#he's the guy who started off just as bad as belos but he changed! he cared and so he changed!!

[welcometogrouchland]

There's a lot of things that, were they to happen on screen in the owl house season 3, would surely be the end of my mortal existence.

But the one I'm thinking of right now is if we get ANY hint of the moment when Caleb "plays witch hunters and practices his pitchforking technique in between chores with his baby brother in left-of-salem" Wittebane

became Caleb "I love my magical bird friend and my scary magic wife and this weird magic world I live in to the point I'll die defending my right to exist in it against said baby brother who's refused to let go of our childhood beliefs" Clawthorne

[sergeantsporks]

Thinking about how Hollow Mind was the first time Luz ever saw a Hunter/Belos interaction. We, as the audience, are already used to the way Belos treats Hunter, so it didn’t come as a surprise. But Luz?

Aside from a few concerning comments about the emperor not being a merciful man (which could be assumed to JUST be applying to criminals, surely he wouldn’t be like that with his own guys), his general stress levels, and the fact that he’s a child soldier, Luz never really... had any indication that Belos was actively malicious towards Hunter. And let’s face it, Luz isn’t going to think too hard about Hunter being a child soldier, SHE’S doing crazy, dangerous stuff, and he’s actually older than her. It’s fine. Sure, Belos might be putting pressure on Hunter to do well, but that’s just how the emperor’s coven IS, she has no indication that Hunter is being physically abused by Belos, or even necessarily that he’s being emotionally abused besides the immense pressure and expectations.

Amity got a better grasp on the emotional abuse, she was able to recognize that “Hey! Hunter’s got some messed up stuff going on in his life!” but you know what? She’s still staying with her parents! While she advised him to find a support system, she doesn’t know that he’s not physically safe. Emotional abuse is just as bad, but Amity is sticking it out. She’s staying with her parents, who, as far as we know, she is physically safe with. The exception there is Escaping Expulsion, of course, but Amity could have left that fight at any point. The abomaton was after Luz. And none of the other shows every put her in any danger. So while she might note that Hunter’s not okay mentally/emotionally, she doesn’t know the FULL extent of what Belos is up to.

Gus and Willow got a better look at the physically abusive side based on the comments Hunter made on the trials he had to go through, but that doesn’t point to BELOS. That’s just messed up emperor’s coven stuff, and maybe Belos is the one who put all those trials in place, but it’s still general. No thought that Belos would single Hunter out specifically.

All that to say, Hollow Mind is the first time ANYONE other than the audience got a good look at what Hunter’s home life is really like. And there’s an IMMEDIATE tone shift. The first interaction Luz ever sees between Hunter and Belos is Belos snatching the key, making him actively flinch like he’s bracing himself for worse, then snapping at him. And everything changes. She was just trying to convince him that Belos was evil before, and despite the Horrors, it was still kind of... lighthearted. Teasing. Obviously the whole “Oh, man, I thought you were going to kill him” “nah, not for now” thing was concerning, too, but that moment was a shocker for her. A real dose of “Oh, our interactions aren’t just a funny little back and forth to him. Me tackling him in the middle of a mission, the fact that he let the Emerald Entrails go, all that is serious. This has active consequences for him.” She legitimately didn’t know what Hunter was going through. And then the moment she did, there’s an active shift in how she interacts with him. The teasing dropped. She offered him a place to stay. She started actively defending him. Trying to save him from getting sucked down into Belos’ mindscape, yelling at Kiki to back off, warning her friends not to “scare him off,” Everything changed for her the moment she saw how Belos treated Hunter. Sure, they still have a kind of “annoying each other relationship,” and she doesn’t have to worry so much about those active consequences now that Hunter’s away from Belos, but there’s definitely a gentler undertone to the way they interact now.

[waywardsunlight]

Post Hoot 4/28/2023

Cissy, Dana, Rebecca, Sarah, Avi, and Zelda Black

Reactions to the finale? 

Sarah cried really hard when she saw the Quincera (“a whole chapter in my life is over��� line). Avi was excited to play a villain, Sarah said they were scary. Avi liked to play with character. Dana loved seeing Avi’s evil Raine, said it was intense. They said they wanted to see more evil Raine, but Dana wanted to avoid it. Rebecca’s birthday was the week the finale came out, talked about their appearance in the episode. Cissy started crying, said it was neat.

Continue reading below:

Cissy had been travelling, and got back right on time to see the finale, she was super tired. Cissy was crying, her kids were asking her if she was crying. Avi cried too. Sarah said she was choked up but she was more excited. Avi felt like it was surreal. Cissy said “no sequel” “we can hope” “It would be fun to do more but it would require Disney to agree” Dana. Sometimes Dana gets so pissed off about the cancelling. Rebecca said the finale aired and they were back to being angry. Wished they had gotten more episodes. Sarah was angry, upset and sad about the cancellation but she loved the finale. “It couldn’t have been more impressive”.“There’s always gonna be a thousand things we want to improve but it came out well” Dana

Dana loved the fight scene between Luz, Eda, and King v Belos. 

Music? How does it work? Brad has been on since season 2, he already knew the style of the show, so for every animatic, you put in temp music, and you send the composer the stuff and the spot notes, follow the concept of the temp music but add a horror genre spin on it. Brad’s first take on the episode was great. TJ did a remix for the epilogue, Dana cried hearing the remix for the epilogue. 

They brought back every single actor for the bye. Everyone’s last line is bye!!! Hooty originally had a line where he kept saying goodbye. Hooty coming out of Papa Titan’s eye? “I won’t say much, in hopes I get to do more in the future (slim chance), this youtube reviewer- The3rdBill got it right in an offhand comment”

“How did the writing change for season 2/season 3?” Dana had an ending she wanted, wasn’t able to do it bc too much set up. All of season 2A was written without the knowledge of the cancellation, Follies was the first episode fully written with the knowledge it was cancelled. Dana wanted to do more with galdorstones, coven heads, Bat Queen, it’s easy to see what we had to prioritize. It was a hard situation in the writer’s room. We did our best and we’re happy people still connected to it.”

“Keep being loud about how much you love the show”

“Support the Etsy artists!” Had a pin by SophieScrubs

“It’s not like we had whole episodes written that were trashed, they were one sentence ideas”- they were in Dana’s head “I’m just happy with what came out” 

“We kinda got to go out, 45 minute specials, it was fun to work with”

Cissy “There’s no way you can’t be a fan”, Cissy was wearing a King beanie and got recognized as a fan in Ireland!

Sarah met people who liked her shirt and the show lol (didn’t say if they knew who she was) Rebecca wore a king sweatshirt in DisneyLand, saw somebody else with a king sweatshirt and they side-eyed her lol “Anyone who ignores Rebecca can catch these claws”

Owlberts in the title of the show, Stringbean is there too, the L and S, when they made the pilot, they had a different logo, it wasn’t made intentionally but they saw it and they liked it.

Luz had a connection with snakes, having her reclaim snakes.

Sarah was a snake believer!!!

A lot of ppl had ideas in the writers room, Dana loves bad puns and loved snakeshifter (the guy who has Barkus named after him), Beastkeeping bc Dana loves animals, Oracle bc she could see the future of the show.

“Avi needs wrangling” Sarah, they joked around.

Raine’s Palisman: The Palisman was disguised as the violin, Raine smashes their violin- it was the staff part of the Palisman that was smashed.

Did they Clawthorne family ever discover they were descendants of Evelyn and Caleb? Eda and Hunter don’t know, the rest I won’t say.

Who had the old house? Who did that belong to? 

Sarah has a Stringbean! 

“The artistry of the fandom is inspiring” Cissy

Somebody’s making Cissy a Lilith one.

Caleb, Evelyn, Flapjack? “Save it for the spinoff” Dana: “One detail I like to think of, is when we were writing TTT, Flapjack is not Evelyn, to Belos he saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in his brother “if it weren’t for you”, you can see a hint at it in the halloween decorations, Evelyn’s hand had Flapjack. First magic Caleb was introduced to, Evelyn was hiding her ears and pretending to be human, follow this bird into this portal? “Dog owners passing eachother and becoming friends and bonding over dogs”. I like to think that Evelyn and Caleb was sweet- platonic curiosity to romantic, it was good for a bit.

“Who did the shack belong to?” We never got to explore this, it was originally the home of Caleb and Philip, Eda comes out there for the first time when coming out of the portal door. Eda fixed it!!! Everything doesn’t matter, google death of the author, I am just a fan now bc the show is finished. If you prefer your version, it’s valid rn.

Eda becomes the owl beast before getting Owlbert. There was going to be an episode where they showed her reclaiming the image of the owl and learning to carve palisman with Dell.

When Luz and Hunter went down to the basement originally, there were graves down there for Philip and Caleb, based off old buildings in connecticut (no story purpose)

Belos concepts when he was taking over animals, didn’t end up in the show, Belos animal designs, alluded to but not shown

Eye on the portal is Papa Titan? Yes. 

Hunter is bisexual, Willow is pansexual.

Amity and Lilith rekindled mentor relationship, Lilith has a lot of history, Amity likes history + reading. They liked the blueprints for the library.

Cissy hadn’t seen anything she didn’t speak lines for, Cissy just got her lines/scenes.

Apparently they’re not supposed to bring the scripts home, before the pandemic they got full scripts

“Excuse me I’m talking” Avi (joking), Avi and Sarah are high energy

Avi didn’t have time to read the script, Sarah was confused when Luz died

Sarah got the script when Flapjack died, she said “no! Take me!” and they said “you’re going too”

Avi had trouble with the “you’re fluffy” line

Rebecca sent animatics to help the actors, it was easier for them to see the animatics

“It’s always up to the showrunner to show as much as they can” we go pitches in house with our own voices, Dana did Terra in For the Future animatic.Dana hates hearing her own voice, she talks really fast in her reads. When you pitch, you also do the sound effects. When they did the pitch for the finale (hour and a half), the line that got Rebecca choked up when Dana did Luz’s “Eda, King, thank you” “we got you kiddo”

There’s a recording of all of season two b  and season three of Dana pitching doing the lines.

If the show had not been cut short, would Amity and Hunter have had more time? Everyone would’ve gotten more of a chance to talk to each other- yes. Hunter would’ve talked to more characters like Vee and human realm kids, Camila. Literally everyone would’ve had more time. Dana loves the sibling relationship.

Luz and Raine barely interact, they’re bickering jokingly. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to hang out” Dana, “we can’t get the hexsquad to hang out”

Where did Luz attend school after WAD? She went to human realm high school, she had renewed motivation, even if high school was difficult, she had a goal, having a safe space for her and a family outside of the human realm made high school more bearable (that was the cause for Dana, having that escape was good).

Gus’s hair!! :D Emmy designed him. Dana designed Emira, Skara, Eber for the finale. Dana had two others but she forgot. 

King’s dad’s name is unpronounable. 

