#I think it would be VERY interesting to have Luz and Hunter bond over being bad at academia

[a-concert-just-for-me]

plot twist hunter isn’t bad at typing in particular, he’s just dyslexic lmao

Here’s some stream of consciousness dialogue between him and Luz I did real quick on my lunch break

Yes I really did look at a Singer instruction manual for this LMAO

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Man looking at these storyboards and then what actually occured in the show. You think it was just a lack of time and budget that caused them to change them, or do you think they were THAT afraid of being accused of beiing bigots if they made Belos a more nuanced villain?

So I'm not sure what the reason was for why Belos' more nuanced portrayal in the storyboards was axed or why only the villains are allowed to be terrible. Is it possible that they were afraid of fan backlash and kept their tabs on fandom to make sure they didn't write anything that could be misinterpreted?

Honestly, I doubt it because the writing never feels like it's afraid of its fans. In fact, if anything it wants to indulge them but it's also not afraid of teasing them after people spent a whole season theorizing how the Azura books would be relevant to the overall plot. Turns out they don't, except in giving something for Luz and Amity to bond over and have Luz occasionally feel sad about her dead dad.

Also, with how open the crew were in their Post-Hoots, answering fan questions, sharing head canons, and what-not, they don't strike me as being fearful of any kind of backlash. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had these seasonal streams.

I think the biggest issues the team have are time management skills and patience; character arcs are rushed or barely there, and they seem more interested in getting to the big, flashy scenes instead of putting in the time and effort to get there. Seriously, Hunter was on the Bad Guy Team for what, two episodes before we learned of his true nature as the Woobie? Luz, Eda, and King are allegedly Found Family but they don't spend enough time together in season 1 to justify that since the crew also has Luz split her time at school since Eda can't be bothered to teach her anything. Luz and Amity start courting early on and then once they get together, they don't really do anything but cutesy fluff. Lilith is turned into the Cool Aunt and the repercussions of her actions are either ignored or rushed.

I don't think the writers are afraid of nuance since they do pay lip service to characters not being forgiven immediately, but then there's no follow through and every major character has a strong setup and so much potential only for their characterization to be gradually watered down.

And it's not just characterization, it's the world-building as well; since the beginning, fans have complained that the world-building is lacking in the show, especially with such an interesting premise. Unfortunately, we only get more snippets of information about the isles as the series progresses but it's not enough where I feel like the Boiling Isles has a clear identity like say, Wartwood from Amphibia does. This goes back to that problem of lack of patience since the show seems so disinterested in exploring deeper character dynamics outside of fan-fic tropes or even bothering to expand on the lore.

Ultimately, the show treats its fantasy setting more as a stage instead of actually exploring it and has very basic characterization with the only distinguishing factor being that it has queer people in it.

[lollytea]

You said that asks may help you formulate your au thoughts and prompt you to talk about it so if it helps- I'm very curious about the cliffhanger the last lore dump left us on, re: Luz! Very curious to see how she fits into all of this. Sidenote about hunters deal: is Belos like. A stagemom in this au? A stage uncle? Highly entertaining if so. Demoted in power but still just as evil

Hmm!! Yeah I think it would absolutely be easier to drop info about the AU in little bits at a time depending on what questions I get. I've already thought about almost everybody in this AU and where they're situated but I guess I was getting overwhelmed with thinking about writing it all down at once.

Anyways!! Miss Luz Noceda!!

In this universe, the "fancy hospital" was located in California so Luz and her parents packed up and moved from Conneticut when she was a little kid. Her Dad Manny spent a few years drifting away, slowly at first, and then all at once. And Luz, a girl who's already a bright and imaginative storyteller, falls deeply in love with the fantasy book he left her.

What begins as a healthy coping mechanism devolves into escapism as Luz desperately clings to fiction in order to endure the difficulty of real life. School is hard, making friends is hard and nobody really understands her hobbies and passions, not even her mom (Even if she tries. She tries so hard.)

Living on the outskirts of the world of showbusiness, Luz quickly takes an interest in the magic of the screen. More than anything else, Luz wants to create. And creation comes in many forms and she has no intention of being confined to just one. Luz wants to be an actor, a writer, a director, an artist, an animator, a singer, a dancer, etc etc.

It's when her mom Camila finally puts her foot down and insists that Luz needs to learn to separate fantasy from reality, that her life really kicks off.

The Reality Check Center, an after school program which Luz is meant to attend every week day at 3:30pm sharp.

But after meeting somebody special, this is not where Luz goes every day after school.

Instead, Luz is hanging out in the house of Edalyn Clawthorne, an ex-starlet who Luz recognized on sight as Hecate in the 1980s Azura film adaption.

It's always been a mystery why Eda did not reprise her role for any of the sequels/spinoffs that Hollywood churned out for years afterwards. But upon meeting her and learning a little more of her story, Luz learns the truth from behind the scenes.

Eda has a chronic autoimmune disease and she was considered too "inconvenient" to have as a star of the franchise, so she was quietly let go after the first film released. She hasn't acted since and really has no intention of returning to that life.

Luz idolizes Eda and quickly latches on to her, demanding that she be her mentor and show her the ropes of showbiz. Eda hems and haws for a while before being worn down by Luz's persistent enthusiasm.

Luz meets Willow when the latter is trying to talk herself out of having a complete meltdown and the two quickly bond over being a pair of neurodivergent academically and socially challenged silly billies.

Willow is weak for pretty girls so she lets Luz talk her into sneaking her on set. Predictably, Luz causes havoc and gets banned from the premises within a few hours.

But that's okay! Because guess what! Turns out Luz is a perfect third musketeer for the funky little friend group Willow and Gus already had going on.

Luz does tons of stuff. She writes fanfiction. She has several notebooks full of anime art. But most notably, she has a YouTube channel.

Remember mid 2000s YouTube? Before it became the corporate husk that it is today? Back when it was just kids dicking around and posting their dumb silly vlogs.

Thats what Luz does. She posts dumb silly vlogs. She infodumps to the camera about her interests, she films herself while she's out with her friends. She just has fun, yknow?

Willow and Gus have fun too. Considering they are featured in like 90% of Luz's videos, laughing and joking around with her. But thats not all they do.

Willow, who has spent several months being the butt of the joke in the the Hexside show, is experiencing what it's like to be behind a camera while being respected and loved.

Willow is an exceptionally talented rollerskater. So of course Luz is filming her do tricks around the skatepark, whooping and hollering and chanting her name. Willow has a huge interest in botany. And superhero comics. And photography. And romcoms. And Luz will let her share fun facts about her interests, or maybe even babble for a bit, and Luz will act as though she's privileged to speak to a professor of the subject. It makes Willow blush and giggle, pretending it's not a big deal.

It's a huge deal actually.

It's through Luz's vlogs that Willow's authentic personality finally bleeds through the screen. Willow Park is not Paulina. She's not ditzy. She's not unobservant. She's something else entirely.

Willow Park is soft spoken but opinionated. She is witty and expressive. She's tough and sporty. She's wise beyond her years. She's wild and mischievous. She's sweet and silly. She's so many things that she'll make your head spin.

The scripts of the final Hexside S1 episodes are beginning to trickle out around this time and honestly? The writers are sick of Paulina. They're tired of the character. They're tired of the "She's stupid" joke. They feel like they've hit a brick wall with her, in a creative sense. But now they have Season 2 to work on and...ugghhh...

That's when one writer just happens to stumble across TheGoodWitchLuzura on YouTube and finds two young actors that they know very well, just existing outside of the set.

Willow is different on Luz's videos. While on set around the likes of Amity and Adrian, she simply keeps quiet, keeps her head down and does what she's told. She doesn't really spark any inspiration, yknow?

But after seeing this? This bright, sharp witted, skater girl on a griny camera recording? Well after seeing that, they really start feeling the urge to maybe spruce up Paulina's character a bit. Make her a little more compelling.

So, in that way, Luz Noceda completely changed Willow Park's life.

Willow still doesn't think she believes in God but if angels exist, Luz is definitely one of them.

If you said this to Luz, she'd disagree. She'd prefer to be a Demon >:3

________

ANYWAY!! On to the Belos question.

See, I think I'm going to take inspiration from the show's canon version of the Wittebane family as an endless cycle of pain and suffering.

Philip and Caleb Wittebane were a pair of orphan boys that managed to somehow weasel their way into the spotlight at an early age. It fed them well. It kept a roof over their heads. So that meant that this was a nice life, right?

The two brothers were considered timeless stars and their names would go down in history as some of Hollywood's finest.

In the year 1990, Caleb Wittebane was found dead in his home at the age of 30. Based on the evidence, it appeared he had taken his own life.

Philip was then given custody of his brother's infant son and promised that the boy would be raised to understand just what a wondrous legacy his father left behind.

Caleb Wittebane may have been buried 6ft under but Philip had no intention of letting him die. His DNA was still preserved, attached to this fat clump of an infant.

This baby was Caleb's second chance to live. Philip was going to make sure his stupid brother made the right choices this time.

Caleb wasn't going to throw it all away this time. Philip wouldn't let him.

[has-brain-rot]

My Owl House AU

I'm thinking that I'm going to start talking about my Cardinal Hunting TOH AU (name open to change). SO that's what this post will be about!

The AU contains two main concepts. First that Hunter runs away after the events of Hollow Mind, and second that the strength of one's bond with their Palismen can lead to some.. magical changes.

This leads to the premise of Hunter and Flapjack bonding, and the changes that come from that. The main focus is of Hunter's relationship with Flapjack and how that changes his view on the world and other people, and also how he evolves from "Golden Guard" to "Hunter". AND it's about how those changes aren't just mental, but there's some physical changes as well (the big spice of the AU lol)

The longer Hunter spends time with Flapjack the more he notices changes. At first it's simple itching and minor swelling along his lower arms, back, and lower legs. Over time he starts noticing small feather-like wooden barbs growing from these areas. Hunter at this point is still living in the castle (set between Eclipse Lake and Hollow Mind).

By the time the events of Hollow Mind happen Hunter is used to plucking stray feathers off his clothes. His behaviour/instincts has changed slightly (he believes it to be because he's "betraying the emperor by not sacrificing flapjack until later in the AU). These align with the developmental stages of real life cardinals.

Once he has officially run away after Hollow Mind these changes speed up as Hunter's main friend and ally during this period is Flapjack. The feathers grow more uncontrollably, his nails begin to turn to claws as the skin of his hands and feet toughen and scale up (similar to a real birds foot, though less extreme).

Hunter gains more natural affinity towards nesting and safety, at this point stumbling upon the Palismen Queen in the forest who takes interest in his situation. There it's explained that at one point, far in the past, the bond between Palismen and their witches/magic holders were stronger and that the magic of both would intermingle to create a representation of their bond. This could lead witches to gaining boosts to their natural abilities (for instance, a bond between an eagle-like palismen and a witch may result in the witch getting increased eyesight).

