#at least luz didn't really go to hell

[rogue-durin-16]

HEAD-TO-HEAD (part II/?)

Summary: Joe thought she was pretty. Had he just said that, things might have been different for them. Maybe they wouldn't have gone head-to-head at each other for three years like it was a contest.

Pairing: Joseph Liebgott x Reader

Genre: angst/rivals to lovers

Tags:

Head-to-head: @derersketnoget

Band Of Brothers: @fernando-jpg @chubbypotatoepie @tvserie-s-world @clumsy-wonderland @lordndsaviorwinters

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog @amourtentiaa @comfort-reads

Warnings: language, mild allusions to violence? Idk this is surprisingly mild (for now lol)

A/N: in case you couldn't tell, this chapter came out of the notes I had written down for "Poison In Your Coffee". It's one of the snippets I was DYING to flesh out, so here's to a little self-indulgence from time to time. Enjoy<3

Head-to-head masterlist

Band of Brothers masterlist

Rogue-durin-16 masterlist

I noticed.

My eyes didn't miss Liebgott's rushed half turn when we were dismissed after our Friday night march. It stood out to me; he didn't wait for anyone, not even Grant or Tipper.

I figured he was just eager to get to the barracks after a long day and didn't think much of it.

At least until our Commanding Officers retreated each to their own quarters, and Talbert hurried to fall into step with Luz, a few feet ahead of me and Shifty. I didn't catch much, but the hushed words 'beaten up' from Tab and 'again' from Luz as the latter tentatively explored the faces surrounding them stirred suspicion in me.

"George." Calling his name was enough to make the two of them slow their pace with mildly concerned faces, allowing me and Shifty to join them.

"You were marching with Liebgott, right?" I nodded in response to Luz's question, Talbert's inquisitive gaze on me. "You saw where he went?"

"Looked like he was headed to the barracks." The way both men scanned the moving crowd of soldiers made me become unsure of my own reply.

"He took a turn." Shifty corrected me, motioning ahead of us before taking off his helmet. "Second on the left."

"What the fuck's his game?" George complained, swinging his rifle over his shoulder. "Malark— hey," he stepped in the ginger's way, making Penkala, Muck and More come to a confused halt. "Mind helping us out?"

"What's wrong?"

"Liebgott's at it again." Tab finally disclosed the obvious, making all of us let out different levels of desperate groans and sighs. "If Lip finds out—"

"Is he tryna get himself kicked out of the Airborne?" Don rhetorically inquired with raised brows. "Where'd he go?"

"Shifty says he turned left. Y/n says the barracks."

More's eyes pivoted from Luz to me. "The barracks? Really?"

"I'm not his babysitter, Alton." I spat, taking off my own helmet to hold it under my arm. "I don't know where the fuck he went."

"Weren't you two marching together?" Muck echoed George's question whilst gesturing at Perconte to join us.

"In case none of you noticed, we don't have the smoothest conversations." I retorted. Just like Talbert was growing tired of covering for Liebgott in front of the other Sergeants, I was growing tired of getting the third degree everytime he disappeared.

"This about Joe?" Perconte chirped in, and without missing a beat, his thumb pointed behind him. "He was in a rush to get to A Company's area."

A flash of realization flashed across George's face, the back of his hand nudging Talbert. "What's his name? Bailey?"

Oh. That one asshole from Able. The one who was double Liebgott's size. Taking a peek among the group sufficed to let me know we all were on the same page.

"To hell with getting kicked out," I blurted out, worry seeping through my words. "he's gonna get himself killed."

"He's an idiot."

Penkala's words were followed by Don's decisive steps. "C'mon, we're no help here."

"Wait," I took a hold of George's sleeve. "you're gonna go to Able's barracks?"

"Got a better idea?"

"Maybe." I mused about it for an instant before striding back. "You guys be careful."

"You're not coming?"

"I'm gonna try the smarter option for a change." I replied to Don's baffled question in a slightly louder pitch before rushing to the Winters' quarters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word had spread faster than a forest fire over the weekend about the incident that never happened.

By the time our friends had found Liebgott on that Friday night, he was being led back into the camp —along with Bailey and three other men from A Company— by Winters, Able's First Lieutenant and a couple of privates who happened to be on patrol duty that night.

The eight boys who had gone looking for him hadn't said a word about what they knew, or how they thought the event had unfolded for Liebgott to come back to his barracks in one piece and with nothing to say.

He didn't get to leave the camp that weekend.

None of the men disclosed anything, yet somehow rumors still ran around; whether or not they carried my name in them was up in the air. Of course, it mattered little to Liebgott, who more often than not found a way to tie things back to me.

This time, though, he happened to be right.

JOE'S P. O. V.

It wasn't the violent swing of the mess hall's door that brought some of the men's attention to me, it was the fact that I stood still at the entrance, scanning the place with intent and how I zeroed in on her before making a beeline across between the packed tables.

"You couldn't mind your own business, could you?!" I didn't need to call out her name for Y/n to look up from her breakfast. The way my hands slammed her table as I leaned on across from it made her jump on her seat.

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was barely a mumble and she was trying to make it sound like a careless response.

"Cut the act. You reported me off camp." I looked away with a bitter sneer at her discomfort, my voice loud enough to draw unwanted attention. "Got my weekend pass yanked because you couldn't help being a prissy."

She shifted in place, trying not to look around too much as she struggled to stay composed. "Maybe you shouldn't have been sneaking around where you don't belong."

"That’s rich, coming from you." I snapped, leaning in for only her and the ones close to hear. "I didn’t think you'd stoop to snitching, Y/l/n."

A part of me had expected to be wrong, so when she struggled to even meet my glare and her voice turned quieter, the anger brewing inside me bubbled to the surface.

"It’s not like you didn’t bring this on yourself." She made an effort to gain control in our conversation, but her fidgeting was giving her away. "Maybe you should think twice before picking fights with people twice your size."

Wait, what?

"How the hell did you know about that?"

"You're not exactly quiet." It was an instant, almost unnoticeable, but she averted her eyes. "Don't you think?"

With suspicion, I followed her sight and found Talbert who, unlike the rest of our nosy company-mates, seemed more interested in his breakfast than in the confrontation I was provoking. "You kiddin' me?"

Another hit to the wooden table on my part visibly shook her, and it dawned on me that she wasn't only uncomfortable— she was uneasy.

"What? You want a thank you?"

"I wanted to have breakfast in peace." She snapped, her emotions tilting more towards anger now.

"And I wanted my weekend pass. Go cry about it."

She jolted up and mirrored my stance. The soldiers around her moved away as if being too close to us would get them caught in the crossfire.

"Don't worry. Next time I'll let them take a swing at you." It took longer than she would have liked for her usual temperament to start up. "See if I care."

"That's what you should've done, instead of tampering with someone else's business."

She squinted at me with an irritation that reflected mine. "I think you're just mad someone had to bail you out of trouble."

"And I think you don't know how to stay in your goddamn lane." She had that piercing look in her eyes; the one that only showed up when I had her on the ropes. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Okay, you got your little moment," She grabbed her tray, threw a leg over the bench she had been sitting on. "now leave me the fuck alone."

I scoffed and, unwilling to let her walk away for whatever reason I myself didn't fully understand, I stalked around the table, only to be stopped by Toye's arm, lazily raised to block my path.

"why don't you sit down, alright?" His raspy voice sounded tired.

"Yeah, knock it off, Joe." Malarkey jumped it, a mild concerned on his demeanor.

"Piss off." I countered, smacking Joe's hand away and resuming my walk.

By the time I reached her, the tray had already been returned to its place and she was about to exit the mess hall.

I huffed, trailing behind her. "You don't get to walk away on me—"

The words were knocked off me when she halted dead in her tracks, did a half turn and took a step forward. "After the bullshit you just pulled," her index finger dug into my chest. "I get to do whatever I want." I opened my mouth but no retort came out of it before she clapped back, as if she was reading my mind. "You don't need my help. Noted. I'll make sure to remember that next time you get a whole squad running around to stop you from getting beaten up."

"I didn't say—"

"That you needed their help either, yeah. You're such a tough guy, aren't you?" Unlike me, she wasn't rising her voice, which was just as infuriating to me as the bite in her sentences. "You're a fucking idiot, that's what you are."

I didn't have the chance to follow her out; Lieutenant Winters crossed paths with her, getting a quiet salute from a flustered Y/n before his inquisitive, unreadable gaze fell on me.

"Liebgott." It was a warning disguised as a greeting. I wasn't that stupid.

"Sir." I repeated Y/n's salute and took Winters arched brow as a cue to sit down at the nearby table.

Guarnere, having breakfast by my side, muttered something under his breath after giving me a side glance.

"What?"

"C'mon Joe," Luz sighed, turning from an adjacent table to make eye contact with me. "You really think you would've won that fight?"

"She made you a favor." Smokey clarified.

"She's got no right to make that call." I grumbled, stealing a bite from Perconte's plate, earning a muffled complaint from him.

"Jesus Christ, Lieb." Muck complained, shaking his head. "Bailey could deck you any day. She's looking out for you. We're looking out for you."

"Yeah, can you think about the rest of us for once?" I rolled my eyes at Luz's tell-off. "You know the amount of crap we'd get from Sobel if he ever finds out?"

"Alright, that's enough." I dismissed them with a grimace. "I get it. 'M sorry for the trouble. Jesus."

"Good." Penkala nodded, pointing at the door. "Now apologize to Y/n."

"Don't hold your breath, Penk." I retorted before standing up to grab a proper breakfast for myself before drill training.

Maybe the boys were right and I did owe her an apology. Not that she would ever get it, though.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Full Family AU Part 35

"Camila..." Manny's voice called out from the darkness in Camila's mind. She rose through it, blinking her eyes open and found herself on the couch of her living room. She turned her head and saw that Manny was kneeling next to her, Camila's hand in his as his face lit up with a smile. "How you feeling?" he asked.

