#and they needed Luz to learn her lesson from Amity

[sepublic]

If I had to describe Luz’s fatal flaw, it’s that she can get caught up in her own head. In S1, this meant Luz getting carried away in her own eagerness to play out her fantasies, and not always listening to people’s criticism enough as a result. In S2, it seems like her problem is the opposite, and on a surface level it is; Luz is now being overly critical of herself. But in her self-loathing, much of which IS compounded by legit trauma which can genuinely mess up your brain and your ability to think clearly (esp at such a young age), Luz accidentally replicates that problem by not listening to what other people have to say about their support for her.

And that’s really realistic! It’s a very human oversight! There was still growth and maturing, so it makes sense to call it a day from there. But there’s an issue underneath an issue, and so Luz thinks it’s as simple, cut and dry as just learning to take the L more because nobody’s objectively spelling out the nature of her narrative arc, because in-universe there is no narrative just as there isn’t IRL. It’s all a big thing we make up and assign meaning to on some level. Luz’s lesson is a bit more complicated than her usual simpler kids’ fantasy moral due to the layers. And tbf Luz DOES learn other things, like learning to fight on her own behalf in S1. She’s managing to balance it for a bit before Luz crashes out from the overwhelming pressures in S3.

It reminds me of how in her childhood, Amity made the wrong call of not standing up for Willow when her parents dismissed her as weak, and so she attempts to overcorrect for that in Labyrinth Runners. But there, it becomes apparent that there was also an underlying issue of just not communicating with Willow and needing to correct the misconception of her as this helpless damsel, the support shouldn’t be condescending either.

Then we have Willow herself, who’s bullied for being weak and thinks it’s as simple as proving these people wrong, and they ARE wrong; But ultimately, it was about not defining her worth around these things, nor playing into the rules of an insincere game. Or Eda wanting to encourage freedom against the coven system, only to realize that by telling Luz to follow her uncritically, she’s ironically not giving Luz the freedom to make her own choices; Even if they could be “bad” choices, because that’s part of S3’s theme of free will. It’s about layers and nuance in the end.

In the end, if being caught in her head is Luz’s fatal flaw then in other words… She needs to engage with the reality of the world around her more, instead of being stuck in the version of things she’s cooked up in her mind. In the end, it all goes back to what Camila said in the first scene of the show, about how Luz needs to learn to distinguish fantasy from reality.

[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]

Luz makes a lot of mistakes in season 1 but fandom barely talks about it. I hate the mistake she makes in Adventures in the Elements the most. She literally steals Amity's training wand, uses it without permission, ignores Eda's advice and triggers the Slitherbeast. Eda, along with Amity's siblings get captured and almost killed. I remember Luz doesn't even apologize for what she did to any of them. Seeing Amity get mad at her is totally deserved, and she rightfully gets to feel angrier at Luz. It's like a backward in Lost in Language in which Luz apologizes Amity for trespassing her secret hideout and reading her diary.

Adventure in the Elements is one of the most fascinating episodes of TOH for me because you talk about all of her mistakes... And that episode is a culmination of a lot of them. Literally a minimum of three different lessons are retaught in that one but instead of Luz being punished for these things, she's rewarded with a new spell. It is a perfect encapsulation of why TOH sucks ass as a kid's show.

Because let's break down some of this:

"Steals Amity's training wand"

Episode 4, The Intruder, features Luz stealing from Eda to get a leg up in magic to terrifying consequences. One could also argue that Luz was reminded that one should respect other's boundaries and the damage betraying their trust can do in Lost in Language, episode 7, by how it devastates Amity to have Luz have invaded her space and seen her diary.

"Ignores Eda's advice and triggers the Slitherbeast."

In episode 3, Luz is taught to at least try and listen to Eda about magic because Eda, you know, might know what she's talking about. Episode 2 even reinforces the idea that Luz needs to listen to Eda because her mentor will help her grow up. Thrown out here.

"Along with Amity's siblings getting captured and almost killed"

Selfish bravado to impress others leading to people almost being murdered? It's not Luz's lesson, except that one could argue it's a part of Once Upon a Swap where she learns why Eda doesn't show off, but Willow's from Hooty's Moving Hassle where her need to prove she's better than Amity, that she's a strong witch, gets Luz, Willow and Gus captured and almost killed.

