#Also you can probably tell I gave up on Belos' hand

[feathersnflowers]

Wanted to draw this digital because I thought it was cool (song is change by Alex g)

[thousand-winters]

Living with Darius after Belos is defeated, Hunter slowly learns it's okay to ask for stuff. Sometimes it doesn't go as he would like.

One time, he asks Darius if he can borrow ten snails for something and Darius says "sure!" At the time, Darius is too busy or too lazy to grab his wallet, so he tells Hunter where it is and allows him to get the snails himself.

Hunter goes to find his dad's wallet as instructed, but he gets nervous and anxious once he picks it up. Even though Darius gave him permission, taking out the snails himself makes him feel like he's stealing from his dad and feel all sorts of bad.

To calm himself down, he needs to take the whole wallet back to his dad and have him pull out the snails instead.

Even having Darius' permission, Hunter is just not used to simply taking things for himself, especially when it's something such as money because it's not like he's going to be grabbing that and then giving it back immediately like he would with other things he has gotten the courage to ask Darius if he can borrow before.

The brief thought of finding a temporal job or something of the sort to pay Darius back does pass through his head, but ultimately, it feels best not to be presumptuous and just go to Darius because what if he didn't hear Hunter asked for ten snails and that ruins his budget for the week or something? Granted, it's not a lot of money but who knows... maybe it's better if Darius checks himself so he can determine in the end if he wants to let him borrow that money or not.

Darius is very confused when he sees Hunter bringing him the whole wallet but seeing how anxious he looks, he just asks him if everything is alright as he gets the snails out for him. Hunter probably is also like "I know I asked for ten snails, but it's fine if you can't give me all of those, I know I'm asking for a lot, and really, I can figure it out myself, you don't have to do anything-" before Darius cuts him off and just hands them to him.

It's not hard to guess where this is coming from, it's in part that Hunter isn't used to being allowed to want things and then ask for them, but it takes a while for him to be comfortable grabbing anything in the house in the first place. It's very much his house now, but Hunter was used to kinda feeling like an intruder even back at the castle, his room being the only place that was truly his and now...

Well. It's all very new. Even in his room sometimes he feels like he's disturbing it just by being there.

Darius does his best to encourage him, acting naturally when he asks Hunter to bring a plate or grab this or that from the kitchen or the bathroom or wherever, because Hunter sort of needs that "practice" so it feels natural for him to just do things like that without awaiting for permission every single time, which Darius notices quickly he does at first, not doing so much as grabbing a glass of water if he hasn't been told he's allowed to use this or that glass.

It helps that Darius gets him some things so they feel like specifically his own, but he still needs to get comfortable with everything so he doesn't continue feeling sort of like a guest in someone else's house.

All of that can't be solved by just acting casual and giving Hunter gifts every so often either, because then Hunter will think he just has to accept what he's being given and that it's selfish to ask for more. Darius figures out teasing him lightly helps; he's not mean, just playful, and it does make Hunter see that perhaps it's silly to worry about being perceived as selfish and greedy when to Darius it's such a small thing.

It takes time, but Darius is very patient.

[weirdlynotspecific]

Studying Hunter from TOH as a person with PTSD

So as you probably gathered this post is going to be a bit heavy. Tw for: narcissists, PTSD, abuse, Belos being Belos, trauma and it's after effects

Also bare in mind that this is just my opinion. I have PTSD caused by someone similar to Belos and noticed a lot of similarities between Hunter and I. However, I am by no means an authority on this topic and this is just my take on the character.

I will probably come back to this and edit it to add more if I think of anything else.

Also spoilers for The Owl House up until Season 3 Episode 1, Thanks to Them.

Hunter's unwillingness to believe Belos is a bad person

This is something many people with PTSD (especially if the person/people causing the trauma is a narcissist) go through when other people realize something is off.

It can look like denial, grief, anger, and the person being abused can be furious with the person who realized something was wrong.

It's really confusing like in Hunter's case when Belos has been put on a pedestal (literally) his entire life

Belos gave Hunter a purpose. This is love bombing. This can appear as: "Wow you're so special" "I love you so so much". Belos straight up tells Hunter: "You're destined for something" (Hunter brings it up in Hollow Mind I think) and makes him the golden guard. It's a common tactic with manipulators so that their victim has a reason to stay with them.

Belos also isolated him. Hunter never knew what a good caregiver looked like. He wouldn't know what abuse looks like because all of this has been normalized. He wasn't even allowed to leave the castle except on missions on the weekends (I believe that's in season 3 episode 1).

Hunter's signs

Hunter's shaking hands seen in Hollow Mind. This can be an underlying physical disorder but in Hunter's case it's most likely because he is in fight or flight and processing a lot of information at once. The mind can take stress out physically on the body and this is one way this can appear.

Hunter's hypervigilance. Hunter is very easily spooked (once again Hollow Mind this episode is just full of Hunter and Belos making it my best point of reference) and is constantly on edge. Even in the newest episode (S3 E1) he is on edge, although in this case he was right.

Hunter's eyebags. So I think this could be one of 2 things; stress appearing physically on the body again, or more likely a lack of sleep. many with PTSD sleep less, have trouble staying asleep, avoid sleep, and are more prone to nightmares.

Cutting his hair when he thought he looked too much like Belos. This scene hit hard for me because I also changed my hair because of my trauma. It's an example of taking control of what you can, which many abuse victims do when they have a space to. It's also avoidance, Hunter doing what he can to be the furthest thing from Belos. it's a scene that even if it's a little detail, it's extremely important to his character.

Not telling his friends he's a grimwalker. Abuse victims don't want to feel alone. In this case when Hunter is in Fight or Flight he chooses another option, Fawn. It's a people-pleasing method to make sure the victim doesn't get hurt again. It can also result in codependency. Hunter is very careful of what he says to his friends because he doesn't want to be left alone and feel that again.

Causes

Physical injury. Hunter has a scar (now several) on his face. Unwanted permanent change to the body ESPECIALLY through force is never healthy and can be extremely traumatic.

Psychological abuse. Belos is a known liar, it's stated over and over again in the series. Living in a relationship like that is breeding grounds for trauma because you can never be sure if what you are hearing is the truth or not. When Hunter finds out he's a grimwalker that is his entire life flipped over. His life, his identity, was made up by Belos. He is now forced to figure out what is actually his and what was made up.

Sources

https://www.dailyom.com/journal/is-it-love-or-is-it-love-bombing-5-red-flags-to-help-you-spot-the-difference/?aff=91&ad=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PerformanceMax&acct=9358138875&campaign_id=16896613381&gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIdNpOVzzurt7m4MaXkLRwaaejex6WBv4MaCcMSXZMJrbiVJRj7VVHRoCijQQAvD_BwE

https://atlanticcoastrehab.blog/why-your-hands-tremble

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/related/sleep_problems.asp#:~:text=Loss%20of%20sleep%20time.,loss%20can%20affect%20daily%20life.

https://www.modernintimacy.com/fawn-response-trauma-response-reason-for-people-pleasing-behavior/#:~:text=Fawning%20is%20also%20sometimes%20associated,they%20think%20they%20need%20you.

[drachenfalter]

I posted 683 times in 2022

That's 251 more posts than 2021!

336 posts created (49%)

347 posts reblogged (51%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sepublic

@drachenfalter

@langernameohnebedeutung

@zkbigbang

@bunjywunjy

I tagged 668 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#the owl house - 526 posts

#toh spoilers - 364 posts

#the owl house spoilers - 175 posts

#toh speculation - 134 posts

#toh meta - 120 posts

#toh hunter - 77 posts

#emperor belos - 67 posts

#gus porter - 48 posts

#any sport in a storm - 44 posts

#willow park - 41 posts

Longest Tag: 132 characters

#i wanted to do something more complicated but didn't think i'd get it done in time for the next episode so i tried something simpler

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I've seen a lot of people saying "King's blood could be used to build a portal".

And while that is probably true, how about a less gruesome option.

What if King could learn to harness his magic to create portals and travel the multiverse?

1,393 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

#4

Why Graye uses "Actors"

There is a strategy to Graye using actors behind his illusions that aren't himself.

By using other witches, he keeps himself out of the line of fire and can focus on keeping up the illusions.

He could create Illusions without someone behind it, but those Illusions would be unable to interact with the environment

-> He puts in witch actors, that can talk and cast magic and interact with his audience in a way a pure Illusion couldn't.

And I find this interesting because it is so similar to what Gus did at the Graveyard, putting the Illusion on himself so he could grab Bria's leg and convince her she was actually in danger.

But Gus put himself in danger as well. If Bria had attacked the statue, she would have hit him. Graye keeps himself safe, putting others into the line of fire instead.

1,544 notes - Posted May 7, 2022

#3

Flapjack and Evelyn

Okay, since some people still seem confused about this, here is how the episode spells out why Belos said "Goodbye, Evelyn" when crushing Flapjack:

Setup: "CALEB!"

"Caleb!?"

See the full post

2,164 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

#2

One thing I love about how Hunter's story is written is that his (possible) redemption/rehabilitation/whatever you want to call him breaking away from Belos doesn't rest on the shoulders of one single person.

Yes, Willow's actions were important. She might even be the most important person in this. But it wasn't just Willow.

It was also Luz, who like Hunter was born without magic, who was the first to reach out a hand.

It was also Flapjack, who heard Hunter's wish to chose his own path, and decided to become Hunters palisman.

It was also Amity, who like Hunter has to deal with abusive parents, who told Hunter that there are better people out there, people that won't make him feel like he always has to prove himself.

It was also the Flyer Derby team, Gus, Viney and Skara, who accepted him as a friend and showed him what it means to be a normal teenager.

It was also Steve, a coven scout who went through the same training as Hunter, but is old enough to tell Hunter that no, that was not okay, that was messed up.

It was also Darius, who supported Hunter standing up for his friends and gave Hunter a way to stay in contact with those new friends.

And yes, it was Willow, who pulled Hunter into her friend group when he had nobody. Who gave him a second and third chance, but also didn't compromise her own values to do so, standing up for her friends as well. And in turn, showed him what a healthy friendship looks like.

And ultimately, it was Hunter himself, who started to regret. Who followed Darius to undo what he had caused and who was willing to take the fall to protect his new friends from the consequences of his actions.

It took the help of a lot of people to give Hunter a chance to escape from Belos.

We can only hope it was enough.

3,122 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The life saving jacket

So, the scene of Hunter getting swallowed by the ground and Luz trying to pull him out with her jacket is generally interpreted as Luz trying and failing to save him.

Except Luz didn't actually fail. It just looked like that to her and Belos in that moment. And the writers did some very clever setup here.

The next time we see Hunter, he is using glyph magic to stop Belos and protect Luz. Glyphs he wouldn't have had if Luz had not thrown him her jacket. Glyphs that were probably the reason Hunter could escape from wherever Belos sent him in the first place.

Which means that even though Luz could not pull him to safety at first, she still left him with what he needed to save himself.

6,626 notes - Posted April 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[lampmanliveblogs]

Oh dear… call me Per Gessle, cause here comes every feeling all at once.

