#Hieronymous Bump

[sepublic]

Alright, let's talk about some details from the TOH pitch bible;

A lot of the stuff is what we've already seen and/or in line with the show. What's interesting is that King WAS a former King of Demons at one point, and we would've had an episode where he runs into his old gang and chooses Luz and Eda over them. It makes me wonder if he even had a connection to the Titan in earlier drafts, if he wasn't recognized as one back in the day because he just wasn't big enough, etc. Eda makes a deal to help remove the collar, which IS the source of King's woes, placed by a 'mysterious wizard', I wouldn't be surprised if it was Obron AKA Proto-Belos.

What gets me is that Tibbles originally started off as a friend to the protagonists, while Bump was an antagonist! Coupled with Tibbles being re-elected as mayor after Bump is deposed for corruption. I like the detail of Bump being a parasite controlling a body from the head, because it carried over into his final design with Frewin, and before we got confirmation Frewin was a separate entity, I loved the joke theory that the imp on Bump's head was the REAL Bump!!! Seems that was always the implied story of the design, I love it. Tibbles being the demon fan of human stuff would eventually become Gus instead, so this is technically Proto-Gus too…?

Interesting how Bump and Tibbles' alignments switch completely with one another, and it makes sense that with Lilith no longer the principal in the final draft, it goes to Bump, who ends up being really chill and a subversion in his own right! Interesting, but I do prefer the final Bump we got, and that's fine by me, because when the concepts aren't as interesting as the final product, it means we got the best possible version.

I've already discussed Obron and William in a separate post, and Pupa is someone we've been told about in a previous livestream. Lilith would've been both head of all covens (and not just the Emperor's Coven) AND principal at the same time, and she seems much more of a jerk to Eda in general; She has no qualms with cursing Eda because of a direct order from Obron.

Apparently the curse would've been an AGING spell, which settles my questions on how it would've been portrayed in earlier drafts! This goes along with Eda's older look. Likewise, there would've been a subplot of Eda considering Luz's sacrifice as a way to restore her youth, which likely goes hand in hand with Obron's orders to bring Luz to her, etc. The 'Bloom of Eternal Youth' quest, which Eda and Lilith go through together as their sisterly relationship is explored, feels like a carryover from this past idea.

I think I prefer the final draft; I like that the curse isn't just aging Eda, but also takes away her magic, makes her turn into a beast, etc. I like Lilith being a lot more complicated in her relationship with Eda, instead of just hating her and cursing her without hesitation. The redefining of the curse makes it less about age, and more a chronic illness metaphor, and I like how Eda in the final draft is upfront about having to learn to live with it, deal with it, on her own terms. She isn't trying to find a cure (although Lilith being promised one by Obron feels like a carryover of Eda's moral dilemma with Luz), and that adds another nice dimension to her conflict with Lilith, as well as Gwen. It's pretty frank in its own right about normalizing disability, and those who play an antagonistic role (however brief) are the real weirdoes for making such a fuss about it.

The Bat Queen would've had more of a recurring role based on the description, which saddens me; I always got the vibe she was planned for more, but between all of the other stuff the show had to juggle, plus the shortening, she ended up getting shafted despite being one of the earlier characters. Sashley, Pasha, and Bruno are also interesting, with Pasha in particular giving me freaking Philip Wittebane vibes with his grossness, beard, and anti-demon attitude; He even starts off as a potential friend to Luz because fellow human, only for his true bigotry to show. Makes me wonder if Philip ended up incorporating Pasha, we also have bodily transformation because of consuming magical stuff... P-names.

(Also, I like how in the drawing of typical Demon Realm denizens, I can see an eye demon who resembles a past drawing of Dana's!!!)

Eda was actually a late bloomer, which creates a parallel with Luz in one way, and their relationship is referred to as sisterly (in the final draft it’s explicitly maternal). So Eda wouldn't have been the talented youth, in fact things may have switched between her and Lilith; Lilith's disdain may have partially come from Eda not being as innately talented as her.

Luz and Amity's dynamic seems like it would've had Amity retain a lot of her more stand-offish, pragmatic personality even as a friend with Luz, and this would've come up more; So basically, she'd remain more like S1 Amity. That, or this part of their relationship would've lasted longer, and then we would've seen character development as Amity unlearns a lot of the issues her parents passed on. I also wonder if the Willow who cameos in the pilot was originally supposed to just be an extra separate from ‘Paulina’, but then they combined the two together.