And Adventure in the Elements is episode 12. I just listed HALF of the episodes that come before this one. And yet instead of showing us how much Luz has grown midway through the season, she repeats as many of her past mistakes as she possibly can.

HOWEVER

She does apologize... Kind of. She apologizes in the same way she does for a lot of things in S1 by setting it right. She made up for things by trying to fix the damage they did, such as going to Amity after the witch's duel or saving Eda after causing her to transform or going after Amity in the library. It's part of why her deciding not to fix her mistake in S3 is so abhorrent to me because her saving grace was to try and fix things but apparently in the end she can't be bothered when fixing it is too hard.

No, the bigger problem to me than the lack of apology is that most of this stuff goes unaddressed. She fixes that the siblings were killed but the rest? Amity joins the Azura Book Club and she gets a new glyph. In fact, she is put in time out and the only one she admits to having been wrong about is that Eda was right about magic being everywhere because she gets her glyph because of that. The rest though? Just normal children's show protagonist things!

Which would scan a lot better if A: TOH didn't despise being a kid's show and B: if it were a better kid's show. If it were like Amphibia where it teaches constantly new and evolving morals about different parts of life instead of constantly going back against basic behavioral things like whether or not it's okay to lie. Instead, it ignores a lot of that to claim it's more complicated and more mature when in actuality it uses every last excuse of a kid's show when it's convenient for itself, such as people ignoring when the main character does awful things to them.

You can't have it both ways and you certainly can't have a hero who only knows how to make the same mistakes all the time while claiming they're doing nothing wrong. It's a shame the fandom learned to ignore Luz's mistakes because the show has no interest in thinking Luz did anything wrong.

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

Another problem to all of this btw is just that it's boring. Like S1 has a reputation for being boring because of all of this repetition and it deserves it for that 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.

[newtknewit]

calanthe looks pretty cool, you have more info about her?

Calanthe is a surviving basilisk adopted by Hunter and Willow in my WIP NextGen AU! Here's some quick information before I delve into that whole backstory: Name: Calanthe Species: Basilisk Pronouns: He/her Age: Roughly 14-16 Tracks: Potions and Plants primarily She was accidentally uncovered when Darius led a search party to clear out the old Emperor's Coven laboratory in search of lost information that they could record (with Hunter as a guide, since he knew where the labs were, and the basilisks were too afraid to go anywhere near the area). To everyone's surprise, Belos incubated another batch of basilisks after the first ones had escaped, but died before they could hatch. In the incubation process, without the proper care they needed, all other eggs died except for one: Calanthe. Hunter was the first to discover Calanthe, after being hit with intense memories of the lab and hallucinating. At least he thought he was hallucinating when a vision of himself appeared, turns out it was a basilisk moulding into his form. When he realised this was a physical being, he freaked out at first. Then he saw the black-rimmed blue eyes. The basilisk had imprinted on him, taking on his form as they may typically do as babies. It turned back into a small yellow python-patterned basilisk with blue eyes and light brown hair, to which Hunter and the group had taken it to the Healing Coven for inspection, and later Hunter and Willow had adopted the basilisk since 1. no one else could, and 2. it had already imprinted on them. In this AU, alongside primarily being a palisman carver, Hunter secondarily works with Darius to protect the Boiling Isles' children, creating better safety laws for all and putting more protection in place for the young ones. At the time he discovered and adopted Calanthe, Hunter would've probably been around 25 and was taking part as a student in a school that retaught important life lessons to those who didn't get to learn them. After finishing up with these classes, he transitioned to parenting schools in order to do his best for Calanthe. Willow is living the dream of leading the Emerald Entrails into constant victories, and reassures Hunter that he doesn't need to go to these schools, but he insists, as he absolutely despises the idea of becoming similar to Belos in any way. -Which Willow is actually quite proud of and inspired by.

Thanks to Willow and Hunter, Calanthe gets to live a perfectly normal and happy life, being able to embrace his basilisk side while being treated with the same love and normalcy that every child deserves. Calanthe has changed her appearance many times throughout her life, and still does till this very day, switching it up every now and then when she gets bored. Her primary/favourite appearance is taking inspiration from Willow's fringe, Hunter's face, and a mix between both of their body shapes. This is still a heavy WIP! However, some characters I am planning to add are: Luz + Amity's kids Boscha's child, possibly nonverbal Adrien Graye's neglected/forgotten daughter A Grudgby Team + Captain + Giving IV (now called Ivy) and III (now called Trip) more development and depth (the two basilisks seen in Watching and Dreaming) + King getting a MASSIVE growthspurt There will still be much more to come, once the ideas finally start to pop into my head. Hope this clears up some things! I'm happy you like her design, though it is still a WIP, such as everything else. I am still working on my Cinderkin AU too, in which I might make a 3rd AU combining these two for funsies at some point. It'd be sick to design Calanthe with Cinderkin features! :D

[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.