"I...had the craziest dream," Camila told him. "Vee had left the house and we found her with that annoying woman who ran out at work--"

"Annoying?!" an aggravated voice shouted, making Camila's eyes widen. She then sat up and looked to the foot of the couch, where stood Marilyn, one hand on her hip, the other holding out the staff, and two bits of tissue stuffed into her bleeding nose. She was also glaring at Camila, but she could care less about that.

"How--HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!" Camila screamed. "Your head just went...PEW! It flew off your body and into a tree!"

"Yeah, thanks for that by the way," Marilyn said, totally annoyed as she cricks her neck. "Not only did I think you loosened some bones a little but you also might have broken my nose! Do you know how long I'm going to a healer to use their magic on me now? For, like, thirty minutes!"

"...I repeat." Camila stood up from the couch, knees shaking a bit but Manny was there to get close and keep her steady. "How are you alive? How can anyone survive their head getting blown off?"

"Lady, I don't think you've noticed, but I'm not like anyone else." Marilyn then waved her staff and flicked her left ear as if that was supposed to mean anything. But the confused looks she got from both Nocedas proved that it didn't, earning an eye-roll from Marilyn. "I'm a witch," she said instead.

"A witch?!" Camila shrieked. She clutched onto Manny tightly, whereas he just stared blankly at Eda.

"That's...the least craziest thing to happen this week," Manny said, running a hand through his hair. "Man, Luz found a really bad time to fall asleep."

"Wait, where is Luz?!" Camila asked, adjusting her priorities to something more important. Manny answered by pointing a foot away from the couch to show Luz laying on the floor, King snuggled up in her arms as they snored softly. Normally, such a display would make Camila's heart melt, but the worry of what the hell that creature in Luz's arms could be made her heart quicken in pace a bit instead.

"Don't worry about King," Marilyn told her, catching onto Camila's worries. "He's just a little guy with big dreams of being the King of Demons. Mostly because I put that dream in his head."

Camila stared at Marilyn with wide eyes.

"Oh, I don't actually mean that he will," she added in quickly. "It's just a little lie to make him feel bigger than he is. Sort of like playing pretend. I'll make sure reality sinks it...eventually."

Camila narrowed her eyes at Marilyn now and turned her attention back to her daughter. She then noticed Vee sitting cross-legged next to Luz and King, wide awake and still staring at Eda.

"Has Vee been like that this whole time?" Camila asked.

"Yeah," Marilyn said with a shudder. "No offense, but you've got one creepy kid."

"No offense--And I'm genuinely not trying to be offensive here," Manny spoke up. "But I'm starting to think it might be because of you."

"Me?!"

"She's acting like this because she smells magic," Manny explained. "She told us she sort of...feeds off of it. Maybe she's smelling the magic coming off of you and it's making her...like that."

"What the heck kind of thing eats magic?" Marilyn couldn't help but asked, more concerned of her safety than ever. She then glanced at King, wondering if he'll be safe being that close to a magic eater.

"That," Camila said, "is a need to know basis. And some crazy bruja with a detachable head and inability to pay for her dog's check ups does not need to know anything yet."

"...Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Marilyn groaned and, for some reason, started digging into her hair. Eventually, she pulled out a deck of cards and waved them at Vee.

"Hey, kiddo," Marilyn said. "You want a snack? Here ya go."

She tosses the cards over, and they just smacked Vee right in the face. She blinked, sniffed, and then looked down at the pack. Then, like a beast finding a meal, she pounced onto them and started eating each card at a time.

"What...are those?" Manny was the first to ask.

"My Hex 'em, Hold 'em cards," Marilyn said as if it made sense. "They cost a dollar a deck, but have some good magic stored in them. Should be enough for the little monster."

"Don't call my daughter a--" But Camila's outburst was cut short by the sound of a little THUMP. She looked back to Vee and saw she had now passed out on the floor with Luz, cards still in her hand as she snored gently.

"Well, looks like that tuckered her out," Marilyn stated, a proud smile. Yet Camila couldn't help but stare at her with an astonished expression. With a bit of annoyance still there.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Well, I suppose a better introduction is necessary." Marilyn twirled her staff and hit the butt of it on the floor, causing a yellow aura to glow around her. "I...am Eda the Owl Lady!"

"Eda? I thought your name was Marilyn."

"What? Oh! That?" Eda laughed with a wave of her hand. "That's just a name I tell people when I visit. The truth is I'm the greatest witch in the Boiling Isles!"

"The Boiling Isles?" Manny asked now.

"A land from a realm that's just outside your own, with bits of our world leaking into yours and creating most things that you humans would call a myth. Consider us your next door neighbors who often dump our trash into yours when our garbage bin's gotten a little full. As for how that happens, well, I can answer that another time. But for now, I have but one question for the two of you."

Camila and Manny just gaped at her, neither knowing what to say or what to think. For the third time this week, all that they thought was normal got shattered into oblivion, and there's no way of going back.

At this point, all one can do is go forward.

"Wh-What's your question?" Camila asked.

"Simple...Can me and my boy crash on your couch for a bit?"

[angelbymadonna]

made this post on my main about a cat palisman + viola bard staff. I now notice that the woodgrain makes a tabby pattern on the cat in the photo, which is super cute, but I have another idea for what to do if the head tucked in as a scroll isn't your thing, or if you're missing that nice swirl pattern. Design notes and HCs under the cut <2

used a purple instrument as reference so I decided to keep the color because it's pretty. I wrote at the bottom that said reference must be a mirrored image due to the chin rest placement, but that's completely wrong and I got confused because I drew this first thing after waking up, okay? oh, and the blue color is inspired by TOH healing magic because I read once that IRL cats purr at a healing frequency. The brown color is obviously the actual wood color, and the yellow highlights are just for brightness like the pink accents.

I added a bow with some cute cat touches, but unlike Raine we've got a normal amount of bow tension! If Raine's bow tension is any indication of their emotional tension, then they are obviously stressed as all hell because their bow constantly looks on the verge of snapping!

I also drew the palisman in animal form, but I'm unsure what name+pronouns to use for them, I guess if any of y'all want to use the design you can pick, but until then I am TAKING SUGGESTIONS! (also suggestions for more animal+instrument combos tbh, this was a pretty fun exercise so I'd like to do it again)

when the palisman takes the form of a viola, the scroll is a cat and the swirl decoration is the curled up tail.

I didn't want tuning pegs just sticking out of the cat's body, so I decided to make them floating balls of string, which I imagine can be unraveled infinitely (or at least a lot depending on the witch's energy and skill level) to provide extra string, since in my experience there will be a broken string on concert night 8 times out of 10 (at least in school, maybe this witch is a teacher)

On a similar theme, the bow grip is yarn wrappings instead of steel because who needs practicality when you have magic! and the bow also features paw print designs on the tip and frog, in addition to a little claw attached to the tip which can be used in place of nail clippers to remove broken hairs from other bows (apparently student bows now that I've brought up the teacher thing lol) which the palisman can also do in animal form

the "F holes", which have a horrible but at least funny name IMO, are slightly altered so that the swirl looks like the end of a cat's tail, to be on theme with the scroll.

I also have some notes on the cat's personality/abilities! idrk if most palismans get extra abilities, but if Luz can have a "snakeshifter" I can give this cat incredibly specific orchestra-themed abilities!

they can meow the not A at the witch's preferred frequency to get the orchestra started tuning. They purr at C which generates a low-level healing aura, maybe this helps with finger callouses or shoulder aches or something.

As far as personality, I imagine this cat as rather reserved but friendly, well suited to a more talkative witch. They get along with other palisman really well, tending to view themself as kind of a group leader. I wrote that being in a large group of only violin palismans is the exception, and by that I mean they get slightly less outwardly social but still polite, they're only really bothered by palismans who sneak up behind them.

Another personality trait of theirs is being picky about tidyness and hygiene. While this palisman can go quite a while without adding to a conversation, they'll likely spend that time listening closely as they straighten up the room, or even lick rosin dust off of other palisman instruments. The latter habit usually illicits more annoyance than the first if the palisman in question is unfamiliar with this tendency. That isn't to say that the cat is all business, however. They often play with the balls of string that make up their tuning pegs and other strings and objects they find. If merely batting at one object leads to a chain reaction that makes a big mess, the cat sees this as an oppurtunity to further tidy the practice room to prevent the same mistake from happening again, since any player (students in particular) is liable to make the same mistake. If their witch is a teacher, I can also easily see this palisman going around the room and adjusting stand heights and handing out pencils to players who haven't annotated, both of which players see as passive-aggressive, though the cat has yet to confirm this.

As you might have noticed, most of the cat's traits I mentioned are things that don't necessarily benefit their witch if they're playing solo, so I incorporated that into the lore, I think the witch who carved them just prefers playing in ensembles. Since I thought specifically of the witch being a teacher as I was writing these headcanons afterwards, the ensemble in question is probably a witch school bard orchestra class, maybe even Hexside. I suppose woodwind bards must also be part of this orchestra, since palismans can probably turn into any wooden instrument, but I honestly don't know whether any of these abilities would help them. This was a fun enough design exercise that I'd do it again, so maybe I'll do a snake flute or something (since snake flute is already a different thing so it's be a fun joke) and y'all can suggest abilities and personality headcanons for them as well?

[numberonetacostan]

YEAH EXACTLY. I've been connecting to pickle more than I expected to ugh I love him. taco gives everything she can to luz, luz can eat some berries or fruits and taco will simply eat some bird or sticks. To her luz is priority and luz is more important than anything else in her world, and yes! luz has spied with her before! taco is pretty protective and makes sure luz doesn't wander too far into the contestant grounds because some wild stuff happened and she doesn't want them to potentially get hurt, but she allows her to pitch in from time to time and I imagine they were there when she was spying on mic at least. Luz is like ''that lady is so pretty! and she's pretty smart! I think she would be a great partner for you miss taco :D'' ''yup'' ''so when will you talk to her?'' ''when its the right time.'' my explanation of why mic didn't know much about luz is because more often than not luz is exploring around, and taco doesn't worry much because they are always in time for dinner. But one day its raining and luz has to get into the hotel and taco obviously begins panicking like we know, then she gets into the hotel and luz is there and yada yada you already know this story.

