#and they needed Luz to learn her lesson from Amity

[theprinceandthewitch]

So I've been thinking about this for a hot minute now and... I still think Amity's insecurities around inadequacy are going to be brought up even if they didn't come up in all the other episodes featuring their relationship (besides Eclipse Lake).

Partly because Hunter is involved in this issue... but mostly it's because:

It wasn't the right time for Luz to learn her lesson from Amity. She's going to learn it in this season, as it is the third act of the story. This is the Act where the protagonist learns their "truth" and is forever changed by it. They didn't really delve into Amity's insecurities because it wasn't the right time to do so. Bringing up her insecurities will cause conflict between her and Luz - which I believe they have been saving for this season.

[kraviolis]

WHY does no one think camila would be super active in her kids' lives!!!!! that she would just immediately dip from the demon realm and not go back unless necessary!!!!! she's not gonna pull a greg universe and step away from one of the most important parts of her kids' lives just because she's uncomfortable with magic!!!! shes a Noceda!!!!!

she would become good friends with all the adults in luz & vee & hunter's lives. she visits the boiling isles several times a week and hosts big family dinners at her house where she invites all of her kids' friends and parents and teachers. her home is always open to any of her kids' friends or parents, whether they need a shoulder or a friend or a break or a hot meal or even just homework help. she babysits king whenever she can find the time to and he starts calling her "mamila" and no, it doesnt make her choke up every time.

she makes a penstagram account with a cosmic frontier reference for her username to keep in close contact with her new friends and she actually knows how to use it better than hunter does. she's the first person alador goes to when he needs advice about being a parent. she has a permanent offer to stay at the owl house or at alador's home whenever she needs. she meets with gilbert, harvey, perry, steve, and raine for brunch every sunday morning.

she and principal bump meet and he is absolutely honored to meet her and he gives her the opportunity to give extracurricular after school lessons at hexside about the human version of beast-healing. she does a single lesson once a month, but does open up the chance for one or two older kids at a time to shadow her at her vet clinic for a day as a little field trip (viney always gets herself at the top of the list and becomes well known around the clinic) and she is lovingly teased by her co-workers for always picking up "strays".

she is one of the people on scene during the gathering of the guards who had all been murdered by their own creator and left to rot in the dark for decades. she doesn't have the strength in her to be one of the ones collecting the remains of all these men and boys who once had her son's face, but she stands by hunter's side and keeps him from falling to pieces and they help make sure all the golden guards all finally given a chance for peaceful rest.

she helps gus with preparing the curriculum for his classes on the human realm in eda's new school. she is there at all of the emerald entrails' flyer derby matches and wears green face paint to every single one and cheers the loudest. she's the one who takes amity to her meeting with the dean of the university of abominations when alador gets fireflu and is stuck in bed. she is the one who figures out hunter's never had a proper birthday party and quickly remedies that.

she meets the elder clawthornes and absorbs every piece of wisdom they give her as if they were her own grandparents. she learns palisman care from dell clawthorne so she can better take care of stringbean whenever luz leaves her palisman with her mom. she gets roped into learning how to carve wood by hunter during the start of his apprenticeship under dell & the bat queen.

her name ends up in the history books of the boiling isles, and not just for being known as the mother of luz the human. she becomes known for being the reason of the sudden boom in witches who focus in beast-healing and the reinvention of the entire industry on the boiling isles. she is known as one of the first people to rediscover and establish contact and fight for the protection of all the basilisks scattered across the boiling isles, who were previously thought to be extinct.

she would NOT just stand by and watch her children come and go between realms with her house serving as the port but not the embassy. she was once that very child, caught between what felt like different worlds, feeling as if she might be forced to choose one or the other because her parents were too uncomfortable with what felt like half of her soul. she would refuse to let luz, vee, or hunter feel as if they have to angle those halves away from her so they dont have to watch her wince at them.

camila noceda would make an effort to make the demon realm a part of herself, too, so that no matter where her kids settled themselves down in the future, they would still always feel at home with her.

[sepublic]

People -and this did include myself at one point- really don't want to engage with the fact that Belos is modeled after white supremacy by trying to bury this under the lens of "Oh he's actually a lonely weirdo like Luz!!!" when Belos' superiority complex is the most important part of him and it's where all analyses inevitably must stem from. I think the problem is that people are too attached to their speculative fanon version of Belos and instead of letting go of that to rebuild their understanding of him from the ground up (since he's a mysterious character who is only gradually revealed bit by bit), they keep clinging to this sympathetic tragic villain as the core behind their interpretation of him. 

Everything about Belos makes so much more sense when you explore him as someone akin to a lot of right-wing 4channers; A lonely young boy who was radicalized because white supremacy promised to rescue him from his isolation, and after buying into it wholesale, he very much chose to cling onto the need to be superior to the "NPCs" even when someone close to him actually unlearns and deconstructs for him why this is harmful. He sees firsthand how someone just like him is happier for leaving this mindset, and then kills them to eliminate that contradiction threatening his world belief; At which point it’s inaccurate to infantilize him as just a lonely and misguided kid, because he’s no longer a kid and he made a very cognizant and informed choice to double down and commit actual violence.

And everyone knows that by this point, such people are not actually being sincere; They’re not secretly misguided, you can’t simply attribute their harm to not knowing better because this is what their religion says or whatever. These people know they’re committing harm, but rather than help on “lesser” people’s terms, they ‘help’ the way THEY see fit, in the way that strokes their ego. That’s what separates Philip from someone like Gwen, who humbled herself to focus on what Eda was saying she really needed. So the Titan’s summarization of Belos as someone who only cares about being the hero in his own delusion, and fears what he can’t control is… hardly an oversimplification, it really gets to the core of Belos as a character, and the narrative he embodies. It captures the difference between wanting to help and having a savior complex, and is what ends up delineating the two at the crucial crossroads. 

And I find it a little concerning to joke about how this type of character is “just a silly guy” when people exactly like him are on the rise and committing very real violence right now. It’s also why I don’t buy the justification behind a lot of salt about how villains need to be humanized in order to show kids how THEY can become villains, because the show is fairly outright about how Belos rationalizes atrocities under the guise of the ‘greater good’ and refuses to self-reflect, and it’s not as if we don’t have Luz learning to understand characters like Amity or Lilith, the Collector and even Kikimora (whom she DID relate to personally, yet Kiki still doubled down with or without Belos), while still having the show emphasize that they need to get their act together and can’t just depend on people to save them. 

There’s also the very obvious theme of Luz realizing she doesn’t owe her oppressor anything, especially not when he won’t ever meet her or anyone else on their terms, but idk some people just seem to hate Luz for having boundaries I guess, even though she already put in the effort to be kind and understanding to Belos and she got hurt for it. Hell the Collector made that effort after being inspired by Luz, and Luz was murdered protecting them from that mistake!!! There are some very obvious stories and lessons being told here with the actual protagonists being the heart of those narratives, but the problem I’ve noticed is that a lot of the people complaining on Belos’ behalf are those who hyperfixated almost exclusively on the Wittebane aspect of the lore, going over it with a fine tooth comb and microscope to extrapolate an entire fanon from the littlest of details… only to just ignore the actual show and narrative and themes happening on-screen. 

And that leads to many not understanding various narrative decisions because they weren’t really paying attention to the actual point they’re in service to, and then they blame the writers for their own chosen ignorance, and how the story wasn’t about their part specifically so everything else doesn’t count and the whole show is wasted potential, really. The way so many of said fans immediately turned on Luz after the finale and tried to drag her down to Belos’ level by acting like she wasn’t any better for also wanting things and 'demonizing enemies', claiming Luz had unaddressed ‘flaws’ while Belos deserved more sympathy, and framing Belos as a ‘better’ character who ‘worked harder’ while claiming Luz was retconned into an arrogant chosen one who never grew, is actually baffling.

A lot of them are just upset that Belos didn’t play the role in Luz’s arc that they wanted him to play, so they’ve opted to dismiss Luz’s overall storyline as badly written and even a reflection of Dana's 'Catholic complex' (which is a tasteless jab to make) because they neglected the nuance behind every other aspect of Luz that wasn’t directly tied to Belos, that didn’t set her up as the one person who understands him or whatever because that’s more important to them than addressing the sheer trauma and pain that Belos willingly inflicted upon Luz. Because god forbid this brown girl be angry against her white abuser, huh? God forbid the white guy be used to set up the brown main character, rather than the other way around right????? It’s really just a jealous complaint about the show’s choice of priorities and celebration, hidden under the false guise of ever caring about Luz’s arc for Luz’s sake.

And that’s how you get insincere arguments about how Belos should’ve been able to survive, that’s how you get AUs that undermine the lessons of canon to egregiously relegate Luz to being Belos’ sidekick, or even present her as an obstacle to him getting his much-needed redemption, as if that last part hinges on all of Belos’ victims getting over their pain to help him, because obviously he needs it more than they do! Because we gotta spare Belos’ feelings by giving him friends instead of consequences!!! Unbelievable. He is not Amity, not Lilith, and definitely not Hunter, and the people who forgave them had actual reason to do so. And even Lilith had to move in with her mother so she could be given reparations by someone who actually owed it to her, rather than her younger sister and two kids.

And there’s definitely a major difference between Lilith and Gwen’s dynamic and Philip and Caleb’s, especially since Caleb was also a child when he moved into Gravesfield. Even if you think Belos' bigotry was radicalized due to 'grief' over losing his brother to witches, that's just entitlement and control because it's not as if Caleb can't have more than one positive relationship in his life; Philip is no better than people who blame minorities for some incident in their life and use that as justification to become white supremacists, and there's nothing sympathetic or 'tragic' about that.

But the point is that Caleb ultimately wasn’t THAT important to Belos because he’d always be secondary to witch-hunting, Belos clearly chose his white supremacy over his brother, and any ‘takebacks’ that come in the form of the Grimwalkers are insincere given Belos does nothing to actually repent or regret his violence committed on the people of the isles; It’d have been one thing if he DID try to undo his mistake by choosing differently, by cloning Caleb and giving up witch hunting, but he still doesn’t (Note that Belos does not hallucinate the ghosts of the witches he killed; He still feels no remorse over them, because his fear of being wrong comes from a selfish place). And unlike Luz, Belos can’t have it both ways because one option explicitly calls for the extermination of the other; It’s the Paradox of Tolerance that Luz struggled with, except contrary to what Belos claims, humanity’s existence does not require the eradication of others.

Because yes there IS a meaningful moral distinction between Luz and Belos -don’t forget they’re not just parallels but explicit opposites- that occurs even before you get into the genocide, not that you should neglect that other part either because it’s incredibly important, being the starting point for this entire rant. Society already has a bias towards devil’s advocating bigotry as some big misunderstanding, and prioritizing the angst of white dudes who commit it over the victims of color; Can we avoid applying that to fiction?!??!? I literally saw someone complain that the show didn’t portray Belos’ grief from murdering Luz, and that Luz’s “glory moment” took away from a Wittebane backstory!!! At this point, people are just being racist.

[avatarmerida]

A Blight By Any Other Name

I posted a preview for this awhile ago but I've been busy and whatver so here it is! It's a slight AU I guess but I'm mostly here for vibes not for explanations. If you see any errors no you didn't!

----

“Willow please!”

“Amity, I don’t know, it’s risky isn’t it?”

“There’s no way anyone would ever find out!”

“If that’s true then why don’t you just skip it or send an illusion?”

“I just need it to go well enough so my mom will stop bugging me and I’ll never have to do it again,” said Amity. “I’m just no good at these kinds of things and I’m worried I’ll mess it up so much that she’ll make me try again or send me to courtesy lessons with the twins.”

It was the envy of every parent who hoped to gloat about their child. Once a week for a month, the head of the Emperor’s coven would see a hopeful recruit and mentor them. It was a chance to impress them as well as learn from them. There were months that went by with no worthy adversary appearing as you needed to be the best, the boldest and the brightest.

Being rich didn’t hurt your chances either. 

“Why is your mom sending you anyway? Why can’t she send one of the twins?”

“She knows they won’t take it seriously,” Amity groaned. “She wants to make a good impression and she thinks it’ll help my chances of getting into the Emperor’s Coven. But all my antidotes were formed around impressing Miss Lillith, I don’t have time to research the charm the golden guard prefers.”

“And I do?”

“You’re just naturally likeable!” Amity declared. “It will give me time to prepare. Just pretend to be me and make me seem calm and friendly.”

“And what happens if he doesn’t like me or asks me something only you could ever answer?”

“The first visit is always a tour of the grounds, which I’ve studied enough to know anyway,” said Amity. “Just nod and smile and it will be fine! I just… I can’t…”

Willow saw through her instantly. “You have plans with Luz tonight, don’t you?”

“What? No, n-not like ‘official’ plans or anything like that but she mentioned she was doing something and it seemed intentional and so I thought maybe we would-.”

“It’s okay Amy, I get it,” said Willow with a smile. She was adjusting to having Amity back in her life and whatever was happening between her newest and oldest friend might not have been her favorite thing at first but it was growing on her. And who was she to stand between two dorks with crushes? “I’ll go for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” she said. 

“Perfect! I’ll grab the concealment stone for you!” Said Amity as she wrapped her friend in a hug. “Oh, thank you Willow! I owe you big time!”

“Yeah I know,” said Willow with a sigh as she returned the hug. “I know.”

———

The plan was simple: Willow would take a concealment stone and go to the meeting as Amity and secure a good first impression. According to Amity’s research, she probably wouldn’t even need to talk (Willow didn’t know if that meant ‘have the opportunity to’ or ‘be allowed to’ but was too nervous to ask) and by the time they had walked the grounds, the appointment would be over. She had endured worse.

The Golden Guard greeted her at the gate, if you could call it that. He didn’t technically say hello or ask how or who she was or offer any information about himself. He just gave her a nod and told her to follow him.He  spoke only when necessary, and when he did his tone was harsh and condescending. Willow couldn’t help but feel it felt forced. He gave instructions as though it came as naturally as breathing, sounding as though he was both tired and proud of showing her around. She walked three steps behind him, just as he told her to, and nodded and showed faint signs of understanding, just as Amity had told her. It was plain and awkward and everything Amity had said it would be.

The first visit was meant to be nothing more than a mostly silent and distant tour of the grounds,but once they got to the garden, Willow couldn’t help herself.

“Woah! Is that a Phantom orchid?!” She exclaimed, trailing back to get a closer look. 

“Hmm? Oh yeah it is,” he said, stopping to allow her to observe. Usually when someone interrupted him, it was a coven head telling him to shut up or mocking him or dismissing the fact he was speaking at all. But this girl wasn’t ignoring him, she was including him in her excitement, so he allowed himself to allow it.

“And it’s blooming already?” she continued, getting as close as she could. “How did that happen? The full moon isn’t for a few more days!”

“Oh, well Terra figured out that if you add moon dust to the water it will naturally convert the sunlight into the needed chemical to bloom.”

“The water, of course!” Willow said, laughing as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why didn’t I think of that? It helps the pigment coloration too! Ah! It’s so pretty! Look at the lateral sepal and the dorsal sepal! They’re much bigger than average, it must be cross pollinated to have a wide enough stem to support that.”

He watched as she continued to chatter about the details of the flower, seeing things within things and connecting it to flowers in her own garden. She was vibrant and excited and loud, uncaring if she got dirt stains on her uniform as she got closer to the plant. It was extremely unprofessional.

“You know a surprising amount about plants for someone on the abomination track.” He observed as he knelt down beside her.

“Well, between you and me I’m not really the best at abominations.” Willow replied without really thinking, too enamored by the details of the flower before her to monitor her filter. 

“Oh, well that was surprisingly… honest.” He marveled. 

Oh shoot, Amity probably didn’t want a rumor that she didn’t excel at the abomination track getting back to the Emperor.

“I-I just mean you know in all my studies I-I have sooo many studies!” Willow sputtered. “When I said ‘I’m not the best’ I mean more like uh… like uh…”

“Oh, no I didn’t mean anything by it! No, it’s just that… in other afternoon arrangements I’ve had they always try to talk themselves up, they’d never admit to not doing well at something.” He cleared his throat, uncertain why he cared about offering her peace of mind in her confession.”It’s… refreshing. I feel like you’re the first person I’m actually getting to know.”

Willow smiled. “Well alright then, your turn,” she said, standing back up brushing the lingering dirt off her knees. “Tell me something you don’t like.”

“Wild witches,” he responded instantly, low and dramatic.

“O-kay,” Willow said nervously. “Maaaybe switch gears then, what’s something you like?”

“Catching wild witches.”

“No,” she giggled, shaking her head. “That’s your job, but what’s something you do that’s just for you? Like, a hobby or something you do for fun?”

“I like… to read?” He said after a moment, too embarrassed to tell her he had no time for fun. None of the questions he had gotten had ever been so… genuine. 

“Okay, that’s a start,” she said with a smile. “What do you like to read about?”

He went to answer and she quickly cut him off to say: “And don’t say ‘about how to catch wild witches.’”

“Fine,” he said, cracking a smile she could hear. “I like… reading books about adventures, and history, and the human realm.”

“Ooh, my best friend is a big fan of the human realm,” said Willow enthusiastically. She decided it was best to not mention Luz, lest his line of questions shift back to the wild witch she was known to be staying with. “We found a book about human gardening at the market once and the lack of carnivorous plants over there is very surprising.”

“Yes! Exactly, okay I’ve said that exact thing before!” He replied excitedly, elated to hear his thoughts echoed. “I think it’s because the rain doesn’t boil over there and it makes their foliage more docile.”

“Oh yeah! That’s a good point!” Willow said as their excitement connected. 

“And not to mention the psshahshshlssh.”

“Oh sorry, I didn't catch that.”

“I was just saying how the flowers here aren’t as deedsmdnns.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Willow asked again, his sentiment lost behind his mask.

“Oh sorry, here lemme just-.” He realized the issue and went to swiftly remove the mask, and when he did Willow couldn’t hear a word he said, only her own thoughts echoing behind her wide eyes.

Oh boy. 

He really was just a boy.

And boy he was-

“Hot,” voiced Willow without thinking.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” He asked, moving his hand through his hair, letting a lock spin in front of his face as the rest aired out like a soft halo.