Does the Collector visit often? Has their relationship with their siblings improve? (STRONG LAUGHS) Dana can’t say much about the Archivsts, the Collector didn’t have a flashforward design bc they didn’t grow up that much, got a little taller but not really. Immortal space child. Dana was inspired by creepy dolls, and a nightmare. JBO had a google folder with cool references of creepy dolls, liminal nightmare scapes, stars. We know who is the Collector is gonna be but what’s their vibe. That was one of the most fun parts after the shortening. The Collector was always a part of it, not solidified, but yeah they were a part of it. The Collector has stayed connected, visits. Dana loves fan comics about King and the Collector. 

Won’t answer questions about the archvists. 

Hooty doesn’t have to be vacated from the owl house if he doesn’t want to, the door has a star motif on it, when the door isn’t active, Hooty can be there, but the portal door can fold up but Hooty is buddy. 

Who are the current residents of the Owl House? Raine and Eda’s business is their business, not all love stories end in marriage, that doesn’t diminism any kind of love? They live together in the owl house. Raine moved in.

Zach Markus invented Matt so he gets to answer Matt questions.

Vee and Masha dating? It’s hard to say, bc we didn’t include Masha in the finale, Vee has a crush on them. Yeah! Maybe.

Sarah’s husband is texting saying hi lol.

Odalia? Divorced. The kids happily live away from her. They see her when they have the energy to, they recognize she’s toxic and they don’t have to put up with her if she’s being awful. May have been explored if more episodes. Rachael MacFarlane (VA) is great. She’s not British, she’s just pretentious.

King’s Tower? Dana’s thinking… “dumb answer. The plans we had, it had something to do with… it was related to someone who you all know who may have amnesia

There was gonna be a moment for other characters to get eye glow (strong emotions)

What’s the mouse that looked like alador? In the boards, Dawn animated the scene, he has a pose where he looked like a t-rex, Dana saw it and thought he looked like Remy from Rattatoue, when they got to the scene with the lab, he remembered that convo and drew in the rat and Dana laughed so hard “keep it, don’t change it” “It’s his palisman”

“A show should be enjoyed as is, knowing how it’s made is also cool” “when the show got darker- we got to do the fun stuff we got to do, if we all tried to force ourselves to write a happy go-lucky show they’d be unhappy, we’re gonna put our feelings into this” It was a dark writers room for a bit.

Sarah likes the darker elements, mentioned the masks (maybe TTT?), not totally removed from reality

“It clearly struck a chord, we lived through a global quarantine, we’re feeling the fallout of it”

“What was extremely hopeful for the crew was that the characters would have a happy ending, Luz gets to study magic, the characters stay together and form a community” 

They got questions they couldn’t answer like about the quince 

They don’t know if this is the last post hoot

They opened presents but they didn’t get one for Avi bc they didn’t know they’d be there until 2 days before. Rebecca got them funko pops of Lilith and Luz. Rebecca said thank you.

“Hey disney, if you’re watching, this could be you”

Elizabeth (Camila VA) called her mom to translate stuff into spanish. 

Said byeeee!

[mdhwrites]

The Owl House had an issue with introducing characters that had minimal impact on the storyline. Boscha, Kikimora, Vee, Hunter, and The Collector could’ve all been removed from the story with little change, and their screen time could’ve been used toward other characters that needed it more than them.

So we talk a lot about story necessity I want to start this with the fact that filler and side characters often help add flavor to a story. It's something frankly I struggle with because my stories focus on progressing forward which helps me get a lot done with a small word count. Most of the characters listed here though... Actually are fine. At least until S3 for Boscha and Kikimora and that brings up the fact that different roles require less time to matter, though I want to mention that this addition of flavor and the like is exactly why no one will ever question why Viney was a part of the show. She's fun and she's the ONE time we get ANYONE actually struggling with the desire to be multi-covened but the system won't allow it, even if it's not done particularly well in that episode.

So, what are the roles of each character versus how much time do they have on screen? Well:

Boscha: Basic teenage antagonist for school things. Requires only as much time as is dedicated to teenage drama. Mostly disappears after S1 because of this except for two funny moments at her expense... Except in S3 when the show states she's actually more than what was portrayed before.

Kikimora: Basic, irredeemable, comedy villain general to allow fighting Belos without fighting Belos. Requires only as much time as is required to confront Belos AND OTHER, BETTER GENERALS AREN'T AROUND. Then in S3 is there as a standalone, one off antagonist despite her BOSS having been defeated and her not being anything new.

Vee: One off foil to Luz for character conflict for an episode. Takes up one episode and that's... it. She's fine.

Hunter: Complex, Redeemed Villain General. Requires as much time as is required for a satisfying redemption. Is actually cut short because he is not actually a villain for any time, cutting his point at the knees. Also connects to Belos but *looks at Lilith and Kikimora, both from season 1* that's redundant. Kikimora LITERALLY goes through the same fucking shit as Hunter and only once Belos has left her for dead/tried to kill her, much like Hunter, she forsakes him. She just becomes a bad guy instead of a good guy but even the breakdowns Hunter has or the depression about losing their purpose are both shared. They're almost the same character and nothing is done with that foiling frankly.

Collector: Complex, Redeemed Final Villain. Requires the time for his machinations and desires to be unraveled and challenged in a way that is thematically coherent because if you're going to redeem your big bad, it becomes about a battle of ideologies. Instead, we get one conversation with him before him being released and like... Two afterwards. That isn't enough time for him to have a machination or big bad moments. That's barely enough time for a one off villain.

That's the bigger issue with TOH. It has no idea what its priorities are... Nor does it feel like it cares. Like Kikimora is Belos' main general, effectively his biggest expression onto the show before S3... And she sucks. Meanwhile, his coven heads go unused and underutilized, staying as one off villains instead. Then their more complex characters and concepts aren't actually given the time needed because that would mean not getting the payoff of redemption or reformation of these characters. It is also just lacking ideas so it doesn't know what to do with any of these characters the longer it goes on and so keeps scraping the bottom of a well. Hence why Kikimora and Boscha return in S3 despite one effectively not being in S2 (if Boscha was important, she'd have at least cameod in Labyrinth Runners) and the other being a complete joke by the end who's boss was reduced to a puddle once already.

And that's frankly the bigger issue. These characters feel redundant and like they don't even add flavor because... They are and they don't. The show has VERY few concepts in general besides social statements. That's why most of their villains or dilemmas are them miming at a social issue and why it had to carve up more and more angst as it ran out of ideas it could just copy from the modern world. Or reused ideas even in the same season just with other basic fantasy things.

And more complex ideas REQUIRE creativity and skill. They require the elements that seem to be most lacking in the show. That's why the fandom can create a billion ideas because they're unrestrained and actually see the potential in these concepts while the show runners feel blind to the gold they are writing themselves. Again: You could have spent an entire SEASON dealing with just all of Amity's baggage towards redemption and reformation, twenty episodes, and probably still had material on the table and instead, it frankly boils down to at best a handful of episodes, at most two, before she is fully redeemed and telling her potential to go fuck off because she has the job of a bland love interest to do.

As it is now? The show is lucky that it didn't have time to make literally everything redundant, no matter how hard it tried to anyways.

==========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[ticklishbeans4]

What do you like about each of the BATTS/Raine's adopted kids? Do you have a favorite?

Ok is this the BATTS or Raines adopted kids? I'm gonna answer for the latter, cause they have more adopted kids than just the three!

And it's gonna get long so I'll put it under the cut!

Amber: Sweet baby girl. I love and adore her. She strikes me as the kind of person who acts mean at first because she's been hurt in the past (likely by her parents), but she also gets attached quickly when shown the slightest amount of affection from a potential parental figure. Hence her reaction to Eda (from "I don't think she'd be a good fit" to "BYE MAMA EDA!")

Katya: My giiiiirl! You write your fanfics baby I love you!! I'm so glad she came back to be a more important part of the story! I loved her in the first episode, so seeing her again as part of the BATTS was so awesome! She deserves to write about food and food being in love! While toppling the empire!

Derwin: The lad! I love his design, and his little two handed wave when he met Luz was so sweet! He strikes me as the strong but silent type, preferring actions over words. But he's still a silly goofy guy! He's just quiet about it! And this it total headcanon, but I imagine he had a bit of a rough life that lead him to his quiet disposition, likely bullying and mistreatment from his school mates or those who thought the Bard Coven was dumb. But he's a fighter, he's sweet, and he loves his found family with all his heart!

Luz: Sweet baby girl I love her so much pls Dana let her be happy!!! I love Luz as a character, the way she's grown, the way she interacts with the world around her, the way she accepted the boiling isles and all it's wild magical danger, and still changed it so much! She made friends, which lead to the entire day of unity being taken down. She reunited Eda and Lilith which lead to Belos's reign (I didn't say all the changes were good). She started dating Amity which lead to her gf's parents divorce! :D She's just such a strong, loving, caring, crafty, creative, amazing character. I love her endlessly!

King: He is baby. Pls protecc him. He's just a little guy!! He's been going through so much pls Dana! Now, King wasn't my favorite character when I first saw him. I thought he was cute, and endearing in an annoying younger sibling way. But he's grown so much, and he's such a caring kid. He wanted to be a king, but he became so much more. I love his brief friendship with Steve, and I wish they could have explored it more. I love his relationships with his family, and I really hope he and the others reunite soon.

And this one isn't exactly supported by canon yet, but I'm counting it.

Hunter: SWEET SON BOY LOVE OF MY LIFE BAD BUT SAD BOY I LOVE YOOOOOU! Ahem. Yes. Anyways. I adore Hunters character. He went from an intimidating presence in the shadows, to an awkward, shy, but caring lad just wanting a chance to find himself amidst all the chaos in his life. He deserves the world, and I'm gonna give it to him. In my own way. He's so expressive, and fun, and I love how he still trys to be intimidating, but he just can't pull it off like he used to.

SO! In terms of favorites...

Favorite of the BATSS: A tie between Derwin and Amber. Idk I just love them. Though it might be my headcanons talking.

Favorite adopted kid: Hunter, cause I love my son boy.

I hope this answered your question! :D

~

Words written: 129!

[lampmanliveblogs]

"Look at poor Raine, trying so hard to play a bad guy so the other bad guys don’t catch on and failing miserably at it. Look at them. Not an evil bone in their body. Then again, I suppose they’re the head of the Bard Coven, not the Acting Coven."- Terra Snapdragon agrees.

I tried reading that in Terra's voice... and I hate that it sounds exactly like something she could say.

More asks below

I laughed a little.

Fun Fact: A helicopter parent is what we in Swedish call a curling parent.

This one?

(i've had this image sitting in a folder of "useful images" for nearly two years and now it finally pays off)

Because I guess Eda and Lilith managed to save that while the house was being ransacked? Priorities!