I don't think luz really has a concept of like how an actual home where you should live in looks like because taco and them are homeless so they are SO surprised when they comfy beds and food that isn't only just vegetables and overall just things that you wouldn't have when you're homeless, things like bathrooms, electricity, videogames etc. Baby child is very excited when pickle despite the pain he himself is going through shows them how to play his favorite videogames and is happy to see just how excited they are, the entire luz incident is big motivation to let taco into the hotel because as much as they may not trust her they can't just leave her to starve- let alone when taking care of a child. Because I see taco being more honest with luz I do see them saying pickle or mic what she really thinks of them and to both of their surprise its a lot of good stuff, pickle and mic are people taco herself told luz that are safe and nice and hell, I think despite everything she tells them that knife although not that nice is really someone safe to be around if anything happens (knife is surprised by that one and perhaps makes fun of her for it and they proceed to flip each other off, knifetaco solidarity like always <3 ) something very funny I picture luz doing is that as every kid sometimes they just wont like to go to sleep, so they will try to sneak out (they are taco's kid alright?) and literally NOBODY notices that they are around until taco carefully sits down the couch and somehow snatches them from behind it startling both luz and the residents. Luz is good at sneaking around but taco knows them more than anything she just, likes to play around with them by trying to act unaware for then surprising them by carefully snatching them right into her arms, luz is pouty and taco is unable to hold back her smile, I'd definitely adore to think how people like mic would react to their shenanigans I think mic simply smiles because she notices taco really is trying despite everything, there is something poetic about luz being what rebuilds tacomic relationship and gets them closer.

Hi Kiara!!!^^ Welcome back, and thank you for sending in an ask!!! :]

Auoguh Taco is used to being hungry anyways so Luz always eats first. Taco will easily tell Luz she isn't hungry if it keeps Luz having as much as she needs. Little Luz joining in on Taco's spying is so cute!!! She almost gets them caught a few times but eventually they get pretty good by learning from Taco's example, heheh!! And Taco doesn't see Mic as more than a means to an end until later in their partnership, so it makes sense she'd want to keep Luz hidden from her. Once she comes to trust Mic more, things soon end between them, so Mic didn't get the chance to meet her. Until they make her way into the hotel, of course.

Oh yeah, Luz has been raised completely in the forest, and Taco's never lived in an actual home, so they have no idea what a proper house is like. It would be such a change for them, and a very healthy one!!! Taco might still be in the habit of making sure Luz eats plenty and just taking whatever's left, she might need a small intervention for someone, probably Mic, to remind her that there's plenty of food for everyone, yeah? Taco would never have gone to the hotel on her own, so it really is all thanks to Luz that she was able to get in. And!! She would be more honest with Luz, because Luz hasn't done anything wrong and shouldn't suffer the same paranoia and anxiety around the others that Taco does, yeah? She'd totally give Mic and Pickle glowing reviews to Luz, because regardless of how they feel towards her she know that they're good people and will be good to her child. Even Knife, with how strongly he looked out for Mic, would totally been seen by her as a trustworthy person to care for Luz. They WOULD flip each other off in a positive way I am so glad you also have this vision.

Hehehe Luz has learned from the best, how to be sneaky!!! What you described is like a mother tiger letting her baby "sneak up" on her for practice, yeah? Adorable!!! Mic would smile seeing Taco being so... loose with someone, for the lack of a better word. A glimpse into a part of Taco that she normally keeps hidden!!!

[mdhwrites]

Something's nagged me for a while about an episode of Amphibia S3A.

In "Thai Feud," Sprig gets into all sorts of hijinks trying to get closer to Oum. But despite all the trouble he causes, his behaviour surprisingly didn't bother me, mainly because it's...y'know, still acknowledged as wrong. What did bother me was...Oum.

Throughout the first half of the episode, Oum is tempted to tell off Sprig for his antics, but instead puts the blame on Anne. Telling her to "knock off" what Sprig's doing or "I'm doubling your chores." When Sprig asks why, Anne explains that Oum never yells at a guest, only family.

...I'm sorry, but am I missing something when I think that's blatantly not okay and in need of correcting?

You do not force your child to bear the consequences of somebody else's misbehaviour. It's. Not. Fair. And Anne is visibly unhappy with this rule, yet given that she makes no effort to change Oum's mind, it's clear her mom has always stubbornly refused to budge on this.

Why does the episode end with Sprig and Ned apologizing for their actions, but not Oum as well? Because it's not the focus of the episode? Maybe, but I really think Oum should have been called out on this "never reprimand a guest" rule. She means well and is trying to be a polite host, but she's mistreating her daughter in the process and that is not okay.

This wouldn't have bothered me at all if Oum had been made to apologize to Anne and change her behaviour. And no, chewing out Sprig at the end because she now considers him family doesn't rectify the problem - she still hasn't dropped that unfair rule or apologized to Anne.

And now that I've gotten all that off my chest...am I right to feel this way? Is there something else Oum means by acting this way that's flying over my head? Maybe I'm just being too sensitive? I mean, even the smallest suspicion of kids being mistreated tends to set me off, so am I just not thinking straight? How would you explain Oum's behaviour?

You're in the wrong here.

This is admittedly going to differ person from person but the normal social grace is that the person who invites someone over also takes responsibility for them. I mean, just imagine if during a hangout session, you're twelve, and your friend breaks a plate on purpose. Who should get punished... And who can your parent even punish in the first place?

Oum is not Sprig's mother, despite that being kind of what Sprig wants. She has no right to yell at him. She has no right to punish him. She has no power in that relationship besides banning him from her house and that's not an option here. Now yes, it's complicated by the whole situation they're under but these are essentially the rules that Oum is playing by. They're actually just like the rules Hop Pop is worried about abusing because when dinner is over, who does the dishes? Sure as hell not the guest because that's not their responsibility.

All of this means though that yes, especially since Anne willingly does this from go, the responsibility for their behavior falls to Anne. If Sprig, or Polly for that matter (Hop Pop is a whole kettle of monkeys due to age), acts up then the person who will get punished is Anne. Hop Pop is actually the one who needs to be stepping in for this but he's not around right now and at least at that time, he has not given permission to Oum to discipline his grandson.

Also like... increasing chores and what not is not that bad? Those are just normal punishments? The way you describe your reaction I think is a VERY real problem with online discourse around parents right now. Any way of disciplining their children, even to teach them lessons, is seen as abuse. Camilla from TOH is held up as the perfect parent because she asks nothing of Luz and enables all of her behavior, bad or not. That's A: not a good parent and B: not a real parent. Oum on the other hand is very real and honestly very compassionate, she's also just stuck in the very difficult role of BEING A PARENT.

So yeah, especially with how flagrantly Sprig does things that are wrong to do in that episode, I don't think Oum needed to apologize to Sprig. I hope Sprig apologized to Anne at some point, which I believe comes with him admitting to why he's doing all of this, but Oum isn't in the wrong. Maybe she's a little harsh but also Amphibia plays with a lot of exaggeration in order to keep up its pace so if she's a little harsh, that's fine. It makes it punchier and the point gets across faster that way.

But it doesn't make what she did a problem. It's just reflective of life. See you next tale.

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

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.

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

[theloganator101]

Why Vaggie is my least favorite of the cast

Now I KNOW this is going to get me some hate so let me explain.

This isn't me saying she's a bad character or anything of the sorts since she's still a good character in her own way, I just... didn't connect with her like I did with the rest of the cast.

For one thing, she really doesn't have much of a personality outside of her relationship with Charlie. Her whole thing is doing things for Charlie, so we don't really get to see who Vaggie is.

I'm indifferent to Viv, but it's very fucking clear that she doesn't know how to write characters in a relationship. She seems to think two people in one are each other's world, nothing else. so in a way this relationship kind of holds Vaggie back as a character.

Thinking about other ships such as Lumity and Vegebul, the one thing they have that Chaggie doesn't is that those two relationships have the characters be their own character even with the relationship. Amilty and Bulma are still characters within their own rights, and the same goes for Luz and Vegeta.

Hell, even Moxxie and Millie get this somewhat right despite my own gripes with it! Because at least those two feel like their own characters somewhat!

And again, I'm sorry for those who do like her and her relationship with Charlie, it's just not my cup of tea and I DO hope Vaggie gets some characterization in Season 2 to make her more interesting than she is.

[captainimprobable]

Huntlow: "I've got my suit, we have a full tank of gas, and you look beautiful."

(Hope things get easier soon.)

Willow could tell that something was very wrong, because Hunter had been quiet for at least three minutes straight. She loved her boyfriend with everything she had, but, more importantly, she knew him. And after three years of dating, she was quite aware of the fact that Hunter liked to talk. The topic of conversation varied greatly; depending on the hour it could be anything from a one sided debate on the mechanics of the Cosmic Frontier ships to a rant about how gorgeous his girlfriend was. (Willow was rather partial to the second, but she was happy to listen to anything he had to say, really.) So when Hunter went quiet in the living room, she exited the bathroom mildly concerned that he'd passed out at the computer where she'd left him. "Hunter?" she asked as she walked across the room. Hunter didn't respond, but he did turn his chair around to slowly face her with a look of great shame on his face. "I'm so sorry Willow," he said, nervously biting his thumbnail, "I, uh, I kind of fucked up." Willow smiled reassuringly and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it seem, babe."

In addition to being a certified yapper, Hunter also happened to be extremely hard on himself. Hunter flinched. "No, it's actually bad this time," he assured her. "You know those plane tickets we got? The ones for Tuesday?" "The tickets to get to Connecticut?" "Yeah..." Willow started to feel a great sense of unease in the pit of her stomach. "What happened?"