(I reckon most of you probably don’t recognize that name, but you might just recognize Roxette)

And yeah, I was just about to point that out, what Vee is saying. Luz ran away from home sure… but she did it to avoid going to a boring summer camp and to go on fun adventures. And her mother was not even ever supposed to know that she was missing. She had every intention of returning home at the end of summer.

Vee on the other hand did not go to the Human Realm of free will. All implications is that she did it either to survive or escape painful memories. Probably both.

I don’t know if Luz has figured out what Vee is exactly just yet. Like I said before, I’m not sure if I would’ve figured out she was a basilisk if I hadn’t been told beforehand. The point is though, Luz should be able to tell that whatever caused Vee to flee the Demon Realm was not simply a lust for adventure, like it was for her.

So I was kinda half-not-really-right about Vee’s name. Vee isn’t her given name. But it wasn’t that she never found out her real name, I misheard what she said. She said ”I’m Number 5.” She is a basilisk and… she shouldn’t exist. Technically.

Is it because your species has been hunted into extinction? Or… maybe, but… a number instead of a name implies… other things.

(Number Five, Number Five… I wonder if she’d like No.1 from the Artemis Fowl books? He’d probably be willing to share some magic with her, he is a very sweet person)

...

WAIT A MINUTE! Is it Vee as in V as in the roman numeral for five? 

Okay, so. Things. Many things. Think. Think is hard, head go buzz.

So, firstly and least importantly, I got some answers to questions I had about the timeline of events. I was wondering exactly how Vee ended up entangled in Luz’ life and taking her place and how long she had been l´planning it. Turns out, there was no plan, just winging it. Which makes sense. She saw Luz and an opportunity, so she took it and then accidentally stumbled into the role as Luz. Seeing how good a life she could have, she continued to play the role.

More importantly Lore & Backstory, my OTP.

The basilisks did go extinct ages ago. Details of how/when this happened are not given. My theory that witches hunted the basilisks to extinction is still fairly likely.

However, the basilisks were brought back, somehow, for the purposes of studying how they drain magic. And of course it all ties back to the main man, Emperor Belos. The ability to drain and steal a witch’s magic away is of course enormously powerful and naturally something the tyrant of a magical empire would look into. There are any number of things he might do with such a power. It might’ve been how he created the Golden Guard’s staff, for instance. It might also tie into how he is planning on gathering enough magical power for the Day of Unity. Maybe by combining the basilisks’ power with the Coven Brands.

You know, between the basilisk experiments in this episode and whatever concussion the Grimwalker from last episode is, it seem like Belos has more on his mind than just interdimensional travel, but also some biomagical engineering. He is a man of many talents and also crimes against humanity. Or, uh… witchanity?

Oh, and Vee’s cage was labeled with a V like I thought. Another interesting detail: there were at least two other basilisks that escaped with Vee, Number 3 & Number 4 by the looks of it. I’ll call them Eea and Eve.

(heh. get it?)

You know, the museum dude gave me bad vibes, but I wasn’t sure why, cause he seemed perfectly normal and nice. Perhaps a little too normal and nice, it made my plot senses tingle. We do need a conflict to tie up in act three after all.

So this museum guy is obviously the Jacob Hopkins fella whose name was plastered all over the ”Secrets of Gravesfield” paper in the old shack. He is also very likely the same person who put the camera in said shack and set those traps. We can see that he has an obsession with the paranormal and occult, in particular with witches. This include those good old handbooks on how to find witches, cause those were always very reliable. What’s even more concerning is that it doesn’t just look like he wants to find witches… but to burn them as well.

(in a second we get a better look at the conspiracy corner he’s got going on, where he has several pictures of Eda… including one time when she turned into the Owlbeast)

NO! My snake baby!

(I do wanna point out two things. First, the town symbol shows up yet again, which makes me think it’s gonna be important in a future episode. Secondly, I notice there is an… I think it’s called ”awl” in English? Sharp tool used to pierce or mark materials. Weren’t there like special awls used to ”prove” that someone was a witch? Something about witches having a mark, some blemish or something that felt no pain if stabbed, so they had fake awls where the spike slid into the handle to make it look like the woman accused of witchcraft really was being stabbed. Or am I just making stuff up in my head?)

[chocolatemilksmoothie]

King's Tide - and now we wait

MAN this was a LOT huh? can't wait til next week's e- oh.

this whole ep had me so tense my back hurts so that's nice

King scoffing at Philip saying "you can trust me" and that giving him away was funny to me ngl

Willow really is the best, she managed to keep a level head

I like how she and Gus kept looking after King through the whole episode. he is everyone's little brother <3

babiesss

"there's always a way to help, you just gotta look for the right opportunity" and he did

MITTENS awww

"Paradise awaits" he tells them, all these people he will kill with no hesitation

"with this spell declared, promise I'll be back" I'M FINE

we can see then that all other coven heads were on Belos/Philip's side, but I suspect no one will be after all this

the way they foreshadowed the arm thing tho

a lil smooch for Hooty :'(

back when things were simpler. you realize they've all known each other for super long huh

yes I DO find it hilarious that Adrien Graye looks like he hasn't slept since Gus messed him up

I think it's neat how for the Draining Spell Philip drew on the ground like back when he used glyphs to warp

something truly nightmarish about seeing people cheering at first, then be scared and collapse as the spell slowly advances

and he really just. leaves. throws the collector out and is planning to leave all these dying witches behind

hilarious that he's wearing that Colonizer Fit™ but even funnier that Luz called him out on it, I could stare at this expression all day

he's like wait do people not wear these anymore???

Kiki is quite pitiful, always seeking the approval of this guy who just wants her gone

"have you as my right hand? I'd sooner cut off my whole arm"

so when Luz gave him the sigil I really thought he'd do that. turns out it was someone else's sigil arm that would be yanked off

damn he really said go die in a hole and Kiki was like sure why not

Philip feared the Collector so much he betrayed and discarded him, and now he's against him. if he had freed them maybe they'd still be somewhat on the same side

then again, idk if this man knows how to interact with anyone without lying and manipulating so there's that

I love them very much

Darius stopped attacking when Healing Coven Witch threatened Eber !! they are besties !!!! how dare they

yes I noticed everyone is shown captured but Steve is NOWHERE in this entire episode

"you too have a strange intuition with these, it took me years to figure that out" his brother, who also loved magic and the Isles, could probably use glyphs a lot easier than Philip, who hated everything about it. the Titan can tell

"you're such a hypocrite" YES SWEETY CALL HIM OUT ON HIS MANIPULATIVE ASS

Witch Hunter General, people are gonna bully him super hard on twitter I can already see it

SHE WAS SO SMART WITH THE GLOVE SO SMART

can we imagine some sitcom of a teenage bi latina girl trying to introduce an egomaniac witch hunter from the 1600s to the Year of Our Lord 2022

Goop Belos design is horrifying I love it

that whole sequence from King's pov. the muffled sound, the chaos as the adults collapse and you can see Hunter's arm all glowy, everything destroyed. oof

"WE don't belong here" "I'M NOT LIKE YOU" yessss

"you guys are LITERALLY the coolest" YEA THEY ARE

the Collector is SO scary and chaotic. Neither witch nor demon, a child from the stars, seemingly has powers that affect reality like no one else's, and yet behaves like a child. How do we stop someone like this

Gus saw Philip's memories too right? seems like it

still trying to manipulate mansplain manslaughter your way to Hunter's loyalty huh, you horrible old man

HE SAID "CALEB" RIGHT? WE ALL HEARD THAT RIGHT ???

"where the failures end up" this messed me up there were so many of them. so so many

the Collector couldn't see King while he was wearing the collar with the symbol

he found the symbol where he hatched. his father was keeping him invisible

"a game called the Owl House" I am so normal about this

King saved everyone but we have no idea at what cost

yeah the Raine and Eda scene? uncalled for. amazing. painful

the Round Boi broke. I repeat, the Round Boi broke!!

god these are children

*SPLAT* goes the witch hunter

did you see Hunter's face tho? how many conflicting emotions from seeing THAT just happen

"King! :D" me too Collector

all of them joining in King's whole "game" with their nervous smiles and poor Hunter's in too much pain so he just *whimpers in agreement*

I love the little jester design

also he really just looked at Philip's centuries long evil plan and went "okay! :) boop!"

this whole part had me so stressed I was like who's gonna cross the door and who isn't AHH

both King and Luz made difficult choices, and once again they're separated from those they care about :( DANA

it's raining. for some reason that hurts me

ANNE BOONCHUY? sorry I had to

Vee! will she join the Mentally Scarred Kids Squad

god these are children (x2)

they are hurt and cold. Hunter holding Gus he is Older Brother now

Camila: *pulls out adoption papers*

and those credits MAN season 3 is gonna be wild

I imagine our group of kids will have to investigate Philip and his brother, so we'll go visit the museum dude to get info.

also what Gus saw in Belos' head might not only help there, but also lead to Hunter having to reveal the whole grimwalker thing

sad season 3 is short bc having shenanigans on Earth with these 5 could be delightful

idk if I want human disguises or Luz can just tell everyone they're really enthusiastic cosplayers or something

maybe seeing the human realm might lift Gus' spirit a lil bit

We didn't get to meet Luz's palisman, but hopefully they're ready to hatch soon

Camila will slap Goop Belos with her chancla with such force he'll never come back

also I do hope we get to see King, the Collector, and all the adults that were left behind who are all safe and sound of course ha ha ha, dealing with everything that happened and probably looking for a way to get the kids back

in conclusion, I will not stop thinking about this episode ever. my kids and I are traumatized

[thetombedspirit]

New OWL HOUSE Theory!

Now, the newest episode reveals a bit more lore to the series. It gave us Vee and the backstory of the Basilisks, it gave us the “In-Between” and an insight to the portal. It gave us Luz’s hometown, Gravesfield, and it gave us a little more backstory about Phillip Whittbane, more so about how he had a brother and that they both ended up stuck in the Demon Realm.

Now, these brothers are important. Not just to the story, but to Luz’s hometown, Gravesfield. According to the wiki, Gravesfield was a ‘peaceful’ colony in the 1600s, until the brothers ‘mysteriously disappeared’. I mean, they have a statue of themselves standing in town.

Now, I probably won’t be the first to tell you this, but the statue on the right looks like he could be Phillip Whittbane, the man who looked for a way out of the Demon Realm and documented it in his diary. 

The statue on the left, is his brother, who has yet to be named or touched upon (though I have a theory of what his name is;))

Now, the Phillip statue doesn’t just look like, well, Phillip. But he also looks eerily like someone else. Someone we already now a good bit.

Belos.

I bet if someone were to edit most of his hair and his boils out of the way, he would look a lot like the Phillip Statue.

And in terms of the brother, he also looks like someone we already know.

I mean, the statue basically looks like a Hunter in his early 30s at least. And that’s not all I want to talk about.

Now, theories have been blowing up about who Belos was and who the brothers are to the Demon Realm. And I’m not the first to speculate who Belos and Hunter are.

But in order to touch onto that, I need to draw back and dive into another theory I believe to be canon.

Ever since Eclipse Lake, everyone has been speculating that Hunter could be a Grimwalker.

Now, no-one is particularity sure what a Grimwalker is, but the common theory is that a Grimwalker is a sort of artificial clone that requires a few ingredients that we’ve already seen in season 2.

