#and then. it still lets luz love the place she's in? the boiling isles is a real place and not just a vehicle for aesops

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID: digital fanart of the owl house. The piece features Luz, the collector, and kid belos. Luz is in her season 3 design holding her bat and a backpack with her palismen inside. Both items are at her side and she looks on at the audience with a determined expression. The collector is on her left and is facing away from us with a mischievous face. Kid belos is on Luz's right, holding a wooden sword in one hand. The shading on him is reminiscent of a 1600s ink ink drawing. The background is black and white text above the characters reads "thanks to them, 15/10/22". End ID]

Happy owl house eve folks! Sorry about the UK date system <3

[polyhexian]

I like how the eventually AU gives Camila the opportunity to get another adult's perspective on Luz and the Boiling Isles during the human realm stay. Like, no offense to the kids, but when you're a parent and you're trying to determine if your child is in an okay situation, you're going to put a bit more value on the insights of a fellow adult than those of a bunch of teenagers. Let alone when the situation is that your kid had a secret summer-long stay in another dimension.

So I'm imagining one of the rare moments they get to talk when there's no kids around cuz they're all out trying to build a portal door or something, and it's like

Camila: I've just been so worried about Luz, she's always had trouble fitting in, she's never had any real friends, her teachers don't like her, it's hard for her to focus on things she's not interested in and she has trouble applying herself, I know she's smart but her grades are all over the place, she'd rather think about her fantasy worlds instead of do anything to engage with or prepare for living in the real one - except it turns out she's found a REAL fantasy world? And I'm not sure if that makes things better or worse.

Jasper: Uh, your daughter has made several very close friends and is generally accepted by the entire student body, she rediscovered an ancient type of magic usage that everyone forgot about ages ago, her teachers love her, she successfully convinced her principal to LET students study multiple tracks despite wild magic having been forbidden for fifty years, she's handled every adventure and scrape she's ever gotten into beautifully, she routinely surprises and impresses her mentor Eda the Owl Lady who was up until recently one of the most powerful people on the Isles, she broke Amity free of her parents' toxic influence and successfully deprogrammed my son out of a cult, she's friendly and creative and brilliant and everyone who knows her is extremely grateful to have her in their life.

Camila: …

Jasper: …

Both: Are we talking about the same kid?

Which is GREAT

what I love so much about Luz is how much she blossomed in this world and how much her old one stunted her. Makes me crazy that she finished human high school for whatever reason before moving permanently to the isles. I like to think Camila would see that her daughter belonged where she was happy, that the right place for her was, as much as it hurt, not here. And she would rather her be happy than be with her. Obviously she still sees her all the time but like. Luz is herself, all the way, without apology, in the world she found, and she is loved there and understood there. I think vee and Luz make such awesome- foils? Parallels? In that way. Both were brought up in these worlds that suffocated them and stepped into a place where they blossomed, where they could be genuinely truly happy. Vee had only lived in the human realm a few months when the rest of the crew showed up but she'd already fully adapted to human realm stuff! The same way Luz immediately just adapted to everything witchy. Amity and Willow panic at the sight of an alarm clock. Vee is already so familiar with this world she knows how fire extinguishers work, what human food is supposed to taste like, how to speak Spanish and use a cell phone and alarm clocks. The way Luz is like oh NO teenagers but vee just happily sits down and talks to them. These people are like her. They aren't like Luz. Luz is an outsider in the world she was born in and so was vee and it is so much better for them both that they found somewhere they could actually BE.

Anyway yeah lol this timeline Camila can really get the full perspective on how incredibly well Luz has done. From Camila's perspective her daughter ran away from home and when she came back she was wounded, traumatized and seriously depressed. She didn't see how genuinely happy and at peace Luz was there. She is totally reasonable in suspecting this place was Bad For Her.

But while Luz is unwilling to talk too much because she's depressed and all the kids have limited perspectives and probably aren't comfortable talking about luz to her mom anyway- jasper can fully be like yeah no dude you have no idea. She's a bright star people flock to. She's so confident and happy and optimistic and kind. She literally deprogrammed my child soldier son and rescued him from a cult. Won't lie to you ma'am, your daughter has put her life at risk many times and many people have tried to kill her- but they all failed because she is so strong and so loved that he is never alone. Luz is legitimately a hero.

What a wild thing to hear about your child. Both the danger she has been in but also... How much she has flourished within that danger. Your fifteen year old daughter's passion is in saving people from shark attacks or something. It's not just that she's happy, it's that she's strong, fulfilled, passionate, she's filled with a LIFE she never was before.

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

Luz's Trauma Is Downplayed

In The Owl House, we've seen many kinds of trauma, abuse and abusive relationships.

Hunter is the most noticeable example. It's easy to see his PTSD because we've witnessed the abuse that he suffered from his "uncle"s hand.

And it's hinted that it was Belos who gave Hunter the scars on his cheek and ear.

Just like how he gave him the new scars...

So we know that Hunter is a victim of long life abuse and very likely to suffer from PTSD (or "Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" to be clear)

No wonder why he was having panic attacks in season 2.

And it's the same case for Amity. We've seen her stormy relationship with her parents.

And especially with her mother. Because Odalia isn't only strict but also a narcissistic mother who was emotionally abusive towards Amity.

And her father was mostly neglectful towards her too.

So just like Hunter, it's easy to see Amity's trauma.

And for Eda's case, we've seen her broken relationship with her sister in season 1 finale.

How her own sister cursed her for the sake of being a member of Emperor's Coven, a dream that shared by both sisters. And we saw Eda giving up on her dream because she didn't want to fight her sister. But Lilith on the other hand, went as far to curse her own sister...

Their backstory was the best but also the most tragic part of the season 1 for me.

We also saw clear flashbacks about Eda's past during "Knock, Knock, Knockin' Hooty's Door". We saw her family tragedy when her cursed form took out her father's eye, we saw her break-up with Raine... Basically, we saw how mentally broken and depressed she really was underneath that funny and sassy Owl Lady image. And let's be honest, this attitude is nothing but a coping mechanism to deal with guilt hurting her loved ones, fear of losing them and pain of her broken dreams...

Not even mentioning "Eda's Requiem" when her abondement issues got exposed to the audience for the first time. And she afraid of being lonely so much that she literally got suicidal at the end...

And even Willow!

I say "even" because her dads never appeared abusive, just lowkey strict.

Like, how they forced her to be placed in abomination coven even though she obviously had no interest in it and was struggling a lot.

However, Willow's trauma doesn't lie in her family life, but rather in her school life.

She was constantly bullied by Amity, Boscha and their gaang. She was underestimated, made fun of; felt worthless because of this negative treatment by her classmates...

Again, we can see Willow's struggle and empathize with her quickly, especially because we've seen that she was being bullied in the very first episode that she appeared.

HOWEVER

We know very little about how Luz's life was like before she went to Boiling Isles.

Yes, we had some brief flashbacks in "Thanks To Them", but even then, we've seen them from Camila's perspective, not from Luz's.

There are a few hints that giving Luz was being bullied in the school due to her antics and neurodivergent behaviors.

Such as in "Knock, Knock, Knockin' Hooty's Door"

You can see how stressful and nervous she looks here. Which makes sense because she was afraid that Amity was going to reject her and find her cheesy... just as how it happened back in the human world too.

So it's very likely that Luz had a crush on someone, but was rejected and made fun of due to her weirdness. (Honestly, who would reject this cute, pretty little goofball?!)

"Oh no! I'm gonna be made fun of again" This line makes it clear I think.

And then when she can't hold herself anymore, Luz starts panicking and destroying everything in the Tunnel of Love.

Most people were focused on Amity's sadness here, which is normal since the camera also focus on her instead of Luz who is busy destroying the stuff.

And apart from this, we know that Luz didn't have any friends except the "imaginary ones".

This is literally all we know about Luz's social life, and most of these are still semi-canon since it's never been truly revealed.

The only we know about Luz's social/family life is that she has a very loving mother (which is great) but also that she is dealing with a deep feeling of grief and pain due to losing her father at such a young age...

It's not exactly revealed what happened to Manny Noceda, but since Camila said that they had to move somewhere closer to a good hospital in order to cure him, we can say he was sick with a deadly disease (perhaps cancer?)

While saying it like that, it may seem like a lot about Luz's personal life was revealed in the show, but believe me, that's far from being the case...

Luz's traumas are often ignored by fandom. And the reason is the show is ignoring Luz.

Think about it, she's the protagonist so she's supposed to have the spotlight, right?

But no, we know much more about Eda, Hunter and Amity's personal lifes. I'm not saying this to complain, their own stories are also very interesting, especially Eda's. But still, it's no excuse to ignore the main character.

For all we know, Luz was bullied and made fun of in school, like Willow.

She was afraid of rejection, like Amity.

She is manipulated and scarred by Belos, like Hunter.

She is secretly depressed because of her relationship with father, like Eda.

But despite being deeply hurt and broken, why don't most of us acknowledge Luz's trauma?

Well, we have Disney to thank for this... Due to shortening The Owl House, we lost a great opportunity to know more about Luz.

However, this isn't the only reason...

Despite the fact that the show is shortened, we still have detailed informations about other characters like Eda, Amity, Hunter...

But the reason why Luz was ignored is also Dana Terrace's fault too. She often neglected Luz and focused more on other characters.

Maybe some people will disagree with me, but still, it's undeniable that Luz was neglected as a character and barely had the spotlight despite being the protagonist.

It's not only Luz though. Gus and King's backstories aren't even revealed or foreshadowed at all. We know little to no about them. Yeah, King is a Titan and Gus' dad is called Perry, and what else?

Like yeah, at least I was able write a few things about Luz. But there was almost nothing to write about Gus and King.

I wish we could have a full season 3 and then a season 4, we'd at least have some time to see everything without hurry.

Now I can only hope to have a good final episode. I sure hope "Watching and Dreaming" will be a good finale.

[astriiformes]

Throwing meta thoughts at the wall here because I was musing on the fact that a lot of my favorite stories these days (TOH, Pentiment, the Locked Tomb series) are all at least a little bit about grief. But one interesting thing The Owl House specifically did with Luz and Belos was make both their stories about grief and mourning, but in the opposite directions.

I love stories where the protagonist and the antagonist are both grappling with the same question or difficult experience but differ drastically from each other in their answers to it. And in both Luz and Philip's/Belos' cases, that experience is the loss of a family member, and their relationship to the Boiling Isles is defined by that grief.

Belos sees the Boiling Isles as a corrupting force that needs to be eliminated because in his eyes, they're the thing that lead his brother astray. He probably would have had a problem with them regardless, since his fervently held religious beliefs are the other source of his antagonism towards witches -- and of course, the real source of the rift between him and Caleb. But they clearly became a scapegoat for his brother's running away and abandoning their world, as well as the reason he decided the Isles had to be destroyed at any cost.