“Er I just mean it must get really hot under that mask,” Willow recovered, the guard none the wiser. 

“Um yeah sometimes I guess,” his voice clear and unmuffled making him seem more real somehow. “It’s just for protection and authority and whatever,” he said with a shrug, as though he was explaining why he wore any other mundane accessory. “My uncle requires that I wear it most of the time.”

“It’s a shame cause you really do have a nice face.”

“Oh uh thank you?” He said, averting his gaze to the ground. If anyone else had said it, he’d roll his eyes knowing it was sarcasm or was about to be followed by some nasty comment. But when this girl said it, he somehow knew it was sincere. He dared to hope she wasn’t just saying it to be polite. 

He wanted to tell her she did too. 

But instead he asked:

“What other flowers do you have in your garden?”

——

He let her talk about plants for hours. 

Her friends loved hearing her talk about them, of course, but there was something different about the way the guard listened. He hung on her words like she had invented them, but his contribution proved that he was just as well versed in certain aspects as she was. The tiny, mundane details that often caused other people to get lost were equally beloved by the pair. He just loved knowing things Willow quickly learned, and when she said something he hadn’t known before he treated it like it was a revelation and looked for a way to take notes. And when he talked, oh Titan, there was such a fire in his eyes. Willow loved how he talked with his hands as though he was laying out illustrations that only they could see, even more enchanting than an illusion. When he had been talking longer than he was usually able to, he apologized but Willow insisted he continue. 

They had hardly realized any time had passed until they heard Darius call for him, and Willow pulled out her scroll to check the time. They had gone way over the allotted hour. 

“Wow, time really flies I guess,” Willow chuckled, hoping she hadn’t kept him from anything important.

“Yeah,” the guard said, unable to hide the tone of disappointment in his voice as he tried to keep it hidden from his face. He put his mask back on. “I’ll uh, walk you out then.”

When they arrived at the gate, a familiar silence danced between them. But this time it fought, as though being crushed by all the things they had not gotten to yet. She turned on her heel and bashfully offered him her hand, trying to safe face (or, rather, Amity’s face).

“Well, it was very nice to meet you-.”

“Hunter,” he said quickly, as though he was unsure it was proper to say.

“What?”

“That’s my name, Hunter,” he said. “You can call me that, if you like. It’s a bit less formal.”

“Is that what all your friends call you?”

“I guess? They would if I did, I mean. Have friends, that is.”

“Well then I’d be happy to call you Hunter,” said Willow. “And you can call me…” Woah, she had almost let it slip. She technically hasn’t introduced herself, she hadn't needed to, but she wanted to return the favor. But in what world was Willow a nickname for Amity? “Clover.”

“Clover?”

“Yeah it’s uh a nickname,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Everyone calls me that.”

“Oh, like a lucky clover.”

“Exactly,” she said in an airy voice she had never used but he had inspired her twice in one afternoon. She’d think of a believable explanation to give Amity later. 

“Well I felt very lucky to meet you,” he said bashfully, feeling as though he was trying to add something more within the compliment. He could tell she sensed it as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He felt a little stupid but somehow not in a bad way?

“Me too,” she said softly. “I had fun.”

“Surprisingly I also really enjoyed myself,” he admitted in disbelief. “You’re very nice company, Ms. Blight.”

“You know, you’re not so bad yourself,” she said with a smile. That’s something Amity would say, right? She couldn’t place exactly when the shift had happened but at some point she had forgotten she was supposed to be pretending to tolerate him as she found herself genuinely enjoying herself. 

He cleared his throat, kicking at the dirt as he fought against shyness. “Would you want to do this again? I mean, sooner than the weekly arrangement, that is.” He made sure to clarify. “I can plan something outside the castle, maybe show you where Terra has some of her rarer species.”

“Oh, I-I l’d really like that actually,” Willow couldn’t help but say. But that would complicate things even more in many ways. She was supposed to be getting Amity out of this and yet she was committing to more time with him. Plus how could she justify Amity being in two places at once? 

“It’s just… I’m…” but she could hardly say that was the reason so what reason could she give that wouldn’t leave him hurt or suspicious?

He sensed her hesitation. “Oh yeah I mean you’re probably busy, I’m probably busy too anyway.” 

“Yeah, and I know how strict your uncle can be and well you know how my mom is.”

“Yeah, I… sure do,” he said in a way that only someone who knew Odalia Blight but didn’t want to possibly offend her daughter would. “So, is that why you dyed your hair? I heard she prefers it all green like hers.”

“Oh yeah,” she chuckled, knowing Amity’s most comfortable level of rebellion was letting her roots show. 

“I mean, I think it would be lovely on you,” said Hunter shyly. “Green suits you; especially the green of your eyes.”

“Green of my-.” Amity’s eyes were brown and not a brown that would be mistaken for green even in a dim light. 

“And I also think they look lovely with the gold frame of your glasses,” Hunter quickly added, dipping his toes into a more detailed compliment. “Your whole face really is uh… very pleasant. Nothing like Odalia. Not that I’m calling your mother ugly! That’s no, I just meant because I know how you feel about her that I can see you as your own person and that you have features that are unique and that look very…”

As Hunter continued to ramble, Willow caught sight of herself in the reflection of a window. She wore the abomination uniform but it was not Amity’s face that looked back at her now. Her eyes darted to her neck and widened when they saw she had forgotten the concealment stone. 

Her face, her body, her voice had been hers from the beginning. The only thing Hunter didn’t know about her was her name.

“… I guess what I’m trying to say is you’re very beautiful and I enjoy spending time with you,” he managed to get to the point, his tone indicating he realized it as he was saying it. “Not that I wouldn’t if you weren’t but I guess…” he trailed off again and sighed as Willow’s heart caught up to her mind realizing his words were truly for her, as her. 

“You’re just… not what I was expecting,” said Hunter. “And I’m sorry if I didn’t give you the best first impression.”

Her throat felt tight. She hadn’t intended to trick him, not like this. For some reason doing it in her own skin made the lie more hurtful. As spot on as her Amity impression could be, she hadn’t wanted to do the wrong thing and so stuck to what she knew. He just made it easy for her to be herself. He laughed at her jokes and listened to her and looked at her so softly and so attentively and so…and for him to say such nice things… it felt odd but she desperately wanted him to know everything but her name. 

“Well, in my opinion first impressions aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be,” she said. “But I’m really looking forward to seeing you again.”

——-

“Amity please,” Willow said, her voice determined to let her know this was not a request to be taken lightly. “In all the years I’ve known you, can you honestly say there was even a single time that I was not a good friend to you?”

“No,” Amity could not even pretend to search for ammo. “But why do you want to go back so badly? Was it the garden?”

“Well, it’s not just the garden,” Willow admitted sheepishly. “The Golden Guard isn’t as scary as everyone makes him out to be, ya know? We had a really good time and I just wanna see him again.”

“Really?” Amity asked with a raise of her eyebrow. When she arrived to download with Willow, she had expected to have much to apologize and make up for. She would never have guessed that her friend would want to take her place again. “Are you sure there’s not something else going on?”

“Well I also maaaaay have forgotten to wear the concealment stone so he thinks you look like me,” Willow added quickly as though it was a minor setback. 

“Willow!”

“It’ll be okay though! I’ll think of something to fix it! I’ll make sure you still get credit or ya know maybe we can convince him there’s two girls with the same name and it was like some kind of mix up.”

“You really think that’ll work?”

“No he’s really smart,” Willow admitted, both in awe and disappointment of the truth. “But not just about coven stuff, he knows so many little random facts. We just talked for hours about plants and books and stuff but it felt like only minutes had gone by.”

“I know how that feels,” said Amity, a blush creeping into her face as she remembered her heart flipping when she and Luz had first discussed Azura and all the tangents they went on. How everything flowed so easy, like they were in a bubble. 

Amity knew what everyone said about the Golden Guard, that he was cold and strict and stuck up. Whispers in the hallways had said the same thing about her, but she knew why. Maybe he needed a friend like Willow for his true colors to show. “Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

—-

So she went back the following week and when she entered the gates it was like they picked up right where they left off. Amity had sent her with an itinerary and talking points but all business left her mind when he entered her view. She saw the tenseness leave his shoulders and his stance become relaxed when she smiled at him. Now that she knew he was seeing her, her heart couldn’t help but flutter a little bit.

“You came back,” he said, unable to hide the fact that he was slightly stunned.

“I did,” she replied. “Is that… okay?”

“Yes, yes of course,” he said. “I’m just… not used to having people happy to see me who know me.”

“Well then, they must know you very well then, huh?”

There was hardly a moment of silence between them. Years of not being able to speak freely if anything frivolous poured out of him once she entered his sights. He collected jokes and anecdotes like inventory, counting the minutes until she was back at the gate greeting him with a wide smile no one else had ever held for him.  He had considered that their unlikely connection was part of a strategy, but the more she shared about herself quickly put that theory to rest. She didn’t have enough intel on him for blackmail and didn’t do enough to talk herself up to make him feel she was aiming for favoritism. It was almost like she didn’t care about the coven at all, she treated it like an afterthought when it came up. Their shared obligation had brought them together but what kept them coming back together was more than Hunter fully understood. He just knew that once a week he could breathe.

There were some close calls (like referring to herself as an only child once) but luckily Willow knew Amity well enough that she could quickly recover any slip ups.It actually made it easier for her to visit on the days they weren’t technically meant to. Amity was a known sucker for extra credit, so of course she’d insist on more time with the coven head who was meant to be mentoring her. Though she did not say much when their time consisted of less mentoring and more of overly competitive games of capture the flag and listing fun facts at each other. 

He asked her why she was on the abomination track when she so clearly was suited for the plant track and she said her father thought it was best for her, which was both in character and not a lie.

When they would get off on a tangent that he could not relate to official coven business, she smoothed it out by claiming the fact that they were meeting under the arrangement of her mother and the emperor made whatever they ended up doing official coven business. So he enjoyed her company without guilt, which allowed him to feel the new, confusing nerves all the more. 

Despite the purpose of the arrangement being to help see if she would be a worthy addition to the coven, she never once asked about it. She asked about him plenty, but it was almost as though she had forgotten she was there on business.

---

A few weeks into the arrangement, Hunter was pacing at the gate waiting for his guest. It wasn’t like her to be late, in fact she usually came early so they’d have more time together. Every other candidate had reached a point when they stopped coming back, his drills were too much or his voice too annoying, or sometimes they neglected to give  a reason all together. Granted this round had been different, he couldn’t deny he hadn’t been following usual protocol or checklist, but he felt that they both believed it was different in the best way. He had never been nervous like this before, he was nervous every day they were to meet. But it was a good nervous, he didn’t know how else to explain it. 

His heart leapt when he finally saw her land on her palisman. He straightened his spine and ran his hand through his hair as she walked to the gate, lacking her usual pep.

“Hi, sorry I’m late,” Willow said forlorn, trudging in.

“It’s fine, I totally wasn’t worried you weren’t coming or anything,” said Hunter nervously, barely hiding the truth within. His face became serious as he noticed the disdain did not leave her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she sighed, trying to force a smile. “This girl at school is just out to get me. Whenever she sees me she finds something to make fun of, and normally I can ignore it because I know she just wants a reaction out of me but I woke up already not feeling great and I dunno I guess it just got to me today.”

“What kind of things does she say?”

“That’s the worst part too, like the things she says aren’t even true or clever but she just keeps saying them,” Willow sighed. “Like she needs me to know how much she believes I’m a loser and that I’ll always be weak. It’s like she needs to make sure there’s someone worse off than her otherwise she can’t feel good about herself.”

“I’m surprised anyone would even try to mess with you, you know considering your status.”

“Oh yeah, as a Blight.”

“Oh well yeah but I mean just because of your ability in general,” said Hunter. “You’re a very powerful witch.”

“Me?”

“Yeah,” he said with confidence. Willow knew he must be fully informed of Amity’s academic strides to have secured her time with him, the Blights had a reputation in every aspect a person could. “I mean, it took Terra weeks to figure out how to get that seed to sprout and when I gave it to you you did it in minutes.”

“I didn’t even do anything really, I just held it to my heart because I was so excited. I just got lucky.”

“Yes but your first instinct was to be kind to it, Terra would never try something like that,” said Hunter. “Your magic comes from a genuine, caring place. It’s not for show or power and that’s what I think makes it so strong.”

Willow just stared at him.

“What? Did I say something weird? Is there something on my face? Why are you-.”

She wrapped him in a hug.

“You didn’t say anything weird,” said Willow. “It was just what I needed to hear. It was so sweet, thank you Hunter.”

“Yeah well I-if you what I can make that girl spend a night in the dungeon,” said Hunter, still unsure how to respond to her genuine words sometimes. His arms were pinned at his sides as she rested the side of her face on his chest. He didn’t know what to say but he didn’t want her to think him not talking meant he wanted her to let go.He didn’t know what this was but he knew he didn’t hate it. “We’ll see if she tries to mess with you again after that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she giggled, looking up at him. “But you know what would really make me feel better?”

“What?”

“Watching you try your first slice of fairy pie!”

He gasped. “No way!”

She giggled at his expression as she released him to skip over to her bag. “I told you my dad makes the best so I saved you some from my lunch!” She rushed back over to him with the carefully packaged slice she had perfectly crafted for him. Hunter took it and eyed it skeptically.

“Alador made this?” 

“No, he- er yeah I know right?” Willow gave the best nonanswer she could. 

“And there’s no like… abomination goo in it?” he asked, only half joking as he looked it over. 

“No I promise; I helped make this batch myself.

“Well it smells and looks really amazing,” Hunter said, feeling his mouth start to water. “But I can’t take this from you. Besides, I have my own piece of bread that I shouldn’t let go to waste.”

He went to fetch it from the table: the stale, pale slice of bread he had every encounter, the emperor’s idea of a snack. If you asked Willow, it shouldn’t be any person’s idea of edible.

“Well how about we swap then?” Willow offered. “My friends and I do it all the time! Try something new. You have the cake and I’ll take your bread so it doesn’t go to waste.”

“Are you sure? It hardly seems like a fair trade to yo-,” before Hunter could finish objecting, Willow snatched the bread from his hands and licked it.

”Now you have no choice.” She said plainly. 

He was stunned and flustered and embarrassed all at once. He never knew how to explain the things she did or how he felt about them. He knew she didn’t care about impressing him, yet she did it without trying. She didn’t care how it made her look. She wasn’t trying to bribe him. She did nice things for him because they would help him, there was no favors or ulterior motives lurking within her actions.

She placed the cake in his hands, making it clear she would hear no more on the matter.

The cake was everything she said it was, which meant it was everything his normal snack wasn’t. This was rich and vibrant and sharp and sweet in a way Hunter didn’t know was possible. He both wanted to savor it and devour it as quickly as possible. Willow’s reaction was less entrancing, as she tried to fake a smile as she marveled at how something could taste sour and salty and somehow flavorless at the same time.

When she managed to stomach it, she turned to see his reaction and was surprised to see him looking despondent despite the extra frosting she had added to the treat that she had been sure would delight him.

“What’s wrong? Does it taste okay?”

“No, I mean yes I mean it’s just… you had a bad day and you still came to see me,” Hunter said.

“Yeah, I mean I had a feeling I’d be late but-.”

“No it’s not about that, it's just… well. it would be a perfectly valid reason to not come by,” said Hunter. “If you weren’t feeling up to it or something, it would be understandable. But then when you did, you end up making me feel better.”

“Yeah?”

“Why?”

“That’s what being friends is,” she said simply, trying not to smile too wide at the stray bit of frosting that was smudged on the side of his mouth.

“We’re friends?”

“Yeah,” she said, trying in vain to bite into the stale loaf. “What else would we be?”

“Well I … I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. He wanted to ask what other things they could be. “I guess I’m just… glad to hear you say it.”

“Well then,” she said with a smile, scotting a bit closer to him to wipe the rogue bit of frosting from his cheek. “I’ll be sure to say it more often.”

“Cool,” he said, breaking off a piece of the pie to hand to her,she accepted if for no other reason than she needed the stale and somehow sour aftertaste from her mouth. She would definitely be bringing him more suitable treats going forward. 

“And besides,” she said with a smile. “Seeing you made me feel better too.”

----

On the off chance it should ever come up, Willow and Amity also met weekly to go over the meetings, Willow filling her in on any talking points that Darius might mention or Odalia might ask about. Of course, Willow did not tell Amity everything that went on at their encounters, she certainly kept the fluttering feeling in her chest to herself and the growing collection of heart doodles in her notebooks didn’t seem to come up. Willow just guaranteed that she was doing the Blight name justice and that her mother would be pleased with the report that may find its way back to her. She wasn’t sure how Hunter reported things, wondering if there were any portions he also kept to himself.

“... and then he mentioned the trial exams and “

“And what else did he say about those? Did he give you any clue about the new format?”

“Uh, maybe?” said Willow with a shrug. “Then I showed him a cute picture of Clover and he showed me a trick that he and his palisman have been practicing where he spins and then they both-.”

“Wait, he has a palisman?”

“Oh, shoot!” exclaimed Willow, sitting back up. “You can’t tell anyone! It’s a secret, oh but he’s so cute! Him and Clover get along so well. Oh my titan, I took the cutest picture of them playing when Hunter was telling us about-.”

“Hunter? Who is Hunter?”

“Oh,uh the er golden guard,” Willow said, feeling shy for some reason. “That’s his name. Is that a secret too?”

“I’m not sure,” Amity said. “But I guess it’s just surprising he lets you call him that. But I guess that means the meetings really have been going well huh?”

“Yeah,” Willow sighed, admitting a photo she had taken of Hunter and Flapjack when he wasn’t looking. The bird was looking up at him with so much love and happiness and Hunter gently stroked under his chin, smiling as the sun framed the scene. His jawline was sharp and his eyes were soft, he looked so content and comfortable and cute and- she was starting to suspect this was not a platonic way to look at a photo for five minutes straight as she totally forgot Amity was talking to her.

“...but it’s not like it’s guaranteed or anything, I mean I’m sure he would’ve mentioned it to you by now but we have a few years before it’s an issue and by then my mom might have dropped it, I mean Miss Lilith said I was on track to join the coven but that might not even be something I want by then and-.”

