#and it's all thanks to Luz (and their own hard work and dedication too! but it was Luz who gave them the motivation they needed)

[wingsyliveblogs]

Hmmm, it might be a bit tricky to make that work with the school uniform, seeing as you have only four limbs. But otherwise, I don’t see why not! 

Oh! Hey, maybe it can work! 

Luz is a magical girl now, and her superpower is studying!

I WAS RIGHT

OF COURSE IT WAS EDA, AND OF COURSE SHE WANTED TO STUDY EVERY TRACK

This means... Luz has succeeded where Eda couldn’t. Clearly, Eda did study all types of magic, but since she’s the one who built that secret shortcut hideout, she must have been the first student to study other tracks in secret. But Luz has managed to get students studying multiple tracks made official. 

(Without her, the troublemaker trio would never have stepped in and proven themselves. Without her, Principal Bump would have kicked them out of school once he found out what they were doing.)

I’m feeling a bit emotional about all this. 

[shiveringscarletsun]

The owl houses ended.. I have many thoughts

i finally got the courage to watch the last episode and my heart is racing and i cried for a bit and it’s an understatement to say it’s absolutely Perfect. The staff and dana did wonderfully trying to give us the best they can with the cuts that were made and everything they did shows how much they adore the show and love the fans and respect the viewers. I am forever grateful they made a show this magnificent. So here i’ll just talk endlessly about it because i realllyyy want to talk.

The collector

I love how they dealt with the collector. from the first time they introduced them i was genuinely shocked and amused that they had a kid be this powerful sort of “villain” because theres nothing harder to defeat than a kid who cannot be reasoned with.. the only way to deal with a kid is with kindness and mentoring.. showing them what’s right basically. However, since the collector is so powerful and had ruled basically everything it could’ve been possible to forget that they’re a kid and punish them or something.. but they didn’t and i respect it so much. Especially that their whole thing was that he was misunderstood.. Luz was also misunderstood.. they didn’t damn him just because he did bad things but went with him and showed him how good people can be. i love that. luz immediately understood them.. because she felt what they felt.

belos

i genuinely have never seen a villain this vile in my life. goosebumps all the time and insane audacity. them ending him without even luz actually killing him was genius.. the way he remained how he was till the very end, a manipulative scumbag. He was a Good written villain. a villain who had a vision, who knew his vision was opposed by all and made no sense to those around him so he sought power to enforce what “he thought was right”. exploited weaknesses and had no regard for anyone who wasn’t “useful”. the bit where luz told the titan what if we are like that too.. and how titan explained things.. it was on point and was perfect to mention it right then and there.

luz

luz was a wonderful protagonist. things weren’t magically just working out for her just because.. but it was all because of her very hard work and kind open heart. her magic was through her own work, when her friends saved her thats because she worked to make great friends who were there for her.. even the powers she gets at the end were due to the titan seeing who she was and trusting her.. knowing how dedicated and sincere she is. luz is like a tree that gives and stands through it all and i appreciate her. she started out a kid and got hurt after everything she saw, and they showed that, but she got back up because she is strong enough.. good people attract good people eventually and i loved seeing her grow.

everyone

i would love to mention everyone individually but i got tired. regardless.. the ending just shows that a good loving community will breed the most loving ,productive, and confident individuals. i love how everyone naturally grew into themselves, how trauma didnt define them and life treated them good. How those who were just naive and mean grew into their communities while those who actually hated everyone and were truly ignorant got left out because not everyone is actually worth redemption (like amity’s mom). hunter, amity, gus, willow and all the rest flourished when they were given the space to exist freely. A happy ever after isnt a single place in time.. but a life that one enjoys living everyday. i would talk forever if i could.

final thoughts

thank you for every single person that told this story and helped create it, and every person that shared the love from everywhere and dana. your passion flows and the love flows and you can get through anything.. A wonderful story, mesmerizing art, gorgeous designs and world building, heartwarming ending that is so well deserved. peace.

I wished to see more and more, but I’ll continue to cherish everything we already had.

[peachhoneii]

I just saw your post on Willow and it reminded me that Dana Terrace, as wonderful as she legitimately is, is still a middle class cis white woman(sorry if I sound too woke here), and unlike Matt Braly, doesn't really understand the cultural nuances of what it means to be a child of immigrants. We've kind of seen that with Luz: we never get any backstory into her being Dominican other then spanish speaking, or want being an lgbtq Latina would mean (again this is a disney show so they wouldn't delve into that otherwise but still)

I don't mean to Bash her, but it kind of reminds me the live action mulan: it's not enough to just plop poc and call it diverse. You actually have to understand their lived in experiences. I think that lack of knowledge is why she centers amity even if unintentionally. Sorry for the long rant and ask.

I appreciate your rant; so, please, don’t apologize. Thank you for bringing other points up too. (I went off on a rant on my own, so it’s all good.)

A dear friend of mine and I had this conversation a few days ago. I don’t mean anything bad about Dana but you can really see where she feels “safest” with writing in regards to the non-main characters. If I remember correctly, Amity is a character she relates a lot to, so we can expect she’s an easier character to write. EDIT: This is incorrect. She finds her hard to write and doesn’t relate to her all that much, lol.

My rant isn’t meant to say Dana is racist or anything like that but that The Owl House, for all it’s good intentions, does fall in the same trap as many shows do. Gus and Willow aren’t the main characters and aren’t romantic interests and their involvement doesn’t really play much into the main plot either.

An argument can be made that Amity doesn’t either but she very much does. Even her parents’ work is now being utilized by Belos. She gets onscreen development and backstory and is made into a tragic figure and she ends up dating Luz. She has an overarching development Willow and Gus aren’t getting and what we do get is minimal compared to Amity’s.

Another observation I’ve noticed is that both main ships are interracial relationships involving a white coded person. Lumity. Raeda. It’s not bad or wrong but something that hit me recently. Just a “huh” moment.

Amphibia does have that edge ahead of The Owl House. Anne’s culture really doesn’t come out and she shares it with her new friends in Amphibia. There are episodes dedicate to it because she’s a homesick teen. Braly really catches the big and tiny bits because he has the experience. He even brought in his MOM to voice Anne’s mom. We see so much in the little time we’ve got available.

I browse TikTok from time to time and was surprised to find a significant portion of the fan base aren’t pleased with Luz’s design and it got me thinking about Willow, who is as far as we know, canonically biracial since the argument was made that Luz’s design doesn’t reflect her multiracial heritage. I can’t say it doesn’t because genes do what they want and it’s not my area, but knowing Luz is based/inspired by a real person and her hair not naturally straight, I see where they’re coming from.

We know Willow’s voice actress is biracial. Korean/black. We don’t know if her parents were meant to reflect this or this was pure coincidence when Tati was cast. Just feels…Willow is really getting shafted and even with her potential episode won’t do her justice in the long run of the show unless she’s given a prominent role. I don’t see that happening.

As much as I know people will disagree, Lumity happening is a little unfair to Willow considering what Amity put Willow through for years. Parental pressure or no, Amity actively participated and bullied Willow for years. That was our introduction to their characters.

So, yeah, it would suck that your best friend started dating your former friend turned bully without some sort of conversation. I blame the network for that (speeding up the time and all) but seriously, Luz didn’t come off as a good friend for doing that. Knowing their history, she should’ve talked to Willow or at least had some sort of conversation talking about this.

Sadly, the second it was confirmed Amity had romantic feelings for Luz, we knew the series would focus less on Willow and Gus and more on Amity and Luz. It happens and it’s marvelous for the representation. So many deserve to see a full blown wlw romance portrayed but…at the same time, intersectionality is a thing and well, characters get shafted.

While Dana and her crew may have the best intentions, they’ve failed (so far!) when it comes to other POC side characters, but at the end of the day, creators write what they want to read and I don’t have high expectations for white creators to get it right when it comes to racial representation. I’ve accepted that. So, I’m not mad but am a little disappointed.

Like I said, this could totally change. We have half a season left and a few episodes for S3.

[pyroclastic727]

Luz and Amity have the same motives

Anyone who has seen The Owl House knows Luz and Amity’s dynamic. Not so much the fighting one, but the one that Eda refers to as “adorable banter which is literally making [her] sick.” They work together perfectly: two rivals who make peace. How do they do that, though? By finding similarity, mainly in motives.

Both Luz and Amity want to be witches.

However, they pursue this in different ways. Amity goes the traditional route. She enrolls in Hexside at a young age, dedicating her life to witchcraft. This is the only path she knows, and she sees it as a way towards success and (probably) pleasing her parents. Being a witch means proving that she is competent and skilled enough, something she doesn’t believe, as shown by how she points out other people’s incompetence and boasts about her own (this is a thing that insecure people do. I know from experience ^_^).

Luz travels a strange route, which you probably know. I mean, she finds the scrappiest, artificially-aged owl-witch antihero, who hates school and teaches her in a ragtag, reluctant fashion. Most of Luz’s learning is on her own. It’s very much the difference between an art student and someone who draws as a hobby; without pressure, Luz can be thirsty for information. However, information tends to be much harder to access, since a lack of pressure also means a lack of resources. (Thanks a lot, modern school system).

Both Luz and Amity want the other person to stop bullying them.

From Luz’s point of view, Amity starts as a bully, so much so that this YouTube video keeps popping up in my recommended, explaining why Amity is an excellent bully. It seems convincing from this point of view; I mean, their first meeting is comprised of Amity obsessively shaking Luz’s lifeless form. Sure, Luz is making a lot of mistakes and altogether shitting on the rules, but that’s what you do when you come from another world and aren’t even enrolled in the school. And as Luz sees, Amity repeatedly does things to insult Luz, someone she hardly knows. She specifically mentions Luz in her Instagram post, calling out humans as being not invited to her conjuring. It seems like she’s specifically targeting Luz, this person who just stumbled into the world and has had about three interactions with Amity. The other girl has really assumed the worst in Luz, which makes no sense at all, since Luz is, well...Luz. 

Meanwhile, Amity sees Luz as a bully. Remember Amity’s main motive: to become a witch and join the Emperor’s Coven so she can convince herself that she’s competent (which isn’t going to work, but that’s how us top-student types think). Luz has been destroying Amity’s plans. The first thing Luz did was help a student cheat on an assignment that Amity worked hard on, and then take Amity’s gold star, aka her symbol of competence, as a spoil of war. Then she challenges Luz to a duel and cheats on that. Amity has been working all her life to be perfect, and meanwhile Luz goes and cheats and lies and isn’t perfect, and gets what she wants. For Amity to accept that Luz’s actions aren’t bullying would mean to admit that perfection isn’t what Amity wants.

Both Luz and Amity want to enjoy fan content shamelessly.