And he never processes that grief. He creates the grimwalkers instead, killing them when they echo that original loss and trapping himself in a cycle where he never actually mourns, just tells himself he'll get it right the next time and finally have his brother back -- all the while projecting that same loss onto the Boiling Isles and letting it fester into an even worse bitterness towards everyone there in his attempts at genocide.

Luz, meanwhile, associates the Boiling Isles with her dad, who encouraged her interest in fantasy and even left her the Azura books, which were one of the primary reasons she decided to stay and learn how to be a witch. To her the Isles represent someone she loved, and now almost has a piece of back. Her wonder at everything there -- and her finding belonging and other people who love her, which she was clearly longing for after her dad's death -- is in part a wonder at rediscovering a happiness that had shattered when Manny died. Of course she ends up wanting to do anything to protect them.

We even see Luz try to suppress her own grief, which is probably part of why she worries she's too much like Belos -- she can see echoes of her own fears in his, even if they both have different relationships with them. But ultimately his story is one about going insane and destroying himself with unprocessed grief -- and an unwillingness to admit his own part in his pain -- whereas hers is about coming to terms with it, as well as with the guilt that comes from not always being able to protect the people you love from harm. It's one reason her conversation with the Titan is so lovely, because it's her simultaneously talking to a dad who never got to have a relationship with his own child and her talking to the Isles that gave her back some of the same joy as her own dad, as well as the courage to remember him the way he would have wanted.

And of course, both their mourning narratives are accentuated by the Collector, who has no real concept of grief and ends up learning about loss as a result of Belos' attempt to destroy the Boiling Isles clashing with Luz's attempts to save it. His confusion about death ties both their narratives together at the end, which works perfectly for an antagonist-turned-protagonist -- something that's really driven home by Luz and Philip's first "chronological" interaction occurring in large part because Luz offered to help him find the Collector in the first place.

I just!!!! It's about loss it's about grief it's about spying someone in the mirror that's almost-you-but-not-quite it's about learning to tell the difference and to be better than them even if you still understand something of the shape of what made them the way they are, about how misery is easy and hope is hard, especially when the world has taken something load-bearing away from you, but one is poison and the other is ultimately healing.

It's about grief and about how it can be the end of you or the beginning of a whole new story.

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Borrowing Papa's Gloves (The Saturday Bonus Fic) ❄️ 🧤

(Based on these au headcanons by @livvychoclate)

"Snow!" Little Alma gasped while in her pink pajamas, staring with sparkly eyes at all the white, powdery stuff that covered the driveway from her room window.

"It snowed last night! It snowed!" She exclaimed with a bright smile, her cute face pressed against the window glass.

The small girl was too excited to contain herself as she quickly left her room and entered the room of her sleeping parents to let them know about the frosty fluff.

"Mamá, Papá, it snowed last night! There's snow outside!" Alma gleefully announced.

Hearing their daughter's cheerful voice, Beardo Philip and Camila slowly awaken from their slumber.

"Oh, it did?" Camila yawned as she stretched her arms and grabbed her specs from her nightstand before sliding them on.

She smiled when she saw Alma's smile.

"Mm-hmm!" Alma replied with a hum and a small nod before continuing. "Can we all go outside in the snow together?"

"As long as everyone dresses appropriately for the weather," Philip chuckled as he placed a small peck on Camila's cheek, which caused her to giggle at the affection.

"Yay!" Alma cheered, raising both of her hands.

...

Once their jackets were on, Camila and Philip made sure that Alma was bundled up in a coat and scarf.

They didn't want their baby to catch a cold.

...

"Watch your step, mija. It's slippery," Camila told Alma in a gentle tone as she carefully guided Alma down the steps.

Closing the front door, Philip followed the girls down.

Luz was already outside with a huge frown on her face as she used a shovel to clear a path for the car to exit the driveway.

On snow days, shoveling the driveway was one of the morning chores she had to complete.

Philip took notice of his step-daughter's displeased expression. "Why the long face, Luzura?" He asked her. "I thought you loved the snow!"

She certainly did when he and she took trips to the Knee while they were still in the Boiling Isles together.

"Yeah," Luz grumbled in response. "When I'm not scooping it all up."

Luz usually did love the snow!

However, the snow and her became mortal enemies when she had to shovel it.

Camila was unable to resist giggling in her hand at her eldest.

"Mamá, when I grow up big like Luz, will you teach me how to shovel the snow?" Alma asked while stomping happily in the snow.

Camila showed her a sweet smile. "Aww, of course I will, baby."

"Yay!" Alma cheered as she continued to hop.

Philip smiled alongside his wife. "Isn't that just adorable, my love? She wants to be like her big sister."

Camila nodded in agreement with him.

"Yup!" Alma chirped before crouching down to bury her gloveless hands in the snow.

"Ah, baby, no, don't do that!" Camila is quick to help her daughter stand up.

"Why not, mamá?" Alma asked with innocent eyes.

"Because you'll give yourself frostbite if you do," Her mother told her.

Alma was confused. "But... frost can't bite you..."

She titled her head some. "... Can it? It's not a person, or a dog, or a big scary alligator."

Both Camila and Philip let out a laugh.

"No, no, mija, the snow isn't actually biting you. Frostbite happens when your skin freezes from being in the cold too long," Camila explains.

"It's not a pleasant feeling," Philip would add on.

A sad look appeared on Alma's face as her shoulders slouched slightly.

"Aww, but I wanna stick my hands in the snow," She cutely whines, sticking her lip out some in a pout.

This made Philip chuckle.

"To do that, you'll need to wear gloves," Camila would state in a gentle but firm voice.

"Here," Philip kindly said, removing his gloves to give them to his daughter as he placed them on her precious little hands.

"You can borrow mine."

Elation spread on Alma's face as she admired the gloves and wiggled her fingers in them.

Although they were way too big for her, she didn't care.

"Thank you, papá!" Alma beamed before giving her father a big hug.

Philip gently ruffled up her curly hair and chuckled. "Of course, angel," He replied with a smile.

When Alma resumed playing by shoving her now gloved hands in the snow, she picked up a handful and threw it in the air as it sprinkled down.

Philip and Camila happily watched her repeat this action as Camila slowly placed her head on Philip's shoulder.

The sight of their daughter having fun in the snow brought them both great joy.

[acewithapaintbrush]

Should you get bored :)

Perfectly platonic starters hmmm... you pick the fandom (also just gonna say that this one is ripe for oblivious friends to lovers trope and you can hate me for saying it but imma say it 💕)

“… sorry I took a nap on you.”

Sorry it took so long and I don't even know if you watch Owl House and this is strictly platonic Amity & Hunter friendship, but I put some Huntlow at the end😘

🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉

“Sorry I took a nap on you.” 

“You didn’t take a nap on me, Hunter! You passed out! Now lay back down or help me Titan I’m gonna… do… something. Something unpleasant.”

“You really got to work on being more threatening. Weren’t you one of these snobby ‘I’m better than you’ girls once?” Hunter curses as Amity pushes him back down and keeps his head on her lap by twisting one of his ears. “Okay okay. I’ll stay down. Stop it!”

Amity blows hair out of her face and slowly lets go of his abused ear. She instead puts her hands on his shoulders. To an outsider it might look like a comforting gesture, but her grip is too tight to be anything less than a warning to stay put. She leans forward so her face hovers over his and she can look directly into his face, upside down. “What were you thinking? You told us you are fine.”

“I was fine.” At her raised eyebrow he looks away. “Fine enough. As if I’m gonna let you all go alone because of a small fever.”

Amity sighs, but her anger has pretty much fizzled out at this point. And maybe it wasn’t so much anger as it was fear. She can’t imagine anything worse than walking through the woods with a friend and then watching that friend collapse. Thank Titan Luz’s mother has insisted on buying all of them those prepaid phones and teaching them how to use them. The others are close by, looking for clues on how to get home, and they should be here soon enough. And as soon as they are done scolding Hunter for his recklessness they can get him home.

Amity looks down at the boy who was once her enemy and who she now considers one of her closests friends. She is reminded of their explosive fight, that time both of them were looking for titan’s blood. She remembers the moment she’d reached out her hand in friendship and how he’d pretty much slapped it away with a manic look in his eyes. Like an animal, desperate and lost, beaten one time too many to ever trust a reaching hand again.

“Look,” she says and loosens her grip. “I get it. You constantly feel the need to do something because if you can do something that means you are useful and that means you are worth something and we won’t send you away.”

Hunter flinches. He still won’t look at her, but his fingers drum against the ground and his eyes flit all over the place, much like Flapjack. “I don’t know what you-”

“But you don’t need to do that. You are our friend. More than that. Luz has pretty much adopted you as her brother and Willow and Gus would burn the Boiling Isles to the ground for you. And I have actually found you a lot less irritating recently.” He snorts and she smiles. “What I’m trying to say is that, for us, your worth isn’t defined by your usefulness. We won’t love you any less if you take some days to recover from your fever.” She lightly slaps at his temple. “So as soon as we get home, you lie down and don’t get up until you are at 100%. Got it?”

“Got it.” Hunter is effectively hiding his face and his voice sounds choked up, but Amity can barely see a tiny smile so she is pretty sure her message got through. Good. 

Ugh. She’s exhausted. These emotional pep talks are so much more Luz’s thing. 

As if on cue, Hunter pokes her in the ribs and grins up at her. His eyes are red-rimmed, but she is a good friend now so she doesn’t call attention to it. “Luz has really rubbed off on you. She’ll be sorry she missed this.”

“Don’t you dare tell her!”

She’ll be insufferable. Aww’ing and Ohhh’ing and calling them adorable and telling Amity how proud she is of her emotionally mature girlfriend and how she deserves a kiss for that and-

You know what? Maybe Luz knowing wouldn’t be so bad.

“Hunter!” A voice calls out through the woods. “Hunter! Amity! Where are you?”

“Over here!” Amity calls back and pushes Hunter back down again. “Hey! Come on now, just stay down!”

“That’s Willow!” Hunter squeaks. “I don’t want her to see me like this!”

Amity is about to scold him because has he heard nothing of her impassioned speech? But then she notices the flushed cheeks that have nothing to do with his fever and smirks. “Oh don’t worry, Hunt’. She already knows you are a damsel in distress. Maybe if you ask real nicely she will carry you home. Bridal style.”

Hunter gapes at her and the flush gets even darker (which is pretty adorable actually), but before he can argue further, Willow bursts through the treeline like a forest goddess, nostrils flaring and leaves and sticks caught in her hair. 

(Willow does carry Hunter home bridal style and insists on it even more when the boy’s face gets redder and redder since that obviously means his fever is spiking. Amity just laughs.)

