#gwen clawthorne

[shadysadie]

[idoodlestuffsometimes]

Story Post 14 (Part 1)

And now for some Clawthorne family drama.

AU MASTER POST

BEGINNING | PREVIOUS | NEXT

[Image ID under the cut]

[IMAGE ID: Two pages of a black and white comic.

PAGE ONE PANEL 1: A distant view of the Owl House. In the foreground, a group of coven scouts lurk in the bushes, led by Lilith. "Scouts, today we bring this wild witch to justice," she tells them. PANEL 2: "The Owl Lady will join a coven." Eda stands in the large, round window on the second floor, looking down at them, ready for their attack. PANEL 3: Lilith points, launching the charge. "Ready yourselves and. Atta-!" PANEL 4: "Aack!" Lilith's battle cry cuts off in a startled shout, even as the scouts charge forward around her. A crow sporting a rotary dial on its chest has flown in from behind her and smacked her in the back of the head. PANEL 5: The crow continues on its way while Lilith watches. "What the--" reads her thought balloon. "That looks like mother's crow phone." PANEL 6: The crow shatters the glass of Eda's window and crash lands with a squawk squarely in a very startled Eda's face. "Wait," Lilith thinks. PANEL 7: "Edalyn, witchlet! How are you?" A voice comes from the crow's open beak. A close-up of Eda's shocked face. "Mom?!" PANEL 8: On Lilith, reacting with exaggerated dismay. "Is Edalyn getting regular calls from mother?!"

PAGE TWO PANEL 1: "Now's sort of a bad time!" Eda shouts. She gestures a spell circle and a vine bowls over Lilith and a scout with a CRACK. "Oh dear," says Gwen through the crow phone, "I didn't catch you in the bath did I?" PANEL 2: "Perfect Little Lily and her goons are paying me a visit!" Eda says through the phone. "The bad kind!" A wide view of the Clawthorne parents' dining room. They're both sitting at the table, Gwen on the phone while Dell watches. He's busying himself casting a spell on a potted plant in front of him. "Again?" asks Gwen. "I wish you two wouldn't fight so much. Maybe you really should just join a coven. It's really not so bad. Even your father finally has now." PANEL 3: Eda's dodges a left hook from a scout. "I'm not going to roll over and let myself be controlled just because Belos so!" she protests angrily. "You and Dad were wild witches for years! Do you really think it's dangerous?!" PANEL 4: "Oh - uh...Well, normally not really, but your curse..." Gwen glances at Dell. In the foreground, Dell is looking away sadly, his face in shadow, his head turned so that we can see the scar over his eye. His hand raised over his plant is scarred and has a tremor. There is a plant coven sigil on his wrist. PANEL 5: A close-up of Eda, scowling. "Never mind, don't answer that. If you're calling about another 'cure,' I'm hanging up." "Wait," cries Gwen, "don't!" /END ID]

[knockknockknockingonhootysdoor]

if the hexsquad need anything from hunter while he is at work, amity is the only one allowed in.

[aroacemisha]

Glowing eyes: a compilation.

Made one of my own, because while going through screenshots from ‘Keeping Up A-fear-ances’, I realized Gwen had a glowing eyes moment, and I don’t think I’ve seen a compilation that includes her.

I’m only including instances of characters’ eyes glowing naturally/from their own magic usage, so moments like the Coven Heads’ eyes glowing in ‘Hunting Palismen’ or Hunter’s eyes glowing at the end of his possession aren’t included.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Stepping Stones: Chapter 10

“Do you ever regret teaching Luz to sew?”

Hunter walks over to join Darius at the window, following his gaze down to where Luz is making her way to the house. Despite being a good distance down the road, she’s clearly visible thanks to her neon green shirt, bearing the words GO EMERALD ENTRAILS in lopsided, brilliantly gold letters. 

A grin stretches across Hunter’s face. “Not for a moment,” he replies, and Darius sighs deeply. 

Luz knocks at the door a moment later, and Hunter pulls it open for her. She throws her arms around him without preamble. 

“Hunter! You’re going to be amazing today, I know it!”

“Thanks.” As she pulls back, he adds, “nice shirt.”

Luz twirls. “I thought you’d like it.”

As she spins, Stringbean rises up from her shoulders, slithering through the air to nuzzle Hunter’s cheek. “She’s been so excited all day,” Luz tells him.

“That makes two of us,” Hunter replies, gathering Stringbean into his arms. Over the last three months of taking her to school, he’s come to really love her. It doesn’t make him miss Flapjack any less, and he knows she’s not really his— he doesn’t innately understand her the way he did with Flap, and she isn’t as attuned to him— but she still curls around his shoulders when he’s nervous and shifts into different animals during class to keep him entertained, and she’s flown like the wind during every practice they’ve had. It makes him happy to know she’ll be with him today. 

“Are you nerv—" Luz begins, but quick as lightning, Darius sends a tendril of abomination goo to cover her mouth.

“Ah ah ah! We’ve put a ban on that question in this house.”

Raine smacks Darius’s shoulder, and he reluctantly pulls the abomination back. With an apologetic look at Luz, they explain, “it’s pretty much the only question any of us have been getting all week.”