The themes are exactly as I expected, glad to see they're still there, nothing changed! Luz becoming a witch and defying all odds to do so, putting in real work and passion. Celebrating individuality amidst conformity, plus Luz trying to impose her own fictional tropes onto the world, only to have to put that aside... Just like Wing it like Witches. It seems Amity would've had more involvement with Luz's journey to become a witch, though we still do have a carryover of that disconnect with her rant near the end of Covention.

I love the Demon Realm being situated BELOW the Human Realm, way to be subtle about being Hell you guys lol... Apparently portals to the human world are a lot rarer to find and use, which makes me wonder if the pilot's 'dimension port' doesn't have access to the human world; Meaning Amity is Luz's only way back, so her improved relationship with her is linked to getting back home. There's a gag about the Knee having service with the human world, but I can see how that didn't make the cut, for dramatic purposes; It seems like the premise for a S1 episode or at least a B-plot. Would Luz have struggled to communicate with Camila through this, or would her search for wi-fi be for mundane reasons?

Apparently Luz's magic would've required a lot more steps to complete, and I see why the show simplified things down to just glyphs. I wonder if there was always going to be the connection of glyphs as a gift from the Titan, or if the Titan and her story was going to be less intertwined in the overall narrative. There also don't seem to be nine main covens, just the many, many covens, some of which are pretty ridiculous, and Covention's sub-covens seem a callback to that.

Luz's first spell would've been levitation, and THEN she would've infiltrated Hexside, with Amity being a lot subtler about exposing Luz, though in the final draft she does figure that out as the way to go in I was a Teenage Abomination. Yeah, I prefer Light being her original spell, feels so much more symbolic and personal, etc. I wonder if the Titan is even as much of a character in early drafts, and if there's still the whole connection/relationship with the land and learning to respect it aspect. Some of these hypothetical episodes push the idea of Amity as a more episodic, typical popular kid antagonist, though in the final draft, the show goes through her character development and explores Amity's romantic relationship with Luz and its complications.

It seems the idea of the Mirror Ghost was split into Adegast and Vee, with Adegast being the one who offers the easier narrative for Luz to believe in about becoming a witch (only to be a fraud who uses uncanny puppets), and Vee being a doppelganger whom Luz communicates through with mirrors. Interesting how Yesterday's Lie was born from this. We saw the test animation from Spencer Wan for TOH, so I guess we know what Luz's puppet-doppelganger is called! And we can safely call her Proto-Vee. I wonder if she also would've been a sympathetic character, I always thought she reminded me of Lake from Infinity Train (and speculated her to be as such since Enchanting Grom Fright), and now the similarities are even MORE apparent!

Alas, The Good Witch Azura, or 'The Unassuming Princess' seems like it'd have been a lot less dear to Luz's heart, as the pilot also reflects; In the end, it turns out the author is just Eda's ex using her adventures as basis, and including private information. I remember when I once speculated that Raine, before we saw their face, would've been just like this as the author of Azura... Again, I think I prefer Azura as being a lot less mean-spirited in the final draft, and instead a celebration of who Luz is as a person, her relationship with fantasy and fiction, etc. We also would've had a Luz birthday party, the Quincenera we've been hoping for since S1...! In the final draft (and episode) we still get that Human-Demon Realm disconnect, though by that point, Luz is much more attuned and chill with the isles.

There’s definitely more of an episodic, sitcom feel to this pitch bible, especially when you compare Proto-Yesterday’s Lie to its final version. Makes sense, Dana is pitching this to Disney executives, though her statement on Understanding Willow feeling truly like her show makes me wonder if she always intended to push TOH in that more serious, emotional route we got.

[welcome-home-official]

Bump <3

[julianobungus]

A thing for Fump/Baust(??) when Faust tried flirting, Bump thought he was trying to be nice for once and it took him way too long to figure out what he was really doing.

I accept it. It's too real - Bump is a sweet summer child, so naive.

