#PUPPET HEXSQUAD-

[zibiscusloon]

Yeah Imma be away for a while I need to process everything that happened in The Owl House-

[the-cosmos-withinus]

Shadow Puppets AU - Hexsquad

Bragi and I are getting close to wrapping up a few of our threads and have been discussing some ideas about what to do with the modern era and of course the Hexsquad. I was feeling too lazy to draw so I just made edits.

Luz: Main difference is she never ends up going to Hexside for more than a day, enough to inspire the allowance of multitrack study. She studies magic with Eda 'the old fashioned way' and even gains a secondary mentor in the Bat Queen, becoming a guardian for the lost Palismen. Other than that her adventures don't change much. Willow: She actually initially declines moving into the plant track, determined to prove her worth on the Abomination Track, aided by Amity once they start repairing their friendship, and multitracks into plants after Pricipal Bump allows it. We're still discussing more ideas of what to do with her. Gus: Same deal as Willow, we're still figuring out what more to do with him, but for now he multitracks into construction magic with Matt and their rivalry/friendship gets better development Amity: She keeps her bite and competitive streak even after her redemption, tries out for and succeeds in joining the Emperor's Coven as a recruit but acts as a spy for Luz and becomes close friends with Hunter. Hunter: His relationship with Belos is different in this AU, I won't elaborate because of spoilers, but some points of interest. Belos knows about Flapjack and lets Hunter keep him (with a lot of restraint, neither of them like each other much, but they both care about Hunter so they put up with one another) and Hunter knows about the Collector (Astrophel)

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

odalia gaslit gatekept girlbossed her way into getting a new child to replace the ones she lost in the custody battle. slay queen

[shrugsinchinese]

People have been drawing puppet Hexsquad and I wanted to join in :DD

[rfswitchart]

Amity Blight and Her Broken Strings

So, on Twitter, I saw someone say something about Amity and Hunter's relationship (obviously platonic. People who ship them romantically are gross.)

Naturally, I agree with this, as you've seen in my fics Kindness and Forgiveness as well as Road Trip. I feel like they share a best friend/basically sibling sentiment towards each other, and that Amity wouldn't bare ill will towards Hunter having been through the same things he has... HOWEVER, this also brought me to another thought, and it begs a question... Why was Amity, out of all of Hexsquad, able to move when she was turned into a puppet?

Simply really, she was already someone's puppet before and she broke free of their control...

Much like Hunter was because of Belos, Amity was being used, lied to, manipulated and controlled by Odalia. And think about how awful Odalia was to her. Forcing her to break her friendship with Willow, threatening to expel her friends from Hexside, coming between her and her girlfriend. Using her to test weapons and humiliating her publicly. And all so Odalia could have a 'perfect little girl' who was just like her. Amity never understood that things could be different, that she could choose her own destiny. In the care of her mother, she was little more than a puppet...

And of course, we know that Amity's friends helped her realize that. Especially one who kinda became a little more than a friend...

And of course, her understanding and realizing that her dream and goal being that she "wanted to choose her path herself" was what awakened Ghost and gave her a staff. Being able to control your own life, as a victim of child abuse, is so important, especially when you've gone through as much as Amity and especially Hunter. And that's why I think she was able to move on her own, because she is no one's puppet, not anymore. Amity Blight broke free of her chains and she is never, EVER, going to be shackled and puppeted again...

[lollytea]

For the character thing how about: Vee Noceda :)

How I feel about this character

This might be controversial....I don't hate her. I don't dislike her at all. She's just a shy sweet adorable little girl. She has great vibes. I think she's precious and I wanna squeeze her.

But like. I'll expand on my feelings down in the unpopular opinion section.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

The show never really gave us a ship dynamic, but pretty much just explicitly told us that Vee's love interest is Masha so I was like "sure I guess"

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I really like Vee and Camila. That's her mama! She gives her all the cuddles and forehead kisses that she's never received before!!!

My unpopular opinion about this character

Ultimately. I think she was a very unnecessary addition to the cast.

I know she's not real but I kinda felt bad for her. Yesterday's Lie was SUCH a strong episode, and Vee had a pivotal role in it. Her character worked excellently for the sake of spicing up the plot. But then once that episode was over, it felt like the show was a child who had just adopted a stray kitten without considering the responsibilities. Like okay you've got a basilisk in the show now. What are you gonna do with her?

They're gonna shove her in the human realm for the rest of season 2 so they don't have to think about her.

But surely once season 3 rolls around and she's back in the spotlight, she'll be relevant, right?

Well.

And I know the tune. "If they had a full season 3, they would have-"

Im not pointing fingers at the crew, blaming them for Vee's awkward inclusion in Thanks to Them. At the moment, I'm just looking at the show for what it is, rather than what it could have been.

And Vee gets. Nothing. She gets nothing. She gets SO MUCH nothing that the crew makes attempts to write her out of the episode because the Hexsquad is already too crowded. Why the hell did her teenage ass not wanna go to a Halloween party? And then at the end, they leave this little girl in the human realm on her own while the rest of her family ventures into certain doom.

Luz fucking DIED. Camila was a PUPPET. They very easily could not have come back.

Also this is kinda unrelated, but I didn't like Vee's mysterious "LUZ'S IMPOSTER" build up in season 1. But then again, that's mostly because her character ended up falling so flat. I didn't mind the subversion of the trope, I just wish Vee's writing stayed as consistently strong from that point onward.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

ANYTHING!!!! FUCKING ANYTHING!!!!! THROW THIS POOR GIRL A BONE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!!