[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)

[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.

[sepublic]

As I talk about Luz visiting a host culture and learning to appreciate it, to respect and submit to the grace of her hosts, I think there’s similar potential in Vee doing the same in a reverse way; She’s a demon entering the human world, she’s engaging in human culture and learns how to be human on their terms.

Now granted, some of that human culture Vee encounters has issues of assimilation and imperialism and the like, so the onus on Vee to be respectful is much smaller. Plus she’s a refugee who had little choice, persecuted by an older branch of that culture in Belos, so really she’s entitled to do as she pleases with Gravesfield; She’s not like the Coven Heads, who expected to fuse the realms, and be treated like royalty for it by both inhabitants.

But then we get to the Noceda family, who aren’t from there, who are Dominican immigrants, whose forebearers come from a country that struggles with imperialism, whose struggles in this American society hearken back to that. With Luz needing to learn magic on the terms of the witches and the Titan and whatnot, I think there’s potential in Vee acclimating herself to the Nocedas’ Dominican customs, learning Spanish, all of that. Camila very much chose to adopt this scared child who had to go along to survive, but it’d be neat to explore Vee understanding Luz in hindsight, and how her decision to leave home was informed by racism and other factors.

Like imagine Vee getting to apologize/make it up to Luz for saying she had it good and abandoned her mother for nothing; Imagine Vee reflecting on how she didn’t even want to be here specifically, just away from someplace else so she could survive. But now Vee can catch her breath and find stability, so now what? Does she do the same as Luz and embrace another world?

Imagine Vee taking Spanish lessons, imagine Vee partaking in the family traditions and music and culture. Appreciating what the Dominican heritage that adopted her is like. Being grateful to be included, wondering if she even belongs or deserves to, if she’s just an impersonating thief like her creator. Eda tells Luz to her own kind of witch, maybe Luz and Camila comfort Vee in a similar way.

I can see it being a touchy subject that requires care, but it could be something the Noceda sisters bond over, that question if they really belong and if their presence is inherently harmful; Luz wanting to do her witch fantasy led her to helping Belos find what he needed to become an emperor and enact the draining spell, to establish a genocidal regime.

Vee stole Luz’s life and contributed to a lie that devastated Camila when she found out, created a temporary rift between mother and daughter that contributed so much to Luz’s suicidal depression, which of course pained Camila. Luz and Vee both hurt people who took them in, who they grew to love and vice versa, without meaning to in a grand butterfly effect.

Because again, people understand Luz, a lot more than she realizes, it’s her greatest comfort, a fantasy even deeper than being Azura because even that was about finding people who shared the same interest in magic as her. Camila knows what it’s like to make mistakes, Willow knows what it’s like struggling to be the perfect friend everyone can depend upon; Amity knows what it’s like to hide your greatest sin for fear your new friend will reject you for it. Etc.

So Vee knows what it’s like to have to leave a place, finding a new one, stumbling your way into the arms of a mother and learning enthusiastically about how to be this world’s people as you make friends from them. But all the while you question yourself if you belong, if you’re some impersonating thief. Luz saw herself in Belos, maybe Vee saw herself in other white colonizers like him, the ones who came shortly before in conquering the Americas, contributing to the Dominican culture as a side-effect.

Vee’s ability to shapeshift could make her ask, Am I just an imitator? This makes me think of how Hunter is really good for episodes where he and another character bond over similarities; We were both cloned by Belos to aid in his genocide (While Hunter was technically in the spotlight and meant to be a nephew, Vee was hidden at all times and a loathsome tool). We both feel the weight of being colonial in some regard. We both have to rely on the identities of others, so who does that make us? In a timeline where Gus was not as mindful about the Grimwalker secret, I could see Vee helping Gus with Hunter’s clone angst.

