#again. points at the scene from eclipse lake

[wyldeking]

I've rewatched the Owl House dozens of times now and my favorite scene (excluding season 3 because that shit is magical, pun intended,) is Hunter and Amity's fight at Eclipse Lake.

Earlier in the episode, Amity and Hunter have a chat where Hunter proclaims that they both have a lot at stake, unlike Eda and King. She attempts to argue but is interrupted by the sound of her Tamagotchi-Text thing, as Luz sends a text that Amity misinterprets as Luz threatening her with leaving if she doesn't return with the Titan Blood. Hunter almost directly after takes off and gets a massive head start to Eclipse Lake.

While Eda deals with the scouts and Kikimora, Amity chases after Hunter with King by her side. She enters the room to have this exchange with Hunter.

"Don't worry. I won't pick a fight. There's no Titan Blood."

"Then why are you digging?"

"Oh, it's simple really. Belos needs Titan Blood to make a new portal key. Can't get to the human realm without it."

"There's blood in the key?"

*Amity tightens her grip around the portal key.*

"Since I failed my last mission, I thought, 'Hey, a chance to make up for it.' But I can't go back empty-handed. Not again."

Hunter is noticeably hysterical, laughing between almost every sentence he speaks.

"Long story short, this is my grave. Want me to make you one too?"

"This is really bumming me out." King says simply.

"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use, and if you don't pbtpbt bye-bye! Your friend gets it."

With the help of King, Amity finally learns how to interpret the text. Luz had never even thought of leaving her awesome girlfriend. Almost immediately after realizing, she becomes almost as bright and sunny as Luz is. With a burst of inspiration, she decides to give Hunter the best message she could think of.

"I grew up thinking that everything was an opportunity to justify existing, but there are people out there make you feel worthless. You just have to let yourself meet them."

She offers her hand, but unfortunately, Hunter notices the key sticking out of her coat, and a battle ensues. Hunter is sweating and incredibly anxious, which shows with the way he fights. Hunter keeps dashing around, making magical sparks fly everywhere. Meanwhile Amity is holding a poker face as she almost effortlessly dodges and blocks every one of his attacks. Every attack that she throws out has a very obviously calculated plan attached.

Hunter eventually tears the key away from Amity and they end up cornering each other. Despite that, Amity still very clearly has the upper hand, with a blade pointed at the neck of the battered Hunter that is caked in abomination goo. Hunter desperately thinking of a way out to give the blood to his uncle, tells Amity, quote;

"Listen, you're strong, and I'm tired. if this continues, you'll probably escape, but here's the thing: We know where to find you and your human. So just hand over the key."

Hunter's threat to kill Amity is completely empty, as they just displayed, Amity clearly has the upper hand. But Luz? The last time she saw her she was sick out of her mind and incredibly delirious. So Amity finally slips, the key cracks as her grip tightens, spilling half the blood. Hunter wins and slips away with the key.

This scene is so damn great because the emotions of the characters make perfect sense and intertwine with everything, we've known about them up until this point. Not to mention the music in this scene absolutely slaps ass and the animation is top-notch.

[probablyhuntersmom]

It's me again. The therapist/illustrator who can't stop squeaking and screaming about her beloved son Hunter.

I've been thinking nonstop about him finding the terrible grimwalker graveyard, imagining what would be going through my mind if I were him. Sifting through whatever moments, dialogue and frames that I can find from the existing material, along with references outside of the show, to formulate what an offscreen scene would've been like.. (And seeing if I can find editable and salvageable enough backgrounds so I could perhaps even depict this scene one day)

A soul like him who not only wants to help others, but also acquire knowledge:

heading back here to see the graveyard:

You can't tell me that this wouldn't still be on his mind, and he's even anxious while saying this below, scratching his face a little:

Whether he follows up on this or not, also depends on how he looks back on being shown this:

And is he just going to go cold turkey and totally drop these leads he was pursuing in the episodes before the finale? :

Three things prompted me to finally write this post:

@polyhexian's and @ashanimus's analyses of Hunter's fight scenes in Hunting Palismen and Eclipse Lake (links here and here, they're really cool to read!!), based on their years of experience with martial arts. Reading those was a revelation to me because learning about how high Hunter's skill level is, how in touch with his body he is by default, portrayed so well thanks to the crew...that allows me to make far more educated guesses about his mental health in the early stages of the pre-epilogue gap of about 4 years. Because he is so used to high activity and being on high alert, no thanks to having C-PTSD.

Observing how light and free Hunter's expressions are, and how transformed his demeanor became, in the epilogue sequence. That transformation is an indication to me of the magnitude of grief which had to be transformed within him. To be put back together, in order to be so radiant, generous and self-actualized in the epilogue...imagine how much had to be deconstructed and further broken beforehand. He wouldn't have room to fill his life up with all that amazing newness if the old isn't emptied out first.

This psychoeducational video by my fave author, also a practicing therapist, who specializes in traumatic grief: link. Hearing her address the topic of entering the second year after a bereavement vs. the first year, was interesting. Definitely confirms to me that Hunter wouldn't have carved Waffles until past the 2nd year of navigating his bereavement.

In the years that pass before the epilogue, Hunter will not be able to understand why the efforts he puts into all the rebuilding work, coordinating and leading others, and trying to have fun - only cycle back to him experiencing a mix of a restlessness and emptiness in the deepest layer of his mind. It'll exhaust his energy bit by bit. I bet he's going to generally look as tired as depressed Luz does below, even if he's had an acceptable hours of sleep per night:

That restlessness will be an awful psychological itch that he'll be unable to scratch, caused by losing Flapjack and now also Belos. This is the same as what happened with his anger in For the Future, except Belos was still alive back then. It will be harder to understand and messier to navigate the bereavement this time round. It'll be something gnawing into his soul which I really think only professional help can heal, especially since the show promotes that it's okay to not be okay, and more than okay to seek professional help (Steve and Lilith's conversation in Edge of the World).

He will be trying to claw his way out of that C-PTSD pit, but he'll be aware deep down that he simply cannot reach any emotional high points for long, and something will be blocking his feelings of connection with his loved ones. He won't feel nearly as free and easy the way he used to be in the human realm:

Having a routine like he used to in the Castle, and moving around a lot, was what helped him survive. However, he won't have the awareness that the shift resulting from Belos passing away has been at such a fundamental level: to the point that those old, supposedly tried-and-true methods no longer serve him in any positive way. At least, not until his mental health will be back in better shape.

As he puts in more and more effort to escape that restless emptiness, getting annoyed at himself because he doesn't know what's going on...he'll use up the rest of his strength and eventually crash. That itch won't be solved by going back to overworking tendencies, and like how it is with addiction cycles, he would need some kind of fix for the deep restlessness within. The answer? Productivity to feel useful, which we have seen even in his efforts to fix damaged clothing and well, making stuff in general.

Where the grimwalker graveyard comes in is...once he hears news about its existence, he will stubbornly insist to want to help in investigating it, saying he has already read a bunch of books about them, and can be useful, etc. Worse, if his offer to help to investigate is refused, he will do what he did in Eclipse Lake. Go to the location anyway, to fill that deep void within.

Old habits die hard.

I don't know if he may hear from King (who he'll be seeing fairly often, I think!), The Collector or even Kikimora about it. Since they were the three characters who went all the way down there in King's Tide, and The Collector already knew about these horrors for literal centuries. King and The Collector are also still young kids! Will they have the sensitivity and awareness about breaking this news to Hunter?!

On the other hand, I don't know how the timing will be with Darius, Raine and Eberwolf..Darius will want to get serious about investigating his mentor's disappearance. Once the searching and scouring extends to the location of the Head of the Titan, they will find the evidence staring them in the face. If they want to scour every inch of the Isles, there's also a high chance they'll find the godforsaken grimwalker lab.

Worst of all, Darius would be aware by then of how much Hunter loves to help out in operations like this to be productive. At the same time, Darius's own grief will surface even more, I'm not sure he'll be able to hide that, and Hunter is highly observant. If Darius is trying to hide his own priority of finding closure re: his mentor, I think Hunter will sense that.