For Luz, she is openly a fangirl at home. I mean, one of our first lines from her is an admission to making anime edits (what a weeb) and getting sucked into Feminist Harry Potter. She makes art and writes, and I would be surprised if she hasn’t written fanfiction. Yet her mom wants to send her to a camp to stifle her creativity. All the other people at school shun her for having weird interests (you’d think that would be unrealistic at this point). Her original motive for staying on the Boiling Isles was so she could be a creative fangirl in relative peace. Even on the Isles, she continues to be a fangirl, going so far as to cosplay Azura in front of Amity. (Luz is what would happen if Tumblr were a person, I swear).

For Amity, she wants to be a fangirl, too. She stans Azula, going so far as to own the first four books. The difference is, she’s closeted. I’m guessing that her parents put a lot of pressure on her to be perfect (or at least, that they used to). If not that, then there’s the embarrassment her siblings cause her, and her subsequent attempts to make her family name seem respectable. At least there’s a sense of sibling competition, since they’ll always be better than her, as long as they have more experience. All that has culminated in an internalized belief that Amity holds, that she has to be perfect and the top student. Would a top student read stupid books and sink into a fandom? No. A top student spends all her time studying and doing things to make the teachers favor her (wow look it’s my mantra from last year). Beneath Amity’s self-consciousness and low self-worth is the desire to simply enjoy things and be herself. Luz helps her get there, by cosplaying and lending her book. But she still has a long way to go, which probably includes standing up to her parents, and most importantly being vulnerable with herself.

Both Luz and Amity want to be valued.

This is at the base of each girl’s personality. I mean, Luz at home doesn’t seem very valued. Her mom is okay, but she is also willing to send her to a summer camp, and after A Lying Witch and a Warden, they don’t text at all. Her classmates don’t value her. When she comes to the Boiling Isles, part of the reason she’s so happy is because so many people value her: Eda, King, Willow, and Gus. She has a family and friends and is fairly content. Now all she needs is to become a real witch so people will value the part of her that loves magic. 

Amity has it way worse. For the most part, she isn’t really valued. Remember the scene where she’s sitting on her windowsill, staring out the window and brooding as her friends take selfies without her? She doesn’t feel any attachment to her friends, alone in any crowd she’s in. Her siblings, while they love her, are an annoyance to her. They don’t seem to see the real value in her, and if they do, they don’t express it. She would probably cry if one of her siblings said he or she was proud of her. Meanwhile, we don’t see much of her parents (I’m writing this after S1E12, for future viewers). Keeping in mind that Dana Terrace and Alex Hirsch also wrote on Gravity Falls, she probably has the parents that Pacifica Northwest has: a distant, cold nuclear family with high expectations and low tolerance for her. Without any love at home, she seeks some at school. We know that she once valued Willow, but lost her. (My guess is that she pushed Willow away). Her professors give her validation, but judging by how quickly they take it away, it seems more like a toxic dependency than a real relationship. By this point, Amity has spent so much of her life without being valued that when Luz extends kindness to her, she doesn’t even know how to respond.

This sets both girls up to learn from each other. 

Luz is excitable and reckless, and she can pick up some discipline and ambition from Amity. Amity is high-strung and repressed, so she can learn some self-indulgence and emotional freedom from Luz. Usually the best way to learn a lot from a peer and have them learn from you, in fiction, is to form a close bond with them and spend a lot of time together. Fortunately for Lumity, similarity breeds attraction.

[bakuwhoabro]

The Owl House Introspective | Zodiac Signs

hello hello. so it seems there aren’t any canon birthdays for the characters (yet). and me being me, i love to know character’s astrology signs because it’s a passion of mine! and i’ve more than enough time on my hands, so let’s take a deep dive into what the character’s signs could be!

*this is just my opinion based on my knowledge of astrology and how i interpret the signs. i’d love to hear what you think, if you agree or disagree!

Luz Noceda

Luz Luz Luz. Okay. So I’m not great at doing summaries for characters, BUT it’s easy to see that she can be very short tempered and act before thinking. She comes off as very social and easily gets along with everyone she meets. She’s high energy and seemingly is always on the go. But that’s just on the surface. At her core, she is very family oriented. She can be very emotional and I feel that family really drives her to make the decisions she does. She would do anything for anyone she cares for. She is most definitely creative and imaginative. And at her worst, she’s pessimistic and moody. And with that being said, Luz is a

Cancer Sun, Aries Rising.

(Possibly Libra Moon but I was too lazy to think that deep into it right now.)

I saw both of these results when trying to find her sign, and I think this works out so well. When we first meet her, she resembles an Aries. Loud and outspoken. A little firecracker ready to stand up for what she believes in. And I think her core (her sun sign) really powers this. As we get to know her, we see a more emotional side to her. As for the Libra moon thing, I took a quiz to get an idea of what signs she may be and Libra was in the top three. And it would make sense. But I’m not entirely sure.

Eda Clawthorne

The wonderful, amazing, perfect, beautiful, awesome, (okay, we get it you love Eda) Eda. She’s hard to figure out. Which is a part of her character so cool deal. She is outgoing and passionate. She adapts very easily to change and maybe even prefers it. She loves adventure and definitely doesn’t like to be forced into a single box. She wants to learn any and everything. She thrives on being able to do her own thing and figure out the world through experience rather than learning by the book. She is humorous and fun to be around. But she can also be impulsive and not really think before she acts. She also doesn’t really consider others when doing so. But despite all of that, she is also very secretive. She hides a lot of herself and rarely opens up emotionally, even though she has a lot of feelings. She hides her emotions often. This is a conflict between her sun sign and rising sign, though her rising tends to hide emotions despite having a surplus of them. With all that being said, Eda is a

Sagittarius Sun, Scorpio Rising.

(Aries moon maybe, I dunno. Aries is somewhere in her chart. Maybe she’s an Aries Mars but I’m not going that deep 😂)

As a fellow Sagittarius, I relate to her a lot in terms of her description I wrote. Sagittarians tend to hide their emotions and insecurities under a facade of optimism and outgoing-ness. They don’t like to dwell on the negative and just want to have fun. They bounce around place to place in search of what fills them with life. Motivation. Knowledge. And with her rising, she can present herself as mysterious. There is a conflict in the show where she doesn’t really open up (aka. Raine.). And since rising signs symbolize the ‘you’ you show to others, this checks out.

King

King!!!! I fucking love this guy. He’s funny. Deadpan kinda humor. So first impressions, he’s very extravagant and loves being the center of attention. He loves control and likes to feel as if he is a leader in all situations. He can be very egotistical. And he definitely has tendencies of pushing people under the bus in order to gain for himself. He has a dark sense of humor and can be violent. There’s a lot under that “me me me” surface though. He can be very dedicated and passionate. He hides his emotions, much like Eda. He doesn’t like the fact that a lot of his past is unknown. He doesn’t like not being in the know. A lot of his character is secretive, not necessarily by choice. That being said, the lovely King is a:

Scorpio Sun, Leo Rising.

(Apparently Sagittarius and Virgo were high up in the rankings for him, so that can be taken into consideration for his moon. Virgo moon maybe. Sagittarius doesn’t really fit his vibe??)

I know a lot of people might see him as a Leo sun, but I think Leo Rising fits him more since that’s what he portrays to others. Think of rising signs as your “outer” self and your sun sign as your “inner” self. That’s very vague and it all depends on your chart as a whole but that makes it a little easier to understand, at least for me. As we get to know King, there is a deep vast of emotions under the surface of his confident and cocky exterior. I think these placements fit him well.

Hooty

Okay. Hm. Love to hate him. Hate to love him. Just as you’re starting to like him, he just- pulls a Hooty. He’s good natured at heart. All he wants is everyone in his life to get along and love each other. And he will stop at nothing to help solve any conflict. It’s almost as if he wants to feel wanted. He’s got a maternal vibe to him too. He is also very emotional, and it annoys me when he goes all “woe is me”. But that’s Hooty. He craves to be accepted just as he accepts everyone else. He cares deeply for his family. So Hooty is a:

Libra Sun, Cancer Rising.

(Virgo moon maybe. Virgo was high up there. Virgo something.)

These placements just make sense with who he is. I personally don’t like cancers for the sole reason that they act like hooty at their worst (and I’ve only met Cancers who were at their worst sadly.) But he’s also so warm hearted and loves to care for others. Libra’s want everything to be equal and for everything to be harmonious. And that’s exactly what Hooty strives for.

Amity Blight

One of the best character development I’ve seen with this one, so far at least I don’t watch a lot of new media. But no, I love her. I’m sure we all do. She’s very cool. At first glance, she is very passionate about her status and goals. She works very hard to keep up the appearance of power and control. She wants to come off as put together. Everything has to go perfectly for her. And it seemingly is, but that’s only a mask. Under all of that is a girl who is overwhelmed with the pressure to be perfect. The pressure of fitting her parent’s expectations, as well as her own. Expectations that are wildly unachievable at the rate she wants. She’s meticulous with her ways. But also shy and reserved. She is picky when it comes to people she opens up to. But when she deems a person worthy of her time, she is more than caring. She pushes herself too hard and she is way to hard on herself. She strives to be the best even if it takes away from her sanity. And with that being said, Amity is a:

Virgo Sun, Capricorn Rising.

(Potential Aquarius Moon because yes.)

If any of you have known a Capricorn, you can’t deny Amity acts like one. She can be rude at first. She is intimidating. She is THE best. She works hard and never stops. But she also is very pessimistic and judges herself hard. I don’t know how to describe it, you’d have to be close with a Capricorn to understand what I mean when I explain them. As for her sun, this is perfect. I don’t understand earth signs very much so I can’t truly describe them to you, but she’s a Virgo. For sure. It’s the vibe they give off.

Conclusion

And that’s that for the main-ish cast! If you’d like me to cover the supporting characters, such as Willow, Gus, Lilith, Raine, Hunter etc- let me know. I probably will. What did you think of my interpretations? I think I got pretty close! Of course, I might be off when their birthdays are ever released, but I like what I decided on. I love love love astrology and diving deep into their potential charts in accordance to how they are etc. I do this in my free time (aka. at 3am when I���m bored.) so I decided to share. I might do more for other shows! What are your sign(s)? Do you relate to any of these characters?

Anyways, I’m off. Thanks for reading. Ignore any typos I’ve missed. It’s 2am and I’m tired.

-Ambrose.

