, still love, and see no recognition spark in them. Nothing worse than watching your big sister your friend live a happier life, unaware you exist.

The next time they interact by chance, she introduces herself as Nightlight, staying as distant as possible.

-

Does it truly matter if there would be a dozend more called by the same name, sharing her face? Does it truly matter if she has never physically touched her at all?

--------------------------------------------

I apologize for the quality of writing, it is not really a final version. There is technically a whole AU to this, we just haven't figured out what to name it yet. My personal favourite, other than Collector!Luz (somewhat) is actually the starchild in place of Vee, of course tweaked to some degree.

If I've accidentally imitated anyone elses AU I apologize, such was by no means intentional, I simply love coming up with and telling stories.

[electricfied-wolf]

And before we get to far, can I have a little context on what you are keep/changing for TEW au bit?

Alrighty, accidentally deleted SO MUCH so I'm bitterly restarting:

Keeps:

Tatiana's whole lore and being the ice witch, along with all of her other fellas and kids being part of her crew.

Keeping the village, they've been haunted by her for a very long time and the modern folks don't know how to deal with her. They do have some tech, but Tatiana/Belos do NOT have any modern stuff.

Still like the idea of how the Aquatos get there, wanna keep them in.

Keeping pretty much all fandoms that were originally in it. They're all still chill lol.

Changes/Additions and lore too:

Trolls (with my personal au lore, don't know abt adding the bergens bc I have no ideas for them yet), Steven Universe even tho I SWORE it was already in there, Starlight Express (obviously), Hilda maybe (new season drops soon I don't wanna jump the gun), and HTTYD-The Nine Realms bc I'm attached to these kiddos no matter how many quirks the show has.

Wonderful concept of Luz being raised by Eda, got separated from her mom as a little kid and Eda took her in and raised her beside King. She tried to teach her how to us magic, was VERY surprised when Luz rushed up to her showing her glyphs excitedly. Not sure if Luz would have to wait to get her staff for as long or if she would've obtained String Bean FAR earlier seeing as Eda raised her in this. Going to have to change the au's name slightly bc I forgot she takes on the Clawthorne name in this one. Glad we didn't get too far lmao.

Eda has her suspicions about King being a titan. She doesn't know for sure straight away, but she's no idiot. She's seen the books detailing the vague history of titans. But she's never seen a demon that looks like King in her life. She continues to ignore it however, insisting King doesn't look exactly like the pictures and is likely a mimic of some sort. She feeds into his idea that he's the "King of Demons" even though a part of her deep down knows it's not true. Which is WHY she's so terrified when Luz insists on going out into the world with him, because the ice witch is bringing winter upon more and more places further down the mountain. Luz wants to stop the eternal winter from covering the planet, Eda's heart drops thinking she might lose her son and daughter.

Not sure which kids would and wouldn't live in the village, I don't think Steven and Connie would. Also not sure if his family would still be aliens or instead would be some kind of mystical gem race that did start on earth, but regardless he lives a bit far off. A mishap with Lion's portals as he and Connie are on an exploration leads him to encounter Luz and King early on. They become fast pals and Steven hurriedly agrees to help with her mission. Connie takes a bit of convincing but agrees as well.

TEW!Hunter is. An interesting lad to say the least. Still a grimwalker, he just has longer hair, not sure how he'd meet Flapjack and only vaguely sure of how he'd encounter the crew. He's very cutthroat, being raised up in a fancy palace far away from anyone else. He only knows the witches of the covens/the covenheads, his uncle, and the Collector...who he is annoyingly forced to call his cousin. Well, he acts annoyed around others, but the truth is he loves the little fella. They're friends, and he frequently steals the round prison that traps the poor thing, so that the two can talk without Belos prying in.

Vague vague idea where in a middle part of the plot, as they're befriending the Golden Guard, he sneaks his imprisoned star-child cousin out to the squad and begs them to get him far away from Belos' palace. Because he doesn't want the Collector to get hurt.

The crew that comes together to try and stop the eternal winter are Raz and his siblings, the "intern" kids, Steven and Connie (+Lion), and Luz and her witchy friends. Plus King and the Collector. They're very ambitious but confident they can do it.

[ammonitetheseaserpent]

I HAVE QUESTIONS ABT THE DOUBLE AGENT MARCY AU!!!!!

Does Andrias not keep in touch with her??? How long is Marcy supposed to be in the Boiling Isles???? Why does Belos just invite and accept her into his ranks???? Does he know she is human??? If not, what does he think she is??? If he does, why is he so chill with that and not figuring out how she got there???? Why is the Owl crew so trusting??? Like there is doubt but they accept her kind of fast. Will Marcy be telling them about Amphibia??? Why she was sent there??? The coming invasion??? What happened to her??? What she did??? If she does, how do they take it??? If she doesn’t, how do they learn all that??? How do they take it???

O.O Ogosh, this caught me off guard - I’m really glad you’re interested in these AUs! These are all really good questions, and I’ll definitely keep these in mind when it comes to refining this story. Let’s see here…

1. My original thought is that Andrias does implement some sort of way to contact her and keep them under his thumb, but it ends up getting destroyed in some way.

2. She gets there a few weeks before the events of Agony Of A Witch, and from that point, it follows the same timeframe as the original episodes do.

3. I had an idea that something went wrong with the whole Grimwalker project, so Belos needs to find a new coven head on short notice. His coven have been keeping a close eye on Marcy, noting that, though she seems fairly new to the Isles, she also seems to have a lot of potential. This catches Belos’s interest, figuring that, since Marcy’s new here, they won’t be to hard to sway toward his point of view.

4. Marcy tries to keep her ears hidden as much as possible, and once they get their Marsh Mystic outfit, she ties their hood securely over her ears. Belos is led to believe that she’s some sort of demon or creature not from the Isles.

5. That’s a good question! I originally figured Luz would be more sympathetic (and a lot more curious) towards Marcy after finding out that they’re human like her. I also think that, after the events of Eclipse Lake, once Amity realizes that one of the core problems is that Marcy doesn’t believe they can get away from Belos (added to the people-pleasing student ideal/complex they have), getting in the way of their actual intentions, she’d communicate this in some way to Eda, King and Luz - as well as the fact that she outright offered to let Amity keep as much Titan’s blood as she needed. I figure this would make them more willing to help Marcy out. I’m definitely gonna explore this arc more that you’ve brought it to my attention. 👍

6. I wanted to explore Marcy’s potentially doubling down on not wanting to dwell on or talk about her past, due to their experience with opening up about those elements of her life - so, even when they do reveal things about her past, it takes a while to get to that point, and they have a tendency towards vagueing. She ends up telling Luz that she was in a dimension different from the demon realm at some point, but only to give context about Joe and their axolotl features.

7. Andrias stabs her and puts her in a tank so he can add axolotl features to them and do a little strategic memory tweaking. He wants to use her as a scout/test dummy of sorts, to scope out the other worlds he takes in conquering - a chunk of this AU’s premise is admittedly just my crossover brain taking the “I will not just rule this world, but all worlds” line and running with it. The axolotl DNA is for the stem cells, to heal Marcy’s physical wounds, and give them other benefits such as gills - all to make her more resilient and effective at what he intends to use her for.

Thanks for the questions - this was really fun and insightful! 👍