Hunter took a deep breath and then finally blurted it out: "We don't actually have tickets for Tuesday. I'm so sorry." Willow blinked at him, not quite certain she was hearing this right. "What...what do you mean?" "I mean, I just got an email confirming our tickets to Connecticut....for Friday. And yes, before you ask, I looked up literally every single airline in existence for seats on any plane for Tuesday. Or Wednesday, or Thursday, or even Monday." Willow closed her eyes and backed up a few feet until she was sitting on the couch. "Shit. How...?"

Hunter stood up, dawdling in the middle of the room like he wasn't sure whether he was allowed to join Willow on the couch or not. "It's my fault. I was distracted when I bought the tickets back in May, and I must have clicked the wrong day, and now-" "-And now we're going to miss our best friends' wedding," Willow finished.

"I'm so sorry, I feel awful, I didn't do it on purpose, I-"

"I know," Willow said gently, "I don't blame you. It's just...what are we gonna do? Not being there is not an option." "Yeah, I know, which is why I got a kind of....crazy idea." There was suddenly a mischievous glint in Hunter's eye, and in spite of herself and in spite of the situation, Willow found herself smiling. Whatever Hunter was going to say next was sure to be at best helpful and at least entertaining. Hunter smiled back at her, and Willow was not surprised to feel the butterflies in her stomach. Even after all these years, she still felt them all the time. "What if we drove there?" Willow let that sit in the air for a second before saying "As in, road trip across the country? In four days?" "I mean, we've done crazier things, and besides, this is Luz and Amity. I know you'd do anything for them, and I sure as hell would too. So..."

"Hmmm. When would we leave?" Hunter's grin got even bigger. "I was thinking...maybe now?" "Now???" Hunter shrugged. "Why not? I've got my suit, we have a full tank of gas, and you look beautiful." Willow giggled. "What does me looking beautiful have to do with anything?" "Nothing, really, but I've only told you like two times today, which definitely wasn't enough." God, Willow loved this man. "Okay." "Okay?" Willow stood up and stretched before walking over to her boyfriend and giving him a kiss. "Let's do this," she said, "Think you can handle being stuck in a car with me for four days?" Hunter snorted. "As if being stuck with you for four days isn't, like, the best thing that could ever possibly happen to me? Come on, Willow, you know me better than that." Willow laughed again and got on her tiptoes to ruffle Hunter's hair. "I love you," she said, as if he didn't know, as if she could ever, in any universe, pretend she was anything other than deeply in love with him. "I love you too," he said, "Now let's get our butts to Connecticut." ~ (I CANNOT THANK YOU FOR THIS ENOUGH ANON! This is the first time I've been able to write in MONTHS, ty ty ty!!! <3)

[ironwitchau]

Here we go again with more of this au. I don't know, I kinda like it. I feel like people don't understand the horror of being dropped into your favorite video game or show. Like you could easily be killed and you don't know if you will be revived? Nah, sorry man, I ain't here for this getting killed plot. Anyway, you can get caught up here:

Part 1, Part 2

---

The Knee:

One of the features Luz loved about Titan’s Will was that the player could find the glyphs at any point, time, and order, so long as the player knew where to look. For instance, normally players get the light glyph first by using a demonic disposable camera with a cracked lens while Eda performed the light spell at the beginning of the Owl Beast Arc. However, there is a moment, between beating Wrath and the group of three leaving, where the player could roam the courtyard. Most players and speed-runners went straight to Eda and King, in a rush to get the game going. If they had looked around, specifically at a scorch mark on one wall, and interacted with it a few times they would get the fire glyph. Luz had discovered it by accident on her first New Game + run.

This information became invaluable to the human after she ran into Amity for the first time. After that meeting, Luz decided she at least needed the four main glyphs but when she sat down with a pen and paper and made the circle to put the light glyph in, she realized a problem. She couldn't remember what the glyph looked like. Any of them.

Luz, who had doodled them onto the corners of her school work because she was bored, couldn't remember what the glyphs looked like. She had panicked that first night but eventually calmed down enough to plan. She refused to get involved with the plot even though it would give her the chance to find the glyphs. Thankfully she remembered the Knee Event.

The Knee Event was the canonical time where the protagonist found their second glyph, the ice glyph. During the event, the protagonist has to learn a second spell so they won’t fail the Hexside Placement Test. If the player already had two spells at this point, they still go with Eda mentioning that they are “really dedicated to getting in”. Eda and the protagonist head to the Knee and usually end up running into Amity and the Blight twins. By the end of it, the player got another spell and leveled up some bonds.

Luz didn't care about that. At least, not now as she tried to stay out of the story. What mattered was that while learning the ice glyph this way, the player learns that the light glyph is also a constellation.

She was in no rush to get to the Knee, until she ran into Eda. It had to be a bad sign to run into two plot important characters and Luz refused to get dragged into the game now. She might get caught off guard but she wouldn't be unarmed.

---

They left for the Knee Friday afternoon, closing Raven’s Nest early. The plan was to spend two days and two nights there, which should be enough time for Luz to learn her two spells. She spent that first night staring up at the sky, connecting the stars in hope of finding a glyph. She even used Observe until it leveled up. Nothing.

Eventually, Raven told her it was time to call it a night and the two entered their respective tents. Luz woke up the next morning to a softly spoken conversation.

“Aren't you two a little young to be out here all on your own?” Raven had asked. Luz figured it was probably just some traveliers, or some St. Epiderm kids. That school was said to be on the Knee, an hour or two’s walk from the ruins Luz and Raven were camping at.

“With Willow around?” A younger, boyish voice laughed. “We’ll be fine.”

Wait a damn minute. She knew that voice. That was-

“You flatter me, Augustus.” A third voice said. It was feminine with a teasing undertone. Luz knew that voice too.

What the hell were Augustus ‘Gus’ Porter and Willow Park doing on the Knee?

---

It was mentioned earlier that when players took part in the Knee Event they usually ran into Amity Blight. The keyword being usually. The second purpose of the Knee Event was to level up two bonds, the Owl Lady’s and the lowest Hexside bond available at the point in the game. More often than not it would be Amity who’s social bond was just made a few event’s back, but it was possible for other characters to take part of the event.

Luz exited her tent and was met with said characters. The first was a girl, the same age as her. She was taller than Luz by a few inches, with short navy hair and olive-green eyes behind a pair of black rimmed glasses. Like most witches she had pointed ears. The second was a dark skinned boy who was two years younger than them. Luz easily had a head, maybe one and half, on him. Then again Luz was rather tall. He had short black hair that was shaved on the sides and dark eyes. These two were Willow and Augustus.

“Look, Luz,” Raven joked, “I've met a few more strays.”

Luz chuckled nervously and used Observe on the two just in case she was wrong.

[Observe!]

[Name: Willow Park

Species: witch

Titles: Half-A-Witch]

[Observe!]

[Name: Augustus Porter

Species: Witch

Titles: Illusion Prodigy]

She was two members away from meeting the entire Hexsquad. Thankfully the two didn't show until mid-game.

“We aren't strays.” Willow deadpanned.

“We are if we can get some free food!” Augustus argued. Willow elbowed the teen.

“I have no issues with that.” Raven smiled and offered the younger teen a bowl of warm soup.

Luz wanted to tell Raven that they probably shouldn't give food away to strangers, even if Luz knew who they were. She really didn't want to get involved with plot shenanigans. Instead, she sat down and accepted a bowl of her own. Raven was too nice anyway.

The human busied herself with her food before rushing off to try and learn her glyphs.

---

There were three options for the Knee Event. Amity’s, Willow’s, and Gus’s.

In Amity’s, the youngest Blight was at the Knee to beat the twins' score on some test. The protagonist, frustrated with Eda’s lessons, steals Amity’s training wand and accidentally angers a Slitherbeast. The demon native to the knee ends up taking Eda and the twins hostage, Amity traps the protagonist and goes to save them. The protagonist ends up discovering the light constellation after activating the light glyph, which leads to them discovering the ice glyph in a snowflake. They escape and help by distracting the slitherbeast while Amity saves the others.

In Willow’s, the plant witch was at the Knee to find a special plant that emitted an icy fog. Luz forgot the name of the plant but Willow wanted to take care of one and none of the markets on the Knee seem to have it. The two would meet up and mess around during a break. Willow ends up being the one who angered the Slitherbeast, by accidentally flinging it into the air. The beast knocks Eda out, takes Willow hostage, and shoves the protagonist into a cavern as it leaves. Much like with Amity’s, the protagonist discovers the ice glyph and uses it to escape. They wake up the Owl Lady and go to save Willow. Except, she’s already escaped by the time the two track the Slitherbeast down.

Then there was Gus’. He comes to the Knee to practice a complex spell, only to get frustrated. The protagonist, annoyed with Eda, joins him in lying in the snow. Gus confides in them that he hates being younger than everyone, that his classmates either treat him like a child or use him, and the teachers put so much pressure on him. He says that’s why he likes being friends with the protagonist. They treat him like a normal person. If the player chooses to tell Gus that they enjoy being friends with him too, the protagonist places a light glyph between them. Gus activates it and they watch it float up into the sky and join the constellation. This inspires the protagonist to look into a snowflake, and so they discover the ice glyph. It’s presumed that they thank Gus because as the two lie down he says “you're welcome”.

Gus’ was the only one where the Slitherbeast is left alone. It was Luz’s favorite.

---

“Fraah!” Luz screamed at the top of her lungs as she still couldn't find the ice glyph. The snow in her hand ended up thrown against a tree.

“What did the tree do to you?” Willow said from behind her.

“Nothing.” Luz huffed. She watched as the vapors that were her breath floated up.

“Hate to see what you'd do to someone who wronged you.” She could hear the playful smirk on Willow’s face. Usually Luz found it endearing, but she really wasn't in the mood right now.