[citadelspires]

P1-Looking at how great your posts on how Anne,Sasha,&Marcy would interact with both the Duck nephews and Team Magic, I thought I may as well do one on them interacting with Owl House kids and add Sprig & Polly in there too to even it out. Who do you think the Calamity trio, Sprig, and Polly would get along with the best individually between Luz, Amity, King, Willow, and Gus? I'd assume Luz with Marcy (both fantasy nerds), Amity with Sasha (both not so good friends and maybe not so good parents)

First off, thank you I'm glad you enjoyed my posts about the duck crew! Secondly, I am so sorry it took so long to get to this ask, given how much I loved doing the stuff with the duck kids and amphibia girls the first two times around, these types of asks are my absolute favorites to get, so I decided to wait till I had the time to really put some thought into it and give it the response it deserves! That being said, lets get to it! (rest of the post under the cut cause wow this is long)

Ok so I do agree that Luz and Marcy would get along splendidly but I am saving Marcy for later because I have plans for her, along with a few factors that lead me to believe there's some interesting fun to be had with another combination. While Marcy and Luz both share the "enamored with another world" aspect, Marcy's approach is to enjoy diving into studies and making herself useful on commanded missions and such. Luz can't study for longer than a few minutes at a time, and while she's always down to help her friends, she's also perfectly content causing chaos in the home of a known criminal. However, there is a character from Amphibia who loves to engage in the daring adventure side of the world of amphibia, diving headfirst into whatever trouble they can find, regardless of how much they do or do not know what they're getting into.

Luz is a perfect match to go on chaotic adventures and have massive amounts of fun with Sprig. Sprig, especially at the start of Amphibia, is always the one dragging Anne along on all kinds of adventures in the wilds of amphibia, and Luz is the driving force behind exploring the boiling isles and finding new adventures and places to see, exciting things to do. Whether Sprig ended up on the boiling isles or Luz ended up in Amphibia, I'm certain one of the pair would immediately ask if there were any cool and potentially dangerous places to explore, and the other would be the first one to take them up on it. Sprig would get the chance to see more of what the people from Anne's world are like, and Luz would get the chance to see a little glimpse of that "PG fantasy adventure" she was looking for in the first place. Overall the two of them would have so much fun together, on that I am certain.

Next up, I will admit there are probably better characters for each of these two to get matched up with, so this is admittedly a bit of the two being leftover, but I do think I can buildup a pretty solid argument for the pairing. Willow and Polly is a strange duo on the surface. Polly is bold, loud, and aggressive. Willow is calm, quiet, and gentle. However I think there's some potential there. I think Willow is a really great person to keep Polly out of trouble, in the hypothetical scenario Polly is let loose on the boiling isles that would be a complete disaster(for the isles, Polly would come out of a fistfight with the entire emperors coven unscathed) unless someone was there to reign her in. At first Polly might be a little reluctant to be looked after by someone who is just another kid in her eyes, but we've seen bits and pieces of Polly where we're reminded that, as aggressive as she can be sometimes, she's still just a kid. She's not immune to love and affection, and I think Willow is just the kindhearted, loving person to help Polly feel a little more okay with not always being the strong brave kid she tries so hard to be. As a little bonus I think it would be pretty great for Polly to think she's got Willow and her softhearted nature all figured out after some time only to be taken completely by surprise by the sudden realization the moment Willow uses her magic that "oh hold up this girl is insanely powerful." To be honest that might be a pretty great experience too for her to see that power comes in many shapes and forms. (A lot of the people who are able to fight in amphibia are more agressive about it than willow is so it would be new for polly). This goes double if Willow meets Polly in Amphibia because I mean have you seen how much foliage is in that world? Dear Lord Willow would be a god.

(it is at this point that I realize how long this post is gonna be, maybe I should go put a cut up there somewhere)

For the third pairing I will now reveal where I decided to send Marcy. I would absolutely love to see interactions between Gus and Marcy. Just imagine it. I would argue that Gus is the most curious and inquisitive owl house kid, as well as the most inclined to actually be constantly studying new things instead of jumping right into them. Gus is a dedicated investigator (perhaps too dedicated) and Marcy can absolutely get behind that. Beyond that I think Gus would lose his mind to find another human in the first place, let alone one who can probably recite all of human history off the top of her head. Meanwhile with Marcy, she would be absolutely fascinated by everything and everyone in the boiling isles, and I can just imagine right now that every time she had a new question she'd pose it to Gus and Gus would be like "I... I don't know. *excitedly* I don't know! Let's go find out!" cue the two of them rushing off to investigate:tm:. Also! More than anything else i want Marcy to help provide suggestions to Gus on how to improve/expand his tunnels under hexside because I NEVER FORGOT THE TUNNELS.

With only two pairs leftover y'all can probably guess who's going with who. Unless you can't that would also be fair. I am kinda throwing a curveball with Sasha's I suppose, but I think it actually works out pretty well. Sasha and King have incredibly similar ideas about just about everything. While I think initially King would try to order Sasha around and it would get on Sasha's nerves severely, once that toned down, the two of them would get along really well. Sasha wouldn't see King as a threat due to his size and overall lack of power, and King would just continue seeing Sasha as a very strong pawn, though not out loud so she doesn't yell at him. I mean, we've seen what King would act like provided he became a teenager and it's honestly pretty in line with how Sasha would take over and be in power. I can absolutely see the two of them conspiring to run the whole isle, whether or not those plans ever actually come to fruition, I think she'd develop a soft spot for him.

And finally, I think there's a lot of untapped potential with Anne and Amity. While Anne is more coming from the past of the person who got pushed around and Amity is more the one who did the pushing, the two of them have more to bond over than it would seem. The core concept at the depths of each of their characters, is a chance for them to finally figure out who they are and what they want to be. With Anne it's been Sasha's presence and her need to be socially connected at all times that drove her to have a messed up view of friendship (friends are there to do stuff for other friends, like an exchange for their love), and the feeling she should just be quiet and let everything happen to/around her. With Amity it's the constant pressure from her parents to let them define her along everything she does and all of her relationships. Both Anne and Amity are in a place where, after spending so much time missing out on the chance to form their own identities and become their own people, they're finally starting to realize they can decide who they are. They're finally going to find themselves, and it's gonna be beautiful.

[sepublic]

Amity’s ‘role’ in Luz’s fantasy

          So recently I had an epiphany thanks to @lost-gatesofhell, about Luz and her initial interest in Amity. I have to wonder if at first, Luz was partially interested in befriending Amity because it’d be like Azura befriending HER rival... In the sense that she’s trying to live out her fantasies, without considering that Amity is her own person and not a ‘prize’ to be won. I hate to compare Luz like this... but it could’ve been like how Warden Wrath was drawn to the ‘allure’, the IDEA of Eda as someone who was ‘hard to get’, a prize to be won... Of course in Luz’s case, she’s a lot less patronizing and objectifying of Amity, as seen when she respects the girl’s boundaries as soon as they’re set.

         Still, there’s this idea that while Luz is working on it, she hasn’t totally overcome her penchant for applying fantasy to real life and projecting her little adventures over what’s actually happening, for the sake of living them out... Obviously she learned her lesson in Episode 2, but like anyone else she’s not perfect and still liable to making the same mistakes from time to time, even if they’re a lot less frequent. Particularly, Luz learned not to expect the Boiling Isles to specifically cater to her fantasies, and to recognize situations for what they actually were. If Luz wanted a ‘magical destiny’ or adventure or anything like that, she’d have to work for it to happen, as Eda suggested.

         Of course, while Luz learned not to be entitled nor to expect life to just hand over her fantasies to her, there’s still this expectation and willingness to use Amity to fulfill that enemies to lovers friends trope, under the idea that at least Luz is ‘working’ for it. Luz knew then that things wouldn’t automatically be how she wanted them to be, and that she had to recognize this; But she’s still willing to make them fit her idealized fantasy regardless... Again tying back to what Eda said about having to ‘make your own destiny’, but there’s also the issue of boundaries and limits to be set, especially when actual people are involved.

        Sometimes, you just can’t live out your fantasy, period… Nor can you expect reality to change into it, even if you DO put in the work to alter it accordingly. Even if it is possible, is it ethical and worth the effort to steamroll over the autonomy of others, and see them only as tropes and roles to fulfill in your story? Not as people with their own stories? Maybe it’s pointless to try to make up for this by occasionally ‘fulfilling your part’ in another person’s story, because nobody should have to deal with that sort of expectation at all, period! Even if it’s consensual on behalf of both parties, it’s still pretty sus... And it ties into the ideas of the Coven System, of Witches having to fulfill a certain role, be it as the Bard, or the Oracle, or the Illusionist... That you have to stick to a particular trope, that there’s no mixing parts or being creative with this!

       Everybody has to be quickly and readily defined by a specific role they can neatly fit into, as ordained by Belos; There’s no room for growing beyond that, save for special people like those who fit into the Emperor’s Coven, the kind who are worthy of being ‘main characters’ in a sense, and thus allowed to be fleshed-out and ‘unique’! Everybody else, though- They’re a side-character, an NPC. It’s like those jokes of friend groups consisting of ‘the smart one’, the ‘funny one’, ‘the jock’, etc., but taken to a dark and far too literal extreme. There’s no room for someone to be the funny one AND a jock, that guy’s already a jock, don’t encroach on other people’s roles, you’ll get distracted from the specific function you have to fulfill!

        (There isn’t anything wrong with doing this in writing of course, especially since one is handling fictional characters and not real people; But from an in-universe perspective, these characters ARE actual people to one another. After all, in real life one wouldn’t define someone as JUST a chef, they also have other aspects and interests to their life that aren’t solely related to food! It’s like the revelation that teachers have lives outside of school, or how that person you know on the internet probably has a job unrelated to whatever interest they’re talking about. People aren’t JUST the jobs they do, and it’s unreasonable to expect them to dedicate their entire existence to fulfilling that role. People should have breaks and be allowed to pursue different interests, maybe even leave their ‘job’ if it’s no longer for them. So YES Karen, this person’s job IS to help customers, but that doesn’t mean their entire worth and meaning as a person solely revolves around this, nor should this person be expected to help customers 24/7 when their shift has already ended anyway.)

          But back to the subject... Luckily, Luz’s issue with molding reality into her fantasy is confronted and further resolved by Wing it like Witches. And even if Luz was projecting her stories onto Amity a bit in order to live out a ‘rivals to friends’ fantasy... It’s worth noting that Luz was also legit interested in Amity as a friend, too! Not to mention Luz is VERY concerned about earning Amity’s approval in Adventures in the Elements... Maybe part of Luz’s motive is not wanting to mess up with an ‘elusive’ friendship, or that’s what Luz tells herself... But more than likely, it’s indicative of a crush that Luz isn’t aware of. Sadly, this girl hasn’t had enough social interaction to differentiate between plantonic friendship desires and being romantically attracted to an actual peer VS a fictional character!

         Which is yet another reason why I love Lost in Language, it’s that Luz was interested in the idea of befriending Amity, of a rival turned friend, rather than just Amity herself... And maybe Amity overheard this when Luz mentioned “First I befriend the siblings, then Amity!” and that contributed to her tomato face of anger- Having the painful barriers she’d erected as a trauma response and the loneliness that came from that being trivialized isn’t great. Amity didn’t appreciate being objectified like that, solely for the emotional barriers she’d set up for a reason. It’s one thing to want to be Amity’s friend the way Boscha and others did- But is Luz really interested in Amity, or just in the idea of her? Is this love conditional on Amity’s social status, which Amity is told is both inherent to her as a Blight, and yet something she has to constantly earn and maintain? Especially the idea of ‘winning’ Amity, that’d be particularly patronizing… But very quickly, Luz remembers that Amity is her own separate individual, who doesn’t exist to fulfill her fantasies.