There is also maybe something to be said about King up until very recently being a little guy himself. Yes, he always thought of himself as a big and important person, the King of Demons. But no one else ever believed him about that. With the revelations in Echoes of the Past, he started moving away from that, focusing more on trying to find out the truth of his past and his family.

Then, suddenly, he finds out that he's a titan. A VERY important person. Whereas before, he was relegated mostly to comic relief sidekick, he now has the ability to play a very important role in the narrative, which he does by freeing The COllector, changing the course of the story forever.

At the same time, we see how Lilith reacts to this, she begins to basically worship him like he always wanted people to do in the past. But now it makes him very uncomfortable. He connects with Steve, someone far removed from that, someone who has no idea about his "tall genes."

In an ironic twist, the fact that King no longer wishes to be a king might just be what makes him more suited to be one. You know the old saying about how the people who donät want power are always the most worthy, or something like that?

Not that I think King will literally become the King of the Boiling Isles or something. Then again... with Belos gone and the revelations of his true intentions, the government would be in upheaval...

The circumstances and scale are different, but Camila and Eda were both, in their own ways, trying to protect Luz.

Camila sending Luz to summer camp, while misguided, was in the end for Luz' own sake. Luz' has a beautifully creative mind, but her creative energy was not being channeled properly which resulted in her bringing live snakes and fireworks to school. Which is obviously not a good thing. Furthermore, some clues hint at Luz being a victim of bullying (for example, Camila mentioned Luz doesn't really have any friends, and how apprehensive Luz was about Vee talking to the kids in the parks during Yesterday's Lie), likely due to her unique personality... as is sadly often the case in real life.

Now, the threats Eda was trying to protect Luz from were a bit more concrete and obvious: bad guys are trying to kill them. So it's a bit... itäs a lot different, but I can see the association being made in Luz' mind, though maybe not consciously.

Eberwolf: *sees darius trying to be cool* Eberwolf: òwó

I almost feel kinda bad for Darius, because he's obviously trying so hard, but no one will let him be cool. Not only does Raine have to choose a stupid name for their little rebel group, but he can't even pose on top of a carriage in peace.

I must've been tired when I wrote that, because I could have worded that a lot better, but whatever.

I kinda glossed over that being Raine and Luz first proper meeting because Luz has known about Raine since Follies at the Coven Day Parade. She knew who they are and what they look like, while Darius and Eberwolf (and also Amber & Derwin) would be total strangers to her.

... the fact that this question is asked in this way makes me think that Luz' palisman is not going to be a bird at all. And I'm not sure what else it would be. I mean, it's the obvious answer... right? Luz is the main character protagonist of The Owl House. And with the whole "Eda is Luz' adopted mom" thing going on, I figured it made sense for her palisman to reflect that and be an owl, or at the very least some kind of bird to reflect that.

As for other animals I'd associate with Luz... I'm drawing a blank here.

[asherisawkward]

I feel as though the collector got redeemed too fast I mean the guy gave Philip knowledge of magic to activate the draining spell meaning he played a role in the genocide and made fun of the grimwalker deaths and helped Philip became Belos plus he subjected the entire boiling isles into puppets,he just as bad as Philip in my opinion but the Hex-squad or the rest of the boiling isles weren’t scared or rejected the collector redemption. They were more afraid of Philip in my opinion. do you agree with this statement?

I do, and I think that a lot of that change in the way the Collector is perceived comes from the way he was retconned in For the Future.

Initially, he is a malicious and childlike entity beyond our comprehension who was sealed away for good reason. They made jokes about Philip’s abuse of the Grimwalkers and clearly reveled in the idea of what would happen on the Day of Unity. He understood death and still chose to treat it irreverently. This is a being that you do not want to be freed because they will wreak havoc upon the world.

And, in King’s Tide, the Collector lives up to that image we have of them. He claims to mot be mad at Philip for tossing him off a bridge, only to straight up throw him across the bridge and into the wall, liquifying him. Then, he proceeds to start deconstructing the Isles to play a new game.

When we see them in For the Future, they’ve completely changed. And this new characterization is not even consistent. He seems to not understand the concept of death, but he strikes out the passage of the Collectors book that mentions the punishment for refusing to be collected. That would indicate he does know what death is and opposed it, a direct contradiction to his previous behavior.

Because of this change, the “games” that are played are far less dangerous than they were implied to be, and the damage was far less severe than expected. This change may also be the reason that the citizens of the Isles are less gray on the Collector. Because their supposed savior and project attempted to murder them all by painfully, and this individual just turned them into puppets for a few months.

Plenty of people may have still been scared of the Collector, but, if they were, it was not demonstrated clearly to the audience.

[iamdeltas]

I think the closest any of the "omg they killed off the bad guy how REVOLUTIONARY!!!!!!!" celebrations has ever come to having an actual point is after Infinity Train Book 3. Because it's not remotely revolutionary to have an Unsympathetic Bad Guy get their comeuppance in the end--even shows that redeem some antagonists usually still have one Irredeemable Big Bad in the end--but what DOESN'T happen a whole bunch is having a bad guy with a very sympathetic backstory end up getting worse and get defeated/killed off in the end. It's not remotely surprising to have people like Horde Prime, who's nothing but narcissistic, controlling, and evil, or Belos, who only got less sympathetic the more we learned of his backstory, get killed off. But Simon is a sympathetic figure and we get to see what drove him to making the choices he made. Plus he was IIRC initially just following Grace's decisions. But as Grace started changing her ways, challenging her notions about "nulls" and working to become better, Simon doubled down, got worse, and ultimately died because of it. That's legitimately quite different from what we normally see.

I mean, it doesn't make the subsequent Steven Universe bashing any less annoying, but it is at least slightly revolutionary of an ending for a sympathetic villain.

[the-healing-witch-named-clover]

The Owl House Guys ranked as Dads (Raine Included!)

(Note: I will be using both Wittebane brothers, so this will be pre-show Philip, and not current Emperor"Can go get sucked into a tornado and die" Belos. Also; Hunter, Gus, and Edric will be aged up for common sense purposes.)

Also, this is just my own opinion guys. If y'all have your own opinions...good for you.

(Canon Dads)

Manny Noceda: Alright. Even though we do not fully know much about The OG himself, from what we can see from how Camila and Luz talk about him and from the many family photos, is that he was honestly the best Dad in the human realm, hands down. He was the source of Luz' fascination for fantasy, and imagination, and spontaneous creativity, and had shared the same love of Cosmic Frontier as Camila.

Dad Rating: 100/100

Alador Blight: Mr. Blight is honestly the best example of a IRL Dad who has gotten roped into a bit of an unhealthy relationship with his wife that probably started out well, but after getting involved with having to build those abomination soldiers for the Emperor's Coven, had caused him to accidentally neglect his own children because of Odelia forcing him to work his head off for literal to Titan years! Though that doesn't mean that he was a bad father. He really does love his children, even if his way of showing it is a little weird sometimes, but he's slowly working to become a better father than he was before now that he's no longer under Odelia's influence.

Dad Rating: 60/100

Harvey and Gilbert Park: They are two dads just trying to do what they think is best for dear Willow, and I love it. Now, while I can understand how Harvey would be more upset over the unjust expulsion, wanting to ground Willow for 3 years is a tad much...so points deducted. Gilbert on the other hand seems to be the voice of reason in the relationship, kinda being the one to balance his husband out as it were. I also love that he honestly secretly promised their daughter that he wouldn't tell Harvey that she was sneaking out to save Luz when Odalia was...so to speak...trying to kill her.

Dad Ratings: 85/100

Dell Clawthorne: This man honestly reminded me of a teacher I had once, who was the sweetest, caring man I've ever met. Next to Manny, Dell is very proud of his daughters and loves them no matter what, which was proven when he and Eda finally talked after so many years and he showed that his love for her had never faltered even after she had unintentionally attacked him in her Owl Beast mode.

Dad Rating: 100/100

(Unconfirmed-Canon Dad)

Caleb Wittebane: Okay, yes. I know he's a brother, but he is in this list because he had to take on the Father role for his little brother. Caleb had to sacrifice almost everything in order to care for his brother when they were still wandering around the literal wilderness, until reaching Gravesfield. He had to be his guide, his provider and protector until he finally reached his late teens. Caleb without a doubt knew that he and his brother had no choice but to fit in with the residents of Old Gravesfield and that included becoming witch hunters. He probably didn't want to become one, but feared that he and Philip would get accused of being one themselves. And even after Caleb had gone to the demon realm with Evelyn, it was clear through Philip's memory that Caleb looked happy to see him and had introduced him to Evelyn, thinking that maybe his brother would see that witches aren't really bad at all. Caleb loved his brother and only wanted him to change his views like how he did....if only that was the path that was followed.

Dad Rating: 90/100

Perry Porter: I'm going on another whim and just assume that Mr. Porter is a widower. He is a single father just trying to raise Gus as best as he's able to, even though work constantly gets in the way of that. I believe that he's trying to understand his son's fascination and love for The Human Realm even if the whole thing is a little weird to him. Like Willow's dads, Perry only wants what's best for his son and even though he can be a little too strict sometimes, still loves and supports him anyway he can.

Dad Rating: 90/100

(Fanon Dads)

Raine Whispers: Raine would honestly make a wonderful parent. They are definitely on that tier that others can only dream of being on. They are kind as they are strict, but just like Harvey and Gilbert, only wants what is best for their child. But may the Titan help the poor fool who thinks that they can harm Raine's children. Because A Bard is not to be taken lightly once they find out.

Dad Rating: 100/100

Darius Deamonne: This man. Let me tell you. Any child he has better get used to standing around just waiting for Darius to pick out an outfit for them if Darius' partner gives him the chance of picking out the kid's outfits. Darius is a man of style and taste, so he's not going to allow for his own kin to walk out looking like they grew up in a barn or something! He is also very protective and isn't afraid to get mean when the time calls for it. (Just don't expect him to get his clothes dirty.)

Dad Rating: 60/100

Hunter Noceda (formally Wittebane): Hunter as a first time dad is already a recipe for disaster. He wouldn't know what to do at first and has asked Camila for help on a lot of occasions. However, the more he continues to learn the basics, the easier it is for him to be a Dad. Plus, he's had a pretty great parenting teacher to help him.

Dad Rating: 90/100

Gus Porter: Gus is definitely the one to fit into the "Fun Dad" category, though his jokes are incredibly cheesey and horrible that even Hunter and Amity just can't deal with it. Imagine Dad-Jokes but make them more cringe. And he has probably gotten them from his own dad. He also uses his illusions as a way of entertaining his children and to also be able to multi-task.

Dad Rating: A solid 90/100

Philip Wittebane: He tries. He really does. But it is safe to say that Caleb made taking care of him look a lot easier than this with his own child. He has to deal with getting his hair pulled, hands and arms bitten, and even his child screaming directly into his ear when they're having a tantrum and he's already getting grey hair from the stress. What's worse is that his child is clearly showing that they favor his brother, Evelyn, and his own partner over him which just adds salt into the wound. However, he does have his golden moments. He knows how to comfort them when they have nightmares or are being picked on by other kids. Because he's been there before. Though the parents of those kids better do something. Otherwise he will not hesitate to make their lives miserable in the way he knows how.