“What do you want.” It wasn't a question.

“To find a Misty Mint but I’ll settle for your name.”

That was the name of the plant. A Misty Miny. If Luz got dropped into a cavern, that Slitherbeast will have more to worry about than whatever Willow did to it.

“Rude to ask for someone else's when you don't offer your own.”

“Willow Park.”

‘I know.’

“Luz Noceda.”

“You done being pissy, now?”

Luz groaned and let herself flop back onto the snow, kicking up a small flurry. The chill of the snow was nice. Made her muscles relax some.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

“Cool, because Augustus has been dying to meet you ever since Raven told us she met you around here too.”

“Great.” Just what she needed.

[sergeantsporks]

"A Certain Coven-head" you say?

It's Amity, isn't it?

Damn, girl not only has more influence than the rest of the Coven-heads combined thanks to her sleeping with dating the Empress, but she's been worming her way to a spot beside the throne since childhood!

----------------------------

Actually...

Now that I think about it, I hope that the "Coven-head who knew the former Red Rogue" isn't Amity.

I mean, I have no issue with Witch Switch's take on Lumity as it stands. Sure, Luz is four hundred-something years old and in a relationship with Amity, whose probably only forty-ish. But! Regardless of the age difference, it's still a relationship between two adults. No problem with that, especially since I believe you've mentioned before, that in this AU, the denizens of the Isles are aware that Luz is *ancient?

(*Maybe not to the extent of "four hundred years ancient", but everyone knows that she's at least older than a hundred, right?)

So... it's not like Amity didn't already know ahead of time that she was pursuing an older woman. Lol.

But the idea of Luz "knowing of" Amity as a child, even if it's something more along the lines of "Yes, I know of your existence because my guard mentioned you a couple of times." than "Amity, Luz, and the previous Red Rouge used to have dinner once a week together." makes WS!Lumity come across, as, uh...

Skeevy.

Even if nothing romantic happened between Luz and Amity until after Amity was an adult, it still feels... discomforting to think that Luz could've known her as a child via the Red Rogue. You get what I mean?

Amity isn't the one who has a connection with the last RR, don't worry. That would be. Weird. Yeah. Wouldn't like it if Luzura had known Amity when she was a child. And yeah, the people of the BI are pretty aware that Luz is Really Old, but they're also pretty sure titans/whatever the hell Luz is don't really work the same way witches do in terms of aging.

Anyway, besides telling you it's Not Amity, no more guessing which coven head gets to be Darius. By which I mean I'm not going to answer any other guesses, you're obviously free to theorize.

[branmuffins22]

for the toh ask game- 2, 8, 12?

from this ask game:

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

Ohhhh boy. Oh man. Oh geez. You play a dangerous game, starting out with the kicker.

The obvious choice would be Luz, right? because she's like, the perfect main character. Lovable, relatable, flawed, believable (mostly; those fireworks were a bit much), clever, emotional, funny, the list goes on.

But.

However.

I have to go with Vee.

To me, Vee is all those things and more. She's still relatable, but for completely different (some unaddressed by canon, some completely made up by me) reasons. She's the cutest sweetest little shapeshifter we actually got the chance to get to know (sorry Stringbean). She's flawed, she'd completely given up on Luz's return and was ready to throw away whatever parts of her life she didn't jive with, and then even after most of a day of hanging out with her, she was STILL kinda mad at her! She's got confusing emotions and she was able to admit it! She's a tortured and traumatized kid who's trying maybe a bit too hard to put it all behind her, and even her more fantastical struggles are made to make perfect sense in that context. She's clever and observant enough to blend in with humans (and even convince Camila she was Luz for a while), and she was instrumental in solving the rebus. She's funny not just in her sense of humor (which is anywhere from awkward to earnest to dry, all hilarious), but also in the dichotomy of being one of the more "normal" "human" characters in the show, despite not really being either of those things (part of a thought-extinct species, and unique even among others of that species. said species is a kind of magic-eating shape-shifting demon from another realm, and here she is in suburban connecticut, idly learning spanish with her friends).

She's my precious baby blorbo and I love her. She's chubby (I'm chubby), she's awkward around her crush (I'm awkward around my crush (and also in general)), she likes to wear warm colors and big boots (I like to wear warm colors and big boots (not that I have any that fit well enough for daily wear)), she's got a bit of an overbite (I had one when I was young), she is (or, I guess, was?) kinda sorta something like a twin (I'm a twin), her hair is poofy and long (at least in her epilogue design) (my hair is poofy and long), augh, she feels basically tailor-made for me. I'm not exaggerating when I say I learned to love certain parts of myself by loving them first in her.

She's perfect.

also. im gonna rant about her even more in the next bit, sorrynotsorry.

8. Any headcanons? If so, which are your favorite?

Soooo many. Like, enough that I'm writing a whole ass barely-even-canon-divergent AU just to give myself the excuse to explore them. Actually, kinda writing two if you count MatVNN, but it's more of a post-canon affair.

Probably my favorite, though, is Vee being trans (and a bunch of other flavors of queer). I'll admit, a lot of the things that make me like Vee so much are just Sorta Plausible Shit I Came Up With, and chief among them is my trans Vee theory.

So, I'll start with the canon stuff:

Vee is rather unique, even among basilisks. Her tail has 3 fins rather than the other basilisks' 1 or 2 fins, her eyes have a different structure (and more individual colors) than the others', and she has a distinct head and neck that the other basilisks don't have. She's also a lot smaller than the other basilisks: about half the size of III and IV, and even smaller compared to the "greater basilisk" which attacked Hexside (we'll call her the Inspector). In the epilogue, Vee's size doesn't appear to have changed much, if at all (hell, even in her human form, she doesn't look much taller), nor have the sizes of III and IV. The only change any of them appear to have gone through is that Vee has more/longer hair, some of which is a lighter cyan than the previous navy blue, which still remains at her roots and on her ears.

Those are the facts. Now, there could be any number of reasons for her unique traits.

The doylist reason is the easiest: she was designed to look smaller and more humanoid to appear to the audience as more sympathetic. Her strange eyes could just be a bit of fun character design, something to make her stand out on screen. No biggie.

The watsonian reasons are a lot more compelling to me though.

She could very well be quite young for a basilisk. Perhaps their eyes change shape and lose some of their color as they grow up. Perhaps the neck becomes less distinct as they get older. Perhaps even after the 3+ year timeskip before the epilogue, Vee was still prepubescent for a basilisk.

Perhaps the various basilisks are representative of different species within the same family (ex. the Inspector is called a "greater basilisk", but the others are just referred to as "basilisks"), and Vee's unique traits are staples of whatever specific species she is (I first came across this theory in A Blight on Bonesborough, by GeminiAlchemist, and they proposed "fat-tailed basilisk" as the name of Vee's species, mostly for the sake of a gag)

One of the more interesting theories is that she's only half basilisk. I wasn't the one to come up with it, but I don't remember who was, so for that I apologize, but basically, there was a theory going around for a little while after her introduction, that Vee was actually the bastard child of one of the other basilisks and Warden Wrath. The biggest point of evidence was the yellow pupils, a trait only shared between Vee and Wrath, as well as the fact that Wrath was clearly involved in the basilisk project, as shown in Vee's flashbacks in Yesterday's Lie. It's not my favorite theory by any means, but it's a super interesting one, very angsty.

My personal theory, however, and the theory on which I base a few of my other Vee headcanons, is that all the myriad differences between Vee and the other basilisks can be explained away by a simple case of sexual dimorphism in the basilisk species. "Number 5" was simply the only "male" basilisk shown on screen.

Now, what's the evidence for this theory? There is none! As with all the best headcanons, there's no real reason it should be true, but there's ALSO no definitive evidence it isn't true.

So, Number 5 escaped the labs, wandered into the Human Realm, took the form of the only human he'd seen, and spent 3 months at summer camp incidentally trying out being a girl. Turns out, she liked it! So when the time came to give Luz back her identity, Vee made her own new form a girl too.

Now, this headcanon comes with some... caveats? Complications? Sprinkles of realism? I like to imagine some extraneous silly little plot points surrounding this.

Gonna mention 'nads & stuff in purple, so skip past it if you're squeamish about people having body parts or whatever.

When Vee took on Luz's form, she didn't really know what was going on under all those clothes, so she improvised, and kept things as close to her basilisk form as possible. It was partly to conserve magic during the shift, and partly just because she couldn't imagine what to put there. This meant she had a dick, and probably a pretty funny-looking one, too, until she came across a human health textbook and got a better picture of what that whole situation is supposed to look like.

Eventually, during an accident with someone in the Cabin 7 crew (probably standard "woops, didnt realize you were changing in here" shenanigans), someone catches her with her pants down, and she accidentally makes them think Luz is trans. A silly little mixup, definitely no consequences in the future, for sure.

After this, Vee ends up learning about pride flags and their meanings, and starts collecting those things like trading cards. She is staggeringly queer. I tend to think of her as bi/pan/demi-rose, genderqueer, genderfluid (usually on a sliding scale between fem and neutral, but outside that range often enough to be noteworthy), and polyam (in theory, anyways, but even by the epilogue she's still only had one partner, Masha. Granted, she's only maybe 18 by then, so she's got a LOT of time left to try things out), but because that's So Many Labels, she tends to simplify down to Queer. Am I projecting? Yeah, a little. Maybe a lot. So what?

Anyways, when Luz comes back and Vee picks out her own human form, she mostly performs a 1-1 translation from her basilisk form to her human form (matching her standing height, size, approximate face shape, etc), and in so doing, takes on a few typically-masculine characteristics (like a mostly-flat, somewhat-wide chest, bodyfat mostly at her belly, and of course, a (normal, human) dick (most of the time, anyways; she is a shapeshifter, and can do whatever she wants forever)), resulting in her rather androgynous appearance. If her human form is gonna be her, it's gonna reflect her truth: she wasn't always a girl, but she is now. In the epilogue, her human form looks a bit more feminine/less androgynous than before (most notably with wider hips), as if she'd been on HRT for long enough to see some changes.

