#but after that belos didn't really need him so he just decided to get him out of the game with his signature move: Significant Bodily Harm

[drawbudd]

The begin to my little prince au and some additional practice doodles i did ages ago

[salamander-spark]

My first fanfic! I'm proud of it even if it's a little rushed. I barely managed to get it out within the day. Tomorrow's prompt might just be a drawing.

Day 1:

Hug/Cabin 7/Shapeshifter

Fic below:

TW: very brief depiction of a panic attack, description of nightmare.

It had been a month since Vee's mom and sister came back from the boiling isles.

The stress Vee felt the few days it took for the return was immeasurable. A worry for her family took root in the back of her mind, it made sleep nearly impossible, and gave her nightmares.

Waiting for months, no contact, no words, no way of knowing if they are alive. No magic. She'd be found out, spreding herself too thin with Camila and Luz's responsibilities, inevitably slipping up. People from the town gazing upon her demonic form. The eyes of Belos's monsterous form looming behind everyone. her family, Luz's friends all dead they couldn't stop him THEY COULDN'T COME HOME THEY WERE DEAD HE KILLED THE —

In the present, Vee shook her head to dispel the images her imagination made. She remembers the dreams vividly, still occasionally seeing them in her sleep.

The week following their return, she found the pamphet Masha handed her. Blushing (But NOT because she remembers making a fool of herself in front of them), she decided it was time to take up their offer. 

And it turned out AMAZING, Masha's gradoise flair really fitting the tour guide gig. It was just like back at Cabin seven when They waxed poeticly about the many pagen dieties and what they did. 

Vee kept up with Masha's narration, interjecting questions when she thought of them, keeping the conversation flowing. Vee told Masha about herself, and Masha shared stories about their friends. An aching Vee didn’t realize she had in her heart began to fade talking to her friend after so long, but only slightly.

Masha didn't know that she knew them. For all they knew, they were talking to a complete stranger. The person they talked to couldn't possibly be the shy, anxious girl they shared a cabin with. She couldn't be the friend they helped bring out of her shell, who looked at all things mundane with innocent wonder. She wasn't Luz Noceda.

The insecurity persisted, became even bigger after Masha invited Vee to hang out with their friends. Diego, the tall, relaxed boy who let his hair fall onto his face and probably had a million zits on his forhead. Samantha; or rather Sam, who had a love for video games and anime, and rambled about them to the captivated audience of her friends. 

Neither of them knew her as Vee either. It was awkward, but managable, getting to know them a second time. She noticed that they were each more comfortable in conversation than when they were back at camp. They were all less reluctant to share the information about themselves that took them weeks to share at camp. Vee supposed she was also more confident, staying in a cabin with each other must have been to thank for that.

She didn't know how long she could keep lying to them, for her own sanity.

"Say," Masha began, "What about those kids you were hanging out with? They're your other friends, right?" 

Vee, lying belly down looked up from the Cosmic frontier book she was reading. "Huh? She got so invested in the plot it took her brain a while to process Masha's question. 

"Y'know, at the historical society, right before Halloween," Masha clarified. "You guys asked me about that rebus remember? That one kid was going on like, 'Grahh chop off my ear' or something," Masha giggled. 

Oh. Luz's friends. Vee knew the witches also considered her part of the group, but it was easier thinking of them as her sister's friend group.

Wait... They didn't have a proper cover story! Vee was terrible at lying on the fly, but she needed to start talking now!

"O- OH YEAH, that was Gus. H-hes pretty fun. Then theres uhhh, Amity with the pink hair, Willow had glasses, and... oh yeah Hunter too but he was at our home that day." Vee needed to stall so she could come up with something.

"Is he The Blond cosmic frontier fan?" Masha asked, which confused Vee.

"When did you see him? I don't remember him going to your job after we left."

"No, I actually saw them at the haunted hayride! oh, I guess I only told you two-" Masha points two fingers at Sam and Diego respectively "-about that since you weren't hanging out with us back then. Whoops~"

Suddenly, Diego piped up. "Wait, you said 'Our' Home. So they like, live at your place or something"  

CRAP!

"Uhhhh well... you see." Think of something Vee, just spit it out. "Foreign excange students?" she thought out loud. "-From out of state not another country!" she amended in a panic.

"O–kay?" Sam raised her eyebrow "I've never seen them at school before, and you know I watch people like a hawk." It was true, back at camp, Sam compiled a list of the campers from other cabins activities in order to know who to watch out for. 

It wasn't a skill she thought would be used agsinst her.

"Well, There are other schools in the area you know? I think they went to, yknow..." She didn't know the names of any other high schools. "...Not Gravesfield high?" She finished with a shrug. And also, they went back to their own rea-" DONT SAY REALM "TOWN like, right after Halloween, so yeah, that's why you've never seen 'em" She finished with a shrug and a manic chuckle.

How did she keep this up for thee months straight? She must've lost her touch. Then again, she considered not having to lie as a good thing.

"Sure, I'll accept that." Sam relented.

"Hold up, am I missing something, or does that like. Not make sense." Diego once again came in with his terribly timed questions. "Cause like, you said they lived in your house, why wouldn't they go to the same school?" How is he so perceptive!? It must be because he doesn't devote much energy into responding so he can listen better.

Masha put a hand on her shoulder "Hey, sorry about him Vee, if theres something you don't want to tell us, you don't have to." assured Masha. "We didn't mean to push so far." Masha turns toward the offender, "Diego." They enunciate.

Vee didn't her most of what Masha said. Where Masha tried to reassure her, Vee only heard an accusation. 'something you don't want to tell us' sounded more like 'You're hiding something, aren't you Vee.' And what did that last part mean? Could they tell she was panicking? WHY DID THEY SOUND ANGRY?

They'reGoingToForce AnswersOutOfmeNobodyTrustsMe-

Everything turned blurry, she was hyper aware of all the sounds of the room closing in on her. Her heartbeat was in her ears, everyones voices blended into a cocophony She needed to get away She's clammy and very sweaty-

It's queit, what changed, is there still danger?

She heard breathing, not her own, someone elses, not her own, and it makes her realize how quick she's breathing. She tries to slow down, matching the pace of the other person. 

When she finally steadied herself (it felt like several minutes but also less than one) She opened her eyes (They were closed?) and sees Masha sitting on her knees on the bed in front of her (She doesn't remember getting into this corner). They continued to demonstrate the breathing exercise, which they also did with their hands.

Vee thinks she remembers something like this happening at camp, but isn't sure right now. Masha gestured their hands out wide, clearly asking if it was okay if they could give a hug. 

You don't deserve one, her brain tells her. No, she shakes her hehead.

Masha sits with her, and they both breath. Such a simple act, filled with so much understanding. You doesn't deserve Masha. 

She's now aware enough to know how mean she's being to herself. She spots her other friends sitting in the middle of the room, Dego on the floor while Samantha sits in the desk chair. She gives a meek wave and they wave back without keeping eye contact. They look ashamed, Masha must've given them a talking to.

"Hi guys, sorry you had to see that," she knew she shouldn't be apologizing, but this whole situation never would've happened if she was truthful from the beginning. 

"No Vee, this wasn't your fault." Says Masha

Sam adds in "We're sorry. Diego said he should've realised before he asked that. And I'm sorry for getting so uptight about answers." Sam makes eye contact at the end, though it almost looks like she's scrutinizing Vee's face-

-She spins to look at the mirror and sees a splotchy mess of skin on her face. One could confuse it for vitiligo -a skin condition she learned some humans have- if not for the fact her face was previously a single solid shade of brown. 

Her hair is now completely blue, and a bit shorter, exposing her ears in their full glory. They must've been flapping like crazy during her panic attack.

Her sclera was blue, and took on the glossy sheen of an amphibious creature. 

None of those are human traits.

Her head snaps back towards Masha, cringing while waiting for a reaction.

"So..." They began. "I um. I like your ears?" They clerly want to say more, but refrains to be polite. "Once again, I don't wanna force you to answer. I've just got a lotta theories in my noggin right now and I would like to know the truth. But again, no pressure. Whetever the truth is, I'll try not to react badly." They finished by putting their hands up and smiling. 

Both looked at their friends who nodded. "Hey I'm cool with you being a shape-changing spirit, or some cryptid, or whatever you are. Again, I'm sorry." Sam smiles.

Diego nods and says "Ditto, what she said."

"And if you're not ready right now, we trust you. We just want you to be comfortable with us. You can talk later

Now was the time to come clean to her friends. It wasn't because she was backed into a corner. They let her keep her secrets if she really needed too.

Her eyes tear up, and the tears wetted her cheek. They trust her.

Hopefully they stayed true to their words. Here goes nothing.

"Um, Let me tell you about a place called the Boiling Isles"

She shapeshifts into her true skin for the first time in their presence.

Sam fellbackwards off her chair while Diego simply said "woah." After squeaking in a high pitch, Masha just stared, taking in the details of her true for  from her tail to her hair.

She could’ve eased the group in better, could've given them a better idea of what to expect. But flowery speeches were Luz’s deal, and Vee wanted to rip off the bandaid.

She hoped they  would share Mom and Luz's opinions on how non-threatening she looked. Masha looked far from disgusted at least, but she had no idea what was on Diego's mind.

Sam lifted her chair to defend herself, before realizing how it looked and set it down. Vee only now remembered Sam has a fear of snakes, Ophidiophobia if she's correct. 

She considered apologizing, but decided against it, given this whole thing was mostly Sam's fault. She could be petty, she deserves it. She's definitely getting around to it later though.

they let her explain herself in full, with no interruptions. She told them about the titan, demon and witches. She wasn't quite ready to tell them how she was born, but she told them she pretended to be Luz for the summer.

Everyone's eyes grew wide at the admission, and it looked like they had something to say. Then they looked in her eyes and she gave a look that said she never wanted to hurt them.

She didn't expect them to start joking around so quickly after several earth shattering revelations, but she could tell that they wanted to lighten the mood before discussing them.

They were also being super frustrating about the cute comments.

“I'm not cute. Luz calls everything cute, like. Possums, for one.” She scrunches her face, “and she didn't even bat an eye at a bunch of talking rats!” 

“Your face looks like a cat,” says Diego, his mouth curved in an uncharacteristicly mischievous grin. “But like, a bald cat that fell in a can of green paint.” He teases. 

"Hey, you up for that hug yet, Vee?" Masha smiled that pretty gap toothed smile, and Vee felt her resolve shatter. 

"Y'know what? yeah. I could use one." Vee agreed.

"Want to make it four?" They asked, to which Vee nodded.

Vee tightly hugged Masha, and they embraced. With Vees hace in the crook of their neck, she wrapped her tail around Diego who had moved behind her. "Sweet" he simply remarked.

Masha looked at where Sam sat crisscrosed, hand hovering over Vee's tail hesitsntly. "Hey, you know she's not slimy, right?" Masha indignantly asked. "She's also warmer than I expected, she barely even feels like a snake. More like what I imagine a dragon would be like." Masha blinked "Can you turn into a dragon?" Masha almost shouted.

Vee shrugged, Sam insisted "But do I have to?"

"Yeah, get over here dummy!" Vee wrapps the end of her tail around Sam's midsection. Vee thinks she looks a bit pale.