[tentacledsnakelover]

The Owl House Finale Rewrite

I love The Owl House. The story, the animation, the music, the characters. It is no surprise the show stands out as a favorite, including mine. But even being a fan cannot make me ignore the flaws of something, no matter how much I love it. I feel while the story was wrapped up well, the series from a writing standpoint was messy. A lot of my gripes with the last two specials involved not using time wisely, the Collector's character being retconned, and ignoring themes of the show. Here is how I would have rewritten the last two specials. I am by no means a professional writer. I have no idea what was going on behind the scenes and I want to give the benefit of the doubt to Dana and her team.

For The Future: The special opens immediately as Luz and her family/friends enter the demon realm. Everyone is on edge after the confrontation with Belos, and everyone with magic is drained, after having used their powers signifcantly in a realm with no ambient magic. Luz offers to bring everyone to the Owl House to recuperate. When they arrive, a wave of starry energy engulfs the house and surrounding area, bringing the puppetfied citizens of the isles with it. Willow and Luz attempt to save Willow's dad from the puppet Owl Beast, but then the Collector arrives with King, having come to play the Owl House game. King is relieved to see Luz, but horrified to see she is now in harm's way. The Collector is shocked too. King kept the Collector from trying to find Luz and her friends by claiming they would want to ruin their game and that the Hexsquad should be left alone. King manages to convince the Collector not to hurt Luz, and he takes her back to the Archives. He leaves the others by encasing the Owl House in a dome at the request of King.

The rest of the Hexsquad and Camila are then saved by a group of resistance members, consisting of Raine, Darius, Eber, the CATTS, and some Hexside kids. Raine explains after the Collector stopped the Day of Unity, Eda attempted to stop the Collector with harpy mode but turned into the Owl Beast. While the Collector dealt with beast Eda, King dropped Raine his collar, who figured out the symbol etched on it neutralized the Collector's magic. Raine has spent the past few months saving the puppetfied citizens, taking them from under the Collector's nose while they play. The Hexsquad's arrival proved the perfect distraction for Raine to save Lilith and Hooty, who the Collector was keeping an eye on due to being important characters for the game, and use the symbol to undo their puppetification.

Raine takes the group back to Hexside, which is hidden using the symbol. The group formulates a plan. Using Lilith's memory of Philip's teleportation glyph combo and her knowledge of the architecture of the Archives, the Hexsquad, CATTS, and Camila, teleport into the Archives, to find and teleport all the puppetfied citizens back to Hexside where they can be safe.

They manage to teleport all the puppetfied citizens to safety, but Odalia turns up. Having been reduced to the Collector's servant, she decides to capture the group in an effort to win the Collector's favor. The group is divided, with Willow, Gus, and Hunter in one group (Willow has her breakdown arc here with Hunter, as she blames herself for getting Luz caught and not being able to do anything). Amity and Camila manage to defeat Odalia and regroup with the kids and the CATTS.

Meanwhile, after having been captured, Luz was brought to the Archives. When they arrived, the Collector dropped Luz to the floor, the impact causing Luz to go unconscious until she is revived by the Collector (While unconscious, she appears in the In-Between Realm, where a mysterious figure tries to get her attention). King is mad at the Collector for hurting Luz, though they try to brush this off, claiming they fixed Luz, and thus it is okay. The Collector asks King to bring Luz to where Eda is being kept underguard by the puppetfied Titan Trappers. Eda is in fact, back in control of herself, and she and King embrace Luz. Eda explains she has seen that the Collector, despite his apathy towards people, is still just a kid, and she has been complying evidence to try and get him to see the error of his ways. However, the Collector arrives, having placed a bug on Luz. The Collector is furious that King lied to them about Eda being stuck in beast form and Luz leaving the demon realm on purpose. The Collector attempts to puppetify the girls but King intercepts the shot, though he remains unchanged.

The Collector now gets nervous, and after being prodded by King reveals Titans are immune to Collector magic, and that he didn't let King know that because he was afraid King wouldn't want to play with him otherwise unless he believe the Collector had control over him. The upset Collector reveals he is the last of his species, who after years of distrust and suspicion of the Titans, led to a war where the two species wiped each other to near extinction. The only surviving adult Titan, King's dad, angrily imprisoned the Collector using the tablets as a catalyst. The tablets were made by the Collector as a gift for the Titans. That way, he could always communicate with the baby Titans, who weren't afraid and distrustful of him like the adult Titans.

Luz, Eda, and King take the Collector on a tour of the isles, trying to get him to understand the importance of empathy and ethics, though the efforts end up striking a nerve with Luz, as the Collector points out Philip thought he was justified by doing what he did, and that Luz also thinks she is justified because she is a 'good guy' too, which worries Luz because she cannot handle the idea of being like Belos. (This references a cut storyboard in which the Collector questions why Luz would say other people but Belos are complex)

The trio are able to make the Collector open to the idea of being more empathetic, and he brings them back to the Archives, where they reunite with the Hexsquad and Camila. Camila and Luz have a heart to heart, which allows Stringbean to hatch. But then they notice the ground below the Archives is shaking, and the sky turns green, with the eye sockets of the Titan glowing blue. The gang realizes Belos is doing something with the Titan, and the special ends on a cliffhanger.

I will try and post my ideas for the rewrite of "Watching and Dreaming later"

[lizard-dumbass]

Alright so the TOH brainrot has come back in full force after the finale came out so now i too am making one of them lists of things that i liked/stuck out to me. Also sorry if this ends up just being a bunch of incoherent nonsense

HOLY SHIT TITAN!LUZ. the design is so cool what more can i say. Furthermore,

HOLY FUCK LUZ DIED????? i was so not expecting that and good lord was it heartbreaking. Eda and King's reaction to Luz's death were also heartbreaking, and so was the Collector finally realizing what death really is. And oh my god puppet!Camila crying as the balls of light pass by her, showing us that she has had the realization that her daughter died. After the grief and trauma of losing Manny, Camila and Luz had a heart to heart which made their bond stronger than ever, only for Camila to lose Luz aswell.