Now, I've also got all manner of general Basilisk Biology Headcanons, such as how shapeshifting works (magic is used to perform transformations, and reverting to their natural form doesn't use any; holding a transformation only burns calories, not magic; transformations are holistic, inside-and-out, with the two exceptions being the brain and whatever organ stores collected magic), how magical hunger works (it doesn't quite exist, they're not vampires, eating/draining magic is just a thing they Can do in order to transform, not a thing they Have to do to live; however, when a basilisk is hungry, it begins burning through its magic to stave off malnutrition, causing them to seek out magically dense food (really just magic in general, kinda maladaptive like humans' sugar cravings)), how mass distribution works when they transform (they retain their weight when they take on new forms, which limits their transformed size by how far they can compress/decompress their mass. this is part of why the Inspector was so hungry; they were near the limits of how far they could compress, and burning through calories like crazy to stay that way), their natural habitat (fins on their tails suggest they're at least semi-aquatic, but the fact that they stayed on the Boiling Isles as they fled from Belos suggests that they're not immune to (and thus not native to) the Boiling Sea, therefore I propose that they were native to lakes, the only bodies of water shown not to be boiling all the time. also they use their shapeshifting to change their bouyancy as they dive for mollusks or whatever), reproduction (internal fertilization, followed by egg laying; they can change their physical sex pretty much at will, because they're shapeshifters, but if it's not their "natural" form, it still consumes magic to get into that form and burns extra calories to hold the form; fertilization and pregnancy tends to go quite poorly if a basilisk changes/reverts to a form that doesn't have the proper equipment for whatever child they're currently bearing), and so on (basilisk eyes are adapted for underwater, leaving them relatively nearsighted unless transformed to be otherwise, and they have a short-term photographic memory to make assembling accurate disguises on the fly easier/possible), but I don't really feel the need to go tooooo into detail with all that >.>

12. What do you consider the most memorable scene? Why?

That's a very tough choice, between the graveyard fight in Thanks to Them (Very intense. Very beautiful, very powerful) and the Lumity dance in Enchanting Grom Fright (Very romantic. Very beautiful, very powerful). They both basically defined the fandom brainrot after their respective releases, and unlike the various season finales, there was little else cutting in to interrupt and distract from them. Just tasty, tasty action, one at the breathtaking height of fluff, and the other in the soul-crushing depths of angst.

A close third, to whichever one of those is only second-best, would be the duel for the portal key in Eclipse Lake (Very dramatic. Very beautiful, very powerful). Another big action scene, who'd'a thunk it, and another angsty one, too.

[violetjedisylveon]

Unearthed Secrets

Owl House Blue Guard au chap 12

Summary: The students of hexside hear from their guest speaker, Argi messes with Luz, and then screws with Boscha.

Word count: 3.1k

Warnings: No warnings except for swearing, I think it's pretty chill this chapter

A/N: I'm back with more Blue Guard! I have had this written for a while, I just haven't posted it 😅 sorry

Blue Guard AU Masterpost

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Argi stayed in the shadows of the assembly room, Miss Nazik had given her permission to be invisible here at least. But since there weren't any students yet, she didn't see any reason.

Principal Bump was going over note cards he had prepared. Argi knew he wouldn't get the chance to use many of them, Miss Nazik would steal the show from him. She supposed he wouldn't mind due to their friendship.

She just hung around in the shadows until she heard students coming. She went invisible and hid under the bleachers.

She spotted Skara and the demon student she had been talking with entering together, Skara was following a step behind them. Argi focused on the conversation they were having.

"I know the best place where no one will bother us." Skara was saying.

Her new friend offered small words and followed Skara, Argi's ears tracked them to a high spot in a corner of the gym, hearing Skara talk about how she'd go here to spy on the gym classes and stay away from people when she didn't want to deal with them. She made some comment about how someone didn't even know it existed.

Argi's senses became too preoccupied with everyone else coming in and talking for her to keep track of Skara's conversation. She turned her ears to Miss Nazik and Mister Bump, waiting to hear what they had to say.

Once everyone was settled into their seats and the chatter somewhat quieted, Mister Bump approached the microphone. He tapped to make sure it was working then started speaking.

"Students of Hexside, I have no doubt that you have heard of our special guest touring our school today, some of you have even had her visit your classes, but I am pleased to present to you, our speaker for today's assembly and my good friend, Carlyne Nazik!" Mister Bump announced.

The students cheered. There wasn't a single person on the isles who didn't know who Miss Nazik was. She was iconic and important. Argi didn't know how she dealt with the pressure of everyone watching her, maybe it was just part of getting old, not caring about how she appeared was definitely up Nazik's isle. Hell, she didn't even cover her prosthetic, which was fairly uncommon.

Miss Nazik took the stage. Her impressive stature and scarred appearance easily made her the focus of attention in any crowd. She took the microphone from Mister Bump and it was like she'd put a spell on everyone to snare their attention.

"Hello students of Hexside, I should probably let you know up front that I sincerely like your mixed track program, and as long as I'm around, no one will be stopping it, not even the Emporer." Nazik said.

There were a few cautious laughs, mostly hushed silence tinged with fear.

"Hmm, I guess it's easier for me to make fun of him since he's scared of me." Noticeably more laughter now.

"If I were him I'd be scared of me too based on size alone, you've got no idea what sort of dirt I've got on that little bastard." Nazik said.

Bump cleared his throat and Nazik rolled her eyes.

"They're all teenagers, they can hear cuss words." Nazik argued.

Mister Bump put his hands up, conceding to Nazik before she got really into that argument. Nazik nodded to him approvingly.

"Now that is a smart choice. Don't try to argue with me kids, I've got over four hundred years of arguing on you all." Nazik commented, eliciting more laughter from the school.

It went on for a bit, Argi had heard this particular presentation, or something similar to it, plenty of times. She opted to zone out her mentor and eavesdrop on the students. Silently, she hoped she'd be able to pick up on Skara and her new friend's conversation in their hidden space.

More time had gone by than she thought because soon the students were leaving for their next classes, some were staying to meet Miss Nazik. Argi stepped out from under the bleachers and observed the passing crowd. She caught sight of Willow waiting with Gus in line to speak with Nazik, and saw the human and her girlfriend leaving for their next class. She followed the pair and wound up in their abominations class.

The Blight sure was skilled with abominations, Luz practically had hearts in her eyes as she watched her demonstrate for the class. Argi leaned over from her place beside the human and adjusted her spell.

"I think you're focused on the wrong thing." She teased.

Luz jolted, not enough to get any weird looks, but she was definitely surprised. Luz glanced around for her, she tapped Luz's shoulder and suppressed a giggle when the human looked right at her but still didn't see her. Invisibility was so much fun to mess with.

"Are you taking notes or just watching your girlfriend?" Argi asked.

Luz's cheeks flushed and she glowered in Argi's direction. She spotted a notepad hanging out of the human's bag and picked it up. They were in the back so no one would notice much, and the notepad was soon affected by her spell too. She flipped through the pages, most of it was those glyphs the human did magic with and combinations, both proven and to be tested.

Some of the combinations looked like what she'd seen in spell circles, the human might be onto something.

"Come to think of it, how do you do abominations with your magic? Doesn't exactly seem like you have anything to do that." Argi asked as she set the notepad on the desk.

Luz gave her a frustrated glare and snatched the notepad up, checking through its pages.

"Relax, I didn't take anything." Argi hopped up onto the table and sat in front of Luz, who still had no idea where she was.

Argi kicked her legs back and forth as she watched the human become increasingly frustrated. She giggled and decided to end the little game.

"So, got any guesses yet?" She asked, leaning over to the human.

"What do you want, Silver?" Luz asked, gritting her teeth.

"I'm bored, obviously." Argi said.

"Why are you here anyway?" Luz said in a whisper.

"Miss Nazik brought me, she's my mentor so I kinda had to come." Argi shrugged and pull a twig out of her sack to snack on.

"You are her apprentice?" Luz gawked.

"Yeah, why's everyone so surprised by that?" Argi rolled her eyes.

Despite the oddly amicable conversation they'd had last night, Argi felt like messing with Luz right now. It was fun, like the way she'd mess around with Hunter when she was younger.

"So, do you just take this class to make lovey dovey eyes at Amity or do you actually learn in it?" Argi asked.

Again, Luz blushed and glared at her. Or at least glared at where she thought she was.

"Don't you have anywhere to be?" Luz muttered.

"Nope." Argi chirped.

Luz rolled her eyes and grumbled something Argi didn't bother to catch, it sounded like cursing anyway.

"I do actually learn things, even if I can't use them, yet." Luz said.

Argi hummed and continued kicking her legs.

"You're a Palisde, right?" Luz suddenly asked after a moment of silence.

"Sure am." Argi nodded.

"Eda's got a book that says you guys live really long, and you can see through any illusion." Luz said.

Argi frowned at the owl lady's mention. She didn't like the cursed witch.

"I can see through any illusion, but I can also choose to see it as it is intended, so I enjoyed Gus's spectacles." Argi said.

"You've seen that?" Luz asked.

"Miss Nazik went to his class, she was very impressed with his skill." Argi nodded.

"He'll be on a high about that for the rest of the week." Luz said fondly.

They sat in silence again.

Argi sighed, she should probably be getting back to Miss Nazik by now. She hopped off the desk, she hit the ground and it sent a wave of shock through her body. Her back, which hadn't been as much of a bitch as it had been, suddenly reminded her of the pain she had been in. She grunted and shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Are you okay?" Luz whispered.

"Old injury, comes with the job." Argi grunted.

It wasn't a total lie, she did have injuries that would suddenly flare up, she just wasn't having one now. She stretched her back and tails, the urge to fly rose with the action.

Outside. I'll go outside. That usually solved the urge.