Therefore I wonder if this will happen except it's Hunter with Darius:

and then this poor beloved skrunkly son of mine, who so famously said these words at the beginning of his arc:

is probably going to get reckless, and endanger his mental health...not unlike moments like this:

by venturing to the graveyard, whether stealthily or accompanying the grownups, because he'll rationalize it as "getting closure" and once again "being useful". Remember how used he is to moving around so much and being active, combined with growing up isolated so that asking for help can still be a foreign concept to him. He would be anxious about grinding to a halt, and he'd want to be on the move instead.

He may demand to see the graveyard, and holy Titan I'm not sure any dilemma will be as tricky for Camila and Darius to navigate as this one. Because preventing him from seeing something he already knows exists is, in a very twisted way, also an unhelpful form of avoidance. Avoidance is a hallmark criterion for diagnosing both PTSD and C-PTSD.

How far do they go in protecting him from himself? Where do they draw that line? They might reach a compromise where Camila and Darius accompany him there. Once he sees it, it'll hit harder than this:

Letting him see it means his new parents would have to fall with him, in the sense that they follow him to that emotional place: but while he figuratively does not have a safety harness when falling into this deep dark hole, Camila and Darius are equipped with harnesses a.k.a. higher maturity, less of a trauma history, and some tools to help him get better, navigate the trauma, and manage his symptoms.

Camila will have the warmth and sensitivity to catch and meet him as he falls (she interacts with animals in her profession, who don't have the capacity for human language, in a similar way to how serious trauma can't even be put into words at times: it makes you voiceless). Darius's shared past living in the Castle and grieving over his mentor will help Hunter not feel as alone once he has seen these horrors.

And because his heart generally became more open to receiving love and support,

I doubt he'll close himself off almost completely, the way he did in the first two-thirds of For the Future (god, remember these deleted storyboards??):

It wouldn't surprise me if he weeps and panics as soon as he sees the graveyard, and his parents give him maximum support through that breakdown. As complicated as it would be for Camila and Darius to give in to his desire to see the graveyard, a response like this from him - a child seeking attachment with proper timing - is a good sign of growing into healthy attachment with parental figures.

It is an arguably better response than one of the hardest aspects of C-PTSD: where the outpouring of grief only happens after a delay, sometimes a significant delay, at very inconvenient or strange times. Hell...if I were Hunter, I'd probably want Camila and Darius to just hold me close in wordless silence for half an hour until my initial distress and shock passes.

If I use King - a child who is securely attached to Eda, who's definitely had a more stable upbringing - as a control experiment here, he could have the appropriate response immediately in Echoes of the Past and expressed his emotional needs clearly enough:

Whereas this is what Hunter has to now learn, at twice King's age, as he settles in with new parents who take care of him instead of mistreating him the way Belos did. Hell, I can't imagine what kind of Belos punishment awaited him if he cried to demand attachment.

(I need to use more King scenes as a comparison to Hunter's upbringing in my next metas! I realize this can make my explanations clearer)

Anyway, what may happen next after he can't unsee the graveyard is...Hunter will then swing to the other extreme of high activity. I.e. being passive, physically inactive and psychologically crashing into depression, which may translate into habits such as oversleeping (catching up on all that lost sleep...but at what cost?). Supposedly sliding deeper into the C-PTSD pit. A place from which he has to express the desire to seek the forms of help he needs.

Remember that this kid has only known extremes for most of his life. Until he settles in properly with his found family and attends therapy, he has no clear reference point for more balanced approaches in living.

The trauma he went through is a quadruple whammy for a 16-year-old who just survived growing up in a cult. It would be so much. I can't see him not falling into months of deep dark depression, as unfortunate as this sounds.

Grieving over Flapjack, grieving over Belos, over his childhood/upbringing, and now a grisly memory of his predecessors who didn't make it (to add to what he saw in Belos's mindscape). I simply cannot see him handling a load like this without a highly-equipped and sensitive professional, paired with his support network of family, friends and even possibly the wider community at times. Especially now that we've seen him in action during the epilogue.

The epilogue sequence would've had a different feel (and in my opinion, a not-so-good feel) for me if Dana had established that the grimwalker graveyard was still untouched after those 3.5-4 years and if Hunter never found out about it. Something like that is different compared to Dana mentioning in the recent Post-Hoot that in the he does not know about Caleb and Evelyn, or that he is related to the Clawthornes. Mysteries like the Clawthorne heritage can remain an eerie secret that only us in the audience know about, but I wouldn't feel comfy if this were the case for the graveyard as well.

To quote @idlescree's video essay about Hunter's death (link), the show's writers didn't pull any punches when it came to Hunter's development arc. Which means they had to take his story to the "categorically appropriate place for him to overcome" his greatest challenges.

Something tells me that with respect to the grimwalker graveyard and the avoidance theme in C-PTSD recovery, Hunter would've had to put in more work to confront a number of terrifying foes even beyond his Thanks to Them speech. One of which was the graveyard containing the remains of his predecessors.

PS: This is a spontaneous post which branches out from my giant post-finale meta (link) that I pinned to my blog, I suppose.

[mayandjuly1811]

WHY HUNTLOW IS A FORCED AND UNREALISTIC  SHIP.

1. First impressions:

Raeda has the most amicable meeting. About Lumity, Amity shook Luz's collar and almost got Principal Bump dissect her. It stems from misunderstanding, because Amity doesn't know Luz is human but a strange non-Abomination that Willow used to cheat. About Huntlow, Willow seems to be violent for no reasons at all. Hunter disguises as a Hexside student so to Willow, he's just a student that she doesn't know. He's not a threat at all. Yet she summons the vines to wrap him tightly and drags him down the ground so hard that the asphalt gets damaged. Treating strangers like this is not fine and out of character for Willow.

Also, when Hunter is about to leave again, Willow drags him down the ground and takes him to the field without asking his permission. This crosses boundaries a lot. In comparison, even though Amity sees Hunter as an enemy in Eclipse Lake, she just simply uses Abomination magic to capture him, not dragging him down violently like Willow.

2. Understanding:

Raine and Eda have a genuine common interest in music, magic (Eda is interested in wild magic and Raine supports her). Luz and Amity are both interested in Azura, the idea of being not enough for anyone, the idea of being accepted and loved for who they really are. Amity is also interested in Luz's glyph magic and she learns to draw it many times. 

About Huntlow, I don't see any common between them besides flyer derby. The whole “Half a Witch” is forced. Half a witch means a witch who is not powerful enough. Willow is a powerful Plant witch, her fathers just didn't realize her real magic talent and put her into Abomination track, which isn't her forte. If you're only good at Maths, but not Chemistry, does it make you unintelligent overall? Of course not. 

About Hunter, first off, he is not even a witch. He's a Grimwalker with no bile sack, his pointed ears were adjusted to look like witches’. Also, he's skillful at using magic staffs so no one sees him as powerless. He's the elite Golden Guard, one of the most powerful figures under Belos. No one dares to call him half a witch, even if they do think he's weak. And how he quickly recognizes the illusion of Willow in S2ep18 is unrealistic. How come Gus, Willow's long-term friend can't figure out before Hunter? The fact that Willow seems to be scared of Hunter is understandable. Last time, he literally locked her and her friends up, then kidnapped them, he also worked for Belos. Who knows if he's gonna do the same?

Hunter and Willow know little about each other. It's one sided. Hunter knows Willow is a strong and independent person, a caring and selfless girl. But Willow knows too little about Hunter compared with Luz, Gus and Amity. They never have a serious talk about Hunter's trauma caused by Belos, only a short scene of Willow cutting his hair. In Thanks to Them, Hunter has a deeper conversation with Luz and Gus than with Willow. With Willow, he just blushes even though nothing happens. Gus and Hunter's bond makes more sense than Huntlow to be honest. They both like Flyer Derby, they both like Cosmic Frontier, Gus knew about Hunter's being Grimwalker and his conflict with Belos, Hunter comforted Gus when he felt sad in Labyrinth Runner and when he missed his Dad. Hunter's screentime with Gus is even more than with Willow. Their platonic bond is stronger than Huntlow's forced romantic one.

Feeling development.

The way Willow and Hunter like each other is too rushed and unexpected. Starting with Hunter, he met Willow only one time in ASIAS and started to have a crush on her? He only met her once directly and already blushed? And Willow, she treats Hunter the same way she treats everyone. Only until Hunter has power and saves her does she fall for him. It's so rushed all of the sudden. Some people say they live together in Luz's house for months so they have feelings for each other. But there are no bonding moments between them besides the cutting hair scene. Even though the show is cut short, from Willow's scrapbook, she and Hunter don't have any bonding moments between the two of them.