[the-s1lly-corner]

If requests are still open, can you please write about Bump winding up in the human realm completely by accident? (Either due to Eda's nonsense or some natural portal that already existed due to a pool of titan blood, or whatever you can come up with)

Bump going to the human realm!

been a hot minute since ive last written for bump but since youre my silly funky moot i shall bust out the old man just this once!!!

honestly, i think im going to leave the means of how he got there and back to the demon realm up to you and any other readers since i may or may not lack any creative thought in terms of specifics

he would be... so so confused, and may even almost out himself as a witch to other people... thankfully, no one seems to suspect the literal imp on his head

in fact as a funny little haha/reasoning, lets simply say people think hes cosplaying some obscure character or oc that people dont really know about and frewin is just a really really well made prop/accessory

"oh how did you make that?" "i carved him :}"

i think he would initially freak out, i mean who wouldnt? you literally travel across into a new world that youve never been to; and likely would never go to (at least not until the very end of the show where you gain the option to, but thats late in your life, you know?) add in the culture shock aaaaand

but i think, given how bump is in times of stress (cough cough the literal attack on hexside with adrian as well as opening the school to the students during the day of unity) i think he would pull himself together to maneuver around

doesnt have human money and im not sure how many places would take snails, so options are very limited for stuff; cant go no where that charges you nor can he buy anything

maybe its the fact hes an old man, or maybe i just love the idea, but i think he would hang around the park and sit on a bench trying to come up with ideas on how to get back to the boiling isles

he ponders, and yet he has no orb

oooo okay but how funny would it be if he actually ended up being fairly popular with the humans

rounding back to the mistaken cosplay idea imagine some people ask to take pictures with him and he just "???"

for haha funny lets say he agrees and now theres just

pictures of bump floating around

is it a dumb idea? yes. would he be more likely to turn down a photo request? oh yeah definitely, especially since he doesnt know the people. but is it likely that some people take pictures of him without his consent? unfortunately, yes, especially in this day and age

as a little bonus hc before i tie this up imagine luz; either before or after getting stuck in the isles (before the portal door was destroyed at the end of season 1 since it seemed to cut off her internet connection to the human world) or sometime during her return to the human realm... whatever im dragging this out but like basically how funny would it be if luz comes across this picture of bump while scrolling human social media

the DOUBLE TAKE

like she checks to see if shes actually on the BI of IG but.. nope, thats bump

[hxney-lemcn]

No One Like You — Hunter x gn! reader

Summery: Things are looking up for the better in the Boiling Isles, reader and Hunter share a loving memory.

tw: If you haven't watched the ending of season 2 don't read this. Some insinuations.

a/n: Okay another shoddy job at making everything better but hush.

wc: 1.5k

Epilogue

Master List | Chapter One

We came to a compromise with the Collector. We let them free, and they wouldn’t harm anyone or change our world. At first he disagreed, saying how that was boring. But once they realized we wouldn’t let him go otherwise, he agreed. 

And that was that. Life was peaceful…for the most part. The Emperor’s coven was no more. In fact covens were changed. No more sigil branding. No more locking away witches' powers. Instead, covens were turned into jobs basically, clubs if you will. With previous leadership experience, Lilith was asked to lead the Boiling Isles. She looked at Eda for approval and Eda just nodded with a grin. 

Darius took Hunter under his wing. Hunter was hesitant to leave me at first, but I reassured him that we’d still see each other. Though he still slept over at my place often, and I thought that was redundant, but I didn’t complain. I slept better with him by my side anyways. 

“How was class?” I asked Hunter as we sat by Luz and the rest for lunch.

“It was good,” Hunter said excitedly. “We’re learning to make this potion that makes the person drink it fall asleep!”

“Oooo,” I replied, intrigued. “That sounds cool!” 

“I can’t believe everything is back to normal,” I heard Amity sigh, looking down at her food. “Well…as normal as it can get.” 

I hummed in agreement, then turned to Luz, “Have you found a way to replicate the portal key yet?”

“I’m close,” Luz said with a determined grin. “I just don’t want to hurt King to get the Titan blood I’ll need.” 

“Couldn’t we make one of those human things they use,” Gus chimed in. “I think it’s called a nodle?”

“I think you mean needle,” Willow corrected with a smile.

“You’re right!” Luz exclaimed, eyes shining. “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

We all laughed, and the day passed quickly. I walked down the front steps, getting ready to go home.

“Hey (n/n),” Hunter called, holding my hand and stopping me. 

“Hey love,” I replied back with a smile. Hunter never failed to blush at the pet names I let slip.

“D-don’t say that so loud!” Hunter exclaimed looking around. Most of the students were already gone though. “A-anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place tonight, Darius said he wanted to formally meet you.” 

“Oh,” I replied nervously. Last time we met…it wasn’t under the best of circumstances. But Luz explained how he joined CATS to help stop the day of unity. Remembering how prim and proper he always seemed, I glanced down at my worn uniform and nervously fiddled with my tunic. “I’d have to ask my moms first…”

“...is something wrong?” Hunter asked, worry clear in his eyes. 

“It’s silly really,” I chuckled awkwardly. “I just…will I meet his standards?”

Hunter blinked, taking in what I said, but it only fueled my anxiety.

“(Y/n), you are the best thing that’s happened to me,” Hunter started to rant, a slight blush dotting his cheeks, but looked at me seriously. “And Darius…he isn’t like Belos. He’s happy when I’m happy…though he does like to poke fun at me sometimes.” I smiled shyly and looked down, noticing that he intertwined our fingers while speaking.

“Okay,” I nodded, squeezing his hand. “I still have to ask my moms, and I want to go home and change first.”

“That’s fine,” Hunter smiled, pulling our hands up and kissing the back of mine. “I’ll go get ready too.”

With that we parted ways and I quickly flew home. 

“Slow down, you’ll trip,” Mom scolded me as I nearly threw off my shoes. “What’s got you so excited anyways?”

I paused before turning into my room, looking back at mom, “I was wondering if I could go to Hunter’s place for the night.”

“Okay,” Mom agreed quickly. “But remember, if anything happens be safe-”

“MOM!” I shouted in embarrassment. “Nothing like that is going to happen.”

“Just making sure,” I heard her say as I quickly shut the door, wanting to leave that conversation in the past. 

Now onto the next problem…what do I wear? I looked through my closet; too bright, too goth, should I wear something formal? Ugh why was this so hard?

I ended up with something in between formal and casual. Grabbing my satchel, I made sure I packed some pajamas, had my scroll, and packed a book for good measure. Nodding to myself, I walked out and Momma said goodbye on my way out. Once I stood outside, Cinder flew onto my shoulder, chirping lightly.

“I know,” I mumbled, still nervous. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Chattering back, Cinder turned into a staff, and I began my flight. During the flight I tried to calm myself. Landing in front of the giant house…almost a manor, I took a deep breath before knocking on the door. It opened quickly and an abomination stood in front of me. Then it stepped to the side and I took that as a sign to walk in. Hunter ran into view, a wide smile when he saw me.

“(Y/n)!” He exclaimed, making his way towards me. I noticed that he wore his normal outfit and I felt embarrassed at the fact I dressed up. He pulled me into a hug, snapping me from my thoughts.

I chuckled slightly, “It’s only been about an hour sweetheart.”

Footsteps echoed and Hunter pulled away from me speedily. He tried to look nonchalant as Darius raised his eyebrow at us. 

He looked me up and down with a judging stare before saying, “At least someone has class.” Hunter sputtered for a response and I tried to hide my laughter. Maybe he wasn’t as scary as I thought.

“I’m Darius,” He introduced himself. “I’d like to sweep our last meeting under the rug.”

“I’m (y/n),” I responded, fidgeting with my hands. “And I would as well.”

“Come children,” Darius motioned, turning around. “Dinner is just about ready, so let us take our seats.” 

Hunter and I sat next to each other as Darius took the head seat. Soon, an abomination came in and set the food on the table. I looked on in wonder as there was anything you could think of. Fruits, vegetables, meats, and more!

“So tell me,” Darius spoke up, pouring himself some apple blood. “How did…this…manage?” 

I just shrugged, looking down at the food I took, “I’m…not entirely sure myself. It just sorta happened.” 

“What do you plan on doing after school?” He asked.

“I was thinking of opening my own pet store,” I said sheepishly.

“Really?” Hunter asked, looking at me in shock.

“Yeah,” I nodded with a smile. “I guess I never said anything about that, huh?” 

“How quaint,” I turned to Darius to see him smiling softly. I felt the tension release as I realized that Darius was really kind. 

Darius continued asking questions as we ate. Slight banter between Darius and Hunter amused me greatly. After we were finished eating, Hunter tried to drag me to his room before Darius could say anything more to embarrass him…but it was too late.

“Remember what I said earlier,” Darius chimed behind us. “Keep your door open, little prince.”

Hunter blushed furiously before going to close the door behind us, only to leave it open a crack. 

“You were right,” Hunter groaned, face planting on his bed. “That was terrible.”

“That actually went pretty good,” I laughed sitting next to him. Hunter didn’t move so I patted his head, “Is there any way I could make it better?”

Hunter moved his head to face me, then promptly pointed to his cheek with a small pout. I grinned, overwhelmed with adoration as I leaned down and pecked his cheek. He turned and sat up next to me, looking off sheepishly, a grin showing his gap tooth. I grabbed his face and turned it towards me as I peppered kisses all over his face. His smile spread wider as he chuckled happily. 

“You,” I said, kissing his forehead after. “Are,” I continued, kissing his left cheek. “Too,” Next was his right cheek. “Cute,” I finished by kissing his nose. 

Hunter raised his hand and held it over mine, his eyes then met mine, “I love you.”

My breath hitched at his confession and my entire body warmed up. My eyes widened and my mouth gaped open. My heart fluttered at speeds I didn’t think were healthy. Yes, I offhandedly called him love, but that was a pet name. And although I let the implication linger, I haven’t straight up confessed. 

“I love you too,” I whispered back, like if I spoke any louder the moment would shatter. Hunter’s face inched closer and I felt my breath get heavier at the tension. My hands twitched against his face as I leaned in as well, stopping inches before his, “May I?”

Hunter nodded, gulping, “Yes please.”

I closed the gap, our lips touching tenderly, lightly. I started to feel nervous since I’ve never kissed anyone before. I let my hands slide to his neck as Hunter dropped one of his on my waist. I pushed my lips to his a little harder before pulling away. I opened my eyes slowly and bathed in the sight before me. There Hunter sat, eyes half lidded, red painting his face, lips parted. 

“Th-that was…” Hunter trailed off, not taking his eyes off me. I tackled him in a hug laughing.

Things have finally taken a turn for the better.

← Previous Chapter

[justkeepwalkingnothinghere]

tell me about castor :D

HOOKAY, HI. The floodgates have been opened, folks! It’s about to be walls of text!

So you wanna hear about my son! I have waited so long to tell almost his entire life story here on Tumblr. Many on Discord have heard, but not much has been told on my blog. Today, that changes!

LET’S DO THIS!

(Please note: The Spellcastor AU is still under development and details may be changed)

Full Name: Castor Windchime.

Nicknames: Spellcastor (Eda), Window decor (also Eda, upon first meeting).

Parents: Quince and Layla Windchime (May Layla rest in peace? Still iffy on that decision).

Age: Somewhere in his 40s, who knows.

Occupation: Supplier of potion ingredients (former), Seller of human collectibles (current), Another job that I will not reveal at this time for spoiler reasons (REDACTED).