        Luz appreciates Amity as she really is (perhaps not coincidentally after getting insight into the girl’s true personality through her diary entries), which leads to Luz working to protect Amity’s boundaries by keeping her diary from Emira and Edric! There’s the idea of getting to know and appreciate Amity for who she really is, and Luz working to let the girl embrace that part of herself both internally and externally as well... Which again ties back into the idea of projecting the idea/image of fantasies onto someone/something, VS accepting what/who they actually are, and thus appreciating them even more as a result!

         Amity, of course, realizes that Luz is genuine and actually wants to know about the person she really is... And she’s baffled. While she was no doubt offended by Luz possibly seeing her more as a trope to fulfill than an actual person, it probably wouldn’t have been anything new to Amity; The idea of others seeing her as a means to an end, given how her own parents and Lilith did the same! Disappointing, but not surprising...

        But now it IS surprising, because Luz wants to know about Amity- And she’s not used to good things in life, alas? And how to respond? She’s well familiar with the process of rejecting people, but when it comes to accepting someone- What does she do then? And this plays into Amity’s insecurities and confusion about Luz and how she feels, not wanting to lose a friend, not wanting to hurt them, not wanting to ruin things if Luz wants her only as a friend... Not sure if Luz really means it or not because she’s still insecure, and OF COURSE the idea of a crush, and wondering what Luz could see in someone like her?!

        Amity at least better understood Luz’s motives back when she assumed it was just to fulfill her Azura fantasies, because Amity was familiar with those and her own desire for them. But now that Luz has given up on that... Why does she continue to be so interested in Amity, of all people? And even if Luz was still living out her fantasies, what more could Amity accomplish anyway, now that she’s a friend to Luz; Why does Luz continue to express interest in Amity, and be willing to do so much for the girl? Luz already got her Rivals-to-Friends trope in Amity, but she continues to hang out with the girl of her own volition and unconditionally help her; And Amity is possibly freaking out on what Luz’s motives are, even though she at least knows the girl isn’t a bully and means well!

        Mostly, I think Amity KNOWS that Luz is interested in being a genuine friend... But she’s still overwhelmed by the idea of someone being romantically interested in her, or at least more interested in Amity as a friend compared to others; Because the girl underestimates her own worth too much, she doesn’t see herself as worth getting to know if she doesn’t specifically accomplish a purpose! Odalia and Alador conditioned Amity to evaluate others based on their usefulness, or else be useful to others... So Amity is wondering what about her is so specifically appealing to Luz, especially when Luz has disregarded all of Amity’s other traits that make her ‘worthwhile’, such as her intelligence, social status, knowledge on magic, etc. The only thing left about Amity, to appreciate... Are the things that define her as individual, not as a Blight or a Top Student! And it’s unimaginable, or at least surreal to the girl, for Luz to be interested in that...

       Amity only knows friendship in terms of being ‘useful’ to someone else... Emira and Edric were genuinely interested in Amity as a person, but she’s probably dismissed this as a given since they’re family members, not to mention Ed and Em have admittedly done their part in making Amity doubt how much she means to them. So what does Amity do, when Luz expects nothing of her? No doubt Amity feels like she’s a ‘parasite’, that she’s leeching off of Luz’s good nature and not giving back enough... Maybe she’ll feel like she has compensate for their friendship and justify it, only for Luz to make it clear to Amity that just being with the girl, and seeing her be happy, is all she’ll ever need! And it’ll amaze Amity, and mean so much to her, to realize that she’s inherently worthwhile, and that she doesn’t need to ‘prove’ herself to others in order to be lovable...

         TL;DR Luz was initially trying to live out a ‘rivals to friends’ story, but learned not to objectify Amity like this... And when confronted with a growing crush on the Blight girl, Luz possibly assumed she was just relapsing into old habits. But inevitably, Luz is becoming more and more aware of how much she just genuinely likes Amity as a person, no strings attached, that the girl is irreplaceable to her. And when Amity recognizes that there’s no big secret to why she means so much to Luz, other than just being herself, that Luz’s love isn’t dependent on superficial traits that could easily be replicated by someone else, that Amity is irreplaceable to Luz... It’ll do wonders for her crippled self-esteem, as she learns that she doesn’t need to impress people in order to be loved. Amity, as she already is, without having to make any efforts to improve herself, is already worth loving both in the platonic and romantic sense!

      As for Luz, well- She didn’t get the fantasy she expected... But she still got to live out a different one. Amity really IS this girl’s fantasy, and this time, I mean it in the best way possible!

[potatosoldier]

Are you still there? /Part 6/

I sat quietly in our barrack in Camp Shanks, New York City. It was so surreal that tomorrow we would be going to set our foot out from our home country. It made all of this so sickeningly real 

Skip who had just been laughing with Penk and Don, decided to plop next to me onto my bunk.

 “Ahh!”

And in the process bump me onto the floor. The shocked look on his face was too hilarious. “Sorry, sorry, fuck sorry Bambi”, he mutters as he scurries up and helps me once again to plop next to him.

I giggle softly and shake my head. “Don’t worry Skip”,I pat his head gently as he too chuckles. Then he turns more serious and makes it clear that he wants to have a more private conversation. We both turn so that we are on our sides facing each other, with our hands under our heads like sleeping children. Luckily being private wasn’t that hard in the noise the men were making. 

“you seemed pretty bummed about getting the pass to the city”, he starts softly. “I mean you don’t drink, and you usually spend the free time in the base anyway. I’m just curious to what was so special now?”, He finishes. I sigh. I could lie to him and make up a believable story about how I wanted to see the city before stepping out, or then I could be true to him the way he has always been to me. 

“I was going to spend time with my husband”, I whisper. His eyes widen at my confession. “He’s here?”, he whispers urgently. I nod, my heart racing so hard it feels like it’s on run to my mouth. I gulp and reach into my shirt where lies a ring on a chain with my cross. And on the ring there is a small engraving of my husbands name. 

I gently take the chain off and pass the ring to him. He takes a little time to inspect it and get his eyes work in the bad lighting. Then his eyes widen and mouth opens. I quickly jump up and slam my hand onto his mouth. 

“What the hell are you two doing?”, comes the voice of George Luz. I turn sharply and grab my ring away from Skip. “Talking”, I answer quickly. He just raises his brows and blows out some smoke. Then makes a face and nods. I turn back to Skip with a serious expression and mouth: “No ONE”

He just grins and smiles. “Not gonna have my Bambi thrown to the wolves”, he says tenderly and boops my nose. I breath out and smile back. It felt good to let it out. Skip was so dear to me, it always felt so wrong to keep lying to him. 

It also felt very odd to be sleeping with the men. I was now officially put into their barracks. Sink’s orders: “You’re familiar now, safe to start blending in.” And it was true, I felt more in touch with the men now. Even if Bill laughed at me because I was too scared to come down from the top bed of a bunk bed. Which lead to Bull gently lifting me down:

“There we go ma’am safely on the ground”

“Please, if I ever get a daughter, let them marry a gentleman with your manners”

I take a hold of Don’s watch and see it’s already 7.30. Shoot, I need to find Joe. “Joe!”, I shout and in my turn plop down onto his bed, like the true lady I am sitting with my posture perfect and ankles crossed. 

“Ye ready to go, Bambi?”, he asks and I nod. He slowly gets up and stretches his back. “Well off with us then”. And so he starts singing once again. A strangely pleasant and soothing sound.

I had asked Joe to escort me to the officers barracks tonight. I wanted to see Dick before we leave. If this was the last time I saw him, I didn’t want it to be just a brief tender moment. 

Once we made it to Dick’s barrack, he was already sitting on the steps with his garrison cap on and the dress greens too. I was still in my skirt, but the cap and the hobby jacket were long forgotten. 

“Thank you, Joe”, Dick nods to Joe as a dismissal. “My pleasure lieutenant”, Joe smiles and takes off. I turn to my husband with a tender grin. 

“I’ve missed you”, I whisper and put my hand on his abdomen. Just to soothe me that he’s actually there. 

“We’ve been together most of the day”; he chuckles. I shake my head still smiling. “Not like we used to be”, I whisper a little strained. His brows furrow as he brushes my hair behind me ear. He then sighs and cups my face kissing me longingly. 

His lips are always so, so warm and soft. The warmth and softness wasn’t the concrete feeling maybe, but it was the feeling that brushed my heart. I didn’t notice the tears streaming down my face before he pulled back. My hands were still around his waist, and his now cupping my neck. 

“Don’t cry, darling, not right now”, he whispers and kisses my tears away gently. “We should probably go a little further, someone could walk here any minute”, he then adds. 

I nod and give him a small kiss onto his adam’s apple, before moving to grasp his arm. Moments like this reminded me so much of our first meeting, well first time we actually got the words out of our mouths. 

3rd of May 1936

It was an early morning as Sonja Savolainen was smiling and singing in front of a group of young girls who were singing along with her. They all had their hymnals and catechisms out and smiles on their faces.

Sonja was only 18 and now substituting her aunt as a Sunday school teacher. She was a young, timid girl with a sharp head on her shoulders. Teaching the small girls during the Sunday service was something she thrived on. She was always very lonely with the people her age, not really having the will to socialize, the courage chat and having a strange accent to go and to top that a strong interest in education and research, had quickly left her the odd one out. 

Her mother had always said that she is too curious for her own good, but Sonja never saw it as a flaw. She wanted to learn more about everything, and she dreamed of a husband who would support her and be ready to built a whole corner of the world just for them. 

She was as pure and proper as a young lady could be. She worked hard in her parents farm, she rarely cursed and tutored children. All in all, she was a kind human being. But with the standards she set for herself, she ended up being self-destructive. 

“Alright, alright, children. We can sing more next week, I will still be here. Ms. Miller will come back soon, I promise”, she grins. All the eight girls were so sweet, and such dedicated little things. There was this one girl Lena, who had hard time reading, but Sonja promised to tutor her on Friday nights while she still was in Lancaster. In a months time she would be going back to Ham Lake, Minnesota. 

Slowly the girls get picked up by their parents. Sonja getting numerous hugs from the children and thanks from grateful mothers and fathers. And bless Lena’s mother who had brought her a small piece of raisin bread as thanks for her teaching. 

Now only ones left in the room were Sonja and small six-year-old Ann Winters. “Ann, darling, isn’t your mother picking you up?”,Sonja asks softly and kneels next to the still brightly smiling girl. Ann cutely shows her teeth as she giggles. “No, Ms.Sonja. my big brother will come though, he’s probybly lost.” Sonja smiles and almost giggles at the way the girl pronounces probably. 

“Well we shall wait for him, I’ll stay with you until he finds his way. Maybe you can draw him a map for the next time?”,she chuckles. 

