#but that point about Amity avoiding photography class was relevant here

[wingsyliveblogs]

Amity's aloof and detached attitude in the episode's beginning not only serves as a contrast to luz and willow genuinely hanging out and going dumb goofy friend stuff together even when they're ridiculed for it, but also makes sense with the reveal that she's been forced to hang out in a certain social group from a young age. Even when she's 'got' to be friends with them in case it reflects badly on her parents and family name, amity can't lie or force herself to genuinely enjoy being with them when she used to be happier with a genuine friendship. Since they'd be able to tell if she was faking liking the same things they do, amity instead keeps up a cool and detached attitude that prevents anybody getting too close to her, and thus exposing her real 'imperfect' self. Willow was not the only person suppressing things about herself this episode, and it's interesting how both willow and amity wound up forcing the other to show how they really felt on the inside.

1. Yeah, I think it's pretty cool that "Understanding Willow" also leads us to understanding more about Amity as well! Their pasts are so deeply connected by their former friendship and by that one incident in particular that we get to learn a lot about both of them in this episode, even if it's just Willow's mind that we're looking into.

And that's a very good point about the contrast between Amity with her "friends" compared to Willow with Luz. Amity shares the same space as Boscha and the others, but never makes much effort to engage with them. Contrast that with the friendship trio - or even with Amity when she does get to hang out with people whose company she actually enjoys! For example, she seems to make an attempt to retain her detached persona around Luz in Episode 12, but it doesn't last.

(Is this an excuse to post this screencap again because I think it's a very cute Amity moment? Possibly.)

2. I've recently rewatched Episode 3, and it's very interesting to examine Amity's actions in that episode with the added context of everything we've learned about her since. Her lines in her introduction scene definitely feel a bit like an awkward attempt at a Boscha impression in retrospect, as does the cupcake-squashing in Episode 5.

I do think that it's a very plausible read that she was genuinely trying to encourage Willow at first, while also trying not to act in a way that could be interpreted as friendly towards her (because they weren't friends and they couldn't be friends) - and the combination of these factors came out as "extreme condescension" and just added to Willow's already building frustration with the class as a whole.

It certainly seems consistent with one major element of Episode 15, which is that everything that Amity has done to Willow in an attempt to protect her has really only hurt her more, and that Amity didn't truly understand the full extent of that hurt until Inner Willow spelled it out for her.

3. The birthday party photo is very interesting to me, because it's the only one that doesn't seem to represent what the actual memory is about. As far as we saw, every other photo was directly related to what happened in the attached memory, but we never even get to see Amity and Willow being happy together before Amity's parents intervene. The photo itself is deceptively cheery - covering up the truth, just as Amity was doing and just as Willow herself wanted to.

4-5. These are some interesting points! I didn't really consider the possibility that Amity was avoiding Willow specifically because she'd given up on making things right and felt that Willow would be better off without her. It's not quite how I read her actions throughout the episodes so far (it seemed more as though she was still trying to keep herself separate from Willow due to what her parents said, and that she wasn't quite taking Willow's own feelings into the equation until Willow threw them in her face) but it's a reasonable interpretation and could very well be what she was thinking!

I'm still not quite sure if Amity knew the full extent of what erasing herself from the photo could do... because what she was trying to accomplish really depends on how much she understood what she was doing. Was she trying to erase herself from Willow's mind (just like Inner Willow herself?) Was it just a panicked attempt at destroying the evidence of her old friendship with Willow that was out in full view for anyone at Hexside to see?

Both answers seem plausible... though as you say in one of the messages below, it's quite likely that Amity never took the photography class at all, and thus would have had limited knowledge of how the memories and photos worked. I don't think she'd ever have risked setting Willow's entire mind on fire if she knew that was a possibility, so it's reasonable to assume that she didn't know about the connection between the photos and memories at all.

6-7. Ooh, this is certainly a fun topic to speculate on! Willow's mindscape has a very solid theme because plants are very much her thing, so it's actually a bit tricky to imagine what some of the other characters' mindscapes may look like when their own interests may not translate so easily to a clearly defined space inside their mind. I like to think that a healthy mindscape would represent what someone would personally want to have in their mind, in addition to reflecting their personal interests.

For example, Luz is very much into fantasy stories, but I'm not sure if she'd have a library as her mindscape? She proved to be a bit of a troublemaker in the library environment in Episode 7, after all, so I'm not sure how well it really suits her. But based on her comment about Amity's secret hideaway and her excitement over the hidden area in Episode 13, I think that her mindscape might have a lot of hidden doors and passages - not because she's trying to hide anything, necessarily, but because she thinks they're cool.

I think that her mindscape might also incorporate physical manifestations of elements from stories she likes, sort of like that fake quest from Episode 2? Basically, I don't think she'd have the books themselves inside her mind; I think she'd want to bring those books to life inside her mind instead, if that makes sense.

Similarly, I think Gus's mindscape would probably incorporate his skill with illusions and flair for the dramatic, in addition to his obsession with the human world.

I'm honestly not sure what Amity's mindscape would be like? Your idea seems quite plausible - alternately, she might be the one with the library mindscape, since Episode 7 indicates that she sees the real-world library as a relatively safe space compared to basically everywhere else. It's where she hides the things she doesn't want anyone else to see.

I would honestly love to see what Eda's mindscape is like, because she definitely has a pretty consistent owl theme going on, and I'm curious about what that would look like in her mind, but also I'm starting to wonder if her curse might have an effect on her inner world and if so, how would that manifest?? Sadly, since Eda is the only person we know who can cast the mind projection spell, she's probably the last person whose mind we'd ever get to see inside...

meanwhile, I'm not entirely sure I want to know what goes on in Hooty's mind