Comforting.

It's one sided again. Hunter is understanding and sympathetic towards Willow. Meanwhile, how Willow tries to comfort him is questionable. He just lost Flapjack and Willow isn't understanding at all. She gives him the Flapjack picture, causing him to feel grieving again. He's been struggling to hold back his grief to focus on helping others. This backfires really back. She should have waited until Hunter brought things up about Flapjack first, just like Gus. He knows Hunter is a Grimwalker since the Day of Unity, but he doesn't bring anything up first and waits until Hunter says it first. He thinks about Hunter's emotions after being traumatized by Belos 

Also, when Hunter looks upset, Willow should have stayed to continue to comfort him?! Instead, she acts like she's the one who is hurting and leaves. Imagine you're feeling sad, someone tries to comfort you. You haven't felt better since you need time, they feel sad and leave you. Now you feel guilty because you can't be happy to make them happy. This is making things worse. Hunter can't even make himself feel calmer after Flapjack's death, yet now he'll feel guilty because his own sadness and grief makes Willow feel sad! Also, when Hunter calls out, she keeps walking and ignoring him. 

In conclusion, Willow and Hunter are better off as friends. They don't have any romantic chemistry or deep understanding. The ship is so forced and rushed.

[welcometogrouchland]

something something fire magic as a representation of toxicity in amity’s life (which sounds really far fetched BUT! here me out:

She's practicing a fire spell in Adventures in the Elements where she unknowingly passes on the isles elitist/fantasy abelist ideas about magic to Luz, making her insecure in her magical abilities to her own detriment. Amity is also insecure in her magic this ep

She uses the fire spell AGAIN in Understanding Willow and like. Idk if I even have to talk abt the symbolism of fire in this ep. Amity literally ends up nearly killing her former best friend, with fire, bc of the way the isles toxic ideals of magic and strength split them apart, and Willow literally has every emotion other than anger burned out of her body because of this.

She uses fire magic in Eclipse Lake (I can't remember the exact scene but I do know that in FatCDP kiki refers to her as the "little fire starter") where she is, again, falling back into her pattern of needing to justify her existence, though this episode marks a definite turning point for her, in that she reaches out to someone going through the same thing as her and. Y'know. She almost gets through to him! She ends the ep in a better place than where she started though

and then we don’t see her use fire magic for the rest of the show, to my memory, bc she’s breaking free of those patterns fully from EL onward, even if she slips back into them occasionally (like in Labyrinth Runners). Last piece of "evidence" is how Boscha’s often associated with fire magic (her grudgby attacks teach Luz the fire glyph and she threatens to. Set Luz's eyes on fire in FatCDP) and also constantly bullies ppl like Willow for not fitting the isles idea of what a witch should be, and tries to drag amity back into her toxic circle in FTF just so she won’t feel alone anymore)

[karaokebearwithal]

Aylin Posting again :)

It's the girls lounging by the lake by moonrise.

Y'know before it all went wrong. (rambles and ideas under cut)

I really wanna draw the scene where Aylin first comes down from the moon bathed heavens to great Reithwin town to great the nobility. Like it starts with Isobel bemoaning the day ahead, her father Kethric is genuinly the most excited he's ever been since its been the first time something like this has happened. Ketheric takes it as a sign from his late wife and therefore is needling Isobel to "put her best foot forward" and "make her mother proud". And like Isobel loves being a cleric, is great at it and is excited about this but at the same time after bearing the burden of her father's grief for so long, she also feels suffocated by constantly being there for Ketheric, clerical duties, being a noble ect.

Like just once she wants to act in her own self-interests.

So like the whole town funnels outside to the gate part near the mason guild sigil. Its a full moon of course Isobel rolls her eyes but maintains stature. Her dad seems elated yet desperate that its the sign he's been hoping for all this time even though he'll never find what he's searching for. The town folk have all these banners and banquets and stuff to greet this heavenly messenger. No one knows what's coming but they know its good. Only for the moon to be eclipsed by an enormous pair of wings. A single flap alone, fluttering the clothes and hair of the whole town. Deep and powerful feather strokes echo throughout the now silence townspeople. A steady rhythm that vibrates in your chest cavity.

Divine moonlight bleeds through the feathers almost blindingly, its not an elegant or graceful creature that Selune blessed the people of moonrise with. She is loud, armed and armored, landing on the ground with a thunderous force. Her face radiant, her smile jubilant to the point of feeling threatening. Some more cowardly townfolk tremble under her seering gaze. A force of nature, a paladin of Our Lady of Silver. She bellows out to the crowd: "FEAR NOT THE GENTLE FOLK OF MOONRISE. FOR IT IS I, DAME AYLIN, DAUGHTER OF SELUNE HERSELF PALADIN OF-" (I assume she goes on for a while, its her first time in the mortal realm she doesn't understand time and the concept of being concise)

And Isobel is just fully smitten. Absolutely floored, completely and utterly in love.

(i always think she fell first, then after Aylin has dwindled out the crowd with her divine ramblings, Isobel greets her formally and that's when Aylin is like <3<3<3)

I Don't know the first thing about writing comics or panneling but I wanna make this happen somehow. Any tips would be amazing!

[blackyote]

[shows up a year late with Starbucks] Okay so. The kid fight at Eclipse Lake. Let's talk about it.

Not only is the animation gorgeous, but I love the clues that there's more going on under the surface than JUST Hunter dueling Amity for the key.

First off, the scene has plot significance right off the bat with Flapjack protecting Hunter, thereby confirming he's chosen him as his witch, and Hunter need only accept him to seal the bond. It doesn't matter that he perched agreeably on Amity's shoulder a minute ago, or that he's technically helping Belos if Hunter obtains the key... It's not about them. Flapjack has been around for 400 years. He knows accepting Hunter for who he is, now, is the best way to help him moving forward. He knows love is patient.

But the stutter in Hunter's teleportation proves there’s a learning curve here. "Real staffs are weird," he complains, and I love the hint of nervousness in his voice. But despite that, he's all in. He can worry about being tainted by wild magic or whatever later.

When Amity traps him, I love that we see the effort it takes him to break the bonds. Yes, Amity is strong, but it seems clear to me the difficulty is partially because he's still learning how to work together with Flapjack. This isn't a staff made with artificial magic. It's a living, sentient thing. His expression is wild, desperate. The boy is unhinged.

Case in point: He immediately sends a volley that reflects off the Titan veins, just like he'd warned Eda and King against. Even as he blips around Amity, his composure is nothing like it was in the fight against Kikimora in Hunting Palismen. There, his movements are smooth, his expression controlled, even though that was arguably a high stakes fight, too! But if you slow down the animation, you can see here he's wide-eyed and grimacing. Using a palisman, for him, is apparently like riding a wild stallion when you're used to a gelding. He's practiced enough at combat and magic to instantly get the hang of it, but he's still going WTFFF.

Then comes the iconic "If you really wanna help, then gimme that key!" While his manic delivery might not be, uh, persuasive, he does seem to mean what he says: "I don't want your friendship, your sympathy, your understanding. If you really want to help me, then give me what I need to redeem myself." He's telling us in that one statement that his self-worth is completely tied up in Belos' approval - in the present - and it's depressing.

His genuine relief at the end (and his attempt to express it) shows it was desperation, not malice, that drove him to violence. He solved the conflict the only way he knows how.

And hey! Accepting Flapjack as his palisman means he can finally understand him! I love how soft and unguarded he is in that scene. "Is that your name? Can you say it again?" And even calling his name "weird" comes with an amused chuckle, not an insult. I honestly think part of that is the high from completing his self-appointed mission, but still. They're cute, your honor.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Hunter during eclipse lake: I'm going to start digging my own grave now, to spare belos the effort

The fandom: well, this is both depressing and distrurbing , but clearly an overreaction to a parental figure 's disapproval of their disobedience

Belos in hollow mind: barely pauses for 5 seconds before literally burying Hunter 6 feet under with his own hands, and doesn't even give him the courtesy of killing him first. And it wasn't even for a massive case of disagreeing with him, it was Hunter begging him for a reasonable explanation, a comforting lie he could cling to to keep believing in him, and Belos didn't think he was worth even that much effort to keep on his side. If he hadn't brought belos the key, he really would have been killed.