The school administrations have been in contact with the Isles’ makeshift leadership committee, but clearly not enough, because whoever thought that scheduling the first Flyer Derby game on the same day of the election was a good idea had no idea what they were doing. Hunter has heard Raine say more than once that the house hasn’t felt this tense since it was serving as the headquarters for the rebellion, and on top of that, anyone who comes near it has to ask about it. 

“The only thing worse than the waiting,” Hunter tells Luz now, “are the many people asking about how well you’re handling it.”

“Gotcha.” Luz mimes locking her lips and throws away the invisible key. “But for the record,” she adds, “I meant what I said. I really do think you’re going to win today. All of you.”

Eber folds his arms, and since Hunter has been teaching Luz what he’s been learning in Beastkeeping, both of them know what he says. 

“Yes, even you, Eber,” Luz replies. “We win when our friends win!”

Eber rolls his eyes. Darius shoves him lightly. 

“Speaking of winning,” Hunter says, “we’d better get going.”

Stringbean lifts out of his arms and transforms into a staff, but rather than taking her, Luz lets her fall into Hunter’s hands. Hunter gives her a smile, grateful for any extra practice time he can get, and he takes off with Luz behind him and the others following.

The field at Hexside is already packed when they arrive, but it doesn’t take Hunter long to find the Nocedas in the crowd. They’re seated in the front row, Camila blowing him kisses and Vee waving frantically with one arm, her other hand in Masha’s. Amity sits on Masha’s other side and gives Hunter two thumbs up when she sees him looking at her. In the row behind them, Wynne, Gemini, and Ivy are listening to Eda explain something, and Dell and Gwen are giving him bright smiles and reassuring waves from her other side. 

Luz slides off of Stringbean and gives Hunter one last hug. “Good luck!” she says, and races off to sit beside Amity. 

Raine kisses Hunter’s head. “You’re going to be great,” they promise. 

Eber nods, patting Hunter’s arm and scampering after them. Darius ruffles his hair.

“Make us proud, little prince.”

For a moment, Hunter watches them go, and he feels like he’s already won.

Then he takes a deep breath and makes his way to the side of the field where the rest of the Entrails are waiting, Willow ready with his face paint. She draws the fork of green lightning down the left side of his face with careful fingers, and Hunter prays she can’t feel how his face is heating under her light touch. 

She steps back and winks. “Looking good, Hunter.”

Knowing from many unfortunate past experiences not to speak, Hunter gives her a double thumbs-up. Somehow this feels worse.

“All right, team,” Willow says, and they huddle up in a practiced motion at the familiar words.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about the Saint Epiderm Fire Bees— that they’ve been training since the beginning of the year, that their palismen are some of the fastest recorded in the history of school sports… yeah,” she says to their nods, “you’ve heard it all. But you know what they haven’t heard about us? Viney can make a shield so strong it would stop a wall of actual fire bees. Skara has won a grudgby game and a flyer derby game in the same afternoon. Gus can fly on one foot, with his eyes closed!”

“For a short amount of time,” Gus interjects.

Hunter waves this away. “It still counts.”

“And Hunter can teleport, and make turns so tight he might as well have teleported, and fly so fast that…”

“He might as well be part palisman?” Hunter gives her a tiny, wry smile.

“And,” Willow says, wrapping and arm around him, “he’s always looking out for his team.”

But Hunter can hear the tremor in her voice that she gets when she’s worried she’s said something wrong. The team has been full of nothing but praise for her— but Hunter knows all too well that years of harsh words take years to purge. 

He wraps his arm around her waist. “And our captain here, in addition to being an excellent flyer and a summoner of plants I don’t even know the names of, is such an excellent judge of character that she brought together the best flyer derby team the Isles have ever seen!”

The Entrails let out a cheer at this, and Hunter glances at Willow, raising his voice until she gives in and cheers too. 

The distant screech of a bell lets them know it’s time to line up, and Hunter steps apart from Willow, trying to ignore the sudden cold that sweeps across his side. He tightens his grip on Stringbean and walks over to his place— only for a movement in the stands to catch his eye. It’s Masha, waving for all they’re worth. When they and Hunter lock eyes, they point at Willow and nod in encouragement. 

He could have asked Luz or Amity or Raine or Eda, all of whom have lived through the mortification of having a crush on one of their closest friends, all of whom know about Hunter’s on Willow since he is, in Luz’s words, “as subtle as Hooty trying to rip himself out of the house”. Gus and Willow are the only people he’s ever made any real effort keeping the secret for— Willow, because the idea of ruining their friendship makes him feel like he’s going to throw up, and Gus because he doesn’t want to make him keep a secret from Willow.

But somehow it felt easier to talk to Masha than someone he knows well, to ask them how they took the leap. Their words flash through his mind now as he looks at them. 

“I told her because I needed to say it, and I needed her to hear it, not because I needed to hear anything back. She was so scared of herself, and I wanted her to know how deep my feelings went— and I needed to get them out, because at some point, rejection is actually easier than carrying around feelings that big all the time and not knowing what to do with them.”