Hexside Track: Illusions, Bard (behind closed doors).

Sexuality: Pan.

Wild Witch: Yes.

Likes: Storytelling and using his magic to do so, music, Boiling Isles history, cookie dough eye-scream, boiling rainstorms, goreberries, his morning coffee, being with loved ones.

Dislikes: Belos, Odalia, the coven system, anyone who threatens his friends and family, when his ears get cold on the knee, goreberry flavored anything.

First off, WHO is Castor? As stated before, I see him as my son, but in reality, he is my Owl House OC! Originally intended to be my self insert/witchsona, he quickly snowballed into his own character entirely with his own AU in the works. This boy and his story are my pride and joy.

His story is a long one, and while there are a handful of details and even chunks that I won’t be talking about for the purposes of avoiding spoilers, I am warning that you may wanna stop here in case you wanna find out everything once the fic comes out. At some point. Eventually. Let’s go!

While this AU focuses on present day Owl House, from Luz finding herself in the demon realm, to taking down Belos once and for all, Castor’s story began decades ago. Let’s go back a ways… reaches the Deadwardian era Too far! Too far! *Ahem!* Let’s go back…less far than that.

The dawn of Belos’ reign and the beginnings of the coven system. (This is when the timeline starts to get a bit funky but it doesn’t matter much. I am about ramble about Castor’s parents as I am equally passionate about them)

Castor’s parents, Quince and Layla, met in a pretty standard way. They found each other when they weren’t in the best places in life. To start, Quince was forced by their parents to become a scout for the Emperor’s Coven the moment they were qualified to do so. Most of their teen years were spent training, something they didn’t wanna do. Their family wasn’t the most savory of Belos supporters, and Quince began to resent them for it. But sure enough, once the day came, Quince passed coven tryouts and was soon to cross the threshold of the Emperor’s Castle. Rumor has it they even went on some missions alongside Steve’s father.

Layla on the other hand made her choice. Not many in the BI would know it, but Layla was at one point a wild witch. Unfortunately, when Belos set to outlaw wild magic, she feared for her future. Her entire family did. She saw no other choice but to pick a coven, and stick with it. To stay safe. Especially when the risk of petrification grew. She specialized in beast keeping, turning her home into a sanctuary of sorts when she would bring creatures back with her to take care of them.

But of course, being in the coven system was a tough, arduous job. With the power to drain you mentally. Everyone needs their break every once in a while. Quince and Layla would one night take theirs at Grimgrub’s Pub, after a particularly long day. Which is exactly where they met, spotting each other from across the room. Nothing new for Quince, they had met a couple new people this way. The two hit it off that night, an almost instant connection. Sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship, wouldn’t you say?

It soon enough became a blossoming romance, Quince and Layla having to develop ways to see each other in secret, and away from the prying eyes of Belos and the scouts. Think sneaking in through their bedroom windows kind of a deal. By the time they married, they had both been in their covens for many years, and it did have an effect on them. But once they had Castor? Quince and Layla knew their coven days were over. Knowing that it was no place to raise a child, especially once Belos would inevitably get involved, Quince grabbed their wife and infant son, and the three made a run for it to the right arm of the Titan. Far enough away from Belos to at least try to get things in order. Within the walls of this new cozy home that is still under the Windchime name to this day, the family of three started their completely new life.

(Putting the continue reading here because this is when I get way in detail about Castor’s life story. Last chance to turn back!)

When he was a toddler, there was no telling what track Castor would pick when he’d go to Hexside. Later on though, Castor had actually grown a love for storytelling. From fiction and even Boiling Isles history, he found that illusion magic allowed him to make his stories come to life, a clear picture of the perfect scene. He had a knack for this since he was little, it coming as no surprise to his parents when he immediately picked illusions at Hexside. At school he was your average student. He got good grades, practiced at home, went to an after school writing club. Even began to study bard magic once he gained an interest. But this doesn’t mean everything was good. Castor, sadly, didn’t have much of a social life. All he had were a few acquaintances in class.

Other students often looked down on him and fellow illusion track kids for their choice of magic. Not many people saw illusions as interesting or useful. The distaste for illusion magic was worse than in Gus’ time. Most days, Castor was alone. That is, until a certain “Lord Calamity” came a knocking. You see, Eda was an infamous figure of chaos at school, and she had made one hell of a name for herself. It was a common occurrence for students to hear the end result of one of her pranks or schemes at random points of the day. And Castor would often see a yellow school uniform and ginger hair pass by in a blur as Eda fled the scene. He usually tried his best not to get caught in one, not wanting to get in trouble, or at worst, lose a limb.

As you can probably guess, Castor was one day picked by Eda to play a signature role in her latest scheme. It required illusion magic, and judging by the light blue sleeves of Castor’s uniform, she felt he’d be perfect for the job. Castor agreed, albeit reluctantly, and what followed was some of the most fun he ever had. The storyteller and bringer of chaos found that they got along quite well! Castor was called to action again soon after, Eda bringing her sister Lilith along for the action this time, and Eda had set the standard for how things would be for these three from here on out. Before long, they were suddenly sitting at the same lunch table together, hanging out after school, being study buddies, practicing magic, you name it! Castor finally had people he could call friends.

Fast forward a few years, about 7 months before the curse. The trio had been best friends for a long time, doing almost everything together. Eda and Castor would meet in their hideout (the one with all the doors) and plan out schemes of all sorts, mostly just to get on Faust's nerves. Eda had even invited Castor to her house to learn how to carve a palisman with her father, Del. Castor emerged from the Clawthorne house with a small, orange mouse sitting in his shirt pocket. A mouse named Munchkin. Lilith had gotten him even more involved in Boiling Isles history, welcoming him to the inner circle of history nerds. And of course, you could find Castor in the stands, cheering on the Banshees and supporting the Clawthorne sisters nearly every grudgby game. Everything was going to be just fine! That is, until Eda almost got expelled. Once word had gotten out, Castor was the first to hear every little detail of Eda's day at HECK, and thus, the first to hear about Eda's new friend, Raine Whispers.

Understandably, Castor was ecstatic to hear of Raine's bard status, having been practicing at home since he got an interest. Surely, a few tips and maybe even some in person lessons would help him improve on his work! Raine sounded like a charming fellow Castor would love being around, and was really excited to meet them sometime. But what Eda didn't expect was to see a familiar face show up at the lunch table the very next day. Castor and Raine hit off right from the get go, becoming closer as time went on, from bard private bard lessons (with Eda joining in, too), to collaborating on Eda's pranks since they had gotten more complex with two people helping her. Castor's bard skills had improved A LOT, and soon, he would be able to wield and play his flute with ease. Including Lilith, it was the perfect team of best friends, along with acquaintances in Darius, Alador and Perry Porter.

Before long, Castor and Lilith had begun to notice some sparks flying between the young bard and wild witch. They knew there was something between them. Castor thought it was adorable and wanted nothing but happiness for them. Lilith had even coined their ship name, Raeda. She and Castor would sometimes talk about Raeda's pining, with Darius often joining in. Eda and Raine were completely oblivious to their crushes on each other. Neither of them knew, despite it being painfully obvious. Which lead to some folks, mostly Darius, getting annoyed with the pining.

I'd say more, but the next big chunks are the ones I won't be giving. The biggest spoilers possible. But really, what else needs to be said? Castor and Lilith rejoiced when Raeda finally got together, Faust retired and made Bump principal, Castor and everyone were all there for Eda in the first months of the curse, Castor and Raeda's best friendship stood for many years, Castor still kept in a little bit of contact with Lilith even after she joined the EC, was heartbroken when Raeda broke up, and moved in with Eda a decade later when he faced some troubling times. He met King, opened up the Human Collectibles stand with Eda, and felt that all would be well for years to come. That is, until one fateful day...

"And this...well this'll make good kindling." "Excuse me, sorry, that's mine, thank you!"

Was that...a human?!

(End ridiculously long backstory!)

Thank you, and goodnight!

[bornspellcaster]

Little Firefly - Chapter 3

(When the time pool closes before she reaches it and Luz finds herself hopelessly stuck in ancient times, an incident forces her to work together with her enemy to ensure their survival. In the midst of it, Luz learns there may be more than meets the eye to the frigid Puritan, and discovers the real secret to saving The Boiling Isles may just lie in reuniting an estranged family…)

Chapter 3 - Spiders And Witches, Oh My!

Chapter index

“GOOOOOOD MORNING!” a cosmic child squealed as he spiraled upwards into the air in a merry corkscrew, and doused the two humans in a shower of stars.

Luz couldn’t help but laugh, holding her hands out to try and catch them. Her eyes were sparkling with glee, where Philip still showed his aghast skepticism. “Philip, it's SOOOO cute!”

“It’s a child,” Philip said flatly.

The Collector squeaked as the teenager reached over and dangled one of his little feet. It felt strange, like the illusion of touching cloth, as if even if she didn’t feel it physically on her fingers, she could feel it in her mind. He felt like a ghost. An adorable little ghost.

“Aw they’re a cutie is what they are! Who’s got a cute little foot? Is it you? Is it you??”

“It’s a child,” Philip repeated, and his voice was somehow even flatter than before. His eyes were half lidded. He could not believe this. He could not believe his fucking luck.

“A cutie patootie!” Luz hugged the little cosmic child against her, and his reaction was immediately reciprocating. “I. LOVE him!”

“Ahehehehe! Aww, you’re really swell yourself!” He snuggled into the witchlet’s hold. She felt the phantom touch of an almost silky sensation against her skin. In her mind she could somewhat make out an appearance of stitched stars and crescent moons. She saw the colors navy blue and lilac purple. She felt the ghost of a tickle from his strands of hair.

“…ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Philip’s outburst startled both children so badly they both nearly tumbled back onto their haunches. Birds flew out of the trees they were standing under. “YOU’RE A CHILD?!”

“HEY! I’m more than just ‘a child’, you old fuddy duddy!” The Collector snapped. Their silhouette jumped to the bark of one of the auburn trees and darkened it black with their cheshire grinning shadow. “Be nice or leaf me alone!”

Luz burst into laughter and Philip merely groaned, running his fingers through his greasy hair as he disregarded his injury and paced in fury. “I don’t want to be stuck with another child! I’m still trying to get rid of THIS child that’s following me!”

“Rude.”

“You suuure?” The Collector turned upside down, and both humans couldn’t suppress the shudder, as his head twisted as well. “You sure seemed to want me when you called me your little ‘round boy…’”

Philip felt heat rise to his cheeks, going scarlet at the giggles that rose up by both children. He growled. “Listen, do you have information that can get this one home? Specifically to her time. She’s from the future and it doesn’t look like we can rely on time pools.”

“Hey whoa whoa, hang on a second, bub!” The Collector’s catlike eyes narrowed as his arms crossed over each other. “You can’t just pull my shadow out and start making demands. I’ve been in this stone for like, a gazillion-million years! You want something, you gotta give something!”