Dad Rating: 50/100 (for effort. Hang in there, Philip.)

Edric Blight: Upon becoming a parent, Edic had to...mellow out as it were in terms of pulling pranks with Emira, otherwise he could accidentally rub off on his kid and it would not end well. However, what he didn't expect was for his kid to be a natural prankster just like he is. So, instead he's now being both a responsible parent while also pulling pranks with his child as much as possible while also trying not to get caught by Amity and Alador otherwise they will definitely not let him hear the end of it. (Emira will also be helping him, but she's subtle about it.)

Dad Rating: 84/100

Edit: Forgot Edric's rating, and had to look back to see that Willow was almost grounded for 3 years instead of months like I had thought. Whoops.

[saintheartwing]

So, About The Owl House Finale...

Let me make something clear. I’m a Catholic and I’m happy with that being part of my identity, and Catholics believe VERY much in the power of guilt because we believe in the power of forgiveness and redemption. We WANT to believe people can see the road they’re on, see the damage they’ve done, and understand that they can make amends and become better. That if you’re truly SINCERE, you can be forgiven. But it’s not just a matter of wanting it. You need to prove you’re willing to EARN it. Think back to that guy who goes to Jesus and says “I’m willing to follow you anywhere” and Jesus is “Okay, sure. Just go sell all your possessions”...and the guy walks off dejectedly.

You just SAID you were willing to follow him anywhere. But you clearly didn’t mean it if you’re all depressed about being poor even if you’re walking alongside God himself. So you weren’t sincere. Sorry. 

That same lesson of sincerity applies to the Owl House. And yeah...spoilers under the cut here.

Even in the second third season episode we see Belos clearly being haunted by his brother Caleb’s ghost who’s looking at him hauntingly and rather accusingly. The message is clear. But Belos isn’t letting it sink in. He’s refusing to even REMOTELY acknowledge what he’s doing is wrong at all, or even ENTERTAIN it in the slightest. When Luz pointed out in the second season, and I quote, “You are SUCH a hypocrite! You talk about keeping humanity safe but you’re BARELY human!”  And she’s right. He IS a massive hypocrite. 

He doesn’t GENUINELY care about helping others or keeping humans safe, cuz if he DID care about keeping humanity safe from dangerous witches and magic, he would have focused on just shutting down all entrances TO the Boiling Isles from the Human World. He wouldn’t try to go back TO the Boiling Isles, considering the Collector’s there and going wild and everyone back there’s probably doomed and not going to the human world ANYTIME soon. But he just wanted to kill them all cuz he can’t get out of his mindset of “witches and magic bad” even after literal YEARS of being shown that’s not necessarily true. Even killing his own brother who’d evidently MARRIED a witch and was all “Hey look, they’re not actually that bad here, let me just talk with you about them...” 

So he had LOTS of chances and blew it.

Then we get to the Collector. The Collector doesn’t understand, like Belos, how life REALLY is. How things ACTUALLY work. But HIS is a lack of understanding of death. He doesn’t get that basically, death is IT for mortals. Once you’re gone, you can’t return. When he DOES realize this, he takes things more seriously. On top of that, he approached the Boiling Isles’s world with an open mind and heart. He just wanted to have fun and play and when the Titans were welcoming, he was in turn nice to them. It only went wrong cuz his siblings found out “Oh shit, THEIR magic cancels ours, we gotta kill them before they kill us”.  Belos had his mind and heart closed the whole time. The Collector is approachable. He’s not too far gone. He’s still young enough to have his mind changed and a decent person at his core who just wants real friends. He’s redeemable, he’s worthy of kindness and forgiveness because he doesn’t actually WANT to hurt people, doesn’t realize what he does CAN hurt them, and when he sees he HAS hurt people, tries to make things right and save lives.

He does everything you could reasonably ask somebody to do. He proves he deserves mercy. 

Even in his FINAL moments Belos doesn’t even BEG FOR MERCY right. He doesn’t say he’s sorry. He doesn’t say he was wrong. He doesn’t take accountability in the slightest. He first tries to LIE and say “Oh I was under an evil curse, you freed me”. Luz clearly isn’t buying it...

as it starts to rain. And, well...the Boiling Isles rain is BOILING. His transformed body begins to get burned away, he’s meeeeelting. Meeeeelting. What a world! What a world! 

THEN the jerk tries to GUILT TRIP her into saving him. “You let me die you’ll be just as bad, just as conniving, and just as evil as those witches! We’re human! We’re supposed to be better than this!”

The SHEER NERVE. 

THE AUDACITY.

You stopped being human freakin’ centuries ago, you literal slime. And THIS is the moment King, Raine and Eda pop up. Yes. A human IS supposed to conduct themselves with a level of integrity, and decency, and compassion. A human being probably would be expected to show mercy.

They, however...are not human. 

Supposed to be better than this? “Well WE ain’t!”

And then they give Belos the boot.

Literally.

“That was EXTREMELY satisfying!” “Ew! It’s on my claws!”

Very few things I could ask more from this special. Especially the really sweet credits scene I won’t spoil for you. The whole episode is available for free on Youtube, you’ve got no reason or excuse to not watch it, so please, go see it, folks. You’ll love it. 

[sergeantsporks]

Gilded Family

Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 11/?: Nightmares

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10

In which none of the previous golden guards or wittebro died, actually, they're all fine and living happily together as one big dysfunctional family

Ao3

“Hunter. It’s my turn for watch.”

Hunter stood up, stretching. “Dagger, Cyrus, and Joseph are still out there, right? Are they… coming back soon?”

Cherry shook his head. “I might swap out for Joseph soon, the griffins are getting antsy without him, but after the stunt that our little guy pulled with those Hexside students… Dad wants eyes on him at all times, close enough to interfere if necessary. Making friends is… sort of usually a big step in the danger direction. That and the whole incident with the key… he’s on a slippery slope.”

Hunter gave the crystal ball a fond smile. “At least he has Darius now.”

Although I wish he hadn’t scared the living hell out of him with that scythe first

He needs to work on what he thinks is a funny joke.

Still.

They found each other, I won’t…

I’m not going to have to choose.

Cherry winced. “Hunter, I’m not sure a single head pat is exactly… I mean, they’re on the same side for now, but if that changes, when that changes—”

“You don’t know Darius like I do.”

He has to be on our side, he has to.

He wouldn’t side with my murderer if he knew.

“Alright, alright. But if Belos sends Darius after Hunter, we’ll have to deal with him as a threat. You know that, right? You don’t have to fight him, no one is expecting you to, but… don’t get in our way?”

“If.”

I have to believe in him.

“Yeah. If. I mean, who knows, he might decide to pick someone else!” Cherry gave him a lopsided grin. “Go get some sleep. I’ve got this.”

Hunter trudged off to bed, curling up on his side.

It would be just like Uncle to send Darius to kill him, after Darius started actually liking him.

Would he do it, though? Could he do it?

Darius had always had a strong sense of justice. But he’d also always wanted to be exactly what he was now. Powerful, respected, the top of his field. Would he give that up, for some kid?

Would he have given it up if he’d known what had happened to me?

Creeeeeak.

Hunter held his breath, eying the shadow in the door.

“Hunter?” Jason’s voice wobbled, “Are you asleep?”

“No,” he grumbled, sitting up.

Jason twisted his hands in front of himself. “Would you… would you mind if I stayed in here tonight?”

Hunter yawned. “Nah. Go ahead, there’s plenty of sp—”

Jason clambered up into bed next to him, pressing against his side.

“—oh okay not on the floor, up here, got it, sure.” Hunter sat up more completely so that Jason fit under his arm. “Nightmares?”

Jason let out a tiny laugh. “I mean, not as bad as Chryses, or Alex, they’re barely nightmares, more like just… not good dreams. Usually I’d go to Mom or Dad, buuuuuut… well, Chryses AND Alex are having a bad one tonight, and I… didn’t want to bug them. Not for mine, it was stupid, the other two need them more right now.”

“Mmm. What was it about?”

“Alex has bad falling dreams, you know the ones where you wake up and you feel like you were falling? Theirs are really bad, though, and—”

“Jason.”

“It was about him,” Jason said in a small voice, “About the night I…” He drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on them. “It was my first mission, you know.”

“Your first?”

Explains why he’s so young.

Jason sniffed. “Yeah. I mean, I did pretty well as a guard, I kept him safe, I protected him from threats, I helped around at home, I provided security at his gatherings. But it was the first time he ever sent me out on my own to do something for him.”

Hunter held his breath, sure that if he moved, Jason would be scared off.

“He wanted me to gather some palisman because he was out, and, you know, I thought, no big deal, they’re just animals, and he needs them, right? I can do this for him, he needs them to survive.”

Yeah. No big deal. I did that all the time, usually just collecting them from new recruits.

“I chickened out, though. I caught some, I had them all ready to go back to him, and then… I saw someone looking for theirs. They were so distraught, and they were calling for it, and I realized… I realized they were like family to their witches, that I was sacrificing someone else’s family to save mine.”

Jason shook his head. “I ran away. I couldn’t… I couldn’t go back empty handed, but I couldn’t just give those guys to him, so I ran. I thought, I’d just release them and… then I’d figure it out from there. He wasn’t… I knew he wasn’t great, I knew how his moods got, but I thought, I thought I could just keep managing things, I could find an alternative for the palisman, or else I’d just… go. I’d quit managing him and just go do what I wanted to do, leave him and his near outbursts behind forever.”

Jason ran a hand through his hair, tears building up in his eyes. “Guess that was pretty stupid of me. Guess it was pretty stupid to think he wouldn’t know, that he wouldn’t come after me. He was watching, he’d been watching the whole time, and he showed up just as I was about to release the palisman.”

He looked up at Hunter with desperate, watery eyes. “He said he wasn’t mad, he said he’d expected too much of me for my first time out on my own, and he never should have put that burden on my shoulders. He said we could go home, that we could—and I believed him, I believed him like a great big idiot.” Jason buried his head back in his arms. “The instant I turned around to go home…”

Hunter reached out towards him wordlessly, hand hovering over his back for a moment before finally coming to rest.

Through the thin fabric of Jason’s pajamas, Hunter could feel a singular thick scar on his back.

Just the right length and thickness for one of Belos’ “outburst” blades, the ones that had given him the scar that marred his right eyebrow.

They’d never gone this deep before.

Hunter rubbed a gentle circle on Jason’s back as his shoulders shook. “You’re here now,” he murmured.

“He just left me to die there,” Jason whispered, his voice breaking, “He stabbed me, and then he just left. He took the palisman, I didn’t even manage to save them, and he just left me there and I was all alone and—” He fell back against Hunter’s side, and Hunter wordlessly wrapped one arm around his shoulders. “I only made one mistake,” he whispered, “It was the first time I ever did anything wrong.” Jason scrubbed at his eyes. “I don’t belong here.”