"Geez it must be 'everybody bully Sam hour' today! Really, I'm still sorry," Sam defends. 

"You were a jerk, you owe me something expensive!"

Diego and Masha laughed at Sams expression, Vee leans deeper into Masha's hug. 

"You okay Vee-Vee?" masha softly asks.

"Yeah," Vee looks around at her friends. getting an idea.

"Cabin seven!"

"HOO HAA HAA!" chorused four voices

"I love you guys." whispered the shapeshifter amongst her closest friends.

[child-of-the-nights]

Various characters on your birthday

A/N: So this is very self indulgent because yesterday was my birthday (yippee!) but I wrote some headcanons with a few of my fav characters from the fandoms I write for. Anyway have fun reading!

Warnings: none

Characters: Aro Volturi, Emperor Belos, Elrond, Shadow Weaver, Thranduil

Aro Volturi:

Now, celebrating birthdays in the vampire world is a little bit different. Since most people at the palazzo have been alive for centuries, they don't really celebrate their birthdays every year. It's more like every decade or even every 100 years.

However, if Aro's mate is still human or a newborn vampire, they can expect to have a big party thrown for them. Even if they prefer solitude, they can expect to at least have the family invited. That being Caius, Marcus, Athenodora and Sulpicia.

Aro obviously gets his mate the best gifts. He can, after all, see their deepest wishes with a single touch. His mate had seen something online and thought "wow, it would be nice to have this"? Aro had already added it to the list of possible birthday gifts.

Obviously he would buy them more meaningful gifts as well. For example, maybe the mate absolutely loves a certain book series, well Aro would commision someone to make them a special edition of the books.

His mate can expect to find love notes and poems all over the place on their birthday. Aro is a gifted writer and he makes sure to capture all the things that he admires about his mate. Which is pretty much everything. Seriously, he can barely name anything he doesn't like.

The entire day is planned carefully by Aro and he intends to go through with his plan unless something absolutely crucial needs his attention. In that case, he promises his mate that he'll make up for being away.

Aro will ask them to dance with him to their favorite songs. Whatever the song may be, he would find a way to dance with them.

It brings him great joy when he sees how his mate has so much fun. Especially if they are holding his hand while doing so. Aro loves it when he can bury himself in their mind.

When the day is coming to an end, he takes them to stargaze outside of Volterra, somewhere not that affected by light pollution. They both would look at the stars and hold hands while doing so. Aro would whisper sweet nothings in their ear, possibly slipping into other languages while doing so.

His mate can definitely say that their birthday was amazing, if not the best birthday they ever had.

Emperor Belos:

When it comes to Belos and celebrating birthdays, he actually prefers to not have a grand party for his beloved. He just thinks it would serve no reason and a private dinner or something similar means far more than anything else.

That being said, he is actually... hardly torn away from doing his Emperor duties. He must prepare for the Day of Unity after all. But after enough begging, he decides to humor his partner for a while.

I'm not saying that he didn't get them gifts, because of course he did. Belos is the type of person to hand-craft presents instead of buying them. He just feels it's far more personal that way.

Belos being the old fashioned man that he is, he writes them a heartfelt letter. As heartfelt as Belos can be of course. He would reminescence of their first date and the moment Belos realised he loved them.

Somehow the entire castle found out of their birthday, so the s/o can expect getting birthday wishes from most of the guards. Some (like Lilith, Kikimora and Hunter) even give them presents. Lilith and Kikimora just want to suck up to Belos of course, but Hunter's is more personal. After all, it's his uncle's lover.

As much as Belos denies it, he loves having matching things. So his beloved would get something for their birthday that matches something he owns. Perhaps it's a gadget he uses often, or a piece of clothing that he loves; he would get them something similar.

This day is the ONLY day he would allow them to wear his emperor outfit. Belos would watch them try to imitate him and would laugh along. After the day is over though, he makes sure to tell his s/o that they got their emperor-outfit-wearing priviledges revoked.

Obviously Belos knows everything on the Boiling Isles, which means that he knows all of the secret places that are just absolutely mesmerizing. He might just surprise his beloved with a trip to one of these places.

I believe at night, once the both of them are in bed, Belos would share some of his fond memories. That is probably the most sentimental his s/o had ever seen him. It's sort of a birthday present of sorts I suppose.

Now, if his lover REALLY wanted to have a big party, he might be convinced. He would use that to manipulate the Isles into believing that he is a kind man, but he would also just want to make his beloved happy. Belos is just a tiny bit twisted like that.

Absolutely the type of man who would ask for their s/o's hand in marriage on their birthday. I can just totally see that happen.

Elrond:

Oh Elrond, beautiful Elrond.

Now birthdays are a bit questionable for elves as well since... well, they are immortal. But, whenever Elrond and his beloved would celebrate their birthday, the elven Lord would make sure to make it unforgettable.

Elrond plans the whole day of course (if his s/o agrees into the planning).

First, they would wake up and receive breakfast in bed. Elrond would stay with them the whole time, smiling down at them as they eat. After that he takes them on a walk in the gardens where they would talk for hours.

If someone happens to "accidentally" play some music in the distance, Elrond would ask his lover on a dance. They would talk while doing so and laugh along when they accidentally trip and fall in the grass.

After the walk in the gardens, Elrond takes his s/o back to the main halls and leads them to a room that is decorated just for them. There awaits them Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen with smiles on their faces. All of them would give Elrond's beloved a gift while the Lord waits patiently.

Elrond's gift wouldn't be too grand but it would be meaningful. Most likely it is something he made with his own hands. Like if his beloved wears jewellery, he would make them something out of their preferred materials. Since courting is taken very seriously for elves, I believe they wouldn't commision anyone for a piece like that like humans would. The elves make important gifts themselves as it's more meaningful that way.

After a joyful lunch with music involved, Elrond brings his s/o outside to celebrate with the rest of Rivendell. It's a very carefree party where the elves play music and dance around with or without the s/o.

Once nighttime comes around, Elrond will get them away from the party and bring them to a clearing where they can watch the stars in peace. The stars are very important in an elf's life, so why not spend the last hours of their birthday looking at them.

Elrond would tell his beloved how much he loves them while in the comfort of the stars. He would also describe their relationship using great many metaphors.

At the end of their birthday, they walk back to the party and dance the night away.

Shadow Weaver:

We all know how Shadow Weaver loves gardening, right? Well, she would obviously put together a lovely bouqet for her s/o. It consits of their favorite flowers, or if they don't have any, flower in their favorite colors.

Shadow Weaver would wake her lover up by gently caressing their face and wishing them happy birthday once they open their eyes. After that she let's them eat breakfast before giving them the bouqet. It has a little note attached to it that is enchanted so it sparks little fireworks once it's opened.

Now, the sorceress is actually not that sure how to act in this situation because, let's be real, she did not partake in many relationships before. So her s/o will have to excuse if she's being a bit awkward.

She would get her beloved a cake, as suggested by Glimmer. It would be their favorite flavor and most likely would have frosting that is their favorite color.

Because Shadow Weaver is not very big on letting her feelings show, she wouldn't really give her s/o a speech about how much she loves them but she would try to write some of her feelings out in a form of a letter.

Once the s/o is ready, she will take them to her garden that is decorated just for them. It's more colorful than usual, but it still stays in the theme of the sorceress' taste.

Shadow Weaver would then lead them to a table that is decorated by candles. They would drink tea or something her beloved likes while talking. While outside, some residents of the castle would walk by to wish them happy birthday, especially Glimmer.

Once they're done with the little tea party, Shadow Weaver takes them out to a clearing in the Whispering Woods. There she reveals a picnic set up just for her s/o. While sitting and eating, Shadow Weaver finally gives them their present. It's something very personal.

The rest of the day consists of Shadow Weaver and her beloved watching the sunset and enjoying their picnic.

Thranduil:

Once again, the elves are a bit different about birthdays but Thranduil sure does throw a big party. Wine for the whole realm and dancing all night.

But before he gets to that, he makes sure that this day is the best day his s/o has ever had.

Thranduil wakes his beloved up by whispering to them and wishing them happy birthday. He let's them have breakfast in bed, while he eats beside them. After the breakfast he gives the plates to a servant while they stay in bed for some more quality time.

When they finally get up, Thranduil takes them on a stroll in the garden. They walk around, simply talking. Once they found a place where they could sit down, Thranduil gives them their first gift. It's a very personal gift that he made himself (much like Elrond).

While his s/o is looking at the gift, Thranduil whispers in their ear in elvish, explaining just how much he loves them. They stay there for some time before heading back to the palace.

Legolas would wish them happy birthday of course. If he likes them enough, he might make them a little carving of sorts and give it to them.

Thranduil showers his beloved in other types of presents as well. If they like wearing jewellery, he would get them something that matches his. Perhaps his s/o would like another sword? Something that fits them perfectly but also just so happens that matches Thranduil's weapon?

Once Thranduil and his lover had finished with the gift giving, he takes them to the dining room where an exquisite lunch/dinner is prepared for them. Some elves are playing music while they eat.

When they finish, they go to celebrate with the rest of the realm. Thranduil opens up the wine barrels for everyone to drink and all of the elves dance around while singing songs.

The Elvenking obviously would ask to dance with his s/o while most likely already drunk. His partner can also expect to hear a speech from him that is adressed to the entire realm. He talkes about how important his beloved is and expects everyone to respect them as such.

If his lover is more anxious, then he swoops them away from the party to dance alone in a more secluded area. After all, he only wants them to feel great on their birthday.

The day most likely ends with the drunk couple entering their chambers and laughing as they fall on their bed. Alternatively, if his lover isn't one to drink, Thranduil still gets pretty drunk and his s/o can deal with a far more affectionate King.

[vinamari]

a headcanon i really like is that since hunter is a grimwalker and made with stonesleeper lungs, he has the stonesleeper trait of liking to be scratched behind the ears lol. would love to see a oneshot about that ^^

A/N: That sounds really adorable

TW: Mentions of past trauma

You had been sitting on the couch watching tv until midnight with Hunter. It was almost 11, and you wanted to go to bed. You weren't very tired yet, but you were going to get there soon enough. You could feel your eyes drooping as your head fell back against the couch, and your gaze settled on Hunter. He was sleeping peacefully on his side in front of you.

It had been a while since you and the others found out that he was a grimwalker. However no one treated him differently, you continued to flick through channels and decided to turn off the tv. Making a mental note to find a good show to watch later.

The night before you and Hunter had decided on something else, however as usual Hunter insisted that you choose what you wanted to do. You knew belos’s actions had left an imprint on Hunter, always asking what you wanted to do and never what he wanted to do.

You let out a sigh, throwing your head back on the couch as Hunter continued to snore. ‘Hm, if I remember correctly..Hunter has the trait of a stonesleeper’, you thought to yourself. Without realizing you had brought your hand to the back of his cut ear.

As you did, your mind traveled back to the first time you saw Hunter for the first time, when you had been fighting him to free the palismen. “So…how did you get those scars? Never seen anything like them.” “You humans talk a lot, don’t you?', he said completely ignoring what you asked.