And he thinks about these flashes of fear Willow still has, how she cares so deeply about other people that she forgets to ask for anything in return. He thinks about all the risks everyone is taking today— Darius and Raine leaving their futures in the hands of a million strangers, five basilisks at a sporting event filled with people who have been raised from birth to be afraid of them, Willow reaching for her dreams with a team no one would expect to pull anything off— and suddenly, he feels like taking a risk too.

He takes his place in like next to Willow but, before getting into position, leans forward and quickly kisses her cheek. She turns to him, eyes wide, and he thinks she might be blushing but he turns away too quickly to tell if that’s anything more than wishful thinking.

“Good luck, Captain,” he mumbles.

Instinctively, he glances up at Masha to find them grinning. Beside them, Amity applauds him, pointing between her and Luz and nodding emphatically. He’s not entirely sure what that means, but clearly she thinks he’s done something right, so he’ll take it.

And maybe she’s onto something, because suddenly Willow’s hand is in his, their fingers threading together as she squeezes.

“You too, Hunter.”

And then the referee blows their whistle, and they’re off.

Two of the Fire Bees streak towards Gus, clearly thinking that he’ll be the slowest. Hunter hurtles towards them, but it’s too late— a third Fire Bee is here now, behind Gus, grabbing his flag, which— disappears. The real Gus appears behind the two Fire Bees in front of his illusion, holding one of their flags in each hand.

“Better luck next time!” he calls with a wink, ducking under them and streaking for the goal. Hunter takes the opportunity to fly for the third Fire Bee while they’re distracted, but they turn just in time, flinging a wad of abomination goo into his eyes. Crying out, he lets go of Stringbean to wipe them— and topples off of her when the Fire Bee knocks into him, trying to get his flag.

Hunter kicks, screaming, and manages to summon a vine from the ground, calling it to curl around him, place him back onto Stringbean, and wipe his eyes.

Someone claps a hand on his shoulder, and he looks up to see Willow speeding past. “Nice work!” she calls.

Hunter glances behind him at the end of Luz’s staff. “They got my flag!” he calls.

Willow’s face turns grim, and she fixes her eyes on the Fire Bee streaking towards their goalpost. They’re so focused on the goal that they don’t notice as she flicks her fingers, sending a tiny vine to lightly flick their flag off of their staff. Hunter teleports beneath it, grabbing it, and makes his body as small and aerodynamic as he can as he flies like mad for the goalpost across the field. 

The Fire Bee closest to it turns and lets out a piercing whistle that cuts straight through Hunter’s ears, slamming the breath from his chest as he careens backwards— and then bounces forwards again, back onto Stringbean. He glances behind him to see a shield of blue light fading to reveal Viney beneath it.

“Keep going!” she yells.

The Fire Bee lunges for her, grabbing her flag— at the same time Skara grabs his.

“Viney’s was our last one!” she cries. “We have to beat him to the goal!”

Hunter puts on a burst of speed without looking back, his heart beating double time in his chest, every one of his muscles clenched so hard they ache. Come on, come on, come on, the thinks, clutching the flag in a clammy hand.

He reaches the goal and slings the flag onto one of the posts, turning back to Skara with a grin— only to see a vine reaching for her from behind. Without thinking, he teleports between it and her, gasping as it wraps around his waist and Skara slams the last flag onto its post.

“And we have a winner!” the referee calls. “The Emerald Entrails take the day!”

Hunter opens his mouth to cheer— but his breath comes out in a sharp exhale instead as the vine tightens around his waist, yanking him off Stringbean. For the second day, he finds himself hurtling to the ground— only this time, it bursts into flowers, and he lets himself fall. 

He brushes his hair out of his eyes and looks up to see Willow lowering her hands and racing towards him. Her arms are open, and Hunter instinctively raises his, intending to catch her in a hug. So he’s completely unprepared when she plants her lips on his.

Hunter kisses her back, wrapping his arms around her, and when they break apart, tears are streaking his cheeks. Willow lets go of him quickly, alarm crossing her face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry— I should have asked, I just thought—“

“No, no— Willow! You’re fine.” He wipes his eyes and beams at her. “I’m just happy.”

Willow’s expression eases into a wide smile, and she kisses the last of his tears away.

“Finally!”

Hunter looks over Willow’s shoulder to see Viney and Skara clutching each other’s hands and grinning, while Gus throws his arms up in exasperation.

“You knew?” Hunter asks.

“Obviously. And frankly, I’m kind of offended neither of you ever told me.”

“I didn’t want to put you in a difficult position,” Hunter and Willow say simultaneously, then laugh.

“What was difficult was watching you two pine after each other,” Skara says, rolling her eyes. “At least that’s over.”

“And more importantly, we won!” Viney shrieks, running for the bed of flowers and pulling Skara with her— and then all of the Entrails are together, tangled in one knot, cheering so loudly Hunter thinks they could be heard from anywhere on the Isles.

…

The victory party at the old CATTs headquarters starts off buoyant and happy. Hunter walks in holding Willow’s hand and feeling like he’s still flying, his cheeks aching from smiling. People keep clapping him on the shoulder or ruffling his hair and congratulating him— on his win or his incredible girlfriend, he can’t tell. Raine breaks out the waffle maker and makes an enormous batch of them for dinner, and people sit on the floor in little groups to eat, the room filling with overlapping conversations and laughter.