The Galdorstone = heart and power, Palistrom wood = keratin, Stonesleeper lungs = ?, Selkidomus scales = ?, Bone of ortet = ?

And not only that, but one key detail that the page shows is that the Grimwalker has pinkish-red eyes. Kinda like...

Yeah, like Hunter. And despite looking like a witch (pointed ears) he doesn’t have any magic, and needs a staff in order to perform magic. He struggled teleporting the first few tries when he started using Rascal as his staff, but soon got into the grove of it once his mind was on the fight. Who else can’t do magic without a staff?

Luz needed to use a staff (Owlbert) in order to activate the glyphs on the door without doing it manually like she usually does (tapping the glyph to activate)

Is it coincidence, or is there a reason Hunter can’t perform magic normally like Willow or Amity can?

So here’s the theory.

Belos is Phillip and Hunter is a Grimwalker clone of Phillip’s brother, who I suspect was also named Hunter.

When I first watched ‘Eclipse Lake’, I genuinely felt, through Belos’ gestures and expressions towards Hunter, that he genuinely cared about him and his safety. I was since disabused of this notion and reminded that Belos is an abusive man, through and through, but I do think he cares about Hunter.

But I think he cares more about controlling Hunter and his interests.

Let’s look back at the photo of the picture.

In possession of one brother, the one on the right, you can see that in his left hand he’s holding a piece of paper with a circle drawn in, much like glyphs and in another we can faintly see that he’s holding a weird looking staff. It doesn’t seem to have an animal on it like the typical witch’s staff.

Kinda like Belos and Hunter’s 1st staff.

Now, in ‘Yesterday’s Lie’, we learned that Belos is the experimentive type. I mean, he made the staffs in the first place, right? Claiming them to be pure magic. And he brought the Basilisks back from extinction in order to perform experiments. Mostly, how they draw out and consume magic.

Not only does this show that Belos is capable of creating artificial life, but that he’s also planning something that includes drawing out ones magic and consuming it.

Tell me, when Belos needs a recharge, what does he do?

He draws out and consumes the magic of the Palismen. Just like how Basilisks consume magic from witches.

While his methods are much to be desired, he appears to be a kind of inventor or scientist. I mean, just look at how he’s repairing the door.

Now, Phillip seems to be a philosopher. His writings and diary entries imply he’s a educated man, a thinker.

And now to his brother, who, from now on, I’m calling Hunter Sr.

Hunter Sr. is depicted shaking hands with someone who bares a faint likeness to Principle Bump (possibly a wild witch). This could indicate that he’s rather friendly with the natives of the Demon Realm.

But that’s not the interesting part for me. It’s what’s perched on his shoulder.

A bird. And that bird looks awful familiar.

Yep, Hunter’s Cardinal, Rascal. And remember, Rascal originally belonged to someone else, as he was once one of the many abandoned Palismen in the Bat Queen’s care, and it is implied that he has been with her for a long time.

Now, Hunter Sr is certainly older then the Hunter we know, and based on the body language of the statues, Hunter Sr seems to be more assertive, poised confidently and looking ready to lead, while Phillip seems to be more of a follower then a leader.

From what we’ve gathered here, Grimwalkers seem to be raised from infancy, and if Hunter is 16 like it has been said, then that could tie into why Palismen wood is so hard to come by. And it would make a bit of sense that Hunter couldn’t do magic without a staff if he was a copy of a human man. Human’s don’t have bile sacks like witches and most demons do. Hunter may look like a witch, but he’s not a witch. He’s a human that just looks witch-like.

And Belos hates wild magic with a passion. He won’t even let Hunter mention, despite what an advantage it would be to study Wild Magic would be (know thy enemy, ya know?)

Anyway, here is what I think happened to the brothers and how Phillip became Belos.

So they end up in the demon realm. Not sure how, not sure why. And they try to find a way back home, and as they do, they learn a lot about the demon realm and it’s diverse culture and methods, with Hunter Sr even making a Palismen with the help of a Wild Witch, whilst Phillip makes his own form of magic by studying the glyphs. This may cause the brothers to quarrel as Hunter Sr appears absolutely taken by this world while all Phillip wants to do is return home.

Eventually, they try to find Eclipse Lake, and something happens. Something involving Wild Magic, or maybe not involving it at all, but none the less, Hunter Sr looses his life as a result and maybe leaves Belos cursed. Belos blames wild magic (perhaps the witch betrayed them, perhaps not and Belos is just looking for someone to blame)

Eventually, Phillip rises to power and becomes Emperor Belos. He hasn’t given up his goal of returning to earth, but now he also plans his revenge by outlawing all wild magic and planning to eradicate it once and for all. He plans the Day of Unity, he creates the coven system and silences anyone who calls out his abusive rule.

Eventually, he successfully creates a Grimwalker of his deceased brother. And not only that, but now he has Hunter under his control, has him thinking that Wild Magic is dangerous and savage and can not be trusted. Not only does he have his brother back, so to speak, but he also has him coming around to his way of thinking.

Though that cycle may break, thanks to a return of an old friend, Hunter’s Palismen.

Anyway that’s all I got so far. Belos is Phillip, Hunter is a Grimwalker fashioned to look like Phillip’s deceased brother and Rascal is Hunter Sr’s old palismen. Anyway, let me know what you think.

[sergeantsporks]

Do You Want the Knife You Left In My Back, or Can I Keep It?

Rating: Teen and up, Gen

An injured Hunter wanders into Hexside. What was Luz supposed to do, just let him bleed out on the floor?

Ch1/?: Backstabber

Ao3

“The human must be truly formidable if the Emperor sent both of us to capture her.”

Hunter glanced back at Kikimora. “Nah, he was probably just worried that you’d mess it up, so he sent me to make sure it went smoothly.”

Kikimora studied her claws. “I know it was you that attacked me when I tried to bring the palisman to the Emperor. You and the human.”

Hunter whipped around. “Oh, do you want to talk about that now? Because I know that you knocked my airship out of the sky and tried to have me killed. So you have nothing on me. You tell the Emperor what I did, I tell him what you did.”

“The human really must be formidable if she managed to get the palisman from you.”

Hunter rolled his eyes behind his mask. “She’s really not. I was a little bit busy fighting you to worry about her.”

“Truly a strong foe,” Kikimora continued, “So strong she was able to overcome you.”

“What are you talking ab—”

A blast of magic hit him, and magical bonds snaked around his hands and feet, yanking on him and sending him to his knees. Hunter struggled and tugged against the ties, but they held firm. “HEY! Kikimora, what—”

Something sharp touched his back, right between his shoulder blades, and he froze. “She attacked us from behind,” Kikimora hissed in his ear, “She went for you, first.” Something slammed into his back, like she’d punched him. “She was brutal. Merciless.”

Kikimora twisted her hand, and Hunter felt a tingling shock, and then—

His world exploded. Heat flooded out from the wound, and Hunter heard a guttural, choking scream.

Oh, wait.

That was him.

Kikimora pushed him facedown to the ground, knife still in his back. “I killed her, of course. It was a tough fight, but to avenge a fellow coven member? Of course I didn’t give up until I succeeded.”

Hunter coughed, blood coating the inside of his mouth. “Kiiii…”

“That’s what happens,” Kikimora hissed, “when people try to replace me.”

She walked off, and Hunter just lay there on the ground, his mind fuzzy with pain.

He had to…

Ugh—

Hunter pulled out his staff, and inch by agonizing inch, used it to pull himself up, shaking. He twisted, reaching for the knife, but the movement just tore more, and the world blacked out for a second. He gripped his staff tightly, his knuckles white.

Kikimora could easily kill him in this state, if the wound itself didn’t kill him.

That meant the only thing standing between her and total control over the coven and Uncle Belos’ complete trust was… Luz.

Kikimora would probably go to the owl house first.

That gave Hunter the advantage.

Xxx

“Thorn vault!” Luz called, slamming her hand down on her glyph. The plant erupted outward, pushing her over Skara’s head to the goal. Skara jumped, but missed her by inches. “Ah! Not again!”

Luz touched down. “You’ll get it someday.”

“Unlikely!” Gus called from the bleachers, “I predict never!”

“Zip it, twerp!” Skara yelled back, “Just wave your flags!” She dusted herself off. “One more try?”

“One more try,” Luz agreed, “Amity, you ready?”

“Always!”

Gus screeched, pointing. “Luz!”

Luz whipped around in the direction he was pointing to see an awfully familiar staff moving slowly towards her.

And the person clutching it like a lifeline.

Amity raced towards Luz, skidding in front of her, an abomination already rising out of the dirt. “Stay back!” she warned Hunter, “I beat you once, I can do it again!”

Luz put a hand on her arm. “Wait! There’s something wrong!” She moved cautiously towards Hunter—he looked awful. Residue magic swirled around his wrists and ankles, and…

“Is that blood?!” Luz rushed forward to him, taking his arm. She stifled a scream at the jagged blade sticking out of his back, blood staining his white cape red. “Ohmygosh, what happened to you?!”

His chest heaved with ragged breaths. “Kikimora—never thought—this open—” He slumped against her. “After… you…”

“Find Viney!” Luz yelled to Skara, “Amity—”

“I’m not leaving you alone with him!”

“Okay, fine, Gus, get Eda!”

Luz lowered Hunter to the ground, holding him up so that the knife wouldn’t go further in. “Don’t die!”

Amity hovered over them. “What did you mean, ‘after you?’ Were you coming to hurt Luz?!”

Hunter coughed, blood flecking his lips. “I…”

“Amity, he’s in really bad shape! You can’t interrogate him right now!”

Hunter pawed weakly at her hand. “Kikimora… want… to kill… you… exposed…”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Big bad coven leader wants me dead. Now shhhhhh, stop moving around, you’re going to make it worse!”

Puddles landed next to her, Viney sliding off of his back. “Whoa! You must have been having the most intense grudgeby match of all time!” She knelt next to them, gently turning Hunter onto his stomach. “Oooo, that’s bad. You should have gotten the healing teacher, I don’t know if—”

Luz grabbed her arm. “No! No teachers! Please.”

Viney hissed, examining the knife. “This isn’t just a regular knife—there are some kinds of objects that are enchanted to be resilient to healing magic—in case you really, really want to make sure your enemy bites it.” She drew a circle with her finger, and the knife glowed golden. “This one isn’t too powerful—I can stop the bleeding and put a patch on all of the internal problems, but I can’t seal it up. He’ll have to heal on his own. Where did you even get this knife?!”

Hunter whimpered, and Luz grabbed Viney’s hand. “It doesn’t matter! Just do it, before he dies!”

“Okay.” Viney snapped her fingers, and Puddles shooed Luz to the side, offering Hunter a cloth to bite down on and gently holding him still with his talons. Viney took a deep breath, and the knife glowed again, floating out of Hunter’s back, the cloak floating away, too. Hunter let out a muffled scream into the cloth, and tensed, which just made the blood spurt harder out of the wound. Viney drew a circle over his back, and the bleeding abruptly stopped. Puddles coughed up bandages, and a needle and thread, and Viney nodded to Luz and Amity. “This isn’t going to be pretty. You might want to look away.”