You couldn’t help but scratch the back of his elf like ears. They were so cute. You watched as Hunter shuffled around a bit, you decided to pull the blanket more over him. As you went on with scratching the back of ear, you watched how it twitched just from scratching.

A soft sound of content escaped Hunter's lips and you felt butterflies in your stomach. The smile came naturally, and you couldn't stop yourself. If you could describe his actions when being scratched, it was almost cat-like.

You couldn't stop rubbing his ears until you got tired. It didn't take long for you to finally stop, but you made sure not to wake him. Leaving you to your thoughts, ‘grimwalker or not, his reactions are everything when sleeping’. You rubbed the under of his eyes, he really needs to sleep more. ‘Maybe I should teach him some skincare’, you thought thinking how it would be a nice way to bond together.

You squeezed him slightly before placing a kiss on his ear, only for it to twitch and turn a shade of red. You pulled back and laughed softly, he was so adorable, even after having been asleep for an hour. You leaned down and kissed his cheek gently and then gotten comfortable, only to wrap an arm around his waist. ‘Goodnight’, you whispered before drifting off to sleep.

[qcoded]

Small Analysis on Belos/Philip, and the many chances at Redemption he missed.

I think the reason why I loved the scene in Watching and Dreaming were The Collector hugged Belos while saying "I get it! You just need kindness and forgiveness, huh?" was because it encapsulated perfectly how many chances Belos didn't take to fucking redeem himself.

I think we all kinda know that if he was just self aware, and reflected on the shit he did for ONE damn second, maybe, just maybe he could have turned out way better than what ended up happening.

Analyzing his backstory and what we can decide actually happened with Caleb (mostly based on all the pictures that were released from Hollow Mind with additional ones), it's not like he was ever exempt from sympathy, don't get me wrong.

Can't really go into the reality that Caleb, being Philip's sole guardian, most likely abandoned him to go with Evelyn into the Boiling Isles (not with bad intentions but still) since THAT'S a whole 'nother can of worms, but like hey! It's fucking understandable, who wouldn't be hurt by that?

But at the same time, what Belos decided to do, it was all on his own accord.

It was all his own decisions tha he could have actually thought on but no! He was too stuck in his delusional beliefs.

Could have stopped anywhere. After he killed Caleb. After he was tricking and offing witches and demons. After the whole encounter with Luzura/Luz and Gertrude/Lilith. After the making of the Grimwalkers began. After instilling glyphs on witches.

There are probably more examples, but basically, Belos had so many damn chances.

But nope! Never took them.

And again, The Collector was so willing to forgive him, even after manipulating and using this kid for centuries on end. After all the horrific shit that Belos has done, there was still a sliver of hope for him to actually just think, 'What am I doing? '

Of course, that didn't happen. It was a 'Friendship is Magic, but gone wrong' and he attempted to kill The Collector once again.

You know what's the best part of this? That there's a scene that just adds onto what I'm saying perfectly.

Later on when Luz revived into the super cool form that is Titan!Luz, she ripped out Belos from the titan's curse. And when he reformed again, he turned into his Philip Wittebane look.

And he had the fucking audacity to blame that dark magic (presumably his curse) was the one who made him commit all those horrendous acts.

This would make pretty much be his very first, and only attempt towards redemption.

But the thing is, it's too late.

Belos threw out his very last chance at redemption with The Collector.

And now? He has nothing more but than to deal with the ultimate consequences that have been building up.

This is also why I'm not that mad that Belos wasn't shown to finally realize the severity of what he has done, or to feel all that built up guilt flow it.

It's because it shows amazingly how far up his ass he was in his beliefs that even when he was DYING, he was just too fucking stubborn.

The more ironic part, like I mentioned earlier, that 'dark magic' was pretty much just his curse. That I want to mention, is fucking SELF AFFLICTED. Belos was literally the one eating all those Palismen, which are the cause of the curse. He's quite literally blaming himself!

And even though he tried to claim that Luz somehow cured him, got quickly called out on his bullshit when the boiling rain revealed him to still be purely goop.

Till the last minute, he was trying to keep a facade that quite literally, crumbled.

TLDR; Belos ultimately gave up every chance to be a better person, and he pretty much got what was coming for him.

[aroacemisha]

Okay, so I don't really do stuff with my TOH AU anymore and don't think much about it, but I got an idea I really like-

Belos installing a sort of constitutional monarchy as opposed to an absolute one, where there was still some elected government that did the bureaucracy, like deciding on budgets and various legislation, but Belos had special status as a monarch and "Titan's Messenger", and while normally he stayed out of the elected government's decisions, he could intervene if he saw it as necessary, and his word was seen as final. He chose to stay out unless there was risk of them going against a few specific things he needed to fulfill his plan to unite the realms.

This is canon now. And this is part of why having political power didn't completely corrupt him/turn him into an irredeemable bastard - he never had too much of it, it was never absolute.

--

For those unfamiliar with the AU, in it Belos didn't kill Caleb and actually came to like the witches and the Boiling Isles, and he also developed the belief that uniting the realms/bringing the Isles into the Human Realm would be beneficial for both, which intensified after Caleb died in an accident while they searched for a portal ingredient. Belos believed the united realm would be the best of both worlds, combining the less dangerous climate of the Human Realm and the more open-minded and progressive culture of the Boiling Isles.

His plan was never realistic though, it was doomed from the start, but the more he tried to achieve it and the more questionable things he did to get there, the more he convinced himself that it had to work. The Day of Unity and how disastrously that went shattered his hopes.

(Also just fyi the Collector doesn't exist in this AU, Belos learned things from ancient texts instead, and the Unification Spell stopped by just failing)

[httyddragonfox]

Hypothetical Season 3 episode list

The Human Realm-Luz and her friends are stuck in the human realm with seemingly no way back home. First order of business, they need to arrange a place to stay with Camilla, Luz's mom. Luz is wondering about her standing with everyone else. The group may be there for a while.

This episode will mainly focus on Luz, Vee, and Camilla.

Everyone starts to settle into the Noceda house, Camilla buys them clothes and readies herself for the responsibility of raising not only six kids, but five of them being witches. Vee, with Luz returning, determines on what identity she wants to have for herself. Luz believes the entire group must be mad at her for getting them into the situation where they are trapped in the human realm, deep down fearing Amity wants to break up with her. At the end of the episode, Amity tells Luz it would take more than that to make her want to break up with her, the hexsquad tells Luz they are not mad at her as they start to fix up the shack, aware they will be there for a while. Luz then decides to prepare to tell her mom about her relationship with amity and come out to her, Amity tells her it will be in her own creative 'Luz' way, so Luz makes a slideshow. We see the sludge of Belos a little ways from the shack get intercepted by a mouse, which he then takes over.

Human Camp-Vee realizes Luz and the Hexsquad are a little out of touch with how things are in the Human realm, so using what she learnt from camp and her months with Camilla, she arranges a day of them learning how to fit in and about the human realm. Vee seems to be wary around Hunter, can bridges be crossed.

Episode mainly focuses on Hunter, Vee, and Gus.

Sortly after Luz comes out as Bi to her Mother, Vee informs Luz of everyone she interacted with at camp and a bit of what she learned so Luz won't seem like she wasn't there. Luz says it's a lot like being back at school, which makes Gus a little intrigued as Luz went to Hexside. He starts to wonder that if they're not back in the Demon realm by the time Luz goes back to school, maybe they can go with her. Luz is really hoping they make it back by then, and Camilla says there is no way they are going to high school because that would require a lot of paperwork and foreknowledge to attend. Vee realizes that the Hexsquad have no knowledge of the Human realm, and if they are going to be there for a long time, they should know how to blend in. She proposes that she use what she learned in camp to give them a run down on the human realm, and Luz acts as a teacher's assistant for what wasn't learned at camp. So the Hexsquad simulates going to High school for the day (for fun). During the episode, there is a huntlow crumb of Willow and Hunter "passing notes in class." Gus realizes there was so much he didn't understand about the human realm, while questioning his genius for a moment, he then snaps out of it and realizes this is his chance to learn everything he can. Vee is being hard on Hunter during the class time, a little unreasonably so. Luz talks to Vee about it, and Vee tells her every time he raises his hand she sees the Emperor Coven's sigil and is reminded of her past with them, and he was apart of that group. Luz assures her that he isn't like them, and that maybe she should just talk to Hunter about it. So they have a talk, and Hunter tells her that he understands where she's coming from, being made to fulfill a purpose, but being treated like she was nothing. Also, he had no idea what was happening to her, as Belos didn't involve him in that project. Hunter and Vee then decide to give each other the blank slate treatment and not let their pasts define them. Belos as a chipmunk was watching the whole exchange. At the end of the day, Luz mentions this is where you go home to gripe to your families about homework, which makes the Hexsquad visibly upset, and Luz realizes she opened a fresh wound. Vee assigns homework of making drawings of whom they are trying to get home to. Whilst Hunter doesn't have anyone, he's informed he always has a home within the group, as does Vee.

[EDIT: This might be the episode where there's some interaction with other Human kids and Hunter has his Bisexual awakening moment]

Answers Untold-After learning a bit about old human history and witches, Hunter decides to get more answers concerning the original person he came from.

Episode mainly focuses on Hunter, Gus, and Willow.

The episode starts with the Hexsquad watching Hocus Pocus. Willow and Amity are a little perturbed by how their species are interpreted. Luz then starts info-dumping on the lore behind the sisters, and their enemies. Hunter overhears this conversation, and he starts thinking about other people from witch-hunting times, such as his original. He confronts Luz and tells her he wants to do some research on his original, so while Luz and Camilla have to go on a grocery run, he goes with them and they stop at the bookstore where he picks up a book on the witch hunters of Gravesfield. Camilla mentions it is a little difficult to provide for several teens, so Willow and Gus decide to grow their own food and put on a little side show for money. They are also concerned about Hunter, as Hunter seems anxious, even with him growing his hair out. They make some money with their little magic show, and Gus guesses he's probably trying to figure out about his original. He tells Willow Hunter is probably on edge because Belos was a witch hunter and he's related to Belos. Hunter being Hunter he's trying to find out more about it to put his mind at ease. Willow figures this might not be what's right for him. Later Hunter has his freak out in front of the mirror, and Willow helps him cut his hair. She tells him that they are here for him, so they can come to him if he needs help. The next day, Hunter's confidence restored, they try another attempt on the Portal Door, which goes up in smoke. When a squirrel tries investigating the skeletal remains of a chipmunk, Belos takes over the squirrel.

Nature vs Nurture-Stressed about their constant failures with the portal door, the group decides to cheer up Luz, meanwhile Camilla decides to take the group on an adventure to the great outdoors to experience human realm wildlife, help them relax a little.

Episode focuses mainly on Luz, Camilla, Amity and Hunter.