And if there’d been more time, maybe Vee could’ve helped Luz with her own guilt, her own worry of being an outsider who doesn’t belong and is inherently harmful whether she means to be or not. Camila could bring up Vee and say that it’s not the same, there’s a difference between an immigrant and a colonizer, esp when the native chooses to accept. And Vee would feel validation as an example, but still wonder anyway. Shouldn’t they be conscious of it?

But maybe that’s what they’ve already done, with Luz learning to earn magic the way wild witches do, treating witches and demons as people and not side character tropes in her story. Those friends affirm that she’s already done the work, and the butterfly effect of being manipulated is not equivalent to malicious, intentional colonization. And if Vee feels she hasn’t done it, she can begin now, when it comes to Dominican culture and being a Noceda. And the Nocedas have always loved weirdness, so Vee’s already halfway there! Manny would’ve loved her and appreciated the joy Vee brought to his family.

Between everything that needed to be established for the plot and for Luz’s own depression, plus clone troubles, and Camila’s backstory and like. Yeah there was no time for a Vee storyline like this when Luz was isolating herself the whole time, and would only start to let people in when she was returning to the Demon Realm or was there. But imagine a full S3 where we could’ve it all…

This could make good grounds for a fanfic, the Noceda sisters bonding. It’d have to take some cultural sensitivity that the characters would have in-universe, but a writer might struggle out-of-universe. I could see this being after the finale, when Luz has a relapse because that’s always a possibility and has happened before; And for Vee, her storyline isn’t necessarily addressed and they can both bond over a shared fear together!!!

[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.

[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.

[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?

[lollytea]

How do you think each hexsquad member +ver&camilia is dealing with suddenly living with so many ppl in one house?

(no need for analysis silly hcs d be enough)

That last rb reminded me of this ask lmao. It really is super funny to think about because most of these characters aren't really used to such an environment. Camila has only ever had one daughter. Ever since she learned the truth about Vee, she's been considering how things are going to operate once Luz gets back. Two daughters. Yeah she can probably manage that. She was not prepared for FOUR EXTRAS.

- Luz, Willow and Gus and Hunter have always been only children with plenty of space for themselves so they're certainly not used to being all lumped together in such a small house. Luz had King for a while but he was just a teeny tiny guy. So there's a lot of butting heads and bickering over stupid shit.

The one who adjusts the fastest is Amity. The others soon learn that Mittens can be vicious. You can only assume she was fighting for her life in that Manor to survive Ed and Em. Hunter has learned that she fucking bites.

- She's also a huge tryhard when it comes to earning Camila's approval. Cooking, cleaning, running to the store, Amity's always front and center to announce "Oh, Ms Noceda, let me give you a hand :D"

Willow, Gus and Hunter tease her over being so obvious about it, but quite frankly, they're not much better. Camila has an emotional chokehold over all of these kids. With their parents gone, they're all pretty starved for parental validation and affection.

Out of everyone, Willow is the best at hiding it but Camila braided her hair one morning and told her she was such a lovely little girl and on god she has not been the same since.

- Vee misses the peace from the time that was just her and Camila. And now constantly bumping elbows with all these other kids who also want her mom's attention is a reminder that those times are long gone.

But Vee is mature for her age so she doesn't let her jealousy show. She's very helpful and patient with the others. It wasn't so long ago that she was still learning how to blend in like a normal human so she admittedly enjoys feeling smart and teaching them things. Like how a toaster works and what pointy objects you should not stick in a socket. Gus needed a few extra lessons but he's doing great now!

- As for sleeping arrangements, Luz and Vee usually share the top bunk. Luz wakes up at random hours of the night squealing because Vee touched her with her ice cold blooded body. Vee can only take so much of the theatrics before she groans at Luz to stop being dramatic. Sleeping next to Luz is like sleeping next to a grease fire and you don't hear Vee complaining about how suffocating it is!

- Amity and Willow share the bottom bunk. They both believed this would work out just fine until the reality of the situation was discovered. Willow kicks in her sleep. And she kicks hard. She fucking launched Amity out of the bed at one point. She's utterly mortified when she's informed that she might be a little bit of a restless sleeper and apologizes profusely over it. From now on, Amity sleeps on the inside and they have a wall of pillows between them.

- (from that one post.) Gus is not a morning person. Willow and Hunter are. This leads to the two of them rousing him at 6am with their big dumb enthusiastic smiles to tell him they're going on a morning run and if he wants to come? Gus answers that he'd sooner lift a finger to show them horrors beyond their comprehension until their brains are deep fried than lift a finger to put his jeans on. Now scram.