This fate was foreshadowed a few times with Hunter getting dragged underground by willow's vines before and the aforementioned eclipse lake scene, implying that Hunter was always dated to die this way if not for having Luz's glyphs on his side. As much as belos filled his head with promises and lies of Hunter having a 'special destiny', the sad truth is, Hunter wasn't special, no different from any of his past 'brothers' serving the role of wittebro's replacement. The one thing that does separate him from them is that ultimately, hunter reached out and made friends with others without belos knowing or intwrfering, leaving him with somebody who had his back when Philip revealed the cruel truth

And the real cruelty about the Grimwalkers is, some part of Philip is hinted to have long since abandoned any real hope they'll join him and become his 'better version' of his brother. He has a tiny self-admitting smile on his face when the collector accuses him of making them only to destroy them, as if to say 'you got me'. He claims that its them betraying him, in such a way that he's referring to them all as if they were the same person, showing disregard for their individuality. The scars in Hunter's body are implied to be from belos lashing out at him during his fits, akin to eda attacking Luz as the owlbeast, but now we know what the fits really were, it was likely him attacking his brother's image in anger during a stressful moment, using the Grimwalkers as living stress toys akin to the ones bump have younger eda in "them's the breaks, kid".

Again and again he makes them, even as the same result of their 'betrayal ' happens, because by now, it's almost become akin to a sick hobby of his, a routine he goes through as an expression of his desire to control his brother and the reality around them, making and killing life again and again to the point he's become desensitized to it.

You know, when watching Eclipse Lake, I kinda played off the "digging my own grave" thing as basically a joke. Because that's what I thought it was. Turns out it was foreshadowing for how Belos would attempt to murder this child when he started asking too many questions. Good, that doesn't make me feel bad about joking about it or anything.

(I actually went back and reread part of my Eclipse Lake liveblog and damn, I used to be funny. What the heck happened to me?)

I talked a little bit earlier about Philip creating grimwalkers based on his brother as a result of his need for control like you brought up here. But I do wonder if part of the reason Belos keeps creating grimwalkers is that he has some sick desire to continue punishing his brother?

[drbtinglecannon]

Anyway here's wonderwall (a list of my "worries" for S3 tonight) (really only 1 is a legit worry)

1. Flapjack dies (please no please I can't even entertain the idea of this)(legitimate fear for this birb)(it won't happen)(BUTWHATIFITDOES)(it won't)(BUTWHA--)

2. Hunter becomes a Noceda, thus Dadrius never happens (I'll be so disappointed but I know logically from a writing standpoint it won't be a bad or 'unexpected twist' ending for him, but AHH I'll be so disappointed. I also wonder how that'd work in terms of like.. Hunter isn't gonna live in the human realm with Camila, right? That seems like an unusual turn, especially since I don't even imagine Luz will live at home full-time by the series end and instead comes and goes between Camila & Eda)(That said I think Hunter is already family with Luz & that Camila is one of the most important adults in his life & always will be, but actually having their name before we see Vee get it would be :/ )(This is just my very specific fandom brainrot that'd leave me bummed even tho I know it wouldn't even really be a bad thing)

3. Huntlow becomes canon or strongly implied it's inevitable, and people get all mad about it (I think regardless how people feel about a ship that fandom shouldn't make it the crew's problem, after everything the show has been through I promise one side ship isn't gonna ruin everything. I know only a small % of the haters of this ship act this way but I am genuinely dreading it getting worse & TOH getting that "is bad queer rep now" label that a lot of other media have been tossed under like SU & SPOP & LoK, over both this ship & if the ending is rushed in any way)(Like. Jfc that would be So Exhausting to see)

4. We don't get anymore clarified Wittebros lore, and especially we don't ever learn the name of Caleb's wife or if he married into the Clawthorne family (Cannot express enough how awful it is when media won't name the dead wives of characters)(I'd be SHOCKED if we didn't get the lore but I do wonder if the lore will include wittewife's name since it'll probably be told via Belos who probably didn't care to remember such information)

5. We see the adults in the Boiling Isles and none of them have any kind of design changes (this is just plain superficial, but it's one of those things that's lame as heck. Obviously kids' appearances change a lot quicker than a fully grown adult's but also the BI is in total chaos rn give them new outfits or hairstyles please)

6. The wait for the 2nd episode is really long. (Good time for the brain to marinate over everything, but also the wait will be so difficult, but also also I don't want the show to end)

7. Remember how Zeno said that the best acting he's done was a scene in this episode? And his other favorite scenes were in Eclipse Lake and Hollow Mind? So it's Highly Likely the Hunter moment that's his favorite is Devastating? (This is just point 1 again)(But also gd this kid has suffered)

8. Camila doesn't beat the shit out of Belos with the baseball bat (idk who I think deserves the killing blow but I want Camila to at least knock a few teeth out)

[dogbertliveblogsowlhouse]

IT’S BEEN A MONTH FELLAS

and tomorrow the new episode comes out! now, i feel it’s kind of weird jumping directly from the middle of season 1 alllll the way to season 3, so let me give a brief summary of my thoughts on every episode that i didn’t blog in between adventures of the elements and thanks to them!

Backend of Season 1:

The First Day:  a pretty good episode to officially kick off luz’s actual tenure at hexside! also why couldn’t this basilisk have been as nice as the one we meet later

Really Small Problems: development: tibbles is my least favorite character in the entire show, and this episode is just a worse version of little dipper

Understanding Willow: great insight into willow and amity’s fractured friendship, and i love a good mindscape episode

Enchanting Grom Fight: gonna be real with you chief i remember very little about this episode outside of the last ten minutes. but hooh BOY those last ten minutes

Wing It Like Witches: usually i’m not the biggest fan of sports episodes, but this one was pretty good! also has some very good lumity in it, which is i think the main reason people remember this episode

Agony of a Witch: pretty good first part of the finale! even if it DID write out amity for no good reason

Young Blood, Old Souls: great capper to the first season, great official introduction for belos, just really great things all around. also fun fact: all my speculation of “who put the curse on eda” during the blog was a giant ruse, i knew it was lilith the whole time, and i was going to reveal that during the actual reveal, but YKNOW. THINGS HAPPEN.

SEASON 2A:

Separate Tides: fun pirate adventure! man this “golden guard” character is pretty neat, hope nothing bad happens to him!

Escaping Expulsion: this episode gives some nice insight into the families of the hexside kids, especially Amity. Odalia Blight is a very strong contender for my least favorite character in the show, but tibbles is staying there for now

Echoes of the Past: i feel like this is one of the most underrated episodes of season 2. it really gave such immense depth to king’s character so quickly, when, god bless him, he really was basically just a joke character in season one. it sets up its reveal so brilliantly and does it in such an interesting way, without directly giving away the massive reveal later in the season.

Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances: this episode is some really neat insight into the clawthorne family, which we previously knew very little about! also they really gave lilith’s beast form one of the scariest designs in the show only to never use it again, huh

Through The Looking Glass Ruins: wow, they made mattholomule not completely unlikable! way to go! also the little lumity kiss at the end was cute, if not a bit overshadowed by events to come

Hunting Palismen: yknow what, i don’t even care that the bat queen was in this episode! because this is the first episode where we really get to know hunter, who’s honestly probably my favorite (or at least one of my favorite) characters in the entire show. love this boy.

Eda’s Requiem: this episode introduces so many great characters! it didn’t really hit with me when i first watched it, but it’s grown on me. what i just said can also be applied to raine as a character in general

Knock, Knock, Knockin’ On Hooty’s Door: this. mother. fucking. episode. this episode has literally everything you could want as a fan of this show. it’s got KING development, it’s got insanely massive EDA development, it’s got the official solidification of LUMITY, and it’s got hooty galore. yes, yes, he ate the letter, but considering who the sender of that letter turned out to be, was that really a bad move in retrospect. love this one, definitely in my top 3.