[the-s1lly-corner]

2024 Flufftober oneshots

As requested, here is a masterlist for this year's flufftober for those who do not/can not go to my ao3 with that said! heres the masterlist! REMINDER that some of these fandoms I no longer take requests for/are in retirement, however for the sake of indulgence I've written at least one fic for every fandom I've written for this blog! I recommend checking my pinned to see which fandoms are still open for requests and which ones arent!

2024 FLUFFTOBER

DAY 1 CAINE: FIRST KISS

DAY 2 JONATHON OHNN: LOVE CONFESSION

DAY 3 ADAM: SICK

DAY 4 JASON VOORHEES: RAINY DAY

DAY 5 ITWARD: DANCING

DAY 6 BRAHMS HEELSHIRE: PLAYING WITH HAIR

DAY 7 SIR PENTIOUS: ONE BED

DAY 8 JEFF THE KILLER: PET

DAY 9 DICK KNUBBLER: BATHING

DAY 10 KINGER: GIFT GIVING

DAY 11 SUN: FAKE DATING

DAY 12 NARINDER: COOKING

DAY 13 ZENYATTA: HANDHOLDING

DAY 14 HIERONYMOUS BUMP: TRAPPED TOGETHER

DAY 15 FATHER: EARLY MORNING

DAY 16 MOON: STARGAZING

DAY 17 SHAMURA: MASSAGE

DAY 18 KALLAMAR: PROTECTING

DAY 19 NINA THE KILLER: ROAD TRIP

DAY 20 RAGATHA: CUDDLING

DAY 21 EYELESS JACK: PICNIC

DAY 22 JAX: STUCK IN LINE

DAY 23 AYM: PILLOW FIGHT

DAY 24 BEN DROWNED: GAME NIGHT

DAY 25 SLENDERMAN: LOVE LETTERS

DAY 26 CLAUNECK: DRUNKEN CONFESSION

DAY 27 EMILY: NIGHTMARES

DAY 28 TICCI TOBY: PUMPKIN PATCH

DAY 29 LAMB: VACATION

DAY 30 TOILETNATOR: SCARY MOVIE

[novelist-becca]

Frewin: don’t fuccin touch me

[yoshimickster]

A friendly reminder that Hieronymous Bump has been using Frewin to see since he was a teenager-POSSIBLY-younger.

Feel free to write as MANY tragic back stories as you want with THAT folks!

[fireglyphz]

ok i know we’re all happy bc Raine was actually Not Brainwashed the whole time but like!!! Principal Bump actually being a cool guy from the start! he saw Eda’s potential even while he was vice principal, didn’t reprimand her even though his job was on the line, he even gave her a squeaky toy to help her try and manage her urges rather than making her feel bad for them... God I would give anything to get taught by that guy in school

[ochabos-art]

I'll start off with the worm house haha

[sepublic]

Unlocking the Sad Backstory

I find it interesting how a lot of arcs in TOH have this general pattern of…

Character hurts others -> Character is unhappy, reconsiders their harm -> Character begins to do better -> Character’s sad backstory that re-contextualizes them is unlocked

And it applies even to characters that aren’t exactly villains or even antagonists, but for whom hurting someone nevertheless is a major premise! So to look at examples;

Amity is Willow and Luz’s bully, but we see how she’s unfairly manipulated by Lilith and is ashamed because of it. Luz reaching out to her makes Amity reconsider, she undoes the binding oath she placed on Luz. Then we see Amity’s siblings and how both parties are toxic to one another, and then we get a flashback confirming her parents are abusive. In regards to Willow specifically, Amity acknowledges she’s done harm to Willow in burning her memories, and works to fix them with Luz before we get this context.

Emira and Edric are also toxic to Amity, but in their next appearance they’re remorseful about what they’ve done to Amity, they’re working to make it up to their baby sister. And while they’re not present in the aforementioned flashback, their parents being confirmed as abusive tells you everything you need to know about them.

Lilith has a petty rivalry with Eda, but we see how much she cares and keeps breaking the law to look the other way, too. Then we see how she’s pressured by the Emperor’s Coven, and even threatened by Belos, before she captures Eda. We learn of her curse, but again; We see Lilith next and it’s reiterated that she believes this will cure Eda, we remember wanting to be kinder happened after cursing Eda. We see Lilith attempt to free Eda, and then we get the backstory about how the curse was mostly an accident. We get more info later on how Gwen’s neglect contributed to Lilith’s inferiority complex.