- Luz has to take Camila aside at one point and discreetly tell her "Listen mom, my friends might be a little too embarrassed to tell you themselves but...they're all kinda...dealing with different stages of witch puberty right now. So if they act kinda weird, that's why." And Camila is like "Oh! Well that's nothing to be embarrassed about. They're growing kids. And I've already been through this with you, I'm sure I can handle it with them."

But fucking. She was not prepared for....whatever in God's name is going on with these children. When Amity gets too overstimulated her body overheats and pink fire singes Camila's carpet. Vee is shedding her skin. Willow is growing moss on her shoulders. Gus keeps involuntarily summoning illusions that broadcast his deepest secrets to everyone in the house. This shit is chaos. What the absolute fuck.

Hunter sheepishly approaches her one day and Camila fearfully holds her breath for whatever insanity this kid is going through that he's about to tell her about.

"Hey. Uh. Ms Noceda. Would it be okay if...if I got one of those...um. y'know those human spray potions. The ones that make you...y'know....not smell bad...?"

Camila blinks. ".....deodorant?"

"Yeah that's the stuff. And uh," His fingers ghost across his jaw. "A razor. If that's not too much trouble."

She feels the relief wash over her. Okay, this one she understands. Thank fucking God.

"Of course, Mijo. I'll pick those up for you later :)"

- The house has one bathroom. On more than one occasion, Camila hears the commotion from the floor above as the herd tramples over each other in an effort to reach said bathroom first. There are yells and protests and somebody elbowing somebody's stomach or somebody slamming somebody into a wall. Luz and Hunter are usually the ones who get the worst injuries because they do not hold back when it comes to decking each other.

- Gus has gotten really into horror games/movies/etc. Luz hums disapprovingly when she hears whatever he's currently downloaded. "I dunno Gus, are you sure you're up for that? It's just...whenever I used to watch that kind of stuff I couldn't sleep right. So just...maybe pace yourself."

Once Hunter hears that Gus is apparently consuming really scary content he's like "Don't worry, Luz. I'll supervise him."

Long story short. Gus becomes passionate about horror media. Hunter, meanwhile, is too chickenshit to tell him that he CANNOT keep watching these movies with him. He hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks.

- Camila assumed that since these were teenagers, she didn't need to pester them about bedtimes and whatnot. This could not have been more incorrect. She had to lay down a very strict lights out schedule because otherwise they'd be up all night. Either doing gravesfield research or getting absorbed in whatever new human thing they were currently addicted to. And then it's always all "oh I haven't brushed my teeth yet" or "oh I'm gonna head downstairs for a glass of water" it takes FOREVER to get them all down and settled. She's finding that there is no difference between teens and five year olds when it comes to bedtime.

(This is all the silly HCs I can think of for the moment.)

[tal-iced-tea]

i feel like this episode just cut to the heart of luz's and eda's arcs and their role in each other's lives and it makes me want to CRY MY EYES OUT the more i think about it.

so much of luz's arc has been about learning that sometimes the easy route doesn't work. sometimes you can't befriend a rival just because you befriend their siblings, sometimes you can't learn magic by taking a training wand when a lesson is too hard, sometimes you can't fix a friend's problems by challenging their bully to a grugby match. because every time she does try to choose the easy option, expecting a neat happy ending, she finds that there's more to it than she originally thought. these problems can't be solved in one fell swoop. befriending amity, learning magic, and helping willow all take effort to work through

but another big part of her arc has been learning that she has the capability to put in that effort. she's kind, she's smart, she's weird, she's resourceful, she's determined, she's got people to rely on, and she doesn't need to choose easy fixes. she can lean into her own strengths. she can be creative, she can ask her friends for help, she can find the solutions that end up being quintessentially luz. it's just like eda taught her. she can't rely on a grand destiny or a neatly packaged answer to all her problems, she has to choose herself. she has to believe in her own worth to confront the challenges she's faced with

and so much of eda's arc has been about responsibility. especially since the curse, she's isolated herself from people like dell and raine. the owl beast hurt dell, and she didn't want to hurt him again, so she stayed away. in turn, she wanted to keep the curse away from raine, who broke up with her when she wouldn't let them help and kept them at a distance when it came to the curse. the responsibility of being in relationships with other people is /hard/ to handle on it's own, much less with the owl beast, so she isolates herself in order to not have to deal with it

but when first king and eventually luz come around, that changes. maybe it's time, or circumstance, or something else, but throughout all their adventures, eda finds that it's worth it to open herself up. she comments on it herself. it's worth it to share her life with other people, it's worth it to take on the responsibility of caring for others, and so much of it is because of luz. "thank you for being in my life"