Amity pulled Luz away. “Luz, what exactly are you planning to do now? Just dump him on the doorstep of the conformatorium and run away?”

“No way! What if Kikimora finds him first? We can’t just send him back, she is literally trying to kill him!”

“And he’s trying to catch you!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to let him die!” Luz took Amity’s hands. “Amity, you fought him too. You didn’t feel even a little bit bad for him?”

Amity looked away. “Maybe a little bit,” she admitted, “But… if you’re not going to leave him with his coven, what is your plan?”

Luz bit her lip, staring at the ground. “Iwasthinkingmaybehecouldstayattheowlhouse,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“I was thinking he could stay with me,” she said louder, “At the owl house.”

“What?! No way! Luz, are you crazy?!”

“Ooo, hehe, jury’s still out on that one, Amity, you know that.”

“I’m serious, Luz, you can’t let him into the owl house!”

“Look at him, Amity, does he look dangerous to you?”

Amity looked back to where he was lying limp on the grudgeby field, Puddles nuzzling his face. “… I guess not… but still, he doesn’t have to attack you, all he has to do is put a trap, or let someone else into the owl house to bump you off!”

“The only people out for me right now are him and Kikimora. And Kikimora is also trying to kill him. Sooooooo I’m not overly worried about it.” Luz gave Amity’s hands a squeeze. “C’mon. I think I can handle one stabbed guy in a fight, give me that much credit at least.”

“… Fine. But good luck convincing Eda, she doesn’t exactly have the most… friendly of feelings towards him.”

Speak of the devil, Eda flew over the fence on her staff, Gus hanging onto the end. “I heard a kid got stabbed! Luz, you didn’t tell me it was knife day at school, I would have come to watch!”

“Kni—okay, sure, that’s a thing. It’s not knife day, Eda. None of the students got stabbed.”

“What? So what happened?”

Luz pointed across the field. “Uhhhhhhhm, soooooooo?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Eeeeedaaaaaa, I haven’t even asked anything yet!”

“Okay, let me set parameters for your next few sentences, then. If you are about to ask me if we can, in any way, shape, or form, take care of the Golden Guard and his lovely new piercing, the answer is no.”

“But Eda—”

“No. Nada. Nein. You speak Spanish, right? No. Any other ways I can say it?”

“Eda, he needs help!”

“Dump him on his coven’s doorstep, ring the doorbell, and run away. We’re not taking care of him.”

“Eda, listen—”

“No, you listen, Luz. That kid is trouble—and not the fun kind. You try to be nice to him, and he’ll stab you in the back. He’s been Belos-ified through and through.”

“I thought the same thing about Lilith!”

“Yeah? Well, I didn’t. My sister’s too much of a nerdy dork to ever be really horrible. This kid’s a nerd, sure, but he’s not Lili. He’s dangerous, he’s desperate, and unlike Lilith, he’s working completely for Belos, not himself.”

“Eda, Kikimora’s trying to kill him!”

“Well, I hope they succeed at murdering each other, and maybe take Belos down with them while they’re at it.”

“It would be murder to leave him at the coven!”

“Guess I’m going to be a murderer, then. Add it to the list of crimes.”

“Wouldn’t you want him to help me if I was in his place? If you were stuck in the owl beast form, and King was trying to kill me, wouldn’t you want him to help me?”

“I sincerely doubt King’s murdering skills, and NO, I think I wouldn’t want you anywhere close to Belos.”

Luz gave Eda big puppy-dog eyes, and her mentor sighed.

“Buuuuut I guess I see your point. Gah. Fiiiiiiiineee. You can take him home.” Eda leveled a finger at Luz. “But you have to feed him, and water him, and clean up after his messes, and keep him entertained, understood?”

“He’s not a pet, Eda.”

“I said, understood?”

“Understood.” Luz hugged Eda. “Thank you!”

“Oh, and if he tries to hurt you, if he tries to sell us out to Belos? I will do Kookymora a solid and finish the job.”

[ratcandy]

hi MASSIVE TOH SEASON 3 EPISODE 1 SPOILERS below don't read if haven't watched I am about to go off my rocker

also abuse tw mention because 😦

first of all FLAPJACK. I proceed to punch a wall

I did not expect to actually start bawling my eyes out but hot damn what the fuck . Why is Flapjack dying what got me above everything else in this show. Like I've gotten teary and emotional over other moments but Flapjack dying and all of Hunter's dialogue that proceeded it just made me SOB ??????????????

Also hello fluid as fuck animation in that fight scene 😳 i misse d you

so anyway. Now we gotta talk about possessed!Hunter right. While that's a bombass design and I love the look of it and his body language in the fluid parts of the animation is impeccable, it's also incredibly. URGH. NO I don't LIKE it. No I HATE it, actually. There's something just . Incomprehensibly genuinely upsetting about Hunter's former abuser taking over his body and using it to kill his emotional support animal

it's SO fucked up and I'm all for horrible twisted shit but also for fuck's sake man can Hunter get a fucking break!!! Can he like!!! Be free for two minutes!!!!!

I think it just feels like such a consecutive gut punch because we're missing so much extra filler and that's what makes me all the more sad. You can TELL you can TASTE how much more they wanted to expand on this, how much more there was to elaborate on, but they just didn't have the time and so Hunter Really Going Thru It yet again just feels like . got dam he really did not get a single break my guy can't even REST!!! it feels to me like he's just constantly through the ringer because it's all we've been able to see and that SUCKS

but they make a whole point of saying he has been happier in the human realm ("you've smiled so much since we got here" from Gus, something along those lines) . They want us to know he Has been happy for the past few months, there HAS been a break. n I feel like that was their way of trying to say ,,, Look See he's been at semi-sorta-peace for a little while! He's gone without Unspeakable Horrors for like a FEW MONTHS , we promise, we swear, it's not consecutive unending pain, he's been Pretty Good for a while (ignoring identity crises that we also unfortunately can't elaborate on because of time but you saw a little glimpse of it in that intro sequence). and NOW we're just making him Worse

but still like AUUGHhghsgghh. I don't Like the further implications of Any of the possession stuff mannnnn ughurhghgrh

AND ALSO FLAPJACK i punch the wall again FUCK!!!

anyway expanding on Flapjack a little . So when Belos did his whole fucking thing, he said "goodbye Evalyn," and we see during the whole Hayride sequence that Evalyn gave Caleb Flapjack (or taught him to make Flapjack).

For a moment, though, I was mortified misunderstanding that Flapjack was Evalyn, even if that wouldn't make any sense ghsdgkJHSDG

oh also we know Evalyn's name now. Yea that's a thing. We know the name of the witch that Caleb fell in love with or whatever. And honestly. I had to stop after I heard that and go "aawww maaan" because. C'mon. looks at the camera

Evalyn? Edalyn? Not even Tryin to hide that they're related huh

Mngmrh this is a personal gripe of mine, but honestly I really hoped the theory about "the witch Caleb loved being an ancestor of the Clawthorne's" wasn't canon sdhgkh it just . Again this is personal bias. I have never liked the cliché of "you've been related this whole time!" kinda thing. Different when the antagonist and protagonist are set up as related from the start. I don't like when it's a plot twist or anything like that. it's so. m.

just not really my thing n I'm a little disappointed to get lowkey confirmation that it's probably canon sdghskjdghsdghkl because almost inevitably it'll be revealed in a whole dramatic thing and it'll be like RelATed TO BEloS THIS WHOle Time ?!? !? and i'll be like I Do Not See It

Well all that aside. Holds Camila in my hands. mom of the year award you deserve the entire world

[stupid-stew]

The Blame Game

me when I have an idea and have never written fan fiction before and then accidentally write 3,000 words about it OOPSIES anyways I was like what if Eda got mad at Luz after YBOS and um could not get that out of my head

EDA

Eda was tired

So tired

Too much had happened over the course of the last day, she hadn’t had any time to think, but now she had a moment to herself, thinking was all she could do. All the events of the last 24 hours, heck the last 30 years, they all came back to her at once.

Lilith had cursed her? Her own sister? And then betrayed the emperor for her? First she’d been hurt by Lilith and then saved by her, and now Lilith was living under her roof? They’d barely talked at all in the last several decades, and now Eda was expected to just be ok with it? Just like that? After the screaming match they’d had not even an hour ago, Eda wasn’t sure there would be much talking at all for the next few days, not like she wasn’t used to it. There was too much to unpack with her sister right now, she felt too hurt to give it any more of her attention. And Luz, poor Luz, oh that kid was going to be the death of her-

A quiet whisper of “Hey Eda?” interrupted her spiraling thoughts.

Eda sat up from her nest and saw the focus of her thoughts standing in her doorway, “What’s up kid?”

What was Luz still doing awake? It was too late, was she having issues sleeping too? It wouldn't be surprising, the kid was probably traumatized up the wall.

Luz moved her mouth, but Eda didn’t hear a word she said, still consumed by her own brain

Luz, her kid. Eda supposed that she might as well admit to herself she loved the kid at this point. But what was she thinking, breaking into the emperor’s castle like that? Didn’t she know she could have gotten herself hurt, others hurt. Eda got hurt, Eda got hurt beyond repair, she’d lost her powers. Her powers had been the only thing keeping her alive, keeping her sane. What was she going to do without her magic? She couldn't live without it, she was the most powerful witch on the boiling isles for titan’s sake, but what is a witch without her power? And if Luz hadn’t broken into the castle, regardless of her intentions, maybe Eda could have had a shot at keeping her powers longer, but no, Luz just had to play the hero didn’t she, everyone else be damned huh?

“Get out” Eda said flatly

“And th- what?” Luz said, startled and confused by the sudden interruption

“I said get out, I don’t want to see you right now” she replied sharply

“Eda I don’t understa-”

“Of course you don’t understand, why would you, why would you ever think about anyone else, you didn’t even think about the repercussions of breaking into the castle”

“Eda I promise I didn’t mean for any of this to happen I just wanted to…”

“No.” Eda cut her off abruptly “I know what you wanted, you wanted to play the hero, you wanted to be back in your imaginary fantasy world where nobody gets hurt and you can always save the day, you wanted to win, guess what kiddo, you won. You won and everyone else got to lose.”

“Eda, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say…” Luz trailed off with tears forming behind her eyes

Something in eda snapped.

“I’M SAYING IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU I MIGHT STILL HAVE MY POWERS, I MIGHT STILL BE MYSELF. IT’S YOUR FAULT LUZ. IF YOU HAD TAKEN EVEN A MOMENT TO THINK BEYOND HAVING TO BE THE ONE TO SAVE ME, THEN YOU WOULDN’T HAVE NEEDED SAVING AND I COULD STILL BE LOOKING FOR A CURE. LUCKY YOU, I NO LONGER HAVE ANY MAGIC TO SAVE MYSELF SO MAYBE YOU CAN STILL BE THE HERO YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AFTER ALL. I. DON’T. WANT. TO. SEE. YOU. RIGHT. NOW.”