“What? Oh my titan Amity I’m so sorry I… I wasn’t paying attention.”

Amity rolled her eyes endearingly and laughed. “No worries, I was just saying how my mom was excited when she found out the Golden guard had taken over the coven because she thinks she can talk the emperor into an arrangement.”

“Like what kind of arrangement?” Willow asked, scrolling through her collection of photos as she sipped her drink.

“Like one like she and my dad have I think,” said Amty, wrinkling her nose. “A business marriage to try and get me ahead but like that wouldn’t guarantee anything and besides it would be totally-.”

She was cut off by Willow nearly choking to death.

“Hey, woah!” she patted her friend’s back as she caught her breath. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said after she managed to catch her breath. “I… um…Amity, are these meetings supposed to be like a… courtship?”

“Um I guess but my mom knows that I-.”

“Does Hunt- I mean, the golden guard, does he know?”

“Um maybe? I'm sure my mom isn’t the first person to try it, I mean it’s like the oldest trick in the book.”

“Amity, why didn’t you tell me I was basically going on dates with him this whole time?”

“Because my mom is always thinking of something new to get ahead and it never works out the way she- wait, why does that matter?”

“Because what if he thinks that I think we've basically been going on dates that I don’t actually like him I’m just trying to jump ahead into the coven and- why are you looking at me like that?”

Amity offered her a knowing glare before the dots connected and she pointed her finger at her friend and declared dramatically. “You like him!”

“What?!”

“You do! You like him!”

“I- maybe? I might? Kind of?” Willow knew she couldn’t deny it, she also kind of didn’t want to. “I mean sure, we have a lot in common and he’s really smart and funny and then I found out he was cute and I guess I just-.”

“Wait, cute? You saw his face?”

“Yeah, is that a big deal?”

“Well I don’t think he wears the mask because he wants everyone knowing what he looks like,” said Amity. “He must trust you.”

“Great,” groaned Willow, flopping onto the bed. “He trusts me and I’ve been lying to him since the moment we met.” Her voice was muffled by her pillow. Amity sighed and went to pat her back to reassure her but hesitated, not as skilled at comforting others as she wished she was. She cleared her throat and tried to offer a positive thought, but thankfully Willow cut her off as she continued to voice her thoughts.

“The ironic part is I really do feel like myself around him,” she sighed, rolling over to be heard better as she hugged the pillow to her chest. “But if I tell him now he might not believe me or he’ll be upset and then you’ll get in trouble on top of it!”

“I shouldn’t have  put you in this position in the first place,” said Amity solemnly.. 

“I’m honestly kind of glad you did,” Willow admitted bashfully. “I… I really do like him.”

“Well as… unorthodox as your meeting was, I’m happy for you,” said Amity. “I’m sure he likes you too.”

Willow couldn’t help but blush, feeling giddy to finally be open about her crush. She had missed talking crushes with Amity.

“Which probably isn’t ideal since he thinks you’re me, huh?”

“Yeah that’s… probably not great.”

“I mean, he may think you’re a Blight but he knows inside you’re a Park,” Amity offered proudly. Willow simply offered her a look. 

“Was that too much?” Amity winced.

“It was a little cheesy,” Willow admitted with a chuckle. “But you’re right. I care about him and  don’t want to hurt him. So I think I know what I have to do.”

Amity could tell that knowing the right thing to do also meant Willow wouldn’t enjoy doing it.

—-

Willow did not go back the next week.

Or the week after that.

She couldn't help but feel like doing so was leading him on. Even though she knew she felt… a certain way about him,there was no scenario she could think of that didn’t end with him feeling heartbroken or foolish. The Blights were known to be busy, she hoped he’d assume she’d been held up with school or other obligations.

But instead, he broke his own heart because she was too polite to do it.

Which is how he found himself at the Blights’ door.

He waited patiently as the abomination servant fetched Odalia, who greeted him with a smile that lacked sincerity and brought to mind a vampire. How had such a cold place brought forth such a warm person?

There was no turning back now, he would not be scared off by the unfortunate circumstance of her upbringing. Hunter removed his mask knowing it naturally lent authority to his tone and he wanted to assure that this came not as a demand or something official but a personal request from the heart. He had rehearsed it in the mirror for hours, imagined and planned different scenarios of varying grandness but he didn’t want it confused for a spectacle.

“Mrs. Blight, I’ve come here to ask for your blessing,” he said, certain and nervous in a way that made the contraction feel welcoming.

“Blessing? Blessing for what, exactly?”

He took a deep breath to better brace himself and his heavy eyes were serious and sincere as the words entered the world outside his bedroom for the first time.

“I believe I am in love with your daughter.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised,” she replied with a smug gleam in her eye. “The Blights shine so brightly, of course the emperor’s right hand man can see that clearly. Allow me to fetch her.”

Hunter straightened his spine as Odalia touched her broach and in a moment, Emira appeared beside her.

“Oh, uh I-I’m sorry I meant your other daughter,”

“Oh,” said Odalia. “Heh, my apologies.” She touched her broach and Amity came trudging in beside her sister, trying to keep her composure when she discovered the reason why.

“Oh, uh I guess I meant your other other daughter,” he clarified once more.

“Edric?” Emira said with a raise of her eyebrow.

“Amity,” said Hunter. “Though I know she prefers to go by-.”

“This is Amity, your grace,” said Odalia, bringing Amity forward. “I understand if you didn't recognize her. I know the purple hair is rather unappealing, but we can change it if it isn’t to your liking.”

“No, no that’s not-.” He sighed. “Are you sure there’s no one else here? Anyone who might go by Clover?”

“‘Clover?’” Emira repeated. “Isn’t that the name of-.”

“Um, ya know I think we just need some privacy,” said Amity, nearly jumping out of her skin as she ran to take Hunter’s wrist. “Excuse us won’t you okay byeee!”

Hunter followed her until they were out of earshot, then stopped to demand some  explanation. His confusion bordered on anger, slowly shifting to hurt.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re not in love with me.”

“Well duh,” scoffed Hunter. “I’m in love with Amity.”

“No, no you’re not,” she sighed. “I mean, you are but the Amity you think is Amity isn’t really Amity because I’m really Amity.”

“What?”

 She went and pulled out her scroll and turned to show him a photo. “This is her, right?”

He looked down and saw it was her… whoever she was. She was bright and beaming, smiling the smile he knew meant she had been laughing. 

“Yes,” he said. For a moment, his heart dropped as he considered the notion that she had seen him coming and fled the house in order to avoid this conversation. “So if she’s not here… what’s going on?”

—

Willow had drafted dozens of letters she didn’t know how to send. No matter how she worded it., the truth just didn’t seem good enough. And now she had let time pass, maybe too much time. But she didn’t know which she was more afraid of: hurting him or admitting she had been hurting him all along. But realistically what did she think would happen? He was essentially a prince. Her reputation labeled her as half-a-witch. Their worlds were never meant to collide, he would be bored of her or outgrow her soon enough. He would never demote himself to her world.

Then she saw him at the end of her garden path, walking to her front door.

No mask, no armor, no walls. Just him. Her heart raced and sank and hid over and over. Was he here to arrest her? To yell at her? To save her? Suddenly, she didn’t care. After weeks that felt like lifetimes, seeing him just made her come to realize how much she missed him. 

He knocked.

She quickly fluffed her hair in the mirror by her front door and took a deep breath before she slowly opened it for him. She didn’t know what to say, if she should greet him, hug him, or if she should have pretended to not be home. Once their eyes met, the words flooded out.

“I’m sorry,” she said with wide eyes. “Are you mad? It’s okay if you are, I’d be mad too. You should be mad, I lied to you. I had a good reason to, I know it’s not an excuse because I kept doing it even after Amity asked me to stop. I just liked you and spending time with you and I promise I never lied about that and I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know how and I-.”

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“I- what?”

“Your name,” he said breathlessly. “Your real name.”

“Willow,” she said. “Willow Park.”

“Willow,” he repeated, like it made the air taste sweeter. It suited it, it felt like it should be so obvious that it was the perfect word to describe her. It was elegant and whimsical and simple in a way that managed to capture all that she was in mere letters. It had music in it, like reciting a fond dream. 

“Well Willow Park,” he said, the name dancing on his lips like prayer as he extended his hand to her. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

She took it. “The pleasure is all mine, Golden Guard sir,”

“Please call me Hunter.”

“Okay,” she said nervously. “Even though I actually don’t have the status of a Blight? You’re still okay with me calling you Hunter?”

“Yeah, I mean that’s what my friends call me.”

“Okay cool,” she said, feeling nervous around him for the first time in weeks. She brushed her hair behind her ear, feeling like he was waiting for her to say more. “So um h-how did you find me?”

“Oh, Amity- the real Amity- told me,” he explained. “When you stopped showing up I went to Blight manor to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m sorry I worried you,” she said softly. “I wanted to explain but I didn’t want to get Amity in trouble and I didn’t want to lie and it was just easier this way. It’s cowardly, I know. But I was worried that if I went to tell you and saw you I wouldn’t be able to go through with it.”

“Oh, okay,” he voice wavered and he cleared his throat to try and hide it. “I uh- t-that’s good to know then. I was also  worried that maybe I had done something to offend you.”

“No of course not! Why would you think that?”

“Well the last time I saw you we um, or rather I lingered in our embrace,” he said, his face reddening with every word. “And I was worried that it may have been inappropriate that you could interpret it as unprofessional.”

She had noticed, but she would have sworn she had been the one lingering.

“That’s definitely not the reason.”

“So then you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said with a smile. “I’m the one with things to apologize for.”

“Weeeeell that’s not entirely true,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Since we’re admitting things, you or rather Amity I suppose, didn’t need to keep coming because… my uncle stopped requiring it after the second visit. So I… I kind of lied too.”

“And why would you do something like that?”

“Because I liked spending time with you,” he said. “And I would like to see you again,” he cleared his throat to try and summon his confident tone back. “Outside the castle walls.”

Willow smiled. “To do what?”

“Well, uh I know the… situation of how we met wasn’t entirely… ideal “ he continued. “And I eh- hold on, this changes my speech a little.”

“You made a speech?” she said, knowing he made speeches for the most important matters in his life. “For me?”

“I heh yeah I did,” he said with a chuckle. He knew she wouldn’t mock him, her teasing was always gentle and from a caring place. She helped him see the humor in himself, that allowed him to relax for at least a moment.“I… it’s so weird. I had no trouble telling Odalia Blight how I felt about you.Titan, I loved you even when I thought you were a Blight, I considered it the closest thing you had to a flaw and even then I-.”

He looked up and saw her gentle expression was gone and now she looked stunned. Not upset, just surprised. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, worried he had misread the situation. 

“You just… you just said you loved me.” Willow said as though letting him know he had misspoke. 

“Oh! I mean yes, I did,” he tried to save face. “I did say that because… well… it’s not totally untrue. I mean I was researching dynamics within a friendship and found many of the aspects present in our interactions but then there were other… feelings that were slightly more advanced than ones expressed within a purely platonic relationship. And one day after you left I suppose my face was still rather flushed when a scout saw me and they accused me of being in love and I… I don’t think they were wrong?”

She knew they were young and being in love was something major and brought with more time but Titan she couldn’t deny that she loved hearing him say it. Despite his feeling causing him to be teased and confused and uneasy, he trusted her enough to share it unfiltered. 

“You mean a lot to me too,” she said, trying to balance the sentiments dancing between them. “

“Sorry if I’m talking a lot I just feel like when I don’t see you I save all the things I want to say and they just like flood out because I just feel really safe around you and I know it was only a week but I really missed you, like I miss you every time sorry if that’s weird or-.”

“It’s not weird,” she said, taking his hands in hers. “It’s definitely not weird.”

“Yeah okay,” he chuckled, trying to hide his blush as he couldn’t help but focus on how soft her hands were. “So it’s… okay? I wanted to do this right and not seeing you at Blight manor kind of threw me through a loop. I just pictured it happening a certain way.”

“How did you picture it?”

“Well, worst case scenario you turn me down because it was just something you did for your family and you secretly despise me.”

She giggled, not to make fun of him but because it seemed like an impossible scenario. “And the best case?”

“Well I… I guess this is probably better than the best case,” he said. He balled his fists at his sides and bit his lip, feeling entirely out of his element. 

“Hunter,” she began gently, finding solace in the fact that they felt out of place together. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

“Yes,” he said, dramatically exhaling unaware he had been holding his breath in the first place. “Oh thank Titan I’m so glad you said something because I did not know where I was going with that.”

They laughed, falling into a comfort they had both missed dearly. 

“So… can we start over?” she asked. “No lies?”

“Sounds good to me, Willow,” he said, getting used to the excitement that came with saying her name now. “So since we’re being honest, do you actually have any interest in joining the emperor’s coven?”

“Not really,” she admitted, sucking her teeth. “Is that okay?”

“Well, technically I’m only supposed to socialize with potential recruits,” said Hunter, pretending to be distraught. “So it looks like I’m going to have to find a way to convince you.”

“Hmmm, that might take awhile though.”

“I’m prepared to arrange as many meetings as necessary to try and enlist you,” he declared in a new version of his ‘official’ voice. “The emperor’s coven can’t let a recruit with your potential get away so easily.”

“So what do you have in mind?”

“Well, I’d love to take you to the botanical gardens we talked about,” he said. “Perhaps one of those flyer derby matches you mentioned or that bakery I pass by on patrol.”

“I’d really like that,” she said with a smile.

“So we… have a new arrangement?” he asked, extending his hand to her before adding just because he liked saying it: “Willow?”

“It looks like we do,” she said, shaking his hand. “As long as you’re prepared to give the speech you wrote for the Blights to my dads.”

[crimeronan]

Oh, the great maker of trauma for the beans that are part of Princess Luz Au, heed my query and answer me:

Did Luz get any big bad evil guy energy or skill from being raised by the waste of space previously known as Belos?

I mean as we all know Luz is a precious bean, but I think she deserves to be a little evil towards bad people, like I assume that Hunter is already planning how to murder (or worse) Amity's parents, even if he isn't fully aware of it/is in denial that he is planning the horrors on the for making Amity, but I stay with me for a moment and imagine the verified cinnamon roll Luz Noceda Wittebane putting the fear of Titan into Odalia after learning that she abused Amity.

Also, her snapping out of it after Odalia faints out of fear (and pain), and panicking that she is just like below only for her parteners to be like, 'nooo~ it was hot normal and perfectly sane thing to do'.

this answer Might be disappointing in some ways, mainly: i don't Think luz would be physically violent with them without provocation, and i also don't think she's likely to lose emotional control around them. she'd want to be just as poised around amity's parents as she always was around belos and always is around the coven heads.

HOWEVER. as for the questions of "does luz know how to be scary" and "did she learn that from belos": UNEQUIVOCAL yes. to both.

i've been wanting to play with luz in this space with amity's parents for A While, actually, so. have a little fic :)

-

"Oh, Amity is my pride and joy," Odalia says, placing a hand over her heart. "I taught her everything she knows."

"Yes, I did get that impression." The Empress smiles, rising to her feet. "It's incredible how much she's accomplished in spite of you."

Odalia's breath catches around a shocked, bitten-down laugh. "Your Majesty, begging your pardon, I believe you meant 'because of-'"

"In spite of," Luz repeats, very firmly. "It's fortunate that Lilith Clawthorne has taken such an interest in her wellbeing."

Odalia's smile doesn't waver, but it does remain frozen for several seconds before she says, "I suppose Amity feels the need to invent an adversary. Some great trial she overcame to earn her place here. It's understandable. Children often lack the foundation to understand the sacrifices their parents make. She had a very privileged upbringing."

"Amity has never spoken unkindly of either of you," Luz says, although this she seems to mean more for Alador, whose face may give more away.

She steps lightly down the stairs from the throne, joining the pair of them on the ground. "Amity rarely speaks of either of you at all, actually. That isn't why I've called you here."

Odalia's voice turns cool, corporate. "Then how can we help you, Your Majesty?"

"Did you know that Blight Industries has a higher rate of workplace accidents than..." Luz slides a folder out of her tunic, flips it open, and raises her eyebrows. "...any other company on the Isles?"

This time, Odalia's laugh covers something else. "That's - that's preposterous. Our workplace safety records are excellent. Why, we haven't needed a single intervention by the Healing Coven in... oh, is it three years?" She taps the side of her mouth, frowning. "Four? Five?"

"That's fascinating," Luz says. "Not even for a scrape?"

"Abrasions heal quite well by themselves, given time."

"Absolutely fascinating," Luz repeats. "Did you know that it's illegal to purposefully deny people healing services?"

Odalia scoffs, incredulous. "For scrapes?"

"I know," Luz says pleasantly, "I was surprised, too. There are a lot of laws like that, it turns out. Text on paper that hasn't been enforced in half a century. From what I understand, this one is a holdover from early Empire anxieties. People were terribly worried about not having access to personal healing magic anymore. So healing services had to be protected."

Odalia's smile has become more teeth than pleasantry. "What a fun little history lesson. I'm sure you know all sorts of facts about the early Empire."

"It turns out that it's very easy to put laws in writing," Luz says, "without the intention to enforce them. My father, may the Titan bless him, had precious little interest in the rights of individuals to be seen by healers. But this isn't his Empire anymore. And I find the topic just captivating."

Odalia has stopped trying to hide her impatience, now. "So you'll fine us for not having healers on hand to wave away every little paper cut. That's fine. I apologize for the oversight. We'll settle up and make sure that going forward-"

"Mr. Blight," Luz says, ignoring Odalia entirely, "would you kindly remove your gloves for me?"

Alador startles.

Odalia doesn't glance at him. Her eyes are fixed unblinking on Luz. She speaks through her teeth, nearly a hiss. "Don't feel compelled to do that, dear."

"I assure you, I can compel him to do that," Luz says. Then, in a tone that would almost pass for apologetic if it wasn't so practiced, "I am sorry to compel it of you. I try not to compel my subjects very often. But if you find it difficult to remove your gloves, my scouts would be happy to assist you."

The scouts around the base of the throne don't move. Odalia's eyes slide uneasily over them anyway.

"That won't be necessary," Alador says, speaking for the first time. He pulls the gloves off without fanfare, holding up his hands.