Eclipse Lake: this episode is pretty good! it’s got pretty good doses of lumity, hunter, insane lore implications in backgroud details that soon turn out to be crucial plot points, and one of the coolest fight scenes in the entire show! what more could you want? a belos face reveal? WELL WE GOT THAT TOO

Yesterday’s Lie: this episode has a pretty otherworldly feel to it. which is funny considering it takes place on earth. after spending so much of the show on the boiling isles, just    going on a small adventure in a connecticut town is a pretty wild change of pace. vee is adorable, camilla is great, that in-between dimension is wild, and the ending, hooh mama. great way to cap off the first half of season 2. (also yes, i too think it’s funny how much they hyped up “evil luz” only for it to just be a cute little basilisk with no ill will in its body)

SEASON 2B:

Follies At The Coven Day Parade: ehh it’s alright. i don’t really like kikimora, and this episode just sort of cemented that further. also knowing the fact that raine was faking being mind controlled would probably make this episode rough to rewatch

Elsewhere and Elsewhen: now THIS is how you do a time travel episode. great origin story for phillip/belos, who’s honestly one of my favorite villains of all time now, throw in some nice luz and lilith bonding, some collector-shadowing, and some fun time travel chicanery, and you’ve got yourself a banger episode

Any Sport in a Storm: okay, the last sports episode was alright, but this one just... hits home. thank you, thank you, i’ll be here all night. really though, this episode is really great for hunter and willow’s development, starts a ship i didn’t know i wanted, and tibbles dies right along with one of the biggest fan theories! what fun!

Reaching Out: this episode is mostly just some fun wholesome wrestling shenanigans and then dear god do the last five minutes hit. as someone who’s also grown up without a father, and is “totally fine with it”, the big reveal of this episode just makes looking back on luz’s actions throughout the episode all the more tragic, and makes the ending even more heartwarming. also the blight twins are as great as ever

Them’s the Breaks, Kid: some adorable baby eda and raine shenanigans, plus it makes terra even more terrifying than she already was! not as fantastic as some of the other episodes in this half of the season, but it’s pretty dang good!

Hollow Mind: this is my favorite episode of the series. “oh it’s just restating information to the characters that the audience already knew” don’t care. this episode is everything i love about this show. such intense reveals, character moments, tension, and even some comedy thrown in. slowly piecing phillip’s entire backstory together through the events of the episode as well as minute background details is genuinely rewarding, and the episode officially introduces one of the most important scrunklos in the show, the collector! and the ending is genuinely stressful for everybody involved. this episode is just a three-course dinner of everything that makes the owl house great. mwah

Edge of the World: AND THE OWL SHOW JUST KEEPS SWINGING, WE GOT YET ANOTHER BANGER ON OUR HANDS. this is probably my favorite king episode, it has one of the best double-reveals i’ve ever seen in anything, and even though people already sort of pieced together King was a titan, I didn’t, okay. this episode masterfully takes things that were already set up, and uses them to its full advantage. love this one.

Labyrinth Runners: one last great classic hexside episode, that really pays off to gus’s little arc throughout the season. also introduces probably my least favorite coven head, but he’s not bad by any means. amity and willow’s plot does meander a bit, but the real stars here are gus and hunter. love their chemistry, love how overpowered little baby man gus is, love this episode.

O Titan, Where Art Thou?: this episode is fucked up! okay, that’s a bit of hyperbole. the main part that’s fucked up is the sheer contrast between luz and eda, which leads to the one fight in this show i never would have saw coming. eda’s sheer hopelessness vs luz’s misplaced optimism is really devastating to watch at times. but, the ending DOES leave a good taste in your mouth, which is great. also steve is funny. i like steve.

Clouds on the Horizon: yep, odalia’s my least favorite character in the show! this episode is a great prelude to the finale, and also the first and currently only full-on lumity kiss, so that’s great. it has a pretty good resolution to the blight family drama, some great character moments between... pretty much everyone, and leads into king’s tide pretty well. speaking of...

King’s Tide: alright i’m gonna come right out and say it, i love the collector. i love their vibe of “clueless little kid with the power to literally destroy anybody and anything if they want to, but they just want to play.” pre-release and post-release collector feel like two completely separate characters (especially when you factor in the collector we saw in the owl beast’s flashback), but it works i think. also i like phillip’s “i’m quitting my job, time to tie up every loose end” energy in this episode. a great finale to probably one of the best seasons of television in history. i love how dire the stakes are at the end, and i can’t wait to see them continued tomorrow.

and with that, that should bring us all up to speed with where i’m at currently with my thoughts on this show! can’t wait for tomorrow, seeya all then.

[edoro]

11, 12, 13

11) do you write scenes in order or do you jump around?

in order! i have tried writing non-chronologically before, but it just does not work for me at all. if i try to go back and fill stuff in, then by the time i try to connect the two parts up, something has usually changed on me, or else it's just a slog.

(putting this under a cut because my answer to number 12 got really long!)

12) do you outline your fics? if yes, how detailed are your outlines? how far do you stray from them?

i do! exactly how detailed my outline is depends on how long the fic is going to be, but regardless, i have a process.

first i start off with my broad concept - "what if Hunter didn't get the key at Eclipse Lake?" or "what if Luz ended up getting stuck in the past with Philip for a while?"

next, i figure out the scope of the actual plot here. for paint the blood, it's enormous, and required much additional outlining. for 'but he talks like a gentleman', it was mostly a matter of figuring out how to get across all the relevant parts of that scenario without committing to another 100k+ longfic.

once i have the scope figured out and an approximate idea of where i want to start and where i want to end up, i start to drill down, and walk myself through it. at first i just throw down everything that i know, and note anywhere that i don't really know what happens or only have a vague idea. once i've done that, i go back and figure out how to connect stuff. i tend to think of outlining as a series of if-then statements - x happens so then y happens so then z happens, and so on, and in order to have my outline complete, i need to know every link in the chain there

once i have THAT done, i start going to either the scene or chapter level (depending, again, on how long it is - 'but he talks like a gentleman' only has a few scenes, paint the blood has something close to 20 chapters some of which are legitimately longer than the entirety of the other fic!)

for chapters, that's just a chunk of related events that occur within the same timeframe - i usually don't pick my actual chapter splits until i have it all written, but grouping it that way helps me get a handle on story beats and pacing and all.

within a chapter outline, once i start writing, i will have individual scene outlines - so like, let's take the prologue of paint the blood. the chapter outline is something like this:

-Amity and Eda beat Hunter -they leave him for Kiki and she drags him back to the castle -Belos is pissy and Hunter gets punished -next morning, Hunter wakes up and oh no! he's been found out about his secret palisman

and then each of those bullet points would be a scene, and i'd further expand the scene when i'm writing it, to map out specific character interactions, dialogue (especially if there's a long or twisty conversation, i make a note of who says what in order to keep it straight in my head), and this is also the level where i make notes to myself about what characters are thinking and feeling and etc, so those would become something like this:

-Hunter has Amity cornered, but then Eda flies in; he can't beat both of them, and ends up getting pinned; Eda captures Flapjack; she and Amity discuss what to do with Hunter and decide to leave him tied up but let Flapjack go to release him once they're safely away

-Hunter almost thinks he's going to get away, but then hears Kiki coming; he convinces Flapjack to leave; he thinks Kiki is going to kill him and braces himself for that, but Kiki has a much worse plan in mind: she's going to drag him back to the Emperor in disgrace, making him look terrible and herself look good; he doesn't really talk much on the trip back but when they get to the castle he asks her how she found out that he's related to Belos

-Kiki and Hunter get called into Belos's study to report to him, he's half-awake and pissed off about it; Kiki goes first and ends up spinning it to make Hunter look incompetent and like her rescuing him fucked up the whole operation, leaving him to either disagree and therefore admit he was trying to sabotage her or agree with her version of events; Belos is emotionally manipulative and horrible, then sends Kiki away to deal with Hunter privately; Hunter gets switched and then there's some creepy aftercare, and then he gets sent to bed

and so on!

as for how much i deviate from them... it depends! usually not a whole lot, but the story itself tends to change on me a lot. i go chapter by chapter and scene by scene, and i often end up updating my outlines as i go - i have several different outline drafts for paint the blood, because it's a long-term project. i find that during my first drafts, i'm very much telling the story to myself, so i'll get a few chapters in and realize i wanted to foreshadow something three chapters ago and make a note to myself to go back and do that, or i'll get an idea for how to introduce something that'll be relevant to a later plot point and make a note about that, etc.

but generally my outline is like... how i have any idea what to write at all. i do all the work of figuring out what direction i want to take the story in as part of the outlining process, so the outline, for me, is taking it from "swirling cloud of ideas" to "actual thing i can write down and share with people", so i don't tend to deviate significantly from it once i'm at the point of a chapter or scene outline.

sometimes i do! i sometimes add scenes, remove scenes - in the most recent Huntlow fic, for instance, that last scene was actually going to have Hunter trying to Fuck Willow Like He Thinks A Good Boyfriend Should, but then i decided that the whole conversation flowed way better if that never even got started, so it didn't

but for the most part, i stick to the outline.