The episode starts with the group trying to make a cake shaped like the Titan's head, but they have no idea what they are doing. Camilla asks them what it was about, and Amity and Hunter admit they are trying to cheer up Luz as she seems sad. After peeking on Luz gazing up at her star stickers, she decides maybe they should just enjoy nature in summer; it's relaxing, and a new experience for the witches. So they go camping, Luz not a fan of the idea, Amity unsure until Camilla states that Luz loved camping when she was little. Playing in the rain and exploring nature. Gus is down for it, as he has been learning about Human society but not human nature. Willow wants to get closer to the nature of this realm, and Hunter mentions Belos told him how the nature was very serene here, it's a good time to test the theory. Luz agrees to it as long as it's only for one day. On the trip, Hunter goes over some memories of when he was left on a mountain, so camping should be easy for him. They go down some river rapids, for the thrill of it, Hunter can handle it, Amity and Gus are freaking out, but Luz does have some fun. That night, they see the fireflies and Hunter is acting like a little kid, the fireflies love him. The rest are tense around them. Luz asks Amity if she is okay with the whole camping trip as she knows nature back home was rather...deadly. Amity says she's not sure what to expect, but she would do anything to cheer up Luz and Camilla said this is something she liked doing. Luz talks to her mom about this, Camilla tells her that yes it's important to get them home, but they are just kids and they should take some time to relax. Luz should also feel like she is not in charge of all of this, as several people are by her side. A crow with glowing blue eyes is watching this. After they get back home, Luz takes her Mom's advice to heart and as it rains she shows Amity there is nothing to be scared of. The rest of the group have fun in the rain, realizing that human nature could be enjoyed everywhere, and Luz realizes her friends will always try to make her happy.

Kill it with Kindness-Luz finally decides to take Amity on that slice of life date, meanwhile Hunter, Willow and Gus decide to help out around the house.

This episode is a Lumity and Huntlow episode.

Amity tells Luz that she is looking forward to that date, so Luz feels like she should be the responsible girlfriend and uphold that promise. Meanwhile, Gus tries to help with the dishes, and Willow does some gardening around the house, thinking they need to pick up the slack around the house. Gus pushes Hunter to spend some time with Willow, so he decides to help her garden, running into a swarm of angry bees. Lumity goes to a diner, and Willow decides to sneak in and take a picture at one point. After some goofing off, Hunter and Willow play Flyer Derby, which she really appreciates. Belos is not in this episode. Luz remarks how school will start for her around the corner, so it was best she do the date before she couldn't do it so much anymore.

Something wicked this way comes-Luz, Camilla and company decide to go to the beach for the day. At the same time, Belos wanders around Gravesfield, seeing it for what it has become and remembering days of old.

This episode mainly focuses on Belos and Caleb. The group runs into Jacob this episode.

As the group leave to go to the beach, possum Belos watches them leave. He is kicking himself because he can not follow them, but then tells himself that they're not doing anything important and will be back at the end of the day. We cut to the group occasionally in the episode having fun at the beach. Jacob is nearby, and he sees their pointy ears, he goes to confront them, but Camilla holds up her sandal and threatens him to back off. During this episode, possum Belos is attacked by a stray cat, which we see him forcibly possess. He then walks around town, as he does, he remembers when he first came there with Caleb. We'd get flashbacks of him playing games with Caleb and doing chores, the audience will see Caleb struggling to care for them. We'll see a flashback of when they first became witch hunters and when Caleb carved a mask for him. Eventually the flashbacks will show when Caleb met Evelyn, Phillip questioning Caleb for his disappearances, and then Caleb disappearing for good. At the end of the episode, the Noceda household returns, and horns sprout out of the cat as Belos hisses in their direction, swearing he'll get his revenge.

Fearless Friends-The Noceda Household go out to see a horror movie. Meanwhile, back on the isles, the collector has made the titan his playground. They're turning everyone into puppets to take part in him and King's games. King is trying to keep his family together, and the Hexside students try to survive the chaos.

The episode mainly focuses on King, Eda, Boscha, and Matt.

As the Hexsquad go off to see a Horror movie in theatres, whilst a Racoon Belos is cleaning the bones of a cat, he's shooed away though. We then cut back to the Boiling Isles as Luz wonders how everyone else is doing. We see the flashback to the beginning of For the Future. We see what happens at Hexside, and how Boscha takes control. A few students are seen fighting off the spies while 'Miki' influences Boscha. With King and Eda, King is trying to keep the Collector and keep Eda's well being a secret. In the episode, he gets Lillith turned back and the sisters get haircuts. At the end of the episode, Amity notices Luz's depression and Camilla's coupons.

Onward ho!-(first part to Thanks to Them) Concerned over making no progress with the portal door, the Hexsquad takes matters into their old hands. They find an ancient puzzle, hoping it will lead them to a means to a portal, they explore Gravesfield. Luz, realizing the length her friends have been stuck, continues to doubt her own capabilities.

The episode focuses on Camilla, Luz, Amity and Co, and slight Hunter.

Ready and waiting-(Middle part of Thanks to Them)Hunter and Luz investigate the old shack, looking for Belos. Finding nothing, they assume it's a false alarm. The group plans for the Halloween fair a few days away. Vee and Masha go on a date, and Hunter, Gus and Willow have some fun with Cosmic frontier while Camilla is in denial. Luz makes a rash decision, and Hunter feels a bit off about current events.

Episode mainly focuses on Hunter, Camilla, Gus, and Vee.

In this episode, we slowly start to see Hunter start to get possessed.

Witching Hour-(Ending of Thanks to Them) It's the day of Halloween, and everyone is excited. They spend some time having fun before going to the Haunted Hayride where the ghost story of Caleb and Phillip is revealed. The Hexsquad learns that Caleb fell in love with a witch named Evelyn, and went after her into the Boiling Isles, followed by Phillip. Hunter confronts Flapjack on this, learning he had some connection with the Wittebane brother. Due to his paranoia, he elects the aid of Luz to help him find Belos. Little do they know, they fall into his monstrous hands.

Episode focuses on Flapjack, Caleb, Belos, Hunter, and Luz.

Arrival to the unknown-(First part of For the Future) The group returns to the Boiling isles. Hunter is angry over the loss of his Palisman,desiring revenge. Luz still has made up her mind and will be staying in the human realm once she's done, Camilla determined to make her see sense. Running into new Hexside, they have to topple the secret villain of Kikimora. Meanwhile, Willow must deal with her repressed anxieties.

Episode focuses on Camilla, Luz, Boscha, and Willow.

Terror of the night-On the other side of things, while Luz and co. struggle to get to the head, the collector is having fun with King, while King conspires with Lillith and Eda for a way for things to return to normal. Belos is dealing with his own problems, he struggles to maintain himself while being haunted by visions of his brother and the grimwalkers. He can't help but think of when he first arrived in the isles searching for Caleb, and what a struggle it was then too.

Episode focuses on the Collector, King, Eda, Belos and Caleb.

Belos relives memories of when he first came to the Boiling Isles after Caleb. How he started consuming Palismen to preserve his life, finding Caleb and Evelyn, plotting his revenge, the fight, and Evelyn's wrath.

Cat and mouse-The Collector, believing everyone has turned against him, sends his spies to collect everyone. First, Camilla is collected. The group manages to get away for brief while. Lillith is collected with King and Eda, Eda not having much time to escape with King. While the group is being chased down through the halls of the archives, the Collector ponders what he will do once they are all captured. Belos then suggests making them relive their fears, guilts and worst memories, to make them "reconsider their wicked ways." Eventually the group makes it to the archives, and tries to figure out how to free everyone. The episode ends with the entire group collected.

The episode focuses mainly on the Hexsquad running for their lives. Slight Hunter and Darius, some Collector and Belos.

After Camilla is collected, instead of all of them being taken at once, instead it becomes a chase. Gus produces an illusion which hides them until they get to the archives. Belos correctly deduces that they'll be trying to both find King and free everyone in the collection room. The Collector says that, sure he can cut them off there, but he's not sure what to do with Luz once they get her. Belos then gets the wicked idea of trapping Luz, King, and Eda inside their worst nightmares, that way they'll regret their wicked deeds. They try to find King, a few of the Hexsquad notices the pictures on the wall, showing the fighting between the titans and the collectors, as well as the Collector with the baby Titans...happy. Luz starts to deduce that maybe the Collector can be reasoned with. They make it to where the owl beast is contained but the spies are around there, as they have just Collected Lillith and captured Eda and King, which distresses Luz. Hunter is in distress seeing Darius as a puppet, but Willow protects him. They would have both been captured by spies if not for Gus, who gets collected. Amity releases some slime so they can make it to the collection room. Once they get to the room, Willow buys them some time to try to save some people. This distresses Hunter, but Luz and Amity get him inside. Once inside he decides to honor Willow's wish, and starts zipping around to try to find some people to save. They run into Odalia, and Amity confronts her as to why she isn't a puppet, and tells her I told you so. She threatens them to stay out of their way. They find Willow's and Gus' dads, Camilla and Alador. The group starts wondering how to save them, because they don't know how to undo the spell, and Luz starts kicking herself saying it was stupid to head in there, as they have no way to combat the Collector. They have no words, they just start tearing up and making lights. Hunter apologizes to Willow and Gus, Amity apologizes to her dad, and Luz apologizes to her mom, Eda, and King. The puppets start twitching a little in the distance which Hunter notices and goes to tell Amity. Then the spies and the puppet Coven heads come in, Hunter freezes for a moment, but then tells the two girls to run. He gets collected, Amity not long after, then Luz is surrounded. Belos smiles knowing he has Luz where he wants her.

Haunting and dreaming-Eda, King, and Luz must experience horrible nightmares at the behest of the Collector. It isn't until Luz realizes the illusion that her friends can inform her how to break the spell.

This episode is mainly focused on Luz, Eda, and King. Hexsquad only featured in nightmare scenes.

Not only do we see the Nightmares in "Watching and Dreaming," we see more! Eda not only sees she blinded her father and being locked up, she sees Luz being dragged away from her and she can't protect her, she sees Raine on the verge of death, Terra taunting them both for being unable to fool her. King sees the skulls of his siblings, and Tarak saying he actually found pride once in slaughtering his own kind, he sees the boiling isles reaching to him and then crumbling away, he sees himself as a giant and the graves of those he cares about. Luz not only sees her friends berating her for helping Belos and getting what she wants, she sees herself actually on the other end of hurting people, her friends telling her "How could you!?" Willow cradling Hunter's body in one scene telling her, "He nearly died because of you!"

I Win, You Lose-At the suggestion of Belos, the Collector goes to play with Luz, King and Eda personally. While trying to survive the games, Luz informs Eda and King about her adventures trying to return to them. Meanwhile, the Hexsquad as puppets, try to wake themselves up.

The episode mainly focuses on Luz, King, Eda and the Collector.

This episode has a longer sequence of Luz, King, and Eda, playing the Collector's games, with them getting more and more frustrated. To distract themselves from Mortal Peril, Eda, King and Luz are catching each other up on what they've been doing the past few months. There are occasional cutaways showing the etchings the puppets are making in the ground. The ending has Luz reach out to the Collector and hear that they were abandoned by the Archivists and the Titans were taken from him before he was imprisoned.

New friends, old stories-After talking to the Collector, realizing they are just a sad lonely kid, Luz, Eda, and King take him on a tour around the isles. Belos makes his way to the Titan's heart despite Raine's best efforts. The Hexsquad free themselves from the spell, and work on saving some other inhabitants.

The episode mainly focuses on Luz, Eda, King and the Collector. Also shows Belos and Raine, and the Hexsquad and Camilla.