“What?! Of course you do!”

“No, I don’t. Everyone here, they—they fought back. They confronted Belos, that’s why he killed them. Me? I just ran away. They did so much, they went through so much, they endured him for so long and did things for him for so long, and I… I chickened out on my first mission. I couldn’t even get past that. Everyone else in this house went through so much at his hands, and I… I didn’t.” He sniffed. “I don’t deserve to be here with everyone, I didn’t go through anything as bad as they did. The Jason in the stories came back to fight his uncle, just like the rest of you, but I’m not like him. I just ran away. I’m just a coward.”

“No—No, Jason. Jason, listen. I collected palisman for Belos, too. And maybe, deep down, I figured it was wrong. But I pushed that part down and did it anyway.”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

Hunter shifted so that he was facing Jason, brushing his hair out of his face. “No. It wasn’t brave of me to do what Belos wanted. I did it because I was scared. I was scared of what he’d do if I didn’t. But you? You realized what he was asking you to do was wrong, and you acted on it. You didn’t push down your doubts and just keep on doing what he told you to do, even though it was wrong. You were brave enough to run away from him, smart enough to run away from him.”

“Doesn’t matter. I went right back when he asked.”

“He was going to kill you, Jason. Whether you agreed to go back with him or not.”

“I’m just… scared,” Jason said in a very small voice, “I’m scared that if he shows up again, if my family is put in danger… that I’ll run away again. That I won’t stay and fight to protect everyone, that I’ll leave you all behind to save myself. That I’ll be a coward all over again. Dad and Mom and all of you guys are always there if I need you. I’m scared that I’ll fail them when they need me.”

Hunter opened and closed his mouth. “I… Jason, I…”

Jason curled up in a ball, turning away from Hunter to face the wall. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. It’s stupid.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Pretend like what you’re going through is less important than what everyone else is going through?”

“’Coz it is. Everyone else here has all these horror stories about Belos, about what he’d do if they failed, about the horrific way they died. Meanwhile, my life was pretty okay, and my death was pretty straightforward. Nothing horrific there, just a basic stab in the back. I don’t have the right to ask for the same help they do.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? I didn’t make a stand against him, and I wasn’t killed as badly as everyone else. I shouldn’t need the same help they do.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t.”

“Mm.”

“Jason?”

“Mhm?”

“Thanks for trusting me.”

Jason heaved a sigh. “Thanks for listening. Even if it is ridiculous.”

“Jason?”

“Yeah?”

“Stop saying that? Please?”

“But—”

“Just try?”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

Hunter’s door slammed open. “Hunter, wake up!” Cherry yelped urgently “Hunter—oh, hi, Jason—Hunter, he’s gone.”

Hunter sat bolt upright. “What?!”

“Dad’s talking to the others right now, but he just disappeared!”

Hunter leapt out of bed and tore down the hallway to the crystal ball room, Jason on his heels. Caleb was listening to a raven phone, his face pale.

“—and he stepped on the potion, and there was a flash of light, and he was just gone!” Cyrus’ voice was saying frantically from the phone, “We don’t know where he went! I don’t think anyone does! The Owl Lady’s kid disappeared, too, so they’re together, but—”

“The Owl Lady?” Caleb squeaked, “Never mind. Is Dagger on the trail?”

“There is no trail!” Dagger yelped, “Magic leaves a trace, usually, but not this spell. Wherever they’ve gone, it’s not a place I can follow!”

“Okay. Okay, I’m coming, we’ll find him. Just hold on.”

Caleb hung up the phone, his eyes moving wildly around the room. “Cherry!”

“Yes, sir?”

“I need you to let your mother know what’s happening. We might need her healing abilities, I don’t know yet, but… just be prepared. Hunter?”

“Yes?”

“You’ve been to Bonesborough before?”

“I have.”

“Grab a concealment stone, you’re with me. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to find him. And we’re going to make sure he’s safe.”

“Dad?” Jason asked quietly, “Is this it? Is it happening?”

Caleb stopped, putting his hands on Jason’s shoulders. “I don’t know. But we’re going to be ready if it is. We’ll make sure he gets out of this. Whatever it takes.”

[boyheros]

Ok I'm gonna dump a bunch of mvrck toh AU info i thought about over the past few days just so i can theoretically. Focus on my homework instead.

So Maverick & his mom live on some non-titan-corpse island somewhere in the boiling sea. I'm thinking of naming it "mirrors edge" or something equally dramatic. The island has a ton of really shiny stones on it, some of which are so reflective they look like mirrors, hence the name.

The island has a biped demon population of "changeling" type guys. Might call them something else i haven't decided yet. They can steal people's appearances and through that siphon our their magical powers or their life source or somethingggg.. like the first step is "getting mirrored" where if they see your face and try to mimic your appearance. Then, the more they learn about you (including non-physical things like your name, your hobbies, abilities, your past, etc) the more they can steal from you. Eventually they "change" you where you start to become one of them. Maybe. Idk if that's too off base for toh lore. Translating my oc lore into TV show lore is hard alright. Anyways. Changelings don't have reflections either so that's a way you can tell whether someone is the real deal. BUT people who are in the process of getting mirrored lose their reflection as well (bc it got stolen! Literally!) So that can cause some paranoia and mayhem or whatever. It's like among us.

The changelings on the island are magically bound to it (the mirror rocks specifically maybe? Idk if that's too like the collector-disk-prison though. That was done thru titan magic idk if normies could achieve it) by a group of witches who hope to keep them from running loose and. Draining and/or Turning everyone i guess. Eventually the population dwindled down to basically nothing because everyone was getting Taken and the remaining witches turned to creating grimwalkers in order to have ppl to continue the vigil

I was thinking of having the grimwalkers have a bonus 'ability' of like. Slowing down the "mirroring" and "changing" effects? Like because they're a clone and appear the same as someone else, it's harder to steal from them? Because they're not unique. That's kind of depressing but whatever. The same could also technically apply to identical twins.

So like. Bc Maverick and his mom are identical, and they're not the first grimwalkers with that face to get Turned, they last a lot longer when they eventually get seen and Mirrored. Maverick's mom ends up getting too affected and he's essentially left alone on the island, trying to keep up the binding spell.

Other people find the island at some point (i was thinking maybe some people fled during the events of toh? Like when Belos started getting too severe about wild magic, during the draining spell & subsequent collector takeover, etc) and Maverick is like uh oh. I have to make sure none of em get Seen... while also being oblivious about what's happening on the boiling isles LOL. Reo (& other relevant mvrck characters) would be in this refugee group and that's how they meet Maverick and become friends ❤️

After belos' defeat i figure the refugees would probably return home. Especially cuz mirrors edge is NOT SAFE for a different reason lol. Maverick would go along with them for funsies and also possibly to broaden his search for grimwalker ingredients. For his own replacement. He's aware he's a clone & desensitized to the implications so he wouldnt see anything wrong with that. This would be where oc & canon character interactions would probably happen. Especially with Hunter bc i think forcing them to meet would be hilarious and also bad for everyone's mental health.

[mdhwrites]

What do you think of Hunter x Luz? In my opinion they make more sense as a couple than lumity. A relationship between them would not ruin their characters, because their storyline/arc are connected and it would serve as a parallel and foil to Caleb and Evelyn.

So this question is interesting to me because it argues their narrative purpose rather than things like their chemistry. Now, yes, I think narratively Lumity is dead. Has anyone else picked up on the fact that if not for Camila, Amity's first hint that she was now single would have been when the portal closed and Luz wasn't there? No warning, no discussion, just lies of omission and abandonment. And seeing how that was much of Luz's MO with Amity in S2B it's... It's rough to say she wouldn't be better off without Luz or to even know what of S1 Luz still is there that Amity was attracted to in the first place. And that's without getting into the simplification and girlfriendification of Amity's character for the sake of Luz. BUT S1 Lumity lives in my soul for a reason. You have a cheerful, creative, outcast girl looking for approval, magic and excitement, who's rash and impulsive but also hides because she doesn't like herself, with a serious, focused, intelligent girl who thinks everything through too much, is too rigid, and who believes the world is a cruel, uncaring place that you must be perfect to succeed in. There is so much there, so much to work with, so much potential joy and pain in equal droves that it's a genuinely beautiful thing. That for a time was extremely well written. Where the main complaint you could make was that it wasn't plot relevant (and still isn't). And you want to make a claim for Lunter having possibly been better when Hunter can often be accurately described as a discount Amity and I would argue is more plot device than character much of the time? The big one I really need to comment on is the idea that Hunter wouldn't trample other character arcs. The dude trampled on Gus in order for Huntlow shipping when in Labyrinth Runners he needed to understand Willow better than her BEST FRIEND. Her best friend who was going through an acute panic attack but her best friend nonetheless. Hunter being her emotional core was only reinforced more in the more recent episode. Not only that but his narrative role is obviously to open up the EC and Belos to the main cast. To have an 'in' of sorts to start interacting with the organization properly. Motivation to fight them. You know... Like Lilith didn't have? You know, the person betrayed and almost killed by Belos who has a streak of lashing out and doing terrible things to those she perceives as having wronged her? How cool would it have been had the show actually followed up on literally any of that except for a gag and a stinger so Lilith could have an arc about learning that these sorts of motivations, anger, revenge, jealousy, etc. are bad PERIOD, even if motivating good behavior? No, instead the curse is much more her thing now before she's then just made into an incompetent gag character. And for what? Hunter, like I said, inherits a lot from Amity including the weaknesses of her arc, such as her base character being a lie the first time we meet him. By the beginning of Hunting Palisman, he's already entirely turned around on being pure evil and confident and showing a lack of confidence, an awareness that what he is doing must be slightly wrong and an unprompted openness to Wild Magic when he has only been taught WIld Magic kills. And that's WITHOUT Luz's intervention. Luz honestly doesn't feel like she causes much change in him. Maybe wedges an opening that everyone else works on but he's already a mad but sad boy by then. He's already turning into just a general nice guy without any flavor or real personality to him besides a tragic backstory and tragic circumstance, neither of which make for an interesting character. But I want to finish this with the question of chemistry. Part of why I ship Lumischa is that Boscha gives Luz and Amity a much needed grounding force. Someone who can get them both out of their minds. Someone who they can trust to tell them the truth, blunt and clear, when they need it. Her brashness, straightforwardness and willingness to do bad things if it means solving a problem contrasts well with them while she's able to give them support in ways they struggle to give each other. The fact that her personality allows for snark and sass also helps give their relationship a new angle that doesn't feel as natural between the two lovebirds. Hunter with Luz... I mean, when they were first introduced, I could see it. I didn't think it was great but I understood. You have a boy who is pro-authority, serious and focused (again, much like early Amity) with a girl who is anarchy, wild and creative. They both have an interest in magic though, both are limited magically as well and the fandom sure does love their enemies to lovers trope, no matter how poorly done. But how long do either of those dynamics last? How much can you even say that's a consistent dynamic for Hunter for more than three episodes? What IS Hunter's character to play off of Luz? These aren't questions I have to ask about Amity. Bare minimum, they weren't questions I had to ask about Amity. And they're questions that for someone who wants to ship them, wants to hold them close and do a lot with them, should have answers as easy to find as air. And I'm gasping for anything here.