13) do you listen to music while you write? if yes, what have you been listening to recently?

sometimes! i can't listen to anything with comprehensible lyrics, though, so i mostly listen to various -core and -wave type playlists. i am especially fond of dark synthwave, sovietwave, and also various lofi youtube channels.

[dansnaturepictures]

25/07/2022-Lakeside and home 

I had a nice little session watching the garden birds before my lunch time walk, seeing Collared Dove out the back and front on feeders and the bird table, Woodpigeon, House Sparrows and squabbling Starlings in a feeding frenzy. It was great to hear the noises of the birds as I worked today. 

At Lakeside on beach lake it was good to see a few more juvenile gulls than those present late last week with their distinctive grey plumage. I called them Herring Gulls last week and did again today when posting pictures I got including the first in this photoset elsewhere on social media I am not an expert on gulls, but I actually think they could be Lesser Black-backed Gull as there was an adult one on the lake and there seems to be a real influx of them in the area lately with one seen from home tonight they are usually around at this time of year anyway so it makes sense. I liked seeing the three Great Crested Grebes chicks once again with two on Concorde lake and one on Kornwestheim lake with the adult. I took the fifth picture in this photoset of the one on Kornwestheim lake with the adult. It has been notable to see the family across two lakes albeit two that join each other for three days now, perhaps it is to share the food out a bit. I also enjoyed seeing the Coot still present on Concorde lake it hadn’t struck me until I started seeing this one again last week just how long it was since I’d regularly seen them on the lakes here so its been good to have a nice run of seeing this bird. I took the second picture in this photoset of it. I saw Moorhen nearby well and on beach lake. Its that time of year when a group of eclipsed male Mallards with only small glimpses of their green head feathers gather on Kornwestheim lake on the water and taking cover under the trees of the island in the lake. This was a pleasing sight today as the sun started to re-emerge after a shower.

The star bird today was a brilliant close view of a Kingfisher at the back of beach lake an area at Lakeside I’d not seen one yet this year I don’t think and not for a while. It made a nice chirping sounds which I heard as I walked in between the lakes too.

There were a nice array of butterflies around on the walk between the lakes, the southern fenced off nature reserve area and the bowl and eastern meadows, with lots of Speckled Woods again including the one in the tenth and final picture in this photoset I counted nine in a Big Butterfly Count I did alongside ten lovely Gatekeepers, six Meadow Browns, two Small Whites, a Ringlet and a dazzling Common Blue. 

Key flowers I saw on my lunch time walk were water mint coming out a lot now I took the sixth picture in this photoset of one, fleabane looking really nice, pineappleweed, hemp agrimony, lots of beautiful red bartsia, poppy in the flower bed out the front, great willowherb and pretty little forget-me-not in the boggy areas north of the lakes. It was nice to enjoy pretty flowers at home on the balcony again. It was interesting to see the delicious mixture of bright light green leaves of the tree near the visitor centre the one that goes gloriously red in autumn with some red leaves now out too. This does feel early but I can’t believe its time for them to come out already. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of the tree. It was nice to appreciate and make the most of the green all around in the landscape it was a nice mixture of seeing the green well lit up by the sun and also looking dramatic during and after the shower with dramatic sky scenes the backdrop. I took the third, fourth, eighth and ninth pictures in this photoset of views here today. I enjoyed nice dramatic sky scenes at home as the day went on too. At one point I noticed a very small piece of cloud not too high over the tree line and a pylon in the distance nicely lit by the sun but it didn’t quite feel right for a photo. I said what would make me likely to photograph a scene like this were bigger clouds like it and sure enough just as the sun was starting to set I did see a scene like this with bigger clouds lit up well which I photographed. There was a nice bit of red at sunset too.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: Two of my favourite birds the Kingfisher and Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, possible Herring Gull, I seem to recall Magpie, Jackdaw well out the back at home, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Starling, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Speckled Wood, Common Blue, Small White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet. 

[welcometogrouchland]

for the character ask, Willow and Amity!!!

Willow!

favorite thing about them: I love a lot of things about her! But for now I'll be a bit general and say her arc of continuing to get back up and prove people wrong. I wanna call it perseverance or strength, but it's more like stubbornness lmao. In the early episodes she's prone to defeatism and that's such a far cry from who she is now. She gained hope and belief in herself and leant into the righteous anger she felt watching people she loves be treated like dirt! AUGH I love her

least favorite thing about them: ooh not sure. Maybe that early episode defeatism? Both in an encouraging way where I want her to get back up but also in the sense of "GIRL THIS ISN'T YOUR FAULT NOR THE END OF THE WORLD. TALK TO SOMEONE ABT THINGS!!!" You can see it a bit in for the future too where she interprets hunters ambiguous response ("I don't know") as negative. It's the warped self perception for me /j

favorite line: GRRR THAT'S HARD!! I'm not in encyclopedia mode rn but rn I'm thinking of some lines from Understanding Willow ("you said I was hurting Willow? I was just finishing what you started!" And "it's...a start"). uhh there's also "not if I never look down!" and "it'll be 52 weeks before Caleb's next day off"

brOTP: JUST ONE??? SHE HAS SO MANY GOOD FRIENDSHIPS MAN!!! But either her and Luz or her and Gus

OTP: sigh. Huntlow (I am predictable)

nOTP: her and Boscha. I wasn't in the fandom much during season 1 but I really never got it even back then. That is not a girl who's mean bc she likes you that is a highschool war criminal

random headcanon: OUGH I'VE HAD SO MANY OVER TIME AND NOW I'M BLANKING! Uhh would like magical girl anime (cardcaptor sakura and sailor moon specifically I think). Likes hyperpop and riot grrrl bc it releases her repressed rage and scratches her brain

Unpopular opinion: OKAY I get it. I also want willow to go apeshit, to have her catharsis and maim and kill. But some people characterize Willow as a lot more bitter than she is to compensate for this and I personally don't care for it, lol. It's Awful or anything it's just Not My Girl. She would not fucking say that

song i associate with them: CRIES. SO MANY!! Mona Lisa my mxmtoon

favorite picture of them:

^ this Dana pic!! There's more but I don't wanna make this any longer

Amity!

favorite thing about them: probably how far she's come from being a lonely, image obsessed girl who lashed out at others to a pretty silly but ultimately very emotionally mature person. She takes care of people more often now, while still having learned her lesson about respect and boundaries from labyrinth runners. Also her design/aesthetic

least favorite thing about them: bit wishy washy but a lot of the early season 1 scenes of her bullying Willow, Luz and Co are like. Hard for me to watch sometimes lol. Same with her and Willow in labyrinth runners. Mean girls just hit too close to home sometimes lol.

favorite line: ECLIPSE LAKE SPEECH HANDS DOWN!!! "There are people out there who won't make you feel worthless" SO PROUD OF HER. CRYING RN

brOTP: probably her and Willow since they have the most developed platonic relationship! But also her moments with Matt in for the future lmao (also Gus and Raine. In my head)

OTP: sigh. Lumity (I am predictable. Again)

nOTP: ooh I'm not sure I really have one! At least one that's based in personal squicks/opinions and not stuff like. Shipping her with men. If that's the case though, Amity/Hunter. Gag

random headcanon: she used to play piano as a kid! Was decent at it too even if she only got to play classical. But when she committed to abominations her mom cut her off of her lessons and pushed her away from it since there was no "practical use" for it anymore, not like Amity was going into the bard track. She gets back into it post-canon though :] would also like to jump off that starting point and play bass

unpopular opinion: hhh okay. While I think they could've made things more explicit/dwelled upon/whatever in order to communicate more clearly to the audience, I'm overall fine with the direction they took in Amity's "redemption arc". Bc like. She's just a highschool bully who's already being punished by her family when the audience can't see her. The solution to this would not be to punish her more. Maybe she should've gotten to talk things out more, somebody once pointed out that, in the main big redemption arcs in TOH, nobody really says sorry (ON SCREEN. Apologies are very much implied), just makes a gesture and does better, which I understand but also I like apologies they give closure. But overall I prefer them just giving her the chance to follow through on her promises.

song i associate with them: Babyface by fresh maybe?

favorite picture of them: I DONT HAVE IT RN BUT THE FACE SHE MAKES WHEN BOSCHA GETS DOWN ON ONE KNEE IN FOR THE FUTURE AND SHE GOES "heh????" IT'S SO FUNNY

[lindendragon]

Let's analyze Hunter's behavior during the Eclipse lake episode, because there is a lot to unpack.