“ohh, It can be like a treasure map, ‘cept the treasure is me”, Ann giggles making Sonja’s heart warm with her adorable little idea. 

“What a sweet treasure you are”, she says and taps the little girls nose. Their chat is interrupted by a knock on the door. Sonja quickly rises and goes to open it. 

“Hello, you...m-must be Ann’s brother”, Sonja almost whispers the last part as she looks at the man before her. There stands a tall, red-headed man with the softest blue eyes. Sonja bites her lip, he was stunning. 

Richard almost as red as his hair, as he looks at the woman. He was never the most confident with girls and he hadn’t expected his sister’s Sunday school teacher to be a pretty young lady. 

“I-I am, ma’am. Richard Winters”, he says and offers his hand. Sonja takes it smiling softly “Sonja Savolainen, please come in”, she almost whispers again. His hand is so warm and big, in contrast to her own small and as her brother said it, delicate, but chubby hands. 

Ann almost screams as she sees Richard. Richard grins and helps his sister get dressed and takes her catechism for safety keeping. “Dick, imma make you a big big map, and you will find big big me!”, she giggles enthusiastically. Sonja’s heart pumps so fast as she looks at the man. He is so calm so soothing, at least from the five seconds she’s interacted with him. 

“Forgive me ma’am for keeping you waiting, is there anything I could help with?”, he asks as he takes Ann’s hand and tries to keep her from jumping to the roof. Sonja really can’t stop her heart from jumping like Ann. 

“oh, no no , Ann is a very well behaved girl. It was a pleasure”,she says and starts to gather her own things. “off you two go, I can manage”, she finishes. Richard smiles at her softly. His own heart beating so fast that he cannot get the words to of “thank you, truly” out from his mouth. 

“Goo’bye Ms.Sonja!” Ann says and waves. Richard smiles and offers his free hand to shake again. “Thank you ma’am, we-we will probably see each other again”, he gulps. Sonja bites her lip again and takes his hand. 

“Lets hope so”, she says and then blushes blood red. Why did she have to say that. My god, why did she have to be so forward. Richard takes one look at her warm chocolate eyes again, nods and then takes off with his little sister. 

The moment their eyes had met, their souls were bound. 

Present

I grin stupidly at the memory. We finally find a dark corner where we can sit and talk in peace. We take a seat on this big rock with our arms still wrapped together. 

“You alright?”, he whispers as he looks at my grin. I nod and cup his cheek with my free hand. “You seem to be awfully in your head tonight”, he then adds. 

“Just thinking of you”, I answer and giggle as he still after all this years manages to blush. “Do you think that the lot we were looking at could be free in a couple years?”, I suddenly ask. He shrugs.

“If we get enough money from here, we can start making an offer”, he says quietly. “But we still need some money to built the house, so we’d still have to live in the barn.” I can see the pain in his eyes as he says those words. 

I smile at him tenderly now stroking his brow and take his garrison cap off. “I don’t really care, the barracks are even more uncomfortable. And in the barn I’ll have you”, I try to soothe. He smiles a little strained as he seems too to be deep in thought. 

“I did carry you over that threshold”, he says. I give him a sound kiss. “yes, you did”, I grin. 

Then his face turns grim. “And next time I carried you we were both covered in your blood”, he swallows. My grin fades and the tears try to gather again. I shake my head and kiss him softly again. I leave my face so close to his that our noses are touching. “I’m still here, Richie, and no one is taking me away”, I whisper. He presses his forehead against mine strongly and closes his eyes. 

He then presses his lips to mine with urgency. He maneuvers me so that I’m sitting sideways on his lap, his hands firmly supporting my waist. I deepen the kiss and press as close to him as physically possible with our clothing on. His other hand goes to cup the back of my head as I tangle my hands into his fire red hair. 

It feels so good to kiss him, to feel his arms around me. But it’s torture, because I want him, I need him. And this was only stoking the already existing fire. 

 When he pulls away I can see his pained face. 

“I-I need you, but I can’t do this. Not like this”, he says his voice rough, his bedroom voice. I can feel him against me. It all makes me so needy that I almost feel ashamed. It would, if I didn’t love this man as a part of my soul. 

And that’s how we sit. For an hour and a half. Trying to calm ourselves, softly talking, kissing and praying. 

@iilovemusic12us​

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 5 Part 3

Hello all, here I am, once again, presenting you with more of Midnight Striga. Thank you for your consideration.

Eda grumbled, awkwardly shifting in her seat. The fact that she was stuck here, in this den of propaganda and conformity grated on every fiber of her being. Still, the chance to loot this place after the fact was incredibly enticing, feeling herself grin at the thought. Glancing to the kids next to her, Eda took stock of what Luz had shared about them; the Plant Girl had serious power to her, enough to wipe the floor with full adults if she felt like it, and the Illusion Boy was a genuine prodigy, something rare, much like herself. ‘It made sense they would end up in Luz’s odd gravity,’ she mused. As the lights started to dim, signalling the start, Eda grumbled again, longing for it to end.

Bump strode forth to his place on the terrace, raising a mic to his face. “Ladies and Gentlemen! Witches and demons of all ages!” His voice boomed, echoing across the excited crowd. “It is my pleasure,” ‘Suck it up and think of the funding Bump, think of the funding!’ “To present to you… The Emperor’s Coven!!” With an explosion of fog and light, three Guards sauntered forth, with one even launching themselves into the air for the spectacle. Bump groaned internally at the theatrics, reminding himself once again of the funding this would net him and the school. The crowd roared.

“Now, I must ask you, do you all wish to know what the pinnacle of magic is?” He called out, hamming it up.

“Is it this!?” One of Bump’s students, one of the transfers from Glandus if he recalled correctly, excitedly shouted, before magically enlarging their head, collapsing on another student and prompting chuckles from his group.

“Wow, I have failed you as a principal.” Bump bluntly stated at the off-putting sight, not entirely sure how to process it. Brushing the uncomfortable moment aside, Bump regained his momentum. “No, it stands before you! The Emperor’s Coven possesses the ability to use not one, not two, but ALL Forms of magic!!” He boldly proclaimed, as the guards below unleashed dazzling displays of power. Privately, after his conversation that day of Boscha’s brief rampage, Bump wasn’t too sure about the Emperor’s personal followers being the pinnacle they were described as.

“Whoo! Luz, did you see that!” Gus excitedly yelled, bouncing up and down in his seat.

“Eh.” Luz shrugged her shoulders, before critiquing the group below. “Powerful, but overly flashy, and not particularly quick. Wasteful of energy, and not much technique that I can see. I give it a 6 out of 10.” She clinically listed off, marking each point with a raised finger, raising an extra finger to give the score, resulting in Gus and Willow deflating over her disinterest.

Oblivious to the musings of those who had started the change that was slowly encroaching Bonesburough, and the Isles at large, Bump continued his presentation. “And now, it is my honor to present to you,” and this time he wasn’t just speaking out of his rear, “an individual who stands at the top. You know her,” light and mist pooled around his feet, “you love her,” a massive, translucent raven cawed and swooped down next to him, tucking into itself, “give it up for Emperor’s Coven Head, Lilith Clawthorne!!” The raven burst away, revealing Lilith standing next to him as he quickly stepped back, wearing the traditional cloak of the EC and a stylized mask, black-painted lips quirked up in a smile.

Eda choked on her drink (that she’d stolen), desperately sucking for air. She eeked out a hushed, “Lily?”

“You know her?” Luz asked, Willow and Gus sparing Eda a glance of light concern.

Eda gave a resigned nod. “She’s my sister.” This elicited widened eyes from the three, and Eda just knew they’d be asking questions afterward. Ugh.

Lilith walked up to the front of the terrace, mildly glad for her former principal’s presence and his glowing introduction, she would NEVER admit it aloud but she always gained the worst jitters when it came to public speaking, even if she was skilled in it. She smoothly pulled away her mask, allowing her features to be seen and admired by the crowd. She felt a smug glow of satisfaction over her looks, before focusing on the present situation. “Citizens of the Boiling Isles!!” Her voice boomed, a neat little trick she had learned for just these sorts of situations. “I am proud to stand before you today, humbled by the exaltation you have displayed.” She gave an elaborate bow, prompting a roar of enthusiasm from the crowd. 

“It wasn’t easy to rise as far as I have. I too started from humble beginnings.” This prompted some muttering from the assembled crowd, particularly from those students who were themselves from rather humble backgrounds. “But now, I possess the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor’s will!” An honor that would all be worth it when he saved her sister, her stubborn, arrogant, bleeding-heart sister. “And today, I am pleased to present my protege!” She announced, raising her hand. In a burst of light, there she stood. “Amity Blight!” As the crowd went wild, she allowed her student to bask in it, a smirk playing across her face at the barely hidden giddiness. “She has taken the steps to excel, to ascend to the highest level! Work hard, and the Emperor’s Coven awaits you!” She shouted, slamming her staff down, and with a flash, she and Amity vanished into the depths of the Center, the crowd crowing in delight behind them.

Smirking, she and Amity waltzed into the main area of the center, watching in satisfaction as the excited crowd poured from the stadium area. Turning to her with gleaming eyes, Amity said. “That was amazing Miss Lilith! You were incredible out there.” She said with a grin, before turning serious. “I must ask, when will our next lesson take place?”

Lilith hid a smirk. The girl was eager, ambitious, skilled, and dedicated; even just one of those traits would serve her well in life, but all? She would truly be a monster to contend with as she grew older. She just needed to look into subtlety a bit more. “I believe I can schedule a lesson to take place in a weeks time, sometime around the weekend. If that’s acceptable of course.” She raised an eyebrow. She knew it would be, but politeness and social expectations existed for a reason.

Amity gave a solemn nod. “Of course. I will take my leave.” She said, walking off into the crowd, entering from the area containing those who had not exited the stadium, a smart way to avoid being mobbed by the crowd.

“Take care, Amity Blight.” Lilith murmured. “It would not do for your potential to be cut short.” With her musings over, she wandered into the main body of the Covention, prepared to meet and greet her public. Ah, the sacrifices made for a life such as hers.

Amity wandered through the center, idly taking note of the various Covens that had set up today. None truly interested her, but seeing the dedication on display, the willingness to restrict oneself so deeply in pursuit of one’s personal passions was admirable in its own way. She wondered what path she would’ve taken, had she not been born a Blight; would she still have this intense drive to excel, or would she be content with simpler things? She would never truly know, but it was an interesting thought. Lost in her musings, she was rightfully started when she crashed into someone.