LUZ SAID THE THING! NOW EAT THIS SUCKAAAAAA!!!!!

THE BOILING ISLES IS BIGENDER BABY! i honestly love the titan so much now. His bad girl coven t-shirt and glyph pants and dad-bod are absolutely everything. (Also what's with the little hooty worm sticking out of her eye socket??)

The goddamn bread pun 😭 that warms my heart so much

The raeda in this episode was IMMACULATE. I was really hoping for a kiss but i'm still happy with what WAD gave us. The loving stares, Raine's absolute joy when Eda and Titan!Luz came to their rescue in the throne room, the hugs and nuzzles, the cuddling in their new nest, etc. They seem so relaxed and happy at the end. The world has been saved and now they can finally live their lives together and rekindle their relationship. Oh and how could i forget the EARRING SWAP!! they're wearing eachother's earrings!!! I've seen quite a few ppl interpreting the exchanging of earrings/jewelry as a marriage custom in the demon realm, implying that Eda and Raine are married in the timeskip. I never cared much for the idea of raeda getting married but you know what? I like this headcanon.

Raine whistling raine's rhapsody/eda's reqiuem.

Hunter is a palisman carver! And he has a new palisman! Apparently the little blue jay's name is Waffles and that's just adorable.

Raine also has a palisman now and it's a little fox! I wonder what their name is though.

The entire hexsquad has matching Flapjack tattoos! Also Flapjack's grave, that gave me so many feels. But im so happy to see how Hunter has healed!

Harpy Lilith!

Eda is the principal of a school now?

Eda's hook arm! Also just everyone's new outfits/appearances in general. I love Raine's fully white hair and their scars and their outfit just oozes gender. I love Luz's outfit and punk eyeliner. I love Amity's hairstyle. I love how Lilith kept her short ginger hairstyle. I love Gus's new hair and his little beard. I love Willow's shorter hair and sporty outfit. Mattholomule has a real mustache now!

Fuck yeah they figured out how to remove sigils so now the BI residents can do magic like the Titan really intended!

Aladarius canon??

Everyone reuniting with their dads. Amity running to Alador whilst Odalia just stands at the side with an annoyed face. Fucking priceless. Willow's dads kissed on screen! Hunter thinking no one would be there for him only for Darius and Eberwolf to show up and accept him into their family. my heart 😭❤️

Eda and Camila finally got to meet!

Luz reuniting with King and Eda made me sob so unbelievably hard.

Luz and Vee graduated together!

Luz goes to college in the demon realm!

I thought she was giving all her Azura stuff away at first but i think she's actually bringing it all with her to college.

I love everything about Luz's quinceañera (or should i say KING-ceañera)

I love the very last part where every character we've come to know and love over these 3 wonderful years (except Odalia lmfao) say "Byeee!" to the audience. What a perfect way to end this series.

I think that's it lol i have so many thoughts

[raineydaywhispers]

I want to write an essay about Raine's (short, but sweet) arc in The Owl House now that the show is officially over, but for now I just want to put my thoughts somewhere about their arc in the final episode, as to not lose them. Thoughts under the cut!:

I am glad that Raine had an active role in defeating Philip, and had their own symbolic break away from the covens when they broke their violin.

I also loved the return to the bard magic they invented- the whistle-during both the struggle to cast Belos out of their body, but in the last fight as well. It was a part of their return to self agency, a nod to a time before the coven system where they were allowed to be free and explore magic on their own terms.

It's interesting to me that Philip calls them "annoyingly powerful," and it makes me believe honestly that their ascension to being a coven head was, while based on skill, also based on the fact that he knew they were. Belos always wanted to take advantage of that power, and control it. We see this with Lilith, and Eda as well. I believe it stands as a further explanation for the brain washing and the only time we see a sigil used against somebody.

Raine is one of the most powerful witches on the Boiling Isles, even with the constraints of their coven sigil. They not only broke out of the collector's puppet spell as a show of that true power, but would break from being possessed by Philip as well multiple times- and they almost stopped him on their own.

But Raine failing to stop Philip on their own is also significant. Raine needed help to do that- and Eda being the person to put their glasses on them, pull them from Philip's corruption of the isles, and show them that they're safe was the final crossing of the threshold for Raine. It's another return to a time before they lost their agency, but in a way that shows both themself and Eda have changed.

If they're going to defeat Belos and share the new future free from constraints with somebody, why not Eda their childhood friend, and her adopted children Luz the human and King the Titan. Why not end it all by quite literally stomping out the coloniser monster that caused them so much pain and heartbreak?

I'm also okay with them not returning to being a bard in the epilogue. I wish we would've been able to explore why exactly, and I'd like to think that their arc that was scrapped due to cancellation would've. But I think their separation from that part of themself makes sense no matter the reason. It's part of an old, long lasting traumatic experience. Maybe they did return to it and we just sadly don't get to see it. Or, maybe they'll return to bard magic on their own terms. Maybe they won't. I guess I'm going to have to fill those gaps in on my own time through writing and fan content.

But in summary, I guess, I'm glad that they finally had a way to regain agency over themself. I'm glad they got an ending where their skills as a leader are respected and put to use. I'm glad the show continued this notion of trust with Raine working with the old Hexsquad and new Hexsquad members to rebuild. And I'm glad they get to share a community with Eda that they can both flourish in, with each other. Even if we didn't get a Raeda kiss.