Hunter is the Golden Guard, he threatens to boil Luz, Eda, and King to death and wants the Selkidomus dead, but won’t even do it himself. He kidnaps Palismen to feed to Belos. But then later we see how he’s unhappy over his situation, how he feels like his uncle won’t let him help. Hunter begins to show consideration towards Flapjack and later Luz when he reveals his name, and then we get context as to how physically abusive Belos is, and where that scar came from. Flapjack returns and Hunter spares him.

Alador is either a controlling abuser to Amity, or a neglectful one. But he does hold his wife accountable when she tries to betray their daughter by going back on her end of the deal, and later shows genuine love for Amity when Alador isn’t more concerned about the family’s socioeconomic status. Amity admits how unhappy she is, Alador realizes he truly is hurting his daughter, and promises to talk with his wife over this. We later see him try, and then we see that Alador is also abused, and it’s implied his neglect comes from overworking himself in exchange for his children being spared the same.

Boscha is a bully, through and through. She torments everyone for purely petty reasons. But she also admits to feeling similar pressure as Willow, and then confesses to being lonely without Amity, Skara, Amelia, or Cat. Amity acknowledges that Boscha is lonely, but points out that Boscha needs to respect her for who she is. Boscha listens, and helps stop Kikimora. In the credits we see fully that she really was a miserable, scared child being manipulated by a grown adult.

The Collector is aiding Belos’ genocide, and (seemingly) knowingly. But they’re also fretful over the nature of their ‘friendship’ and are left betrayed and hurt. They meet King, and after being freed by him, we see how they try to be a good friend to King and are slowly listening to him bit by bit, which is why King vouches for rehabilitation over imprisonment. The Collector is already against harm to a certain point, defying what the Archivists mandate. And then we learn that they were unjustly imprisoned by the Titan, and didn’t even know about death in their childish, simplistic view of the world, seeing people as only broken and unmoving yet capable of being fixed at any time, if all the parts are there.

Gwen makes Eda feel ashamed of her curse, she neglects Lilith. But she does care for at least one daughter, and is horrified when she realizes the harm her antivaxxer actions have done. Gwen makes things up not only to Eda, but Lilith especially in taking her back home, even as Gwen explains during her reconciliation that she honestly saw Lilith as self-sufficient. And then a few episodes later, we find out her husband was mauled and left disabled by the curse, unable to continue his life’s work. And we get even more context for Gwen’s obsession in curing her daughter of the condition that gave her so much guilt.

Camila made Luz feel unwanted at home, going along with the camp, and her outburst later on was the wrong call; But she’s not punished for it, that’s not necessary. Instead she apologizes, we see Camila worry about the camp taking away Luz’s passion by salvaging her daughter’s weirdness for her, we see her be accommodating to Luz and her friends when she returns, having reflected in that time, and offering support. And then we learn that Camila was just like Luz, she fit in to survive, and she lost Manny, someone she needed to stand up for herself.

Bump is introduced as a principal willing to dissect Luz, but he also appreciates Willow’s magic and vouches for her to her parents. We see that he’s actually open-minded and cares about his students, he lets Eda enroll Luz on the fair grounds that Eda clear her own messes; Bump insists on following the coven system and places students into the detention track, but when those kids save the day, Bump owns up to a mistake he clearly didn’t like anyhow and changes things. And then we see his past, and how he’s been improving things this whole time, challenging Faust and looking out for Eda!

Even Steve technically qualifies; He’s a covenscout, he’s a jerk who knocks over someone else’s books to express his cop enthusiasm. But Steve forgives Skara for punching him in the face because he kidnapped her, and then admits to Hunter that what they’ve done is wrong, and he’s now reconsidering. Afterwards Steve has his introspective interactions with King, and then we see his face; Implying (and eventually confirmed by Dana) that he is the older brother that Mattholomule spoke of, who gave him the map to the Looking Glass Ruins that Adrian, in the previous episode, admitted he couldn’t find; Because Steve gave away the map to make his kid brother happy.