This episode focuses on them touring around the entirety of the Isles, the owl house, the conformotorium, the night market, hexside, the library, and the knee. The collector learns that there may be people against you, and people who stand beside you, but despite the challenges you just have to be there for each other. The Hexsquad free themselves from the Collector's spell, they get Camilla down and free her from the spell, and then work on gathering some other people they know. The episode ends where Luz dies, Camilla as a mother knows what has happened to her daughter, Amity is in denial. They then notice what Belos has become, which makes Willow and Gus start crying and Hunter is furious, "Not her too."

Good Witches-Luz has died, the Hexsquad is sorrowful, and Eda and King are ballistic, while the Collector realizes what death means to mortals. Luz meets the Titan, King's father, who explains to her what the difference between her and Belos is. He also explains if Belos was truly good, he wouldn't have killed his own family, unlike them who try to protect theirs. He explains that while Caleb wasn't perfect, he did try to do the right thing, but bad things still happened. Luz is similar to him, meanwhile Belos is trying to fulfill his delusions that this entire trip to the Boiling Isles was worth it, and he is the hero of the story. The Titan then gifts Luz his powers to stop Belos. The Hexsquad do their best to protect everyone they rescued, noticing the cancerous moss, fighting it off as well. When the battle is over, everyone goes to check on Luz, Amity reacting to Luz's titan form, and Hunter being able to see his creator disappear. While the Owl group is reconciling in victory, the Hexsquad does the same, and comforting Hunter. They then return to the Archives to reunite with their families, in the end everyone meets at the Owl house to celebrate. Cue the timeskip.

Mainly focuses on Luz, Caleb, Belos, the Collector, and the Hexsquad as a whole.

The finale is an long episode.

Hunter has to be held back from zipping all the way to Belos, being told that if he killed Luz, he'll just kill him too. Amity is non-responsive, Camilla holds Hunter back. Once he's seen sense, he just hugs Willow and Gus, trying not to cry. When Luz meets King's dad, they have their normal conversation until the Titan tells her the difference between them and Belos. This is where he brings up Caleb, ("You should have met him, he was a great guy.") Caleb wasn't perfect by any means, becoming a witch hunter to avoid scrutiny, abandoning his brother to be with the one he loved, but he was still a better man than Belos. Caleb's one regret was that he allowed Belos to become what he was, transfixed on ending witches and being a hero to a threat that wasn't there. Caleb tried to be the better man with Phillip, and with everyone, but he was killed for it. That was when Phillip became the monster that is Belos, a man trying to run from his guilt by fulfilling his delusions that he is the hero of the story, fearing anything he cannot control. The Titan says between Caleb and Belos, that the two of them are more like Caleb. Belos is a monster, but Luz, she is a good witch. This is when the Titan notices the corruption in his heart and offers Luz his power. She comes back. She fights back the corruption from everywhere on the Isles, even passing the crown of the head. The others see Luz and are happy she is alive...but fluffy, they'll ask her about it later. They notice the cancerous rot is starting to find it's way into the archives and they are collapsing as well. The Collector does his best to keep the archives from reaching the ground, keeping it from total collapse and most of the rot. The hexsquad does their best to fight the rot and protect the puppets with glyphs and Hunter pulls out some flash steps when the collector sports him a stick to fight with. Once Belos is defeated, the Collector is accepted by the group.

They hop on a star and fly straight to the castle. They see Luz and Phillip together, and Amity is gobsmacked by the titan form Luz. Phillip notices them arrive and comments on Hunter being there, Luz keeps Phillip from getting any closer to Hunter. Once the boiling rain starts, Willow grows some heat resistant plants to cover the group. Phillip is not only begging from Luz, but also Hunter, calling them family, Hunter tells him point blank that they are not family. Everyone in the Hexsquad, including the Collector just glares at him. Eda, King and Raine stomp on him, and Hunter throws his stick at him. After which, he breaks down sobbing. The Hexsquad comforts him while noticing the Titan spirit leave Luz. The Hexsquad let her have a moment with Eda and King. Luz tells the Collector that the Titan says he's sorry for what he did to them. Luz tells Hunter he doesn't have to be ashamed of Caleb, because he was a good guy, like he is. Hunter tells her that they (Luz and Hunter) are both good people, no matter who came before them. The hexsquad and the collector then return to the archives to set everyone free and reunite with their families. Hunter gets accepted into Willow's family and gets intercepted by Darius. At the end, the Hexsquad and the Owl House are all spending time at the titular place. Cue the time-skip.

How do you like them apples. That's my attempt at a longer season 3.

[angelcloves]

You know, I've always kinda wondered why Hunter's predecessor even had an apprentice. The Golden Guard is uh, an "inherited" position. So Darius wasn't in the running to succeed his mentor. So, if he needed a mentor, why choose the Golden Guard of all witches?!

The Guard's duties surely wouldn't have much in common with what I assume would be expected of a recruit to the Abomination Coven. So why GG?

I'll tell what I think was the reason why. I theorize that Belos was the one who told GG to take an apprentice. Belos thought that GG was getting a little too close for comfort when it came to finding out what had happened to "their" family, furthermore GG was also starting to dig into Belos's past and he couldn't have that.

But GG had otherwise been an explanatory Grimwalker throughout the years, so Belos decided to try to squeeze a few more out of him while he could. He needed the time to prepare for a new Grimwalker anyway.

So he told GG to take his pick out of the newest recruits. It didn't really matter who GG choose, because in Belos's eyes, all children were taxing to teach and keep an eye on. He just hoped that having a brat to chase after would distract GG long enough that he could make all the proper arrangements ahead of time.

:( And it worked. But in ensuring his Golden Guards' destruction, Belos's unwittingly planted a seed that had a key role to play in his own destruction.

THIS IS SUCH A GOOD READ. ITS GOING IN MY POCKET

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Although I call it the Redemption of Belos AU, but in fact the redemption of Belos is not a redemption in the usual sense of this idea. This is not the usual transformation of a bad guy into a good one that happens in many stories.

My idea is that someone should tell Belos that his views are OUTDATED. After all, his actions would have been heroic in his time, we consider them bad because our views are completely different. I think it's much easier for Belos to accept this idea than the idea that he was evil.

I think it would have started with Belos trying to convince Camila that witches are dangerous. At some point, Camila would get tired of it and she would show him various articles on the Internet so that Philip would find out the opinion of modern humans about witch hunters. Philip wouldn't take it very well.

The original idea was that Philip would cry because hundreds of years of his work had been in vain. But then I decided it was boring. And then I came up with another option.

Philip has lived on the Boiling Isles for four centuries, he had time to think about what would greet him when he returned home. It was just that this specific option was one he tried not to think about. So when Camila confirms his worst fears, he just thinks about what he should do now.

He is sitting on the couch with his head down when he realizes that Camila is handing him an apple. She offers to help him, to teach him how to live in this new world, if he is willing to listen. If he wants to help people, she will help him understand them. But he will have to change.

Philip looks at the apple, realizing that if he accepts it, he will fall just as Adam and Eve fell. Camila intentionally offered him an apple, suspecting that the Forbidden Fruit and The Fall would be the first thing Philip would think about.

Gathering his thoughts, Philip takes an apple and bites it off.

I prefer to call it “Camila's Way AU”. Well, because Philip will be learning a new way of life from Camila, right way, her way.

Camila tells Philip different things. A lot of things he doesn't like, a lot of people seem to have gone crazy doing things that in his day would have had them all executed. But he can just ignore them, no one can take away this right from him. As he told Luz earlier, you сan't reason with the crazy. And if for some reason he needs to communicate with one of the modern psychos, he can pretend to be someone with whom these psychos will be pleased to communicate. After all, he'd been pretending to love witches for years, and the witches loved him.

He's not going to regret the witch hunting and other things he's done. The only thing he regrets is burning innocent humans mistaken for witches. And he doesn't care that Luz is giving him stern looks.

And despite this all, he gradually wins the favor of the Hexsquad. He asks the right questions and says the right words. Children try to find a catch in every word, but they fail. For example, do you know all these problems of the HexSquad members that most of the fandom ignores? Belos notices all these problems and helps the children solve them. Because it's a good thing, and because it's much easier to live in a house where the inhabitants are not against you.

(A few months later, I finished writing this. Titan, I didn't believe I could finish this. Although I probably forgot to mention something, but it doesn't matter. I want to know your opinion)

Wow, I didn't expect to be sent such an insanely good au idea like this!

I saw this last night in my inbox, but I didn't fully take the time to read it until today.

Anyway, my thoughts are below. (Thank you, @talisman975, for reading this).

Overall, I really like it!

The title, along with the references to the Bible and show, are really good!

But my favorite element of the au is how Belos admits regret for certain actions but not for others, showing that he still has a long way to go in his redemption.

Though, I recommend maybe replacing the word "psycho" ("Can't reason with crazy" I think is fine since it was said in the show) with something else since the term is offensive (you probably didn't know this tho).

Maybe say "mentally ill" or "not in touch with reality" or something similar to those terms (just so you don't upset people).

But anyway, good job with all of this!

It's apparent that you had a lot of passion for this story, and I hope you continue with it.

[void-occupation]

Ok, hear me out (angst, bc of course)

I've been having these thoughts bounce around my head for about a week and I finally decided to post them. I don't know who's going to see this, but whoever sees it needed to. I guess this is for an AU rather than a headcanon, but whatever, just hear me out. I was inspired by The Owl House, specifically Hunter, so maybe that will spark some interest. This is about to be a rant, so I'll go ahead and add the read more thing

Okay, now that I have your attention, time for angst.

SO, in The Owl House, we learn in season 2 that (SPOILER ALERT) Hunter is a grimwalker (a clone of someone who died for those of you who don't know), and that before him, there were TONS of other grimwalkers that Belos murdered for "choosing to betray him" AKA realizing that Belos was an evil psychotic bitch. Also, that Hunter looked the most like Caleb (the dead guy he was cloned of) out of all the other grimwalkers, but he didn't KNOW that he was a grimwalker until a very angsty reveal by his abuser (Belos) who then immediately tried to murder his ass.

ANYWAYS, obviously, as the angst-lover I am, I think about this literally all the time. Then. I started thinking. I absolutely love Alastor, he's such a blorbo. And what do I do to my blorbos? I give them immeasurable amounts of trauma, c'mon, keep up.

What do we know about Alastor? Well, someone owns his soul. He disappeared for unknown reasons for seven years. He is INCREDIBLY anxious about whoever owns his soul - or at least the deal itself (as evidenced by his musical breakdown where he literally TEARS HIS OWN HAIR OUT FROM THE STRESS), and that he's probably going to use the deal with Charlie either for nefarious purposes, or to escape his deal.

Which brings us to the point of this post in the first place (kind of???? I might have just been mindlessly rambling there), and the start of my AU. I'm not going to pretend I know who owns Alastor's soul, but I really vibe with the idea of it being either Lilith or Roo, so that's who I'll be thinking of for the majority of this post. What if the person who owns his soul made a deal with him when he first got to hell (or it could be one of those versions where someone sold his soul before he was even born [a sort of "I want your first-born kinda deal] and they let him know when he got to hell which is how he got all his power so quickly), but he managed to either tick them off or get really close to escaping the deal, which lead to them killing Alastor.