There was a stunned silence after those last words, Eda slapped her hand over her mouth, shocked at her own outburst, and Luz doubly as hurt by the words. She didn’t know where that had come from, of course she knew that Luz hadn’t meant for any of this to happen, it wasn’t the kid’s fault Eda was cursed, much less her fault that Eda was a wanted criminal who had gotten herself caught. It was her choice to go save Luz from Lilith, even when the kid was being pressed into spikes she was more worried about the older witch than her own wellbeing.

“Luz-” Eda said, taking her hand away from her mouth to reach out towards the now shaking teen, not sure how to even begin to repair the damage she had just caused.

“No, it’s ok.” Luz cut her off, her voice breaking, “I’ll give you your space, I’m sorry.”

“Kid wait-”

The door shut with a quiet click, once again leaving Eda alone in the silence with her thoughts. She fell back into her nest.

Shit.

LUZ

Luz wasn’t sure what had just happened. She had never heard Eda yell at anyone like that before, well now with the exception of Lilith, and herself.

Was it something Luz had done? She was just telling Eda about how she had fought Belos, maybe if she replayed the events in her head…

*5 minutes earlier*

Luz stood outside the massive door to Eda’s room, not sure whether or not to enter. Eda was under a lot of stress, that had to be taking a toll on her, maybe she should just walk away and come back tomorrow…

No, this can’t wait, Eda needs to know

Luz sighed and reluctantly stepped into the doorway. Eda was laying down in her nest with her eyes closed, was she asleep?

“Hey Eda?” Luz asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake the witch if she was finally resting.

Much to Luz’s surprise, Eda sat up. “What’s up kid?”

Eda’s voice had sounded warm, which was a shock to Luz, she had half expected Eda to be mad at her, titan knew she blamed herself enough for the two of them already, but her voice also sounded empty. Maybe Luz was making a mistake, she should leave Eda alone for a little while longer. No, it was probably better to get it over with.

“Hey I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to tell you something.” Eda didn’t respond, so Luz took that as a sign to keep going. “Ok so you know how you gave me the portal key? When you and King and Lilith were up on the platform, Belos wanted to speak to me alone.” she paused, waiting for some kind of reaction, receiving none. “He wanted the portal, and I gave it to him, don’t worry, I set it on fire… which kind of means that I’m stuck here, and th-”

And then Eda had gotten mad, really mad. Was she mad about the portal? No of course it wasn’t about the portal, it was about Luz. Eda was mad at Luz. Eda hated her, maybe she should just leave, spare Eda the reminder of who made her lose her powers every time she saw Luz’s face. And the worst part is that Eda was right, she had gotten too caught up in trying to save Eda that she forgot that she could have gotten hurt. Maybe all those people back home were right, she was too caught up in her fantasy wor-

“OUCH”

Luz ran into something, more accurately, someone. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t been looking in front of her and had run right into Lilith.

“Oh my titan, Luz I am so sorry are you ok?” Lilith fussed over her, seeming genuinely worried about Luz

“What do you care.” Luz scoffed, immediately regretting her words when she saw Lilith’s face drop at her words. “I’m sorry, I guess I should be asking if you’re ok as well seeing as I was the one that ran into you”

“Oh, I guess we are both at fault then, seeing as I wasn’t watching my step either, nonetheless I do apologize. What are you doing up so late? Does Edalyn not have a bedtime set for you?”

Luz took mild offense to the fact that Lilith thought of her as such a child, but most of the pain came from the fact that Lilith thought Eda still cared about her enough to make sure she got proper sleep. Instead of admitting that to Lilith, Luz settled to retort with “I was just coming back from her room, what are you even doing in the house? Didn’t eda strictly forbid you from coming in here until she says otherwise?”

Lilith chuckled slightly at that, which caught Luz off guard, but Lilith’s reply quickly caught her thoughts away from that “I suppose you’re right, but I heard screaming and wanted to make sure nobody was hurt, I guess if you were just in her room then you’re both probably fine, perhaps you could tell me what that was all about?”

And then Luz lost it.

LILITH

Lilith wasn’t sure what to do. Luz hated her, had every right to, but as she stood in the dark hallway with the teenager wrapped around her waist and sobbing, let’s just say she was more than a little bit confused. She expected a lot of emotions from Luz, anger, hatred, rage, was screaming an emotion? Maybe it should count as one. But this? This was very very far down on the list.

“Luz? What’s wrong?”

The girl mumbled something in between sobs into her dress, but it was completely inaudible.

Lilith continued to stand there with her arms out and away from Luz for another minute, not wanting to touch the girl and make her uncomfortable, and at an utter loss for how to comfort her. Not even a day ago they had been seated on the floor of a clearing in the human world while Lilith had shamefully explained herself, how had she ended up here?

Slowly, Lilith placed her hands on the younger girl’s shoulders and pushed her away enough to see her face, Lilith was horrified to see the girl had been really sobbing, hard, her face barely visible in the dark somehow still managed to show levels of pain she didn’t think were possible for someone so young.

“Luz, ” Lilith said as clearly as she could while keeping her voice soft “what’s wrong?”

She listened quietly as Luz tried to explain to her the conversation she had just had with Eda. Lilith was shocked. She had never expected Eda to yell like that at Luz, she had barely seen them interact, but she still knew that her sister cared deeply for the human, and had never expected that sort of outburst to happen, especially in Luz’s direction. Lilith knew that Eda didn’t mean it, but did Luz know that? Of course she didn’t. Lilith was used to Eda yelling at her, she took it and understood where she was coming from, but for her to snap at Luz like that? Something had to be wrong.

“Luz, look at me” Lilith looked down at the still crying girl wrapped around her waist, waiting for her to make eye contact before kneeling down on one knee to get eye level with her while still keeping her hands on Luz’s shoulders. “I need you to listen to me, ok?” Luz nodded, wiping her eyes. “Ok, this is absolutely not your fault. None of it. I don’t know why Edalyn has decided to place the blame on you, but she was wrong to do so.” Luz didn’t look convinced. Titan, Lilith thought, this girl must have really taken what Eda had said to heart. “The blame is on me, Edalyn, and Belos. Not. You. I am responsible for Eda’s curse and capturing you, for which I will never stop apologizing. Eda and I are responsible for the battle and any harm that came to you during it. I am responsible for capturing Eda, Belos is responsible for her losing her powers, even I played a part in that. None of that is on you. At all.”

Luz looked at her blankly, Lilith was unsure what to do, she had never been good with words, had she said something wrong?

“Promise?” Luz asked softly

Lilith looked at the girl in front of her, the girl who had put her life on the line for her sister, the girl who had fought the emperor and ultimately won, in all her years in the coven she had never seen Kikimora look that terrified, and Belos was a scary man, this kid was so strong, and here she was, asking the woman who had put her life in danger out of spite, for a promise.

Lilith raised her hand and drew a dim blue circle in the air, grabbed Luz’s wrist, and pulled her hand through it. “I promise none of this was your fault, and I will do everything in my power to make sure any part of it that was mine gets remedied in full.”

Their hands glowed faintly for a moment before the light went out.

“So,” Lilith began, “what do you say we get started on that promise?”

Luz, still holding onto Lilith’s hand, nodded and allowed the witch to walk her down the hallway, back to the doors where this had all begun.

EDA

Shit Shit Shit

Eda had spent the last half hour trying to think of any way to make up with Luz, she had never meant to say any of that at all, she didn’t blame Luz, not at all, she blamed herself, and Lilith, and Belos, but mostly herself

For the second time that night, Eda found her thoughts interrupted by someone in her doorframe, this time though there was no word of warning, just a silhouette.

“Lilith?” Eda asked, squinting to try and see her mystery visiter, splitting the curse must have split her night vision as well, add that to the list of awful things that had happened

“Yes.”

It was a simple reply, but enough to make Eda jump out of her nest, “What the hell Lily, I thought I told you so stay out of here, what if Luz saw you?”

“Actually…” Lilith started before tugging lightly on something out of the door frame, bringing luz out from behind the wall.

She’s been crying was all Eda thought.

“Lily I swear to titan if she has even a scratch on her-” Eda began to threaten, but then she remembered. “Oh”

“Yeah, I ran into her in the hall,” her sister replied, “can we come in? I think you have some explaining to do”

Eda nodded sadly, seeing Luz this upset, knowing that she was the one who had caused this, it was almost too much, and when Eda got upset, she had a tendency to run her mouth, so she just started talking as soon as Luz had gotten sat down and Lilith had left the room.

“Look kid, I’m sorry. I know that doesn't even begin to make up for what I said, but I mean it. None of this is your fault, I mean you could have been a little more careful, but the blame isn’t yours. I was having a rough time, which isn’t an excuse for the things I said, but I got mad and snapped at you. I wasn’t even mad at you, I was mad at myself, and I took it out on you and that was wrong of me. I was upset about the loss of my magic, it meant a lot to me, but you need to know that it’s not your fault it’s gone. I’m sorry. I was playing the blame game and you’re the one who lost, even though you weren’t the one playing. You didn’t deserve me yelling at you like that and I am so so so-”

“It’s ok.” Luz cut her off.

“-rry. What?”

“It’s ok Eda. I get it. I know you were mad, and I wish you hadn’t said those things, but I know it wasn’t my fault.” Luz said, looking the older witch right in the eyes.

Eda sighed a heavy sigh, “Good.” They looked at each other for a moment before Eda remembered. “What were you in the doorway for?”

“I had something to tell you, but I think it can wait until morning.”

“Luz, I think it is morning” Eda chuckled, looking out the window to see the sun on the horizon.

“Then it can wait until the afternoon!” the teenager exclaimed back.

Luz got up to leave, but Eda grabbed her by the wrist “and just where do you think you’re going?”

“Back to my room? Eda I have to sleep.”

Eda yanked her wrist, pulling her back into the nest “what a coincidence, I have to sleep too! Maybe we could have an apology nest party?”

Luz laughed, slightly taken aback by Eda’s sudden affection, but relieved to see that she was actually sorry and didn’t mean any harm. “Fine by me.”

“Love you, kiddo.”

“I love you too, Eda.”

They lay in silence for a moment before Eda startled Luz by yelling “LOVE YOU LILY!”

There is a sudden scrambling outside of the door and the sound of a witch’s footsteps could be heard retreating back down the stairs.

“How did you know she was still listening?” Luz asked between giggles

“She never was a quiet walker, it would have been hard for me to miss her walking away”

That was the first good sleep Eda had in years, no thoughts eating away at her, no nightmares, no curse dreams, just her and her kid.

read @novelist-becca’s alternate ending!!!!

[erzaguin]

Huntmira After: Chapter 2

This is also available in Wattpad and Ao3.

“I’m scared,” mumbled Steve. “The look in her eyes is really unsettling.” 

"Why does she keep side eyeing us?"

"I don't think she's looking at us."

“Her laugh is creeping me out. I don't know how much longer I can take this.”

“Captain, maybe you should say something” suggested one of the guards in a hushed tone. 

It had been hours since the masquerade ball had ended. All of the guests had already left and they had been assigned with clean up duty with Kikimora supervising them. Although currently all of the guards were feeling extremely uncomfortable due to her current behavior.

She kept mumbling under her breath too fast and low for them to make out what she was saying. She kept looking around almost like she was expecting someone to jump out at her. She had an almost crazed look in her eyes which made her sudden bursts of laughter seem maniacal. The guards were afraid that she had finally lost it and would randomly attack one of them.