However such things "mysteriously" got rarer until it became more fiction than fact. Hunter begins living with the wild Palismen in the woods and acts as their protector (partly fuelled by his guilt of aiding in the deaths of many).

I have less planned event wise after this, just some vague stuff about Hunter becomin a sort of guardian of magic and somewhere along there meeting back up with Luz and Eda, but YEAH that's the rough outline!

There's some differences for other characters too in the AU. Like Gus getting better at tricking people's senses when it comes to illusion magic as he bonds with his Palisman, fuelled by the nature of his palisman being a chameleon. Willow getting a better sense of the sky due to hers being similar to an earth bee and possibly getting better at communicating with certain plants?.

And how the manifestation of the Owl Beast Curse looks. It is influenced by a witch's Palismen, which is this AU's reason as to why Eda's beast form is more like an owl and Lilith's is less owl like). And more that I haven't got figured out yet haha

If anyone wants to ask about it feel free! I am very open to engagement :)

[julianobungus]

Could you talk about which are your absolute favorite TOH ships and why you like them? I find your takes very interesting and it's so cool that you ship so many rare pairs!

That I can do! Thanks a bunch~! I just enjoy coming up with and seeing different dynamics, and some stick more than others or just appeal to me personally.

Luzador (Luz/Alador): I like this one for a couple reasons. Firstly and superficially, I think they look hot together (y'know, big burly man and lithe petite woman), so they have nice physical chemistry. Secondly, I feel like they have pretty similar/convergent personalities, both being socially-handicapped nerds who are considered deviant and who stand out in some way. I feel like they'd bond over that. I also feel like they'd have a fair bit of shared pain as well - with Luz being ostracised for being 'weird', as well as losing her father, and Alador being emotionally abused by Odalia and feeling guilt for messing up as a father because of her.

Huntleb(Hunter/Caleb): This one may be a little out of left field, but it appeals to me too. I've been seeing a few artworks and talk of it, so that's more or less swayed me hehe. To me, Hunter and Caleb are dadson/selfcest coded, bringing in the best of both worlds and being all the spicier for it. I feel like they'd get along well, with Caleb feeling a sense of duty to protect this poor, abused young man, and Hunter projecting onto him as the closest thing he has to a father figure. Couple that with the fact that Hunter doesn't know how to healthily process and disentangle romantic and familial feelings, and how Caleb has been repressed sexually because of his religious upbringing, and you have two young men giving in to their urges.

BumpEda (Bump/Eda): Okay, so hear me out. These two were already acquaintances in canon and actually got along quite well (to a degree at least, hehe). I'd imagine that Eda confided in Bump about the curse and what was going on with her family life, so I feel like he would have been a good confidante. A good reason for strong feelings to develop. And he even kept the Owl House's location a secret! Now that they're both adults, I'd imagine they have more time and confidence to explore the feelings they have toward one another, with what was once platonic friendship becoming something romantic~

We can't forget Lunter, which is definitely up here as one of my favourites. Even in canon they get along so well! I swear to God, if Amity was out of the picture they'd get together and it'd probably work! There's also the themes and symbolism behind it - the parallels to Caleb and Evelyn for example. It's all so juicy.

Beluz makes me pretty happy too. I'm a sucker for hero/villain ships just because of an 'opposites attract' type deal. Philip/Belos is devoted to Luz, and she needs a big strong man who probably understands her better than *anyone else*, or is at least willing to understand her (same vein as Luzador then, hehe).

Guslow (Gus/Willow): So sweet it makes me sick. Classic childhood friends blossoming into sweethearts. There's only a two-year age gap so I don't really know why this is considered proship (if it even is?). They just slot so neatly together: taller buff GF and short meek boyfriend - i.e., that size difference we all crave.

Camiluz (Camila/Luz): If there was another person beside Alador, Philip, and Hunter who would truly understand Luz, it's her own mother. Despite her mistakes, Camila thinks the world of her Mija and wants her to be as comfy as possible. I like to imagine that they discovered their feelings for each other after Luz came home, and have both just accepted the fact that they're now mother-daughter-girlfriends! Despite how much happier they are together, they feel a little bit of shame because they wonder what Manny would have thought of it.

Belunter (Luz/Hunter/Belos): Listen. Belos loves these two so much. They both remind him of Caleb and one of them is a beautiful human girl. He cherishes them even if they don't feel the same way. While you can definitely ponder the darker/dead-dove aspects this would all imply (of which there are aplenty), I'm a sensitive wee soul so I tend to focus on the soft stuff (with only some aspects of DD). I'm still formulating in my head the proper dynamics to fit these three, but trust me: they have all the more reason to love each other. Hunter was raised by him and has an unhealthy view on relationships; Luz has been ostracised for much of her life and is desperate for the company of those who understand and sympathise with her, and Belos? He's obsessed with them.

Lastly, I've recently been thinking of Amity/Edric. Writing those headcanons for them earlier (thanks to the anon who suggested them, btw) has made me a little gaga over them. It's a new and interesting idea/dynamic to me~!

[raayllum]

I feel like the owl house fandom takes things way too srsly esp with ships and preferences on characters. idk I love hunter and amity's backstory and I love luz but I'm more interested in hunter and amity's backstory that doesn't make me racist their storylines are more interesting

So this probably won't be what you expected or asked for but I'm grabbing the opportunity anyway to address some of the ways I think TOH falters from a Storytelling perspective and why I think those issues (as well as how young a lot of the fans are, although when I was 11-13 in fandom I was much more chill and "live and let live" so just shows what a decade can do in terms of fan community) unintentionally perpetuate some of what you mention.

Also don't think you're racist for preferring Amity and Hunter (Hunter, Gus, and Luz are my faves) but I do think TOH has some issues with how it handles its characters of colour, so I am going to touch on that. While I'm white. this is reflected on / verbatim from conversations I've had with Black and Asian friends / fans of the show and how racial stuff can tend to play out in fandom (circa 2013 onwards from personal experience of how people have treated fave characters, like Finn from Star Wars, in the past).

That said, I do still like the show. I love the strong found family, everything surrounding Eda and her allegories for mental health are super solid and important, I'm thrilled by the queer rep (I’m queer & watched Korrasami happen live), and I don't think a show has to be perfect or to check off my personal preference to be good. But I do think the show is... an interesting mixed bag for a few key reasons I haven't seen anyone talk about, so here they are.

Under a read more bc this gets long, like, real long, even though there’s only four things on this freaking list, LMAO. For whoever reads it, have fun!

1. The Owl House writes like first impressions don't matter.

This is one of the biggest things in the show that breaks elements of setup + payoff. After all, if your setup is misleading or unaddressed by payoff later, characters and plot lines may come across as stilted. This also ties into other areas (such as screentime) that I'll touch on later.

By far the character who has broken setup the most, though, is Amity. For example, Amity is introduced as someone who has bullied Willow for years, even when no one else is around (i.e. it's not a pure performance), and even though they used to be friends when they were young. Their friendship fall out / Amity distancing herself from Willow is explained by Amity being forced to by her parents, and understandably struggling with how to deal with and explain it as a child.

I haven't seen the last few episodes of S2 (aka I got up to "Hollow Mind") and I was disappointed in S2A when it seemed like this plot element would never be addressed again. So I was very pleased to learn that there is an episode in S2B that talks about their friendship. Except... it doesn't address the bullying. Because yes, Amity tried to protect Willow by distancing herself... but Amity also didn’t need to Bully Willow, like, at all. Not within the confines of the story and not within the landscape of the character; her parents didn’t tell her to be cruel to Willow. She chose to do that. Repeatedly. And that facet of their bond... has never been adequately addressed. It could be, in the future (but I personally doubt it). 

It’s particularly strange, because Luz was 1) canonically bullied in the human realm and 2) perpetually struggled at making friends. It makes sense that she’d be extra against bullies and protective over the friends she does have, and wanting to see real change before bonding with a practical stranger (even if Amity did show a slightly nicer side at the end of “Covention,” it wasn’t an even ratio whatsoever, either of her niceness or Luz’s meanness). But we’ll circle back to this. 

We see this issue of initially bad behaviour being overruled, sometimes retconned, or ignored to the point of being rewritten a few more times in the series. 

The one that ties into Amity’s character are her siblings. In their debut episode, they have plans to share private pages of their little sister’s diary. This is mentioned in another episode as something they’re trying to make up for, but they weren’t there when shit hit the fan at the library, anyway. So we never see 1) why they were going to be so cruel to Amity in the first place (and I have siblings myself, so no, it’s not a sibling thing, or just a sibling thing), 2) what exactly made them change their mind, and 3) this type of behaviour never reappears or is addressed in the show, either. While Luz gets called a bully for it, the twins get off basically scot free. Yes, they’re obviously affected by their mother, too, but there’s never even a whiff or a hint about why they felt the need to humiliate Amity on a public scale besides thinking she was uptight. 

We see this one more time with Darius, which was the most baffling and completely jarred me the first time I watched it. Darius was being cruel and dismissive to Hunter, but warms up when he realizes the kid does have a spine and will stand up for what he believes this. This is not the heart warming moment or message the show seems to think it is. All I heard and saw was an adult going “Oh, this kid is too indoctrinated and abused to be worthwhile until he proves otherwise, I’ll treat him like trash and ignore that I’m exacerbating his symptoms of abuse until then.” And no matter what comes latter, this is a downright weird set up, emotionally. 

I’m not saying that none of these characters can be set up this way, but the introduction and how different they are in all other preceding episodes — or even when information is given to re-contextualize certain things — feels like whiplash. So the setup is a little weird, making pay off either non existent or unnecessary. This stumbling block makes the emotional continuity feel disjointed too, in some aspects. The way this affects emotional continuity can best be seen in Gus, Willow, and Luz’s friendship — but again, more that later.

As for set up and pay off, it can lead to missed opportunities, namely: why the hell was Amity Lilith’s protege in Convention? Again, not saying the show is bad or this is a bad writing choice, but it’s a weird one. I remember watching that episode, seeing Amity be introduced as Lilith’s pseudo apprentice, and being excited. It meant Lilith-Eda, Luz-Amity, and possibly the two menor-mentee relationships could all be developed simultaneously! It’d be interesting to see the parallels and differences.

At the very least, it would give a personal stake to Amity and Luz’s possible developing bond, with Lilith at the very least going to disapprove, and give Amity and Luz a chance to compete against each other and to see that progression.

Then it was never addressed again. And it wasn’t set up as a “one day thing” either. It seems that Lilith possibly tutored Amity for months, maybe even years, for Amity to be considered her “strongest protege” (exact line). So we miss out on that possible, episodic but still connected plot line (especially because after Convention, we never see Amity caring a whole lot about actual school, even though that as her whole thing in her intro and second episode). Then, even when Amity and Lilith are back on the same side (imagine how interesting exploring that fracturing could’ve been!) they... never interact, never mention, and never act like they know each other.