"Have fun with your girlfriend, Luz." She waved and left before the human could say anything.

She quickly located the nearest exit and practically threw herself out the door, shedding her invisibility. The fresh air was a welcome feeling on her warm cheeks. She wanted to be higher, wanted to fly.

She called Phoebe to her, and greeted the Palisman with a chirp of her own to match their excited greeting.

"Wanna go for a little flight?" She asked.

"Oh yes!" Phoebe chirped.

"Great." She said.

Phoebe took her staff form and she took off into the clear skies. The wind on her face felt so good.

She soared straight up until she was far above the school, it was tiny below her. Then she let go of her staff and let herself go free falling.

The feeling was one that filled her with exhilaration. She had no fear, she knew Phoebe would catch her, and some part of her knew she would be safe, should be safe, whether she had a Palisman or not. She cheered as she fell. It was just as fun as flying sometimes.

Hunter would kill me if he found out. She chuckled.

She was nearing the ground now, Phoebe cawed loudly and swooped in, catching her, dispelling the shock from the sudden stop and gradually descended. Argi pulled her tousled hair back into a ponytail again, it had come out on the way down.

Her feet brushed the solid ground and Argi got off, the quick fall had already made her feel much better.

"What are you doing here?"

Her ears twitched at the sour voice behind her. She turned, a witch with light pink skin, magenta colored hair tied into a bun and three eyes, was sitting in the shadows of the school. She was upset and sulking from the smell of it.

"Just flying, none of your business." Argi told her.

"Well go fly somewhere else, this is my place!" She shouted.

Argi glared at her, the witch hesitated for a moment at her glowing red eyes and ominous mask.

"I fly where I want, but I think I will go, nobody wants to be around someone who's such a jerk for no reason." She said.

Apparently, she struck a nerve with that. The witch got visibly angry.

"I'm not a jerk!" She shouted.

"Well you acted like one just now." Argi shot back.

"What do you know? You're not from around here, you don't know who I am." The witch spat.

Argi looked the witch over again. Three eyes, potion track, over confident. Nettles's kid. Ah, that made sense. Nettles was extremely proud of her daughter, probably overly boosting her ego without meaning to. In some of the meetings she had been in the background for, she had seen the kid measuring contest between Nettles and Blight.

Yet in those meetings, she could clearly tell that Nettles loved her daughter. She couldn't tell the same with Blight. She knew enough about that family to know Boscha was the only child they could have. Boscha was a tad spoiled, and definitely had a superiority complex.

"Boscha Nettles." She stated.

Boscha looked surprised, Argi cocked her head, amused.

"Blue Guard, I've worked around your mother." She introduced herself.

"And I know a lot more than you think, Boscha, I've got good ears." She twitched her large ears to emphasize the point.

Boscha paled and turned her face away. She kicked a pebble towards the wall with a grunt.

"I suppose you are upset because one of your 'friends' doesn't want to be your friend anymore?" Argi guessed.

With all she knew, this almost definitely had something to do with Skara.

Boscha glared at her and Argi felt the tug towards Boscha's mind. She was thrust into a brief flash of recent memories.

Boscha intercepted Skara and Viney on their way to class, Viney got defensive immediately, Skara remained calm.

"What are you doing?" Boscha asked.

"Heading to class." Skara answered shortly.

"What are you doing hanging around those pathetic excuses for witches?!" Boscha exclaimed.

Viney bristled, Skara put a hand on her shoulder, a silent signal that she would handle it. Boscha didn't get the hint and continued taunting the pair.

"You're even playing that stupid flyer derby game, it's so lame, I can't believe you would go that low." Boscha said.

"At least they let me play instead of putting me on the bench making tactics every game." Skara spat.

Boscha took an alarmed half step back.

"What's that got to do with any of this?" She asked.

"It's got a lot to do with this." Skara said, looking her dead in the eye.

"I wanted to check out the new club, I got the jist of it and got some tactics going for the game, I offered them up, and I assumed I'd be the bench tactician again, but she let me join the team." Skara paused for a moment, guilt flashing across her face.

"She had every reason not to."

"Who? That half-a-" Boscha started confidently.

A single, sharp note cut her off. The second hand fear and confusion was intense.

"Don't call her that. She's more of a witch than you'll ever be." Skara said darkly.

"She's also a way better person. She didn't laugh or make fun of it." Skara added.

A silent stand still followed.

"Now, I think we're done here. If you'll excuse us, we have to go to class." Viney said, cutting through the tension.

Together, the pair walked around Boscha. Confusion, anger and dread. The witch swirled and grabbed Skara by her sleeve.

"You are not going to leave me, not like she did." Her words may have been threatening, but the desperation in her tone ruined the effect.

"I should have left years ago. You are a bad friend, you aren't even my friend." Skara snapped.

"You'll be nothing, just like all those losers!" Boscha shouted.

Skara flinched slightly, but remained unfazed by the threat.

"It's good company then. Better than you." She said calmly.

Boscha didn't have a comeback for that. She resorted to nasty.

"Whatever, I don't need you, you're just a weak loser like all that dumb plant bitch." Boscha turned her head up at her former friend.

"This should be a wake-up call, Boscha, you keep acting like this and nobody will want to deal with it. Then you'll be nothing." Skara said coldly.

She summoned her Palisman staff and pointed it at Boscha.

"And don't call Willow a bitch." She snarled.

The two witches left, Boscha stared after her former friend in confused anger.

Argi pulled herself from Boscha's mind.

That filled in the puzzle for her.

"It doesn't make any sense! She played on that stupid half witch's team in that stupid game one time and now she wants nothing to do with me!" Boscha shouted.

Argi leveled a red tinted glare in the witch's direction.

"It's more than just that. There are several reasons why, most of them revolve around you being fairly terrible to everyone around you." She said.

"What are you talking about? I've never-"

"When you found out she had a prosthetic leg you called her stumpy for two months." Argi cut her off.

Boscha crossed her arms and huffed.

"Oh c'mon, that was ages ago and it's not like it matters." Boscha puffed.

"You weren't harassed by your "friend" after a traumatic incident that resulted in amputation." Argi stated.

"How do you know about that?!" Boscha shouted.

"I hear a lot, and I'm good at listening." Argi wiggled her ears.

"Besides, maybe she's happier with a new team that has members willing to learn how to help her instead of shoving her to the side all the time, hmm? Maybe she just likes them more. I can obviously see why." Argi stated firmly.

"Why's that? What do you know about people that you're so sure you know people better than me?" Boscha challenged.

Argi stared her straight in the eye.

"I know you're a bitch. And trust me, I know a lot of nasty people."

Boscha's face was bright red with anger, she summoned her staff and took a threatening step towards Argi. She didn't even blink as she restrained Boscha with vines, she wouldn't be much of a threat in a fight.

"If two of your friends have left, maybe you should start looking for a common thread and that will lead you to find out the source of this problem." Argi advised.

Boscha's mind immediately started turning, searching for someone to pin the blame on.

"It's all that human's fault!" Boscha shouted.

Argi laughed, Boscha couldn't even consider the possibility that she was at fault.

"Nope, that's definitely wrong." She said.

"How do you know?" Boscha shouted, she was screaming now.

"Skara hardly knows Luz, you can't pin this on her." Argi explained coolly.

She turned and started to walk away, it was a beautiful day and she didn't want to squander it talking to some annoying witch.

"Maybe the problem is you, ever think about that?" She asked over her shoulder.

She cast her spell and vanished from Boscha's view, her vines retreated and left Boscha standing in shock. Boscha stood there almost pathetically, Argi wasn't sympathetic.

Willow was a good witch, she didn't need any of this shit from someone like Boscha.

She left Boscha to stew in whatever she was feeling. She didn't care. The skies were beautiful and they called her to fly through them.

XXX

Luz held Amity's hand and followed along behind Willow and Gus, the latter was rambling excitedly about his day and how awesome it was.

A pencil fell out of her bag and rolled away, she let go of Amity's hand to retrieve it. The pencil rolled to a stop against a flat, pale green yellow foot. She bent to pick it up when it vanished.

Abomination goop tapped her shoulder, she looked up into a singular icy blue eye within a pool of deep blue and a glowing Palisman curled up in a monocle shape over the other. A heavily scarred face regarded her before a smirk curled on the leathery lips.

"Luzura." The ten foot tall demon paused, letting the effect sink Luz's heart to the bottom of her stomach.

"the crab maiden, I'd like to talk to you."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading!

VJS Out!