I'm going to be mourning the loss of a character that as an nb transmasc person, is the first time I've really felt represented on screen. I'm so thankful to Avi Roque, Dana Terrace, and the entire crew of the show for bringing to life such a good, kind character. Eda's Requiem aired during a time where I was questioning what my gender meant to me, and was struggling to find the light in my life as a trans person. I will always be grateful.

Though I'm not optimistic that we'll get extra content in the future, I hope we do. I want to explore the Boiling Isles again, this time as it heals, and I want to do it with Raine, Eda, Luz, King, Lilith, and all the other characters that made this show so special to me.

But for now, I'm content I got to experience The Owl House. It was such a weird, proudly neurodivergent and queer show. Though I would've preferred a full third season I'm glad the ending was a sound, well written send off. Until we see more (if we ever do) I'm going to be watching and dreaming for the future, thanks to them.

[kindestegg]

Collector, the Isles, assimilation, Luz, grief and escapism

Okay, as per promised the last post in which I went slightly into depth about how much Collector actually seems to LIKE titans, here's a much bigger one playing off of the idea that for all his care, this dynamic is incredibly flawed, and how that relates to his relationship with the Isles and how that parallels Luz eventually, as well as... another thing. (Buckle up. This is a long one).

In a post-hoot that's actually... a pre-hoot, if you think about it, Dana and a few others gathered to talk about For the Future and what was to come, Dana dropped some interesting commentary on how Collector's magic interacts with the Isles...

"Well, the Boiling Isles is supposed to be death and rebirth and rejuvenation like wrapped up in like, a kind of horrifying and beautiful set piece, which is kind of how I see nature as a whole, it's like that bug is horrifying but it's beautiful that it exists, y'know. Maybe that's a vapid observation, but... (laughs) It's something that I like exploring.

But for the Collector I wanted everything to feel the opposite it should feel (...) yeah, unnaturally vibrant, not so much unpredictable but factory made. Like toys, like so many plastic toys. It should feel the opposite of what the Boiling Isles feels, it should be so sugary, it should be so toy box that it hurts. (...) Unnatural. (...)

And I also wanted it to feel like what Luz thought she was gonna get in Season 1. She goes into this fantasy world and (...) you can see it in the episode, and in episode 2 you can see that, you can see some cute little cat villages, you can see all these beautiful fantasy tropes and it quickly gets smashed down because we didn't wanna focus on that too much, but the Collector's whole image was supposed to be growing from that. 'Oh, this is what Luz's dream is, but now it's a nightmare'."

She also says this juxtaposition ended up being overshadowed then by the Collector as a character coming into his own and being a character they enjoy writing so much, but I feel like this assessment could not be further from the truth. I and a lot of fans have caught onto this and very much would like to discuss these themes.

This quote is incredibly interesting to me because I feel like it relates on multiple levels to the themes if this show, the characters in it, and even external motivations in the writing decisions.

Let's start with what I promised first. In the earlier post I referenced at the start, I said although Collector doesn't act out of malice when it comes to changing up the Isles to his will, he regardless is still enacting a violence upon them. And I don't just mean through turning people into puppets.

When the hexsquad finally arrives back on the Isles and you see the state Collector put it at, they state that the Titan Skull is the normal part, but everything else is "wrong". During the entirety of For the Future, there is an emphasis on how unnatural Collector's magic is for the Boiling Isles. It shapes this place that witches and demons call home into something it never was.

Multiple times, we are made to see a clear juxtaposition between what the Boiling Isles is normally like VS how the Collector's magic interacts with it. Another line that stuck with me is Camila going "so the eyeballs on the ground are normal, but the little space cherub is the danger?"

And yet, despite all her negative reactions to the uglier parts of the Boiling Isles, she goes out of her way to try and understand why Luz likes it, and be supportive of Luz regardless. In a way, Camila's journey so far in the Boiling Isles is like a quick redux of Luz's own journey. At first, her daughter, too, had been weirded out by all the strangest in the demon realm, but it was her determination to find brightness in it despite it all.

It is in this that we find the meaning in Dana's words when she says that nature, in all of its weirdness and grossness, is beautiful. Because the Boiling Isles exists in its natural state, and not just that, but in a state that is culturally relevant and important to all witches and demons inhabiting it.

Luz was only able to learn her second glyph when she embraced that magic in the isles was different than just waving a wand and doing magic just like that. That magic was a gift from the isles, from nature. The way that witches connect to the isles is to giving thanks to the Titan, understanding and never forgetting their roots and that all of the bodily manifestations that life sprouts from are part of magic.

When Collector swoops in and covers it all in artificial glitter and plastic and toys, he takes away that natural part of the isles, he covers up the manifestation of the isles' culture that is meant to entwine so deeply with this nature. Regardless of how much he's liked the titans before and how much he doesn't think he's hurting anyone, he is still assimilating and erasing this culture of the isles.

Similarly, when he captures people to be his puppets, he does not just make them into puppets in their regular appearance, but also their appearance is changed, specially their outfits and hairstyles, which is a denial of their self expression and the way the Boiling Isles culture itself informs such choices. The style Collector enforces on the people he turns into puppets is not like anything we see the people on the isles usually wearing, but it sure as hell seems incredibly close to what Luz would have wished to see. We will definitely get back to that, specially with how that relates to Witches before Wizards, which is paralleled hardcore in this episode and even Dana points it out.