The captain looked at the other guards who looked completely disheveled by their commander's odd behavior. She let out a sigh before making her way to Kikimora. She was responsible for every individual in her unit which also included Kikimora. It was her duty to make sure everyone was ok no matter how much she didn't want to.

She cleared her throat to get Kikimora's attention "Ma'am…"

“Hehehe this is so wonderful?! The Golden Guard made a complete fool of himself.” giggled Kikimora “Did you see? One dance with a girl he just met and he turns into a complete fool. He was so embarrassed after I pointed out he had lipstick on his helmet that he went to hide in his room" laughed Kikimora.

So that's why she's been acting so weird. Kikimora always seems to lose herself when it comes to matters involving the Golden Guard. Though she was right about one thing after the dance the Golden Guard disappeared and nobody has seen him since. 

 "After tonight I’m sure Emperor Belos will realize how incompentet that  brat is and how I am clearly far superior." gleed Kikimora who looked to be doing a little jig. "You'll see that come tomorrow I'll be promoted!"

Hunter

"I can't believe that happened. Wait what if it didn't happen and it was all in my head" mumbled Hunter to himself as he continued pacing back and forth in his room. 

It had already been some time since the ball had ended and he still had a hard time believing that he had spent most of the night dancing with Em. He couldn't help but blush whenever he recalled the events of the night. 

"I can't believe I kissed her" the sudden realization almost completely filled him with dread. 

"What if she thinks I'm a creep now? She's probably mad at me," he was interrupted by a chirping sound coming from the small red feathered bird sitting on his bed.

Hunter's expression visibly softened at the sound of his companion. 

"You're right she did kiss me back," he said as he smiled to himself. "I still can't believe you tagged along."

In response he received more chirping sounds from his small friend. The little rascal had followed Hunter without him noticing. It wasn't until he had jumped on Hunter's head to meet Emira that he found out he had tagged along. Apparently he has been very excited to meet her after hearing Hunter speaking about her.

"You and I need to have a conversation about boundaries some time" noted Hunter as he took a seat on the bed next to his friend. 

". . .So do you think she likes me?" asked Hunter looking down at his boots so his friend couldn't see his eyes.

The question earned him a sharp peck to the head from his companion who seemed to be angry at Hunter's self doubt. He had never really liked seeing Hunter being down and now that he could understand him he made no attempt to hold back his opinions.

"Ouch ok I get it no need to be so aggressive." said Hunter as he nursed his head. 

His companion settled back down on the bed and started chirping away. Scolding Hunter for doubting Emira’s feelings for him especially after tonight. 

He had to give it to the little guy he really knew how to get through to him. He really helped in keeping negative thoughts away. 

Hunter took a deep breath to steady himself and released it. "You're right buddy, thanks," he said as he gave the little bird a gentle pat on his head. 

Just then there was a sudden knock on the door which sent the little palisman into hiding. It was important that nobody found out about the palisman. If Emperor Belos where to find him no Hunter did not even want to think about that. 

"Who is it?" responded Hunter after making sure his friend was out of sight. 

From the other side of the door came a voice that stated "Sir Emperor Belos wishes to speak to you." Hunter relaxed once he realized it was just a guard. 

Even though he had already changed into his regular uniform hours ago he still made sure that he looked presentable before stepping towards the door. If he was going to meet with Emperor Belos he had to make sure that everything was in order.

 Hunter opened the door to find one of the guards standing there doing his best not to make eye contact with him. "Thanks you are dismissed" said Hunter in an authoritative tone.

The guard, who seemed to have been startled by Hunter opening the door forcefully and closing it quickly behind him, gave Hunter an awkward solute before scurrying off. What can you expect even if he was young he was still Emperor Belos' right hand man. A lot of the guards felt intimidated being in his presence and Hunter’s deminor did not help to ease their nerves about him. 

As Hunter made his way to his uncle's throne room he kept thinking about how upset he must be. He was not surprised that his uncle had called for him. In fact he had been expecting it. He had completely disappeared after his first dance with Emira and never came back to his post. 

"Way to fo Hunter he probably thinks you were too embarrassed to come back out" thought Hunter to himself as he came face to face with the doors of his uncle's room. He was about to knock on the door before stopping. In that instant he was completely consumed by the sudden sense of dread. The realization that Emperor Belos might be angry at him had just hit him. He could be in serious trouble. What if he retaliated against Emira? He knew who she was? If his uncle was mad enough at him he could do it and get away with it. No, he had to make sure to keep her safe. Even if it meant never being able to see her again. 

He was brought back by the sound of the door in front of him opening. The small surge of defines he had felt at the thought of Emira getting hurt was completely overtaken by the fear he felt at that moment. 

“Come in Hunter” came a voice from inside the room.

Hunter hesitated for a moment before making his way inside and closing the door behind him.

“Come let me take a good look at you” said Belos as he becond his nephew forward. He was not wearing his mask anymore. He was dressed in his casual robes which was rare to see. Hunter always felt more comfortable speaking to his uncle when he did not have the mask on so seeing him now made his nerves settle a little. He made his way forward to his uncle who placed his hands on his shoulders. 

“So, you had your first kiss” noted Belos with a warm smile on his face and an almost childish joy in his eyes. Hunter felt his face grow warm and found himself at a loss for words. But just as fast he felt the blood drain out of his body.. Was he teasing him? How did he know that he had kissed Emira? Ed had created an illusion so that nobody could see them. How did he know? Did he see? Does he know about my palisman too? 

“I would not have thought you would have become smitten after just one dance and a kiss on your helmet” teased his uncle. “You know after that dance you disappeared but I couldn’t help but notice that so did she. Tell me, did you return to the party?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

If someone were to enter the room at this moment  they might have interrupted this as a tender moment between him and his uncle but the tension Hunter was feeling was so intense he could hardly breath. He was not sure if the kiss his uncle meant was the one Emira had given him in front of everyone. How much did his uncle know? Lying to him would be dangerous especially if he knew more than what he was letting on. Besides, Hunter had never been able to lie to him. 

“I..um… yes I did” started Hunter feeling his face growing hot again. “I wanted to ask her to dance not as the Golden Guard but as Hunter.” he mumbled, unable to make eye contact with his uncle. “Her brother created an illusion to keep us concealed and we ended up dancing for the rest of the night.” Hunter tried to focus all of his concentration on keeping his breathing steady.

“I see well I am glad that you followed my order to have fun” he said, placing a hand on Hunter's head, “but i'm sure that dancing was not the only thing you did.” added his uncle in a tone that made Hunter’s veins turn to ice. His mind was racing trying to come up with a response for his uncle but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his uncle ruffling his hair as he let out a warm laugh. 

“So you really did get your first kiss tonight?” he continued to laugh as he made his way to take a seat on his throne. “I have to hand it to you, you really do know how to follow an order.”

Hunter was beginning to feel light headed due to the emotional whiplash. He could never read his Uncle. Talking to him always felt like he was treading through a minefield filled with live and fake bombs.

“You know when I said that I wanted for you to stay safe it was not to punish you but to keep you out of harm's way. The titan has big plans for you Hunter so until the day of unity arrives you have to stay safe. So starting tomorrow you will be reassigned.” noted Belos in a somber tone. 

“But sir,” started Hunter but stopped as soon as his uncle lifted a hand signaling silence. “As I was saying, starting tomorrow your new mission will be to find the Blight girl..." Hunter felt his heart drop at his uncle's mention of Emira. A thousand thoughts filled his head in that instant but he clenched his fists in an attempt to restrain himself.  “...and ask her out on a date.” finished Belos with a soft smile on his face.

“Sir?” Hunter’s mind was spinning. Did he hear that right? No that couldn't be. Did his uncle just order him to ask Emira on a date?  

“Who knows how many days of peace we will know once the day of unity arrives. Go enjoy the few days you have left. Now go it’s late and I need my rest.” stated Belos as he dismissed Hunter. 

“Yes Emperor Belos,” responded Hunter with a bow before quickly making his way. He walked back to his room in a daze trying to make sense of what had just happened. Was he that disappointed in him that he no longer wanted to send him on missions? Or did he honestly want to keep him safe and happy. This was very unlike his uncle and Hunter was sure that there had to be a bigger motive for his actions. 

Upon reaching his room he confided in his palisman everything that had happened with his uncle. The small bird convinced Hunter to not overthink things and to ask Emira out on a date. 

“I don't know, it doesn't feel right to just send her a message. What do you think?”

The small bird responded to this with a few chirping sounds. 

“That’s actually a really good idea. I think she would like that a lot.” noted Hunter as he took out a pen and paper to write a letter to Emira. 

Once he was done he attached the letter to the small palismans foot. 

“Ok buddy I’m counting on you.”

[i-love-hobbies]

My happiness with Eda kinda not being rude towards Lilith (ft. Hunter)

I already praised this but I just realized, I should have more!

In this essay I acknowledged everything bad Lilith has done, so I'm not doing it here, but you DON'T need to read it to understand this post!

Here I forgot something really important.

Lilith was in a cult!

We all know about the people that tell cult members stories of how they have sacrificed people to satan and then laugh about it.

They're laughing about someone being genuinely scared for their life!

This is a threat to them!

Sometimes people that run cults use this to make sure their members are scared from the people outside the cult.

They also make them try to "save" others so it gets even worse.

I'm really happy that Eda's answer to "You look like some sort of a trash collector. Oh wait, you are!" wasn't "I was told by wild magic to sacrifice the person that says this to me at midnight! The last time this happened It felt so relaxing! See you then!"

This repeated a few times in my opinion would have stopped Lilith from saving Eda in episode 19, because if she doesn't join the coven she is beyond saving plus Lilith is risking to become just like her. And later on Lilith would have probably had even more mental health issues. I don't want to imagine Luz, King and Hooty.

Disclaimer:

I can't find a way to continue without saying how I think this should be handled. So I should say I'm not an expert.

I'm an atheist, the last supernatural thing I believed in was fortune telling, chakras and so on. But I realized how easily this can be used to scam people.

My parents buy this tea from this people, that say every doctor except for surgeons can be replaced.

Luckily my parents don't believe in everything.

I wouldn't say I have a lot of experience with this as I'm not sure if what I described is called a cult, honestly. But I've seen some stuff.

Like the fear in my mom's eyes, when I don't take tea, cause it "helps with my tics, adhd and mental health".

How did Eda handle it?

We don't know much about how Eda decided to not join a coven or how much she has heard of other people stories.

But we do know at one point she stopped believing in Belos.

Season 1

She never really talked about Belos with Lilith.

I think this was a good choice, cause all she would get is Lilith telling her how clearly in the wrong she is. Plus Lilith is tired, she can barely process new information and everything in her life is about the coven.

I've heard some people suggest that Eda should have broken into the coven and gotten Lilith out of there. This is a horrible idea. It would only scare Lilith and she would try to run away.

She shouldn't be kept captive. This will traumatize her even further. At this point she'll try to kill herself so she doesn't become like her sister.

So what did Eda do? She put on a show for Lilith to enjoy, full of nostalgia.

She gave Lilith what she needs, a break.