Half of his left ring finger and pinky are conspicuously missing.

If Luz is uncomfortable with this revelation, she sure isn't showing it. "Oh, that's so interesting," she says, leaning forward to get a closer look. "The Healing Coven keeps meticulous records, and I'm certain a partial amputation was never reported to them. You were born with all five fingers, yes? I'm sure Amity will attest to that."

"This was from an accident in my personal lab," Alador says, with the mechanical precision of something rehearsed. "The severed digits were not... salvageable."

"It's so amazing that you were able to make that determination," Luz says, "without even needing to consult the Healing Coven. You must be a very proficient magician."

Alador blinks.

"Regardless," Odalia interrupts, "it happened outside of Blight Industries. The company isn't liable. You haven't 'gotten' us."

"Do you ever test Blight Industries products in your personal lab, Mr. Blight?"

"Prototypes," he says.

Odalia makes a sharp, exasperated gesture. "Alador!"

"That seems like company business to me," Luz says, still pleasant, still conversational. "Now, I will be fully transparent, before you accuse me of anything with regards to prejudice - it is true that I hate you both. It is true that I've hated you both for a while now. If you feel like I'm targeting you because I hate you, then you're very astute."

Odalia's fingers twitch, threatening to curl into fists.

Luz continues, "However, it's also true that there is no bias where my judgment is concerned. Not legally, anyway. So it doesn't matter whether I hate you or not. Whatever I decide to do with you is the Titan's will. Government is amazing."

Odalia exhales sharply.

When Luz doesn't waver, she shakes her head. For the first time, her voice cracks - properly cracks. There's a tiny tremble in her hands.

"Amity won't forgive you if anything happens to us," she says - but there's no bravado, no power, only pathetic uncertainty. "Regardless of any... petty grievances she may harbor. Family is everything to a Blight. She won't forgive this."

"I know that," Luz says. "I promise, I have no intention of doing Amity any unkindness. It's not her fault you two have chosen to be what you are."

Another sharp exhale. Odalia's breathing is ragged, audible. She's clearly not a woman accustomed to fearing for her own safety.

"That's fantastic news!" she chirps.

Luz's smile is beatific, magnanimous. The serene expression of someone who's never questioned the divine right of kings.

"Unfortunately, I'm not wholly opposed to doing an unkindness," she says, "if we can't seem to reach an agreement. It's really up to you how this goes."

She looks from Odalia to Alador and back, tilting her head.

"So. How badly do both of you want to live?"

[mdhwrites]

Why Is Liar Reveal So Big?

It's hated after all. Maybe behind fridging and some other miscommunication plots, it seems to be one of the all time hated tropes ever. So why would a writer be dumb enough to use it? Let alone so many writers, even ones considered to be great, use it?

Because on paper it's a perfect plot structure.

I'm not exaggerating and I'm not setting something up. I'll of course talk about why so many of these plots face plant but from a writer's perspective, the use of lies like this is tantalizing. It comes with a three act structure baked in after all:

The cause for the lie and using it.

Growing closer to those you have lied to and realizing that other people and the truth are better than whatever you're getting out of the lie, creating a character arc for the main character and an underlying tension to everything.

Big climax when the lie comes out, people get upset and something has to be done to showcase that growth before a denouement that highlights how the liar is a better person now.

And even better is that you don't have to justify the conflict essentially at all beyond why the person is lying. After all, lying is one of the very few universal taboos that someone can do while still be redeemable to a general audience. You can't really walk back murder without it being almost entirely altruistic after all. You can have someone lie for selfish reasons though, or even good reasons, and have everyone understand that you just need to learn a lesson but that people will be justifiably pissed at you, even if you claim to have a good reason.

This is actually a really big deal with how The Liar Reveal trope is seen nowadays because, frankly, I think some people have been desensitized to the fact that lying is a big fucking deal actually. Everyone focuses on what the lie was about. Why the person lied. If they lied for a good reason or the thing they were lying about is nothing major, doesn't affect anyone in the grand scheme of things, what did it matter?

Well... Why did the person lie then? Lying is a universal taboo because it is a breach of trust and a show that someone around you doesn't deserve honesty. For one reason or another, lying to them was preferable to even a short conversation explaining what the fuck happened. This is weirdly actually why cheating, or more so getting caught cheating, is such a big deal. It's not that you cheated, it's what cheating represents: A break in how you let your partner see reality, a breach of trust and a dismissal of their worth because they didn't deserve to be talked to about these issues but instead, you decided it was better to run around behind their back. In both cases, worse yet, you only do it like this because you KNOW you wouldn't get away with it otherwise, or you believe that, so rather than own up to the consequences or put in the work to earn what you want to do or make up for the mistake you made, you lie.

That's genuinely reprehensible and will hurt people when they find out regardless of the reasons you had. You still broke their trust and they now have to deal with that. It's frankly why when I talk about Luz lying in The Owl House, i emphasize both how she's willing to tell the truth to some people but then explicitly, after being called out multiple times and making a promise to be more open/honest to her girlfriend, she lies to her partner more than ANYONE ELSE in the entire show. That is just strictly unhealthy and Amity should be fucking losing it by the end, either with self loathing by the diminishment of her person hood that having her partner so flippantly dismiss any reason to communicate with her would cause, or with fury at Luz for the fact that despite so many times seeing how lies hurt her, Luz just keeps fucking doing it!

But that would lead to the classic third act breakup in a romance story and EVERYONE hates that... Right?

Yeah no. The Third Act Breakup from lazy writers is admittedly where a LOT of the hate for this trope comes from but that's usually because the lie itself is dumb. You've already been chafing at the lie the entire time because frankly no one in their right mind wouldn't have just told the other person. That or it wasn't actually a lie and instead just the other person finding out something that their partner had literally no reason to ever bring up and then wildly overreact to. The lie only exists for this moment of cheap drama rather than having actually been a conflict in the story.

BUT. A good romance that has lying as a part of its premise will recognize that that's not okay. That it's just a dog shit foundation for a relationship. So... Then we get the climax I talked about. We get this big moment where the liar has to prove that they've changed, that they've learned and are willing to put the work into fixing the trust they broke and abused and come out the other side stronger for it. You know, actually give a satisfying conclusion to the fact that we've had to put up with this character lying about this from anywhere from ten minutes to fucking HOURS. Without that payoff, especially if the character doesn't appear to learn anything or grow without it... Why the fuck did we put up with the lie?

It's why SpyxFamily's conclusion can ONLY be when the three lies are likely revealed at the same time to Loid and Yor. Or, potentially better, Anya's lie is revealed first and as they deal with that, they realize each other's lie. Now SpyxFamily is actually one of the best examples of a liar reveal plot because you understand the stakes of these lies and why they must be kept, even by the child, VERY WELL. After all, in that story, if the lies come out, everyone? dies. Maybe Anya just gets sent back to an orphanage but that already is pretty bad but there's no doubt that Loid dies and Yor's job going public would still mean the Secret Police likely having to kill her. There's no doubt in any viewers' mind that these secrets HAVE to be kept.

But that tension has to pay off eventually. If the whole series goes by without our principal cast learning these secrets... Well, it's a Chekov's gun that never fires. You're waiting for it, it clearly needs to happen to resolve this plot point... And then it never does. If it does happen and Yor goes "Oh, you may be an enemy of my country but you're a good guy so I'm going to skip along," that's equally dissatisfying. It was such a big deal that an anti-climax like that would just kind of rob every bit of weight to it and probably cause rewatches to be a lot less satisfying than a big, knockout brawl over it or a big, heartfelt speech about how it doesn't matter what country they're from, what matters is that they're good people.

TOH spends like an hour and a half having the main character freaking out about how everyone will hate her for her what she thinks she needs to lie about... And then it never leads anywhere. It even gets resolved and then continues, making the very small, minuscule bit of payoff feel like nothing for a plot point that has been making the tone of the show MISERABLE. It's not even like we get a big group hug with Luz being overjoyed about being wrong to payoff all that angst. We get essentially nothing and the arc is left pretty much unresolved for no reason despite them having such a clear opportunity to wrap it up when her friends do get told the truth.

But people praised it because it didn't follow the formula. But... Did that actually make it better? Tropes exist for a reason. The Liar Reveal trope especially exists for a reason. They're very good at giving audiences the satisfaction they may want or to create good drama. If you do all the initial steps, include all of the deeply frustrating elements to a trope like this, all of those that have good drama and tension, and then only subvert the payoff?

I'm sorry but that's not clever storytelling. That's just bad. It's like when a tutorial makes fun of hand holding tutorials as it's painstakingly holding your hand through every step of the process. All you're doing is making the pain of the tropes worse while patting yourself on the back. While lying to me about not doing the thing you're doing.

And sorry but... Apparently you need to go through your own arc of this trope then since even only okay/mediocre versions of this trope like Over the Hedge recognize that by the end, it's better to be honest than being self congratulating and lying. Almost like themes like that are baked into the trope.

So maybe stop jumping on the band wagon and actually ask what the other problems are with how this trope is used rather than claiming this trope as a whole should never be done. It's a tool in a writer's toolbox like any trope and (besides fridging) it shouldn't be thrown out just because it has a bad rep. Not when it so clearly exists for a reason.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[jacksdinonuggets]

Agere Amity HCs! ALL ARE SFW. AGE REGRESSION IS A COPING MECHANISM AND NOT SEXUAL OR ASSOCIATED WITH KINKS.

-first found out about the coping mechanism when reading about in a health textbook. She began doing for research about it and decided to try it out.

-regresses 2-5 but mainly 3. Very rarely will she regress to 1 but it can happen.

-uses almost all little gear.

-Luz, Lilith, the twins, Alador, and sometimes Camila are her caregivers. They love to care for her, they are all protective.

-will bite if her pacifier is taken away. Never take it away. Odalia learned that the hard way.

-very clingy no matter what age! Will cuddle up with her cg at any given moment.

-usually regresses from her ED and stress. It can be involuntary sometimes but her ED reason is mostly voluntary.

-slips a lot during school and has a plushy in the counseling office for when she does.

-since she regresses from stress or bad things, she is not very active while in that headspace.

-took her awhile to get comfortable with being little around other people.

-even when she's really young, she is potty trained and doesn't usually need protection, however, she sometimes wears them. She wears them just in case and it just makes her feel extra small. She also almost never uses them. Sometimes uses pads when she's feeling 3.

-cries at the smallest things.

-since she was never "allowed" to have tantrums when she was younger, she feels more free to have them when regressed. However, when she does have them in littlespace, she feels really embarrassed when big.

-Lilith makes sure that Amity gets relaxation/little time at least once a month. She knows that Amity sometimes puts off her little needs in order to work more. Sometimes she even uses their lesson time to let Amity regress.

-surprisingly, her little aesthetic is very androgynous. Sometimes she likes princesses and other times she wants to be a knight.

-loves being held like a toddler or baby.

-she'll maybe have a fit with eating when her big thoughts come back for a second.

-Alador was actually pretty happy when she came out as a regressor because now he could finally give her the dad she never really had when she was younger.

-alador buys her almost everything she asks for and more.

-Even though Luz is one of her carers, Luz sometimes makes sure an adult is also caring with her.

-sensory issues are a big struggle! She wears onesies (both footy pj's and baby) hoodies, and fuzzy socks all the time because they're the only things that don't bother her this young.

-she is semi-verbal when little! Sometimes she'll speak, Sometimes she won't. All her carers have communication cards she uses with them.

That's it for now! Please give me agere prompts or requests. You can base them off these or make your own.

[sea-creature-things]

Grimwalker things

Chapter 2: Palismen

Hunter has a special bond with the Palismen. It’s cuz he’s BUILD DIFFERENT. Literally.

This chapter was very fun to make. I gave Flapjack some old man-wisdom. Ghost is just like Amity. Clover is just a sweetheart and Emmiline is… unique.

You can read here under the cut. Or on AO3 eith this link:

It has been 3 weeks since they arrived in the human realm. The teeth incident was still fresh on Hunter’s mind. Another thing to keep him up at night. Not of the nightmare variety though, which was nice. This was just embarrassing.

And it was making him think about the whole Grimwalker-business. He definitely didn’t need more of that.

It was Friday and 6 am, but Hunter had been awake for even longer. Insomnia sure was fun! He got out of bed quietly, to not disturb Gus on the couch beside him.

He wanted his thoughts to steer clear of the Grimwalker topic. Or his uncle… or the fate of the Boiling Ilses, Darius, Eda, if they could even find a way back home-

So, he did things around the house. It had become his role here. Not officially, nobody wanted him doing this. But he did it anyway.

He wanted to be useful.

He wanted to keep Camila happy. Who wouldn’t be happy with a clean, organised house?

Besides, he liked doing it. It was a healthy distraction, like Luz always says. So he dusted every corner of the house, cleaned the kitchen several times and put everything where it belonged. Vee even taught him how to do the laundry, but it was still extremely early. Only quiet cleaning for now.

The bright, summer sun was slowly coming up. Would that make it 6:30 now? The sun rays through the curtains gave the room a warm energy. The natural lighting was a very welcome change.

It also lit up the clouds in various different colours. It reminded him of home, those purples and oranges. But they weren’t they same. The human realm was a lot more peaceful.

He didn’t trust it.

He wanted to, but this place still didn’t feel real. Every failed attempt at a portal, grounded them more. Every block in their creativity, made it feel so permanent. And it made him feel guilty.

His missed home, but he wasn’t really in a hurry to go back. He was sad, but not for himself. He would never in his life tell the others! He felt awful for wanting to stay here longer.

In this peaceful house.

The sun had another benefit, it made more dust particles visible. Which Hunter was actually grateful for. His brain was starting to wonder again. Not. Enjoyable.

He could technically also talk to distract himself, because he wasn’t alone. Flapjack and Ghost were keeping him company. And judging him.

Which is why he didn’t really feel like talking to them. Giving them the excuse that they needed to be silent. He had promised Amity no noise before 7 am after all. She is the lightest of sleepers.

But if those forbidden topics were barging back in... Ghost headbutted his shin. She had decided for him.

“Put the duster down, nerd.” She meowed.

“Don’t go stealing Amity’s nicknames now,” Hunter whispered back, “please.”

The white cat palisman licked his ankle. Her sandpaper tongue made him jump back, giggling. It meant that her name-calling was out of love, much like her witch.

“Put it down!" She meowed again.

"Stop cleaning, Hunter." Flapjack chirped. He flew down from the fridge onto the counter in front of his witch.

Both of them were now looking at him with even more judgement. Hunter didn’t think that was possible for a bird and a cat, but here they were. He sighed.

The fact he could understand Ghost at all was making his brain go places. Flapjack was his palisman, they had a strong bond and always knew each others intentions.

The fact he could talk with him proved that. However, he was able to talk with the others as well. He has understood every active palisman he’s ever come across.

He used to think it was normal, but learned his lesson quite early on. His commander back then thought he bonded with the deer palisman they were "retrieving", just because he—

Doesn’t matter.

It’s a Grimwalker thing.

So he’s been careful about talking to Ghost, Clover or Emmiline while their witches were around. One more thing he was hiding from them.

He hated this! At this point he would rather have a nightmare.

“Do something fun, find something else to distract.” Flapjack chirped.

“Read a book.” Ghost purred. “You nerd!”

“Not a bad suggestion,” Hunter said, “still don’t like that name though.”

“A tree can’t change its home.” Flapjack said amused, as he landed in his hair.

“What does that even mean?” Hunter walked over to the living room. Camila’s book collection was fair game. She had promised him many times.

“It means I can call you a nerd, because you are one.” Ghost mewed, bouncing alongside him. Flap confirmed it with a strong chirp.

“Alright alright, I get it.” He picked out a book on fossils. “But cleaning is not a bad distraction.”

“There is literally nothing left to clean.” The cat climbed on his lap the moment he sat down on the couch.

Ah. This was his fate now. They had successfully trapped him.

“There’s always dust.” Hunter mumbled.

“I am going to break that duster one day.” Flapjack settled comfortably in the blonde locks. Comfortable for him at least.

“Please don’t. It is Camila’s, she'd be very mad at me.”

“She wouldn’t be mad at you.” Ghost reassured him.

“Camila is a very nice lady.” Flapjack bonked him on the head with his beak. “And a spectacular mother.”

“Yes… I know, but still—” Hunter sighed. He played with the pages, not yet able to focus on the text. “Luz is very lucky.”

Ghost licked his hand. Hunter giggled again, jerking his hand away from her.

“Stop licking me!”

“Well hello there~” Gus came into the living room. Instantly in a good mood, seeing his bro so cheery. To Hunter, he came out of nowhere.

“Gus! Uh- good morning. Did I wake you up? Im sorry-“

“Nah, I just woke up on my own. It’s almost 7 ya know.” Gus said nonchalantly. He knew how to calm his friend.

“Oh.” Hunter relaxed. The house had finally entered the world of the living. Rest easy now, brain.

“Watcha reading?” His best friend came up to scratch both palismen under the chin.

“It’s a book about fossils.”

“Oh cool! Are human fossils very different from ours?”

“I don’t know… I haven’t actually read anything yet.”

“Oh. Well you do that then. I’m gonna grab some juice.” Gus said as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Do you need help?” Hunter gestured to Ghost to get off. Going non-verbal now that the others were waking up. She refused.

“No, I think I got it!” Gus laughed from down the hall.

“Read, nerd.” Ghost meowed lovingly.

Hunter reluctantly did as he was told. He’d have to combat her name calling later. Not that he really minded, he never felt hurt whenever Amity did it, but 3 times in 1 morning was a bit much.

Gus came back from the kitchen, two glasses of juice in hand. He didn’t bother asking Hunter if he wanted one two. The answer would always be no, when he meant to say yes.

He joined him on the couch and they looked at the pictures of human dinosaurs together. Discussing the similarities with their own extinct reptiles. A few minutes later, Amity and Vee appeared in the doorway.

“Hey nerds!”

Hunter couldn’t help the desperate sigh that escaped his mouth. The girls looked at him funny. He looked away embarrassed. He could just feel Ghost’s evil grin radiating from his lap.

“Good morning.” Vee chuckled.