But then the evening wears on, and the laughter fades, the conversations becoming hushed. The Nocedas are the only ones who can stand to keep vigil by the crystal ball and watch the votes be tallied, all of them holding each other’s hands and sitting with tense, perfect posture. Everyone else in the room ignores the coverage completely, all finding something to distract themselves with instead. Masha paints Raine’s nails; Eda teaches Rhee how to play her mandolin; Lilith and Amity organize every book in the house alphabetically by genre; Steve and King board Steve's motorcycle and drive around as Gwen and Dell watch with mild fascination; Willow and Gemini play Hexas Hold ‘Em against Gus and Hooty; Wynne and Ivy go from group to group collecting dishes; Eberwolf shows Viney how he takes his beast form; Alador and Darius tinker with some kind of abomination. Hunter just wanders from group to group, watching one for a bit before drifting away.

When he gets to Darius and Alador, he wonders if he’ll have to break up a fight. They’ve been civil lately, but he wouldn’t put it past them to revert to the incessant bickering that was their normal right after Belos’s death under the stress of the situation.

“You’re going to win,” he hears Alador say with quiet conviction as he approaches. He raises his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.

“If only I was capable of sharing your delusional optimism,” Darius responds dryly. 

“No, I’m serious. You have to. I want to end my marriage to Odalia as soon as someone has the power to do it, and you’re the only person I can trust to do it fast enough.”

Darius looks up from their abomination so quickly Hunter’s neck throbs in sympathy. “You and Odalia are… over?”

Alador snorts. “We should have been over a long time ago. I… being with her was… the wrong choice.”

Darius’s expression softens into something Hunter’s never seen on him before, and he realizes it’s definitely time to stop watching this. He turns around— just in time to catch Luz’s eye as she stands.

“The results are in,” she says, her voice about three octaves higher than usual.

Everyone abandons the pretense of normalcy at once, scrambling to face the crystal ball. Hunter wraps one arm around Luz and feels Willow brush up against his other side, sliding her hand into his. 

Being old enough to join a coven, Hunter was also deemed old enough to vote, so he knows how the process worked. All of the candidates were listed on a form, and he was told to fill out the circle next to the five he wanted to rule the Isles. The five candidates with the most votes will be chosen to serve as councilors for the next five years.

“And our first councilor,” Perry Porter says, his voice conveying all the tension currently choking everyone in the room, “is… Alexis Calian!”

Alador nods approvingly. “They quit Blight Industries a few years ago. Good person.”

“Our second councilor is… Arthur Hanover!”

Lilith snorts. “How did he get elected? She has no opinions on anything!”

“That’s probably why people like him,” Luz points out. “They can project.”

“Our third councilor is… Hettie Cutburn!”

No one can speak for a few seconds. When a voice finally cuts through the horror, it’s Masha, but even they know to whisper.

“Who’s that?”

“She was the head of the Healing Coven,” Raine replies, their voice tight.

“At least it’s not Terra?” Eda offers.

“Yet,” Raine mutters.

Darius pinches his nose. “Well, putting the former Coven Heads on trial just became a nightmare.”

“Maybe we can impeach her?” Luz offers.

“What does that mean?”

Luz’s eyes widen. Just a fraction. Then she waves her hand. “We’ll talk later.”

“Our fourth councilor is… Darius Daemonne!”

The horrified silence is shattered by a wave of outright screams. Raine is jumping up and down, Eber is running circles around the room, and Hunter lets go of Luz and Willow to throw his arms around Darius before he can question the impulse. When he pulls back, though Darius is smiling wider than Hunter’s ever seen.

“All right, all right, settle down,” he calls. “We’ve still got one councilor left.”

But as soon as the word Raine passes Perry’s mouth, settle down becomes a foreign concept. If Hunter thought all the Isles could hear the cheers after the Entrails won, well, he’s sure even the Human realm could hear the noise that erupts. Eda dips Raine into a kiss as Lilith lets out a piercing whistle, Luz and Vee and Masha grab each other's hands and jump up and down, and everyone else is hugging and dancing and screaming themselves hoarse. Hunter picks Willow up by the waist and twirls her around, laughing and laughing, and even though he knows there is more work to do and more games to play, when she leans down to kiss him, he can't stop himself from thinking that things are finally falling into place. 

[starkdirewolflove]

The Owl House

Some things I predict/would like to see for the owl house when it ends and after they finally get rid of Belos/Philip for good:

King finds a way for the Collector to set the Boiling Isles back to normal and they remain friends while the Collector goes on to have adventures across the multiverse.

Lilith becomes a renowned historian and teaches the true history of the boiling isles and the Titan and banishes Belos’s lies and propaganda. She also goes on the occasional research trip/adventure with her bestie Hooty.

Eda takes up the Clawthorne family business of Palisman carving while working with the Bat Queen to regrow the Palistrom trees in her forest and arranging adoptions for the orphaned palisman in her care. She also has a part time job as a guidance councillor at Hexside helping inspire young witches to their best areas of study like she did for Edric and Emira. Eda shares custody of Luz with Camila and they alternate weekends where the families stay at each others houses. Eda and Raine get together properly, Raine works as the music teacher at Hexside and they have a band with the other BATS which Eda guest plays with once in a while.