First, Hunter asking Belos about the rain in the human realm. It's such a simple but effective way to show Hunter's age. To show him ask an innocent, curious question like the child he still is. A child that was groomed into the perfect servant since he was young.

At the very beginning of the episode, we actually see Belos' softer side towards Hunter, the times when he actually smiles at Hunter and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder and tells him stories to sate his curiosity. Times where Belos actually seems like a caring parental figure. But even then, we see his true nature slip through when he talks how "Everyone has a use" and "It would be such a hassle to find a replacement."

And as we see throughout the episode, that last line hit Hunter really hard, it instilled a fear of what might happen if he fails again, and that fear is his driving point the entire episode.

As Hunter tries to appease his uncle, we see him almost directly quoting what Belos had said to him many times, "I swear I can do better." It is clear that Hunter takes to heart and internalizes everything Belos says to him, to the point that he repeats it as he talks about himself.

Even at the beginning of the episode, near the caves, we can see Hunter's composure cracking, showing his desperation. But he quickly masks it all with a hopeful and upbeat demeanor and a forced smile.

One might think that when Hunter talked to Amity and told her that Luz' message is a threat that he was purposely planting seeds of doubt into her so that she can sympathize with him enough to later let him go, and it is partially true, but he is not maliciously misinterpreting Luz' messages as threats. Taking his upbringing and the way he acted during the whole episode into account, he genuinely believes that those are disappointed messages urging Amity to do better. He clearly thinks he is only bringing to the surface what is already there. He is looking at Amity's relationship through the same lens he uses with his relationship with Belos. A person with no frame of reference for what a healthy relationship looks like is going to see the slightest setback as a disaster. "There is nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you're special."

"I'm an awesome girlfriend."

"Has she told you that?"

This shows how Hunter is desperate for affirmation. He does not think he is enough unless someone explicitly tells him that. It implies that Hunter may have had moments where he thought he did good, only to be told that he wasn't enough, that he can do better.

As he trips up Amity and runs away, you might at first feel like everything he did up until that point was an act, but really, it's just a case of using your situation to the best advantage. His desperation as he pleaded with Amity to release him was not an act, it was real. But once he was free, he decided to buy himself the time he knows he'll need to finish the mission, and trips up Amity and runs away. Besides, he was literally a hostage, the only reason we're mad at him for this is because it was our heroes that did it.

You can be mad at Hunter for betraying Amity's trust in the lake scene, and Amity has every right to be angry too, but considering his circumstances, his behavior makes perfect sense. We all know from the scenes and their implications in Hunting palismen that his fears of what Belos might do to him if he disappoints him are completely warranted. It was all done out of a desperation to remain useful, because he knows what happens when he isn't.

It is literally a survival instinct.

So when he doesn't find the titans blood he needs, when he's exhausted all his options and he realizes that it's hopeless, he has a legitimate mental breakdown. He uselessly digs into the dirt, an instinctual attempt to still somehow fix the situation even though his rational mind knows it's in vain. He laughs as he proceeds to dig his own grave in some kind of morbid coping mechanism. It's all a frantic cry for help that he does not expect to get answered. Once again we see him repeat what Belos said to him "Everyone has a use, and if you don't, bye bye." The line "That's just life." further indicates how he has lived under this mentality for so long that he thinks it's normal.

His resignation is visible in what he says to his palisman, "Go find a better witch to be with." Someone who isn't powerless without his staff, someone who isn't useless to the only family he has.

This is where Amity has a chance to talk to him, tell him that she truly understands how he feels. That he feels like he has to justify existing. "But there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just have to let yourself meet them." because she did. And he can too. And it really does seem like her words may have resonated with him a bit. It really looked like Hunter could have had some acceptance of Amity's help, if only because of a "I have nothing left to lose anyway" mentality. It is unrealistic to think that this could have been Hunter's turning point. What Belos did to him is so ingrained into him that it is going to take time for him to fully realize the truth and come around.

On a side note, we see that his palisman is the first part of that support system he will build for himself, and it seems he will also serve a role of guidance, as indicated by him sitting on Amity's shoulder as she offers help.

Here it is important to note that Amity already has a support system, people who truly care about her and won't cast her aside if she fails. Hunter doesn't. He grew up in complete isolation, dependent on his uncle. He doesn't have anyone beside his uncle who knows and "loves" him, someone to turn to. Without his uncle he has nothing. Without his uncle, he is nothing. Even if Hunter builds the support system he needs, leaving Belos will still be hard because he is still the only family Hunter had for a long time.

So when he sees the key, that desperate hope is renewed once more. He can still be useful to his uncle.

Look at his focused yet somehow empty look. That is not determination or malice. It almost looks as if he is dissociating into a strange tunnel vision.

As he fights Amity, we continue seeing that delirious desperation in how he hyperventilates as he erratically teleports around.

"If you really wanna help then give me that key!" because a few nice words won't fix the issue, they won't make him useful to Belos. No, the key is the only way to fix this. And he has to fix this.

But he's tired, he knows he won't be able to win, but he needs the key, so he uses the one card he still has, threatening Amity and everything she cares about.

When Amity gives him the key, he tells Amity he appreciates that, genuinely meaning it. He seems to actually be a bit apologetic that he was driven to this. But he needs the key more than she does. If what she said is true, she won't get thrown aside and replaced for her failure, he will. What Amity did, it might as well have saved his life in Hunter's eyes.

Even so, it seems Amity's words have come through to him a bit, as he seems contemplative as he holds up the portal key. At that moment his palisman shows up, and he is, albeit surprised, genuinelly grateful that he stuck with him. And it is at that moment that Hunter starts to accept his palisman as his friend, and it is at that moment they start to form a bond and Hunter can understand what his palisman is saying to him. There are people out there who will love him unconditionally.

"You just have to let yourself meet them."

As a sidenote, I just wanna point out that by explaining Hunter's actions I do not mean to insinuate that it justifies them. "Trauma does not justify doing bad things" and "Abuse victims have a warped perception of reality and thus will not always act perfectly or innocently, as well as do bad things out of desperation and cause it's all they've ever known" are ideas that should coexist, otherwise we are demonizing abuse victims and making them feel unworthy of the help they need.

[ajaxtheabrasive]