Point is: Collector is enacting a violence upon the Isles of a much subtler type than the already pretty damning "turning people into puppets and leaving the survivors to fend for themselves" thing. He is erasing its culture, running over its wildlife, reshaping the environment to his own wants. Regardless if he realizes how harmful this is to the Isles, it is extremely harmful, and I've discussed before in a more informal ask answer, but to me it seems like collectors in general parallel pretty closely the uglier parts of humanity, specially those relating to invading whatever lands we see fit and thinking we are justified in not only drastically altering the landscape but also forcing the people to conform.

Again, though, I feel wrong about going too close with the real world parallels here because I feel it isn't my place to speak on this. I can talk about, however, how once again the Collector is paralleling both Belos and his own ancestors here.

I've already discussed this here, but the way Belos introduces the coven system upon the Isles is a violence that he enacts onto its people to make them easier to control. He straight up rises to the top and changes the entire social norms and societal structure to benefit himself and creates a myriad of problems along with it, some I've discussed in that post like the fact the Emperor's Coven is made the strongest just to make it easier for him to establish his rule and benefit his power structure.

But there's more to this: I have not been the first one to point out that the way Belos denounces "wild magic" and the witches that used it as being in the "savage ages", to the point even historians such as Lilith were made to believe that venturing into an old Bonesborough before the established rule would be dangerous (which is interesting in and of itself: this signifies that the state controls even the historical material given to academics, and the implications here are horrifying) is also a form of imperialistic conquering and scrubbing the Boiling Isles of its original culture.

In this, it is also particularly interesting here to us to remind ourselves Collector very much did have a hand in the Day of Unity, and therefore, its connection to the coven system as well. We don't know how much of a hand it was when it comes to covens, maybe he suggested all of it or only told Belos he needed to siphon witches' magic through something and gather them all in one place, but the fact of the matter is that Collector's been implicated now in not one, but two instances of robbing the Boiling Isles - and its people- of its identity.

Like I stated in my analysis on cycles of violence, Collector is not just a victim despite having his own issues and trauma, he is very much a perpetrator as well. And once again, this is equally related to his upbringing with those of his own kind. Regardless of the fact he did change his mind and went out of his way to rebel and befriend the titans, he still spent a considerable amount of time learning from his family that collectors are meant to claim a world for their own to then take whatever they want from.

And because of all that, they are still very much in the habit of enacting a system of cultural violence upon those that they encounter. Even King, the one whom they consider their best friend, cannot escape this, as he is made to wear the same clothes as they do and denied the lifestyle he actually wishes for.

Once again, though, Collector does not seem to be doing this all out of malice. There is no indication that they are hunched over rubbing their hands laughing maniacally to themself about how they are finally making that ugly horrible Boiling Isles into something better and that with everyone turned into puppets there'll be no one to stop them. In fact... he rejects the very notion when Odalia brings it up that they could reshape the entire Boiling Isles...

And, as I have come to realize and discussed here, Collector doesn't actually seem to think turning everyone into puppets is the best end goal, he is most likely acting out of what he falsely understood the Owl House game to be. That isn't to say he regrets it or is doing so unwillingly, that's also a misreading, but at the very least, it's not something he would default to as a form of play, usually.

But that is just another incredibly important facet of this type of violence that we can discuss: most people who enact such erasure will not realize at first that what they are doing is wrong, they think that what they're doing is what's best for the culture they are bulldozing, and believe this to be just how the world works. While most of the time in real life this takes an incredibly frightening scale because it relates to structural oppression and concentrates itself in many powerful adult figures which are hard to empathize with, the Collector being a child in this sense lends itself to a different type of moral lesson here.

Put simply, this layer of his character and actions is there so that the audience may recognize that despite how he means well, he needs to change his ways. He is there for any members of the audience, particularly young ones, because, you know, this is still a show for kids, to project themselves into and understand that just because you think what you're doing isn't hurting anyone and everything looks prettier in your view, you're regardless still doing something very wrong by taking away what is natural and what is part of the identity of a people and a place.

To any younger viewers who may be just getting introduced to a concept like this, or even older viewers who have simply not given themselves the chance to think of these subjects for whatever reason and might be needing to, this is one valuable lesson to learn, and it is put in a way where you are made to understand that yes, you can hurt people in different ways than physically hurting them like Belos did, or even through direct but emotional abuse, and you can hurt people even when you think you're not doing anything wrong.

But, alright, we've discussed how the reshaping of the Isles by the Collector is important from a metanarrative standpoint. How does Luz fit into all of this? When does she come in?

I wanna get back to what Dana said in the post-hoot, about how this represents what was once Luz's dream becoming her nightmare. As I had stated before, it was only through Luz's determination of understanding and embracing the Boiling Isles as it is that she was able to have the adventures that she grew to love so much and meet the people she did and become the hero of the Isles and protector of its people.

But before she could ever do that, she had to be faced with the harsh reality that she couldn't will her journey to be better or more magical, that just because she couldn't find the world she wanted when she came into the Isles, doesn't mean that there isn't beauty to it.

In fact...

"Eda: The bones of the Isles. Up close, the Isles can be slimy—

King: And very stinky.

Eda: And gross. But if you look at it from a different perspective...

[The three of them look to the sky above the Titan's skull, where stars are beginning to appear. As they watch, a shooting star crosses the sky, there for only a moment.]

Luz: It's beautiful."

(Courtesy of the transcript from the TOH Wiki.)

This line from Witches before Wizards only cements what Dana said about the Isles showing the beauty in nature, in the cycle of life that we are all bound to. Luz's journey throughout that episode, and then adjusting through most of season 1, was coming to understand just that. And only because now she's learned to appreciate the Isles for what it is, she can denounce the violence that the Collector is doing to it as a result.

I think Witches before Wizards being such a parallel to For the Future that this latest episode ends up reminding us of such an early episode speaks to another one of the central themes of The Owl House: escapism.