Hunter becomes Eda’s apprentice in the palisman carving business and works as a sort of park ranger looking after the Bat Queen’s forest and all her palisman charges while studying wild magic and playing Flyer Derby on the weekends with the Emerald Entrails. Gus is his best friend and Willow his eventual girlfriend.

Gus with the approval of Principal Bump organises field trips for the Human Appreciation Society to visit the human realm where they liaise with their expert Vee to learn more about humans and their culture. Gus goes on to become a master illusionist and ambassador between the human and demon realms.

Willow realises her full potential as a powerful witch and starts her own garden club (like the plant coven but better), captains the Flyer Derby team to victory multiple times and graduates Hexside with honours and friendships with the people that used to pick on her but have wised up. She starts dating Hunter and uses her plant skills to help the Bat Queens forest grow and expand.

Amity reunites with her family (minus Odalia cos she’s the worst and I don’t see that changing) and joins Ed and Em in the Bad Girl Coven to learn other magic tracks while still being great at abominations. She wins the next Bonesborough Brawl cheered on by her family, friends and girlfriend Luz. Amity becomes a librarian/author and collaborates with King and Luz on a new book series about a witch from the demon realm falling in love with a human girl studying to be a witch.

And Luz strikes a perfect balance between her two homes and families so she spends time on the boiling isles and time back at Gravesfield but Camilla goes with her to the owl house to spend time with her other kids and they all visit her too. Camilla and Gwen Clawthorne bond over veterinary and beast keeping and set up their own animal/beast clinic on the isles. Luz becomes a fully trained witch and helps inspire other young witches on the isles and with her sister Vee, finds other human kids like her who would flourish in the demon realm and want to learn magic. Luz and Amity stay together and Eda and Owlbert start taking bets on when they’ll get married and who’ll propose first.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Here's an ask challenge to take a hit at when you get the chance: What might you see the six people closest to Eda (Luz, Lilith, King, Raine, Hooty and her mom) getting her for Christmas? Or whatever the Boiling Isles equivalent would be.

Luz would give her a World's Best Mom mug, and Eda would be in tears within seconds of having it.

Lilith would provide something practical like a new cauldron for potions or a stationary as the headmistress of a university.

King would draw constant homemade cards until Eda gets tired of it. She never does and has each one framed on her desk.

Raine's gifts is a new song dedicated to Eda. It's the same thing they give her on her birthday, but she doesn't mind because Eda LOVES IT when Raine plays for her.

Hooty would give her a dead animal of some kind. She thanks him and discreetly throws it away.

And Gwen and Dell would both chip in for a card with money in it. They're parents of a woman in her forties. They know what to give.

(But needles to say that each card is heartfelt and leaves Eda crying as well)

[sergeantsporks]

is dell or gwendolyn caleb’s descendant

Doesn't have to be an either or situation. I mean, it's been roughly 400 years since Phillip and Caleb got to the Isles, and assuming the whole [gestures] went down pretty quick after, if we start wittechild as the first generation in the Caleb/Evelyn line, and put a "generation" at 20 years, then that's enough time for TWENTY generations. Since Eda and Lilith would be generation 19, with their hypothetical kids being generation 20, Gwen and Dell would be generation 18. That's MORE than enough generations for Gwen and Dell to both be Wittebane-Clawthorne descendants without any issue. Heck, there's probably Wittebane-Clawthorne descendants everywhere on the Isles, whose Wittebane-Clawthorne roots got lost among the other various family lineages that got mixed in.

Gwen has the distinctive Clawthorne hair that Phillip's flashbacks of Evelyn show and knew about the human who used to be in Bonesborough. Dell is the palisman carver, and has a palisman similar to Flapjack. We don't know who took whose last name. Both of them have bird palisman, which is, according to Dana, "a Clawthorne thing." Honestly, I think the most likely theory is the theory that they're both descended from Caleb and Evelyn, or maybe they're both descended from Evelyn and one of them isn't descended from Caleb, depending on what you think Evelyn did with her life after Caleb's death.

[crushpunchh-art]

50

(textless under cut)

[jess-the-vampire]

How did Lilith get into the in-between in the arofam au?

this one was a long time coming

[idoodlestuffsometimes]

Story Post 14 (Part 2)

AU MASTER POST

BEGINNING | PREVIOUS | NEXT

[Image ID under the cut]

[IMAGE ID: Two pages of a black and white comic.