Then, the contract-owner realizes, "Oh shit, I kind of need him," and finds out how to make whatever the hell equivalent of a grimwalker is. Thus, Alastor 2.0 is born. However, they can't have him knowing he's a clone - he might find a loophole in the deal that way. So they find a way to control which memories he has. They replace all of the memories the OG Alastor had up until whatever it was he did to get killed in the first place - don't want him getting any ideas after all.

This works fine for the contract-holder for a while, but then Alastor is back on the same shit - trying to find loopholes, backdoors, ticking them off, whatever, and oops, there goes another one. Well shit. Guess it's time to make another clone. So, the process is repeated, and the song and dance continues. However, it always concludes the same way - with Alastor's inevitable "betrayal". Also, none of the clones ever seem to look quite right - sometimes the eye color is wrong, or the height, the cheekbones, or the nose shape - whatever it is, something is always off

So, after many failed attempts, they decide to take a different approach. When they make the new clone, they give them the same memories, everything is the same as the previous attempts, except they don't turn him loose right away. Instead, they keep him under their thumb for seven years - really just until there was something they needed him for. Those seven years were spent conditioning him. They were determined to make him perfect. After all, this clone was the one that looked the most like the original Alastor, there was no way they would let him go like the others.

In his time at their side, Alastor endured unspeakable cruelties - beatings, torture, extreme sensory deprivation, emotional manipulation, sleep deprivation, total isolation - you name it, it was almost certainly done during that time. This is also when his smile was sewn on because the contract holder wanted him to smile more, and used his defense mechanism to torture him (smiled to hide weakness, forced to smile against his will, making the smile itself a constant reminder of how powerless he really is). There was rarely an action Alastor did that provoked his contract holder, but that didn't matter. They convinced him that each "punishment" was earned, that they were simply trying to help him see his own shortcomings and failures, and to make him better. Obviously, this is complete bullshit. However, when you live like that long enough, with no other influences, you become conditioned to believe it.

Eventually, for whatever reason, the contract holder released Alastor on strict orders to go to Charlie's hotel, and Alastor is doing exactly what they told him because he's terrified of the idea of being summoned back to their side. He hates his contract holder, but at the same time craves their approval, because if they're happy with him, then he won't be in pain. However, Alastor has to Alastor, and once he's on his own, he starts looking for ways to escape his deal - but he's sneaky about it. Years of constant conditioning made him cautious. He has no memory of ever searching for loopholes before - a least not successfully (bc the contract holder doesn't let the clones remember those things), so he does the best thing he can think of: he makes a deal with the Princess of Hell herself.

I'm definitely going to make another post about this, probably detailing the reveal. Not right now though because I have homework to do, and this is getting to ungodly lengths

(if you want to see the next part when I post it, keep an eye on the '#grimwalker alastor au' tag. I might just make this a whole thing if anyone is interested. I'll make it a whole thing anyways because I feel like it and deep down I post for myself, but if you're interested, I highly encourage you to ask about it [I don't bite!!])

[the-owl-house-takes]

In all honesty, I don't exactly get why some people hate The Collectors' redemption arc in the finale. Of course, you're allowed to feel however you want about it- At the end of the day, it's just a silly cartoon that can get interpreted in many ways, so long as you just have fun watching it and interacting with the fandom, it shouldn't be a problem. If you hate the Collector or the way his character has been handled in the show (or moreso specifically in the finale), you don't have to read any of this at all. Do whatever you want. But these are just my two cents.

To me, The Collectors' redemption in the finale really felt like it tied everything together, the message the show has been showing us over and over again. He was a kid who was abandoned by those He thought he could trust. They were misunderstood by the Titan, which led to extreme further isolation by being quite literally but also I suppose metaphorically trapped and isolated from everyone else.

This was the case for many of the main characters we see throughout the show - all of them, in one way or another, felt betrayed or abandoned by people they thought they could trust and that they loved, due to their differences. Thus, the Collector and his redemption directly parallels the main cast, and the whole theme of the show itself.

Finding a community of people that will accept you for who you are, finding a place where you might belong and feel understood, simply finding the right people, and finally - accepting yourself. (Which in the finale is also shown by Luz deciding to put herself first when Papa Titan offers her another chance of a life.)

King, Eda and, of course - Luz, all have been through this, and have spent a long time, the whole show learning these messsages, not alone, but with each other. And once Luz saw The Collector, going through the same things she went through, but alone, nobody wanting to help them, of course she wanted to make a move. So then, she handed him out the love and acceptance they needed, in which case they finally started learning the message. Admittedly, you could say it was rushed - after all, there wasn't much time to do it all perfectly, and I'm not saying the way it was written is entirely flawless (though to me personally it felt like a satisfying conclusion to the series).

Admittedly, the collectors' mistakes and imperfections are far more prominent and extreme in comparison to all the main characters, due to the fact that - first of all, They are a literal demi-god, they do not understand the concept of mortality (at least not at first), etc, etc. I'm sure I don't need to spend too much of my time talking about this.

Sure, it would've been great if we got to see The Collectors' redemption play out with much more nuance and time. I do not want to sound like the whole fandom, but the shortening of the third season might've played a part of that. (Though, it has also been said by the writers that the shortening of the show helped them decide to add The Collector as a character more quickly, so it isn't all as black and white as saying "if (x) didn't happen, (y) would".)

I also see some people saying that The Collector being redeemed is too boring, or predictable. Of course, these are entirely subjective opinions so if you DID feel like it was boring or predictable, of course you get to feel that way.

But I also see some people saying that The Collector is an example of too many modern-day villains getting redeemed instead of being let to be evil, and ergo that makes him a.. bad character?

I'm gonna be fully honest here. I don't exactly understand this point of view. To me, The Collector having struggles and redeeming qualities doesn't make him a bad character for me, it only makes him more nuanced as an individual. And besides, we already have a character who gets to be fully evil (while still having a complicated backstory and a sense of self-worth!); Belos. Do we really need two nearly irredeemable villains who are just there to be evil?

I probably phrased some things wrongly while writing this (especially the last part of my ask), so I apologize for that. I do realize that thisis simply by subjective opinion, and with time it may very well change and fluctuate. I am open to hearing others' opinions regarding this subject, as long as they're given to me on at least a slightly respectful manner. I am open to further discussion, because albeit I am not as big of a fan of this show as I used to be, I still love talking about it whenever I can.

But, again, these are just my two cents!

-

[mistyfoxxy]

Post Thanks to Them conversation about the possession and Grimwalker thing, this has been in my head ever since the episode istg.

(A little additional thing, this line that I just thought of: "We could have lost you.... I could have lost you!" (I swear I'm normal about this ship))

Ooo this will be an angsty one!

"Guys, Hunter isn't moving!"

"Call the doctor!"

"Do the human doctors know about possession?" The tears started to form.

"Or grimwalkers?"

"Grimwalkers?" What did she mean? Was he a- stop. 

It didn't matter. What did matter was that Hunter was in her arms. Hunter was cold. Hunter wasn't moving. Hunter was dea-

"No!"  Willow shot upright, sweat dripped down her forehead and everything was blurry. She reached around for her glasses and was more than grateful to feel them. She placed them on he face and looked around. 

They were back in the demon realm of course. Thy had been back for a few days and after traveling each one, looking for signs of life, signs of something familiar. They decided to make a camp and a plan. Hunter had been having... a few nightmares himself. which she could understand. After being. Possessed. That was something that left more than a physical scar. 

She could feel her own internal fear and sorrow weighing on her, but she knew she had to be strong. For them. It wasn't time to play around anymore. She... she shouldn't have ever let it come to that. They should have kept trying, kept looking for a way back. That way they would have never had to deal with him again. Hunter would have never been hurt. He would have never lost Flapjack... She knew it wasn't, not really. But she just felt like maybe it did have something to do with her. Maybe it WAS her fault. 

The ground began to shake a little.

No no no no, calm down Willow. Breathe in. 1. 2. 3. 4. Breathe out. 1. 2. 3. 4.. 

Being home, in their natural realm, Willow had felt a lot more in tune with the plants around her. And that they were more in with her. Way more than before. Maybe it was because she was away for so long and wasn't used to it? or maybe it was because her emotions were running so high? Most magic didn't work that way though, it was connected by spells and the mind, but somehow hers was linked to her emotions. And if she was gonna protect them all, she needed to get that under control. She'd have to numb herself somehow. She had done it before. she could do it again.

But the plants didn't stop. She could almost hear their subtle cries. They tried desperately to tell her something but she didn't know what. And that scared her. Maybe she needed to check on the others? Every night it was the same thing over and over again. She'd wake up from that same hellish nightmare, hear the plants anxiousness, get up and check on the others, and everyone would be fine. 

She looked beside her, the illusionist lay curled up beside her, luckily he slept soundly enough once he was out. She supposed Amity did too. but she never saw her face? Maybe she was awake. But didn't want to bother her... or maybe she didn't care?

No. stop that Willow. It's not about you. 

She stood up and stepped over the sleeping Gus, exiting their makeshift tent. With no real supplies around except for the giant trees and plants, Willow and Amity had constructed two tents. Willow, Gus, and Amity shared one. Hunter, Camila, and Luz shared the other. Camila seemed to be the only one to calm Hunter down their first night here. When he had woke up in a fit o rage, ready to literally murder Belos. She remembered having to manhandle him while Camila convinced him he was ok. That Belos wasn't around, they had to find and stop him first. The mother had cupped his angry face and spoke softly, telling him, everything would be ok baby. She promised. 

Hunter seemed to snap out of it. Crumbling to the ground in tears. Willow wanted to stick around, comfort him. But she was so angry. She wanted revenge just as bad, if not, even more! This was someone she cared sooooo much about. And for that- that monster to do that to him? To treat him as though he was worth nothing. That he was nothing. No worth to anyone. To hurt his best buddy through Hunters body?? She had to run. She remembered practically wrecking a section of the forest in anger. Slumping to the ground in her own tears. Alone. But that was ok. Hunter was ok. Hurt in so many freaking ways! ... but he was alive... and that's all that really mattered to her.

The two hadn't really talked at all since then. 

She sighed and looked up at the sky. If she had a mirror, she knew her eyebags would be showings right now. Kind of like Hunter's when she had me him. That boy seriously didn't get enough sleep back in his golden guard days. And he was so oblivious to think six o'clock was sleeping in. She chuckled a bit at the memory. 

Was it wrong that she wanted to go back to that? If it meant Hunter would at least still be... happy? 

Was he ever really happy?

They had talked a lot, yeah. From their meeting the day she started their flyer derby team. He seemed happy? He seemed thrilled for them to be able to join the 'best coven there was'. And then somehow, for some reason she still didn't know. He changed his mind. He protected them. And then she received a buddy request from him. Titan he was such a slow typer too. Somehow she had found that weirdly cute. She figured he hadn't had any type of social media- or experience with witches his age. But he tried, had sooo desperately tried to get her to like him. To be his friend. She missed... getting those photos. She was sure anyone that knew Hunter would've known how much he loved that bird. But she felt prideful knowing she was the first one he had shared that love with. And now... now she didn't know how to feel.