They’re two characters with the same theme and similar arcs split down the middle, have an interesting setup, and it goes.... Nowhere.

Because first impressions don’t matter in the show, which is particularly weird, as typically 1) what you set up in the very beginning of the show is what you want the audience to be invested in, and 2) the audience is going to / has to pay more attention in the beginning of a show because they’re actively trying to learn the rules of the world and character dynamics / personalities. 

And it’s not the only time TOH does this, so let’s talk about

2. Screentime, Race, and Chosen Diaspora

Specifically that Gus and Willow barely get any, and how this ties into race. So I’ve touched on this before in an article I wrote on Vocal where I share meta-adjacent stuff that doesn’t fit my tumblr vibe, so if for some reason this is your thing, they may be other stuff you enjoy on there, whatever. I’m not gonna repeat myself too much here, but basically: 

The majority of the Owl House cast is white, particularly when it comes to who matters in the plot. Eda, Lilith, and their family are all white. Hooty and King exist in what we’re going to call an aracial space, as they don’t have race and aren’t coded as any particular thing, either; just tried and true demons. Hunter is white; Belos is white. Gus and Willow are regulated to background characters and most of the time when Willow is being developed as a character (“Understanding Willow,” “Any Sport in a Storm”) it’s typically also used to further a white character’s growth of... learning to treat her better? Gus fares a bit better, but gets less screentime. 

So not only is Luz the only primary character of colour, she’s largely cut off in forming meaningful relationships with other characters of colour, and having those bonds highlighted and given strong screen time (as thus far in S2, every time Gus and Willow have gotten significant screentime, it’s been largely removed from Luz, with her often doing something else with Amity). Remember when “Star Wars: Rogue One” came out, and there were discussions being had of “a lone woman only having meaningful relationships with men and no other women”? 

[ Side note: as for the first point, I’m not going to say things I love, like TDP, don’t fall into the “woman surrounded by men” trope for its two main female leads, as Rayla is friends with the boys and was raised by her dads, and Claudia’s primary relationships are also with other men. However, I believe this is mitigated with plot lines like Ellis and Lujanne in S1, as well as Janai-Amaya-Khessa in S2 and particularly in S3, and I think this will only continue to grow moving forward into S4 and beyond ] 

At the same time as Rogue One, there were conversations regarding the films status of “people of colour purely as the supporting cast but never as the primary lead”? TOH meets in as a weird hybrid in the middle, with a person of colour as the main lead, but largely surrounded by white people — and this is the case for most characters in the show.

Raine’s main relationship is with Eda. Darius is in the rebellion with them, but his only meaningful relationship on screen in any way is really with Hunter and the past golden guards. Gus and Willow are mostly side characters. We basically never see their families/parents (and know far more about the Blights / Edric and Emira in every way. Gus and Willow ultimately don’t get the time with Luz for me to call their relationship meaningful. This is especially strange, given that often times kids who are bullied (like all three of them are) cling harder to the friends they do have, and that while S1 was better about making Gus and Willow be extremely important to Luz as her First Friends Ever, S2 has dropped the ball even more so. 

Luz is like an island, ironically on the Isles and cut off from her cultural community and from other characters of colour even when they do exist in her new community.  So that’s talk about that in full. 

Now, there is Luz, who is the primary protagonist (honestly, you could argue Eda is her co-protagonist) and she’s lovely and I love her. However, more than once, Luz’s plot line for an episode is a B plot or less plot relevant compared to other characters (particularly Eda). I touched on this in my Vocal article, but Luz is living in diaspora in the Boiling Isles. Yes, the demon realm suits her much better than Earth largely did, but I would still love to see elements of her culture in ways other than her / her family’s name and her occasionally speaking Spanish. What about holidays, what about missing her mother’s cooking and the cultural connotations it holds? 

The show does engage with aspects of the Isekkai genre that are sometimes overlooked, namely Luz being torn between two worlds (and given that she’s mixed, it’s not like the allegory isn’t already there), but it only goes halfway. It only shows Luz wanting to be in the Boiling Isles with none of the possibilities about cultural shock, assimilation, and other aspects that can play into immigrating countries — or realms. I’m not saying the the show not engaging with Luz’s diaspora is a bad thing, but it does feel like a missed opportunity (as most of this is) particularly since they do try to engage with her on a cultural level with her speaking Spanish and writing her as purposefully Afro-Latina and from the Dominican Republic. 

But honestly, basically everything I’ve talked about already — occasionally misleading set up w/ a lack of follow through, screentime (both considering and not considering its racial elements) — are all compounded into my biggest issue with the show, however, which are its 

3. Disengaged stakes

So while I love Luz, I mostly love her for her personality and sweet hearted nature. I don’t actually love her that much for how she drives the plot forward — even though she does, and even though she’s the protagonist. And this is largely because Luz — and many of the characters — exist in a limbo of what I’m going to call Disengaged Stakes. Basically, they have stakes, but due to a lack of set up, or pay off in regards to emotional continuity (never mind a lack of consistency, i.e. sometimes Eda needs to hide, sometimes she can be flashy in public with zero consequences, sometimes getting caught by guards matters when the story decides it needs a conflict, and sometimes it doesn’t etc) it’s hard to actually be invested in those stakes. At least for me. 

For most of S2, this meant I wasn’t really invested in Luz’s efforts to get a portal to see her mom (although this improved when we actually got a singular episode with Camila). It’s clear Luz isn’t going to live full time, if at all, in going back to the human realm. I also wasn’t worried for Camila, as she hasn’t been fearing for Luz this whole time, instead believing things are perfectly fine if not better than they were before. 

Let me give you an example, and this was actually pointed out in a youtube review of the S2 finale that helped me put my finger on why it... felt weird as a finale (again, even though I haven’t fully watched it yet, but I have watched the bulk of it). 

The four kids are stranded in the human realm, but what does that actually mean, for most of them? For Luz, this carries a lot of weight. She’s spent all season trying to find a way home to see her mother, but is now there under awful circumstances with no way back to the place she actually wants to be. It will also offer Camilla the perfect opportunity to see why the Boiling Isles and her family there is so important to Luz.

But what does this mean for the other three kids? Shockingly little. Like I’ve touched on before, we know nothing about Gus and Willow’s families. Yes, I’m sad they’re separated from them, but I’m sad because generally, kids being separated from their parents is sad. I’m not invested in their specific relationship (same issue I had with Rogue One and Jyn’s relationship with her father, as well). All Luz actually wants, in her core, is to stay in the Boiling Isles. Amity’s relationship with her father is on the mend and her siblings are there for her, but Luz is still clearly the most important person in the world to her, and they’re not separated. Hunter has absolutely nothing back for him in the Boiling Isles, largely, and he’s actually as safe as he can be from Belos’ machinations in the human realm. 

So you have four kids tossed into the human realm, and it only really matters for one of them. 

This is amplified in their relationships. Willow and Gus rarely have anything beyond interpersonal stakes; Amity had her mother, but now her father has turned over a new leaf, there are no interpersonal stakes any longer for her family (and she radically stood up to her mother very early on in S2 as well). She and Luz have had no problems in their relationship besides very brief miscommunication and Amity’s mother. Amity has hardly any stakes outside of Luz. The characters who are dealing with very high stakes, such as Raine, are largely shuttered away outside of the story — or Hunter. 

Dear lord, Hunter. Which, now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about what I think could have aided in remedying a lot of these issues

4. Merging

Now I know TOH had to jump through a lot of executive hoops (including the existence and plot relevance of Hexside particularly in S1) so I don’t know what sort of orders came down, or mandates they have to follow but:

TOH has too many characters, and plenty of them could have been condensed as pairs into half as many characters.

I know this, because I went through a similar process of originally having a central group of thirteen characters, and cleaved that shit down to seven. So what are my proposed mergings?

The twins become one character. They more or less are now, fulfil the same purposes and character points as one another (flesh out Amity’s family, tease her and be a listening ear, show their mother’s control, operate as illusionists, etc). Whether it’s brother or sister doesn’t really matter.

Gus and Willow become one character. I would say keep more of Willow’s backstory (w/ Amity), dads, and plant magic alight, as the merged-twin character could substitute as the group illusionist whenever need be. It means that instead of only having splintered individual episodes with Luz or for their development, the small collection would be bolstered and improved marginally. It still wouldn’t fix where screentime or set up fails them, but it would be a significant start. I adore Gus, he’s one of my favourites in the whole show — but he’s less plot relevant than Willow, who is already largely not plot relevant (at least, not outside Hunter’s arc in S2) and we gotta be economical somewhere.

Economical storytelling is when a character, scene, or plot beat is doing at least three things at once, largely — and right now Gus is doing the least, as much as I love my boy, with Willow right next to him. Thus, there we go.

Now for the big, perhaps flat out unpopular one:

Hunter and Amity should’ve been one character. Like the twins, and even Amity and Lilith, they’re largely one theme split down the middle. The show draws intentional parallels between their world views, callousness, and need to be the best due to their abusive families, their strong relationships / connections to Luz, who works to friendship and who are changed by her kindness. There are also less thematic but still overt parallels, like their artificial wands, opposing palismans (bird vs cat), travelling into mindscapes where they uncover secrets. Hell, they both even have a reformed father figure who works with the Abominable coven with a shittier parent who believes in their own superiority at any cost. 

Say Golden Guard Amity is enrolled in Hexside — she has to be trained somewhere — and throughout the season we hear her refer to her uncle, who raised her. He just wants the best for her, and for her to be a worthy member of the Emperor’s coven! It’s only at the end of S1 we learn that Amity’s uncle is Belos, and that her growing bond with Luz may be tested in the future. Then, in S2, she has to make a choice between her familial loyalty, ideological defection, and Luz and her friends (who will have more time to be friends, because there are less characters running around). You can even keep the condensed twin as a surrogate sibling mentor — perhaps one of Belos’ more successful grimwalkers, or flat out not a clone at all.

This merger gives Luz and Amity real stakes in their relationship, a higher sense of drama amid the sweet fluffiness, gives more characters more screentime... And amplifies everything that already exists in Amity’s arc. Yes, seeing a quieter form of child abuse from Odalia is worthwhile, particularly for abused children — but as of S2 she’s basically gone full bad guy and has already done so before in early S2, as her abomaton nearly kills Luz in “Escaping Expulsion” so... moot point? Sorta? Is what I’m saying. 