[disregardcanon]

toh the witches of Thistle Grove au from my drafts

context: the witches of thistle grove is a new adult fantasy series about a small town in illinois called thistle grove which was founded by four families of witches as a safe haven for them and their kind. the main character is a member of the least consequential founding family and she hasn't been back home from chicago in YEARS because of a very messy breakup with a boy who shattered her heart, who's a member of the most influential family.

after many years, there's going to be a shakeup in the power in the town because the main character's family is going to arbitrate a competition between the families to decide who will gain the town's power. she has a romance with a VERY attractive girl who's the heir of a different family, reconnects with her friends and family, and has a fun adventure. it's gay and great <3

the au is lumity. here we goooooooo

Blights- Blackmoores (the most influential family)

Porters- Thornes (the family the MCs best friend belongs to)

Montagues- Avramovs (this is the last name I give boscha in my fics and also the love interest's family. no she is not the love interest)

Clawthornes- Harlows (the MC's family who has traditionally stayed out of the competition and arbitrated it.)

i don't remember if this was my worldbuilding or the book's, but part of this premise is that marrying or being adopted into a founding family can give someone without magic magic, but not marrying into a family that doesn't have the magic of the town on their side.

additional families that have magic but aren't founders

Deamonnes, Whispers, Parks, Calliopes (last name I give skara)

amity is living in chicagoland with her fiance, luz. she has to return to her hometown for some important family thing that she won't elaborate on and refuses to bring luz. so luz has to IMPROVISE

cue luz making her own way to the town of thistle grove, talking her way into staying with eda and king clawthorne, and getting involved in amity's checkered past.

details

alador is a normal townie that wasn't born with magic. he figured out at a young age that magic WAS real and ended up best friends with and then high school sweethearts with him. he ends up leaving him for odalia, though, because of the fact that marrying into the blights will give him magic whereas marrying darius... will not

willow and amity were besties as kids and then the blight parents made amity dump her because willow is from a family that isn't influential and seems to only have a trace of magic (as a kid, at least)

in high school, amity dates boscha. it's a match made in heaven for her parents but in hell for her. they really want her to stay with boscha because the montagues are a good, powerful family, but she's also. mean. possessive. and amity feels so stifled here in this town. she breaks up with her, runs off to chicagoland for college, meets luz, and never looks back. at least until it's demanded of her by tradition

a few years after that, willow opens up to boscha and falls in love with her. and then boscha takes her heart and stomps all over it, feeling like an idiot for every letting it happen in the first place.

amity and willow reconnect when amity comes to town for the arbitration and bond over boscha being The Worst. luz tries to figure out what's going on and bonds with eda the owl lady.

it's hard to work out a balance because luz sees MAGIC! and witches! and cool secret town of cool secret people! and goes why would you ever want to leave? this is my dream? wait you're saying if i married you i could get magic????~!?!?!?!?!?! amity this is AMAZING why didn't you ever tell me about this wonderful fantastic thing! and amity can't see it as anything but awful because not only did her parents control all of her actions here, her mother, quite literally, has a hold on all of the family magic. so any magic she could give to luz would only come through her mother, just the way it does with amity. which is why despite loving magic amity was able to go live so far away from its source.

i don't remember how we were going to get there, but gus was going to win the tournament for the porters and wrest control of the town magic away from both the blights and the montagues, eda was going to think luz is The Bees Knees enough to adopt her (and as a clawthorne that WOULD give her magic) and amity was going to marry her so that she could have magic that isn't controlled by her mother, but goes through gwendolyn clawthorne who is a lot cooler about Everything Always.

<3

[angelcloves]

As much as I love the idea of Willow and Gus being a key part of the Owl Piece AU...

I feel incredibly bad for their Dad's. At least Perry reported on Eda's near-petrification, so he should have some idea how things went awry? Maybe? I mean, his son and his son's close friend starting a riot would've been pretty hard for him to have missed, lol.

But Gilbert and Harvey?!? As far as they know, Willow went of a field trip... and never came back. Sure, it's possible, even probable that they watched Perry's report on the petrification, but uh... That still wouldn't really be much of a comfort to them. Their daughter is gone and she's probably going to stay gone for months.

Actually, that also goes for Perry. And unlike Willow's fathers, who at least have each other, he doesn't seem to have any other family besides Gus! So poor him too.

Hell, none of them might not even know where their kids are! Unless Eda sent like, a letter to them or something before The Owl Ship set sail.

"Dear, the actual parents of my two newest kids.

So, as you've probably heard, the government tried to put me to death recently. And your kids helped prevent that from happening. Kudos to you guys for raising children with a taste for chaos. But now, not only is the government still after me, but they want a piece of my sister and the kids as well.

But don't worry! My house has the ability to shift into a ship, so we're setting sail for the other side of the world. Of course, everybody knows that there's not supposed to be anything out there, but I figure that the journey there and back again will take long enough that the heat will have died down to the point that we can all resume our usual lives by the time that we do get back.

So don't worry about your kids, I'll look after them as if they were my own! My sister and I may not have magic anymore, but I figure that between the two of us actually let's be real, my apprentice will be doing all of the teaching we can still manage to keep up their magical educations. Plus we can fish for food and they'll have hammocks to sleep in.

Just think of this as them being on an extended field trip! Only one where they'll be learning things that are actually useful, chaperoned by adults who genuinely care about them.

Kindest regards,

The Owl Lady

P.S. I'm so sorry, it wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Why didn't Luz listen to me. Why did Lily have to curse me. Why did Belos decide to go after the kids. This is so wrong wrong wrong wrong...."

consider: souvenir game would go hard

[mdhwrites]

honestly, Amity's hair color is the perfect metaphor for her character. She's still hiding her true colors, she's just trying to match Luz instead of Odalia.

So even at the time, when I was still deep in the paint of TOH, I had a major problem with it as far as the themes, metaphors and just designs of TOH went. Put both Amity and Luz at that time into their Hexside uniforms. Then silhouette them so you have no colors. Now try to tell me which is which.

It was a genuine problem for me during that time period where I'd see sketch fanart of Lumity and have to look for Amity's ears because otherwise the two are indistinguishable from each other. Like yes, it's a MUCH more boring hairstyle and I'm with others that there's just way too much purple in the show so Amity's green hair helped her actually stand out but this really was a big problem and got worse as I got more critical of Lumity. After all, this moment of making sure she has her own identity, stands out from others and will decide her own fate... And she looks the fucking same as another character now, blending in more easily with them. Then she just goes on to slowly have the rest of her personality and life (which were already doing this, thank you "your grades are slipping" from Escaping Expulsion for that one) consumed by her role of girlfriend.

It makes what should be such a character defining moment anything but that. Hell, it isn't even a complete schism from her family's desires and wishes. She still goes on to effectively helm Blight Industries after all, or so I presume unless she started her own competing abominations factory which still doesn't fix that that's STILL what Odalia would have wanted had Amity failed to get into the EC. It's still living in the shadow of her father's legacy and following in his own footsteps.

It's actually the one major cue from Hunter that Amity takes for her arc which really doesn't help the two feel like they aren't the same character. At least with Hunter, we only have one action that's confirmed as being the same as those he's supposed to be rejecting so as to find his own personhood: Rejecting Belos. There's a lot more we can claim but that's the only one 100% confirmed.

Amity though? Her future includes dedicating herself to a potentially unhealthy degree to her partner while also commercializing her magic into mech-infused abominations. Even if Lumity is healthy post the series, nothing about Amity's behavior doesn't imply she'd drop everything for Luz at a moment's notice and Alador gave the same impression. So... She just became her dad? Why?

Then again, when you are a show that seems to actually struggle to write a diverse cast of characters (I mean personality wise, not ethnicity), this is going to happen. Dana is a good enough artist though that the silhouette problem shouldn't have happened. That should have been caught and stopped immediately, not when it's so antithetical to the point of the moment. I guess you could say it's to show she still needs to make another step to becoming her own person but that never really happens, does it? And we explicitly know they didn't have proper plans for it to happen.

So yeah, it really is just perfect for who Amity became, even right down to being a worse design to go alongside girlfriend Amity being such a worse character.

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

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.

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Honestly I’m always gonna be kinda miffed that we didn’t get at least a 5 second scene of Odalia in Jail cause seriously that woman kinda deserved worse punishment than what she got in Canon.

Hell I kinda imagined in my mind we would get a lower stakes fight of Camilla vs Odalia while the Main fight of Belos vs Luz was happening.

I even commission a fanart on how it could go. (Though forgive me if I’m mistaken that the abomination hand was from Odalia, kinda an error in the artwork.

I can only assume we didn't get it because of the amount of time left in the special, let alone depending on how they wanted the ending montage to go really, given the montage was the characters being picked up from their various spots and all ended up at the party for Luz's birthday somehow.

[helldustedstories]

@missallanea asked: “Princes fail all the time” / eda @ stolas because I love this weird crossover friendship

Nikita Gill's fierce fairytales // accepting

On the surface, Stolas and Eda shouldn't be friends. Anyone would look at them and think that they came from two completely different worlds, in so many different ways, that they could have absolutely nothing in common. But the truth of the matter was that they actually had quite a bit in common, and probably more that they hadn't yet discovered.

For one thing, they both have children they absolutely adored and would do anything for. Stolas can't help but wonder how Luz and Octavia would get along; it sounded like Eda's daughter was much more energetic than his own, but would likely do her best to meet Octavia where she was. Luz's girlfriend Amity sounded like she might have more in common with Via, but if he could introduce them, if Via could make some friends, that would be even better. Of course, they'd have to travel by portal to see one another, but that wasn't that big of a deal, not really.

Both he and Eda had partners they didn't feel quite good enough for (and if either Blitz or Raine knew that the two of them were thinking such things, they would do their best to make both of them feel better), partners that they had lost for a long time, only to reunite with them many years later, realizing that that was the reason nothing else had worked out. Though in his case, it was a bit more complicated, but still, similar enough to be noteworthy.

It was nice, having a friend who understood him in the ways that Eda did. Granted, having more friends was something he'd wanted for a long time; this one just happened to be from a different realm, one he'd stumbled into accidentally.

Today, they'd been talking about the politics of their respective homes. Eda had told him about how The Boiling Isles used to have an Emperor, but he'd actively been trying to kill everyone, and they'd had to figure out a new political system after his untimely but deserved demise. It sounded like that was something they were still figuring out, but rebuilding was going well.

Quite frankly, Stolas was fascinated; he was going to have to see if there were any books about the history of the Boiling Isles, to see what he could learn about his friend's home. He probably wouldn't be able to offer much insight (not that anyone needed his input about a world he hadn't grown up in, didn't know the intricacies of), but he was very interested in at least being able to have a more informed conversation!

And then the conversation had turned to Hell's hierarchy, and how Stolas was actively doing what he could to try to make it better. While Stolas knew there was only so much he could do on his own, he was still going to do everything he could.

"Princes fail all the time," Eda commented, and it was clear she was trying to be reassuring, nonchalant about the whole thing.

He looks up from his cup at her words, letting out a soft little laugh. "While that is undoubtedly true, this is one area where I can't fail." He pauses, then adds, "I realize that it will take some time, but I'm going to keep trying." Because if he gave up, he would be letting down everyone he cared about, everyone he'd promised he'd use his title to do some good, to try to undo some of the harm his family had caused.