PAGE ONE PANEL 1: Gwen glances nervously over her shoulder at Dell. He beckons for her to continue. "It's not that. It's - ah--" PANEL 2: She turns back to the crow phone with a forced grin. "I hear you have a student now!" Dell's face drops in annoyance. PANEL 3: "A human one! How intriguing. I haven't heard of a human on the Isles since the one my great grandmother mentioned." Luz lies on her belly on her sleeping bag, happily reading in her room with King asleep next to her. Behind her, the window is open, revealing a scout brandishing a spear. PANEL 4: "And even that one disappeared, apparently," Gwen continues. Eda appears in the window, casting a spell that blasts the scout out of view. PANEL 5: Luz turns and looks out the window, puzzled, but there is nothing there. PANEL 6: "My human isn't going to disappear," says Eda. She looks over her shoulder at Luz's oblivious back through the window, determined. "Oh no, of course not!" says Gwen. "I'm sure you're doing a wonderful job looking after her and teaching her all sorts of things." PANEL 7: A close up of one side of Gwen's face, her eye looking to the side, knowing that Dell is behind her, concerned and waiting. "Like--," she says. PANEL 8: She leans in towards the phone, gritting her teeth. "--Palisman carving, maybe?" PANEL 9: Eda and Lilith clash. Eda blocks with her staff as Lilith comes at her with her own. "Mom, I'm busy!" Eda cries. "Just spit it out!" "Okay, okay!" says Gwen.

PAGE TWO PANEL 1: "It's about the family business." "What about it?" "Well," Gwen admits. "Palisman carving isn't exactly as easy as it used to be." A close-up of Dell in profile. His head is lowered, expression sad. PANEL 2: A view of an old, hanging wooden shop sign for a shop named "Clawthorne Palismen". It was once a mark of a well-cared for business. It has hand-carved wings, fancy lettering, and a second, smaller sign below it, declaring, "Established 16--" something. But the rest is broken off. The sign is in disrepair, with a, "CLOSED," sign plastered on top. PANEL 3: "A lot of people associate palismen with wild magic these days," Gwen continues. What was once a small, quaint shop sits boarded up and falling apart. It's covered in graffiti, reading, "REMEMBER METANOY," and "WILD." In the foreground, people avoid it, whispering. PANEL 4: A large, desolate field of clear-cut tree stumps. "And with the deforestation of the palistrom forests," Gwen says, "sometimes I worry it won't be feasible much longer." PANEL 5: "But your father can't do it anymore…" A close-up of Dell's hand. It shakes and is covered in scars. PANEL 6: A close up of Eda, guilty and distraught. "...And you--," PANEL 7: A flashback. Eda's cursed form looms over her frightened father, snarling. PANEL 8: A close up of Dell, younger and terrified, one hand towards the viewer, trying to ward off his attacker, the other clutching the side of his face. /END ID]

[existennialmemes]

Really love The Owl House for being like "no straights, even the het-passing couples are Very Gay"

Like, Eda's parents maybe, but honestly you're really gonna have to convince me that Eda did not inherit her Disaster Bi Energy directly from Gwen.

[the-nerd]

Again with the Clawthorne-hunter trope

Because since the ending theme is open to interpretation, I interpret it a bit in my own way.

So, at the end of watching and dreaming, we saw Hunter carving palismens, like he wanted, and we met his new palisman, waffles.

And what I find interesting is the choice of the theme of his palisman, many had theorized that when Flapjack died, Hunter would not want another bird and would go for another branch, like a wolf. But the fact that he has chosen another bird reminds me of a phrase that Gwendolyn Clawthorn said " birds are a Clawthorne thing"

And, at the time, I thought maybe they specialized in birds.... But they make more animals, birds are only for the clawthorn family, as a symbol of the clan.

Each member of the family has a different bird, so hunter having a bird as palisman means that he may be part of the clan.

And many people theorize that Hunter stayed with Darius because "Dadrius", but it makes much more sense to stay with tutors who are already familiar with parenting and more tutors who are alone and much more if you want to learn a profession, what better than to stay as an apprentice to one of the few remaining palismans carver?

I'm not saying Darius can't be a good tutor, and I love those au's of hunter and Darius, but taking into account the relationship Hunter and the Clawthornes have in the ending, and the fact he made a bird, that they might be part of the clan.

Of course this is a theory and is open to interpretations of all kinds.

[tohandmlbgayshipsmybeloved]

How Lilith, Luz, and Hooty see Lilith.

How King and Gwen sees Lilith. (Emo)

How Kiki sees her.

How Eda sees her.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Stepping Stones: Chapter 12

Eda folds her arms, shaking her head at the woman in the mirror. “Oh, girl,” she sighs. “What have you become?”

She looks great, of course. She always does. The issue is the vibe. Usually, Eda has one of two philosophies for getting ready: let her natural beauty do all the work, or dress to impress. This time, for the first time in her life, she has done neither. For the first time in her life, she has dressed to look professional.

“They’ve already changed me,” she sighs. 

“Who’s already changed you?” Raine opens the door to their bedroom, slipping inside— and then widens their eyes when they catch sight of her. “Wow. You look great.”

“I know,” she preens, and they roll their eyes good-naturedly.

“So what don’t you like about it?”

“Come on, Rainestorm. Have you ever seen me look this put-together? It’s not my brand. This business of having students, plural. It’s a menace.”

Raine smiles, coming to stand behind her and wrapping their arms around her. “I think it’s a good look.” 

Eda sighs, even as she relaxes into their embrace. “I had to ask Lilith for advice on what to wear.”

Finally, Raine looks appropriately unnerved. “She picked that out for you? I didn’t think she had it in her.”