The Owl House seems to have a great grasp of nuance when it comes to escapism. It simultaneously acknowledges exactly why someone like Luz might feel the need to elope to a fantasy realm where they may feel more understood, not shying away with themes of bullying, neurodivergence, and just in general any sort of alienation that can lead to seeking refuge in fantasy, while also reminding us that shutting yourself off from the world too much and refusing to deal with your emotions can be dangerous.

This is where Luz Noceda comes full circle, from a naive young girl whose dream of being a witch just like the pretty and powerful one from the books she reads guides her every action, to a now responsible and caring heroic figure who fights not just for her dream, but for the people of the Isles that she has grown to love to be able to live in peace, free from a controlling force attempting to overwrite their identities.

And it is also where our Collector's circle is about to begin. Collector, too, is enacting a form of escapism, not just through the Owl House game itself as it involves pretending they are the hero of the Isles along with King always by their side, not even just through the fact they are overwriting the identity of the Isles and its people...

But also they're pretending everything is fine, denying their own trauma. Let me explain.

So, some people have already caught onto this, but I'll just echo their sentiment: hey, isn't it really fucking weird that Collector seems to be so put off by their people's history, and also knows all of it pretty well, yet they still have King read that lore book to them before going to bed?

Well, let's analyze again what parts of the book Collector does want read and what parts he doesn't, and how does that line up with what we know of his backstory.

"Collectors live long, we watch things pass. To preserve, to observe, we must amass. What flies, what swims, be it predator, or prey, seal them up so they may never fade."

I think it's safe to say our Collector knows very well what this is and isn't too bothered by it. His eyes gets small and tired as he watches King read this, indicating he is comfortable enough hearing this part to fall asleep to it.

However, when it comes to this part...

"But should they meddle in our affairs, we’ll clean the planet and scorch the air."

That is precisely when our Collector gets incredibly upset, as if he is actively dreading hearing this be said out loud, and he begs King to skip over it.

This lines up a lot with his backstory and also his overall more explicit behavior in the episode. We know he wanted to befriend the titans rather than hurt them, and was likely upset when the other collectors killed off the last of his new friends. Many people have pointed out how upset Collector's expression gets when spying on King and hearing him and Lilith mention how the collectors wiped out all the titans.

And if you look at the edit that he made, claiming he fixed it...

"But playing is more fun, make friends instead, the others stink, boo!"

Hey, doesn't it seem like Collector is trying to make himself live out a fantasy in which he denies his past of having witnessed his species destroying the titans?

To Collector, the sweetest lullaby is one where the collectors learned to not trap everything on instinct and kill what doesn't agree, but instead, came to befriend the beings of this realm, and played with them in peace. One where he did not receive a horribly unjust punishment of fate for even trying to approach the titans and deny his own nature, but rather, where his best friend is a baby titan who reads bedtime stories to him.

All is well, echoes in his mind. All is well, so there's no need to think about what happened now.

Of course, I don't want to deny there is a possible counter argument to this. After all, if Collector is trying to escape his past, then why are there still pictures of the collectors vs. titans war hanging around the halls of the Archive House?

And to that, I can only guess that maybe this structure is not something he built entirely of his own conscious accord but is rather largely reminiscent of him trying to faithfully imitate what the original archives and structures collectors may have kept back in the day.

It does somewhat make sense: there are a ton of books being kept in the archives if you look at some of the backgrounds, and some of them even have further upsetting information. So I don't think Collector curated specifically every form of content in the archives, and it's possible he put those murals up due to a feeling of obligation, his collector instinct kicks in and tells him he has to catalogue his adventures up til then.

It's also worth noting that if we go with the second timeline suggestion, the one from Andy's post, it abruptly stopping when Collector meets the baby titans makes a ton of sense: he doesn't want to catalogue what happened after he met the baby titans, even though we all know that it didn't last.

Whatever the case, this form of radical escapism, one that denies even real life happenings to try and further close yourself off from allowing yourself to really feel any negative emotion, is something that is clearly unhealthy and has been called out before multiple times in the show, specially when it comes to Luz.

Dana has said in an interview that Season 3 would deal with themes of grief and how it affects our lives, and I can definitely see that with Luz and how she and Camila still process their grief over Manny, Luz's dad. Hence another parallel between Collector and Luz. Once upon a time, Luz, too, was using escapism as a way to cope with her father's death.

The Good Witch Azura was the last thing Luz's dad ever gifted to her. As such, it informed much of how she coped after his death, becoming an incredibly important comfort item that she treasured very much. Once again, this book very well represents the themes of balance in escapism: no one can argue that receiving the book wasn't incredibly important in helping Luz heal and cope well with her father's death, but eventually she also started having trouble realizing how her way of expressing herself might affect others and even having anyone to socialize with.

And listen, I know we all agree sending Luz to Summer Camp was kind of a bad idea on Camila's part that definitely scared Luz away, but we cannot ignore the motivation to want Luz to better herself was there. Because I want to talk about the fact that Demon Realm was Luz's Reality Check Summer Camp.

There is where she learned that even a fantasy where she could learn real magic and unlock her true potential world would not accommodate to her expectations, and that she would still have to work hard if she wanted to meet her goal. Not only that, but several episodes also focused on Luz learning emotional intelligence and responsibility.

We even had one episode that was exactly about trying to distract yourself from grief with games to the point you put people around you at risk! Reaching Out was literally about that! Do you understand! Do you see how Luz is literally just like Collector but older and given a proper system of support and not overpowered!

And yes, Collector is grieving. Just because the titans were not their actual family, doesn't mean they didn't care about them deeply, and so of course their deaths would affect them in a similar way.