She had never seen a palisman give their life to a witch before. Well. Grim...walker? 

Did he know he was... a grimwalker? She hadn't heard much about them. She just knew that they went extinct a long time ago. That they were clones. Now that she thought about it, Belos had called him Caleb. That was the same name he used to disguise himself when they met. Caleb Jasper BloodWilliams. Maybe he had always known. 

How... does someone live knowing they're a clone? She didn't care what he was. But she figured that must have been hard on him. Titan... his whole life had been so hard. Why?

"Why do you keep doing this to him?!" She shook her fist at the sky. She didn't know when she had started crying but she could feel the warmth of the tears against her fingers as she rubbed her eyes. "Why?" She cried silently now.

"Willow?"

Her heart dropped. No. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She quickly tried to wipe her face dry, "Yeah?" her voice broke. Dang it.

"I- are you? No she isn't ok, why ask that." He muttered to himself. "Do you...wanna talk about it?"

"What? No! I'm OK!" She laughed forcefully. "What about you? How did you manage to get past Camila and Luz? Surely they... well. I just haven't seen you out here..."

"Because you haven't been sleeping but for maybe two to three hours a night." He stated as a fact more than a question. 

"N-no?"

Hunter walked around her and pulled her hands from her face down. 

She shook her head and tried to pull away, knowing the tears were starting to fall. "I'm sorry I-"

"No." He held one hand up. Using his other to continue to grip hers, "I'm sorry. 

"No! That's not why."

"Is it because I lied to you?" He asked softly, sorrow and guilt clouded his eyes but he held her gaze.

She shook her head. "Hunter, no. I'm not mad at you. I. I was just-" why not just come out with it. He had already caught her crying, and she needed her head in the game instead of being distracted. She needed to get this off her chest. "I was so scared- I-"

Hunter's eyes widened and he released her hand like it was a burning hot coal. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I promise I really thought Belos was here-"

"No!" She grabbed his hands and pulled him back. "Not of you! I could-" she hiccupped. "I could never think you would want to harm any of us. It's just-" she hiccupped again. "We could have lost you... I could have lost you!" She snapped. "You were so cold, you weren't moving! You were- i thought you were dead! You were dead! I would've lost if- if Flap..."

And then he pulled her into a hug.

That was her braking point.  

She hugged him back like every ounce of her being needed to feel him against her. Her fingers curled into his shirt as she gripped the soft material and sobbed violently. Her glasses hurt from her face being pressed so hard against his chest but she didn't care. She just cried until her throat hurt, and soon it turned into soft whimpers and subtle shudders of breath.  

He let her cries die down before softly gripping the sides of her head and pressing her ear against his chest. "See, it's beating... It's not a heart like yours but it works the same way. Its called a galderstone... I'm sure you've heard about those. But... I'm alive." He said softly. 

She nodded and listened to the soft thuds, a soft sigh and hiccup escaped her mouth.

He used one of his hands to hold her close and used the other to rub circles on her back. In attempt to comfort and calm her down. "Do you feel that? I'm moving. And... well. since it is a bit chilly out here, I can only hope I feel warm enough for you." He muttered softly.

She let out a small laugh and nodded, releasing her grip on him just a little bit at the confirmation. Somehow, even after all the crap he had went through, he was comforting her. 

So she pulled away. "I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have. You're the one... that has been through all of- I'm so sorry."

He frowned at loss of her in his arms. She felt nice there. He hugged her again. 

"What are you-"

"Shh. This is for me."

"Oh... Ok." Willow seemed to like that answer and hugged him back. 

Hunter let out a long sigh and maneuvered them to the ground, only letting her go long enough that they needed before pulling her back into a hug. Willow pulled one arm away and cast a quick spell. A large leaf formed behind them and Hunter gratefully leaned back into it, taking Willow with him.

"You haven't been sleeping."

"Neither have you."

"That's not true." Hunter replied curtly. "I have been getting more sleep then you at least." He muttered when she raised a brow at him.

"Well... I think I'll sleep a little better now. I know you're alive... even better now." She tried.

"Sorry for worrying you, Captain."

"I forgive you. It... wasn't your fault. You fought back, you did everything you could... It was him." she seethed.

Hunter gulped at the coldness in her eyes at the reference of Belos. If he didn't get to Belos and finish him first, the captain would no doubt rip him apart. "That's... not entirely true. I knew what Belos was doing. He was... I knew I would die if I fought him back. Don't ask me how... but I knew. I was the perfect vessel for him. I couldn't let him hurt ya'll through me. Not another one." 

"You were incredibly strong for that." 

"I guess. But I am also made out of some pretty sturdy stuff, so. That helped."

"Did... did you always know... that you were-"

"No. I.. found out after me and Luz were in Belos mindscape. That's... that's how she knew."

She nodded her head.

"Do you think I'm... uhm. Do you think any-"

"No. I don't care what you are. We're all made different. Me, Luz, King, Hooty... It doesn't matter to me."

"But I'm a clone."

"So am I."

"What?!" Hunter almost pulled back at the utter shock he felt, letting confusion roam his mind as she started giggling. 

"Well.. not exactly but I'm made by my parents DNA so... we kind of all are in a sense." She finished softly.

"Oh... I didn't think about it like that I guess." 

Willow let out a yawn and nodded, tired from crying so much and content with her answers, snuggling closer to the boy. She then cast another spell and a large leaf covered their bodies as she leaned into him. "Stay here with me... please?"

Hunter nodded and pulled her closer, letting his head rest on hers after removing her glasses and setting them next to him. He was definitely not as wild of a sleeper as her. They'd be safer on his side.

"When all of this is over... I would like to hang out with you more. Just... the two of us though."

Hunter felt his galderstone pick up pace a little at that. Was she? Did she mean?

He looked down to see the girl already sound asleep. The barest hint of a smile played on her lips before her mouth slightly opened and the snoring began. He smiled at the sight and thought of what future he might be lucky enough to have with her. He didn't know how or why, but the fluttering in his chest seemed to tell him brighter days were ahead. He had hope. 

And even though he had lost Flapjack physically, he knew and heard and felt the bird inside him. He wasn't alone. He'd never be alone again. And he would never let Belos hurt anyone again.

The blonde soon fell into a deep sleep next to the girl beside him, holding her close to him as she moved around in her sleep. The two slept better that night than they had in days. They didn't realize just how bad they would need it for the days to come.

[lollytea]

oh hunter is sooo 'loving but overbearing parent that his teenage daughter rebels against bc her latent Cool Kid genes kicked in' coded... sweet worrywart that has a heart attack when his sweetiepie actually yells at him for the first time... meanwhile every other person on this family is SUCH an enabler to any antics

When they're expecting a baby, Hunter's mood would swing between absolutely ecstatic and completely horrified at the idea of being a parent. Like he loves. He loves so much. He wants this baby and he wants to love her so badly. But he worries himself to pieces over possibly becoming anything resembling the "parent" Belos was. Which...yknow....shouldn't be hard to avoid. Don't be evil and don't treat your kid like shit? Easy, right? So he initially tries to reassure himself with that logic but it doesn't stop the anxiety. And even though Willow adamantly argues that he'd never turn out like Belos, he also gets her to promise that she'll reign him in if that ever happens. He's just...paranoid. But this comforts him somewhat.

But throughout Hunter's journeys with parenthood, he struggles a little with finding a sweet spot between strict, protective, supportive, loving and a safe place where his kid feels secure. Because like. Hunter was such a curious kid who desperately wanted to study "dangerous" things. Surely he wouldn't want to be the person who doesn't let his kid broaden her horizons. He wouldn't want to snuff out the incorrigible curiosity that she inherited fron him in the first place. He should be encouraging it.

But at the same time....Hunter didn't feel fully safe in his life until he was sixteen. There was a point where it felt like the whole world wanted him dead. He almost lost so many friends. He did lose a friend. After everything he's endured it would be in his nature to worry about the safety of those who are important to him. So being an anxious worrywort to keep his daughter from getting hurt definitely clashes horribly with his desire to give her the opportunities he never had. He doesn't want to be controlling but it's hard when you worry so much, yknow?

These two principles mashed together results in a very coddling Dad who is all for letting his daughter experience new things. Just so long as Hunter is right there beside her. He wouldn't let her take his or Willow's staffs for a test ride unless one of them rode alongside her until she got a palisman of her own. Which was SO embarrassing because her friends borrowed their parents staff all the time.

Hunter means well but he's developed a bad habit of smothering her. He's just so blinded by the need to keep her safe that he doesn't realize that he's not giving her the proper space to grow. He doesn't completely understand why she starts getting so rebellious.

Though he was hesitant to do so when she was really little and he was still getting used to the parenting thing, Hunter eventually does decide to start implementing punishment. Because at some point he realizes that he can't not. She can dislike him all she wants but keeping her out of danger is the most important thing. If he has to punish her to guarantee that, he will.

He's very careful about how he executes this. Punishment from Belos ranged anywhere from physical threats to psychological manipulation that had Hunter questioning how much he had to pull his weight to justify existence.

If his kid misbehaves herself, she receives a stern talking to. Sometimes Willow will decide if this is worthy of a grounding. But Hunter only dishes out punishment if her actions put her or anybody else in danger. And then once she's grounded, he comes into her room and slowly explains that this is the reason so there's no misunderstanding.

But you know how kids are. She loves her Dad. She really does. Sometimes it feels like he's the only person who understands her. Sometimes it feels like he GETS that she's smart and tough and powerful. He teaches her about palisman. Sometimes his chest swells with pride, and he smiles and says "You're as strong as your mom" and she knows that's the highest praise he could give her. But sometimes....UGHH!!! Sometimes he really gets under her skin. It's like he still sees her as a baby. And she doesn't understand why.

Hunter does not look down on his daughter in the slightest. He doesn't see her as weak. He just sees too much of himself in her. The tendency for recklessness and half baked plans. And he knows she's not a baby. But she's his baby. And when you're raised by somebody who did everything wrong and he let you get hurt again and again, you do everything in your power to do everything right. You make sure nothing ever hurts them. And that's how you end up like Hunter.

And one of these days, his daughter is going to learn the truth of her Dad's upbringing. And it's all going to make sense.

[fenixfoxtrot510]

Yes I know the Coven Heads were a bunch of petty bitches that liked to bully a literal teenager.

But I also like to HC them spoiling Hunter just a little before he was made the Golden Guard.

The kid has 3 different toys in his bedroom that I can make out and I seriously doubt that Belos gave them to him or allowed him leave the castle with an allowance for a fun afternoon of shopping.

My guess is that the Coven Heads might have spoiled him at first as a way to suck up to Belos. And Hunter kept everything he has fond memories of because that is the only way he was able to survive growing up in his Uncle's Murder Cult.

Hettie gave him Sprig to help him deal with nightmares after getting his first big scar on his cheek. There's a lil satchel of herbs in it to help him sleep. But being 5 or 6, he didn't know about that and magic or not, that stuff still needs to be changed out to keep it's scent, so it doesn't do much to help him fall asleep anymore but he still keeps Sprig after all these years.