As she fell, Amity caught a glimpse of the person who had also taken a plunge in their collision, and her eyes widened. Chocolaty brown skin. Smooth, swirled brunette hair. A light blue shirt with a stylized picture of a cat, tucked beneath a hybrid vest and jacket of gleaming white with a climbing vine decal. Well worn beige pants, and sporty looking shoes. Wide expressive eyes. And, most telling, rounded ears. In a flash, Amity had essentially memorized her appearance. Now if only she could puzzle out why she had done so…

With a small gasp of slight pain, Amity crashed to the ground, the human girl doing so not a second later. Growling at the discomfort, Amity quickly moved to her feet, wrestling control from her temper before it reacted over an accident. “Oh man, I am so sorry for that.” The human groaned, clambering to her feet. Stretching herself out briefly, the girl gave Amity a discerning look, before familiarity dawned on her. “Oh yeah, you were at the school that day! Amity, right?” She asked, holding out a hand for a shake.

Amity glanced at the hand, and briefly contemplated not shaking, before stifling the impulse, giving the girl a firm grip. “Indeed. I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced, however.” She said, cocking an eyebrow. She gave a shallow bow. “I am Amity Blight, youngest of the Blight family and heir-apparent of our name and company, Blight Industries. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She recited, keeping the kind of bland, formal tone you’d expect from a meeting between politicians, prompting a mild look of surprise from Luz.

The human grinned, almost amused, much to Amity’s confusion. “Well, Miss Blight, it is a pleasure to officially meet you when you aren’t acting like a bitch.” She said bluntly, but without a hint of malice or mocking that Amity could detect.

Amity awkwardly clutched her shirt, feeling small at the reminder of her conduct from that day, however lacking in harshness that reminder was. “Indeed. Speaking of which, may I know your name?” She requested.

The human arched an eyebrow, but shrugged, agreeing. “Eh, why not. The name’s Luz Noceda. Why did you ask?”

Amity internally sighed in relief that she’d be able to finish part of her mission so quickly. “For this.” Stepping back, Amity once again bowed, this time a full bow at the waist, head parallel to the ground. “Luz Noceda, I, Amity Blight, offer my sincerest apologies for my conduct towards you prior to today. I allowed anger, suspicion, and bias to cloud my judgement, but that is no excuse for what I said to you. I was dismissive, rude, and judgmental. If my apology is insufficient, I will do anything within reason to make amends.” Amity shut her eyes tight, desperately begging to the Titan that she wouldn’t be ridiculed, that her words would be accepted. The fact that this was so public… it burned her, how many people might try and hurt her with this.

“Aw man, could you get up? There’s no need for that.” Amity cracked an eye open, spying Luz’s sardonic expression.

“I beg your pardon?” Amity started.

“Look,” Luz began, giving a loose shrug, “I’ve been called way worse before by much more horrible people than you. Was I mad when you said those things? Oh absolutely. But, I got over it, because it wasn’t worth holding a grudge against someone who probably ended up regretting it, if they hadn’t already regretted it after saying it, and had been punished enough. You okay with just forgetting about it all?”

Amity huffed, amused at Luz’s candidness. “Very well.” Her face grew serious. “However, I would like to make a request, if it isn’t too presumptuous of me.”

“Oh?” Luz mused, cocking her head. “That depends on what your request is.”

“What are you?” Amity asked, Luz pulling up short, dumbfounded. Amity continued on. “I know you’re human. But strange things have surrounded you. You helped Willow gain an immense increase in skill after just a short conversation, and was able to oversee her application of her new skill level. You were able to survive a confrontation against Boscha while she was wielding those flames. And there have been rumors about someone matching your expression appearing around town.” She slowly walked around Luz, allowing herself to gain a better look all around. “I want answers for the mysteries surrounding you. Please.” She finished, fixing a strong, unwavering stare on Luz.

Luz sighed, scratching her head. “Ugh, fine, but it’ll cost you.” She said, opening a single eye to look at Amity.

Amity nodded firmly. “How much.” She had told herself she wouldn’t be leaving the girl without answers, and even if her mother was annoyed at the expense, it would be well worth it to give Amity peace of mind.

“An apology.”

Amity paused, perplexed. “But I already gave you one?”

Luz shook her head, elaborating. “Not for me. For Willow. If you want answers, you have to apologize to Willow.”

Amity gave a smirk. “Well lucky for me I was already planning on doing just that.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Provided she grants me an apology as well.”

“Huh, looks like things’ll work out pretty easily! She wanted to give you one too.”

“In that case, I see no reason we shouldn’t look for her. Care to join me?” Amity finished, gesturing for Luz to follow her. Shrugging, the human girl followed the witch through the crowd, unaware of the elongated figure looming in the shadows.

Eda stormed through the Covention, nimble fingers snatching up odds and ends as she shifted through the crowd, looking for her quarry. As she finished stashing the last of her loot in her hair, her eyes sharpened, spotting her target. Gliding forth, she stopped dead center in front of her prey.

“Hey Lily.” Eda grinned, all teeth.

“Ah, Edalyn!” Lilith drawled, pulling herself up from where she had been signing a little Witchling’s poster. “You came after all!” She placed a hand under her chin, looking smug. “Still rooting around in the trash in that shack of yours?” She chuckled at her little ‘joke.’

Eda rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, real funny.” Getting an idea, she leaned over to the kids, she whispered. “Hey, did you kids know Lily used to wet her bed until she was-”

“Edalyn!” Lilith yelped in embarrassment as the children giggled.

Eda smirked, before pulling out her wallet (one of them anyway), and gave each child a small snail bill. “Hey, why don’t you kids all get yourselves a treat and go back to your parents, okay?” As the children eagerly nodded, rushing off, she turned to Lilith, her smile dropping into cool seriousness.

“Ugh, what do you want, Edalyn?” Lilith scoffed, folding her arms. Suddenly, she blinked, eyes brightening. “Unless… you’re finally here to join the Coven!” She cheered, a childish delight gleaming in her eyes.

“No.” Eda flatly stated.

“Oh.” Lilith said just as flatly, her excitement dead already. “Well, in that case-”

“I learned something pretty interesting, Lily.” Eda began, grabbing her sister’s attention. “About how the Emperor’s Coven presented what happened to me to the public.”

Lilith felt her blood chill; she had never really agreed with that decision, but it had been out of her hands. If Edalyn was bringing this up now… “And this holds bearing, how?” She asked, trying to play it off.

“I want you to set the record straight, Lily.” Eda said, a note of barely contained fury in her voice. “Now. If not sooner.”

Lilith reeled back. “I couldn’t possibly do such a thing! It is the Emperor’s Will!”

“Nuts to the Emperor, Lily!!” Eda shouted, slamming her fist against the wall nearest to them. “He used my pain, my trauma, my public humiliation as a way to get people to fall in line. I hate the Coven System, but I’m willing to accept that for most people, they choose to be a part of it. But using what happened to me as a way of scaring kids into falling in step!? I won’t stand for it!!”

“It’s not my decision to make, Edalyn.” Lilith coldly replied. “And really, you have no one but yourself to blame; if you just joined a Coven all that silliness would just drift away.” She firmly replied, internally begging that Edalyn would finally see reason, to agree with her, to admit she was right!!!

Eda paused. Then she chuckled. “Okay. I really didn’t want to do this. But! It looks like you aren’t giving me a real choice.” With a sigh, Eda stepped back, just enough to where she could point at Lilith at full extension. “Lilith Clawthorne, I challenge you to a Witch’s Duel.”

Nearby Witches and Demons gasped, reeling back, even as Lilith herself blinked in shock.

“Edalyn, you can’t possibly be serious!” She said, shock still coursing through her body.

“The terms are as follows,” Eda said, steadfastly ignoring the increasing mutters of the crowd. “If I win, you have to publicly admit the truth behind my curse, not that crap the Emperor peddles. If you win, I’ll join Bonehead’s little club.” She finishes, crossing her arms in defiance.

“Edalyn, you can’t be-” Lilith starts, only to cut herself off with a choke, as Eda formed the glowing white circle of an unbreakable vow, already sticking her hand through. “You really are serious.” Lilith breathes out.

“I am.” Eda says grimly. Staring at her sister’s hand trepidatiously, Lilith’s eyes flash with fear, shock, longing, pride, and finally, determination. Reaching out, she joins hands with her sister, for the first time in years… and completes the vow. The duel is officially on.

“A Witch’s Duel, eh?” A cold voice mutters in the dark, shadowed figures lurking behind them. “Well, won’t that be a fun way to start this operation.” They chuckled, their entourage cackling behind them, the cooling corpse of a Coven Guard behind them.

[flipomatic]

Internship Chapter 23: Day 20 - Amity

First Chapter Previous Chapter

________________________________________________________

After the eventful day at the construction coven, Amity made plans to come visit Luz at the Owl House on Saturday. Luz had somehow convinced Eda to show them some magic, since she had been on the potions track at Hexside. According to Luz, she loved to show off and had been eager to accept.

This led to Amity walking on a cloudy Saturday morning to the Owl House. She was very interested in learning about potions, but not so excited about seeing the house demon that possessed the building. Almost everything about it was obnoxious.

But even as it called out a cheery “Hooty hoot!” greeting, Amity didn’t regret coming.

The demon let her inside when she said she was there to see Luz, which was lucky because she already felt like punching it. The inside of the house looked the same as she remembered it, with candles lining the room and familiar furniture.

One big difference though was the presence of Lilith. She was sitting on the couch, looking over some kind of magazine. She had a new grey streak in her hair; Luz told Amity it was an effect of the spell she cast to save Eda. Amity hadn’t spoken to her in some time, perhaps since the Covention? Lilith used to train her, but they weren’t particularly close.

That didn’t stop this from being awkward.

Lilith glanced up at the sound of the door opening, a flicker of surprise appearing briefly on her face. “Hello, Amity.” She greeted her politely.

“Hi.” Amity wasn’t sure what to say to her. She knew she was living here now, but even before when they had the Emperor’s Coven in common they hadn’t had much to say to each other. “It’s good to see you.” Was what she settled on, wincing internally at how stiff that sounded.

Luckily, Luz always had great timing.

“Hey Amity!” She poked her head in from the other room, which Amity thought was the kitchen. “We’re in here.” Luz waved her over, blissfully saving her from having to talk more with Lilith.

“Thanks for inviting me.” Amity said as she walked to join Luz.

Luz flopped her hand in an exaggerated dismissive motion. “Anytime.”

When Amity entered the kitchen, she glanced around. It looked like a pretty normal kitchen, nothing too outrageous. Eda was already there, leaning on one of the counters. King sat on the countertop next to her, chewing on a small object.

“Oh good, the whole party’s here now.” Eda said in a dry tone. She was so different from her sister; it was always confusing to Amity that they could be related.

Luz gave an enthusiastic thumb up. “That’s right! Are you ready to show us how to make a potion?”

“You were serious about that?” Eda grimaced, crossing her arms. “Wouldn’t you rather learn about bad girl coven magic?” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“What’s that?” Amity asked; she had never heard of the bad girl coven. It sounded fake.

Eda pointed one thumb at her own chest. “Only the best coven on the Boiling Isles, founded by yours truly.” Oh, so just covenless witches then.

“No thanks.” Luz cut her off flatly. “But we really want to learn about the Potions Coven!”