Likewise, I want to discuss two characters who don’t exactly fit this sequence, and don’t mature or get better, not of their own volition for one:

Kikimora is Belos’ assistant, she’s complicit in his executions. She tries to murder Hunter out of nothing but jealousy, helps bring Raine to Terra, goes after everyone at the Knee, etc. But then we see Kikimora is miserable because of her unsympathetic mother, who is probably abusive; She has no consideration that her daughter is obligated to their dictator, who demonstrated on live television that he’ll execute even his own high-ranking officials if they don’t go along with him, and Kikimora was there in-person. And is now expected to help with a major event involving other high-ranking officials and the dictator himself.

So we get Kikimora hurting people, being unhappy, and having a sad backstory; But we don’t have Kikimora reconsider the harm she’s doing. She accepts Luz’s help for her own sake, and instead of empathizing with Luz as a result, Kikimora betrays her when she sees a potential promotion. Kikimora is let down, we see later that she’s been demoted to the Crate Coven.

But then she attempts to bring Hunter to Belos, and it’s revealed later that she knows what happens to Grimwalkers like him, and has known about the genocide and still went along out of obsessive devotion. Despite this, Kikimora does not warrant Belos’ callousness, it’s not triumphant it’s just cruel because he was going to kill her just for being a demon, villain or saint it didn’t matter. So Kikimora is given her revenge when she helps free the Collector, who splatters Belos, an injury that leads to his eventual death, and stops the draining spell, saving Kikimora’s own life in the process!

At which point, you think she’d learn, right? But instead Kikimora does the exact same thing as Belos, which Luz calls out, despite having had her pedestal shattered because Kikimora doesn’t care about the harm to others, only herself. And so she can only temporarily be an ally, before going back to being an antagonist; The system is fine if she’s in charge, she doesn’t learn anything from what happened. And Kikimora is captured by rebelling students, and forced into community service four years later.

There’s also Belos, whom… Okay do I even need to explain??? We learn that he is upset by his brother’s death and misses him, too. And he does feel guilt about murdering Caleb and even the Grimwalkers, they weren’t purely replaceable in his eyes! But he never reconsiders his harm, he keeps repeating it, he never changes. Belos doesn’t even acknowledge that he’s doing witches and demons wrong. And while we do get his backstory, it’s clear from his priorities, the details, and Masha and the Titan’s own takeaways that he fully chose his misery, and that his backstory is not so sad with this in mind.

I wonder if the takeaway is that these characters can’t truly get better because in the end, they won’t acknowledge the harm they’ve done; They won’t admit it, they won’t do anything about it. And so they can only be counted on to care about making themselves feel better, but that’s it. And so on a pragmatic level, co-existence has to be forced.

Because with Kikimora, she’s made to do community service, and with prisons being abolished for hospitals, she’s likely on house arrest because the alternative is execution and no state should have that power. And with Belos, he proved himself too dangerous, he was well past his lifespan and dying anyway, and they were not going to sacrifice even a single, unwilling Palisman to keep Belos alive.

As for all the other characters, for whom things do work out with? I find it interesting how Sad Backstory is something for the protagonists and viewers to unlock. Maybe the idea is that the protagonists aren’t prepped to forgive a character simply over what happened in the past, just what’s happening now, and what they’re trying to do about it. You can still empathize when they’re sad, even without a backstory for context because look at Luz during Covention!

But as a whole it makes sense for the takeaways of those around them, because why should I care that you were sad, if you’re still being a jerk anyway? Now I know your sad backstory, but you’ve known it the whole time you were hurting me, so what difference does it make about you if you’re not changing; Do you just expect me to keep forgiving you out of pity?

It could be a consideration for what characters around them might realistically feel. The sad backstory, the re-contextualizing for why they’re like that, is the cherry on top to their arc; Yes this person sucks, but maybe they aren’t having a great time either. They give people a reason to be sympathetic. And then those people get to really appreciate their side of the story when they don’t have to worry about still being hurt.

Maybe it’s also a message to the audience, because with other characters showing that you still need to be careful in extending a hand, and given the toxic and abusive relationships we see, maybe this could be the context for that? An abuser’s sad backstory is the last thing on your mind; Your first thought should be that they’re hurting you.

But if they’re looking for help and actually want to improve, then you can offer it, and if they accept, then you can let yourself be caught up over their tragic past, instead of making excuses for them from the get-go because of that, RIP Hunter. When it comes to Willow, she was allowed to be angry well after learning Amity’s Sad Backstory, when she felt Amity wasn’t pulling her weight in making up for everything.