A lot of the more random bits and bobs where dug up by Eberwolf then dumped on Hunter when Darius found the junk still caked in mud in his nice clean room. "Whatcha doing?" "Throwing away this garbage while I plot murder, Little Prince." "That looks cool! Why is it garbage?" "Ugh! If you want it you can have it! Just leave me alone and find someone else to bug!" "Really! Thank you Darius!" "YOU BETTER MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THAT MUD OFF BEFORE TRACKING IT AROUND THE ENTIRE CASTLE!" "KAY!!!"

For reference :

This thing. Eber dug it up. Probably with some other bones he gnawed on for an hour; then decided to leave the skull as a gift for Darius. Baby Hunter thought it was cool and kept it, because of course he would.

Mason carved the Belos statuette for Hunter the day that he got stuck with a lost 7 year old leech latched to his side for 9 whole hours, asking a million and 3 questions about everything and gushing about his favorite Uncle. After that day Mason promptly made himself scarce every time he heard the pattering of excited feet and non-stop chatter coming around the corner in halls.

The long stick is something he found and immediately ran to show Lilith. It reminded him of her staff! Can she show him how to fight with it. Cue Lilith spending an afternoon teaching Hunter how to properly twirl a staff without dropping it or accidentally smacking himself in the face. It was the only time that she thought him cute. Then he started scout training and destroying all of her Coven training records and she quickly changed her mind.

After he started scout training, the Coven Heads stopped humoring him as much because they had too much work to do to continue babysitting the Emperor's nephew now that he was the coven trainer's problem. But it didn't stop completely till he hit his obnoxious know-it-all, better-than-everyone-else, pre-teen stage.

That potion on the wall? From Vitimir. What is it? Hunter doesn't know. Could be a sleeping potion, could be acid. Vitimir did not say. Just tossed it to him on his way to a meeting. Hunter would've tested it on Kikimora but didn't want to get in trouble on the off chance it killed her; Nor did he want to be late to flight practice. It is hanging on the wall until he can safely identify it. (It's an explosive. Vitimir didn't want to deal with the budget meeting that day and thought he could get out of it if the Emperor's nephew managed to destroy a good portion of the castle. Sucks for him that Hunter kinda forgot about it.)

He got the knife from Steve before he got sent on his hike down the knee. He made so many fond memories with that knife! Cutting wet wood that he couldn't start a fire with! Trying to stab the baby slitherbeast for food and nearly getting killed by mama slitherbeast instead! FUN TIMES! DEFINITELY NOT TRAUMATIZING! (He was the fastest scout to ever make it down the Knee, but that had less to do with his survival skills and more to do with the pissed off mama slitherbeast chasing him.)

And is that a fucking scythe I see peeking from the left corner of the room? 500 snails that was a birthday present from Terra. She takes joy in pitting children against each other in magic warfare and is shocked when told that using them for garden mulch is "Illegal." Of course she'd think a scythe would be the perfect plaything for a giddy trainee Hunter whom thinks that her death mazes are fun.

[tohisprettyc00l]

A new best friend chapter 2

A/n: new plan to keep up my one post-a-day quota I'll post a chapter of this (If I have it ready)

Part 1

You did your missions as usual. Or as usual, as it could be. You kept thinking about talking to The Collector again. Your brain had just fully comprehended what happened. Once you finished your missions it had gotten dark. You reported your success to Belos and then entered your room. You hopped onto your bed and attempted to go to bed.  

No matter how much you tossed and turned you couldn't fall asleep. You got up and started walking the Coven halls. While it wasn't prohibited to be awake this late, there was a time you had to wake up. Which resulted in almost no one being up that late. Your eyes kept wandering to the room the Colltor was in. Each time you shooke your head trying to distract yourself. You grabbed a cup of water a slowly sipped from it. 

"What are you doing up?" You jumped at the sudden voice. You shot your head to where the voice was coming from. You saw the Golden Gaurd standing with his arms crossed. "There's no rule I can't. Why are you still wearing your mask?" He took his mask off. "I just finished a mission." "Ah. you should probably start trying to sleep." "Was on my way." He said and started walking. You looked at him confused. "Must've had a long day you thought." You started walking back to your room.

You lay down and, unsurprised you still couldn't fall asleep. Your mind was filled with thoughts of the promise you made to the Collector. "Should I just do it right now? He seemed pretty anxious... But he's probably asleep. Wait. Can he even sleep?" You just kept your eyes shut until sunrise. Once you heard birds start chirping you got up. You rubbed your eyes. You looked at your clock to see what time it was. 5:00. Whatever you decided to just get up. While you were getting ready you just mentally prepared yourself to fail most of your missions and gain a few scars.

You stretched and walked the halls. The earliest you can get missions for the day is 5:30 so you decided to clear your mind and finally talk to the Collector again. You went back to the room you first found them in. Before entering you quickly looked around. After you were sure the coast was clear you opened the door. "Yoo-hoo! Anybody here?" You called out. The Collector appeared. "You really came back!" He yelled in excitement. "Shh please be quiet. Other people are sleeping." The Collector just looked at you confused but decided to listen to you anyway. 

"So what's with this mirror thingy?" You pointed at a circular piece of glass with a crescent moon shape on it. "That's what the Titan trapped me in!" "Would you be free if you broke it?" You asked picking it up. "No no no- Don't do that! I'm not sure what it would do but it would probably make me disappear forever!" You quickly put the mirror down. "Why do you look so tired?" The Collector asked. "Because I didn't sleep." "Wha- Don't mortals need to do that?" You laughed, "Haha! Yeah." The Collector looked confused. "Anyway- what's on your agenda today?" "What?" "Like your missions!" "Oh I don't get those until 5:30." You explained. 

"Hmm, Would've thought Belos would want you to get missions done as soon as possible." "It's probably so he can get everything in order first. Also so we're not too tired, which I am. So I'm trying to get ready to tell him I failed." You said with a clear nervous tone to your voice. "Welp, it can't be helped! But you seem to already have quite a few scars.' He pointed to a scar on your leg. "So you probably know how to patch yourself up."  You gave a forced smile"You're right," You got up, "I need to get going, to get my missions." "Okay see you after you're done!" The Collector said waving. "Huh? I mean... Yeah, see you later." You gave the deity finger guns and then left.

You left and started walking to get your missions. After waiting for other scouts you finally entered. "May I get my missions?" You asked bowing. Belos started listing off missions and you wrote them down. "Thank you for trusting me with these missions. I will do my best." You said and Belos dismissed you. You exited the room. You sighed, welp there goes any hope of having an easy day. The first mission is to slay a selkidomus. 

You hopped upon Salty's boat. You told him where to go and he sailed you to said place.  Once you got off you searched for the selkidomus. You saw a mother and baby and you paused. "It's a terrible beast. It's a terrible beast. It's a terrible-" You whispered to yourself but stopped once you got close enough. "I can't do it." You sat down, "What if I just lie to Belos? No, he'd be able to tell." You checked your list again. You re-read the mission and it specified he wanted you to retrieve the scales. An idea popped into you're head. You walked closer to the beast and tied vines around both the mother and infant. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" You said you cut off a few of the mother's scales. Thankfully it didn't seem to hurt the mother, but it did seem to piss her off.

You ran away and got rid of your vines when you thought you were far away enough. Well turns out you were wrong. Suddenly a huge shadow loomed over you. The selkidomus seemed ready to attack. You quickly wrapped yourself in an abomination goop and teleported onto the ship. "Salty start leaving!" You commanded. He did as he was told and left as soon as prompted. You sat down and felt like passing out. Using that much magic wasn't wise.

The day continued similarly avoiding death by the skin of your teeth. And then you failed two missions. You felt your heart sink to your stomach. While it was rare it wasn't unheard of for you to fail two missions. But to do it a day after you failed a different mission? Yeah, you're fucked.

You stood in front of the throne room door, your fist trembling above the wood. You gave three quick knocks on the door. "Enter." You heard the emperor call out. You entered shaking violently. "May I speak?" You asked. "Proceed." You dropped off the scales. "I have received the scales, I have done most of what you have told me to do." "Most?" Belos asked sharply. "Yes, sadly two wild witches got away." Suddenly there was a harsh stinging pain in your arm. You bit your lip to stop yourself from crying out and clasped your hand over your arm. "I hate to do this, but you can't keep failing. You have to know your failures have consequences." "I und-understand." You coughed out. "You are dismissed. You nodded and left. 

As soon as you were out of the throne room you ran to your room. You saw scouts look at you with sympathy. You half-hazard disinfected your wound and wrapped it up. You stared at the ceiling blankly and closed your eyes. Which caused you to drift off to sleep.

[sylvarantii]

Sometimes I find myself struggling to write Belos/Philip because I'm always afraid I write him too nice. And then I have to remind myself that if he wants to really manipulate someone or get them on his side, he's of course going to be the kindest person you ever met at first. That's how he wins you over.

He uses the gentlest approach and gets you thinking, "I would do anything for this person." It's exactly how Hunter used to view him, after all. He gets you to sympathize him and lower your guard. And even when he reveals himself in his crueler moments, you think to yourself, "Well, he's only being like this because he's having a rough time right now."

So, you know, writing something where he's at first a very kind and passive person to the player in a dating sim isn't inaccurate. He might show small pieces of his undesirable personality, but overall, it's important to remember that he got a whole isle of people to love him and follow his lead.

(More ramblings below the cut cause I didn't want this to take forever to scroll down through.)

Still, I can't deny, the part of me that prefers not to make it all sad/angst does want to give the player the option for a good ending with him. But I think the problem is...you are REALLY going to have to enable the guy. Because loyalty is possibly the most important trait to him. And if he sees even a smidge of doubt, he won't be happy.

Like, I'm sorry, but he just feels very set in his ways. And trust me, I've known people in real life that you will NEVER get them to change their opinion on something once they've decided it's true. No matter how wrong they are about it.

But, I guess for the people that wanted some bad endings? Well, they're probably in for a treat at least. I don't know, this feels like a delicate process because while I know I can't make everyone happy, I want at least a majority to enjoy it and be at least satisfied with it in the long run.

But uh, this feels like a long project running, so I guess there's no need to worry about endings right now.

Either way, I guess I'm going to preface this with a warning that more than likely with me writing him, the relationship is going to be unhealthy. I can't see it any other way, really.

Mostly because I just can't stand when people try to write romance for an evil character and they make them too nice. Well written characters that are big time OOC are huge pet peeve for me in particular. Like, I definitely have it in mind to where he will treat the player better than anyone else he knows because he'll come to care about you deeply.

I love writing romances where a character ends up putting their loved one above everyone else, after all. He'll absolutely cherish you, as the player. But he'll also develop some pretty obsessive feelings because this is the first person he's really connected with since...possibly the bond he had with his brother.

Anyway, I'm rambling because I'm excited, but I'm also trying not to reveal much until I actually get some stuff together. But I'm very excited with how the script is coming along. I can't wait to get this going in Ren'py and have some screenshots to share for everyone.

As a side note though, I'd also like to say that, uh, the first part isn't going to have much when it comes to romantic implications. I'm also a slow burn type of writer. And while I hate having to write build up, I also don't want anything to happen too fast.