Gus greeted them both. He showed Vee the book, but she had already read it and subsequently showed him her favourite page.

“So the ‘hey nerds’ was warranted.” Amity smirked. “What was that sigh for?”

Hunter met her eyes awkwardly. Her sassy expression matching perfectly with Ghost’s entire being. He’s been called a nerd 4 times in a very short amount of time. So his sigh was just as warranted.

“Flap has been calling me a nerd all morning.” He lied. The bird bonked him on the head for blaming him.

The actual culprit made a ‘mmrrrp’ sound. The white fluffy monster was laughing at them! Then she climbed down to greet her witch.

“You guys wanna have breakfast? Luz and Willow won’t be here for a while.” Vee said.

At that moment, Camila walked in. Hunter’s first instinct was to grab the book from Gus. It took an embarrassing amount of effort to ignore that instinct.

“Good morning kids,” She said cheery. They all said their good morning’s back. “I heard something about breakfast?”

“Yes, because those sleepyheads will take at least 2 more hours.” Amity laughed.

“Luz is usually a morning person,” Gus interjected, looking at Vee amused. “Did you swap or something?”

“No!” Vee crossed her arms with a playfully sour expression on her face. Then her face dropped and her voice got more serious. “Luz actually didn’t sleep well last night...”

She looked at Camila carefully, Hunter couldn’t help but do the same. Amity tapped the basilisks arm, she was probably not supposed to say that.

“Another nightmare?” Camila asked, but she knew the answer. She had one of those ‘worried mom’ expression that they saw very often. Hunter hadn’t been able to place them at first, being extremely foreign to him.

But Camila quickly had one reserved for him too. Luz had to explicitly tell him she wasn’t angry, just worried. He didn’t know how to feel about it yet.

“Poor girl.” Flapjack’s chirp was the only thing that could be heard, because the room was filled with an awkward silence. “You should talk to her.”

Hunter scratched his feathers to discretely tell him he understood. He would try, Luz was more likely to talk to him about her nightmares. Maybe because he had them too? Hunter didn’t feel like he could really help her though.

“Oh, is that ‘Guide through the Fossil Record’ you have there?” Camila finally broke the silence. She pointed at the book in Gus’s hands.

“Yes!” Hunter shot up. “I took it to pass the time, I hope that is alright.”

“That is quite alright, Hunter.” Camila reassured him once more. “You can take any book you like.”

Amity’s understanding look was a lot better than Ghost’s pitiful one. Vee gave him some grace by ignoring him, talking to Gus about her favourite fossil again.

“So breakfast then?” Amity asked.

“Yes, let’s do that. Does anybody want eggs?” Camila rubbed her hands, ready to make breakfast just a little bit more special.

Hunter smiled politely. He did want eggs, but of course he didn’t say anything. Gus slung an arm over his shoulders, making him bend down quite a bit.

“We do!” He called out enthusiastically. Forever his saviour when it came to asking for things.

———

“Good morning.” Luz yawned as she entered the kitchen. She saw her mom and her friends (except Willow) all at the table. They greeted and welcomed her, but were already done with breakfast.

“Feeling better sleepyhead?” Amity kissed her on the cheek when Luz sat down next to her.

She nodded and returned the kiss. She still felt horrible, but an itty bitty bit better. And that’s what her girlfriend asked.

Clover and Emmiline had hitched a ride on her. Luz appreciated the company after a night like that.

“There you are buddy~” Gus cooed as his palisman stepped on his hand.

Clover flew over to Hunter and Flap. She buzzed up a storm when she joined the little cardinal in the blonde nest.

“Aye que lindo~” Camila cooed and the kids laughed. Hunter felt his face get hot from embarrassment.

Still, he’d never tell the precious creatures to leave. He had accepted his fate as ‘palisman free real estate’ long ago. Besides, Clover was always fun to be around.

He understood the constant buzzing and was trying his best to hide it. Apparently, Clover had tried to get her witch out of bed early for once. It didn’t go well. It was near impossible for him to not laugh as Clover described the things Willow miraculously slept through.

Buzzing next to her ear, sticking a paw in her nose, tickling her nose with bee-fuzz. He could clearly picture it.

The bee had even considered dropping something heavy on her. Luckily for the unaware witch, Luz came to the rescue. Or ‘disrupted her creative process’, as Clover saw it.

The aforementioned saviour looked at him curiously. Luz knew. She also knew he wanted to hide it. In her opinion, he was scared for nothing.

They would all think it was awesome he could talk with their palisman. A sharp pang of jealousy shot through her heart. ‘Their palismen’. That didn’t include her.

“Should we wake Willow?” Hunter asked.

“I’m NOT doing that again!” Vee burst out. Whatever she was doing was put on abrupt hold.

“Have you learned nothing?” Gus joined her passion.

“I still haven’t fixed that hole in the wall.” Camila mummed, squinting over her coffee.

“Sorry Mami…” Luz laughed awkwardly and her mom ruffled her hair.

“It’s alright Mija. When you live with 4 witches it was bound to happen.”

“Yeah…” Amity laughed in the exact same way as her girlfriend, “so not a good idea.”

“Luckily you don’t have to.” Willow chimed in as she entered the kitchen. “Also, I’m still very sorry about the wall.”

The group greeted her. Camila also reassured her about the wall again. She offered to fix it together to make her feel better. The plant witch happily agreed.

“I’ll make you two some eggs.” Camila got up, taking the empty pan from the table.

“You had eggs? Without me?” Luz gasped in fake-offence. She got up and put a hand to her forehead, like a Regency woman about to faint.

“How dare they. Such betrayal!” Willow joined her demeanour. Interlocking her fingers with her bestie. Those historical romance movies were leaving their mark.

The girls hooked their arms together, turned around dramatically and walked those 4 feet to the stove as fancy as they could.

At the table were 4 sets of eye-rolls. But they couldn’t say they weren’t amused. Amity snickered lightly and Hunter chuckled into his hand.

“Does that count?” Willow spun around and pointed at him. Then looked at Gus overjoyed. “Does that count for the game?”

“Sure!” Gus laughed. He smirked wide at his bro, whose expression soured. Hunter pouted and crossed his arms. This game was ridiculous if you asked him. “One point for Luz and Willow, I’ll write it down later.”

“We’re still behind Flap though.” Luz giggled.

“It’s not fair, he’s too cute!”

After the girls finished their breakfast the group got to talking about their plans. They wanted to do something fun and Camila came up with an idea. She offered to take them to the mall since she had an unexpected free day. Gus was insanely excited to explore and soon enough everyone matched his energy.

Except Luz.

She was smiling and cheerfully talking, sure, but she seemed off somehow. Hunter knew what Luz was normally like. She clearly wanted to go, but was apprehensive for some reason. He could guess what it was.

Willow and Vee, under leadership of Gus, ran upstairs to get out of their pyjamas. Camila followed at a calmer pace, after looking down at her bathrobe and fluffy slippers. Amity wanted to follow them too, but stopped in her tracks.

“Are you coming?” She asked Luz.

She had also noticed her girlfriend’s attitude was not as bubbly as it normally would be. Luz loved getting out of the house to show her friends the human realm.

“Oh I’m all set!”

She showed off her lame cat-hoody with pride. A black cartoon cat was on it, with the text ‘cats are clawsome’.

“Um.. alright.” Amity reluctantly agreed. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Maybe it’ll be easier for them to talk at the mall.

“I’m also ready to go.” Hunter said, gesturing to his own normal sweater and jeans. “You go change, and I will clean the table.”

“I’ll help!” Luz called out, jumping on her bro. She was doing too much now, looking overly excited, trying to conceal her feelings.

They grabbed the breakfast supplies as Amity went upstairs. The resulting silence while the put stuff back in the cupboards made Luz uncomfortable. Hunter thought it was quite nice, but she felt the need to fill it.

“So~ what did Clover say when she was all upset?” Luz bumped her shoulder into his.

“She was describing very vividly how she tried to wake Willow up early.” He smirked as he patted the little bee.

“Oh yeah,” Luz laughed and patted her too, “Sorry, baby, but that’s mission impossible.”

“So… what’s up with you?” Hunter questioned. Luz turned to him slowly with an uncomfortable expression. Now she missed the silence.

“When did you get so good at that?” She pouted. Hunter shrugged, credit belonged Flapjack for this one. But he had gotten better at it. Somehow.

“I heard you had a nightmare?” Flap was still in his hair, happy that his witch had listened to his advice.

“Who snitched?” Luz joked. She really didn’t appreciate Vee or Amity telling him that. Did they tell her mom? Was she worried?

“Vee did, but go easy on her. You shouldn’t keep those things to yourself.” Clover flew onto his shoulder and Emmi walked upside down on his arm.

“I’d rather tell you myself.” She pouted again. She couldn’t be mad at her kinda-twin for long. Vee never lied to mom and it was probably better to share anyways. She just didn’t want to admit that Blondie was right.

“Then do so.” He said, proud of his wit. He absentmindedly picked up Ghost, holding her like a baby.

Luz looked at the very serious boy covered in tiny magical animals. He looked so happy with his smart-ass respons. She wanted to brake out into a belly laugh. But instead she felt broken.

The nightmare had come back to the forefront of her mind. She thought about how her own palisman couldn’t join them in using Hunter as their playground. They were still stuck in the egg.

She didn’t even know if they were alive.

This sight made her laugh with tears forming in her eyes. It startled Hunter. He fumbled for a second, unsure and concerned.

Then he moved Ghost over to one arm and reached out with his other hand. He held Luz’s head. As she sniffed, he lightly pushed her towards him.

She immediately gave in and moved into the awkward, palismen-filled hug. Her head was resting on his chest and she looked down to Ghost in his arm. She mewed. Luz tickled her belly, laughing weakly through her blurry vision.

“She says ‘there there’.” Hunter translated. Rubbing her hair like she was also a cat. Considering everything, this awkward hug was quite impressive. Luz blinked away her tears and sighed.

“My nightmare was about my palisman. My egg… and Eda.” She paused to wipe her eyes. “I dreamt I was with her, carving the palistrom wood. But this time when I was done, she told me I made a mistake. That I shouldn’t have made it an egg. That I- that I… killed it.”

She pressed her face into Hunter’s chest when the tears filled her eyes again. She regretted telling him now, what if the others walked in? What if her mom saw her like this? Once the floodgates opened, she couldn’t stop.

“It was so messed up! How could my brain make Eda say those things?” Her voice was breaking, she was staining his shirt. She felt Clover rub against her cheek and Ghost licking her hand.

“It’s okay, you’re okay.” Hunter shushed her. “Nightmares are funny like that. They put your fears right in your face in the most horrible, screwed up way possible.”

“Yeah!” Luz turned to Ghost again. But forgot Clover was there, getting a face full of bee. It made Hunter snort. He quickly regained his composure and continued with a gentle voice.

“But don’t worry Luz. Your palisman is alive, I promise.”

“Can you promise that?” She pulled back to look into his eyes.

“I can. I’m sure they are alive. I can feel it.”

“Thanks Hunter!” Luz barrelled back into the hug. It made Flapjack fall off his head. She squeezed his lungs out as the little cardinal chirped aggressively. “Sorry Flap.”

“He says he forgives you.” Hunter smirks. Luz’s chuckle was still weak. She sighed and let go of her friend.

“I’m just so scared something is gonna happen to it.”

“I understand, but listen Luz. Your egg is save. It’ll hatch and you’re gonna show your palisman to Eda.”

Luz looked up at him, smile big and genuine.

“And before that, I’ll guard it with my life.”

The boy covered in magical creatures, shining brightly like the sun, was now back to looking hilarious. Luz broke out into the belly laugh she wanted before. She definitely felt better now.

———

The gang was outside getting ready to get into the car. Luz felt a little restless again. Her talk with Hunter helped a lot, but her fears didn’t just magically disappear. She wondered if there was a spell for that.

She looked at Hunter. He did say he would guard it right? No. No, thats not fair. He should not have to-

“Can I stay here?” Hunter looked at Camila nervously. Standing in the doorway, still half inside.

The kids stopped in their tracks and turned to him confused.

“I want to, uh, take care of the palismen.” He tried to explain. Picking up Emmiline from the ground as he smiled anxiously. “We shouldn’t leave them alone.”

“We’ve left them in the house before.” Gus pointed out confused.

“Ah well yes. That’s true…” Hunter trailed off.

“I understand, but it doesn’t feel right to leave you behind.” Camila tapped her chin. She didn’t want to force this kid to go to the mall. She still struggled with how to treat Hunter.

There was deafening silence. Guilt crept up on Luz, but he smiled at her. Did he really not mind?

“I can stay?” Willow offered suddenly.

“Huh?” Hunter’s eyes shot to her instantly. A tiny blush crept over his face. “No no no, thats not necessary! You wanna go to mall, right? You should go, have fun.”

He waved his hands, laughing awkwardly. He cursed his voice and his face. Titan why?

“I will stay. I’ve been to the mall enough times.” Vee said, snorting at the stupid boy and prodding him in the side. “Plus, it’d be boring without this guy stumbling through stores and cafes.”

Hunter was conflicted between being grateful and offended. He pushed her away with a hand on her face, earning a laugh from the others. Then he remembered Camila was there too and his back straightened.

“Okay, then the problem is solved right?” Amity asked, rearing to go.

“Yup!” Luz took her girlfriend’s hand and led her to the car. Glancing back to give a silent thank you to her bro.

“Are you guys sure?” Gus asked.

“Oh yeah, we’ll be fine.” Vee waved him away.

Willow looked at them confused, silently questioning Hunter if he was really sure. He smiled at her as genuinely as he could muster. She accepted it, and got into the car with Gus.

“I forgot something!” Luz ran back suddenly. Basically running through Hunter and Vee into the house and up the stairs. Hunter walked after her a little bit, watching the stairs from around the corner.

She flew back down holding her egg. She slid to a stop in front of him. Hunter held out his hands and she gratefully put the palisman in them. He saluted her and she beamed at him.

Then she flew past Vee, saying goodbye, and entered the car. The stragglers waved the off, while Hunter kept the egg behind his back. Camila drove off and the gang was in for fun mall-day.

Hunter and Vee retreated into the house. Vee stared at the palisman in his hands while they walked to the living room. Something stirred in her.

“So… What was her nightmare about?” She asked while giving him side-eye.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to share that.” Hunter looked at her confused.

“Was it about the egg?”

“Vee!”

“Yes or no.”

“That’s not fair, you know I can’t lie!”

“So yes then.”

Hunter gave her a disappointed look. Her behaviour was surprising. And annoying. Where was this coming from?

“Okay, I’m sorry. I was just…” She looked down at her claws. A little ashamed of herself. “I asked her, ya know?”

He did know. It made sense now. Hunter didn’t fully drop his disappointment, but looked at her intrigued. He waited for her to continue.

“She didn’t want to share it with me, but with you it’s like immediate.” Vee made an explosive gesture.

Hunter’s expression softened. An upset Vee wasn’t easy to comfort, but he could understand her.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m not.”

“I was just curious, okay?”

“Sure.”

Vee was about to defend herself, shoulders tense, a finger pointed at him. Basilisk-fury burned in her eyes. Then her arm dropped and she looks more sad than anything.

“I still don’t know if she even likes me.”

“Aww Vee, of course she does!” Hunter put a hand on her shoulder, but removed it slowly when she turned to him irritated. “I mean uh- it’s Luz! She wants to be friends with everyone.”

“I took her place for months!” Vee plopped down on the couch, hugging her tail to her chest. “She said it was okay but what if it really wasn’t? She doesn’t trust me…”

“Just because she didn’t want to talk about her nightmare, doesn’t mean she doesn’t trust you.” Hunter sat down next to her carefully. “It was just a… difficult subject.”

“Then why did she tell you so easily!?” Vee buried her face in her tail with a defeated sigh.

“I don’t know! Probably because of what we’ve been though together.” Hunter tried not to think about the mindscape too much. “Because I get nightmares like that too. And last time, she told me just because I was the only one still awake.”

She still didn’t look fully convinced. Hunter tapped the egg in his lap. Gently running a finger along the grooves.

“Or maybe because I’m a Grimwalker…” He said softly. Vee lifted her head. “She knows palismen are different with me.”

Vee opened her mouth, but couldn’t think of any words. Hunter’s expression was bittersweet. His true identity was a difficult subject too. They rarely talked about it after the reveal.

She had hoped to bond over the fact they were both (part) demon. But she respected his wish to keep it hidden. Maybe this could help him think more positively about being a Grimwalker?

“It’s a pretty cool trait.” She patted the egg. Hunter sighed.

“I don’t know why Luz tells me those things.” He’d rather to stay on the first topic. “But she doesn’t tell Amity either and I’m pretty sure she likes her.”

“You’re right.” Vee giggled. She patted Emmiline as she climbed on the side of his head. “I mean it though, it’s a cool trait to have.”

“Thanks.” Hunter shifted uncomfortably. “I just know it’s not normal.”

“And?” Vee jumped up from the couch. Basilisk-fury returned to her eyes. She shifted into pastel version of Hunter with a clown nose on. “Normal is boring!”

“Hey!” Hunter put the palismen aside to chase her. Which gave Vee a substantial lead, running around the house as clown-Hunter.

They chased each other for a while, the palismen even joined in. Eventually they tired themselves out and Vee retreated to her room to watch a show on her phone.

Hunter wanted to start cleaning again, but Flapjack and Ghost threatened to actually break the duster. So he returned to reading ‘Guide through the Fossil Record’.

He’s always been a fast reader though. Finishing the book under two hours. He put it back on the shelf and boredom took over.

“You look tired.” Clover buzzed.

“He didn’t sleep at all last night.” Ghost mewed at her.

“Thats not true!” Hunter protested. “I slept like 3 hours.”

“That’s still horrible!” Clover flew into his cheek, like a fuzzy punch.

“Yes.” Flap joined his bee friend by pecking his other cheek. “You know that is not a sufficient amount.”

“Yeah, tell em Emmi.” Ghost pushed the chameleon with her nose. The blue palisman stuck out her tongue as her eyes drifted in different directions. “She agrees.”

“Take a nap Hunter.” Flapjack chirped, prodding into Hunter’s cheek again. He averted his eyes with a ‘hmpf’ sound.