Once again, we return to Dana's words about how the Isles encapsulates life, death and rejuvenation. Death is part of that. It must be accepted as a fact. And Collector's magic, once again, is one of keeping everything in plastic, factory made stasis. Denying this nature. Therefore, denying grief.

If the Collector is to grow as a character sufficiently to join our heroes, they will need to stop denying the past and covering it all up with sparkles and glitter and filling their time with only playing, and admit they are sad, they are grieving, and that they know horrible things were done to the Isles in their people's name. And that, even if they mean well, they are still continuing part of that when they mess with the Isles. Is this what the titans would have wanted?

And hey, who better to realize their need and call them out on it than Miss "Local troublemaker, nerdy bookworm, Azura fangirl, fanfiction writer, experienced grief-dodger" Luz Noceda?

[mauselet]

Watching and Dreaming spoilers

Just some random headcanons for season 3 (a lot of my Lilith bias is gonna show):

Eda and Lilith did have the big talk about everything between S2 and S3. They both finally opened up about a lot of things and that's when Eda actually forgave Lilith for cursing her.

Eda's haircut was somewhat of a result of a breakdown. Lilith offered to fix it a bit, but Eda refused. Meanwhile, Lilith got her hair cut after the big talk with Eda and she's the one who suggested it to get rid of her past self.

Lilith's glasses got broken when dealing with Owl Beast Eda. She can't see well, but she does see better than Raine did without theirs.

The first puppet to be freed by the Collector was Lilith. She panicked at first cause she remembered what happened in Eda's nightmare. She even quickly checked her hair to be sure it's still ginger.

During her conversation with Amity, the first thing Lilith did was apologize for what happened at the Covention. Amity told her that she was actually grateful for it since it gave a chance to talk to Luz.

Darius' abomination goop tied Odalia's shoes together once they both were turned back.

Steve questioned the Hexsquad about Matt and his safety.

Amity was so excited to introduce Alador and Camila to each other and did it right in front of Odalia on purpose.

She also introduced Lilith to Camila as well.

Mike Socks (Lilith's palisman) has been hiding in Lilith's hood this whole time.

Luz told Camila about Eda being a criminal, but only the sense that extended to Belos' Coven laws. Hooty was to one to mention Eda's other crimes, making the Owl Family very nervous, but Camila was very accepting and didn't mind Eda's other crimes.

Hooty was the one to suggest to make the Owl House and his door the new portal door.

Hooty and Luz love Lilith's new style.

During the Owl Family reunion at the Owl House, Stringbean transformed into a bird.

Luz drew her Titan form for the rest of the Hexsquad to see.

The Hexsquad parents all thanked Camila for taking care of the kids and did a bunch of small favors for her.

Luz introduced the Boiling Isles to the LGBTQ+ community and a bunch of people started wearing colors of their flag thanks to that.

Might think of more stuff later on.

[the-cosmos-withinus]

Shadow Puppets AU

[tohisprettyc00l]

Hii u just found your blog and I live your writing!!

Could I request a raine x Ed’s x reader type thing if you write that sort of thing

Where the reader find them self in the booing Isles as a team and become freinds with rain and Eda but they one day just stoped showing up.

Move forward and luz brings them back wanting to show it to them and it’s a cute sad and romantic ending for the three :)

Have a good day and remember to look after yourself:))

You have been with Eda and Raine for a few years now. It was like a dream. But all dreams had to end. You were with Luz and the rest of the hexsquad (plus King) on The Day of Unity. You were there for adult supervision. Also so that the kids have adult moral support. But things went awry pretty quickly. King got separated from the group and Luz was taken to Belos.

In other words both your adoptive kids were gone, one could be in mortal danger the other one was 100% in danger. Great.

And by the time King and Luz returned the draining spell had already done massive amounts of damage. You were kind of in a haze during the whole thing. You could tell what was happening but didn't fully compare it. And before you knew it you lost King, Eda, and Raine and were stuck in the human realm.

You were holding up as well as the kids, which might sound bad considering you are an adult. But the kids were weirdly strong for the situation. So you were holding up stronger than most people would be after randomly being separated from your family not knowing if they were even alive or not. And the kids were holding up 50x better than they should be able to.

But only a few months later you found a way to get back. Granted it came with Belos possessing Hunter and killing Flapjack but you were back. And after only a few hours of being there and only seeing a glimpse of King and no sign of your partners you were turned into a puppet. You were very barely there when you were turned into a puppet. You could feel everything but couldn't really tell what was going on.

When you were fully back you were welcomed by two people hugging you.  Eda and Raine to be exact. Tears pooled in your eyes when you realized. "I love you both!" Was all you could manage before breaking out into happy sobs. Eda peppered you both with kisses. "Do-do you guys know where King is?" You asked. Almost as if on cue the little Titan tackled you in a hug. You were with your family again and it was nice

[numericalbridge]

AU where instead of puppets Collector turns the Coven Heads and some other characters he could catch back into children/teenagers - without memories of their adult life but with real memories up to their current age, maybe slightly altered to keep them from freaking out. (Other characters who are not turned are not in the Castle and are hiding or whatever). Main reasons for the AU:

- teenagers Raine and Darius being the only ones who know each other, and they are scheming.

- the hexsquad arrives at the Castle and from hearing Hunter's voice from afar Darius assumes the previous golden guard has come to save him and runs up to meet him. A very 😬 situation (Hunter probably blurts something out about being the previous golden guards brother or cousin, but Darius is mighty suspicious)

- Raine deliberately acts shy until they can figure out the new people. Camila, trying to engage them, asks what's the name of their pet kitten (?) they are carrying, it's adorable! And Luz is, like, No, mama, that's the Head Witch Eberwolf.