[welcometogrouchland]

Amphibia and The Owl House for the ask! also hope your stomach gets better :(

Yippee my shows!! Also yeah I feel better now I just had to lie down for a while and drink a lot of water 👍

For TOH:

The first character I first fell in love with: ooh that's a toughie! I binged the first season right before s2 started airing so my memories are fuzzy. Maybe...Lilith or Willow? Luz hadn't quite cemented herself as my fav until season 2 and subsequent rewatches

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: probably Amity? I went into season 1 knowing she had a redemption but when I saw her in her first appearance it was on SIGHT. I really warmed up to her though over the course of the show, and now I enjoy her a lot! I'm proud of how far she's come. Also probably Caleb bc we knew so little about him at first that I didn't see how he could become a fan favorite for anyone. Then Hollow Mind happened and. You get it. OH WAIT LAST ANSWER FOR THIS- Camila! Not because I ever thought she was a bad mom but because I didn't think they'd give a parent character so much depth. I love what they did with her in seasons 2 and 3 so much

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: uhh maybe Belos?? In certain circles at least. Interesting guy but I don't have much fondness/affection for him, y'know? Or Alador. He's aight but clouds on the horizon made him a bit...flat, for me. Also this is less of a thing now but not too long ago BOSCHA oh my god. Ppl acting like the show not spending time on her was a failure like. Okay! Sure! Let's just say things now, ig! I much prefer what they did with her in ftf. It's not redemption exactly but it's acknowledgment that she's just a kid. A shitty kid but still

The character I love that everyone else hates: KIKIMORA MAN. I know I know I'm also mad they spent all of follies at the coven day parade building her up as potentially sympathetic only to steer away from that route again and again as if they changed their mind BUT. I fucking love this horrible fail creature. No backbone, no morals, no prospects, no bitches. Beefing with teenagers and exiled from her family home and place of business. Pathetic. Get her ass!!!

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: oh that's a complicated one. I know I also said she grew on me unexpectedly but the answer to this one might also be Amity. Not in the sense that I stopped liking her, but in the sense that other characters caught my attention more as time went on. Rip to Amity, still love u. I am just a Willow and Luz girlie

The character I would totally smooch: most of the women I am being real with you this show is overflowing with cute character designs

The character I’d want to be like: honestly? Eda. Yeah she's got problems and she's not the ideal mentor you'd expect but she's just such a cool confident older woman who doesn't let ppl control her life

The character I’d slap: I'd say Belos but that'd be too obvious (and rewarding). Instead imma say Boscha. This is not the right way to deal with highschool bullies but I do not care. This isn't about her. This is about me. And I wanna slap her just a wee bit. It's fine I'm not that much older than her I'm allowed to

A pairing that I love: sigh. Hubtlow

A pairing that I despise: b*schlow. Bully/victim ships I hate thee. Loathe thee, even. Also I definitely don't despise it but can I please stop getting l*nter jump scared. I don't go there let me out. Stop putting it on my feed

NOW FOR THE FROG SHOW AHAHA!!!

The first character I first fell in love with: unsure tbh! Maybe Polly but I know she definitely wasn't as violent/funny at the beginning of the series. Probably Anne or (depending on how fast I binged, I cannot remember) maybe Sasha

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Anne or Sasha I think! Both start off as like. Semi-unlikeable characters (Sasha more so than Anne), which I appreciate now in retrospect, but at the time I couldn't picture myself getting as invested in them as I got. Also. How would you guys feel if I said andrias (I DIDN'T WANNA LIKE HIM. EVEN WHEN HE WAS BEING A JOLLY GOOFBALL I KNEW THE OTHER SHOE HAD TO DROP AND I WAS PREPARED TO HATE HIM. AND THEN THEY INTRODUCED DARCY AND GAVE US THIS NEW DYNAMIC AND CONTEXT AND JUST. MAN!!!)

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: okay, it's not that I don't love her, but Marcy is definitely my least fav in the calamity trio. Again, not because I dislike her, I just like Anne and Sasha a lot more, y'know?

The character I love that everyone else hates: tbh I'm not in the fandom enough to know who is and isn't hated. Was Sasha ever hated? Maybe by some but idk

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: don't think this one really applies to anyone in amphibia? A weird one that kinda matches is I used to think valeriana was like. Mysterious and cool and then they didn't do much with her after the second temple and I was like. She's just kinda there now, huh?

The character I would totally smooch: IDK MAN THE SHOW IS 90% FROGS AND PRETEENS!!!! I AM NOT KISSING THEIR ASSES THEY ARE SLIMY (THE PRETEENS INCLUDED!)

The character I’d want to be like: again, 90% of them are frogs or preteens. Maybe Anne? I like how far she's come and how far she's still willing to go at the end, turning down ultimate power in the name of keeping the world safe and staying with the people she loves. Also I want cool anime powers /j

The character I’d slap: Sasha but only if it was s1-s2 Sasha bc I love her and I feel like she needs it. Girl. Get a grip

A pairing that I love: hehehe sashanne <3

A pairing that I despise: DON'T SHIP THE HUMAN GIRLS WITH FROGS. THAT FEELS LIKE THE EASIEST THING MAN!!!

[normal-looking-male]

am i allowed to ask what the deal is with hunter? i don’t mean to be rude im genuinely curious and remember little to nothing about s2 :0

GREAT QUESTION. I'm gonna avoid tagging this as anything Owl House-related at all, but if somebow a fan of Hunter sees this: Scroll past. You're not gonna like this post. (This is written spontaneously and without any reviewing or editing, so if I stop making sense at a certain point, R.I.P. to me, I guess.)

:readmore:

So, in his first appearances as the Golden Guard, he was pretty much just a snarky extension of Belos. A little shit causing trouble for the protagonists, threatening them and clearly revelling in his deeds.

And then the mask came off, and Dana mentioning that he's one of her favourites became glaringly obvious. Suddenly, this guy whose whole thing was that he was unquestioningly loyal and obedient to Evil White Man McGee, and as just another antagonist, he was great! But then suddenly he was this poor innocent little guy that just wanted to impress his uncle. Adorable, but this awkward uwu little guy was a bit of a tone shift. Where was all this timidity and morals when he was all for dropping best titan, my boy King, to his death?

It's just. So glaringly obvious Dana wanted to pull a Zuko, but Zuko was there from Book One of Avatar, and we could actually see him be an impatient and traumatised teenager, we saw his tragedy before we saw his cruelty. In fact, we are made aware early on that the reason he's on this quest in the first place was because his "crime" was not wanting people to die. We didn't get that with Hunter. We are just informed that he was led to believe what's right and what's wrong by Belos. But unless I missed something, he's most definitely been revelling in the damage he did on his own, without Belos there to tell him "now threaten their dog", or something.

Hunter could see the destruction that was caused by the Emperor's coven, and had an olive branch extended to him one after another by pretty much everyone else in the cast, but none of Belos' actions or the damage they did mattered to him until he found out he's a Grimwalker. He didn't absolutely obey Belos anymore, and would hide Flapjack from him and whatnot, but he was still loyal, and would excuse every horrible thing Witch Hitler ever did, until it affected him personally.

And that was probably the nail in the coffin for me. He only started to team up with the good guys proper after he found out he was just Belos' attempt at resurrecting Caleb. He only cared about the damage Belos has done and will do when he was the victim for a change. Kinda like every other teenage cis white boy that realised Nazism Is Bad, Actually, only when it affected him in a negative way. But, because he made some sad noises and was an awkward dorky uwu bean, the fandom latched onto him. Mostly it was the straight women that saw another angsty Varian-Kylo Ren-Hordak-(HORRIBLY MISINTERPRETED) Zuko-Some other villains whose names I can't be bothered to remember kind of guy, who was blatantly antagonistic and violent, clearly took pleasure or pride in his evil deeds, and had some vUlNeRaBlE sCeNeS, and then did a heel turn at the last possible second. Usually because, again, now that he felt he didn't wanna be a mass murderer anymore, he was now gonna be a good guy, everyone else be damned.

Of course the second his mask came off he was shipped with Luz and Amity (even though Amity is a lesbian, but hey, when has canon ever mattered to that part of the Owl House fandom), of course when that stopped working, he was shipped with Willow. And, here's the fun part, it's not because they work together. It's just shipping for the sake of shipping, just so that their special little blorbo can be shoved into dicussions about characters other than him, and most likely in part just the straight women using Willow as a vessel for projection, because they wanna kiss the angsty white boy, and Willow's more of a self-insert in that scenario. If Amity wasn't confirmed lesbian, I guarantee she'd be shipped with him way more, because the majority of the straight women that would eat the dirt off of Hunter's shoes are... Drumroll... Crackers themselves. Amity would just easier to project onto for them.

The recent episode isn't helping. Even in the conversation at the start that Hunter has with Luz, the second she mentions her worries and struggles, of course he makes it about himself. I shouldn't have been surprised at the audacity, given how self-centered his worldview is, but I just. I can't. I can't overlook that just because he got excited about wolves, or because Flapjack had to sacrifice himself to save his sorry ass, or because other characters just inexplicably care for the guy that would have probably executed them himself, if the Grimwalker part never became apparent to him.

The crew was robbed of a proper third season, we did not get everything Dana had planned for him, and me typing up this whole post is kinda hypocritical, given that the reason I don't even engage with the community anymore is because of the Hunter oversatutation. There's better characters to focus on. I'm just so damn tired of seeing him as a "parallel to Amity", or "sibling to Luz", or "crushing on Willow", or "adopted by Eda", I've genuinely had enough of this guy. He did not have an actual redemption arc. He just abruptly switched to being intended as sympathetic to the audience, because he's Dana's favourite, and the majority or the audience gobbled it up. My general distaste for angsty dickheads becoming The Fandom's Faves is also probably not helping with my growing disdain for his character, and what he represents in fandoms overall.

There's three potential fixes that could have been for him.

Disney not being jerks, and letting us have the full story. Maybe in that alternate timeline where Hunter actually had all his development, grew past what Belos drilled into his head, and actually at least properly apologised to the ones he hurt and betrayed (no, him kneeling before Camila is not cute, it's a sign the guy still thinks he has to serve someone, and no, Luz, he is not family, he triED TO KILL YOUR ACTUAL FOUND FAMILY ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, ARE YOU INSANE-), I could actually move past my own dislike of him, and at least be neutral about his presence in the show.