AND SO here they are, two days before the day of unity, having grown and changed side by side. luz wants to throw herself into this, to fight with every ounce of herself that she has because it's what eda taught her. and eda wants to protect her, to take responsibility for caring for others because it's what luz taught her. and THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND ARE SO PERFECTLY AT ODDS IN THIS MOMENT AND

[justaself-shipper]

Yandere!Golden Guard x Reader x Yandere! Edric Blight- Golden Psychopathic Lovers

Request by @fLoweRcaSe00 on Wattpad It was a new year at Hexside. Another year of school for Y/N. Clutching her books tightly, her nervous mind fluttered to all the terrible things that could happen on her first day back. She jumped as she felt a hand tap her shoulder. “Hey kitten. Been a while, hasn’t it?” A smooth voice whispered into her ear. Turning around, Y/N lets out a sigh of relief when she realised who it was. “Oh, hi Edric! Has been a while, hasn’t it? About two weeks?” Edric smiled at the H/C girl in front of him, humming in response. As the two chatted, a certain human walked up behind Y/N, covering her eyes. “Guess who?” She giggled. Y/N gasped. “The Grim Reaper! You’ve finally come for me!” The two girls giggled, as Luz removed her hands from her eyes. “Close!” While they interacted, Luz glanced over her shoulder to see Edric glaring darkly at her. A little unnerved, she waves as she gave an awkward smile. “Hey Edric! How’ve you been? C’mon, give me a high-five!” Holding up her hand, she chuckled nervously when Edric refused, simply staring at her with an evil glare. “Don’t leave me hanging??” Y/N took it upon herself to high-five the human. “Ok! Luz and I gotta be getting to class Edric. See you after school?” The green-haired witch finally smiled, his dark attitude disappearing for a moment as he talked to Y/N. “Of course kitten! See you then!” Y/N waved goodbye, grabbing Luz’s hand as they headed to class. Luz felt her face heat up when her witch crush did so. Yes, Y/N was Luz’s crush. She tried covering her face as they walked. This didn’t go unnoticed by the Blight twin, though. Watching them go, he growled to himself. “You won’t get a chance to be with Y/N, Luz. I’ll make sure of that.” Luz and Y/N had just finished their first two classes, and were making their way to the cafeteria. Edric watched them enter, observing how Luz blushed whenever Y/N smiled, or laughed aloud. Eyes narrowing, he felt his sister place a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Ed, you ok? You’re spacing out again.” Smiling at his sister, he replied that he was fine, probably just sick. Emira didn’t really believe him, but let him be. Back with Luz and Y/N, they had sat down with Willow, Gus and Amity. As the gang laughed and chatted, Y/N felt something land in her hair. Another table erupted into laughter as Boscha threw more of her lunch, this time hitting Willow. “Oops, sorry weirdos! Just practising for Grudgby! And you happen to be my target!” Throwing another part of her lunch, Luz huffed angrily. “Didn’t she learn her lesson last time?!” The bell went off, signifying the end of lunch. Sighing, Y/N got up. “I’m just gonna go clean myself up. You guys can just go ahead to class. Willow, do you wanna come with?” Willow nodded shyly, still glancing over to the pink-haired demon witchling. Boscha glared back at her, smirking. Luz stood up as well. “I’ll come too! I can help!” She yelled eagerly. Laughing, Y/N and Willow let her come. After leaving the bathroom, Y/N let Luz and Willow head back to class while she went for her lockers. Upon arriving, Boscha was leaning against it, throwing a rock up and down in one hand. “Heya nerd, thought you needed some company.” She smirked, throwing the rock at the H/C-coloured witch. Y/N lifted her arms for protection, dropping her belongings. Boscha let out a laugh. “Here, let me help you with that-“ “Boscha, Principal Bump wants to talk to you immediately.” The two female witched looked up to see Edric. Y/N was relieved. Boscha scoffed. “What does he want me for? What did I do?” Edric only smiled. “He says it’s important. Now, would you please follow me?” He says kindly, walking away. Boscha shrugs, following the Blight. Y/N picked up the rest of her books, rushing away to her class. “So, what does Bump want me for? And where are we going?” Boscha says. Edric smirked. All was going according to plan. “Just in this room right here.” He says, stopping as he held open a door. Boscha looked inside, scrunching her nose at the smell. “Why this room? And where’s-“ She was cut off as Edric pushed her in. She let out a yelp as she stumbled, catching herself in time as she turned angrily towards the Blight twin. “What the hell?! Who do you thi-“ “Just someone who’s gonna make you pay for hurting my kitten.” Edric smirked darkly, producing a flame in one hand. Boscha gasped, backing up. “Th-that’s not real! You’re an illusionist! It can’t hurt me!” She shrieked. Edric’s smirk didn’t falter, advancing on the witchling he brought it closer to her face. Boscha’s face paled as she felt the heat come closer and closer. “Does it feel like an illusion to you?