It would also, for the love of god, give Amity a solidified reason to dye her hair after she finds out she’s a grimwalker. She wants to reassert her own identity, she wants to be different than her successors while also honouring their good nature, etc etc. Imagine “Hollow Mind” but with Amity in Hunter’s place, and all the weight that would hold for each of them, and for Hunter’s character, now condensed into Amity’s. Also stronger parallels of Belos’ clones becoming less like his brother (because Amity is a girl) over time and with parallels of the implied plot line, of Belos killing his brother because Caleb fell in love with a witch, and it’s happening again, this time just with Luz and Amity, directly.

Basically the only things that would have to change would be a little of S1′s pacing, some of S2′s Blight parent related episodes (so largely two until the finale, which again, Darius or the condensed twin could easily substitute)oOr, to come full circle, you could have Lilith also play a factor, the way she did in Amity’s arc in the beginning. This would provide a greater sense that characters actually had lives and connections and little ship passing in the night moments before Luz showed up, and they would all feel more like!! REAL PEOPLE!!

The only thing that would possibly, likely have to go is Willow’s history with Amity.But given that the show has never really addressed the bullying, perhaps that backstory element would be better left dropped, in general. Amity can be a jerky bully without specifically bullying Luz’s friend for like, 4-6 years beforehand, y’know.

Anyway I will never not believe in the validity of what I call TOH Merger and how it would strengthen basically almost every single aspect of the show, take it or leave it. 

Conclusion / Nitpicks

Other notes before we wrap up.

I got bored with just how many episodes relied on the “Character A doesn’t want to fess up to something bc they’re insecure, scared, or trying to look Cool, but inevitably lie and make things ten times worse, and then learn it’s important to be honest” in S1 (hi King, Luz, Willow, and Gus eps respectively). 

Amity’s laser character focus on Luz stifles her relationships with both Willow and Gus (as it is more or less non existent outside of a few lines or group scenes); all of Amity’s character growth is largely because of her relationship with Luz, but the same cannot be said for Luz, leaving their relationship lopsided. This is particularly true for me (and is a total personal Aro-spec induced nitpick) and is all the more glaringly obvious considering they barely had one episode where the two were on friendly / friend-ish terms before crush feelings on Amity’s side came in. This makes me feel less invested in their relationship as a whole, as while it’s exceedingly cute, it feels like it’s based on nothing but Crush™ Feelings and that will also be less compelling to me than a strong Foundational Friendship that develops into a crush. I don’t mind that development happening fast, but this was a little too fast in my book. 

Final disclaimer: Still like the show, still think it’s good, these are just some of the reasons I don’t think it’s Great. The lack of a Merger will haunt me. Thank you goodnight

[themunofprovidence]

Something about Eclipse Lake I haven’t seen anyone point out

So, something I noticed about eclipse lake back when it was aired was about Hunter’s mindset, as exemplified by his dialogue towards Amity. Now we all know the obvious, that he’s abused and whatnot, but I’ll talk about my observation after I’ve listed the example. Quick note I’ve slightly paraphrased 2 segments for length reasons, specifically for better clarity. It’ll look like this “original text [altered text]”.

Hunter: …The Owl Lady and her pet have nothing at stake unlike us.

Amity: You have no idea what you’re talk[ing about.]

Hunter: Oof, that doesn’t look good.

Amity: Stay back! …but what doesn’t look good?

Hunter: Seems clear to me, 'Come back with results, or else [we’re through]'.

Amity: No… Luz wouldn’t make that kind of threat. I’m an awesome girlfriend.

Hunter: Has she told you that? We have a lot in common, Blight. We’re both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can’t fail, because there’s nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you’re special.

Now sure yeah this is obviously a result of him being abused by Belos and whatnot and we all got that, but I’m specifically talking about why he thinks that this is something Luz is not only capable of, but something that she would specifically do. Because it’s exactly what happened between him and Luz.

Luz: So you’re really gonna do this? You’re just gonna hand all these innocent little guys over to Belos?

Luz: I know what he does with them. I thought you might’ve been a good guy, but I guess that was just wishful thinking.

Luz: You’re not my friend. You’re just… the Golden Guard.

Or that’s basically what happened, at least to Hunter. Luz is probably one of the few, if not the very first person to reach out to him in recent history, and they bonded over their shared knowledge of wild magic. Luz is, even if for only an hour or two, someone he wouldn’t want to disappoint, someone who thought he was special. And he disappointed her, losing his friendship with her in the process.

So to him, it was like every other thing in his life, he didn’t bring results to her and was thusly discarded.

Now, this isn’t an inditement of Luz or anything, she isn’t a bad person for doing any of this, but it is a very interesting character piece.

Also anyone who tags this with a hunter ship will be blocked on sight, people who ship hunter with anyone else Do Not Interact.

[tedturneriscrazy]

Here we have Reaching Out, what I'm gonna call the first of the Rebecca Rose Trilogy (if you know, you know):

Oh, so that's how Luz is charging her phone

That reminder's gonna come up again later, isn't it

I totally believe Luz when she says she feels great. Yup. Absolutely.

Oh, so a light, relaxing day

Ah, Luz basically discovered Featherfall

...How often does that happen, King? (Who am I kidding, this is the Boiling Isles)

Something subversive about a house building a door

Lmao Luz stalking Hunter on Penstagram with Eda's scroll

Wait, "RULERZREACHF4N?!" Does he know who wrote that?

He's sending Willow pics of Flapjack wjtjoeowk

Luz, you've lived in this for too long to get away with that

Wonder what that ritual might be...

And here comes Amity with the convenient plot hook

Bonesborough Brawl? Well consider my inexplicable urge for a pro wrestling AU intrigued...

Didn't see or hear

Emperor's Coven tryouts? I thought we were over that...

Way to blow off an attempted moment of connection there, Alador

Uh, nice disguise

And there, Amity straight up saying she doesn't want to join a coven! Maybe now that one section of the fandom will shut up. (Spoiler: they won't)

I could go on about the details in that photo, but the fandom will have already done that many times over by the time this goes up

"You should know I always go for the chaotic route!"

(Good screenshot #1)

Of course Eda knows all about the Brawl

Hmm, voice imitation. Wonder if she learned that one from the twins?

Ah, Luz calling Amity boo

Oh, speaking of the twins

Oh, so their default appearance has been an illusion this whole time. Interesting...

Well now we know what's up with Emira's gem

Boy, Em and Ed are a lot more distinguishable without those concealment stones. Also, I like they both look without them

Oh Luz loves it!

(Good screenshot #2)

Oh hey, Wrath again

Way to rub it in, Eda

"Imprisioning my student/child" Ah, the Mama Eda fans loved that one

Also, we now know where that one screenshot came from

Figures she would have a backup plan

I hate that I mentally followed "You know the rules" with "And so do I." I've been on the internet for far too long

I'm getting some "Blind Bandit" vibes here. I believe Kevin Michael Richardson did a voice in that, too

"The Mighty Mittens" lol

That surfing in on the abomination goo was really cool, though

Luz being supportive gf in the crowd❤

Uh oh, the thoughts return...

There's obviously more to this "ritual"

*sigh* Luz, you are very clearly not okay

Ah, so she is entering

Avoiding discussing the issue until it comes to a head? Couldn't be

Good to know there continues to be blushing aplenty. Ooh, just thought of a joke! Those two must be a neighborhood in a New York borough, because they're blushing queens!

Anyways...

I think it's too late for that, Amity (Get it? Because of Luz's poorly disguised emotional distress?)

Ooh, Em knows healing magic!

Pfffft Batric

(Yes, I do know that that's the bat from Adventures in the Elements)

(Also, first thing that came to mind: "No, this is Batric!")

Ooh, separate twin development. I know of a certain fic author who would appreciate that

Skin badgers? Sounds gross

Third ooh in a short time frame: Edric knows beast keeping magic!

"Nah, too close to Eda" lmfao

Hooray, he gets to help!

Whoops. Oh well, Ed is from a rich family and he has a thriving black market fireworks business, I'm sure he'll be fine

Dang, Batric is very well trained to just hover there

Luz certainly knows how to make a dramatic entrance

Also, Spellraiser 10/10 name

And another promo shot

And of course Amity is loving the way Luz looks here

(Good screenshot #3)

Yes these Good Screenshots are all Lumity related, what of it?

Putting that new glyph to use, I see

A nice reminder that Luz is good at this

Alternaring montage scenes? Guess we got two sporty episodes in a row

Super Saiyan Goat Granny

King still calling Wrath Eda's boyfriend

I did not have Edric and King bonding moment on the bingo card, and I don't imagine many other people did, either, but it's nice

Oh dear, here we go again

This is starting to look more and more like a trauma response...

Well then, that thing is back

That was probably not the best idea...

Yup. Trauma response. Poor thing

This won't end well

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...

(Okay, maybe a bit harsh, Luz isn't quite Todd Howard)

Final battle?

Or not

Yikes...

And still with the denial...

Wrath still filling the designated jobber role, I see

"I already have one" Well then

Oh, Mittens is pissed

"Either of you" ooooof

The way that line was delivered hits hard

That serum probably isn't gonna work as intended

So are we finally ready to talk about our feelings, Luz?

Oh, the Grom tree, that seems...purposeful

....oh

This is gonna be heartwrenching, then

(Also we finally find out what happened to Luz's dad)

God, this face. Drives the point home that it is, in fact, a Big Fucking Deal

Jesus Christ the way her legs gave out

I don't think I'll be over that for a good long while

To use an AO3 tag: Amity Is An Awesome Girlfriend

Oh, and just for the sake of evening things out a bit:

(Good screenshot #4)

The smallest change to a formula can have dire consequences. That was a lesson I learned while going to college for my chemistry degree

Hell yeah, Harpy Eda time!

Dick move, Al

Meanwhile Eda eagerly helps Luz. Slick contrast

Ayyy she gave the same look from Grom

"You're welcome" OHHHHHHH CALLBACK ECHO GET REKT

"Were you always able to do that?" I mean, maybe she had the potential?

Boy, Eda let him off easy, all things considered

Oh, Wrath you've fallen far since that first episode

"Not inviting to magickind" In other words, Philip/Belos fully intending to wipe out magic altogether

Niceeeee

(Good screenshot #5)

Hey, nobody said they all had to be Lumity related

Lol Emira

Ah, so Odalia did want Amity to join the EC

Also, Alador is deeply uninformed about the lives of his children

Oh my god he's expressing willingness to do the barest minimum, Dad of the Year! /s

Hug: Denied

Well, now we know how it works when glyphs are a bit off

Wow, Luz looks so exhausted, poor baby

This screenshot says more than I could about this part

And back at the Noceda household to drive the sadness home...

Holy shit, this episode...wow.

I wasn't sure if, when, or how anything was gonna top Knock Knock Knockin' On Hooty's Door, but they went and gone done did it! Just...the cute Lumity moments, the separate development of Edric and Emira, Eda being the schemer and mom she is, the badass action scenes, and the way it shows how someone grapples with grief even years after a loss! Just a few things off the top of my head I could list that made this fantastic! I've seen quite a few people say this was one of the best episodes, if not the best, and I'm inclined to agree.