“I could show them instead.” A familiar voice came from behind the group, echoing from the doorway. Amity turned to see Lilith there, a smirk on her face. “I was in the potions track too, you know.”

“No no, I’ve got this.” Eda scoffed, moving to grab a pot for the potion.

Lilith chuckled, still looking smug. “If you say so. I’ll be in the other room if you need me.” She waved over her shoulder, then vanished back to the main room of the house.

Eda sneered after her, before continuing to prepare. “What kind of potion do you want?” She asked, looking between Luz and Amity. “A love potion?” Her eyes twinkled mischievously, with a smirk appearing not dissimilar from her sister’s.

Amity thought her heart could stop at that suggestion. Her face immediately warmed, even more so when Eda raised an eyebrow at her.

“Hmm, that would be hard to test.” Luz seemed unbothered by the suggestion, and didn’t seem to have noticed Amity’s flustered state.

Eda rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, how about item duplication then?”

“Perfect!” Luz’s eyes lit up as she nodded. Amity tried to calm herself back down and to keep Luz from noticing.

With the potion choice settled, Eda picked a pot to make it in. “Always choose the right pot for the potion.” She said as she settled on a medium size one. She finally seemed to be taking this whole giving instruction thing seriously. “Too small and it’ll overflow, too big and the ingredients won’t blend properly.”

“Oh yeah, I learned about that in class.” Luz commented, moving to look into the empty pot.

“The pot material can be important too, but not for every potion.” Eda went to the pantry and started to take out ingredients. “The one we’re making today is tame, but some will eat straight through unprotected metal.” That was kind of a scary prospect.

Eda walked away from the pantry with an arm full of vials, stopping in front of the counter. “King, you gotta move.” She gestured at him with her free hand.

“But I’m sitting here.” He took the small object out of his mouth to protest. Now Amity could see that it was a small yellow duck.

Eda glared down at him. “I need the space, so get lost.”

King stood up on his tiny back paws slowly, putting the duck back in his mouth. He squeaked grumpily as he jumped off the counter, headed to the main room of the house.

Eda was now able to put down the vials, which she did with gusto. “Always measure the ingredients carefully.” She said, as if she hadn’t paused in the instructions, while picking up a vial to add it to the pot. “Don’t add heat until you’re supposed to, that’s how things explode.” She winked at the end, drawing a laugh from Luz.

“Are you not using a recipe?” Amity asked as Eda added another ingredient to the pot.

“Got this one memorized.” Eda replied, not looking away from her potion. “When you make it enough times, it becomes habit.” If it were Amity, she would probably still have the recipe out for reference.

“Do you know what they do at the Potions Coven?” Luz asked, causing Eda to pause mid pour.

“Not a thing.” She admitted, before continuing to dump an ingredient in. She grimaced, as if the next words were hard to say. “Lily might be able to tell you more about that.”

“Oh?” Again, from the door, Lilith’s voice rang out. “What was that Edalyn, I didn’t hear you.”

“Just ask her.” Eda addressed the kids. She turned on the burner on the stove and put her pot onto it. “I’ll just keep making this potion, abandoned, alone.”

Lilith entered the room fully, coming to stand near them. “You asked about the Potion Coven?” She asked Luz, likely wanting to make sure she heard right.

“That’s right!” Luz responded.

“We’ve been learning about different covens.” Amity explained, drawing Lilith’s gaze to her sharply. She could feel the question, what happened to the Emperor’s Coven, in those eyes. But Lilith didn’t ask it.

“The potions coven provides facilities and licenses to coven members.” Lilith said, shifting her gaze over to Luz. “They also get discounts on materials.”

“Does the coven itself sell potions?” Luz looked thoughtful as she asked.

Lilith shook her head, “No, individual members are responsible for that.”

Luz hit the bottom of one fist into her hand. “So Eda has a similar job then, she sells her own potions too!” Amity hadn’t thought about it like that; she always associated Eda with being as far from coven life as she could. Even Eda looked surprised at the assertion.

“I suppose so.” Lilith seemed to be rolling the idea around in her mind. “She does sell potions, though not as high quality as the coven requires.”

“Well excuse me for not meeting your nonsense standards.” Eda scowled down at her potion, motioning to again shoo Lilith away with one hand. Her sister didn’t move.

Eda had been adding more ingredients through the conversation, occasionally stirring the pot. “The potion is almost done.” She declared, lifting one hand over it. “Here’s the most important step.” She drew a small spell circle over it, slowly. It looked painful for her to do. Luz had also told Amity that most of Eda’s magic was gone, but it still felt strange to see it herself. “Without the spell it’s just slime.”

She picked up an empty bottle, dipping it into the potion. When it made contact, it duplicated. Eda brought both the original and copy out to show Luz and Amity.

“You need to make sure to use a duplication proof bottle for this type of spell.” Eda put aside the original and set the new bottle where she could fill it. “Like something that’s already a duplication. It only works on inanimate objects.” She then lifted the pot and tilted the potion into it, filling the bottle to the top. She then put a cork in the top and smacked a label on it, marking it with her brand. She held it out to Luz, who accepted it.

“The second part of the job, the harder part in my opinion, is actually selling the things.” Eda continued speaking, picking up where Lilith had left off in talking about the job of potion making. “Not gonna lie, Luz has gotten pretty good at it.” Amity was impressed by that.

“Oh, yeah!” Luz grinned, setting the potion down on the table. “I sell potions for Eda all the time.”

“In the market?” Amity asked.

“Yeah, and I go door to door.” Luz looked up like she was remembering something. “It’s fun, trying to figure out what’s the best potion for a customer.”

It made sense that Luz would be good at that; if she could hold a conversation with Amity then she could talk with just about anybody. Amity, on the other hand would be better at making potions than selling them. The idea struck her that if she and Luz went into business together, they’d probably be very good at the job if they split up the work.

Amity couldn’t imagine dedicating her whole life to it, but it was an interesting path.

“You don’t need the coven though.” Eda put one hand on her hip. “It’s all cons and no pros.”

“I disagree.” Lilith cut back in to the conversation. “The coven provides stability and resources. Also being covenless is illegal, which I’m sure you know well, Edalyn.”

“Aren’t you covenless now too, Lily?”

“Touché.” Lilith muttered and looked down towards the ground. Amity felt out of place, like she was watching something she shouldn’t see. She was reminded of when her siblings fought.

Eda was smirking as she turned back to Luz. “You can keep that.” She gestured at the potion on the table, turning the topic back to potion making.

“Thanks Eda!” Luz picked it back up, scrutinizing it once again. “What should we duplicate first?” She turned to Amity with the question.

The answer came easily. “Azura books.”

“Yes.” Luz replied simply, eyes bright with excitement. “I have mine upstairs, let’s do it.”

Amity followed after her, but not before thanking Eda for showing them how the make the potion. She replied that it was no problem, and she should follow Luz before the girl duplicated everything upstairs.

Both Lillith and Eda watched her go.

Upstairs, Amity and Luz chose the first Azura book as their target. The potion did indeed duplicate it, just as expected.

Next Chapter

[ruinsrebuilt]

What I’m Reading - Week 8

sorry this is like two weeks late guys! the trouble with my ears had completely unmotivated me, but I finally said ENOUGH. at least I've been reading fics here and there so this week’s post is a bit longer (yay for fic recs!) 

An Honest Man by @warriorgays

author summary: "Ask him to dance, doc."

word count: 2,435

my thoughts: Roe/Toye is one of my all time favorite rare pairs, so to see it written so beautifully is an absolute GIFT. post-canon / canon compliant, and very true to the characters, I adore this fic. 

hello (i’m here, i’m waiting) by @mjolll

author summary: “Go on,” Gene finds himself saying, ducking his head, “we got this, trooper.”

“At least let me help you get this back to the med tent, Doc.”

Spina shrugs, “suit yourself, Chuck.”

word count: 559

my thoughts: ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAV RAREPAIRS. I may be one of the only ones on this ship, but I will go down with, I swear. this is one of those drabbles that I wish I could have abut 50,000 more words of. 

I need you though by @gendryw4ters

author summary: "I’m… I’m going, George.” Luz doesn’t look up from his cereal. He’d known this day was coming, had known it since they’d first- well, not since they’d first met, but since they’d first gotten together, at least. The fact that he’d even convinced Ron Speirs to move in with him in the first place had been a minor miracle in itself.

word count: 943

my thoughts: this rare pair isn't one thats blatantly obvious but you know what? it’s golden. as proven by my lovely mind twin, with this brilliant drabble. starts out sad but trust me, the ending is worth it. 

With Naps Like These by @aces-low

author summary: Luz and Joe become napping buddies. It's surprisingly more complicated than it oughta be.

word count: 8,335

my thoughts: napping and fluff and luztoye. can you say heaven?? I adore this so much, especially the ending. there is a little bit of angst but you know what? worth it. 

Not Asked But Answered by Perpetual Motion 

author summary: Lip asks for nothing but does everything, and George is a little in love.

word count: 1,221

my thoughts: this fic is achingly sweet, just like this pairing. the whole thing beautifully written - I love how George is reflecting on how dedicated and caring Lip is. he deserves to be recognized. my heart is full :’) 

Way With Words by @donsmalarkey

author summary: Four times Luz flirts with Lip and one time Lip flirts back.

word count: 5,588

my thoughts: THIS IS SO SOFT AND CUTE AND ADORABLE AND FLIRTY AND GODDAMNIT MY FEELS. I’m so glad this fic exists, and if you even vaguely like this pairing, ya gotta read this. 

Everything’s Alright, Yes, Everything’s Fine by @ralphspina

author summary: "And we want you to sleep well tonight, let the world turn without you tonight," or: Carwood finally takes a damn nap in a damn bed.

word count: 475

my thoughts: I was begging for luz/lip content and guess who came down from the heavens to hand me this perfection?? MADDIE. IT WAS MADDIE AND I LOVE IT. 

Counting backwards by @jim-bones-spock

author summary: "He was now almost arrived. If George wanted, he could walk three steps and grab at Lipton’s coat, could pull him to safety. But Lip had ordered him not to move. George was still on his knees, shaking and breathing hard, counting the second still, just like he was keeping record to the most sadistic and stressful run ever. It was killing him."

word count: 1,227

my thoughts: another result of my pitiful begging for luz/lip content and you know what? I REGRET NOTHING BECAUSE THIS IS FRIGGEN AWESOME. such a tender moment, I swear to god, I just wanna hugs them both. 

A Close Call by luluren

author summary: Nixon always seems to find him. 

word count: 11,607

my thoughts: I was introduced to Nix/Roe a while back, but only just now have I really started to explore them, and boy I gotta tell ya, this fic is so well written that even though I went into it unsure, I walked out completely sold. 