Luz, Amity, and Escapism into The Good Witch Azura

I had a sad thought, which quickly multiplied into several sad thoughts, and then finally coalesced into a sweet ending. Now you have to watch me mash it out on here. We already know that both Luz and Amity adore The Good Witch Azura, to the point of wanting to dedicate a school club to it (where is my Azura Book Club episode? I'm waiting. I need it!). Obviously part of this is a plot point to give them something in common to bond over after their rocky first meetings, but it's so much more than that. They both project heavily onto the character and story, and, because I love these characters and have nothing else to do right now, I'm taking a deep dive into the girls' escapism into the series and titular character, how they differ and mirror each other, and how each has grown into what they desired to emulate from the series (why is this reading like a college paper now?). Azura is a protagonist that people are meant to root for and see themselves in. She's kind, brave, powerful, and confident, and her character serves to inspire these feelings in the readers. Luz and Amity are almost two sides of the same coin in this regard: they share traits with Azura that they can recognize and be inspired by, but they also desperately want other facets to Azura's character, with one girl often having what the other feels incomplete without. --- Sweet, selfless, persevering, optimistic, and forgiving to a fault, Luz is perfect protagonist material. The very first scene to the show directly parallels her with Azura, albeit with her own... unique twist. She's practically a walking, talking bundle of sunshine that can sneak into anyone's heart when given the chance. But in the human realm, she's never given that chance. Luz is someone who needs attention. Not in an arrogant way, but she needs to feel seen and heard by other people. As she alienates her peers through her overwhelming personality and bizarre interests, her bids for attention become more and more destructive, even for someone as impulsive as her. Furthermore, while she excels at keeping up an air of confidence and optimism, we can see that this lack of interaction with other people on her wavelength has caused some severely detrimental damage to her sense of self-worth and self-preservation. If she hadn't been immobilized in a blanket burrito, she would have crawled on her hands and knees to Eclipse Lake, and when she recognized how she had neglected Willow's own feelings while attempting to get Boscha to back off, she was fully willing to forfeit and take all punishment upon herself, even after seeing Boscha incinerate a tree with a single spell. Her self-esteem has been so damaged that, after inadvertently getting Amity fired from her job at the library, Luz spends the rest of the day working nonstop to get her job back, in dangerous enough situations to trash her clothes and leave her battered and bruised, and her first words to Amity are reassuring her that she understands if Amity never wants to see her again. How heartbreaking is that? This is the girl she spent weeks trying to bond with, the girl she danced at Grom with, whom she fell head over heels for, and she's willing to throw everything away because of her mistake. Even after Amity forgives her, and even kisses her on the cheek, Luz has been beaten down so much that she still can't imagine Amity having feelings for her. Hooty's Tunnel of Love is so anxiety-inducing that Luz rips the place apart with her bare hands, not even noticing Amity sitting right next to her, blushing as hard as we've seen in the entire series. Luz has the compassion and bravery she admires in Azura, and she desperately tries to match her favorite character's power and confidence, to the point that her outfit is inspired by Azura's color scheme. This is the reason Luz is so obsessed with the idea of being some sort of "chosen one" at the beginning of the series. It's unknown if there are any prophecies in the series (at least as far as I know), but even Azura's miniature speech, declaring her identity as "the Good Witch" and a

"warrior of peace," oozes confidence and purpose. As someone who has been torn between her heart and what is considered the normal thing to do her entire life, Luz has very little sense of direction in her life, aside from broad career ideas in the far future. In the Boiling Isles, she can finally fulfill her dream of becoming a witch and using magic, but, as seen in "Hunting Palismen," she still doesn't know what ought to come next. Eda taught her that she has to forge her own destiny, rather than wait for it to be thrust upon her, which she has taken to heart, but she's still clinging to the dream of being a witch, even after spending months in a magical realm, resurrecting a dead form of spellcasting, going to magic school, and even dueling a tyrannical ruler. By most measures, she has achieved that dream, and now she doesn't know what she's meant to do going forward. Even though Earth was a miserable place for her, where she felt like "a nobody," she still can't bring herself to abandon it, because her mother, her one connection to the human realm, is still there, and after "Yesterday's Lie," she's left even more torn as to her life's direction, especially as she's tackling the creation of a new portal door, resisting Belos and his forces, going to Hexside, and now keeping her promise to her mother from the people she's grown to love in her time on the Boiling Isles. --- Amity, on the other hand, is almost mirrored from Luz. She's at the top of her class, a former star athlete, excels at one of the most difficult forms of magic, a student of the (former) head of the Emperor's Coven, and has the all the prestige she needs to throw her weight around and get what she wants. Unlike Luz, she has her entire life mapped out for her: promote Blight Industries, remain top student, get into the Emperor's Coven, and possibly become a Coven Head of either the Abominations Coven or the Emperor's Coven. But in the process of this, she has lost touch with traits that were once innate to her very being. She's become cold, callous, arrogant, demeaning, and constantly hungry for validation, because the kindness and gentleness she displayed as a child was seen as weakness, and being unfitting for what her planned life course would entail. Amity is the perfect representation of how Luz's desire for an orchestrated life plan can go horribly wrong. In pursuit of what outside forces, such as her parents and the coven system, desired, she's lost touch with herself and others. Instead, she sees Azura as a powerful authority figure who can carve her own path, regardless of others, and she yearns to mimic that in her bid for freedom against her parents. Amity represents the other aspects of Azura; she's strong, bold, intelligent, tactical, and (outwardly) confident, to the point of arrogance. Some of this is innate to her being, but so much of it has been either forced upon her or honed and reforged by the whims of others that, unlike the fiercely individualistic Luz, Amity doesn't truly live for herself. Neither of them have the outward confidence they seek to portray, and the way they fake it represents their cultivated traits, Luz being a happy-go-lucky source of optimism and joy, while Amity is cold, calculating, and quick to hide any of the empathy that Luz so openly provides. Amity has been so repressed that, while it's clear that she is still at war with herself over her actions, she struggles to even recognize these traits in herself, and tries to flee from any sign that they might remain. "Understanding Willow" is a perfect example of this: Amity, though obviously torn, is willing to erase someone's memories to preserve the image of herself everyone (including herself) knows. The younger Amity we see in the memories is almost unrecognizable to her present self, and, though Luz helped push her to atone for her mistakes by repairing Willow's memories, the only reason she opened up about her remorse and failures is because she was directly confronted with the consequences in front of both the person she hurt and the outside party

she had hoped to hide her shortcomings from. Even after swearing to change herself and prevent any further bullying towards Willow, her knee-jerk reaction is still to lash out, as seen in the very beginning of "Enchanting Grom Fright." It's only understandable; she's been conditioned to think and act that way for years. We've seen her grow out of this toxic mentality more and more as the series has progressed, but hints of it still remain. Her need for validation has shifted from her parents and the Emperor's Coven to Luz, to such a degree that, in "Eclipse Lake," she's so desperate to get results and prove herself as a good girlfriend that she convinces herself that Luz would break up with her if she failed, even when knowing that, out of anyone in the world, Luz is the one who loves her unconditionally the most of all; the human was constantly trying to get closer to her even after being banned from Hexside, the witches' duel, the library disaster, the slitherbeast attack on the Knee, and seeing her past mistakes firsthand in Willow's memories. It doesn't help that Hunter was projecting his own toxic concepts of relationships onto Luz's messages, thus reigniting Amity's fears, but those worries were already there under the surface, just waiting to bubble to the top. --- As The Owl House has gone on, we've seen both Luz and Amity blossom into their own, and the two mesh extremely well. From the breathtaking scenes defeating Grometheus in a coordinated magic dance for the history books and fighting a souped-up abomination back-to-back to the calmer (but nonetheless significant) moments of borrowing Azura books and, of course, the legendary cheek kiss and confession scenes, the two girls mesh and bounce off of each other extremely well. Each has what the other admires, and they both push the other to attain what it is they need to improve themselves. However, it's important to remember that their character development isn't solely for the sake of their relationship; while Luz was the catalyst for Amity taking accountability for her actions, Amity swore to become better because she wanted to become better. While Amity helped Luz recognize that she can be loved not regardless of her eccentricities, but because of them, this had been set in place since Luz first set foot on the Isles. Though she's still unsure of her future and wavers at times, Luz went from a goofy, geeky social outcast to a goofy, geeky witch's apprentice with prodigious skill in glyph magic, a greater sense of purpose, and newfound friends and family to back her up along the way.

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

An observation about Belos!

The Emperor's smile reaches his eyes when he tells Hunter he's looking forward to seeing the Human Realm again.

He seems genuinely fond of the other realm.

Let's compare all of that to the smile Belos gives Hunter as he wishes him a good night.

It's warm, yet lacks what his countenance had in the other screenshots: some variety. What's more, this scene really drives in the point that Belos cares about Hunter not as a precious nephew, but as an asset he treats like a "useful pet" – if that makes any sense.

I thought Belos cared for him prior to Eclipse Lake, but nope. This episode Jossed my theory out of the water: his friendliness toward Hunter doesn't stem from parental love. It's just not there.

Someone help the poor kid.

[astriiformes]

Had an appointment with my therapist again for the first time in like two months and I had thought it was just going to be us talking about getting referrals, but it turns out there miiiiiiiight still be a slim chance I could stick with them so fingers crossed for that? I would really like to not have to therapist hunt

Anyways the real point of this post is that because it’s been so long, I was giving them a lot of updates at once and mentioned offhand that in the interim I’d picked up new fictional character I’ve been contextualizing a lot of my mental health stuff through, and they asked “Oh what show is he from? :)” because they were interested

And I know that therapy is where you’re supposed to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known and all, but if they do in fact end up watching The Owl House because I mentioned it and when I see them again in December they Know,™ talking to a mental health professional fully aware who Hunter is who has both heard me say “I relate deeply to this character” and seen That Scene in Eclipse Lake is going to catapult me to another plane of existence