This show just continues to deliver and amaze.

[jess-the-vampire]

Idk how u feel about the Grimwalker theory, and idk why but that 3rd meme (all those memes are drawn rlly well btw, and are rlly funny) reminded me of this idea I had that the palismen that choose Hunter was Like... Actually Belos' at one point way b4 he became the emperor. And the reason why Lil' Rascal choose him not only was bc he recognized that want - no need to choose your own path, but also saw the remnants of the person his old friend was.

oh thanks very much!!!

ok first off when it comes to the pailsman, i think that theory only works under the condition belos isn’t philip and is just...some other dude. Since phil has now canonically been confirmed to have a spider pailsman.

Interesting choice for him for sure.

Not sure if rascal’s previous owner will be important or not, they could be but i can easily see them not being important either. (Maybe one of phil’s friends who died owned him or something?)

thing is i think it’s fair to confirm the reason rascal bonded with hunter was more akin to their feelings or wanting to escape and explore, hunter and rascal bonded because of hunter’s desire for freedom.

They bond through emotion, as confirmed by the bat queen, but that might be the only reason.

this does not dismiss the idea he could have belonged to belos (Though that would imply belos had a desire for freedom too at one point), but it’s not likely rascal chose hunter solely on much relation since it doesn’t appear to work that way.

It would make me ask why rascal wouldn’t have a stronger reaction to belos upon seeing him if he knew him too.

Though it is a cool idea.

As for the grimwalker thing, yeahhhhhh, there’s no denying that the idea of hunter....being this...thing, is VERY heavily implied based on the book alone. The same eyes (Unique too, never seen another witch with his eye color yet), his nose, the fact the creature is raised from infancy.

People say belos might be trying to make a new one and that’s why the book is out, but i doubt it.

Because if he wanted to make one, then why did he just want the selkidomoius dead? He didn’t even harvest it, and if he needed to harvest it they’d figure out it was never killed in the first place! And hunter, since that was his job, would very much be punished for failing if that’s what the point of him doing that was. So basically there’s no way belos had that out attempting to make one right now because hunter would be SUPER in trouble for it.

So why have it out? Well outside of it being there for us, the viewers, and imply what might be foreshadowing for hunter. I think in canon belos had it out because it has details on the creature in question, and if belos made hunter....and NEEDS him, he’s probably just reading up on him for the future plans with him.

It would have details on grimwalker abilities and things belos would need to know about is he wanted his grimwalker to function for his plan.

but no, it’s very implied belos already made a grimwalker, he isn’t planning to make one right now. I think someone even pointed out a galdorstone actually is already missing if you go back to TTLGR.

And yeah, hunter right now makes the most sense to be it.

Because i knew something HAD to be special about him for belos to need him, it was a matter of what make hunter in particular so unique belos couldn’t use anyone else.

I don’t think it’s to harvest him or something, i think it’s likely a grimwalker has unique abilities that belos requires for the plan, but we need more on that for now.

I don’t know if belos wants to take over his body or not, but i def don’t think killing him is what they’re going for either.

It does raise the question about hunter’s “Ancestor” talk, and being “Found” by belos. Like that whole thing only gets more confusing under the condition belos like....made him.

But there is a likelyhood belos gave him false memories, there’s enough room here for that to be a likely reason, we have no reason to believe currently that belos didn’t just.....tell hunter stories of their ancestors being magicless just to avoid telling him what he is.

the show could be trying to throw us off, but also like, there’s strong evidence to support the idea hunter is something belos...made:

He clearly already made a grimwalker, and isn’t making a new one.

the grimwalker ages, and there’s even a CHECKMARK right now to the “Child/teen” stage.

Hunter has to be unique in some way to be part of the titan’s plans.

it would explain his lack of powers.

and it’s hard to deny he bears resemblance to the grimwalker depicted.

i’m pretty much expecting hunter’s next appearance to be centered around this grimwalker thing honestly. I’m curious to know more about what it is and why belos needed one.

cause if he wanted a body, couldn’t he just....find a random kid to do this with? Why did he MAKE one?

so i like this idea, it’s honestly funny cause one of my early assumptions about GG was “Maybe belos made a clone?”, cause i felt we were gonna get weird parental vibes with them and belos seems like the weirdo who’d do that. 

And i guess that came full circle now.

i def don’t think it’s creepy luz cause that’s both a waste of resources on belos’s part and couldn't even happen to begin with since he barely knew luz before the creature was already on earth and he can’t even get to earth to begin with so there’s no way that thing got sent by him.

But no, in conclusion, i like this idea.

Hunter is already an interesting character, this idea.....only builds on the pile of things that make him so interesting.

i’m impressed how in so few episodes they made him by far one of the most interesting characters in the series.

[constellationmelody]

Beauty and the Guard AU

An AU on Beauty and the beast but there’s no beast unless you want to count belos as one but he’s not the focus character Hunter just refuses to take off his mask the whole time.  

Takes place when luz is trying to save Eda from petrification, Luz strikes a deal with Belos, Giving the portal but manages to destroy it. She’s instead taken captive and warned by Belos that if she escapes, He’ll send an army to capture not just Eda but everyone she ever met and befriended. 

- Has to stay in the Castle as to answer Belos’ questions about the human realm and any other information gathering.

- Hunter is assigned as her chaperone but not all the time. Not when he’s on missions. Steve fills in. 

- Luz agrees with Hunter to not ask about his mask. She says that she doesn’t have a desire to get to get to know him and Considering how the majority of citizens are under the monster category, she understands that he doesn’t want anyone to look. Hunter is not sure if he’s relieve that she will keep her promise not to look under his mask or feel insulted that she basically called him ugly. 

(Long post)

- When not 'helping’ Belos information gathering, She puts to work as a cleaning lady, Luz is furious about it. She can’t believe she has to clean more there than she does at home in a dusty castle. The other cleaning witches can do their job well with magic, meanwhile it’s all manual labor. Not to mention she shares quarters with them and they snore.

- Tries to convince Hunter to let her go out even if its around the castle grounds, of course, He says no and shuts down her attempts.

- While doing her cleaning duties, Luz wanders around the castle to look around any valuable information on Belos for any way to help eda/or whatever without the Golden Guard following her. She finds the forbidden library and is amazed by the goldmine of BI’s forbidden knowledge! She only gets to look through some books before she gets caught by Hunter which he angrily yells at her about being in a place where she’s not supposed to be in. Drags her out and locks the library.

- She tries to run away but often gets stopped by Hunter, the threat of going to the dungeon doesn’t scare her (”I escaped there like twice”). He relents and allows her to go on these ‘adventures’ when he’s not in a mission, He finds it to be fun but would not admit it.

- Luz manages to get the freedom to go back to school but is secretly spied on by Hunter, though he sometimes get caught by the monsters or students roaming around. Hunter picks her up after school. (weak sauce, idk what to put here to make it more interesting)

- When he’s not chaperoning her in the outside world, Hunter gets envious how much fun Steve is having with Luz when they go on an adventure. Detailing their bounty adventures, using the snails to shop and buy things. He can’t really do much about it but when he does go, Steve gets sad; Luz promises him that she’ll get him souvenirs.

- Somehow finds out that Hunter is a magicless witch and Luz shows him that she can do magic through glyphs. Hunter is amazed and they start geeking out about it until he stops himself since it’s a forbidden knowledge.

-  Luz had succeed running away from the castle but its to the beach to stare at the boiling waters. She tells Hunter that the castle life was suffocating her and needed to go out. Hunter stayed with her until they were ready to go back. 

- Hunter secretly takes her to the forbidden library to cheer her up so she can learn more and the boiling isles history. Hunter is happy to have someone with the same interests as him to talk to about wild magic. Gets more comfortable around her and talk in secret more about it. During their time together get bond over varies subjects, the library becoming their sanctuary when its not in use, which is most of the time. They share about each other’s realms constellations, history, what kind of magic is around, creatures and about the titan. Luz scolds him for this, referring back when he got angry at her for being curious when he basically did the same thing in secret.

- After some time getting comfortable and know each other through mutual interest and deep talks. Hunter gets bothered that since she doesn’t know his name, She has no choice but to call him by his title. When they are coming back from doing errands, He tells her his name and she’s allowed to call him by it when they are together/in private. His heart fluttered when he hears her say his name.

- Luz starts to grow feelings for him despite not knowing what he looks like. She had opportunities to see what he looks at the times when he’s asleep during their time in the library or when his mask gets knocked off during a temp job but kept her promise to not look at his face which leads to uncomfortable situation where she accidentally gropes him when she was looking for him to give him his mask back, luckily never below the belt. What she finds is his built felt normal. No hidden spikes, slime or what-have-you to suggests that he’s in the monster/demon category. Hunter obviously flustered. 

- (Following the plot of Hunting palisman w/ some changes to the plot cause obviously Eda)  At school Luz can’t find the palisman that suits her and is upset about it. Hunter, although he still hesitant about his feelings towards wild magic, tries to comfort her. (convo from the Hunting palisman) Luz  talks about What happened at the school, and questions Hunter about how he manages to know what he wanted for his future and How he came to the emperor’s coven, to help her get some guidance from him. He tells her about himself and lack of future and Although she isn’t sure about hers, at least she gets to choose. Luz feels sad for him and hugs him. Hunter melts in her embrace. 

- Just as he’s about to fall asleep in her arms, Rascal pops out of his hiding place and gives Hunter a heart attack. Rascal chooses Hunter to be his palisman. Obviously Luz feels a bit disappointed that hunter got his palisman when he doesn’t want it, the look of uncertainty he has with the palisman makes her determine to get him used to it. She can always be a teacher since she has experience with Owlbert.

- With his new staff that he’s still unsure of, Hunter decides to take Luz out somewhere out of the ordinary routine after school, somewhere special (think like events like the wailing stars but something else) but that turned romantic. At some point he slightly lifts his mask to kiss Luz’s hand. She’s obviously swooned. May have peeked and sees that he has loose strand of medium blond hair sticking out and that his Lips felt like normal. Starts to think he looks like more like human(or witch?) like some of her classmates.

- They become even more friendlier as it becomes a usual thing for them to be seen together in the castle when Luz is or isn’t working, even the coven members are noticing this, especially Kikimora. Coven leaders are just shocked that someone liked him enough to be his a friend. 

- Kikimora start planting seeds of doubts in Luz’s mind about whether Hunter really is being her friend or just fulling his duties as he was told by Belos. What if their talks where his manipulative ways to get her to tell him about her and other information gathering. Was he really talking to her as she clean because he’s really saw her as a friend or just keeping guard to make sure she doesn’t run away. Kiki does this to mess whatever good thing Hunter has since she can’t kill him.  Luz tries her best to ignore her, rationalizing that that’s quite an investment for Hunter to go through to manipulate her.