Dana making up her mind about him either being a little shit or Just A Little Guy..., and also him actually willingly wanting to leave the Emperor's Coven for the sake of anyone besides himself. She had to just. Make him not selfish, it is not that hard. Make him actually compassionate and caring instead of other characters saying he is, and making him go 🥺🥺🥺 at that. It would change the order of certain events, but would at least work with the rest of the plot.

Keep him a bad guy without the uwu bean part, or just cut him out entirely. You'd have to rewrite the way the story progresses quite a lot, but that wouldn't be too big of a loss.

Also, I tend to half-jokingly headcanon characters as LGBTA+ even though canon would kinda go against that, but he's the exception. Like, not even from a "historical accuracy" standpoint. I can see, for example, Brendan from Secret Of Kells as transmasc. Ninth century my ass, the entire Abbey of Kells is Welcoming And Accepting[tm], and nothing gives me reason to believe any of the inhabitants would have been dicks about it. Meanwhile Belos canonically wants to wipe out witches in a very brutal way, most likely because he's still salty that Caleb boinked one, and is one of the most inarguably evil villains in recent kids' (well, teens seem to be more like the target audience, but y'know) media. If his bro 2.0 exhibited any signs of not being a cishet, he'd be dumped into that one cave where the previous Golden Guards got thrown out, and then patched to be cishet in the next update.

[justaself-shipper]

Golden Guard x Reader- True Colours

A/N: I wanted to get back into the swing of things before redoing the requests. There may or may not be a few Amphibia references in here…since i watched it quite recently... Spoilers for Hunting Palisman. Also anyone get the reference of the title?

Being in the Emperor’s Coven wasn’t easy. From battling monsters and demons to rogue witches and a certain human, I was surprised I was still alive. A regular guard was just a pawn for the Emperor. Yet, I had no choice, since my parents had already planned my future while I was still young. I wanted to make them proud, and I really did try. But it seems like being a normal guard in the Emperor’s Coven wasn’t enough. I needed to go bigger, eliminate anyone in my way if I had to. I was going to do it for them, and for my lost Palisman, Froggit. (IT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT CAME TO MIND-) Standing at attention, I watched all the servants and guards walk by. I was assigned outside the Throne room today. Kikimori happened to be walking by as the door opened. She gasped. “Golden Guard?! You’re alive! I heard about the crash-“ The “Golden Guard” came into view. He greeted Kiki, and I had the time to observe him. He was about my age, with blonde hair, red eyes, and a scar on his right cheek. As he walked away from Kikimori, he looked my way. I hadn’t realised I had turned to face them. Quickly standing to attention, I stiffened as he stopped in front of me. “Sir.” I saluted. He raised an eye-brow, looking at my badge. (Ima just pretend the badges have names engraved into them in small lettering or something). “Haven’t seen you around here much. When did you join the Emperor’s Coven?” He asked casually. I glared through my mask. “Two weeks ago, sir.” I replied, trying my best to keep my voice calm. He smiled. “Well, miss ‘Y/N’, it’s nice to meet you. The names Hunter.” I didn’t reply back. After a few minutes of silence, he sighs. “Welp, I better be going. See you around.” As he walked away, I let my shoulders relax a bit. Glaring after him, I watched him disappear. So, a higher rank, right? Well, we’ll see about that. Don’t try to chit-chat me, Hunter. You’re nothing but a rival. Later that evening… I let out a yawn. It was late, and I was the only guard patrolling this side of the castle. Lifting my mask to rub my tired eyes, I heard a loud bang, followed by yelp of pain. “Palisman!” Someone hissed. Pulling my mask back down, I held my staff out. “COME OUT! I KNOW YOU’RE THERE!” I yelled out. There was nothing but silence. Turning a corner, I caught someone running away, carrying something. “Hey!” I gave chase, following the intruder down the corridors. As I ran, I realised they seemed to know exactly where they were going. Running by halls that lead to dead ends, and avoiding doors that entered into closed off rooms. Using my staff, I sped up, running in front of the witch. He came to a stop, almost tripping. Holding out my staff, I was about to zap him, when I realised it was Hunter. A small, red bird Palisman sat on his shoulder. I smirked under my mask. Hiding a Palisman? One that has wild magic? This was treason. Oh, Emperor Belos is going to love this. “You stay here.” I stated, using a spell to keep him in place. As he struggled, I began to walk off. If he’d been keeping a wild Palisman, who knew what he could do with it. Best to retrieve back-up, and quickly. As I turned my back, he yelled out to me. “Wait! Don’t tell Belos!” Ignoring him, I continued. “I know what he does to them! He kills them!” Stopping, I turned back to the Golden Guard. “What do you mean by that?” I questioned cautiously. Hunter closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. “Emperor Belos isn’t a witch. I don’t know what he is, or what happened to him. All I know is that he uses the magic in the Palismans to keep himself powerful and in a stable condition.” My mind went to Froggit, my Palisman before I joined the Coven. He went missing as soon as I joined…he couldn’t have… “Y-you’re lying, aren’t you?” I growled. The Palisman sitting on his shoulder chirped. After a moment of silence, I released the Golden guard. Turnng my back to him once again, I growled under my breath. “Get out of here before I change my mind.” Hunter didn’t need to be asked twice. Making sure the Palisman wasn’t hurt, he left, returning to his dorm. About an hour later, another guard took over my shift. Rushing back to my dorm, I leaned against the door. It couldn’t be true. Emperor Belos would never hurt my Palisman, would he? I let out a shaky breath. He couldn’t have…right? Finishing up my carving, I stared lovingly at the Frog as I held it up to the sunlight. “And done! Welcome to the world little buddy!” I whispered, blowing the flakes away. Smiling widely, I placed the wooden frog on my bedside table. All I had to do now was wait. He should wake up in a few minutes. Leaning back on my bed, I picked up my book, looking at all the human creatures inside. I loved looking at all the pictures, and even chose one as my Palisman. There were so many amazing creatures, for awhile I couldn’t pick. I had finally settled for a “frog”, since they sounded so amazing. Hearing a croak, I looked up from my book. My new Palisman had woken up, and was crawling around and curiously peering at the objects on my bed stand. “Hey there little guy.” I cooed, picking him up. He let out another croak. “Welcome to the Boiling Isles! You’re so cute!” He tilted his head curiously in my direction, letting out another excited croak. Giggling, I gently pet him. “I’ll keep you safe Froggit. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” I jolted awake, rubbing my teary eyes as I sat up. Silent sobs threatened to erupt from my throat. Taking a few minutes to calm myself, I inhaled slowly. This wasn’t a coincidence, wasn’t it? Froggit was gone, and I had failed to protect him. He had probably died a horrible death, scared and all alone. Checking the window, I noticed the sun was rising. I had to get ready for today. As I stood up, I felt my stomach squirm in guilt. Looking around my room, i grabbed a satchel, collecting things and preparing. I had to get out of here. I was NOT going to work with a Coven that murdered my Palisman, no matter what my parents say. I would have failed them, but nothing was worse than knowing I had failed my Palisman, my only friend. A loud knock came from the door. Looking up, I stared hard at the door. Who could that be? I’m not late for something, am I? The knocking came again. Walking over, I opened the door to find Kikimori there. She seemed to be glaring daggers into my soul, even though she was way shorter than me. “The Emperor wants to speak with you immediately.” She stated, walking away. Why does the Emperor want to see me? I took off my mask as I stood in front of the throne room. My knees shook thinking over the things the Golden Guard had said the night previously. The Emperor wasn’t who I thought he was, and that thought alone terrified me. Clutching my mask, I opened the doors. Mutterings were coming from the other side of the room as I entered. Walking along the corridor, I took note that a few guards, as well as the Golden Guard and Emperor Belos were in the room. Belos was talking to the Golden Guard, but stopped when I entered. I bowed down to the Emperor, as I felt his eyes bare into my soul. “You must be Y/N L/N, right? Hunter has told me so much about you.” He stated. I bowed my head, keeping an eye on Hunter. He seemed to be distracted, since he didn’t seem to be paying attention to us. “He’s told me of all your hard work so far, and that you’re trust worthy. So, I have made up my mind.” He stood up, grabbing onto his staff. What was he doing? “You’ve been moved up to Captain of the guards, since ours has…retired. How does that sound?” Shocked, I glanced up to Hunter. His eyes were averted, refusing to look at me. “I-it’s an honour, my lord…” I stuttered. “B-but, I-i’m just a humble guard, there’s no need to put me as Captain so soon-“ I was cut off as something headed my way, barely missing me by a hair. I stiffened, following the pointed object toward the Emperor. It was….his…arm…. He took the object away. “I'm afraid you don’t have a choice in this matter. Your first mission starts tonight. You’ll be accompanied by Hunter. You’ll be given your badge in the morning.” He waves his hand, signifying I could leave. I nodded. “Y-yes, my Lord.” With that, I placed my helmet back on, walking briskly out of the room. Opening the door, I jumped a little when Kikimori was waiting on the other side. She said nothing, just simply glared at me then left. After watching her disappear around the corner, I let out an angry sigh. What was I gonna do? Later that night…. The Golden Guard was standing beside me, steering the ship we flew in. There was an awkward silence for the first 10 minutes of the flight, with both of us avoiding eye contact. Apparently, we were meant to be looking for Palismans. “So…everything you said the other night was true.” I mumbled. The Golden guard hummed in response. “Unfortunately, yes.” Another silence ensured. “I wasn’t expecting him to make you Captain. I just wanted to help you out a bit, since you helped me. I’m sorry if it wasn’t what you wanted…” I let out a sigh. “It’s fine." That’s when he turned to me. His eyes were filled with sympathy. “I’m also sorry about your Palisman…” I whipped around to face him. “How-“ “It’s not hard. Everyone has a Palisman when they first arrive. They disappear after the first week, and given a “new and improved” staff. It’s becoming more common. Only a few are allowed to keep their Palismans.” He stated, his brows furrowing as his gaze returned to the horizon. “You seem to know a fair bit.” I said. He shrugged. “One of the few perks of being the Emperor’s right-hand man.” I nodded understandingly. Being right-hand man couldn��t have been easy. There would’ve been many people trying to back-stab him. I WAS one of them.

“…what was it like? Your Palisman?” He asked curiously. I smiled under my mask. “He was my best friend. A lot of people questioned why I chose a monster from the human realm, but it didn’t matter. I loved him almost like my own child…” I felt the tears threatening to overflow once again. Hunter smiled. “He sounded nice.” I looked over to him curiously. “You say that as if you’ve never had a Palisman.” His eyes widened, before he turned his face away from me. “…this Palisman is actually my first. I didn’t do well in school, so I never achieved my staff.” Was all he replied. Great. Now I felt bad. “I’m sorry…" He chuckled. “It’s alright. There wasn’t a chance you could’ve known.” Letting out a sigh, I took my mask off. What was the point of hiding my face while meeting a new friend? Letting my hair fall down, I hear Hunter let out a small gasp. I raise an eyebrow, turning my gaze to him. His eyes were wide open, staring at me. “What are you looking at?” “You…you’re beautiful…” My own eyes widened, and I felt my cheeks heat up. Hunter realised that he said it out loud, and his own face lit up. “I-i’m so sorry! I-“ “Just be quiet.” I growled, turning away so then Hunter wouldn’t see me. The ship shook, and I felt it begin to fall rapidly toward the ground. I watched in terror as the ground came closer, and I blacked out as we hit the ground. “Hey! Y/n, wake up!” Someone hissed quietly.