“Yes. Nurse Clover demands it.” The little bee said, floating pointedly in his face.

“Nurse Clover?”

“Doctor Flapjack’s orders.” The bird joined in flying in front of his face, to look at him very serious. Hunter just thought they was cute.

“You with them?” He looked at Ghost and Emmiline who had laid down next to the egg.

“With them?” Ghost elegantly crossed her paws. “I run this hospital.”

“I’m a brain surgeon!” Emmiline called out proudly. The other palismen exchanged uneasy glances.

“Yeah… I wouldn’t let you operate.” Hunter tickled her under the chin.

“Anyways.” Clover landed on his knee. “Nap.”

“Yes nurse.” He sighed.

He held Luz’s egg to his stomach and laid down. The carefully carved wood was brimming with potential. Hunter could feel the life softly emanating from the inside. They weren’t quite there yet, but the creature would join them soon enough. And they would be a little menace, just like their witch.

The rest bunched up together and found a place on his legs. Turned out they were right, he drifted off almost immediately.

———

Hunter woke up to giggling and something fluffy in his nose. He heard a camera shutter.

“Shit my sound was on.”

His eyes flew open when he heard Luz. He flinched back, but didn’t get up fully. His head spun from the sudden movement.

He was once again surrounded on the couch. His friends were standing behind the coffee table. Luz was closer in a photographer position with her phone. The giggling had not yet stopped.

Hunter finally investigated the fluffy thing that had been tickling his nose. Ghost. Of course. It seemed he had turned on his back in his sleep, hugging Luz’s egg to his chest. Then the other palisman found their way to curl into his stomach, while Ghost had planted herself in his neck and against his face.

“Welcome back guys.” He yawned when he managed to sit up just enough to lean against the armrest. He snuffed the remaining cat hairs out his nose.

“Good morning~” Amity teased.

“Is this what you meant by ‘watching the palismen’?” Vee poked the Grimwalker in his cheeks.

Luz slapped her sister’s arm and gave her girlfriend a look. If they teased him, Hunter might never sleep again! This was the first time she had even witnessed it. It’s totally not important that she was the one taking pictures of him, not at all.

“I had no choice!” Hunter joked, relieving her concerns. “It was nurse Clover’s orders.”

“Aww that’s so cute!” Willow cooed at her bee still sleeping soundly against his stomach. A soft pink quickly formed on Hunter's face.

“And she’s not wrong,” Gus added, saving him from saying anything stupid. “You need to sleep more, dude.”

Hunter wanted to fire back a snarky respons, but Amity noticed something. The noise she made brought everyone’s attention to her.

“Wait. Why do you have Luz’s egg?” She asked, visibly confused.

A few ‘oh hey’s and ‘wait yeah’s filled the room. It was like everyone just now noticed the blue palisman resting in Hunter’s hands.

“I asked him to keep an eye on it for me.” Luz answered for him.

Hunter carefully handed her precious carving back to her. Luz smiled very gratefully, she was able to have fun at the mall without worrying.

But if he wasn’t opposed to teasing right now…

“Still, this was sight to behold.” She smirked. Hunter’s warm and selfless aura dissipated as he squinted a look of betrayal at her.

“I’ll say!” Gus laughed. “We didn’t expect to come back to this pile of palisman on the couch.”

Hunter sighed. He guessed he should be more embarrassed by this. But those two could tease him all they wanted, because he really didn’t care.

He was stopped, for the second time, from making a smart-ass respons. His attention quickly snapped towards Camila, who just rounded the corner of the living room.

“Ohoho~ look at all the sweet babies together.” She said, when she witnessed the Palisman cuddle herself. “Tan lindo~”

Hunter’s eyes were now locked on their host. His hands fidgeted, picking at his fingernails. He looked at her with a hopeful smile. This was good in her eyes, right? Lindo meant cute, right?

Was it okay to be proud of this? Or should he come off as humble? Wait, was he supposed to say something now?

“I just put the groceries in the kitchen, who can help me put them away?” Camila continued with what she actually came for.

Hunter sprung to his feet.

“Yes! I can do that!”

The huddle of still-sleeping palisman got a rude awakening. As one collective, they slid off his lap. Hunter cringed when they hit the ground with a loud thump.

“Sorry guys…” he grimaced.

Ghost hissed at him and Emmiline made some disgruntled noises of her own. Flap en Clover laid on the ground, absolutely dazed. Nobody was hurt, they were made of wood of course, but that was still stupid.

Hunter cautiously lift his head towards the matriarch. She looked more surprised than anything. What did that mean? What was behind that expression? How could he be so forgetful?!

Amity broke into a snicker. Everyone turned to her and she tried to hide her laugh. But she failed. Luz gained her own wobbly smile from looking at it.

“Sorry, that was really funny.” Amity said as she walked over to Ghost. Who yowled when the witch picked her up. “Oh hush, you little drama queen. You’re fine.”

Luz was about to crack. Vee and the other witches were starting to have amused expression as well. Even Camila put a hand over her mouth, wrinkles formed in the corner of her eyes.

So, she wasn’t mad?

Soon, everyone was giggling again. Willow and Gus picked up their own palisman to shush their whining. Hunter looked at everything a little dumbfounded.

The laughter washed away any feelings of shame. He didn’t feel ridiculed, even though the were laughing at him. He felt a little stupid, sure. But the energy surrounding him was warm and soft. Like the morning sun was shining in his face again.

Hunter bend down to pick Flapjack up. The cardinal was still a bit dazed, but gave him a look anyways. He’d get a righteous amount of hair-tugging later.

“Alright then!” Camila sighed her last chortle away. The Dominican mother gestured to the vague direction of the kitchen. “Shall we?”

Hunter gave her a sheepish smile and a diligent nod. The awkward boy happily followed Camila into the hallway.

Maybe, just maybe, Vee was right. Maybe it was a pretty cool trait to have.

[artist-issues]

I feel like Luz’s palisman is a representation of what’s going on in the writer’s room for The Owl House ever since the end of Season 1.

Build up to a big reveal, get people guessing and hoping, and when it finally arrives, it’s…every animal, instead of committing to one. It’s a new creature with no previously-set-up lore or presence in the show…that is able to morph into anything.

Not a little owl, to symbolize she found a place where she can belong as The Owl Lady’s only true apprentice. Not a little wolf-King-lookalike, to symbolize her commitment to her friends and call back to Eda’s line from the first episode. Not even a little bat or singular animal to symbolize how she’s her own person. Just a lazily slapped-together last-minute creature that might as well be called “Whatever You Want-o-Saurus.” 

Elaboration below the cut.

Kind of like how the show can just be about any character. Oh, you thought this was a show about Luz and Eda, and occasionally their sidekick King, with even more occasional appearances by her new schoolmates? Nope. We don’t pick three main characters to focus on—EVERYBODY needs angst. EVERYBODY needs trauma. All characters must have big reveal moments, love interests, crying scenes, and relearn the same lessons over and over again. By Season 3, Willow, who should have had less screen time than EDA HERSELF, not only has more screen time, but is simply learning the same old half-a-witch self-worth shtick that she learned in Season 1. 

Literally, it would be like if, in Star vs the Forces of Evil, the show zoomed in on Ponyhead, Heckapoo, and Eclipsa, (Hunter, Willow, Gus) and every scene included some reference to their emotional trauma, like a hammer hitting your head in the same spot over and over and over. Meanwhile, Star’s (Luz) screentime is limited but also solely focused on her self-hate for messing everything up, Marco (Eda) gets three lines of dialogue, and we’re treated to much more Glossarick (King) and Ludo (Collector) screen time, where’s he’s no longer funny but nobly self-sacrificial and confident.

Or if Gravity Falls, Season 2, gave Dipper (Luz) plenty of screen time to be an emotional prop for characters like Robbie, Soos, and Wendy (Amity, Hunter, and Gus) while he background-hates himself. Meanwhile Mabel (Eda) is almost written out except for being given two lines per episode about wanting to save Mermando from being turned to stone—oh, you don’t know Mermando (Raine) that well? It’s because he was just tossed in as a progressive love interest halfway through the final season—and Grunkle Stan (King) gets to be completely free of all previous character traits except “must save kids” energy while Lil Gideon (Collector) holds him hostage. Oh, and the interesting villain? The one we’ve been teased with and really are invested in seeing lose? Bill Cipher? (Emperor Belos) He’s just kinda crawling around in the background, powerless until we need to give Soos more emotional trauma.  What I’m saying is, sure, Stringbean looks cool. The Collector looks neat and clearly is meant to be child-murderer creepy (oh but you can still feel bad for him because we poured Trauma™ on him, too.) The big playtime set pieces are definitely going for Gravity Falls’ “Weirdmageddon” vibe. Every character gets a snazzy new haircut and outfit change every three episodes (or ten minutes.) 

But who the heck cares when the story is lazy, unrecognizable, carries itself like it has substance and commits to nothing—except the same old character beats from Season 1 but with more crying?

[theprinceandthewitch]

The way this show comes off to me...

It feels like they wanted to do an AmWillow and Lunter endgame (because of the Caleb/Eveyln parallels for the latter and how deeply tied to the plot Luz and Hunter are). But they also wanted to do Lumity - not as an endgame pairing but as one of those pairings where characters need to learn a lesson from each other before breaking up.

However, because they got botched by Disney, they couldn't develop AmWillow the way they wanted to. And they can't have them break up without Amity having another Love Interest ready to go. Because they'd get called homophobic for leaving the lesbian character "all alone".

So they had to really double down on Lumity. I think that's why Amity suddenly has all the interesting parts of her character stripped away from her. We can't have any conflict between them that could lead to a break up - she HAS to be the perfect blank-slate girlfriend for Luz.

Huntlow is a bit of a weird one because it comes off as them wanting to superficially tie Huntlow to Caleb/Evelyn.

Like they just want to keep it consistent that the Grimwalker who looks the most like Caleb (and the last clone of Caleb) would start a peaceful life with a witch. Basically tying up the end of the story with how the story started kind of situation. Even though this is really shallow because the only thing Evelyn and Willow share is that they're both witches.

[contrasting-realities]

Luz/Mercenary character intro

You were born with the soul of the endless, which makes you yearn for freedom and gifts you with creativity.

You were forced to put your creativity to the test when both your parents died during a horrendous plague outbreak, leaving you alone to wander the streets of Jettaiah.

To survive, you must choose to become a pickpocket, a burglar, or struggle to live an honest life…

Become a Pickpocket (Steal)

Become a burglar (Lockpicking)

Your life certainly didn’t go to waste, you learned to cope with the constant fear of running from the police. The streets taught you valuable lessons.

Lead an honest life (20 silver coins)

You struggled early on, but managed to become a merchant. Your skills in speech and bargaining have improved over the years yet you yearned to be something more…

As you grew into a teenager, you joined various mercenary armies and learned everything you could to stay alive. You teamed up with a notorious highwayman and worked with his band of criminals and ex-soldiers.

During one of your raids, your group was ambushed. The world seemed to be against you so you could abandon your comrades or fight to your last breath…

Abandon your comrades (Escape Plan)

Fight to your last breath (30 silver coins)

Very few survived the ambush but that just meant that there were more rewards to go around for your job.

You traveled around the world and eventually settled down in the kingdom of Rondon where the silver was plentiful if you were willing to resort to dirty tactics. You eventually met a woman by the name of Amity at a brothel and you both fell in love in secret, despite her being a slave.

One day you get a strange task from the kingdom’s officials, you were paid well in order to rescue a fabled captain of a mercenary army from Rondon’s own dungeons.

The Dungeons Of Fear and Hunger, a morbid place that used to be a prison during wartime and they needed an outsider to do their dirty work for some reason…

Something clearly isn’t right here but the money is enough to free Amity from her bonds, several times over.

You spend the last knight in the kingdom…

Go Drinking and get laid at the brothel (Wine vial, bottle of whiskey, ale)

You also get an itch in your groin area…

Stock up on food for the mission (x3 dried meat, a moldy bread, a cheese)

Stock up on healing items for the mission (One blue vial, x2 cloth fragment)

Run straight for your mission (Dash)

[rappaccini]

tbh in my opinion the Biggest Issues with toh aren't actually that disney cancelled it before it could finish its story. even if the show had gotten a fuller run it still would've fumbled because the issues are endemic to the plot and were since the start.

specifically the show took too long to understand that it's not actually a fluffy slice-of-life story. it's plot-driven. in this regard it took the wrong lessons from its spiritual predecessor gravity falls. toh needed to introduce the plot and the main players much earlier and make consequences last if the sudden plot turn was going to have weight. not to mention make sure its character dynamics are prioritized by story importance and not fanservice yes this is about lumity aka wlw kataang happening instead of amillow/lunter, the ships that have far more relevance to plot and character development.

easiest ways to do that: introduce belos and hunter much earlier, give stakes to eda being a fugitive and luz being The First Human To Be Here In Hundreds of Years, and make amity and hunter one character to streamline the plot.

in this essay i will

so. season 1 au.

eda being a wanted fugitive has stakes:

they have to be sneaky when moving in public, possibly even disguised. getting chased by coven members. the owl house moves around constantly to keep them from detection. play it lightly/for laughs this season.

luz wants to go to witch school, but no one can know eda is her guardian. cue the golden comedic potential of them shoving king and hooty in a trenchcoat to pass them off as her parent.

luz wants to make friends, but she has to be evasive so no one can learn who she's living with. no taking friends to her house after school. no discussing her guardians.

they have to hide that luz is a human and pass her off as a powerless witch (... don't you think The First Human To Be Here In Hundreds Of Years would be a bigger deal??? especially to belos??? and even if belos wouldn't target her, eda has no way of knowing that.)

give her some like... fake pointy ears or something. a disguise she has to maintain that can be a source of comedy.

(+the dramatic irony of human-world luz being her authentic self and getting rejected for it, coming to the isles to not have to do that anymore, and doing nothing but lie about who she is)

in general, luz has to realize that running away to the isles to be automatically accepted wasn't feasible; the isles are just as flawed as the human world, there is no easy world where she instantly belongs, and even if being yourself might not make everyone like you, it's still worth it because the people you do bond with are the ones who'll love you most, and you'll have a much better relationship with yourself.

introduce belos MUCH earlier.

starting off with light fluffy episodic fun is good. it helps the viewer get to know the world and characters. but we have to get the ball rolling much faster. it's insane that the show's main antagonist has no physical presence onscreen before the end of season 1.

we need to meet belos himself before episode ten, even if it's just in a brief cameo. and in the latter half of the season, keep giving us glimpses of him, leading up to luz's first meeting with him in the finale.

introduce the coven leaders as early as covention-- an easy excuse for them to be there: meeting their future followers.

and only have as many covens as you can use in the plot. ten was too much. bring it down to five or six (off the top of my head: emperor, plant, illusionist, abomination, potions, bard. construction can be divided into plant and abomination, potions can absorb healing (or be the 'powerless witch' magic option), beastkeeping can be an occupation instead of a magic track, oracle never did anything so we can cut it).

introduce the golden guard halfway through season 1 as a semi-regular antagonist. those Everyone Knows About The Golden Guard bits of detail from season 2? move that shit up! give them a presence in the worldbuilding in the first half of s1 through references in dialogue and background details and introduce them formally in the second half, maybe even in the same ep as belos.

do not unmask the golden guard yet because--

[pause for an aside. read this if you haven't already: amity and hunter are essentially two versions of the same character.

have you read it? okay. now ask yourself: how do we keep from repeating ourselves? how do we keep amity from falling into stagnation? how do we avoid rushing through hunter's development? how do we enhance lumity's narrative importance and remove the risk of it being overshadowed whenever willow and hunter wander onscreen, while also diving deeper into luz and hunter's connection and following it through to its fullest narrative-relevant conclusion?

here's the answer: combine hunter and amity into one character.

aside over.]

-- amity and hunter are one person.

from the original canon: since the golden guard is a legacy title, everyone already knows about them, but not who's under the mask. that works. that stays.

this golden guard is fresh out of the grimwalker soup. they have no history with any of the hexside kids, and were sent to the school specifically to spy on luz, using 'amity blight' as a disguise. dual reason: keep tabs on luz and give hunter the Loyalty Test to see if this one doesn't need to get pulped like the others.

listen. making a wood golem to spy on a kid by befriending them, and naming said golem amity is too good.

we just move the willow-bully-past plot to boscha (and probably the blight family drama if it really matters that much to keep; tbh you could cut the blight twins from the story and not miss much but if they really need to be here, they could just be boscha's siblings), and/or have amity-hunter (amter?) immediately suck up to the popular kids and participate in kicking willow around like a football, because that's the environment they're used to.

yes, amter is here for a Purpose, but they've also never been around kids or in a school before, and they're being distracted by how much they love it. as in canon, we establish that it isn't just luz that's going to motivate their turn; it's just as much the potential of having friends, going to school, enjoying extracurriculars, having a life, being a person.

spend that first half of season 1 with amter being one of the bullies, then shaping up. this smooths over the issue of luz Suddenly Forgiving the Longtime Bully Of Her Best Friend: now there's no years-long shitty history of amter targeting willow; they're a new student who was shitty for a minute, then shaped up. far easier for willow to forgive.

being a fellow 'powerless witch' is going to be a source of bonding for them and luz. they have to learn magic in the same ways. luz can learn what emperor-approved methods there are for powerless witches, and amter can get a glimpse of the wild magic luz is playing with.

also to achieve the best of both worlds, this character is trans.

either a trans boy -- (we'll make belos's brother his sister in this au)-- with amity being the performance, and hunter who he actually is-- i like the irony of a mask being a better reflection of his true self than his actual face.