- Somewhere a long the line, Luz finds out the truth about day of unity and the truth of Kikimora’s words of Hunter’s actions that she assumed was just lies that Kiki told her. She’s hurt to think the guy she grown to love had any knowledge about it and betrayed her. “I though you were a good guy [mentions all the stuff they do together and such] I guess You’re not my friend, you’re just the golden guard.” It kills him when she said that.

- alternatively he finds out that she has the key to the partially fixed portal door. Is conflicted on whether to break their bond for belos or not especially after learning that she’s homesick and wants to see her mom again. Fought with Kikimora over it with lead to Luz finding out their fight and gets heartbroken that Hunter has it, assumes the worst that kikimora was right.  Again, “I though you were a good guy I guess I was wrong. You’re not my friend, you’re just the golden guard.” His feels his heart breaks. 

- Luz gets rescued by Eda, Lilith, king, hooty, her friends. Hunter doesn’t try to stop her but apologizes to her for everything and for what it’s worth, he’s happy to got to know her and that he loved her, whether she feels the same or not. Luz obviously shocked but couldn’t give a response because the gang were fleeing.

- Back in the owl house, Luz is a mess because of the mixed feelings she has for hunter. In one hand, she knew him as this cold person who was very dedicated to his job while the other as an intelligent, funny, (other more things) and is confused on which hunter is the one she grown to love. ( Feels devastated about it because she thinks that he faked his feelings for her to get knowledge on the key or whatever although hunter didn’t really know she had it.)

- Lilith is dumfounded that Luz has feelings for him because she known him to be a brat. Luz argues that He is but much more than that. As she explains why, she gets hits with the epiphany that she does indeed had fallen in love with him. Eda laughs, “Not sure If I approve catching feelings for your nanny, I thought you were being tortured or something but I see now what you have been really doing.” wagging her eyebrows. Luz: “They have me clean the castle from top to bottom! By hand!” “I don’t approve then.” Luz shares her knowledge of wild magic with the group that she learn from the castle’s library.

- Weeks later, Luz tries to sleep but hears small knocking on the window, She opens it and sees Rascal with the key with him and a note from Hunter apologizing again for what happened. Belos doesn’t know about the key. She sends a note back, telling him to meet her. 

- idk how they makeup. (Working on it) Luz walks up to Hunter and asks if she could take off his mask which he agrees to. Luz takes his mask off and smiles, “well look at that, Magenta eyes. You aren’t ugly as I thought to you were!” hunter frowns, “But you’re handsome as I imagined,” leans up and kisses him first. Hunter tosses the mask away for good and hugs her close to kiss her better. Luz pulls back,  “and... I love you too.” Hunter isn’t sure what his new future holds but knows for sure that Luz is a part of it. 

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

( Had an idea in an alternative story plot around the part where they went out to a ‘date’. They confessed their love and started to kiss lol imagine them having to use a blindfold to keep her eyes closed. But it was a bit too sensual? Or Sensuous? It just didn’t fit in the flow of the storyline. Why did this became a dabble? )

Hunter, for the first time, gets self conscious about his looks. He tries not look into mirrors, though hard when his mask reflects the face he tries hard to avoid looking at when putting it on, He doesn’t really thought much about his looks, except for the scar that’s plastered over his cheek. The ugly scar that he rather forget he has.

As Hunter looks down at Luz’s face, blindfolded to prevent her from accidently opening her eyes during their ‘make out session’, He’s starting to believe that Luz lied about being magicless. He can’t help but feel enchanted over how beautiful she looked by the way the moonlight cast a heavenly glow over her cute features. He can only imagine how her eyes would look like if she didn’t have the blindfold on. “I wish I can stare into your eyes,”

“Why can’t we?”

“You know why”

“Right, I’m not allowed to look under the mask.” she pouted.

“And... well,” Luz attentively waits for him to continue, “I may not look... pretty as you think I imagine. If that makes any sense.” He sheepishly confessed

As Luz wraps her arms around his shoulders, Hunter feels her hands feeling up up his neck, tenderly cradling his face. Hunter fails to resist the blush spreading across his cheeks and the warm pleasant feeling in his chest

“I have other senses to “see” you,” She says sliding her fingers along his jawline, “Strong jaw, ... No scales, or slime... just soft skin” 

She found one patch on the left of his face in particular that caught her interest but before she could take her time to feel it, Hunter quickly shook her hand away from it. Sensing its something he feels uncomfortable with, she decides to leave it alone. 

She continues, “I can hear your voice; sound hot,” He suddenly felt shy at the comment. He was always self-conscious as he has been told that it was annoying. He felt relieved that it wasn’t the case for her.  “Heh, Thanks”

“I can smell you, " She nuzzles against his neck and scrunches up her nose, “... you need a shower.” Hunter frowns, that was certainly killed the mood a little. She pulls back, “But I like that you smell like pine forest sometimes,” weak save.

 “And,” she hums as grazes her thumb over his lips, licking her own. Hunter subconsciously sucks in his breathe, feeling himself getting hotter by the second.

“I can taste you.” finishing off her sentence by pressing her lips against his; briefly misses his lips by kissing the corner of his mouth before correcting herself. 

Hunter smirks in amusement. 

Alright, He admits that was pretty smooth of her to end it the way she did, even though she fumbled at the end. 

He feels a bit confident on that fateful day where he feels brave enough to show her his face, He just hope it lives up to her expectations despite her reassurance to the contrary. 

Luz, on the other hand, is glad that he’s feels like a normal person underneath the mask, she can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that hunter possess no fangs. 

[sergeantsporks]

Hello! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I am slightly in love with your Camilla is Hunter's Mom Now series, and it is giving me thoughts. Specifically, about Hunter and Thomas Hopkins and how I think they should be friends.

No, listen, Thomas has his weird brother who has hurt people but whom Thomas still loves (and I'm sure Jacob loves his little brother), and Hunter has his evil uncle who hurt a LOT of people (including Hunter) who he probably still lives in some way, and I think they should bond over how you should not be punished for/ defined by the actions of your family. I think Luz would be the one to first bring this up, probably after seeing an incident of bullying or hearing one described to her, and also comparing how she had previously been the "easy target" and then Hunter tries very awkwardly to open up and be friends and it just. Works. Somehow. In the very non-emotional way teenage boys have of working out emotional stuff with each other.

That's it, thanks for listening! And thank you for writing!

<3 Thank you so much, I’m so glad you like it! I actually DO have Plans for the two of them, I’m just. Trying to figure out where to fit them in the grand scheme of things. Without spoilers, we’re currently on the edge of some Plot, and then also I need to establish the Jade/Hunter dynamic a little more before I open up the Thomas/Hunter box, so. We’re getting there. I need an outline or something, lmao. The main issue they’re facing rn (which I need to establish better, bc it’s not too well explained so far) isn’t so much “punish Thomas for being Jacob’s brother” and more “Thomas has enough contact with his brother that it would be dangerous for Vee if Hunter hung around Thomas” which is sliiiiiightly harder to hug out. Thanks for the ask, I appreciate the ideas/interest!

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About “The Second Temple”/”Barrel’s Warhammer” from Amphibia

Salutations random people of the internet! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

As some of you might know, I wrote a review called "Why I (Want to) Love Amphibia." The short version is that while I enjoy parts of it, I won't go so far as to say I'm obsessed with Amphibia as I am with other Disney hits like Gravity Falls or The Owl House. However, the two latest episodes, "The Second Temple" and "Barrel's Warhammer," do a lot to fix two issues I have with the series: Anne's character and Sasha's road to redemption. 

(Spoilers Ahead)

My biggest issue with Anne is that I cannot pinpoint what her character is. Sometimes she's selfish, and other times, she's selfless; sometimes she wants to relax, and other times, Anne wants to go on an adventure; sometimes Anne needs a voice of reason, and other times, she is the voice of reason. It always felt inconsistent to me, and her personality is dependent on what the writers need for an episode. This is why I like "The Second Temple," because it at least offers some pinpoint explanation of who Anne is.

To put it bluntly, Anne is a selfish person who learns from her mistakes to become more selfless. Looking back, it is a tad bit more noticeable that Anne stops finding shortcuts or causing mischief the more and more the series goes on. There are times when she slips up, like ditching the cart with Sprig in "Fort in the Road" or being impatient in "Anne Hunter." However, these add to her development and having her learn to take responsibility for her actions. As much as I love a character like Luz, who is selfless from the get-go, I will admit that a character's journey from selfishness to selflessness is still an interesting one to take.

I also love the fact that she takes away the stone before it's fully charged. For one, it gives narrative purpose to a joke that, while not that funny, was pretty chuckle-worthy. On top of that, it adds more to Anne's imperfection, as her impatience got the better of her due to being worried about the Plantars and her girlfriend--I mean--Marcy. Whether this brief act of impatience could result in good luck or bad luck remains to be seen, and I'm honestly excited to see what happens next.

But not as excited as I am to see how Sasha continues to develop. The main thing that interests me with "Barrel's Warhammer" is Sasha's reaction to Anne and Marcy doing well without her. Time and time again, Sasha comes across as an abusive friend. And many abusers often feel anger over the idea that the people they abuse end up doing well for themselves, what with all the time and effort put into belittling them and building the abuser up. The thing is, I don't think that applies to Sasha. At least, not in the way it would. She's upset, but more for the selfish reason of hating that her "friends" don't need her anymore. The first scene in "Reunion" and a few bits from the season 2B trailer hints that Sasha acts as a leader who protects Anne and Marcy. So if they don't need her protection anymore, that means they really are better off without her. And that idea upsets Sasha down to her very core. You see a bit of it when Grime tells her to leave and how she isn't needed in "Toadcatcher." She thrives on power, and it eats her up, knowing she can no longer have it, meaning she'll do anything it takes to get more. And I adore the fact that she realizes the consequences of that after losing Percy and Braddock. After trying so hard to gain respect from the toad army, Sasha ends up losing two of the closest things she has as friends. Again.

It's especially an intriguing development since it leaves Sasha with Grime, a character who acts as a mirror for what Sasha could be. They both share a desire for power but diverge in how they see others that help them get it. Sasha sees friends that she genuinely cares about but fails to effectively express her adoration. Grime sees nothing but soldiers that can be lost and quickly replaced with others who are better. And something tells me he'll barely think twice about abandoning Sasha the second it benefits him. I won't deny that Sasha cares deeply about Anne and Marcy, but if she doesn't shape up, she will become just as slimy and emotionless as Grime is on the daily.