I let out a groan as I opened my tired eyes. Hunter was gently shaking me, looking around frantically at his surroundings. “W-what happened?” I grumbled, sitting up. Hunter clasped a hand over my mouth. I was about to object, when he pointed to a certain short monster on the other side of the rocks. It was Kikimori, and she did not look happy. She seemed to be carrying a stone. I recognised it from history books. They made the possessor stronger. “I KNOW YOU’RE HERE GOLDEN GUARD! AND I KNOW WHAT YOU DID THE OTHER NIGHT!” She shrieked. My brows furrowed, looking toward Hunter. “What is she talking about?” I hissed. He reached for his broken staff. I hadn’t noticed that before. “I’ll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of here.” He whispered back. Without warning, he grabbed my hand, leading me away from the angry monster. Once we were far enough away, I pulled my hand free from his. “What the hex was that about?!” I yelled. Hunter let out a sigh. “Look, the other night I was assigned to collect Palismans. I told my Uncle that I had failed, but the real reason was that I let them go. Kiki and the human Luz was involved and…things just got out of hand.” He was looking down at his feet. “If I told him what had really happened, then he would kill both of us…” I listened carefully. When he was finished, I smiled softly. ‘Hey…you did the right thing.” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Surprised for a moment, Hunter smiled. “So, what are we gonna do? We can’t tell your Uncle we failed to retrieve them again. He’d find out for sure.” I said. Hunter thought for a moment, before a smirk crossed his features. “Not unless we disappeared.” I stared blankly at him for a moment. What did he mean by that? “What do you mean?” “Alright, this is the plan.” Waiting outside the castle, I tapped my foot impatiently. Hunter had gone into the castle to retrieve his Palisman, leaving me outside to wait. It had been 10 minutes already. Shouldn’t he be back by now? Something must’ve happened. Letting out a growl, I clutched my staff, heading inside. Once inside, I passed a few of the guards. None tried stopping me, just giving a nod as I passed by. They took note of my badge it seemed. As I walked pass the throne room, I halted when I heard a cry of pain come from within. “NO, PLEASE! DON’T HURT HIM!” That was Hunter. Rushing over, I swung the doors open. There was Hunter, being held by two guards. Kikimori held his Palisman, about to hand it over to Emperor Belos. Everyone stopped what they were doing when I entered, turning to face me. Emperor Belos was the only one to recognise me. “Ah, Y/n! A nice surprise! No need for any assistance. You see, Hunter here has been keeping secrets from us.” He stated gesturing to Hunter. “But Kikimori has saved us by warning us of his treason. He’ll be thrown into the dungeon shortly, and this…Palisman will be dealt with.” At that, Kikimori was about to hand the Palisman to the Emperor. Rage filled me, and before I realised what I was doing, I had sent a spell their way. The Palisman was thrown from Kikimori’s hands, falling to the ground out of reach. Everyone let out a gasp. Tears overflowed from my eyes as rage coursed through me. “No one else’s Palisman’s are getting hurt under my watch.” I growled. Belos straightened his posture. “I see. You’re a traitor to our kind. Guards, get her!” He yelled. The guards holding Hunter let him go, charging toward me. Using my staff, I quickly defeated them, swinging my staff against their skulls. Both fell unconscious. Without thinking, I charged Belos. He killed my Palisman. Before my staff made contact with him, he used his own magic to throw me against the wall. Yelping in pain, I stumbled to my feet. My vision was still blurry from the impact, hence why I didn’t see Belos walking towards me. I was pushed back against the wall. Something was piercing into my neck, and I realised it was the Emperor’s staff. “You’ll have the same fate as your Palisman.” He hissed. Choking for air, my vision was getting darker and darker as I stared murderously into Belos’ eyes. I finally felt myself drop to the ground, the Emperor letting out a groan of pain as he was attacked from the side. Strong hands lifted me up, helping me limp away from the scene. Hunter got his Palisman ready, ordering me to get on. Doing so, I left my staff lying on the ground, clutching his waist tightly as we escaped the castle. I buried my face in Hunters shoulder as we flew over the Boiling Isles. Neither of us had spoken for a while, and honestly I was too shocked. Finally, Hunter spoke up. “Thank you for that. That was very courageous of you to stand up to him. Are you ok?” “Y-yeah, I’m ok…where are we going? Do you have a place in mind?” I asked, looking down at our surroundings. We were near Bones Marrow (was that what it was called?), and I curious if he had a destination. Hunter smiles at my question. “I have a friend nearby. We’ll seek shelter there if she’ll allow it.” With that, he neared the forest floor, landing quietly in the bushes. I looked up at the building in front of us. I knew this place, although I’d never been to it myself. This was the Owl House, home of one of the most powerful witches on the Isle, Eda the Owl lady. Well, WAS the most powerful. Hunter walked up the doorstep, and was about to knock when a large owl tube on the door spoke up, startling both of us. “OOH VISITORS! FROM THE EMPEROR COVEN TOO! HAVE YOU COME HERE TO BE MY FRIEND?!” The door opened, revealing Luz the human. Her smile lit up when she realised it was Hunter. “Hunter! Hi! What are you doing here? And who’s your friend? You aren’t…here to arrest me, are you?” She asked suspiciously, closing the door ajar as she squinted her eyes. I almost laughed at how childish she was. “No, sorry to disappoint. Me and my friend were going to ask if we could stay for awhile? We…kinda left the coven.” Hunter said, gesturing to himself and I. I gave a little wave. Luz’s eyes widened in surprise, her smile returning. “Of course! Come in! We have…room for two more!” Opening the door, she let us inside. Hunter stepped in first, but was stopped by an ice wall. He let out a yelp of surprise, and Luz was yelling at someone. “Lillith! Be nice!” Lillith? Where have I heard that name? It clicked when I caught sight of her. There, in what I assumed to be human clothes, stood Lillith, my role model ever since I was a small witchling. I almost jumped up and down in excitement, if it wasn’t for the shock of the ice bars between us. “Human! This is the Golden Guard! We can’t let him in here! What if it’s a trick?!” Lillith shrieked. Luz tried to calm her down, explaining that he’d changed. Another woman stepped into the room, followed by a small demon with a skull on his head. “Alright, what’s going on here?” She muttered. Luz sighed in relief. “Oh thank god you’re here, Eda. My friends need a place to stay, and-“ Eda? Lillith cut her off. “HE’S THE GOLDEN GUARD! It could be a trap!” She screamed, gesturing to the two of us. Hunter didn’t say anything, just let out a nervous chuckle. Eda only stared at us tiredly. “…..if it’s a trap we won’t hesitate to knock em’ out cold. Just let em in.” She grumbled, sitting on the couch as she drank something from out of a cup. Lillith stuttered indignantly, while Luz used what I assumed a random piece of paper to create fire. Melting the bars, she let the two of us inside.

A few minutes later, Hunter and I were sitting beside each other on two chairs, while Lillith, Luz, and Eda were sitting on the couch. He had just finished explaining what had happened with Emperor Belos mere hours before. Lillith had her arms crossed, staring at us suspiciously, while Eda was peacefully sipping at her apple-blood. Luz was holding the little demon, who I found out was named King. Luz spoke up first. “So…now you’re wanted criminals?” She asked, concerned. Hunter pat his Palisman. “It would appear so.” He muttered. Lillith didn’t say anything, but it was obvious from her body language she didn’t trust us. Eda the owl lady smiled comfortingly. “Well, I guess an enemy to Belos is a friend of mine. Welcome to the Owl House kids.” She chuckled. “Thank you.” I replied. Luz pointed accusingly at me. “AHA! YOU DO SPEAK!” She yelled. I chuckled. “So what’s your name, kid?” Eda asked. “I’m Y/n. Nice to meet you all. Especially you Lillith!” She turned to me, raising a brow. “Why’s that, witchling?” “You’ve always been a role-model for me! I feel so honoured meeting you in person!” I said, my smile brightening to finally have an opportunity to speak to my hero. Lillith smiled. “Thank you, witchling.” A few weeks later… Hunter and I had officially moved into the Owl House. It was a bit crowded but it became our home. Eda was teaching Hunter how to take care of his Palisman, plus how to use and treat it. I on the other hand, began to classes with Lillith and Luz, learning how to master glyphs. Sure, I still had my powers, but in case of emergencies I wanted to learn about these strange little symbols. We had become wanted criminals that day, and our wanted posters were stuck up all over the Boiling Isles. I felt a light tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I realised it was Hunter. “Hey Y/n, I have a surprise for you.” He said, grabbing my hand and leading me away from the Owl house. Dragging me through town, we snuck by many wanted posters of us. He finally stopped outside of Hexside, a school I had once attended before joining the Emperor’s Coven. Knocking on the door, Principal Bump opened. “Ah, good you’re here! Just in time too!” He whispered, taking down another poster that was stuck to his door. He smiled down at the two of us. “Good to see you again Y/n. Come this way!” Leading us onto the Grudgby field, I noticed Eda was standing beside a large, wooden stump. She walked over to us excitedly. “Y/n! Hunter had told us what had happened to your Palisman, so Bumpy, Hunter and I decided to give you a little surprise. I introduce to you…” The Bat Queen flew down, landing on the stump and opening the door. Many Palismans with cracks ran out, looking around curiously. “To the Palismans! These little guys need a good home again, and one lucky one may pick you.” My eyes widened in awe, as I clasped my hands over my mouth. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I hugged Hunter, who was standing beside me. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” I cried. Realising what I was doing, my face heated up, and I immediately let go, looking away in embarrassment. He did the same, scratching his neck as a pink flush covered his cheeks. Eda chuckled at our interaction. “Alright. All you gotta do is kneel down, say a goal you want to achieve and one should choose you.” She stated. I grinned as I knelt down, looking at all the cute Palismans scuttling about. “I want a powerful Palisman to help protect those I care about.” I said. One Palisman began to glow. It looked like a lizard from the human realm, but with a scorpion tail and sharp claws. I held out my hands as it turned into a staff, landing gently in my hands as the Palisman happily growled. My grin widened as I looked excitedly back at Hunter, hugging the Palisman close. Everything was going to be ok now.

A/N: HOLY CRAP FINISHING THIS I REALISED IT PRETTY MUCH TURNED INTO A FULL BLOWN NOVEL-