“Oh, uh…” Luz scratched her chin thoughtfully and nervously. She wasn’t sure what exchange she could make that a godling might enjoy, or what was even in the realm of possibility. “What do you want?”

“I mean what I want is to be OUT, but you probably can’t give me that…. If you can’t free me, at least let me stretch my legs. Errrrr, so to speak! I want to see things! I want to go places! I want to play games! I want toys!”

“Welllll….” Luz shrugged her shoulders as she gestured back to the market with a wayward smile. “We could take you to the market! There’s fun stalls, there’s bards playing tunes and reciting ballots! There’s definitely toys!” She jerked a thumb over to the still very chagrined man at their side. “And this one still needs to get some sort of healing for his leg.”

The Collector’s eyes drifted down to the linen wrapped firmly around Philip’s leg. The blood had aged into a rusty brown color and the bandage was already starting to smell. “Ew. Mortals are weird. If I was out of here I could get rid of that in a jiffy!” Granted, the child had never had a chance to make a mortal their test dummy, but how hard could it be? Immortals could pick themselves back up like a knocked down tower of blocks.

“Whatever,” Philip grumbled, just wanting to speed this along, and just wanting to get this girl out of his hair and not have her on his conscience. “So we have to take you to the market and entertain you until you’ve had your fill. That’s what you’re telling us?”

“Yeah something like that.”

“Ughhhh…” He needed to read the fine print on this kind of stuff…

-

Luckily the market had already forgotten about the suspicious duo, although Philip wasn’t confident that meant they’d be so inclined to ignore a floating, talking apparition of what looked like some baby jester. Then again, this was The Boiling Isles. He saw someone riding a giant worm with bucked teeth earlier. If anything, maybe this would make them appear more normal.

“Do many people know of The Collector?” Luz asked the floating child that had made themself comfortable on her shoulders. Somehow, she could feel a cool weight, and she faintly saw little pom poms in her mind as she reached for the godling’s tiny feet.

“If they got any sense they should,” The Collector scoffed and Luz just giggled. She walked with an exaggerated, jolly march—mostly to jostle the laughing shadow kid on her shoulders. Subconsciously, it was a bit of a coping mechanism she supposed…for the dearly missed, furrier little body that perched on her shoulders before.

“The Collector is a bit of an… interesting name,” Luz hummed, not wanting to offend the child. He didn’t seem to take any offense to it though and shrugged.

“Well it’s not really a name in the way mortals have—like a cool one like Luz, or a boring one like Philip…”

“You little-“

“It’s more like, names aren’t considered important I guess, for celestials. We exist only by the importance of what we do, so names aren’t really necessary, because…we don’t matter outside of our job.”

Luz frowned at the baby celestial, and even Philip seemed a bit perturbed by the detached…bleakness they seemed to view themself as. “…Names are important, and I think you’re important too,” she told him, squeezing their little leg meaningfully. Or, as much as she could anyway.

“Well…” The Collector’s voice dipped to something more melancholic. It was hard to tell just what emotion was on his face with such limited expressions a shadow could do…but Luz sensed a lot of different feelings as he spoke. “A long time ago, there was someone in my life that nicknamed me Eclipse, because of the pattern on my face. …Heh, or Clipsy. Clips.”

Luz grinned at him and dipped suddenly to the side to put him off balance and hopefully get a giggle or two. “Eclipse, Clips, or Clipsy it is! I’m happy to meet you!”

“Hehe, I’m gonna call you Luzzy!” he squeaked, trying to hug the girl around the neck. “Nah, that’s too simple… I’ll think of something else eventually!” He looked back at their least willing travel companion, and one that was slowing down. “So what nicknames can we call that one?”

“Oh I’ve got lots of nicknames for him but you’re too young to hear most of them.” She snickered at the joke that went over the celestial’s head and made Philip narrow his eyes in silent contemplation of finding the nearest river or chasm to toss her into.

“Speaking of him, man he’s really slowing us down,” Eclipse groaned as he watched Philip drag his injured leg along the gravel.

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“I can hear you!” Philip exclaimed, to which both children shrugged in indifference.

He huffed at the disrespectful miscreants…but loathed as he was to admit it, this leg really was slowing him down. The pain was becoming unbearable. Luckily they were approaching the central part of town, where various tents were set up.

From there, the kids could spot one with a red canopy lined in tassels. Luz could make out rows of tables with different vials of various potions, oils, and baskets of medical herbs. There was a kind looking old demon there, that looked like some sort of reptilian—orange and wrinkly with horns that reminded Luz of a triceratops.

“Philip, I think that’s a healer.” Luz rolled her eyes in annoyance when the older human made some derisive lip curl.

“Are you kidding me? You have been…” She looked up at Eclipse and held her hands suddenly where she thought the kid’s ears might be. “Bitching like non stop about how much pain your leg is in, and frankly it’s driving me up the wall. Who knows what kind of journey is still ahead of us! And think of it this way,” she continued when he seemed unsatisfied. “Sooner we can figure out how to get this mess sorted out, the sooner you and I can part ways.”

He liked the sound of that. “Fine, I will go to a healer. This one time!” he growled. “After that we do whatever it takes for the stupid cosmic child to give us a clue on how to get you home.”

Luz gave a loud exaggerated gasp. “Don’t you talk to him like that! He is BABY!”

“Yeah! I’m baby!”

Philip rolled his eyes and trudged angrily along up the path. When they reached the healer’s tent, the rude man didn’t even ask or even acknowledge a greeting by the witch as he flopped heavily into a chair. “You, fix this leg. Now.”

Luz was going to beat this man to death with her shoe. “I’m really sorry about him, Miss. I’ve been doing my best to teach him some manners, but feral cats are hard to tame.”

Philip felt his complexion darken, especially when their resident shadow child let off a bubbly laugh at the joke. He crossed his arms and attempted not to flinch when he felt pulses of magic hit his skin. It targeted the cut and he ground his teeth together, averting his gaze from the procedure. The magic weaved in through the cut and began to mend the skin together. He shuddered, but Luz of course was just dazzled.

“I’ve always loved healing magic. It’s impossible to choose my favorite form of magic because I just love it all so much, but healing magic is so cool,” she perked. “I’m not the best though…”

The old woman smiled at her and then scrutinized Philip carefully. “Don’t I know you?”

Oh no. He could feel the sweat starting to pour. “N-no…”

“You look like one of Varuka’s bo-“

“Wehavetogo!” Philip jumped up so fast he jostled the table and knocked over two potions. One hand snatched a startled Luz by the forearm, and clutched Eclipse’s obal in the other arm. He tossed several snails onto the table, hard enough the coins bounced. Last thing they needed was to be chased for stealing.

“Wh-Philip!” Luz could barely keep up with the man. That was ironic given his speed only a few minutes ago. She stared back as the healer’s tent disappeared from her field of vision as Philip yanked them further into the crowd. “What’s going on?”

“N-nothing!” he quickly lied, and babbled on in hopes of catching the other child’s attention. “Collector! You said you wanted to do…things in the market? Well choose something.” He crossed his arms, and his leather boot was anxiously tapping against the ground as he scanned to make sure the woman wasn’t following. She wasn't.

“Toys!” Eclipse declared as he pointed over to a tent with some hand sewn dolls and other needle pointed work and cushions. There was even some beautiful embroidered canvases, like the type Luz’s mother had brought home from a craft fair once. Luz felt her heart ache and tried to push the thoughts away.

“If we get you a toy will that be enough to satisfy you?” Philip demanded flatly. He was still checking carefully to make sure that witch hadn’t followed. If she did come to the conclusion he was ‘one of Varuka’s boys’ then surely she’d tip her off. If Varuka was still alive.

“Yo, white boy!”

“What?” He was snapped out of panicked musing by Luz and Eclipse. They were both looking at him with a mix of confusion and impatience. “Oh right, the toy.” Philip sighed as he marched up to the tent. He felt vaguely like a parent on a shopping trip with his hyperactive kids.

Eclipse and Luz excitedly scanned the shelves of lovingly crafted dolls and plushes.There were so many to choose from, but Luz and Philip saw the kid seemed the most intrigued with an adorable little marionette.

Its limbs were carved from wood and its body a sewn together burlap sack of beans. Of course nothing was normal on The Boiling Isles and the creature’s face had three eyes and multiple legs.

“I love it,” he whispered, in a choked voice that could barely contain his glee.

“It’s the most expensive one there!” Philip exclaimed with frustration. He scowled over at Luz, when he noted the teenaged girl had her gaze fixed on a little owl on the opposite side of the shelf. It was made of canvas and painted in cinnamon brown acrylics. Philip narrowed his eyes. It made him think of Evelyn. Luz clearly was feeling differently about the little toy.

“I want it…” she sighed wistfully, stroking a hand over the painted details. She reached into her pockets to try and extract some pocket snails, but after upturning them and only finding parchments of paper and lint, she sighed. …And she looked up at him, with the widest and shiniest eyes she could manage. He cut her down just as quickly.

“No.”

“But it’s a little owl!”

“We’re out here to get things for The Collector so they will give us information for you,” he reminded the girl, who was tracing casual patterns along the painted features with her fingernail. “So no.”

“I guess,” Luz sighed as she picked up the little toy with a saddened gaze. “It’s just, it’d be nice to have something to cry into at night that reminds me of who I’m so far from.”

She gazed over her shoulder, catching the way Philip stiffened and she suppressed a smirk. She didn’t need to do any acting in this case, because she did miss home more than anything. …It felt nice to jab a bit of emotional manipulation of her own in there though.

“You know…” Luz continued. “…When you kept me from returning home. ...Kept a poor child away from her fam-“

“I’ll take the stupid owl,” Philip growled to the merchant and slammed down several more snails. He would have just stolen the toys were it not for the fact he was trying to keep the attention away from them all as much as possible.

The Collector seemed to have caught his sights on the next thing that had his interest. Philip could smell a sickeningly saccharine scent of the multiple confectionary goods from here.

“I want a poison apple!” Eclipse must have sensed the rage of a thousand suns burning, because he quickly amended, “While we eat them I can tell you guys about something that might be able to get Luz home!”

Philip tightly ground his teeth together, but he relented. He felt Luz’s brown eyes looking up at him even before he turned his head. “I just bought you a toy!”

-

Philip always found the food this world offered at best, bizarre, and at worst, absolutely disgusting and cursed. Poison candy apples were no exception with the way the candy taffy melted a black skull pattern down the fruit. The children seemed to enjoy them though.

“I can’t really eat this,” Eclipse pouted.

“So I wasted my money buying a shadow a candy apple,” the man deadpanned. “And a girl one, who already guilted me into buying her a toy.”

“I’m gonna call you Bean Owlbert,” Luz told the little painted sack of beans as she hugged it close.

“Well it’s fun to look at,” Eclipse hummed as he admired the bizarre confection from different angles. “…Alright, so I guess my information tank is charged good enough.”

“That is so not a thing,” Philip deadpanned, but Luz leaned forward on the red bench she sat on, in anticipation.