“Clearly you knew better than me. I figured all that time as a prissy coven head taught her something about professional dress. Turns out she called Darius for advice every time she went out.”

“Ah, so Headmaster Clawthorne’s look only came about through Darius’s intervention.”

“The sacrifices we make for power.”

Raine laughs, planting a kiss on her cheek and stepping back. “Well, I like it.”

“Then I suppose I can come to accept it,” Eda says with a world-weary sigh. “Yours is the only opinion that matters anyway.”

“It’s just missing one thing.”

Finally, Eda tears her gaze from the mirror, making peace with it. “And that is?”

She turns to find Raine holding out their earring.

The one they’ve worn since their first day at Hexside.

Eda’s humor falls away, and she meets their eyes. “Why?”

“Well,” they say, rubbing the back of their neck with their free hand, “I know we agreed a long time ago that we didn’t want rings.”

Eda isn’t surprised they remember. She let it slip when they were dating the first time, after Hexside but before their relationship had started going downhill, that she hated the idea that a relationship had to be witnessed by the proper authorities and bound by magic and paperwork in order to be considered real. She still remembers the relief she felt when Raine agreed— though she knows their motivation stemmed more from the fact that being stared at by a bunch of people for hours was not their idea of a romantic day. 

“But,” Raine continues, “I know how nervous you’ve been for today. I wanted you to have something that will always tell you I’m with you, no matter what. Curse or no, magic or no, whether you have one student or one hundred— we’re in this together.”

Eda turns her face skyward, blinking fast, but the snort she makes trying to swallow back her tears belies any effort she could make to hide them. Raine has the audacity to laugh at the noise, and she shakes her head, wiping her eyes and beaming at them.

“Thanks, Rainestorm,” she says hoarsely, and they kiss her hand as she wraps it around the earring.

She takes a deep breath, drawing back some of her composure, and places the earring beside the mirror. “It’s only fair that I offer you some kind of token, too,” she says. She reaches for the gold stones she’s worn in her ears since graduation. Then, with a face as serious as death, she moves her hand past them, uses it to unscrew her prosthetic, and offers it to Raine.

They look from it to her, their face perfectly straight. “Eda,” they say flatly, “I’m not going to take your hand in marriage. We just talked about this.”

Eda throws back her head and laughs, replacing the hand, and then she really does take off her earrings. Both of them put their new earrings into their ears, and as Eda brushes her fingers along the metal, she realizes that Raine was right. This was what the outfit was missing; she’s no longer afraid of it.

And judging by the grin on Raine’s face, they know it. “Ready to go, Headmaster?”

“Ready when you are, Councilor,” she says, and slides her arm through theirs.

…

You’d never know it from the rate at which Belos consumed them, but palistrom trees grow at an almost terrifying speed. The seed Eda planted ten months ago has grown into a towering tree, with golden light seeping from windows that were painstakingly shaped in the wood so as to allow students to roam the inside of it without killing it. It’s grand, and magical, and everything Eda has always thought a school of magic should be. She passes the sign in front of it, running the tip of her hook along the logo Luz designed and the words University of Wild Magic below it. Part of her still can’t believe it’s actually real.

It brings her some relief to see that the people of the Isles seem as spellbound by it as she is. Her first incoming class and their parents, siblings, and friends are all milling around with wide eyes and grins. She only has eyes for five people, however, all standing at the foot of the tree.

“Eda!” Luz runs at her full-speed, sending her stumbling away from Raine and almost crashing to the ground with the force of her embrace. King is there a second later, clambering up her to wrap his arms around her neck.

“Look at this place!” Luz cries. “It’s incredible!”

“It really is,” Eda’s dad agrees softly. He extends a hand to steady her. “Well done, witchlet.”

Eda squeezes her hand. “Well, it wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

“Oh, we’re just so proud,” her mom coos, wrapping her arms around her. Eda pats her back, her eyes finding Lilith over her shoulder, and lets go of her to embrace her sister.

“Aren’t you proud of me, Lily? I’m finally taking school seriously.”

“Truly, it gladdens my heart.” Lilith pulls back and places her hands on Eda’s shoulders, looking her over. “Darius helped you pick out a wonderful outfit, you look like a true leader. And—“ she pauses. “Is that Raine’s earring?”

Eda smiles. “Yeah. They gave it to me before we left. They knew I was nervous about today, and they wanted me to have something to remind me they love me, even if they weren’t physically with me.”

To Eda’s shock, Lilith’s eyes well with tears. “Lily?” she asks, unnerved. Lilith has never been much of a romantic.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Lilith hastily wipes her eyes. “It’s just— it’s really good to see the two of you together again. It was my fault that you broke up, I know it was— and they were the love of your life— and I was so worried it would never work out…”

Eda raises her hands, cupping Lilith’s face. “Lily.” She waits until her sister meets her eyes. “For someone who takes so much delight in foisting her knowledge on other people, you can be very stupid.”

Lilith lets out a short gasp of laughter.

“Raine and I broke up because of me,” Eda says clearly. “If the curse was the problem, we wouldn’t be together now. The problem was that I could never accept it. I tried to push away an enormous part of who I was— and in doing so, I gave them a relationship with someone who didn’t exist. I’ve made my peace with the curse, and because I care about all of myself, I can let them care about me. You need to make your peace with it, too.”