So, yeah, these are two great episodes with fantastic episodes with great character exploration, some pretty cool action, and a few jokes that gain a chuckle from me...there's just one issue: Pacing. Both of these episodes feel like they're on fast-forward and would benefit better as double-lengthed. Moreso with "Barrel's Warhammer," as I feel like a couple more scenes showing the bond between Sasha, Percy, and Braddock would make Percy and Braddock's departure all the more heartbreaking.

Other than that, these are still B+ episodes, in my opinion, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Also, I hope you enjoyed this new format for What I Thought About. Because Amphibia works on an eleven-minute runtime, I can't really go as in-depth with each episode as I can for The Owl House, which operates on twenty-two. Meaning that I have to be a bit more general on my thoughts when regarding each episode.

(Also, also, I won't be reviewing every episode of Amphibia from now on. Just the ones that are worth talking about. Because I can't review every episode of Amphibia AND The Owl House, especially if both shows start airing together again. Trying to do both at the same time requires the mental stamina that I do not have.)

[lollytea]

ohohoh hunter in the everything is bad au... i love it when characters get everything they wanted and its the exact opposite of what they need. hes at the top of his game and its absolutely miserable! but its what hes always wanted so whats he gonna do? complain? hes at the top of the world and it is hell but its all hes ever known! i am kissing you in the hand like in the godfather

I LOVE Hunter in this au!! There's just so much to think about, in terms of his canon self and how every little action drastically changed everything for him.

(Actually I wanna talk about all of it. Do you mind if I talk about all of it? I'm gonna talk about all of it. Sorry if you don't want me to talk about all of it. But I'm gonna talk about all of it.)

CONTENT WARNING: Death and Despair!! Death and Despair!! I call it the everything sucks au for a reason.

Like he's just so deeply unhappy but he doesn't even know it because he's never had a positive experience to compare it to. He doesn't understand what it means to be happy. And every time he notices himself feeling empty, he's overwhelmed with guilt. Because he should be grateful right? Belos gave him everything and he should appreciate it? Fortunately, Hunter is very good at being in denial for the sake of his own comfort. He's doing great, his life is fantastic, everything is okay, everything is so okay. He absolutely doubles down on the nonchalant and cocky yet ruthless Golden Guard persona from Seperate Tides because it helps him feel like more of an established person.

It's very interesting to take Luz out of Hunter's life because she has managed to have both direct and indirect influence over all of his development since they first met. Most notably she's the reason he has Flapjack, who also made a huge impact on Hunter and significantly improved his mental health, his confidence and his compassion.

But during Hunter and Luz's first encounter, if she hadn't started talking to him about wild magic (which, when it comes to Hunter, is like psspsspssing a stray cat) he wouldnt have warmed up to her enough to talk about himself, wouldn't have expressed his wish to decide his own future and Flapjack wouldn't have latched on to him.

Its possible that Hunter and Flapjack would have encountered each other in this shitty au, but they never would have become bonded in a witch and palisman connection. Hunter doesn't have anyone he trusts enough to talk about his hopes and dreams with so he never would have said anything and Flapjack never would have heard.

Hunter is such a fundamentally kind and loving person and I don't think that would be snuffed out of him in this au. But rather, he has all this love and gentleness inside of him with no healthy outlet for it. He doesn't have Flapjack. It would be considered a weakness in his current position if he were to show it to anyone else. So rather, all of that love is channeled into his undying loyalty to Belos. Being so loving is actually quite damaging in this context when it's devoted to the wrong person and it is extremely detrimental to Hunter's agency and sense of self. He is unable to form connections with other people and extend that love towards them because his love for his uncle has become such an emotional barrier.

But back to how Luz has impacted so much more. Everything that has changed Hunter for the better, beyond Flapjack himself, is the lessons he has learned from people who would have been unable to teach him these things if Luz hadn't taught them first.

When Amity said to him "There are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just have to let yourself meet them." She would never have believed something like this if it weren't for Luz. And Amity in the shitty au would never speak that kind of nonsense to Hunter.

And at first you assume in the episode itself that Hunter doesn't take Amity's words to heart or at least immediately forgets about them as soon as he sees the key. But then you remember how he spends the whole episode coldly rebuffing Flapjack's affection. And then near the end, after his fight with Amity, he acknowledges with pleasant surprise how the bird stuck with him the entire time and begins to accept his friendship. Amity is responsible for Hunter and Flapjack's tight-knit bond and Luz is responsible for this version of Amity.

Neither Hunter nor Amity would know how to reach each other in the shitty au. They're both so accustomed to their own abusive cycles that they can't even imagine breaking out of them. And they would never encourage each other to believe in the goodness of other people because they're both far too cynical for that.

It is obvious that Hunter's relationship with Willow is very important to him. It's so extremely beneficial to his growth too. Willow noticeably has a very firm but gentle hand when it comes to dealing with Hunter. When he gets out of line and snaps at her, she expertly puts him in his place in her own polite yet direct Willowy way. She manages to humble him without getting violent or being nasty to him in return.

That being said, there is absolutely no chance of Hunter and Willow ever hitting it off in the shitty au because their personalities do not click at all.

In Seperate Tides, it is established that Hunter did not originally view Luz's glyph spells as "real magic" which implies that he has a similar view of himself and his staff. Hunter has always been insecure about his powerless status and before Hunting Palismen, when he began to look at things from a different angle (Thank you Luz) he had little to no respect for others with limited magical ability.

And here's Willow, with her tattered confidence, who can't even pass a single abomination assignment. Hunter would be dismissive at best and outright mock her at worst. Again, going off Seperate Tides, I think this Hunter would mock her. He'd even laugh if he happened to watch her giving a spell a try. And he'd do it all in that casual almost playful way of his. Now that I think about it, it'd be very similar to Amity in her introductory scene in the show.

And just like in her scene with Amity, Willow would shrink in on herself, embarrassed, upset, simmering with rage but too spineless to do a goddamn thing about it. This is not a Willow who is capable of standing up to Hunter, this is not a Willow who would be ambitious enough to start her own flyer derby team, this is not a Willow who would teach Hunter not to underestimate other witches. This is half-a-witch Willow and she's had enough experience with Amitys and Boschas to immediately detest Hunter.

Gus? The kid who is on his way to being Hunter's best friend? The kid who Hunter has shown the most emotional vulnerability with and feels comforted by and gets to act like a silly teenage boy around? Would have no tolerance for Hunter whatsoever in the shitty au.

Gus still has his past of being tricked time and time again by people offering him friendship but because he never met Luz and getting driven out of the Human Appreciation Society, this Gus does not have the same amount of optimism. He doesn't have the faith to believe that there are plenty of people who won't use him for their own selfish gain. All he has is Willow and his Dad and as far as he's concerned, they're the only people in the world who are ever going to actually care about him.

Gus was suspicious of Hunter from the moment he saw him in canon and this would not change here. But things would never have any hope of budging in a more positive direction. Hunter was mean to Willow. He is pretty much dead to Gus.

He's a sweet kid so I feel like he would still give Hunter his lunch if he needed it. But Hunter is never gonna be homeless in this au so that will never happen. And even if there's a scenario where the two of them are forced together they're never going to like each other. Gus isn't the person who would talk to Hunter about the important of trust. Gus doesn't believe in trust anymore.

I feel like Hunter would still attempt to recruit Gus for the Emperor's Coven if he happened to see how powerful he was. And Gus, who has never been racidicalized, would jump at the offer. But then he hears that he'd be taken away from his friends and family forever. And Gus doesn't have a lot of friends and family but he knows that he sure as hell doesn't want to be taken away from them so he refuses. That's when he learns that Hunter is not giving him a choice.

I wasnt thinking about this in the original post but Im starting to really love the idea of Hunter successfully making Gus a coven scout against his will in this au. Cause he'll both be branded with a sigil and he'll be taken away from Willow. It doesn't get any worse than that. Fitting for the everything sucks au. Gus is also finally disillusioned (HA) with the great wonderful emperor and his coven. Too little too late for him to realize its not what it's cracked up to be.

But yeah, back to Hunter. He completely ruined the life of someone who, in another universe, he loved like a brother and who loved him in return. God that's fucked up. That's SO fucked up.

It's also worth mentioning that if it weren't for Luz, Hunter would have caught Raine, Darius and Eber as they attempted to infiltrate the Emperor's mind. He probably wouldn't have been able to take them in an actual fight but their identities were revealed and Hunter teleported away before they could apprehend him. He rats them out to Belos and though it takes a while, the rebels are eventually captured by the Coven. Hunter was unaware of the scope of their intentions but his actions managed to stop any hope of preventing the Day of Unity.

Speaking of the Day of Unity, it looms closer and Hunter is excited. He has spent his entire life desperately clinging to some sort of purpose. He's the Golden Guard, he proudly flaunts the sigil, he believes he's doing something good for the Boiling Isles. When written down on paper, Hunter believes that his life has meaning. But it doesn't feel like it. He's completely isolated in this world but he doesn't have the emotional maturity to realize just how alone he is. He doesn't understand what it is that he so desperately wants. He's so passionate about his interests, namely studying wild magic, but there's not a single person in his life that he can share it with.

But Hunter has been told that the Titan has big plans for him and he's hoping that this is it. This is what he's been waiting for. This will fill what's hollow inside of him, this will make him truly feel like he matters in the grand scheme of things. In the past, he was a little uncomfortable with the idea that his future was determined by the Titan. But as time goes on, he grips it like a lifetime. There's no future for him otherwise, is there?

Hunter will still learn the truth about the Day of Unity. But, in the spirit of everything this au stands for, he learns far too late.

Hunter learns when the bodies start dropping. And, in spite of his warped idea of morality, Hunter is deeply ingrained with decency. No matter how expertly you brainwash him, there is no known universe where Hunter would accept this. Of course he's horrified by what he's seeing. Of course Belos unloads everything on him all at once, calmly explaining what his true intentions have always been. Hunter's own sigil has no effect, as it was simply given to him by Belos as a way to make him feel like he belonged.

But had he ever belonged?? Was it all just a lie??

The Titan never had any grand destiny plotted out for Hunter. He was always just a means to an end.

Hunter is not succumbing to his own death like all the witches who surround him. So he is able to witness everything.

He breaks down. He cries, he screams, he shakes, he almost outright suffocates. He's distraught and he's devastated and he's furious and he's empty all at once.

He had everything. He had always assumed he had everything. But he had nothing all along.

Belos doesn't care for this overly emotional reaction very much but he isn't surprised. Hunter is not the ideal grimwalker Belos hoped he would be. Incapable of even wrapping his head around the reality of his uncle's actions being for the greater good.

Belos then decides that since he will be building a new world, perhaps he should start fresh with a new grimwalker.

And then Hunter's story comes to an abrupt end.

[jess-the-vampire]

Sooooo whatya think of the new episodeee?