“Time pools are like…tricky business.” The entity tapped his chin. “Magic, uh, amonalies!”

“Anomalies.”

“Whatever!” the child scoffed out. “From what I know of them, they can be formed when titan blood mixes with the magic algae of The Boiling Sea, but….you already know that part. It’s not a guarantee though, even if you got a hold of some blood. It could work, but it’s not always gonna create the pools. Kinda liiike…I don’t know, spike eyed shells! Some of them have magic slugs, and some of them don’t.”

Luz stared blankly at the child, while Philip haughtily rolled his eyes. “Think of oysters and pearls. Some will have them, some won’t, Luz. Basically we can try to replicate the effect with these ingredients but it won’t always happen based on chance.”

“Right, and then even if it does, like…how many years are there now that time has existed?” Eclipse laughed. Luz meanwhile felt her stomach sinking more, a heavy block of lead settling in. “The odds of finding even the same decade is super slim. And trying to find the exact moment? It’s impossible. I wouldn’t go for time pools.”

They sensed the despondency from Luz, and watched the way her eyes blinked in horror. “But! There might be another way!” he quickly assured, attempting to comfort his new friend as his shadow settled within her lap. “It’s a bit harder and with more risk. There is this object of incredible power known as the celestial scissors. Celestial scissors have the ability to just snip through ‘the fabric of any dimension!’” He shrugged. “At least that’s what my…siblings told me.”

Luz and Philip both looked at each other, exchanging skepticism. Something of that caliber sounded almost impossible to obtain.

“Long ago the archivists created this place that existed as like, a channel between the stars and the demon realm. And it’s where they’d store their most valuable things they’d collected from all the realms, especially here. It’s where they’d store all the beasts they’d collected into scrolls, and where they’d hide their most important stuff basically.

As you can imagine, it’s hard to get to,” the child continued casually. “The door to the channel opens once a year, on the Starlight Conjunction. The anniversary of the gods coming to be, or something like that. The anniversary is not for another three months.”

Luz felt all of her hopes torn asunder in that moment as she shook her head. She was grateful for the red bench she was perched on, because she would have fallen otherwise. “No, no, no, I can’t be here for three months!”

Philip gawked. “Surely there’s another way to get her home.”

“Construct a door,” Eclipse shrugged. “Try your luck with time pools. I…don’t know! I mean if I was out there I could probably portal her in an instant, but I’m NOT!” they huffed. “Not even sure about the scissors myself because I’ve never seen them, but my stupid siblings used to bully and scare me and tell me if I didn’t listen to them they’d cut me to ribbons with the scissors! Cut me ‘out of the fabric of existence!’”

“You’ve never seen them?” Luz asked weakly. “So for all we know, we might be chasing a myth….”

Philip looked down at the child and gave a small shrug. “A myth is…better than nothing,” he offered softly. “In the meantime while we wait for this celestial…whatever, surely we can keep searching for other means to get you home.”

All Luz could do was nod, in a quiet state of numbness. “Right…”

The Collector tried to elicit a smile from Luz by hugging her, but he wasn’t even sure if the girl would feel it. Hopefully at least, she’d get the comfort from it. “Hey, the…longer you’re here…the more time we have to play!” he offered cheerfully. “I want to play with that giant spider over there that’s looking at us! Ehehe, it looks like it wants to play!”

Philip felt the blood freeze in his veins. “A spider?” Every instinct told him not to turn around, but he still did, and he was certainly the next one on the verge of fainting.

There she was— her wide bulbous eyes, her horns perking upwards, the few chocolate brown spots on her bristled and furry thorax. Her eight legs were sprung forward, prepared to pounce. In excitement or anger, he wasn’t sure.

”Philip?”

Fuck this. “I think that’s enough market for the day!” Philip’s hand roughly seized Luz by the arm. The poor child, not even having gathered the strength in her jelly legs, was all but dragged across the grass until she managed to regain her footing.

“Ow! Philip, what the hell?!” Luz growled as she pulled at her arm, but he had it in a vice grip. Eclipse couldn’t do much, bound to his stone.

“I’ve gotten my leg fixed up, you bloody insects have rinsed my pockets dry, and I’m…severely arachnophobic, now let’s go!” he snarled, but it came out almost as a plea.

“Ow, dude!” Luz growled as she yanked away from him, but had little choice but to chase after him. The spider, she noted quickly, was following. It didn’t seem predatory however. Luz had many encounters with Boiling Isles spiders after all. “Philip, I don’t think it wants to hurt us.”

He wasn’t sure where he was running—Philip just knew he needed to run. It wound up being on the opposite end of town, far from where they’d parked Pancake, and unfortunately not far enough for Luz and that blasted spider to catch up.

She offered a palm to the spider as it skittered up to her feet, and the creature gratefully climbed up into the offered hand. She chittered and trilled, and Luz didn’t miss the way Philip was gripping at his temples, as if in pain. “Dude, what is the matter with you?”

The spider trilled and tried to catch Philip’s attention, skittering along Luz’s hoodie in distress. She tried to soothe the creature with pets.

“Go away…” Philip grunted. He was turned to a tree now, and gripping onto the bark.

“Philip it’s just a spider, and she seems really sweet!” Luz exclaimed incredulously. He couldn’t really be this frightened of spiders, could he? Surely there were much more terrifying things in this world that made simple spiders seem like a juvenile threat.

“Hey, it’s got a thingy,” Eclipse piped up as he floated around her, and the spider. “On its belly.”

Luz tilted the creature slightly and her eyes widened in realization. The spider had an interlock. “This is a palisman… Philip, what’s going on?” she demanded.

“Go away!” Philip continued to shout as his nails gripped into the bark of the tree. “I-I’m not talking to you! Leave me be, you parasitic insect!”

“Talking? But you can’t just talk to any palis….” She trailed off as the realization hit her. Luz looked at the squeaking spider and made the connection instantly. “This is your palisman…”

-

(And we meet The Collector! I’m never sure how to write his interactions with the world because on the one hand we’ve seen they’re trapped in the stone and see through to the outside like a mirror, but also their apparition can like interact with the physical world it seems, as there was even a scene where he laid across those statues in Hollow Mind and the fabric responded to the weight since it sagged…so I’m pretty much winging the physics with him! I imagine he can be like sensed and maybe you get like a glimpse of his appearance as a vision in your mind? And they’re like a ghost? idk!

The next chapter will probably be up very very soon- possibly even tomorrow, because it was supposed to be part of this one but it got too long (like all in total I think it’d be 25 pages) so I had to split it up lol So it’s mostly written already!

Also just a quick note that although this is after Elsewhere and Elsewhen it doesn’t directly follow canon! this is kind of a mix of au and canon, like Caleb being alive. The next chapter is one of my favorites. Thank you all for your kind words and also if someone could teach me how to input images into here I’d appreciate it because I draw a lot for this au and I’d love to make it seem like a graphic novel lol

Chapter 4 - Heartfelt Calligraphy - Philip and Luz need to kill time when it rains

Chapter 5 - Ultimatum - Philip’s bravery is put to the test when he needs to make a hard decision)

[justice-maul]

Platonic King x Titan Male Reader Headcanons

Keep in mind English isn’t my first language I hope you enjoy this!

What you look like:

When King accidentally summons you for the first time, let’s just say everyone is terrified and gets into a fighting position thinking your gonna hurt King

When they realize you are not a threat, the questions come in “Who, are you? What do you want? What are you?”

And when you announce that you are a titan and Kings brother they’re all more confused and now have more questions 😅

They let you stay over for the night but they are still very cautious of you King is more excited than them but Eda warns him that you might be dangerous

The next day is filled with interrogation and you are pretty calm throughout it but King decides to tell them all to stop

And says that he wants to know if you related when you answer yes they’re all surprised, to say the least, but King is also a little excited

So the next few days you willingly stay with your brother and his adopted family who happens to be a witch and a human

The more King starts to spend time with you asking you a ton of questions about your family and you the more comfortable he gets around you so he’s very willing to sleep near you

Eventually, you and king start to really see each other as family and talk about life and how it feels to be a titan

But if anyone does try to mess with King you are always somehow nearby I mean let’s be honest a powerless witch and a human in the boiling isles is not that scary, but a titan? 1000%

This brings me to my next point. It’ll be much easier to take down Belos with you there considering the fact that you don’t have to hide the fact that you are a titan cause your powerful

So you can prove all of his theories wrong and finally put him and the collector to an end ( so in this universe everything is fine because I’m still recovering from the ending 😭 )

The towns people may either fear you or love you and worship you or maybe even both but the family knows your good (unless you don’t want to be)

Oh and try to stay away from Lilith she goes all abandonment and attachment issues on you and starts worshipping you and trying to get others to do the same but you quickly stop her and say you need no such thing ( but that doesn’t really stop her )

And don’t even get me started on Hunter after losing Belos and his meaning his whole world turned upside down and all though he had made real friends he stilled missed the old life too so when you showed up he felt meaning to his life again

He basically made himself your personal golden guard and would constantly ask you questions and you felt bad so you told him that you were no god but you could be a friend although it did hurt him a bit, having a titan friend is still pretty cool to him

Living in the boiling isles when you’ve been somewhere else your entire life is hard especially if you do not like Luz but she helps you around the place and introduces you to her friends

Eda and you are like platonic co-parents best duo ever you share the same headaches I swear, and she’s a good friend to talk to ( she convinced you to drink apple juice)

The rest of the boiling isles see you kind of as a god or a new emperor of sorts so everything is cheap to you but you still give them a lot of money back (because where not horrible here people)

At first, you weren’t sure about being there but after a week you were sure you were meant to be here so you stayed with them and claimed them as your new family and home

[lilmcttens]

Night time fell on the Boiling Isles after Luz got her new Palisman. It was then two figures came through the same portal that Luz and the others came through two dogs then came through One wearing a red Bandanna and the other wearing a blue with Snowflakes on it. It was two terrier mixes clearly brothers. Dodger the red Bandanna one was wearing a suit alot like captain Americas with a shield made of vibranium. Shortstop the one with the blue bandanna and white snow flakes didnt have any of that and didnt need to and many would find out later why.

Dodger and Shortstop looked around it was dark...and quiet.. but Dodger noticed what appeared to be a giant skull and in the sky a house? What was this place?!!! Dodger- "I got a very bad feeling about this..." he said to his brother who was feeling weird just being there something was interfering with his magic ever since he stepped in that goo back in Connecticut it was weird. He felt a little tingle

Dodger- "Hey...you good brother?" he asked him knowing something was off.

Shortstop shook himself and focused then felt normal again. "Yeah...Im good Dodger..." he said feeling his magic grow. "We need to find who is responsible for this...I know we shouldnt but lets split up.."

Dodger- "Shortstop that's crazy...this is an unknown place..."

Shortstop- "Exactly if we split up and something gets one of us then of us will still be here...so please trust me I promise you we will always find our way back to each other."

Dodger knew this was a bad idea but he trusted Shortstop with his life. "Alright, Captain...I'll go this way... and you go the other way."