Here By Myself (A New Color to Paint the World) by @ralphspina

author summary: When the class clown and the emotional caretaker of Easy Company take stock after Bois Jacques, it's surprisingly easy for them to smile thanks to the good company.

word count: 1,202

my thoughts: you guys have no idea how long I have waited for the convent scene told from the perspective of luz/lip. and you have no idea how loud I screamed when Maddie wrote it. and you definitely have no idea how amazing it is, but trust me. it is perfection. 

Heat Jump by @alyseofwonderland

author summary: The Army has the following rules about having a sexual relationship while deployed: 1. Please, pretty please with sprinkles on top, don’t. 2. If you find that you cannot follow the first instructions then: Do not have sex in zero G. Don’t do it. You will get written up if you even suggest it as an idea to a recruit. 3. If you have a sexual relationship with a member of your unit, please make it not your direct superior officer for the love of all that is holy. 4. If you find that you HAVE to have a sexual relationship with your direct superior officer you will be forced to fill out five times the paper work.

word count: 19,048

my thoughts: A SPEIRS/ROE SPACE AU. IDK WHY YOU’RE STILL READING THIS POST, YOU SHOULD BE READING THIS FIC. 

Operation Get Julian Laid by LT_Aldo_Raine 

author summary: Its Julian's 21st birthday, and he's still a virgin. So, his best buddies Bill and Babe take it upon themselves to get him laid before the big    2-1. Only, things don't go exactly according to plan. OR: “Shit, Julian, I gotta fuckin' spell it out for you? Do you wanna fuck me or not?”

word count: 4,879

my thoughts: I’m always a slut for Babe/Julian. Always. and this is no exception. poor Julian doesn’t wanna get laid with just anyone. he wants his best friend. sweet babies. :’) 

and the stars look very different today by @r-catsby 

author summary: Chuck gives up. “Fuck it.” He rolls his eyes, slips from the counter to pad out of the kitchen and down the hall to what was once his bedroom. It no longer feels right to claim it solely as his own considering it’s Ron’s sheets that cover the bed, his dirty clothes heaped by the door and his books mixed with Chuck’s own on the nightstand. Chuck’s not entirely sure where he ends and Ron begins, hasn’t been for the past three years. They just kind of fell together and never looked back.

word count: 3,388

my thoughts: this is so cute and domestic-y and sexy and GAH I LOVE IT. the characterization/dynamic is pitch-perfect too. I smiled the entire time. 

five kisses that nearly killed george luz, for various reasons by @renelemaires

author summary: "Holy shit," is the first thing George says, because he really can't think of anything better. His mind is drawing blank, no matter how eager his tongue feels to leap out of his mouth. Everyone has heard about Speirs -- and everyone knows that kissing another guy, even by accident, is a thing that you don't do. In the army, that could get you kicked out in a heartbeat. In civilian life, you could be tossed in prison for it. And George just accidentally macked one on Killer Captain Speirs. He's a dead man.

word count: 5,140

my thoughts: LOOK. LOOK. LIP/LUZ/SPEIRS IS SUCH A GOOD OT3. I ADORE THEM. AND TO HAVE A FIC THIS WONDERFUL FOR THEM IS OUT OF THIS WORLD. 

[christoperpzdomiziasc98insu-blog]

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[sepublic]

Belos the Cabinet Man!

           MAJOR kudos to @funnyfany for introducing me to Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon, because as they said… This song is PERFECT for someone like Emperor Belos, and just in general slaps! Like, it honestly really describes my read on him? In fact, why don’t I peel and dissect the lyrics to see how they could easily apply to him;

The day they found me, I hadn’t yet been played

Inside my workshop behind my old arcade

Electric desires had unraveled all my wires

Now I’m in the box for safekeeping

           These lyrics allude to Belos’ obvious motifs of technology, as well as him having a ‘workshop’, which ties to his work on the portal! But there’s also the concept of him being rather ancient, as well as needing to be protected because he’s vulnerable in the end; Such as by metal armor, instead of a box?

The news reporters reported that I died

But all my organs were living on inside

Circuit board to brain with two lungs collecting change

One big human heart gently beeping

           The first line immediately makes me think of Perry Porter, but it also makes me think about what the ‘Unauthorized Author’ had to say, about Belos retreating into his castle, and people speculating that he had big plans while he let Kikimora and others be his public face. Again, there’s more machine-flesh imagery, as well as the obvious allusion to a giant beating heart. Two lungs collecting change can allude to Belos and his greedy hunger for power and bile.

You can’t win me, I can’t be beat

I won’t hurt you, unless you cheat

You can’t see me behind the screen

I’m half human and half machine

           We’ve got Belos boasting how invincible he is, but it can also refer to how the Coven System is a lose-lose situation, that either you go off and be alone and persecuted as an individual, OR you conform and became safe, but lose your identity in the process!

          We have Belos alluding to how he can be a merciful dude unless you really piss him off; And that line about cheating reminds me of how the Coven System seeks out only the most ‘worthy’ of people, and how this mentality has affected characters like Amity, who by consequence despise cheating!

          Or how Boscha’s bullying is mostly rude remarks… Until she feels like her attention is being ‘stolen’ by others, then she resorts to some brutal and even dangerous tactics in retaliation! To Belos, he just wants people to fit into their little spots, he’s offering them a nice little role and function in society, an actual place, he’s not a bad and malicious dude! Just a messenger… 

         Similarly, ‘cheating’ could be seen as doing magic the ‘wrong way’, because otherwise, competition to join the Emperor’s Coven and be the best is encouraged, so long as you engage with the system properly and play by its rules! You’re just not supposed to do Wild Magic, mix tracks, that sort of thing; Otherwise you WILL be persecuted by Belos!

          Then there’s the idea of Belos being hidden behind his mask, or just hidden in general (like when he spies on Luz, Willow, and Gus in his castle), and again, the biomechanical imagery! I can’t say for sure if he WAS human or not, because Belos definitely isn’t NOW, to say the least!

Thank God for business, they let me take the floor

I stood so proudly, like I was going to war

Players soon appeared and I quickly was revered

This must be what love would have felt like

           The Titan is responsible for Belos’ power (allegedly), as he claims to enforce its will. Belos’ art depicts him as standing above the rest, and him being VERY tall definitely helps… Then you have him going on a crusade against wild witches, being worshipped by many others, and POSSIBLY a connection to my speculation on him being a lonely individual who was never properly loved in the past, and is confusing this with distant worship…

          And really this just makes me think of other analyses of the Coven System as creating codependent relationships and hollow images to love VS that people actually are! Regardless, it also reminds me of Belos’ parasitic motifs, that last line, so you know!

Such dedication, they came from miles away

With eyes so piercing, they’d wait their turn to play

In perfect patient lines because I was in their minds

I could do whatever I felt like (Whatever I felt like)

           Students from Hexside literally travel miles to Belos’ castle on a field trip, and we have Eda mentioning how Lilith was so excited to meet him as children! Kids looking up to Belos, seeing him as someone to adulate, a role model even (with Lilith invoking him in her motives for the curse)… People literally dedicating their entire lives (and even those of their children) to Belos and his Coven! And of course, we have Belos having the power to do as he pleases, be it going back on his promise to Lilith, letting Luz rescue her friends because he has the portal anyway, etc.; It’s an almost nonchalant disregard of others for what matters to BELOS in the end…

I’m happy for years and years

And only eating the occasional maintenance man

Only driving a few kids to madness

Maybe they were predisposed to madness, who knows?

           Skipping over some repeat lines, we have Belos being at the top for a while, and of course, draining palismans for their bile to restore his health! Kids going mad easily describes people like Lilith, Boscha, or Amity, who base their entire self-worth on joining the Emperor’s Coven, being at the top, and/or fitting in, to the point where Lilith even curses her own sister, Boscha brutally bullies those she sees as a threat to her popularity, while people like the Blight Parents abuse and indoctrinate their kids for social status!

          But then Belos speculates that, hey… HE didn’t make them do this! His system encouraged and enabled them, sure… But in the end it was their actions, which brings to mind how while influenced, none of these characters are entirely faultless either for their actions. Not only that, but it makes me think about how some people seem predisposed and outright embracing of what Belos has to say, as if even without his Coven System they would always be this kind of awful… Such as Warden Wrath, or again, the Blight Parents!

          That last line really makes me think about how different characters coped differently with the pressure, with some remaining good people, while others enabled themselves to do terrible things. Perhaps Belos merely revealed what was already there? Because it still says a lot about other people that they chose to believe and follow in him when others made the decision notto.

I only want to have fun

But now they’re telling me my days here are done

‘Cause there’s a little tiny box they make in Japan

And pretty soon it’s gonna fit in your hand

           Belos just wants to be at the top, he’s ‘just a humble messenger for the Titan’, and maybe like Luz in Episode 2 he just wanted to be special… But he’s also clearly past his expiration date and dying, too. Not only that, but we have a rival… Someone smaller than Belos both literally and in the metaphorical, underdog sense;

          A foreigner from a different land, one who can teach others to cast magic within their hands through Glyphs! There’s Belos, an Old Soul, being made obsolete and redundant by Luz and her Glyphs, which potentially function as a work-around to his coven bindings and draining of bile! Not to mention how her ideals also make Belos’ seem rather antiquated, don’t they? Not to mention the idea of power and control being in the hands of the people, not dependent upon a singular source like Belos…

          His short-lived reign is being actively threatened by Luz’s presence, which Belos acknowledges as having changed everything… And really, it just reminds me of how characters like Boscha enjoyed being at the top as a result of Belos’ influence, only to feel threatened when others come along and ‘steal’ that glory!

It’s getting lonely, it’s getting hard to breathe

The arcade’s empty, I think it’s Christmas Eve

Someone’s broken in, now they’re painting on my skin

Breaking me and taking my quarters

Bashing in my face with a crowbar

Kicking me and pushing me over

Now they see my blood on their sneakers

           Literally the first thing we see of Belos is him having labored breathing… And again, there’s this idea that he’s being left behind as obsolete, he’s reclusive and retreated into his castle and doesn’t let others near him; He’s at the top, and it’s a lonely place! It’s the Eve of Christmas, Christmas is right around the corner, just as the Day of Unity is approaching, when;

          The next few lines invoke the image of Luz breaking into Belos’ castle/the conformatorium… And if you go by the idea that the Castle is a part of Belos, Luz and co. vandalizing the treasury as akin to vandalizing Belos’ own body! Not to mention the three stealing Belos’ relics… And of course, Luz ‘bashing in’ Belos’ face/mask with an ice spike! Only to realize that there’s clearly a LOT more body horror to Belos than she anticipated…! Realizing that Belos is linked to the very ground and earth she stands upon, and boy can he manipulate it!

           After that, the song ends with some repeat lyrics; But all-in-all, I would LOVE to see, someday, someone else (or maybe even myself) do an AMV of Emperor Belos, but with Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon! Compiled entirely of various clips that allude to the lyrics I mentioned earlier, that’d be a lot of fun and if I knew how to do video edits I could do it myself one day!