By contrast we have Eda not really giving a damn whether the curse was an accident, because Lilith still took knowingly took Luz hostage and threatened her, captured Eda. So her present actions are being unaddressed even if Lilith thinks her past one is. And when King vouches for Lilith, Eda refrains from taking vengeance; Lilith saving the family and taking the curse, past and present actions made up for, culminates in forgiveness.

It’s not enough that Lilith felt bad about it, she needed to tangibly do something about it, something genuine that doesn’t miss the point (unlike a certain emperor), and so to a no-nonsense adult like Eda, that’s when she can be forgiven. That’s when her sad backstory resonates, just as for the audience, that’s when we learn it so we can even appreciate it at all.

Some of this may just be basic storytelling conventions, like of course you’re going to get the character first and their characterizing actions, and then their backstory. But then again you could just as easily mix things up. Or it could just be an extension of this show’s larger fascination with re-contextualizing previous scenes and details. I just think it’s an interesting pattern to dwell over, and I wonder if it was intentional, how much was intentional, etc. Because with a show wanting to help kids understand abuse, to avoid it and/or realize it’s happening to them, to get help and heal, and finally figure out if they should forgive their abusers, if they want to… All of this could work in that regard.

[welcome-home-official]

[the-s1lly-corner]

flufftober update (woo yeah character request time!!)

hooray the first 15 fics for flufftober have been completed! i am now taking recommendations for characters for the remaining 16 fics! note that i am not doing multiple fics for a character- any fandom is allowed so long as i still write for it (prior to this announcement i was aiming to write one fic per each fandom ive even written for at this point, now that that has been fulfilled it will be changed.. for the current list you can check my pinned!)- also since theres limited slots, suggesting a character is not a 100% guarantee that the fic will be made!

below the cut is the list of characters that have already been written, as well as what day the fic will post! surprising you all on the prompts though so those will remain secret mweheheheh

OCTOBER 1ST- caine (the amazing digital circus)

OCTOBER 2ND- jonathon ohnn (across the spiderverse)

OCTOBER 3RD- adam (hazbin hotel)

OCTOBER 4TH- jason voorhees (friday the 13th)

OCTOBER 5TH- itward (fran bow)

OCTOBER 6TH- brahms heelshire (the boy)

OCTOBER 7TH- sir pentious (hazbin hotel)

OCTOBER 8TH- jeff the killer (creepypasta)

OCTOBER 9TH- dick knubbler (metalocalypse)

OCTOBER 10TH- kinger (the amazing digital circus)

OCTOBER 11TH- sun (fnaf security breach)

OCTOBER 12TH- narinder (cult of the lamb)

OCTOBER 13TH- zenyatta (overwatch)

OCTOBER 14TH- hieronymous bump (the owl house)

OCTOBER 15TH- father/benedict wigglestein (kids next door)

[yoshimickster]

Not enough people saying it, but the fact that Bump is able to kick ass using Frewin in staff mode with ONE eye is legit legendary!

ONE eye! Homeboy ain’t go no depth perception, and he’ straight up season 3 Juno Steel GUNGSLINGING this shit!

[anistarrose]

[ID: the handshake meme, showing two muscular arms. One arm is labeled “taz graduation,” the other arm is labeled “the owl house,” and the two hands together are labled “sketchy magic school run by a dude named Hieronymous.” end ID]

anyone else instantly think of TAZ when Principal Bump said his first name was Hieronymous in the new short?

[retirement-home-rumble]

Retirement Home Rumble: Preliminary

The Owl House

Only one can make it in!

[sepublic]

Thinking of the old Hexside group. Did they all know each other, or was it simply that Eda knew all of them? If the former…

How did Lilith think to teach her friends’ child, to have Alador and Odalia’s daughter look up to her? Was it a bit of triumph, esp knowing Odalia wanted to be in the Emperor’s Coven, or at least wished it for her children; Did she settle for Blight Industries because she wasn’t good enough, while Darius met the Golden Guard as he advanced in the Abomination Coven?

Lilith is petty, so I can see her enjoying it a little; And then afterwards, she betrays Amity’s trust but it doesn’t matter too much to her, not anymore. And that was brief compared to her sister being right there.