She was showing her that things haven't changed.

When Lilith opened up a bit in episode 11, she showed that it isn't dangerous.

When Lilith came to her house, she played a game with her.

The only time she did something resembling her "I'm gonna steal your tongue." jokes was "If anyone is putting you down it's gonna be me."

Which considering what just happened was clearly not gonna be taken seriously and gave Lilith even more nostalgia.

If Belos didn't give Lilith a timer she was on her way out of the coven.

The problems I have with Eda here are her laughing at Lilith for thinking she'd join the coven as if anyone in there is an idiot, making Lilith defensive.

Also her lie in episode 17 which made the game way too important.

Don't get me started on what would have happened if she lost or when Lilith realises she was lieing.

Episode 18/19

Now in episode 18 Eda lost it. She tried to talk Lilith out of it IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT.

She was trying to hurt Lilith the whole finale, both physically and emotionally.

I'm not calling Eda a bad person, this is how humans react, she went through hell, but this was a mistake.

She should have tried sneaking or something and if she got caught only force to the point of getting out. No name calling.

Season 2

It took her less than two weeks to stop guilt tripping her.

They worked on their competitiveness problem in the second episode.

They could trust each other with physical stuff like the other putting themselves in danger for them.

Lilith is in a safe space, wether she believes so is debatable, though.

I'm impressed by Eda except for the guild tripping but again she's "human".

She deserves praise for this impressive response to Lilith being in the coven. It's not perfect but knowing the average person, it's godlike.

Hunter

After episode 9 I think she might try to help, but so far she hasn't.

She threatened him and then got humiliated.

She made fun of him even after seeing Hunter obviously being hurt by it.

"Don't you recognise that annoying voice?"

"Why does everyone say that?"

"You must be fun at parties!"

No wonder Hunter doesn't respect her at all. He has only seen her the episode after the finale and one episode after Eda's requiem.

The last line was after he was trying to help her.

The only good thing is that, she isn't talking about Belos.

I died from second hand embarrassment watching both of these episodes.

[theowlhouseheadcanons]

SEASON TWO - IMPRESSIONS PART 1/?

I'm alive! And yes, it might be a bit late to go nuts over the season 2's first two episodes, but I couldn't go on without spilling my impressions/opinions/theories about it! So let's go:

Separate Tides

First of all, the Owl House Crew demonstrating how much they care about each other in multiple ways, from trying to make up to one another (Luz and Lilith to Eda, Eda to Luz) or paying attention to their needs made my day already – what a way to come back with those amazing characters!

I confess I was rather touched when Eda said they are saving the money to buy the edibles for Luz;

That detail about Luz's diet in the Islands caught my attention, making me wonder about all the possible experimentations they had to go through to figure out what Luz could/was down to eating besides from Gus' P&G; (I'll write about it later!)

THAT'S ROUGH BUDDY REFERENCE - it's such a nice little touch they gave but it had me flipping!

I don't know what surprises me more: Lilith bounding with Hooty ~a dynamic I never knew I needed until now~ or the fact that Eda is quite "fine" living with Lilith, who cursed her? She makes jokes about it, which I think is the "Eda way" to digest the awkwardness that comes with this situation, but I confess I was expecting this level of "commodity" to come a bit later. But in other hand, the most difficult days might have happened through the past week, which wasn't shown on screen. So by the time the episode starts, they are past the most tense moments, which might or might not be shown/mentioned later;

Plus, the fact that both sisters are glad with the reunion (even with the costs it had) is an advantage, as there's a mutual effort to strengthen their relationship;

And yes, I'm more than delighted to see that both sisters never stopped caring about each other even after all these years, as Lilith's main goal has always been to lure Eda into the Emperor's coven to cure her;

As we've seen, the former Emperor's headmaster's pride is thick like a brick, and something tells me her arc will very likely revolve around her adjusting her "solo" manners to fit within the Owl House dynamics – which is positive, either in terms of aiding her weakened magic and providing the mental health she much needs; ~Lilith is way too precious in this season, she even have nicknames with Hooty now!~

Besides, the episode's main message is that it is not necessary to do things alone to prove your worth or "pay" for some debt, as asking for help doesn't make you less – actually, it is smarter to count on others you love! It saves a lot of drama! ~And unnecessary deaths~

Also, I'd like to point out that at the first minutes in the ep Luz says "maybe it would be better if I never came here" and at the end, Eda brushes it off by saying that her life is way better with her around ~that warms my heart and confirms that Eda has officially adopted Luz, I love it~

Luz is refining her glyph magic skills each day, which just reinforces the dedicated and creative person she is. I love how she's able to apply it not just in combat situations, but for everyday chores too! The Boiling Islands is a harsh place to live, but Luz is mastering it with excellence! It's a delight to watch, specially if we take into account that Luz is constantly growing with each new shenanigan in a way she wouldn't be able to if she was still home, or at that summer camp;

Hooty once again proved to be a diligent house demon, with way more power and resistance than he let it show; Also, apparently he can move around tunnels, and his length is rather…. Expansive? He seems to be able to survey not only the whereabouts of the Owl House, but a great area in the forest… unless Eda has always lived close to an area full of fire bees but it wasn't worth mentioning in the past ¯\_(ツ)_/¯; ~imagine the guard and spying possibilities Hooty's tunnels can make!~

About the Golden Guard boy, I have some questions. If he's a teenager, then which school does he goes? Or does he receives an special education from Emperor's staff? He's good at "following orders", but is that all he really does?

Also, he comments "none of you can you real magic" which means he does not recognize any kind of magic that does not come from a bile sack; and thus bias probably extends to the whole Emperor's coven;

Apart from that, there was something really curious about his staff:

Besides from not having a Palisman, it glows with that reddish blast whenever It's used, and even the sounds it makes are different from other witch's staffs;

Instead of drawing circles, he keeps manipulating amounts of mass around himself, levitating and molding them accordingly to his will;

He created that sword out of a strange substance, something like a red goo conjured through the staff; Does that means he has the power to materialize things by molding them with that generic mass? How does that work? Is it even natural? My guess is that no, as I believe Belos magic is not as "organic" as other the one from other covens we've seen;

At last, I just love the parallel they made with Eda at the end, drawing the light glyphs on the floor just like Luz did in the first season;

That was it for the first episode! I once again apologize for my delay, but I hope you enjoy! Any opinions?

Also, I'll be posting about the second ep soon!

[e350tb]

The Owl House: A Blight on Gravesfield (Chapter Three)

Three

Everyone has a bit of a talk...

The Connecticut Witch Trials were the first large scale witch hunts to occur in the American Colonies. Eat your heart out, Salem.

Now it’s worth pointing out that they were much less intense than the Salem Witch Trials; more people were executed in Salem in fifteen months then were killed in Connecticut in fifteen years. Nevertheless, they certainly had an effect on the people of the young colony; and indeed, on the town of Gravesfield.

The panic started with the trial and execution of Alse Young in Hartford, in May 1647. The following year, also in Hartford, Mary Johnson confessed to ‘familiarity with the devil’ - because of a pregnancy while imprisoned, she wouldn’t be executed until 1650. The tendrils of suspicion seeped out across the land, and before long, an accusation was made in Gravesfield.

The year was 1651. Philip Wittlesbane was already a source of some contention in Gravesfield; he had written a pamphlet denouncing the execution of King Charles I, claiming it to be a ‘miscarriage of justice by a vengeful, prideful victor.’ He’d actually spent a day in the pillory for it, and probably would have suffered worse if he had not clarified that he certainly wasn’t a Royalist.

The Wittelsbanes had started off, like most people in Connecticut, as fairly staunch, if not particularly active, supporters of Parliament. John remained so throughout the Civil War period, but it seems Philip grew more and more concerned about the Roundheads as time went on. It was not the execution of Charles that really seems to have soured Philip, but the establishment of the ‘Rump Parliament’, which was basically a seizure of power by the supporters of Cromwell’s New Model Army.

That’s a gross oversimplification, but we’re not talking about Cromwell today.

By 1650, Philip had become a big supporter of the rights of men - not women, just men, this was the seventeenth century - and by men, we mean Englishmen. All Englishmen, regardless of wealth, status or faith. Well, as long as that faith was Christian, anyway.

This troubled John and the other city fathers, who had something of a stake in keeping power centered on a wealthy, Puritan elite. And as Philip started to get more and more in trouble with the authorities, John started to worry about his writings about witches coming out; because then, of course, the authorities would find out what John had been writing about them too.

On one hand, Philip was his brother. On the other hand, he might doom them both.

On a summers’ day in 1651, John and Philip went for a ‘private discussion’ out in the woods near Gravesfield. John’s friend, Thomas Goodfaith Masterson - fantastic name - waited at John’s house for them to return; ‘John hath told me most firmly that by sundown, the matter of Philip would be solved.’

John returned alone that afternoon. Philip never returned again.

--------

The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Luz, Amity and Vee sat on the couch; Luz’ eyes were fixed firmly on the floor as Camila paced in front of them. No-one knew quite how to start this conversation; there was that strange feeling in the air, the feeling when nobody is in trouble, but at the same time everybody is in trouble.

Perhaps it would be more correct to say that nobody was in trouble from Camila, but they were all in a lot of trouble from reality.

Camila inhaled through her nose.

“Okay,” she said. “I want you to start at the beginning. What happened before you got here?”

“Well,” Luz rubbed the back of her head. “It involves Emperor Belos. And, well, I don’t wanna upset Vee…”

Camila turned to Vee.

“Vee, if you need to leave the room at any time…”

“No.” Vee shook her head. “I’ll be okay, I think.”

Luz nodded.

“Okay,” she said, “It all started this morning, at the Owl House…”

 -------

“Luz… hey, Luz… Luz. Luz. Hey, Luz.”

Slowly, Luz opened her eyes.

She had been lying face-first on the floor, scribbled notes surrounding her; the Echo Mouse snoozing quietly next to her. King was prodding her gently with a stick, and the rays of the sun were spilling through the window into the lounge room. When she had fallen asleep, she couldn't tell.

“Ugh.” She pushed herself up, turning onto her back. She could see Eda leaning on the door frame, arms crossed, a little smirk on her face.

“Fall asleep on the floor again?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey!” replied Luz. “It’s only been… one, two… wow, three nights in a row.”

“Yeah, and I can’t nap on the couch while you’re down there talking in your sleep!” exclaimed King. “What the heck’s a Vee, anyway?”

“It’s, uh, my favourite letter!” replied Luz, sitting up quickly. “Yeah, gotta love that letter V, am I right?!”

Eda and King stared.

“You don’t really think I’m that dumb, do you?” asked King.

“Something’s bugging me about you, Luz,” said Eda, walking over to her. “Is something on your mind?”

“You mean, apart from building the portal home?”

“You’ve been obsessed!” exclaimed Eda. “Normally you’d have been up two hours ago to go to school. I mean, if you wanna play hooky, go right ahead, but…”

“I’m missing school!” exclaimed Luz. “I can’t- I gotta-”

She ran a hand through her hair.

“I… no, I can’t go to Hexside, I’ve gotta focus on this!” she said, turning back to her notes. “I’m almost there, I’m sure of it…”

Eda and King exchanged glances.