[findmeinthefallair]

For the sleepover ask game, share some owl house headcanons about what happened during the time skip. As many as you'd like. :)

Ayyy finally answering this, friend! Sorry that it took centuries to get to!

The one thing I don't shut up about is Hunter's ensuing depression after Belos's death, contrary to the Hollywood kind of ending where everything becomes sunny and everyone can easily move on. We would see the stuff that a therapist would tick the checkboxes for in a mental status exam: slowing down psychomotor-wise e.g. slower speech, flat moods which are the unsettling polar opposite to the earnest emotional expression we love him so much for, distracted attention span, less tidy appearance, and he'd be sleeping excessively for some time. (full mental health meta on this subject here: link) Camila would be making sure he has plenty of movies to watch on the couch so that he isn't locking himself too much in the basement T_T Darius would be monitoring how he helps to rebuild the Isles so that he doesn't overexert himself.

Amity, the twins and Alador would go for walks to the store, in the woods etc, and this bonding time in restoring their relationships would be so important.

Luz's two main challenges would be: 1. becoming more aware of the domino effect of teaching Philip the light glyph spell in the timepool, especially now that everyone is coming out of survival mode, 2. the guilt surrounding Flapjack...I don't think she'd just move on from puppet!Hunter's words "And then I lost him, helping you. But you still get to have your own palisman?!" God this makes me wonder...what was it that the Hexsquad went through in their minds which led to the beautiful decision to get their red tattoos together? I'm gonna sniffle, jfc.

Gus might be the first person to broach the subject of Flapjack again, since he verbally put the same subject out in the open in For the Future (working with Willow, who took the flyer derby photo off the wall to show to Hunter and trying to reach out to him). It's also in line with how he was the first one to express sadness after they became trapped in the human realm i.e. he broke down crying right away. I love this about him whereby he may excel in Illusion magic but he gets down to the truth right away.

Willow is utterly exhausted and there's still some remaining upset from her breakdown about how much she missed her dads, shouldered things on her own and kept things bottled up. She approaches Camila not long after they leave The Collector's Palace to say that Camila was right, and to say thank you. And she needs a bit of space alone for the upset feelings to run their course.

Mattholomule has more surprises up his sleeve for Gus, lol. Gus just doesn't stop being flabbergasted.

The first person to say anything to Kikimora, who is moping and stewing away somewhere, is of course Luz.

Luz and Hunter more or less switch places emotionally if you compare their TTT and WaD demeanors (in FtF, they were both under somewhat similar emotional strain, in their own arcs). In TTT, Luz was very far from her vibrant self, ruminated on her guilt and slowed down so much, while Hunter was on the move: excitedly exploring his self and interests while being in his comfort zone of wanting to help others (he still had the capacity to do so!). Luz wasn't out exploring and connecting with others: she was in the dark prison of depression. If we flip this for the pre-timeskip era: Hunter would slow down by gradually running out of steam to even help others, and isolate himself before getting better...struggling with the absence of Flapjack and Belos, being frozen in time in terms of this bereavement. While Luz, 1. became unfrozen from her long-term bereavement by beginning to accept that her dad and Papa Titan were gone (an emotional place which Hunter simply cannot reach until many months later), 2. was reunited with Eda and King and on the same page as Camila, and would be on the move seeing what she can do to contribute for the Isles. There is a parallel between both of them wrestling with guilt: Luz's guilt about how her encounter with young Philip led to Belos's regime, Hunter's about the impact of his actions as the Golden Guard.

God this one is tough to lay out in clear detail but...the sleeping arrangements for the Hexsquad during the first few nights...emotions catching up to them...I really wonder what it was, and who would want more of their own space and not trouble others (yet definitely not being at peace with whatever was going through their minds) versus who expressed their need to not be alone at night.. Maybe Luz wanted to be with Eda, Raine and King in the Owl House, Amity would have her space back in Blight Manor, and we have Willow, Gus and Darius extending invitations to Hunter. There's no way I can predict which choice Hunter made, coz he may have gone with an arrangement that would've left the others concerned. Whether he obliged out of politeness or was firm enough to say that he didn't want to burden them...hard to tell. OMT, what if he slept alone BUT the palismen secretly huddled by his side in the night like in this beautiful fanart which is one of my faves??: link

Contrary to Hunter, Vee's response to Belos's death would be far simpler closure because she had zero attachment to Belos. Hell, she wasn't raised by him for an entire childhood. And while she would've had some survivor's guilt, we know that the other basilisks eventually came back to life, unlike (ughhhhh) the Grimwalkers who can't be brought back. These are the clues as to how Vee could open up more, smile brightly, and begin to explore the big wide world around her:

Which means she would've definitely been an important influence for Hunter's recovery.

Like...

How long till he could freely smile again? Camilaaaaa...take care of your three precious kids.

These are the first headcanons that came to mind. Might reblog this and add more over time. Thanks for the ask :)

[toastedclownery]

Ugh. Remember when the Collector saw the Hexsquad and when playing tag he offered them a headstart. That when Lilith called King her nephew he got defensive cause he thought she was gonna harm him like Belos does with his "nephews". That when Terra insulted King and their games he didn't even hurt her, just turned her into a puppet when he could have killed her like he did with Belos but King told him not to hurt anyone. That he has listened to King's stories about Luz, and that he respects King's boundaries not touching François and doesn't do it even when King isn't there to see. That at the start of For The Future he keeps smothering the little guy but in the month timeskip they barely touch giving him personal space.

Do you realize how much he's not a villain but just a kid that doesn't know better!!!!!