~” After school was finished, Y/N was on her way back home. She glanced around nervously. Boscha was no where to be seen, but seeing as she’d pretty much harassed her a few hours before…it kinda put her on edge. Watching all the students walk by, she waited patiently for Edric. After seeing he wasn’t coming, she let out a sigh. Maybe he was busy? It didn’t matter. I’ll just head home by myself. Walking along the streets of Bones Marrow, she glanced around at the residents. Busy marketers yelled out their products to passerby’s, while demon and bounty hunters wondered the streets, glaring at anyone stupid enough to get in their way. As she walked by a dark alley way, Y/N felt someone grab her arm roughly, pulling her into the darkness. She tried to scream, but a hand covering her mouth prevented her from doing that. Kicking and screaming into the hand, the monster hauled her away to an unknown location. She tried making a circle in the dirt underneath her, but failed miserably. “Hey!” Someone shouted off to the side, and Y/N only saw a golden mask before the monster holding her let out a grunt of pain, dropping her. Falling on her knees, Y/N scrambled to her feet, facing the monster and her saviour. The monster was lying on the ground, and her saviour was walking over to her. “Are you ok ma’am?” He asked kindly. Y/N immediately knew who he was, bowing down on one knee. “Th-thank you, Golden guard! How can I repay you?” She stuttered. The Golden guard was silent for a while, looking down curiously at the witchling at his feet. Smirking under his mask, he held out his hand. “Well, you can start by calling me Hunter Darl.” He said. Y/N took his hand shakily, blushing a bit at the nickname. “And may I know your name, m’lady?” “I-i’m Y/N. Y/N L/N.” She replied back, feeling a little more comfortable in the mans presence. Hunter looked around for a bit. “You on your way back home? Maybe I could assist you? Make sure you get back safe and sound.” He offered. Y/N nodded her head eagerly, not wanting to be left alone again. The two headed off, leaving the dead body behind them. “Thank you for walking back, Hunter.” Y/N said shyly. The two had just arrived back at the L/N manor, and were about to part ways. Hunter waved his hand about. “No problem. Anything for a cutie like you.” Y/N felt a flush on her cheeks, and she smiled. Leaning forward, she placed a hand on Hunter’s mask. “May I?” After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. Taking off the mask, Y/N gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Nice to finally see my saviour’s face.” She giggled, running off up the steps and inside the house. Hunter felt his heart flutter, his eyes widening in adoration as he watched the female witchling run up the steps and out of view. “So, you helped my kitten get home safely. Well done. You can go now.” Hunter turned to see a green-haired male witch walk out of the shadows, glaring daggers into him. A little taken aback, Hunter smirked at the newcomer. “And you’d be?” “Edric Blight. Now run along Golden guard. You wouldn’t want to become a part of my list.” He smiled maliciously. Hunter wasn’t scared so easily. Walking away, he smirked at the Blight. “See you tomorrow Blight.” Watching the guard go, Edric scowled. Guess there’ll be another body to bury later. The next morning… Y/N walked out of the her home, smiling widely at the boy waiting out front for her. “Edric! I’m so glad you’re here! Where were you last night? I waited outside Hexside for you, but you didn’t show!” Edric placed an arm around the female witchling’s waist. “Sorry kitten, I was…busy.” He said. Y/N blushed a little at the nickname, but kept her composure. “Oh, it’s fine! Just tell me next time, please?” Edric smiled. “Alright kitten." They finally reached school, and Y/N noticed a familiar blonde-haired witchling walking around Hexside, wearing a yellow uniform. He seemed to be glancing around for someone. She started frantically waving her arms, causing Edric to glance at her in concern. “HUNTER! HI!” The blonde witchling looked up, his face brightening as he spotted Y/N. Jogging over, he almost tripped as Y/N hugged him. “I can’t believe you’re here! I didn’t know you went to Hexside!” She exclaimed excitedly. Hunter blushed, scratching his neck for a minute. “Yeah uh, I just transferred from Glandus. So how are you this fine day, m’lady?” He questioned, as the H/C pulled away. Hunter glanced up to see Edric glaring at him. Edric leaned forward. “Well, sorry to interrupt kitten, but we gotta head to class-“ he said in the most innocent voice he could muster. Y/N shrugged, looking at the clock in front of the school. “Well, we still have 10 minutes. There’s no need to rush Edric! We have plenty of time!” She said. Before Edric could say anything else, Luz came up to the group. “Hey guys! Y/N! You’ll never guess what I found on my way to school!” She shrieked, jumping up and down in excitement. Y/N tilted her head curiously, walking over to the human. “What is it? A new demon? Ooh! Another hide-out?!” Luz blushed, grinning widely. “It’s a surprise! I’ll show you tonight after school! Meet me here after last period?” She asked. Y/N nodded her head excitedly. “Of course!” The bell went off, and Y/N gasped. “Oh shoot! We gotta go! See you after school Edric! See ya Hunter!” Y/N rushed, grabbing onto Luz’s hand as they ran off to class together. The two boys watched them go, filled with jealousy and hatred. “I see that there’s another rival.” Hunter muttered, and Edric hummed in agreement. Turning to the guard, he eyed him down. “Well, I guess I won’t be able to get rid of you. But maybe together, we can get rid of the human. That way, she won’t get in between us.” Hunter smirked. “Are you proposing we work together to win Y/N’s affection? Instead of against each other?” “Exactly. So?” “You’ve got yourself a deal, friend.” At lunch, Y/N, Luz, Gus, Willow and Amity were sitting together. Hunter came up to their table, glancing around nervously as he carried a notepad and pen. Reaching the table, he tapped Luz on the shoulder. “E-excuse me.” The human turned to him, smiling brightly. “Oh, hi! What can I do for you?” She asked. Hunter almost smiled at her innocent aura, but kept himself under control. “I-uh, I’m doing an assignment on heroic figures, and since you’re the one who saved Eda the Owl lady at the petrification ceremony, i wanted to ask if I could interview you?” He asked nervously, giving a small, hopeful smile to Luz. Luz was thrilled with the idea. “Of course! When would you like to do it!” “W-would right now be too much?” “Of course not!” Standing up, Luz announced that she’d be back soon. Walking out of the cafeteria with Hunter, Edric followed a few minutes later, making sure no one saw as he left.