“I ruined your life—"

“You did not ruin my life.” Eda spreads her arms, trying to encompass herself, and the people behind her, and the school behind them. “I have a partner and two kids I love and who love me, parents and a sister I’m on good terms with, a government that doesn’t dictate what kind of magic I learn or teach, and a school I’m opening that looks to be very successful. Plus, I can grow wings on command. I’m really fine.” She reaches out again, taking Lilith’s hands and squeezing them. “The only person whose life you’re ruining because of this regret is your own.”

“Eda, I’m never going to stop regretting it—"

“I’m not asking you too. But regret and forgiveness aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“Eda!” She turns to find Darius waving to her. “Time to get ready.”

“Just think about it.” She squeezes Lilith’s hands and turns, following Darius inside the tree and closing the door behind them. 

They wind their way through the halls and outside again to one of the platforms nestled in the tree’s branches, where Alador is waiting with a microphone he hands to her. Of course, he’s already thinking about the next thing, not sparing so much as a word for her before he shuffles inside. Eda smiles anyway.

She tightens her hands on the microphone and steps forward, glancing at Darius. He gives her a little nod.

“Hello, everyone,” she says, and her voice echoes down through the forest, effectively silencing the waiting crowd.

“Welcome to the University of Wild Magic. We’ll be open for classes next month. You’re all here because you’ve seen a broadcast on a crystal ball or a post on penstagram or picked up one of our brochures and decided the stuff we teach here was worth checking out. Thank you for that.”

She watches the crowd carefully as she speaks. Most of their faces are intent. Her friends and family are beaming openly. Except— where is Lilith? She was standing with their parents only ten minutes ago, but now she’s nowhere to be found.

Eda tries to shake it off, telling herself she must be elsewhere in the crowd. “I’m not much for speeches,” she continues, “so as an introduction, I thought I’d give you all the floor. What questions can I answer for you tonight?”

There’s a long pause— and then a hand in the middle of the crowd raises.

“Yes?”

“How are you going to teach us if you don’t have any powers?”

She told herself it was coming. It doesn’t make it hurt any less. She takes a deep breath, trying to remember the answer she prepared, refusing to let her voice shake—

“I wouldn’t call her powerless,” a voice says from behind her. Eda turns around to see Lilith flying down to the platform— flying down to the platform— because Lilith is a harpy—

“You did it,” Eda gasps, and her sister grins. 

“I had a good teacher.”

They both turn back to the crowd, and Eda can see them piecing things together. Enough of them saw Eda go into harpy mode, enough of them know Lilith shares her curse, to understand what Lilith has managed to do. 

“I’m afraid the harpy powers are a Clawthorne sister exclusive,” Eda says, and a laugh rolls through the crowd like a wave that breaks the tension. “But I can assure you that I have experience with many forms of magic. How much of that can I teach you?” She closes her eyes, has a few words with the Owl Beast. When she opens them, she stands just a little taller over the crowd, spreading her wings as wide as they’ll go. “As much as you’re willing to learn from a powerless witch.”

Raine gives a piercing whistle and Luz starts a fit of clapping that quickly spreads into a full round of applause. When the noise dies down, Eda continues, “but speaking of the curriculum, does anyone have any more specific questions on what it will entail?”

They do, of course, and the queries are phrased much more respectfully. People want to know about coven magic and how it will be taught, the ratio of knowledge to practical skill teaching, what new topics she’s going to cover. And to her surprise, she delights in thinking about it, in giving them the answers she prepared and thinking over the ones that she didn’t. It’s Darius who finally puts an end to it, sweeping up beside her and leaning into the microphone. 

“Unfortunately, if we want to give you all ample time to tour the school, that’s all the time we’ve got,” he says. “Any further inquiries can be directed to the school Penstagram account, or you can ask Headmaster Clawthorne during the tour.”

Another round of applause follows this, and Eda lets out a long breath, suddenly tired. The crowd begins moving towards the doors, and she, Lilith, and Darius walk back inside.

“I am amazed that you went on for as long as you did,” Darius sighs as they walk.

“I’m not,” Lilith replies idly.

Eda glances at her. “You’re not?”

“I don’t think I can ever recall a full class at Hexside that she sat through without blowing something up,” Darius adds.

“Because she wanted to show off her magic. Eda, I'm sure you used your powers at... inopportune moments because you wanted people to notice them. To be as fascinated by that kind of magic as you were. Of course you’re going to be good at teaching it.”

That makes Eda pause, stopping in the middle of the hallway. It sounds so simple when she puts it like that. 

For someone who takes so much delight in foisting her knowledge on other people, you can be very stupid, she hears herself telling Lilith, and she has to laugh. For all the knowledge they’re giving the next generation, they still have plenty to learn about themselves. Between each other and their curses, their allies and their enemies, they’ve had quite the array of teachers.

Eda supposes she’s about to welcome a new one.

“There’s only one way to find out,” she sighs, and pushes open the doors.

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

What if Lilith had her mom’s hair color when the dye comes out?