Oh it’s definitely my favorite episode of the series so far, i was having such a good time at every turn. I’m glad i went out of my way to avoid spoilers, cause i was glad to actually be surprised by some elements on first watch.

I think this had by far the best opening for an episode so far, we finally get back to the villians, we meet the coven heads, we get insight on belos’s plans-

and then belos gets constipated, which starts getting into the more character driven lore, which is the best part. You instantly can tell GG and Kiki have some bit of tension between them to be Belo’s favorite, though granted i wonder if hunter is the only one to know belos is cursed and actually just always insists to help belos with his fits to prevent others from seeing them.

Including kiki.

It’s honestly unclear how aware anyone is that belos is cursed, like him eating pailsmans is apparently not something he hides, but like....i feel him being cursed is something that people would know universally if it got out...so i’m left wondering if anyone knows besides hunter.

Regardless, belos turns into a goop monster with an angry side, and i guess his mask doesn’t transform with him compared to the rest of his body so he breaks it again because i guess he goes though masks like crazy.

Hunter turns away in this scene from his outburst and even though he’s masked here i can already tell he’s most likely pained in these scenes. Like he’s probably seen this happen so many times, and i can’t imagine it gets any easier for him, it’s probably awful to watch belos suffer like this for him (Regardless of the abuse)

And to be honest, it seems pretty painful for him, i think this ep seems to at least confirm whatever this thing is that takes over belos’s body.....belos never actually wanted it in the first place. 

Yeah so after Hunter tells belos there’s not enough trees to medicate him anymore, we’re hit with the “UNCLE”. Which, when i first watched it i needed a second to even process the fact they confirmed their relation.

and i was like “CLOSE ENOUGH”, not his kid but uncle still works just fine for me, i’m just happy my assumption they were related actually came to ahead.

And i rewatched this episode a few times, and on second watch i realized more what happened in this scene. Hunter was talking about his interest in wild magic, and making more pailsman to help belos, and some method that could heal him and as soon as belos looked at him he instantly shut down.

He was clearly rambling about wild magic cures for belos because of his interest in it, and then suddenly remembered his uncle hates wild magic and felt super awkward.

It seems highly likely his interest in wild magic came from trying to cure belos and spending a lot of time reading up on the stuff. 

And then we get hit with the whole “Our family is dead because of wild magic” line, which.....i’m curious to know what happened there. But it does at least explain why belos feels how he does, if wild magic both killed his family beside hunter AND cursed him in the first place. We’re just gonna need more info on what exactly happened.

Also while Belos is def abusive and does not treat hunter how he should, this scene actually does read off to me like belos does care about hunter to some degree. If belos is cursed and his curse works in similar ways to how Eda’s curse works, then it’s worth reminding ppl that eda mentions early this season how stress can amplify the curse even more.

And sure enough, belos goes goopy on hunter’s shoulder all of a sudden when he grasps him. Which could be considered a sign of stress and that the idea of hunter dying or being in danger actually does stress him.

You could very much also assume this is just due to his curse not being fully handled and just getting worse, or that belos only cares about hunter for selfish reasons....but i’m not taking anything off the table here.

Belos can still be a shitty uncle, and still care about hunter, these aren’t mutually exclusive traits. But we need more episodes for now on this.

But anyways he asks hunter if he can rely on him, kiki is pissed......and we move on.

So i’m glad luz’s impulsiveness is addressed a ton in this episode, they actually bring up a lot of good points. That luz has no plan, that the time she’s spending here might render moot if she goes back to earth, ect ect.

Hunter even calls her out a lot later for not thinking things through, it’s a whole deal in this episode. I’m glad it was brought up cause it’s actually worth asking a lot of these things.

the set up here works, they actually made a good reason for why a pailsman didn’t bond with her. Speaking of which the adoption thing is cute and i love it, it’s a great idea. The designs are all very cute and fun.

Bump face reveal was a lot for me to process, but i find the idea of his pailsman being a pet that can help with his disabilities a good idea.

Also like, i did find it odd that they got staffs so early because we’ve never seen kids their ages with them before, but i guess it’s a new tradition? Does everyone at hexside now have one?

Honesty not sure why batqueen left the nest there overnight, i meant i guess she assumed they were safe with that shield but in context i dunno why she didn’t take them home after the school day was over.

but whatever, luz stays there overnight hoping  a pailsman will bond with her and GG just kidnapps them cause of pure luck on his part a bunch of pailsman were in a vulnerable spot tonight.

So GG continues to be charming, by whistling the theme song and then being blasted off his ship hilariously, before cockily teleporting himself right back on it seconds later. Like he and luz have great banter, he’s so extra like this it’s so funny, and god he’s so FAST with that staff it’s scary but so awesome.

Yeah so then hand dragon crashes them and i was so excited cause it meant face reveal. Poor dude looked so in pain and then we find out kiki tried to effing murder him because of course she did. But like, i think killing your boss’s nephew is the WORST way to get a promotion tbh.

(Also i got confused for a bit cause his mask has always been drawn as a mask, but now it’s a helmet in this scene for whatever reason but-)

Anyways, face reveal, Like honestly ppl weren’t too far off with their guesses, really the only thing people didn’t get was the tooth gap (That was fair tho, we couldn’t have guessed that). But it did make him even cuter.

like the banter is funny, he licks her hand, she slaps him, he looks SO pissed at her for this mess.

and i guess that outfit is his under armor apparently.

He’s lucky she didn’t run away immediately and followed him, but maybe he assumed she would since she had no where else to go.

Also his expressions in this ep are glorious, these had to be fun to draw.

Also we find out that the coven team members have never seen his face i guess? They just assume he’s a silly kid and are awful to him, so i guess he’s not only the youngest member of the coven but he never really shows his face much.

(”Call your parents”, ha ha.....whose gonna tell them who his uncle is?)

He is however, REALLY good at parkour and he’s fast even without his staff, so he’s well trained alright.

And then they reveal he’s not magical and i was SO happy cause i was so sure something was up when he wasn’t doing magic like the other witches despite his pointy ears. So they outright confirmed what i thought.

Hunter is pretty smart tho, like he can tell luz wouldn’t hurt him and wouldn’t flee so he knows he has the high ground here. Like he might be being a bit of a dick, but to be fair luz has been nothing but a dick to him throughout the whole episode (Everyone in this episode has been a dick to him tbh)

They team up and i get excited cause i love this kinda stuff and it gets more wholesome because hunter is super interested in her magic, he thinks it’s cool and you can tell how much he actually loves wild magic but then again...shuts himself down because of belos making him fear the stuff.

An then because luz asks, he tells her his backstory.

honestly with how this world treats people who aren’t magically powerful, living and growing up in a world that would find you useless sounds....awful. Hunter must be an anomaly around here, human blood or not.

Luz coming here to learn is different then growing up in a world and being the only one with no abilities and no future without them. Belos provides him with magic and a future, it’s no wonder he stays with him despite everything.

the whole “Found me” thing is weird, cause belos implies they’re blood related and hunter makes it sound like belos semi-adopted him. Which....if he did i dunno why “Uncle” and not “Adopted dad”, but ok....guess that’s for later.

Apparently hunter is important for something tho with the “Titan has big plans for me” thing, not sure what, but-

But yeah as soon as Hunter talked about wanting to make his own future and Rascal tried to land on him i knew EXACTLY where this was going, it was so cuteeeeee. The lil birb wanted to be with hunter, that’s so wholesome.

And he’s so terrified because of belos and what wild magic did to him, the poor bab.

But yeah, luz then trusts him with his staff back, because again....impulsive. But hunter does actually ask if she’s sure, so he might as well be asking if she trusts him.

The plan goes ahead, and hunter nearly betrays her.

though granted, hunter never promised her he’d stop and let her take them away, the truce was supposed to last till kiki was stopped and they were gonna fight out who got the pailsman. But it does bother luz cause she was hopeful he was better then this.

But just like he did before, she calls him out and he doesn’t betray her, because he’s ALSO too nice to do it, just like he said she was. He says his name (Which also took a moment to process), and then beats the crap out of kiki while letting luz get away and protecting her like a badass.

He might not have magic, but he’s good at fighting

like he can easily teleport to luz and take the pailsman, but he doesn’t, he lets them get away and luz knows this. Even though she also knows hunter has to go back to the emperor too and they have to separate.

It’s only slightly bitter terms, because in the end he came through for her and she knows it.

honestly, the worst part is i can’t even be mad at hunter for it, i’m sure he was terrified to fail belos. Both because he loves him and doesn’t want him to suffer....but also because of well...being punished. Really says something when his near betrayal doesn’t even make me mad at him, and i can understand why he nearly did it.

He let her go, knowing he’d be in SERIOUS trouble and that it would hurt someone he actually loves, so....ouch.

so yeah at this point i knew rascal wanted him so it was only of matter of what happened next.

Which was, luz getting the wood, which i like more anyway. Eda and King doing this offscreen and coming home like this is actually very funny, and honestly i appreciate the message of it being ok to wait.....means a lot to me.

yeah so belos is like...being an ass, like the kid tried his hardest, you don’t need to hit him with the “Is this the thanks i get?”. He’s a kid and he’s trying to cure you you dick, give him a break he doesn’t remotely have to help you like this.

Also apparently belos has not even told hunter HOW this happened, like...dude. Hunter is trying to be entirely reasonable here and belos spikes at him, which does imply some physical abuse though the only reason hunter doesn’t get a new scar is because he moves.

but how he reacts implies this has happened before, he is bracing for impact and he flinches. It’s pretty sad tbh, especially since hunter loves him and belos’s respect means something to him.

Belos is such an idiot, like c’mon dude, hunter is trying to help you and you don’t listen to him you dick. Kid shouldn’t have to say sorry for anything he did nothing wrong, he was just trying to help.

Anyways, he gloats at kiki (So at the very least she knows what he looks like under the mask), which he deserves a chance to do anyway. So i guess he didn’t rat her out for trying to kill him, personally my guess why is blackmail.....he was gonna hold it over her head to keep her from doing it again and threaten to tell belos.

But kiki quickly tells he LET the pailsman get away since he was the one to fight her (Curse his cute loose hair strand). So i guess now they have dirt on each other, so that’s fun.

His room is adorable, though the med kit by the bed is concerning.

Rascal comes for him and it;s so cute....though you can tell hunter nearly hurts him on instinct because of force of habit, but it’s so cute how he cares and how the birb loves him and is his new staff.

it was well hinted to as well, it’s so subtle, but the bird being cheery, curious, and his constant habit of escaping boundaries was perfect for hunter. He represents what hunter wants to be and why they got matched is done so well, all without explaining anything.

Hunter indirectly stated his deepest wish, to make his own choices, and rascal resonated with that. 

can’t wait to see where this goes.

great ending shot, love me some conflicted shots looking out of windows like trapped birds.

also this title was a pun the whole time i can’t-