Shortstop- "See you soon." he said as he and Dodger did the paw shake and walked in the opposite direction. Shortstop walked through what appeared to be a forest of trees but then...rocks...

He looked up at the house in the sky and raised an eyebrow.."Well first time for anything." he said as he continued to walk. He then saw what appeared to be a light...at the base of the center of an open area. "Well this ought to be good," he said walking in that direction but then his nose picked up a smell...it was an animal smell? Or something he wasn't sure...but he sensed he was now being watched...by someone? But who?

👻⊱ A residential Witch was indeed close by; She heard the sniffing of another creature/animal. This fourteen-year-old witch was already on edge from her home being turned into a giant gameboard with all her loved ones Titan-knows-where? No telling where that magical cherub was now; but the last thing she needed was to be tracked by a monster or a slitherbeast!

The teen's golden eyes widened; the shadowed witch could hear the sniffing sound getting closer! Was the beast even aware that she was there? Should she send her palisman to check things out?

"No. Giving away your position when in stealth is never the right decision."

She thought to herself. The creature kept its nose close to the ground, but she could not see it. She backed herself against a titled tree curled over to match the starry aesthetic that was now how her home looked. She uses it as a cover to conceal herself in shadow.

Oh no, Oh no, it was getting closer. Too close for comfort!

She didn't have to panic, she didn't need to find a weapon. Armed with her witch's staff. She took a step forward ready to strike if she was seen. She saw a glimpse of white, brown, and slightly dark blue, but that was it!

[polyhexian]

The Jasper & Willow Murder Adventure Episode got me d'awwwing over their relationship. Jasper letting her have agency but also protecting her innocence! Jasper teaching her plant magic tricks! Willow latching onto him as an Available Paternal Figure! It gives another dimension to Willow sadly trying to chide Hunter when he yells at Jasper about the portal door.

And like, I'm sure Jasper would love all the kids. Might take Amity a bit to warm up to him, but once she does it's abomination chatter for days. He'd be super impressed with Gus's prodigy-level illusion magic.

But Willow probably has a special place in his heart because she grows him the most TASTELESS fruits and vegetables. Everyone else is snacking on delicious sugary watermelon and he's like, I'll pass, and then she's like wait I grew this one for you! And it's lovely and crisp and has zero flavor to it. She's the best.

He's also her FUTURE FATHER IN LAWWWWWW. You know Willow is so delighted by that. Jasper already earned a place as an extra paternal figure. He saved her from killing that guy and wrecking her innocence but also gave her the agency to save herself from making a decision she would regret. And when she was crying about her dads and like- they think I'm dead! They must think I'm dead! And he's going to tell her like even if there's a 99.999 percent chance she's dead they're her parents and they love her and they won't ever give up on her as long as there's that 00.001 percent chance, theyre still waiting for her and still hoping she's okay and she's like wahhhhhhhhh.

I also feel like- as I've said I'm headcanoning no marriage in the boiling isles. But Hunter lives in the human realm with his mom! And I think he's like. He really wants to do it because he knows his mom will love it. Also him and his friends all went to Luz's wedding and thought it was fun. So they get married and I'm sure it's a little different than Marriage Classic (why does only one of us get to get given away by a parent? I wanna walk down the aisle too wtf) so like. Imagine jasper getting to walk his boy down the aisle lmfao.

And then like. Jasper officially willows father in law. He's going to slam dunk her through a basketball hoop. He's got TWO kids now holy SHIT

[ragrottend0ll]

Lost and Found AU

I don’t remember when this idea came to my mind, but I was in a bad time in life and basically craved more angst than usual. So, this idea developed in my brain and I cannot let it go, but still have no energy to make it real, because Idk if I want a comic or a fanfic out of it, but here it comes:

The portal was destroyed, and sadly Luz stayed at the Human Realm with no way of coming back. Life goes on, almost fifteen years. The Boiling Isles slowly but surely recovering for the whole Dictator Belos and Defeat God-child situation. The owl crew grows. Especially King, who reaches almost 6 ft now. Eda and Raine sorted out their relationship and now live together and married some years ago. Willow and Hunter are married, too. Gus works in the government, trying to ensure everyone's well-being, Amity is a abomination  teacher in hexside. Even if the coven system was abolished, it would be tyrannical to make kids study all types of magic against their will (multi-tracked students is the norm now, most taking two or three different covens while at school, the kids can enroll and withdrawn from them when they want and it’s relatively easy to do so). 

While they lived fairly calm and happy lives, none of them can really forget their lost friend, who they couldn’t see again anymore, Luz The Human (I headcanon that most witches that interact with Luz actually think “The Human” is her last name. I just thought it would be funny). But one day, without anyone noticing, a tiny human comes from some natural formed portal and arrives to the Boiling Isles. This tiny human is eventually found by Hunter, who at first thinks he’s a lost child or is running away from someone and just... takes the kid in? It’s after some hours that they found out the kid is human and everyone starts freaking out because HOW this tiny human managed to cross a portal? WHEN did this exactly happen? and WHERE can they find that place? THIS may be the opportunity to finally see Luz again!

“Who?” The kid asks playing with his hat. He informed it was snowing in his city. The hat also prevented Hunter from seeing that the child was very much not belonging to this realm.

“An old friend. Luz The Human.”

“Luz?”

“Yeah”

“Oh, that’s funny, My mom name’s Luz, too!”

* Insert flashback of Luz telling them that her name is not really that common where she lives, followed by this kid also saying he’s from Connet-ti-cut *

And that’s how the owl crew found out their Luz is a mom. Before all of them, too.

Also, Eda thinking she’s a grandma now, Gus coercing the kid into telling him how much the technology has changed (the kid is like... seven tops so I think that interactions would be funny), Willow just really wondering how much time really have past and finding the little human be a lot like Luz and also how is he alive he is so reckless how did Luz managed to keep him alive this long?, And also Amity angst because the love of her live moved on and probable has  a happy family with a wonderful partner and a cute kid that is a lot like her and I’m here still in love with her and--

“Wait. You if you are here.... Does your mom knows what happen to you?”

“I don’t know what happen to me.”

[juliettedunn]

The Surprise Party (Part 1)

Part 2 can be found here

Part 3 can be found here

Part 4 can be found here

Part 5 can be found here

Summary: When she learns that Belos never told Hunter his birthday, Willow gets the Hexsquad together to throw him his very first birthday party. She's determined to make it extra special, because Hunter deserves as much love as he can get (and maybe she has some growing feelings for him). The Hexsquad pairs off into different groups as they head on an adventure to the mall, but things might be a little more complicated than Willow thought. Can these cringey neurodivergent disasters work through their individual struggles to give Hunter a magical day?

***

Hey everyone! This fic was written as part of the Hexes and Os zine Secret Santa gift exchange. It is my first multi-chapter fic; it won't be super long but definitely the longest fic I've written. Each chapter will follow a different POV and explore that character. Obviously the crux of the fic is about Hunter's party, but I wanted to have some individual focus on each member of the Hexsquad as well, before they all meet back up for the final part.

There will be some light angst, and also Luz's chapter will include references to ableist bullying, so be aware of that. However, this fic is meant to primarily be a fluffy feel-good story about cringey neurodivergent teens being silly, and it will remain so. Expect Warrior Cats references, sibling bonding, Camila being amazing, and more.

Also I've never written Huntlow before; I do hope Willow and Hunter are in character for this. Additional parts to come!

***

Hunter was still smiling, but it wasn’t like it was before. Willow could tell the difference, because his genuine smiles used to be so rare. Over the past few months, she had gotten to see him smile more than she ever thought she would, and that gap-toothed grin was imprinted on her mind. This smile was a fake. No one else seemed to have noticed; they were all rambling happily, just as Hunter had been a few moments before. The smile had only slipped when they shared their birthdays.

Amity had been trying to explain the Boiling Isles calendar to Luz, but it just made her more confused, and they had all laughed as they tried to figure out when their birthdays were in the human calendar. And then they had gotten to Hunter.

“When’s your birthday?” Vee had asked.

And just like that, Hunter’s smile slipped. “Oh, uh…I don’t really know. Belos never told me.”

Amity furrowed her brow. “But-”

Luz interjected laughing nervously. “Hey, I forgot to tell you all about the cutest little rat that showed up at the vet today! She had these tiny little paws, and -”

Luz was the worst liar Willow had ever met; she was practically sweating, but the group let it go. Only Willow noticed the soft exhale Hunter let out, and his attempt at smiling once more. As much as Willow loved her friends, they were shockingly bad at picking up on this sort of thing. Hunter didn’t like to talk about Belos, even though he had been with him for almost his entire life. Willow saw the way he flinched whenever Camila entered the room, and tensed up, baffled, when he received affection. That he had never experienced a birthday celebration wasn't surprising at all, but it still hurt to have it confirmed. Willow’s dads always threw huge parties for Willow; she didn’t even like them so fancy, but her dads were always the type to go overboard, and she was grateful all the same. To not have any acknowledgement at all…

An idea took root in her head, an idea so exciting she wanted to spill it out on the spot. But no, if she wanted this to work she’d have to wait, and not do anything to arouse his suspicion. He deserved a surprise, and she would make it happen.

Clover buzzed onto her shoulder, and somehow, though the bee lacked eyebrows, it looked like she was raising one. Willow rolled her eyes at her Palisman. Clover had been teasing Willow these past few weeks. Yes, Willow held a special place in her heart for Hunter. And yes, that special place might, might, be a romantic one. But she wasn’t about to say anything, not while he was still adjusting to even having platonic friends.. Clover buzzed at her once more and she shushed the bee with her finger. They had had several arguments about this, but she was firm. Hunter needed time to just exist; it would be selfish to start openly flirting with him at this point. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t let him know how special he was to her, and she now had the perfect plan. She just needed to get Camila’s permission first, given its ambition.

***

Willow waited until it was time for bed before broaching the subject. Camila always told each of the kids goodnight in the exact same order, so Willow waited on the hallway landing for her to emerge from the boy’s basement.

“Willow!” said Camila as she ascended the stairs. “Do you need something?”

“Um, actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you about an idea I had.” She explained about the birthday conversation, and how sad Hunter had looked. Camila’s face fell when Willow told her about how he had never had a birthday before. And then Willow broke the idea - the entire household would throw a surprise party for Hunter, with gifts, cake, decorations, and all. “We’ve been earning pocket money so we can buy our own gifts, but I wanted your permission to use the house, and also maybe help with the cake since…uh…” She didn’t need to mention the disaster that had resulted when the squad had gotten together to make a cake for Camila.

“That’s such a good idea!” said Camila, flinging her arms up in excitement but quickly lowering them with a sheepish look. “He’ll be so excited. Don’t worry, I’ll do everything I can to help. I’ll take him out for the day so you can all go shopping. Ooh, and we can get party streamers and balloons! I always love planning birthdays.” She clasped her hands together in a pose Willow had seen Luz do countless times, and Willow suppressed a giggle at the sight. Camila was obviously self-conscious about it, so she didn't react outwardly, but it was sweet to see Luz's mom had the same goofy tendencies as her daughter.