OR a trans girl, with hunter liking being amity far better than being hunter. i don't mind which one is used. both could be promising.

as such, 'amity' gets the crush on luz first, but luz doesn't reciprocate until she encounters the golden guard. because luz (has a type, and that type is bad-but-sad rogues, so you know her ass would be into it, and more importantly, she) likes amter for who they really are.

and since 'amity blight' is a performance designed to appeal to luz, hunter can't be their real self around her. the only time that can happen is when they're behind a mask, quipping away as they face off, in the rare times when they're out of the palace/hexside and away from anyone who can report back to belos.

anyway we meet the golden guard in season 1, but the interactions are brief. amter does the dirty work sometimes, but is primarily still being amity (especially since lilith is still belos's number two at this point).

and near the end of s1, the audience gets to learn that amity and the golden guard/hunter are the same person. luz doesn't.

since the s1 finale still has luz live on tv interrupting a public execution, she can't exactly hide who she is or who she's with anymore.

season 2 builds on that:

all luz's friends and classmates know she's a human, she's with the owl lady, and they have to spend time processing that she lied to them and coming to understand why she felt she had to do that, and that she had no bad intentions about it.

they also have to sneak around to stay friends with her.

luz can't go back to witch school now that she's been outed as a fugitive. she has to do independent study with eda and her friends, which means the audience can get more context on wild magic and eda's circle of peers.

the hexside rebellion subplot of the truncated s3 can have a few threads here: now that the entire student body has realized that new kid luz was a human and a wild witch the whole time, they start to question what other lies they've been told.

more expansion on belos as antagonist.

take him more seriously as a threat: more moving around, more disguises in public places, now played less for laughs. even if he's holding back to lure her into a false sense of security while having amter get close to spy on her, eda doesn't know that. she's a longtime fugitive; she should probably act cleverly enough for us to buy why she kept evading capture. if eda thinks he has even more reason to go after luz, she should be putting more measures into place to protect her.

furthermore, luz's history with belos is great. as humans from bonesborough who came to the isles chasing magic and gained status among the witches, they have a lot in common.

we need more time spent digesting that. if he'd found her instead of eda, would he have initiated her into the emperor's coven? does he still want to? does he see her as a younger version of himself? a student? an heir or successor? when he interacts with her, is he a cold and frightening emperor, or warm, 'vulnerable' kindred spirit who wants to offer her all the power she can't reach with palismanless magic.

or given that she literally time-loops her way into giving him the power he needs to take over, does she hold a sort of spiritual importance to him? it'd be hard to believe that a puritan encountering the exact image of the girl he received divine assistance from wouldn't be A Certain Way about her.

and if luz isn't interested in living up to the mythology he's constructed in his head about her... he's not going to be happy about it.

additionally, we need to establish them more as foils (luz loves magic, belos hates it. luz bonds with and liberates the witches, belos dominates and subjugates them. belos abuses and confines amter, luz is going to set them free.)

luz's homesickness gets more focus.

generally, luz has to deal with the consequences of running away from home. she's genuinely homesick, and the situation with belos has her nervous about staying; this isn't fun anymore. she spends the first half of season 2 wanting to come home.

when luz does make it back, and sees that a basilisk has all but replaced her and her mother seems to get along with them better, she... gets upset? and when her mother realizes her child has been off in witchland instead of adult camp, has quadrupled down on the behavior she sent her to camp to get rid of, and is now in actual danger because of it.... she also gets upset?

it's wasted potential that such a big moment between luz and her mother (realizing that your mother seems to have replaced you with an imposter that lacks everything you like about yourself, and she seems to like that imposter better + realizing that your child disobeyed you, ran away from home and is doing all the things you don't want her to do and those things have put her in life-or-death peril) flatlines so hard in the show.

so here, instead, there's a messy fight. luz, being a teenager, decides that she's going to stay in the isles and makes her way back... only to learn that her significant other is a spy for the enemy. and spends the second half of the season All In on the boiling isles and proving herself as a true witch.

finally, when luz and the crew land in the human world at the end of the season, there's tension to her reunion with her mother and the basilisk that gets a cathartic release when they hug and apologize

on the amter end:

lilith's out of commission, and the day of u is approaching, so belos pulls amter out of school and gets them to work as the guard full time. plus, luz isn't there anymore, so there's no point. let amter miss hexside life.

i like the moment luz starts to crush on amity, so let's keep that. amter's first act of rebellion is, as amity, saving luz's ass. naturally, there should probably be a punishment for it, and a juicy ~but it's only part of my con~ excuse that definitely isn't true anymore.

i like drama, so let them get together at the same time as they do in canon. give them the nice fluffy first date and mutual admission of feelings, and a little honeymoon phase where they're a cute little couple...

.... and then, halfway through the season, comes the unmasking.

right as luz learns that her mom has 'replaced' her, she discovers that one of her closest friends/her romantic interest is lying to her and working with the evil emperor and has been this whole time.

they break up and we spend time dealing with the fallout. luz is upset and stays upset, and amter Has Serious Doubts about belos-- yes, because of luz, but also because of the support system, friend group and world she exposed them to while they were close.

near the end of s2, luz and amter learn all the golden guard grimwalker details. give them like. actual time to reflect on it together rather than having amter run off into the woods, luz inexplicably decide not to comfort someone she cares about at a time of extreme emotional distress and move on without saying anything, and amter randomly show up two weeks later with their shit handled.

with them being exes, luz not pursuing amter makes more sense. and with amter having history with willow and gus, having gone to school with them and dated their friend, so does them hitting it off.

since s1 spent time establishing the golden guard/amter as an antagonist, s2 can explore how conflicted they feel. there's now time built in for that disillusionment with belos, building a connection with the hexside kids, and face turn that were so rushed in canon.

end on the same note as s2: amter joins the hexside kids in the escape from the isles.

season 3

playing fast and loose here, imagining we get an actual third season with 15-20ish episodes instead of a handful of specials.

first half:

the standard 5-ish episodes of the kids settling into human life, luz going to high school. time to breathe and prepare them to finish their arcs.

(let's see high school luz bring some of her personality development back to a normal school setting. contrast her now with who she was at the start)

then a 5ish-ep miniarc of the hexsiders tracking down the way back and warming up to vee. specifically luz, the girl vee replaced, accepting their presence in her home and amter, the direct relative of the person who caused vee's refugee situation, getting to bond with them, experience a further level of deprogramming, and have an even more personal reason to want to later depose belos and fix the isles.

give gus all the human world exploration joy. let's bring vee's human friends into the story more. let the bonesborough kids meet witches, encounter magic, and respond with excitement and understanding, to fix the puritanism that drove the worlds apart originally.

amter and luz spend the first half of the season being Awkward around each other. the unmasking betrayal sting has faded, they're no longer upset with each other, but now they don't know how to act as they're sinking into their respective major worries. at this time amter's mostly bonding with willow and gus, and luz with her mother and vee.

luz's main concern is, as in canon, all her guilt about the collector catastrophe and whether she should never have gone to the isles in the first place.

amter's main concern is, as in canon, all that trauma about belos and determination to face and destroy him slowly consuming them. they still have to deal with all hunter's possession trauma.

since amity's role at this point in canon is to Be Luz's Gf, we're gonna go all in on the hunter stuff from here on out. and since amter is trans, work in some dysphoria theming here. maybe amter decides to Keep Being Amity because they've grown to love that name. maybe they ask the gang to start calling them hunter. maybe they decide to be someone entirely new. idk, seems like the right time to let that plot culminate.

(in fact, pair amter's coming out to themselves/the group with luz's to her mother. make this the moment where they stop being cool to each other and make the effort to be friendly again.)

around episode ten: the halloween special where the group heads back to the isles, aka the bulk of the first special but given room to breathe. make it a two-parter.

before we get into the meat: we need bonesborough to find out about magic at this point. philip and caleb were two small parts of a larger society, espousing that society's views. caleb was capable of change. why can't the town be too?

specifically belos needs to see that his bigotry isn't welcome here anymore. it's entirely possible for the town, and humanity as a whole, to embrace witches and magic.

they can only do that if they find out about witches and magic. so spend the first half of the season with vee's human friends and luz's high school peers interact with the hexsiders and slowly catch on that Something's Up, and have belos's attack during the halloween festivities reveal it to everyone. and have the town protect the kids and assist in beating belos back.

this is the point where amter and luz are comfortable around each other again.

and also probably where we should do something with the caleb-and-evelyne-are-symbolically-amter-and-luz's-past-lives thing? complete with flapjack having been evelyne's palisman? wild that canon drops that nuclear bombshell and proceeds to refuse to elaborate and pair them off with different people.

anyway. the takeaway needs to be that luz and amter will succeed where evelyne and caleb failed because they've learned what they need to solve the problem that undid c&e.

here's what we know about evelyne and caleb: wild witch evelyne gave caleb a reason to leave the puritanical world of bonesborough and embrace a better, freer life, but philip refused to let them go, caught up with them years later, killed them, and used their magic to remake the boiling isles in his image.

i'll reverse-engineer from that the crack in c&e's story that turned it into a tragedy: the first time around, caleb and evelyne didn't confront philip about being a puritanical witch-hater. they thought it would be enough to just distance themselves and move on about their lives with the hopes that he'd get over it and leave them alone. you know, kinda like the situation amter and luz are in right now, being stuck in bonesborough hiding out from belos, full of guilt and shame about associating with him.

and here's the issue: the hate that philip and his empire represents will only ever regenerate, grow and thrive if it is ignored or avoided (see: belos getting goopy in s3, and slowly scheming his way back into power). it will follow you until it's destroyed all your hiding places, killed all your protectors, and there's nothing to stop it from killing you and your loved ones too. you have to fight it head on, completely dismantle it and replace it with something better, to ensure that people won't fall back into the old system's arms when times get hard and uncertain.

point being: evelyne led caleb away from philip and helped him dismantle his toxic worldview... but in doing so they left the social contagion to fester and grow. luz led amter away from belos and helped them deprogram, but now she needs to lead amter back to belos to face, disown and defeat him, and replace his system of shame, domination and strict control with hers-- one of wild magic, love and acceptance. that's what makes the difference. that's the lesson they need to learn.

semi-nonsequiter but it has to go somewhere: vee needs a moment with luz and amter where they have to talk about the implications of going back and facing belos. vee not going is fine, but we need to flesh their motivation out as 'this isn't my fight to finish, it's yours.' it's not the responsibility of the refugee to dethrone their tyrant-- it's the responsibility of the people who enabled said tyrant: luz, amter, and the covens.

(as is it feels like vee only ever existed to provide an excuse for camila and luz to vanish for a while. they deserve better.)

second half:

part 2 plays out basically the same. let's expand on the collector-king connection, eda and lilith on the lam, belos getting progressively slimier and the hexside commune power struggle between boscha and mattholomule.

again, it's important for amter and luz to receive support from someone other than a love interest. amter and luz's respective bonds with willow-and-gus, and camila reassures them that someone understands them and doesn't blame them for their mistakes, which helps them let go of their respective guilts and inadequacies. this half of the season needs to be about their greater support group-- their friends and family.

speaking of family, idk where darius is, but let's add some kind of moment between him and amter. take the blight family divorce drama and scoot it over to darius, giving him a moment to shine, totally break from the coven, and show the audience the kind of family amter could have when this is over.

[aside: alador and darius. both abomination witches who have paternal roles to amity/hunter, carry out an evil system led by an abusive parent to amity/hunter, whose arcs both involve choosing to leave said parent and take the kid with them. ffs they're the same character too]

if boscha's getting amity's scraps, then let's do some rivals-to-crushes tension with her and willow when they're in the hexside commune. build to a moment where they fully bury the hatchet. plus add her to the moment where willow backslides back into anxiety and self-doubt. having her conquer it by both having her friends AND the person responsible for sabotaging that confidence present (who has told her she was wrong for doing that and is sorry) is far more significant.

plus, some kind of moment between boscha and amter where they acknowledge the brief friendship they once had. for all boscha's shittiness, she was also the first friend amter ever made. she might not have been a good influence, but for someone who's been alone all their life, what matters is that she was there. all the progress amter made first started with boscha seeing a friendless new kid at school and taking them under her wing. give her some credit.

finale:

let's keep the collector delusion but skip the 'let's respond to the badfaith audience who think luz is bad' and focus instead on channeling those insecurities through her status as belos's foil. since it's been built up in s2, we can get a glimpse of that world where luz WAS his apprentice.

and amter needs to have their own delusion too. look, the show decided to make the original sin evelyne AND caleb. it can't just show us luz, then show us hunter, and say 'oh, only luz needs to take part in this fight.' it has to be both of them.

both of them want to be understood and embraced by the people they care about. so does the collector, and belos uses that instinct against people to manipulate them.

and per the culmination of their arcs: they're 1) affirmed enough in who they are that they don't accept the illusion of acceptance in exchange for compromising themselves and 2) they understand how important it is to face belos and what he represents, so they resist the urge to hide from their guilt and fear to break through the illusion and face him head-on.

keep the collector being empathized with, forgiven, and the show refusing to give belos a pass.

that's the moment of change that evelyne and caleb weren't capable of. they couldn't recognize that philip was a problem that had to be addressed and removed. they dismissed it, forgave it, and ran away. luz and amter won't, and now we've switched from tragedy to comedy.

being that this is the climax, and it's time for arcs to pay off, amter and luz both must sacrifice something significant in order to tie off their arcs.

the strongest sacrifice amter can make is their life. it's the thing they've been seeking all this time-- a life, a future full of happy memories with people who care about them, where they are free to make their own choices-- that they finally have, and it's time to put it to the test: what's the point of having that life, if these people aren't in it?

given redemption arc standards, amter needs to face belos, denounce him, and literally or symbolically die fighting him and protecting luz and/or someone she cares about. it's how we set in stone that amter has changed for the better, their loyalties are with luz, won't fall for belos's manipulation and will face him without backing down.

i'm gonna dust off the old theory about luz sacrificing her palisman wood and using it to resurrect hunter and put it here.

if luz's true motivation was finding someone who understood her and she's convinced being a witch is the only way to get it, the strongest sacrifice she can make is giving up her pathway to be a 'true' witch to save the person who understands her best, because she knows now that she doesn't need to be a witch to be a good, valuable person who is accepted by the people she cares about, and that it isn't worth becoming a witch if these people aren't here to see it. it's the best way to show she's finished her arc successfully and completely forgives amter.

additionally, this brings us back around to the belos connection and definitively shows her as his opposite. when the chips are down, belos chooses power and isolation over humanity and community. luz chooses humanity and community over power and isolation.

+luz's method of palismanless magic is fine on its own. i feel like her getting a palisman after all takes away from the validity of palismanless magic. like all the work she put into developing a magic system all her own is less impactful, because it was just a placeholder all along until she could trade up for something flashier and a cute animal sidekick.

.......... (side effect being that amter gets the full powers of a palisman... but also has an empathetic connection to luz)

anyway all this to say i think this connection can be applied to titan-magic luz. it's wild magic at its wildest and most inventive, a totally new form of magic combined with the most ancient one in a way never seen before.

so luz's Ultimate Sacrifice? i mean i love it, but to be more efficient and align with the changes in this rewrite, let's give that to amter. they need to perform one, and there it is. so, they 'die' protecting the collector-- another lonely misguided kid being manipulated by belos who is rescued by luz-- and meet the titan in purgatory. as the reincarnation of the guy who helped cause this mess, i think the titan needs some words with them.

and luz using her palistrom wood to save them is what brings them back from the dead, and she can talk to and see the titan in purgatory too on account of that palisman connection she's accidentally forged. it works.

fuck yeah let's have eda and king help out, but amter has to help fight belos too for reasons already said many times at this point.

and belos ultimately dying undignified after being stomped to death by his former subjects and boiled by the natural state of the islands. as said elsewhere, smart sidestep of the kid protag can’t kill rule, and it lets the island itself have the final say.

let's keep the archive rescue. just pluck amter out of that scene and swap them out with, say, boscha and mattholomule.

keep the denouement. families reuniting. the isles abolishing the coven system and establishing a new college of wild magic. taking many years to rebuild and it still being a wip. vee has a life in bonesborough as a noceda. gus being a human culture scholar and willow playing grudgby. especially amter and darador becoming a little family, and amter getting a quiet life. and ending on luz returning to the isles (hell yeah let's keep that luz/amter kiss).

[scribbles over hunter and draws boscha under willow's arm instead. perfect!]

the most i'd do is add some mention of luz not entirely leaving the human world, or of freer travel between the two. maybe luz finishes high school in the human realm, and so do the hexsiders since their school is a pile of rubble. maybe some of the witches who moved to the human world to have somewhere to live during rebuilding want to stay. maybe more humans are entering the isles, the same way luz once did.

the isles and bonesborough get to exist together, aware of each other and everyone gets to expand their horizons, not just luz and camila. the owl house is a house for everyone.

[roughtimeminicomics]

Random AU BS I've made because bored and need to get in on the AU creating shit.

[Star Wars: The Invention Guild/Legion] A legion of clones that use experimental weapons and gadgets to help them achieve their goals. Every Clone has built at least one successful device. Things like Electro Gauntlets, Vibro Blade whips, Flamethrower armor, and so much more have all been made in the Legion.

[Owl House: Alador joins Early] An AU where Alador Blight joins the good guys far far earlier than before (probably a little later after Lilith splits the curse). So the Abomination upgrades are never made. Alador also lives with Eda and Lilith now, the Blight kids often visiting to escape the now even more obsessed Odiliea.

[MARVEL: Loki over Thor] An AU where in an effort to teach Thor a lesson, Odin sends Loki to Earth instead. Loki is the one to learn about humility and respect. Thor becomes more and more power hungry and angry, seizing the throne and forcing Asgard to slowly fall into ruin. Loki must gather a team to help him stop Thor from going too far.

[Owl House: Titans Blood] After gaining the power of the Titan, Luz retained some of the power after the Titan’s power left her body. Her blood is now partially Titan’s Blood, and if activated, Luzan returns.

[Owl House: Abomination Amity] Odelia decided to try a new experiment with Abomination, going behind her husband’s back and injecting Amity with a serum made of Abomination matter. Slowly, Amity became a hybrid of Witch and Abomination. Of course Alador was horrified and took Amity and the twins away from Odelia and to Darius, who tried his best to cure Amity’s condition. When it failed, Amity decided to try and learn how to control her new abilities. 

[Owl House/Amphibia: Different Stories, Same Planet] An AU/Theory that the Boiling Isles and Amphibia are actually on the same planet. So… STORY wise, The Calamity Trio learns of the Boiling Isles and decides to visits. Chaos ensues (in a good way). Not much else to say.

[juliettedunn]

“I know what I have to do now” (Part 2)

Part 1 is here

Several months after dealing with suicidal thoughts while trapped in the human realm, Luz opens up to Eda about her feelings, and asks for help.