Y/N was waiting outside of Hexside once again. She sighed, watching all the students once again walk by. Yet, there was no human amongst them. Where was Luz? She said she’d be here! Two pairs of hands landed on Y/N’s shoulders. “What’s wrong kitten?” “You look upset Darl.” Y/N turned to the male witches. “Luz said she was going to show me something, but I guess she forgot all about me.” She said, hurt filling her voice. Edric wrapped a comforting arm around her. “Hey, it’s ok Kitten. If you want, we can show you our special place!” He said. Hunter looped his arm through hers. “Yeah! We found it together! How does that sound?” Y/N smiled gratefully at the two male witches. “Thank you Hunter. Thank you Edric. I would love to see it.” Walking along a forest path, Hunter and Edric kept the directions in mind as they made their way to “their” secret place. “Not far to go kitten.” Edric said. Entering a clearing, Y/N gasped at the sight of a small creek running through a cove. “It’s beautiful! Thank you guys!” She exclaimed, giving both boys a kiss on the cheek. Sitting by the creek, they peered up at the night sky. Edric and Hunter smirked to each other. Luz the human was very helpful. Getting the information out of the human was easy. Disposing of the body was the hard part.

A/N: OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO FREAKING CHEESY AND BAD AT THE SAME TIME I’M SORRY-