“Thanks, Camilla!”

“Of course. You have such a kind, strong heart.”

Willow flushed. “Well, Hunter deserves it.”

Camila nodded. "I know he's very important to you."

"All of my friends are."

"Oh yes, all of your friends. You care for everyone so much." But there was a look in her eyes similar to the one Clover had given earlier. Willow chose to ignore it. She had Camila’s full support. Now she just had to get the others involved, without any of them giving the surprise away. That might prove more of a challenge.

***

“I need to talk to you guys,” said Willow to Vee, Amity, and Gus. It had been several days since she originally thought of her plan, and she hadn’t had an opportunity to talk to anybody without Hunter being in the house. Finally, though, Camila had suggested he take a trip to the library, since he had recently gotten an intense interest in wolves, and Willow was granted at least an hour with her other friends.

Amity and Vee were flopped on the couch in front of the TV, completely zoned out, while Gus perched on the armrest, happily fidgeting with a small beaded dinosaur.

“About what?” said Amity, glancing up at Willow.

“You’ll see. Where’s Luz?”

“In the bedroom. She said she wanted some alone time but that was like an hour ago.”

“Okay, I’ll go get her. Turn the TV off and get ready; this is important.”

“Hold on, this is the best part,” said Gus, leaning closer to the screen. “Just give it a minute.”

“I’ll be a minute getting Luz.”

Gus didn’t answer. Willow sighed. She loved her friends dearly, but they weren’t always the most focused bunch.

“Luz?” Willow tapped on the door once she reached the shared bedroom upstairs, but there was no response. “Luz, I need to talk to you.”

She laid her ear against the door, and inside she could faintly hear music leaking from Luz’s headphones.

“No alarms and no surprises…”

“Luz?”

The faint trickle of music continued, only now she could hear Luz singing along.

Willow huffed and opened the door. Luz immediately paused the music, sitting up straight in bed with her headphones slung around her neck, a guilty expression on her face. “Oh, hey Willow. Sorry if I didn’t hear you knock.”

“It’s fine. Come meet me in the living room, I’ve got something to say to everybody.”

“Everybody? You need to wait then, Hunter’s at the library.”

“Exactly,” said Willow, winking, and Luz raised an eyebrow. Willow didn’t have time to waste explaining.

She headed to the living room, where Amity, Gus, and Vee had failed to listen to her request. “Uh, guys? Remember I need to talk to you.”

“Hold on Willow,” said Gus. “This is the best part!” The scene was an entirely different one from the one that had been playing when Willow left, so Willow summoned a plant to snatch up the remote and turn off the TV.

“What?” Gus cried. “Why?”

“I’m planning a surprise for Hunter,” said Willow, shaking off her mild frustration. “A birthday party.”

Luz perked up immediately. “Willow, that’s a great idea! He’ll be so happy, oh my gosh!”

“I know! I was thinking we could make it happen this weekend. I’ve heard Vee mention a place called the mall that she said is kind of like an indoor version of the Bonesborough market?”

“The mall? We’re going to the mall?” Gus forgot his TV show instantly. “I’ve always wanted to do that! Can we visit the battle arena?”

“The…battle arena?” Luz asked.

“And is it true you stuff the skins of fearsome predators and dress them up in clothing to humiliate them?”

“Uh…” Luz laughed. “No. The mall is dangerous, but not in that way. It’s more the social kind of danger.”

“It’s not dangerous at all,” said Vee. “I hang out there all the time. I can show you guys around!”

Luz furrowed her brow, but the conversation had already moved on.

“Ooh, we'll shop together, Willow!” Amity’s ears perked up as she got to her feet. Her ears had always been more expressive than the typical witch, but after their friendship ended Amity had worked hard to suppress their movements. Now she was always wriggling and twitching her ears. Willow was happy for her, she really was, but at Amity's suggestion a coldness crept in. It was a coldness Willow had been working hard to hide. Amity had been wanting to hang out with her a lot lately, and she enjoyed it, truly. But there was still a lingering feeling of resentment, and Willow was ashamed to admit it. And the way Amity acted like nothing had ever happened, just stated that they would be hanging out together, as if things had never been anything other than great between them...

Amity remained grinning, clearly failing to notice anything wrong.

Amity’s nice now. There’s no reason to feel annoyed.

Willow pushed her feelings down. “Yeah, sure. Gus, you want to come with us too?”

“I was actually thinking I could go with Vee. She’s clearly a human expert and I want to ask her some stuff.”

“Great, Luz can go with you two as well.” Willow was not getting third-wheeled again. “Now that that’s settled, Camila’s going to take Hunter out on a trip this weekend and we’ll  go get our gifts then. And they need to be meaningful, okay? This’ll be Hunter’s first birthday, and I want it to be special. And absolutely no spoiling the surprise.”

Gus leaped to his feet and gave a dramatic salute. “Yes, ma’am!”

“Great!” Willow grinned. She could already picture Hunter’s wide, baffled eyes when he saw the party, and then the way his confusion would melt into an ecstatic smile when he realized it was for him. Willow held that image in her head for the rest of the evening.

Part 2 can be found here

Part 3 can be found here

Part 4 can be found here

Part 5 can be found here

[fangirling-heart]

1, 2, 3, 10 and 15 for the TOH ask game :D

Thank you so much for the ask! :)

Sorry it took me a while. Strap in, that's a long one!

What episode got you invested in the show? Why?

I was pretty interested in the show from the first episode, but I think I was officially invested when I saw Agony of a Witch. I know it's much later, but that was the series' first major turning point, as many major stuff in the season had been building up to this and the next episode and it absolutely delivered. With Lilith's attempts to capture Eda, Eda's curse, Belos' introduction and of course the whole familial relationship between Luz and Eda. The driving force and heart of this episode. Pushing Luz to steal the healing hat and Eda to fight Lilith in one of the most awesome fight scenes I've ever seen, despite the curse flaring up. And those last moments after it takes over, with her saying goodbye to Luz and Luz having to back alone only to find out Eda had prepared with King a whole surprise for her... Titan, that's good angst.

2. Ramble about your favorite character of all time as much as you want. We're listening

Mmmmm, that's a bit tough. This show has a lot of characters I love, but the favorite of all time is a constant change between Luz and Hunter. Luz gets a bit of a bonus though, for also being my highest kin, so let's talk about her!

Luz is amazing! Absolutely amazing! She's an eccentric, wonderful girl who starts out treating the Boiling Isles as her dream magical playground but then grows to actually understand and love it for what it is, along with all the wonderful people she meets there, who she helps grow just as much as they help her. Also, in that firt regard, and combined with the fact that she gets in over her head sometimes, Luz makes mistakes over the course of the show, but isn't afraid to take responsibility for them (sometimes more than she has to) and try to fix them. And watching her grow, with every mistake and every act of kindness, was a truly wonderful journey.

I've mentioned in some other posts, that I have been in her shoes, spending a good chunk of my life in an environment that wasn't kind to me, but then leaving and finding my place somewhere else, so watching her flourish in the Boiling Isles really resonated with me, as did her whole personality. Apart from that, Luz also reminded me of the girl I used to be: an outspoken, loud little weirdo that wouldn't give up until she was sure she and others like her were heard and understood. A part of me that got beaten out before I found my Boiling Isles, and I still sometimes struggle to hold onto. But then I remember Luz and her story. I remember that it's okay to embrace and celebrate being a weirdo, that I don't have to beat myself up and punish myself for making mistakes, that it's okay if I still need time to figure out some stuff about myself and my life. And that there are people who will love me not despite my weirdness, but because of it.

3. Favorite episode? Why? Ramble as much as you'd like.

Thanks to Them! Without a doubt! (I gave in another ask a brief explanation, but since here I have a free pass to ramble, ramble I shall!)

In all honesty I was expecting this episode to feel small and maybe too fast and lacking, wondering how they would fit so much in one episode (screw you disney again!). But everything in it just fit so well! The opening segment was just amazing, giving us a charming montage of the Hexsquad's time in the human realm and I was sure the crew had fun putting it together.

Speaking of the Hexsquad, they were all so so great. Every little interaction they had with each other was an absolute hit, with moments of absolute hilarity like the exploration of Gravesfield, and also lot of heart like Luz and Hunter's moment in the basement of the shack.

As a matter of fact, much like my other favorite episodes in the show, Luz and Hunter were both in a very interesting place in this story, with the first being the worst she's ever been and the second standing in the middle of the best and the worst, constantly going back and forth. It was a great character exploration for them both, seeing them both trying to deal with the aftermath of S2's final events and how the others tried to help them, before...

Before the final act happened and all hell broke loose once again. No matter how many times I watch it, this part of the episode always hits me like a truck. The amazing build up, the creepy atmosphere, the fight scene, Hunter finally standing up to Belos, Flapjack's sacrifice, Luz opening up and the return to the Boiling Isles with Mama Camila this time... If Agony of a Witch is good angst, this is the best angst! (Flapjack's death crushed me tho. I was nearly catatonic after I first watched the episode)

10. What's something you wished would happen? Can be as nonsensical as you'd like.

There are lots of things I could put here (again screw you and your shortening, disney!), but the first thing that came to mind was having the hexsquad be a bit more involved in the finale. I loved the final battle with the owl fam and having Raine there was also great, but I wish the others could be there too. In my opinion, Hunter deserved to give at least a punch in Belos' face. And Amity deserved to see Luz in her Titan form.

15. Favorite antagonist? Why?

The man, the bitch, the legend, Emperor Belos himself. This guy has got to be one of the best villains to ever come out of a work of fiction, and one of my favorite characters in the show.

Now, Belos is a lot of things: a liar, a necromancer, a murderer, an absolutely terrible person, but above all, he's a tragedy. A tragedy of circumstance, but also most of all, of choice. There are parts of his story that explain (big emphasis on that word) why and how he got where he is, like growing up to be a witch hunter and then Caleb, his only family, leaving him for a witch, but he still had multiple chances to get better, like his brother did. And he just made wrong choice after wrong choice, digging himself deeper and deeper, until the little boy that liked playing with his brother was gone and all that was left was a monster made of mud.

Also, backstory aside, Belos is also so good at being a villain. Every time he is on screen, it feels like everything goes still and everyone's on edge. His scenes as Emperor establish how much of a threat he is, not just because he's a powerful magic user, but also because he is in control. Especially in scenes in S2, like the last scene in "Follies at the Coven Day Parade", where the audience and the heroes know he's up to no good and yet everyone else is cheering for him, completely unaware. And that's the thing. Lots of other villains, when in positions of power, use fear to control the people, but Belos aside of that, also uses and twists good things, like unity, to trick them into falling in line.

Which is why I found his last moments so satisfying. When he tries to pull that shit again and trick Luz and give himself some sense of control again and she is just not having it. Not saying him a word and ignoring him completely, thus taking away any power he could have. (The moment needed some more haunting tho, ngl)