Darius was mentored by the Golden Guard, the previous head of the Emperor’s Coven; Now he sees his classmate become the same, and even mentor another Abomination witch. He feels strongly about his mentor’s legacy, so was he critical of Lilith failing that mentor-mentee bond, in someone he could’ve seen himself in?

Did he feel pity for Amity, make an exception for her despite how unpleasant Alador and Odalia became, or even because of that suspected parental abuse? Did he never notice any of it, did he think, Good for her when Amity developed a proper friendship with Lilith later on? And was Darius critical and slow to consider Alador because of his abuse towards his own kin?

Eda would’ve seen her friends’ daughter with Lilith, but to her that had also faded long ago, perhaps she didn’t think much of it as a result. But seeing Amity’s baggage through Luz and interacting with the twins, you have to wonder if she was surprised or not, that Alador and Odalia’s kids would turn out that way.

Similarly, Perry could’ve heard about Amity’s bullying of Gus’ first friend through his son. He saw Eda being executed and remained impartial and true to his job… Until his son took over, and he very conveniently stood by and nodded along, doing next to nothing to stop Gus and his friend’s call for a protest. Did he feel happiness when Eda and Lilith escaped together that night? Did he and Eda consider reconnecting through their kids, only to decide maybe that’s awkward, it’s been too long, it would look bad for Perry’s high-profile job if he did…

Did Raine and Darius, when they watched from afar? Agonizing that they couldn’t do anything at the moment, it’s not yet ready. They can’t jeopardize it now and maybe they couldn’t even do it even if they wanted to, they were too far away. I would not put it past Belos to suspect their sentimentality, and send those two far away when he called for Lilith to deliver Eda by the end of the day.

How much disappointment did Raine have in Lilith and Darius? They’ve only been coven head recently, and they figured it out the corruption well before them; Or at least Lilith. What relief was there when Darius turned out to be their side, and what disappointment did they and Darius have over Alador and Odalia selling dangerous weapons to the coven, making their plans more difficult and contributing to their failed sabotage?

For Eda, of course she lost Lilith. Then Darius. Then Raine. All three became coven heads, cop supreme. Alador and Odalia became arms manufacturers, only Perry was chill. The first time Eda talks to Gus, he proudly owns up to being from a long line of dweebuses, after she calls him that; Was she thinking, I know better than you about that kid, was exactly why I said it.

Did Odalia lowkey cope and seethe over her friends becoming coven heads while she didn’t, while Alador became apathetic to everything? Did she decide it didn’t matter, when she had strength and independence from the coven, and a family? Only for Belos to assimilate her work, and for her family to leave her because of Odalia’s obsession?

Was there any particular reason she chose Raine’s puppet to help her with the Collector’s task; Out of all of the coven heads, some of whom are stronger or have more/longer arms, she chose someone she grew up with. The only other one was Darius, but that bridge was clearly burnt in a personal, direct way, and not just them gradually drifting apart. Did Odalia find some comfort in having Raine around, and/or did she just feel good to lord over another classmate in Alador’s place?

Alador is tired to the point of apathy; He never expected his childhood friend turned wife to do this to him, but it was gradual enough he didn’t even realize what was going on until he talked to a child about it. If Darius made it as a Coven Head, did it matter to him when he was the architect behind Blight Industries, whose products phased out Darius�� own technique? If he agreed with Odalia on Willow not being good for Amity, maybe he too dismissed Eda as a delinquent; Even so, he didn’t feel personal about it, wasn’t bothered really by their kids hanging out with hers.

And to Bump? It may have been pride to see three coven heads be his former students, and for another two to start a successful corporation. Maybe he had some reservations about the coven system, being born before it… It felt good to repair relations with Eda, but being at the mercy of two of his students? Between this and Lilith being so dismissive of him, it must’ve been striking to realize how age inevitably means children who depended on you, now having power over you.

“Us weirdoes have to stick together” says Eda, and when we see Luz struggle to keep the family together when reciting this mantra in a season finale… Man did Eda relate, is it why she even came up with the saying? And when she did stick together with other weirdoes, it led to King and Luz, it led to a long chain of events that resulted in almost the whole Hexside gang, and her family, coming back together. Maybe they’d grown mostly apathetic, it was just “Goofing off” as Alador put it, but then they started interacting properly and they realized how much they’d missed it.

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