CW for discussion of suicidal ideation

***

“I almost killed myself,” Luz whispered. At first she wondered if she had even managed to say out loud. If she hadn’t, and only spoken it in her head, she doubted she’d be able to correct the error. The effort of even saying it once was so great, she wanted to retract the very idea.

Emerald smoke curled from her cauldron and she hunched over the potion, stirring vigorously as if she could outwork whatever was said, drown it out with stimulus. If her brain was too enveloped in smell and color and bursts of idea, then whatever she was afraid of didn’t happen.

But no, Eda stood from her seat nearby, where she had been offering helpful guidance as Luz devoted more earnest study to potioneering, and looked at Luz with…but that wasn’t shock. Luz had been expecting surprise, screaming, uproar and outrage at the idea that she would throw her life away like some coward.

Especially with how sudden her statement was. Not that the prior conversation had been light, exactly. In between babbling about potion ingredients and where Luz could track down better ones, they had been discussing life. The new norm, as it was.

Luz’s return to human realm school, after a break of a couple months to get her bearings. The strange experience of disdainful treatment and struggle in the human realm, while she was subjected to constant publicity in the Isles. How nice it was to have potion lessons as this little escape, slowly gaining back confidence in her identity as a witch, as she learned new ways to work around her lack of magical ability.

She didn’t mean for the conversation to turn so serious. She didn’t mean for the topic of her near-suicide to ever get brought up, to anyone, but as she talked to Eda about her feelings now, about the confusion and anxiety and the pull between her double lives, the effort it took to get out of bed some days, she knew there would never be a better chance. And now the words were spoken, and it was too late to turn away.

“Before I returned,” said Luz, quickly. “When I got separated from you for a few months. I wanted to kill myself.” 

“Oh, kid…”

“I’m sorry,” Luz mumbled. “I’m really sorry. I know that sounds so stupid, especially after what happened. It doesn’t even matter now. Obviously I didn’t do it, and then I died for real, and I didn’t want it. I came back. I’m sorry to bring it up, I’m sorry-”

“Hey.” Luz broke off as Eda held out her arms, and she didn’t hesitate, letting Eda wrap her in a hug. “You don’t need to apologize,” Eda murmured. “It’s okay. I thought maybe something like that had happened.”

“What?” Had she really been so unsubtle? So mopey and fretful, even in the demon realm? “You didn’t see me at my worst, in the human realm. How could you have known? I was so happy around you. Did it show?”

“You weren’t that obvious, if that’s what you’re worried about. But you forget how alike we are. I know all the tricks.” She smiled sadly. “I’m glad you told me.”

Thank titan Eda kept in control. Luz thought she might respond differently, panic and hold onto her and ask her incessantly if she ever planned to do something like that again. Eda was calm. She understood. 

“I…I thought…I don’t know. I thought everyone would be better off. Because I messed things up so bad. Because I’ve always messed things up. I knew people would miss me, but I thought eventually they’d just be better off. And I…I got up to do it one night. Did this stupid little goodbye kiss to Amity while she was sleeping and everything.”

“What stopped you?” 

“Amity had a nightmare and I had to wake her up and comfort her.”

Eda made a dimmed version of her snorting laugh. “Girlfriend duties, huh?”

“Yeah,” Luz tried to chuckle. “Sort of. But I did realize, it was more of an excuse. I really didn’t want to die. I was so scared, I just went numb. I feel like I would have done it and not felt real until I started choking and then I would have tried screaming for help. I would have changed my mind. But then it might have been too late. And I’d have been actually dead. And I’d never have seen you again.”

Luz’s heart pounded as she imagined it, the fantasy scenario interspersed with her actual death. The way she had actually seen her body crumble, the feel of her head rotting and hollowing out, as she could do nothing but try to reassure her loved ones. To think she had almost willingly done something like that. And to think part of her had thought that maybe, rotting away from Belos's mold might be an acceptable end. That sinking down into that peaceful lake, vanishing into nothing was fitting for her. 

She clutched Eda tighter. “But I don’t want to die. I never did. Not really.”

Eda gently brushed Luz’s hair away from her face. “Kid, you’re the most spirited person I’ve ever met. Of course you wouldn’t want to die.”

“But you said you weren’t surprised.”

“I know what running can look like. Now I don’t like to talk about it much, I think we both know that. But...I’ve had those feelings too."

“Really? What - I mean, you don’t have to talk about it.”

“I almost made some serious mistakes because I thought the same thing as you, that somehow people would be able to just ‘move on’ without me. And that sacrificing myself was going to make a bigger impact than staying alive. I didn’t want to wait around to find out what else there was because I thought it would always be lonely, and I’d just hurt more people. And because I had stupid thoughts like that, I almost missed out on all this. You and King, Raine and Lily and all my family. And…and knowing what it’s like to lose you, even for a few minutes…” Eda’s composure threatened to break for a moment and Luz went to hug her. “That’s something I could never heal from. You could cause all the damage in the world and I’d rather that than ever have something like that happen again.” Before Luz could reply, she added, “And don’t take that to mean you do cause too much trouble. I know what you were thinking.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“No more sorrys unless you think I should start apologizing too.” Luz shook her head vigorously and Eda smiled, ruffling her hair. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’re safe, and you told me what was going on. Don’t let those guilty thoughts get you.”

Luz nodded. “The, uh, the Titan gave me a choice, when I died. It’s like he knew, too. He told me I had to choose myself, and I did hesitate. I wanted life, but some part of me thought it might be better if I just sunk down forever, in that water I told you about. But I chose to live.” Luz wiped away the beginnings of tears. “I thought sacrificing myself was the way to go, but it wasn’t. I’m so glad I chose myself, instead of just…letting that happen.” She hesitated, wringing her hands together. “But even though I did that, I still...I still need help. I’m not better. I’m really struggling.”

Now she could see how much Eda was fighting to maintain her composure; this was why she hated to bring up the event at all. But she had to get the rest of this out, and after a pause where she didn’t know what to say, Eda encouraged her. “Yeah? What’s been going on?”

“I don't want to die anymore. Not like that. But I'm also not feeling okay.  I should be happy. We defeated Belos. I’m alive! But I feel the old feelings coming back, especially when I’m at school, and I’m having so many nightmares, and I still just feel empty, and I don’t want to get close to doing anything like that again. I’ve been trying to just push through but I really, really need more help. I think I need to talk to people more, and I need you to check up on me. And I'm not clicking right with my therapist, I think I need someone different. And I want to do a project, not for rebuilding the Isles or school or whatever, but just for fun, no expectations. And I want to rest. I'm trying to do all these things but also I don't think I can do it alone. I want to get better. It's like I beat the suicidal thoughts but I'm still in a weird state and I don't know how to get out of it."

Eda’s eyes shown with pride. “Look at you, only fifteen, admitting what I couldn’t in my thirties. You’ve got so much to be proud of. Me, Raine, your mom, we’re going to get you the help you need. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but we’re going to get you through this. Okay?”

“Okay,” Luz said softly, as Eda scooped her into a hug. A gesture of affection Eda would never have dared to do a year ago, she now did with such comfortable ease, and Luz readily snuggled back. Before, Luz would have said it was a miracle of prophetic design, that two people set on destroying themselves could manage to keep going until they found each other like this. But it wasn’t. They continued because as much as they’d like to deny it, they wanted life, and they chose it. They chose to be here even when their minds screamed it was necessary to leave, to destroy themselves, that life would descend into greater emptiness if they stayed. They chose to stay, and somewhere on the painful journey, they found each other, and so many others, and they started to get used to feeling comfort alongside the despair. Luz couldn’t say whether it outweighed the hardship yet, but it was easier to see, and hold onto. Maybe it would shrink again, but it never left. As long as she kept choosing life, it could never leave entirely. And if staying alive meant she could experience love like this, she would try to choose it forever.

***

Note: Wow, a second part! I know a bunch of people asked for a continuation and I never did it, but almost a year later, I felt the urge to do this. So here we are. The original part was the first TOH fanfiction I ever posted, and it had such a positive reception. I was so grateful for that as I was quite nervous. I'm glad I waited until after the show was over to do a second part, because I loved what happened with Luz's death in Watching and Dreaming and how it plays into this. Luz sacrificing herself but then being presented with the choice to live, and having to make that decision to believe in her own worth and value in being alive, is so special to me. She chose to live, and that took far more strength for her than choosing to sacrifice. I know she would still struggle with it, even if she's not actively suicidal anymore. And that's what I wanted to portray here.

[mdhwrites]

Do you think the show rewards Luz’s Selfishness too much?

So I normally frame Luz's decision to self martyr herself and stay in her own world as not wanting to bother with the effort to fix her mistake. Let's shift that a bit so we can talk about why the show couldn't have Luz tell ANYONE this deeply selfish choice. A choice that by all means, Camila seems to think is just a bad choice for Luz and for no one else.

But... Luz chooses that her pain and angst is so bad that she doesn't want to help Amity reunite with her siblings. Or to make sure they can live in a world where they're safe. Gus' dad, Willow's parents, Darius, etc. All of them can rot as far as Luz is concerned. She even explicitly states this in For the Future. "Once Eda and King are safe, I'm going home."

No one else matters. LITERALLY no one else matters to her but the people she has chosen to care about and there aren't many of those. This is framed even worse by the fact that by the end of this episode, Camila will effectively say that Luz has NEVER done anything wrong. That trying to critique her at all, to try and give her life skills and friends with the camp after she put people's lives potentially in danger (snakes and fireworks are not meant for school for a reason), was wrong. That Luz just needs to be 'understood'. Part of understanding Luz, especially in S3, means that unless someone attacks her about it, like the dream sequence, WHICH ISN'T HER OWN MIND BUT A FABRICATION AND LIE, she isn't going to think about others. Just her adopted family and herself. And even then, maybe not even her adopted family since they sure as shit didn't matter in Thanks to Them.

BUT. we are supposed to sympathize with her and believe she did nothing wrong, just like Camila. Do not question her motivations, or her efforts, just believe her words.

This is emblematic of the show as well. The first two episodes talk a big game about fantasy vs reality and like Luz's selfish motivations, warped way of looking at things and her learning to be a human being, not a walking, wanna be protagonist will be interrogated. But... Not really. She repeatedly does things that are mirrored in her favorite series. Her final battle line will be a reference to that series and her delusions with that series. People might get briefly upset about her actions but most of the time she either doesn't have to do anything, like Reaching Out or Adventure in the Elements (where she gets a glyph BEFORE making up the fuck up she did) or show how special she is like in Lost in Language and Covention. I can only really think of like one episode after the first two where Luz fucks up and genuinely has to take the brunt of punishment for it, Winging it Like Witches, and even in that one, she is saved before anything bad happens to her before winning with the same trick that hurt her friends, just... Now it's okay because they're all on the same page about it I guess. Couldn't have had Willow come up with something herself because Luz actually was willing to listen to Willow and not force something onto her. That'd be too much work.

It's part of why the more you interrogate Luz's intentions and motivations, it gets BAD. So much of what she does could be easily grafted onto a kid trying to play hero or not learning anything from past mistakes. Don't ever forget that Teenage Abomination says "Listen to your mentor about their specialty," then The Intruder says "Don't take shortcuts to magic" before then in Adventure in the Elements, Luz takes a shortcut for magic while also not listening to Eda and almost gets people killed for it. GREAT JOB LUZ! Much development, such depth.

And yes, lots of shows will have characters yoyo and the like but these are within HALF A SEASON of each other. It usually takes a little longer for most animated shows to straight up start repeating lessons. Hell, yes, it is theoretically a problem for Amphibia too with stuff like Bessie and the hibernation episode both featuring Anne's impatience but also S1 is genuinely about how Anne is fighting between the lessons she's learning and her growing empathy versus how she used to be with her selfishness and laziness. Also, both episodes might be about her impatience but they genuinely tackle it in different ways, with one being about disregarding the rules because of overconfidence and the other one is out of boredom. For TOH... It's just that Luz wants the magic she thinks she should have, as easily and as fun as she thinks it should be instead of weird and actually taking work, and fucks it up because of that same motivation.

That same motivation that doesn't treat reality like reality. According to the show though, that's just the best way to be. Follow your own version, fuck everything else. That's what Luz gets to do in the end after all and she's the one literally blessed by God to be correct.

So yeah, I think her selfishness might be a touch rewarded.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[toa-kirhan]

First time watching ToH S1E16 (Enchanting Grom Fright). Thoughts below:

Detailed thoughts:

Oh God, they’re trying to kill me. Everything was cool and awesome and now they’re trying to kill me w/ emotions in these last 5 episodes. They’re getting close w/ Amity and Luz, what are they going to do in the next 3?

I’m sorry but there’s only one thing I can talk about this episode and it’s Amity and Luz. I can’t believe they’re revealing Amity’s feelings for Luz just like that! Sure, they’ve been hinting at it since Luz first saw Amity pacing in Hexside, but that was only 3 episodes ago! We’ve already seen Amity’s confession to Luz on paper! WTF!

Amity x Luz seems to be where we’re going, so now it’s the waiting game to see when Amity will finally admit to Luz face-to-face her true feelings about her. They can’t put it off until season 2, can they? God, I hope not.

Amity and Luz would make for such a good couple too! Luz and Amity have such different personalities, but a determined, free-spirited goofball like Luz is exactly the type of person that Amity needs in her life: someone that’s willing to stand by and support her in helping Amity break out of her defensive shell and emotional distance from others.

Amity says it herself, Luz is fearless in a way that she never was before meeting her. Through Luz, Amity’s finally starting to take some control over her life, admitting her own feelings to others (like to Willow last episode) instead of acting how her family wants/forces her to. How many other things that we ‘know’ about Amity will start to unravel as we get to know the true Amity (like wanting to join the EC)?

Amity’s a good match for Luz too. Luz has her own doubts and insecurities over her self-worth. Having someone that cares so much about her (willing to fight the Grom over her and jumping in to save her) and others (its clear that Amity still cared for Willow but didn’t have the courage to stand up for her) that knows how clever and skilled Luz actually is (despite her lack of natural magic aptitude) can be really healthy for Luz and is the type of support she needs. While Eda and King do care about Luz, they have been shown to be consistently more cynical about her prospects.

Also, it has to be stated, but it’s really something else to see not only bi representation, but to have that rep be the main character in a developing wlw relationship w/ another bi/gay character (it isn’t really clear what Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer’s gender is, but they look masc). Seeing characters like Luz, Eda, and Skara in GNC clothing was nice too. We’ve really come a long way in the last few years to reach this point.

One lingering thought is what will happen w/ Luz and Amity by the end of the series if/when Luz goes back to the human world. Would Dana really break our hearts and their relationship? Will Luz stay in the Boiling Isles, or will Amity leave w/ her? Will they still be able to visit the isles from time to time? What will happen to their magic?

I don’t know what will happen to Luz’s mother either. I don’t have enough information to know what’s going on w/ the letters, especially considering that they’re able to mimic Luz’s handwriting well enough to fool her mother. Plus, I still have those lingering questions about how the series will resolve w/ her and Luz.

General thoughts:

Damn, it’s only been 10 seconds and Luz’s already learned another glyph! Her skills have really taken off since Eda’s lesson.

Luz’s phone is still cracked! Hooray for continuity! Also we got an answer to how Luz charges her phone and gets wifi, a question I never expected an answer for!

After 15 episodes, we finally get another episode focusing on Luz and her mom!

Really Eda, just get a mailbox. I’m sure Hooty’ll be enough to keep anyone from getting near enough to steal from it.

Skara got a date!

Luz dressed up as an otter at prom? Sounds fun.

Amity’s first response is to call someone she’s run into a nitwit (that defensive aggression on full display). Also, obvious Grom invitation note!

Is the grom queen supposed to fight some horrible beast? I feel like that’s where the story’s heading.

The Snaggleback returns!

Grometheus? I’m guessing it’s left over from the school Hexside conquered.

A greatest fear plot. Hm, given how Amity responded, I worry that’ll be very personal to her. My guesses are her family, her feelings, or herself.

Eda looks good in a suit!

Amity and Luz are going to have their greatest personal fears exposed while fighting the Grom together. Wait, if Grom is a school date/dance, is Luz going to find out about Amity’s feelings about her? Are they going to hook up this episode???

Shout out to King! I’m confident Eda could pull off red eyeshadow.

Luz the bad boy!

Amity’s face when Luz pulled her close! ^v^

BIRD TUBE! ^^

OH NO HOOTY

He got an eyepatch now it’s okay c:

Damn, the twin’s greatest fears really say a lot about their relationship doesn’t it?

Wow, Luz really handed Amity and the twins a list of her embarrassing fears! That’s confidence.

Luz looks at the Owl House’s eye window when thinking about her real greatest fear. Hmm...

Oh, they just revealed it after the break. Okay.

Eda thinks of Luz as her kid? ;-;

Damn, Ed and Em looking fly! Mattholomule got a date too? Man, everyone’s looking great! Love the mix of suits and dresses.

Close-up magic?

IS AMITY’S NOTE FOR LUZ? DID SHE WANT TO INVITE HER TO GROM W/ HER?

SUIT DRESSES I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I’VE WANTED ONE THE FIRST TIME I SAW ONE

Damn, I love Skara and her date’s spirit.

King ;-;

Gus has come so far from hating King for shrinking him at the carnival to running to comfort him about his stage fright.

OH NO THE GROM’S GOING TO BE HER MOM

OH THAT’S FUCKED I HATE THIS

AMITY AND EDA LOVE HER THEY CARE SO MUCH

OH NO THE GROM’S TOTALLY LUZ, AMITY WON’T GET TO TELL LUZ HER FEELINGS FIRST

OH LUZ DOESN’T EVEN KNOW SHE AGREED TO GO ON A DATE W/ AMITY TO GROM WHEN AMITY WAS GOING TO ASK HER OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE

OH NO THEY’RE REALLY CUTE DANCING TOGETHER ;_;

KING AND QUEEN! Luz and Amity both looking out on their windowsill. <3

Stop trying to make me cry damn it!

WTF IS THAT ENDING WHO’S WRITING TO LUZ’S MOM WHAT