“You, uh, you sure everything went okay with that portal?” asked King.

“If there’s a problem, you know you can tell us,” said Eda. “I mean, if you can’t trust family, who can you trust?”

Luz glanced from her notes to Eda and back again, exhaling through her nose.

“I… okay,” she replied. “It… it didn’t go that great.”

Eda sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. Luz gave her a small, grateful smile and took her seat.

“Mom… she really kinda freaked out,” she said, her fingers tightening on the edge of the couch. “And she was really upset, and I… I kinda promised when I got home…”

“...you’d stay with her,” said Eda.

Luz looked away, nodding.

“But you don’t want to?” asked King.

“I… I’d give the world to see Mom again!” replied Luz. “But I don’t want to give up you guys, or Amity, or Willow or Gus; heck, I don’t even wanna give up Hooty! I just… I’ve got so much more here in the Boiling Isles than I did in Connecticut.”

“Yeah, Connecticut stinks!” said King.

“You’ve never been,” said Eda.

“Yeah, but you can tell by the name,” replied King, crossing his arms. “It’s spelt Connect-I-Cut, but they drop the T! That doesn’t even make sense!”

Luz chuckled despite herself.

“It’s just… I don’t wanna go back to having no friends,” she said. “And I love mom, but it’s always just been me and her, and…”

“You don’t wanna be lonely.” Eda put a hand on Luz’ shoulder.

“Yeah,” replied Luz. “I don’t.”

“Hey,” Eda smiled. “We’ll sort something out, okay? If you want, I can come with you when you finish the portal, and we’ll talk to her about everything, okay? Maybe when she sees how good the Boiling Isles has been for you, she’ll let us… I dunno, timeshare or something? Is that the word?”

Luz looked up, into Eda’s eyes, and smiled.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Maybe that’ll-”

“SWEET TITAN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO LULU!”

Hooty’s voice echoed through the house, and Eda shot to her feet.

“Lilith?” she exclaimed.

The three ran to the door, throwing it open.

Lilith was on her knees, about twenty five yards from the Owl House, bound by her arms and legs. Two guards stood on each side of her, pointing spears at her abdomen. Behind them were about a dozen more guards, and three hulking Abomatons - atop the middle of which stood a familiar, short figure.

“Kikimora!” exclaimed Luz.

Luz could just about see her cheeks raise - a sign that the little demon might have been smiling, or perhaps smirking was a better word.

“Sorry to barge in like this,” she said, in a tone that indicated she was not sorry at all, “But I’m afraid the Emperor has an outstanding warrant for Edalyn Clawthorne for disturbing his operations.”

“What?” demanded Eda. “You can’t prove I’ve done anything! ...recently.”

“Oh, really? I think you’ll find we can.” 

Kikimora clapped her hands together. A limp sack, like a figure secured in a black spider’s web, hovered out from behind the Abomaton. Suddenly it dropped, as if an invisible string had been cut, and the black tendrils fell away. A limp, bespectacled figure crashed down into the dust, coughing and wheezing.

Eda’s eyes widened, her fists clenched and shaking.

“Raine!”

 -------

“Raine?”

Luz shrugged as her mother asked about the name.

“I don’t really know them,” she said. “Eda mentioned them a couple of times, but…”

“Raine Whispers,” interrupted Amity. “Head of the Bard Coven. They disappeared a few weeks ago.”

Her fingers tightened on the edge of the couch.

“If Belos could turn on one of his own coven leaders…”

“I’m sorry, what exactly is a coven?” asked Camila.

“They’re like… I dunno, magic classes,” replied Luz. “Once you pick a coven, you’re stuck in it for life, and you can’t do any other magic. There are nine main covens, and then there’s a bunch of smaller covens under them, and… oh, yeah, and there’s the Emperor’s Coven, who can do any magic they want.”

Camila frowned.

“Pretty convenient that the Emperor’s Coven gets to do everything.”

“I don’t get it,” said Vee. “If Luz was with the Owl Lady, how did Amity get mixed up in all this?”

“I can explain that,” replied Amity. “You see…”

 -------

Hexside before classes started was always a den of activity. Students bustled too and fro, rushing to get to their first period (or not rushing, in the case of more than a few students), and the corridors were jam-packed with people.

Unfortunately, not the person Amity was waiting for this morning.

“Hey, Amity!”

Amity finished grabbing her books from her locker and turned - Willow and Gus were approaching, both looking more than a little worried.

“Oh, hey Gus,” said Amity. “Hey Willow. Have you seen Luz?”

“We were kinda hoping you had,” replied Gus. “We haven’t heard anything all weekend.”

“We’re hoping she hasn’t spent the whole weekend studying Philip’s diary and forgotten to sleep again,” said Willow, “But…”

“That’s probably what happened,” said Gus bluntly.

“Well, she did keep sending me pictures of echo mouse projections, so…” said Amity.

“Okay,” said Gus, punching his palm. “We’re gonna need to stage an intervention.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s gonna involve cinnamon and formaldehyde again,” sighed Willow.

“It was one time, Willow! One time!”

Amity rubbed her arm.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Luz has been really… distracted since she went through that proto-portal. I think something happened there…”

“Something bad?” replied Willow.

“I don’t know.” Amity looked down at her feet. “I feel like something bad happened with her and her mom, but…”

“Ahem! Hello there, students!”

Amity turned. Principal Bump was leaning against the next locker, one hand on his hip.

“Uh… hello, Principal Bump,” replied Amity.

“So, how’s that, uh, Grudgby scene going?” asked Bump, trying and failing to act casual, “Down with Glandus, am I right? Huh, am I right?”

There was a long, awkward silence.

“Principal Bump,” said Gus, “you’re making me very uncomfortable.”

Bump cleared his throat.

“Yes, quite,” he said. “Anyway, I just wanted to randomly tell you that, say, if I was privy to any information that the Emperor’s Coven was going to act against the Owl House, I wouldn’t be at liberty to tell you.”

“What?” quizzed Willow.

“I’m saying that, if I had somehow been informed that the Emperor’s Coven may or may not be attacking the Owl House, I couldn’t tell you.”

“The Emperor’s Coven is attack-”

Willow covered Gus’ mouth.

Amity narrowed her eyes.

“And who… wouldn’t you be able to tell us gave you this information?” she asked.

“I absolutely couldn’t tell you if it was the Golden Guard,” replied Bump.

“So it must’ve been someone else!” exclaimed Gus.

Willow and Amity shot him meaningful looks.

“Okay,” nodded Willow, “thank you for… not telling us, Principal Bump.”

“You did hear it from me,” nodded Bump.

He blinked.

“Wait, that should have been you didn’t hear it from… well, anyway, I’ll be in my office.”

He walked very briskly away.

“We’ve gotta warn Luz!” exclaimed Gus.

“Come on!” shouted Willow, “We might be able to get there before them if…”

“Wait, they might already be there!” said Amity. “We have to come up with a…”

She trailed off as Willow and Gus darted off down the hall, headed for the exit.

“Okay, forget the plan,” she shrugged. “Wait up!”

 -------

“And then what happened?” asked Vee.

Amity shrugged.

“Willow and Gus got there just a little before I did,” she replied. “But we were too late. The Emperor had gotten there first.”

Luz glanced at Amity, a slight frown on her face, but said nothing.

“And the Emperor hurt you?” she demanded, a dangerous ice underlining her voice.

“I… don’t actually remember.”

Luz rubbed her head.

“I remember Kikimora bringing Lilith and Raine to us,” she said. “Then it gets… blurry? I know the Emperor hurt me, but… not how?”

“Dissociative amnesia, maybe?” suggested Camila.

“Hmm?” Luz tilted her head.

“It’s when we block out memories associated with a traumatic event,” replied Camila. “But it could also be a result of head trauma.”

“What did you see, Amity?” asked Vee.

“I…” Amity gripped the couch harder. “I saw… I mean, I think… I remember…”

Her breathing became heavier and uneven, and she seemed to be sweating just a little bit. Gently, Luz put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said softly. “You don’t have to say anything until you’re ready.”

Amity swallowed.

“I have to…”

“You don’t have to be anything, Amity.”

Camila sighed.

“I think we all need to get some rest,” she said.

“Yeah,” Luz nodded, “Sounds like a plan, Mami.”

“Vee, are you okay to help me set up the airbeds?” asked Camila.

“Oh, I can do it if…” said Luz.

“Not until I know for certain you’re okay, mija,” replied Camila. “You were unconscious a few hours ago! I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

“I can handle it, Luz,” said Vee, smiling.

Before Luz could say anything else, Camila and Vee had headed up the stairs, leaving Luz and Amity alone.

“So, how’s about tommorrow we start working on getting you home, huh?” said Luz, grinning weakly at her girlfriend.

Amity mumbled something in reply.

“Amity?” Luz tilted her head, concerned.

Amity looked up - her eyes were somewhat watery.

“I don’t know if I want to go back.”

[sepublic]

Analyzing Ordinary

I notice how she looks at me

But I pretend that I don’t see

It’s easier if I let the tension subside

           We’ve got Luz being willfully ignorant of Amity’s longing looks, no doubt because she doesn’t want to get her hopes up, as if Amity would be interested in someone like HER, because Luz still has her issues of self-loathing, of inadequacy… And combined with how much she thinks the world of her friends, she probably sees all of them as being too good for her! Not to mention letting the tension subside could allude to the idea of Luz letting Amity confront her feelings at her own pace, not to mention any reservations about falling in love because she doesn’t want Amity to reciprocate and get in trouble with her parents for it…

I’ve seen it in the books I read

A magic that you cannot see

There’s no limitations

They wear it with pride

But the characters I read never act or look like me

I can’t depend on them to lead me through the right door

           Luz has read about it in The Good Witch Azura, not just the idea of being in love, but no doubt a brave and defiant love against what others have to say, and against one’s self-doubts! But Luz not only doesn’t think of herself as being as cool or confident as Azura… But she also knows from firsthand experience that she can’t project her book’s fantasies onto real life, that it’s gotten her into trouble in the past and almost jeopardized relationships!

          Luz is afraid that maybe she’s just projecting her books onto her relationship with Amity, imagining romance where there isn’t, and is thus setting herself up for disappointment and possibly making Amity uncomfortable… And even if she SHOULD follow the books’ advice this one time, is Luz good enough to be like Azura, when she knows that in the end she isn’t? Not to mention ‘door’ could be a reference to the portal back home, and Luz feels like if she gets caught up in fantasy and/or following romance as the Azura books guide her to, she won’t ever go back to her ‘rightful place’ in the human world!

And what’s the point of falling when I know I’m only stalling

Cause I have to go back home

Where I’m just one in the herd

Tripping over my words

Trying hard to go with the grain

Keeping the quirks in my brain

           There’s the obvious allusion of Luz being resigned to the idea of going back to the human world, because as of now she hasn’t yet aired the idea of simply… staying behind in the Boiling Isles, because she feels beholden to her mother Camila, about whether or not she’d approve, not wanting to reject Camila –especially if Camila makes Luz choose- etc. Not to mention, there’s a pretty obvious reference to Luz being neurodivergent, but at the same time…

           I feel this could ALSO apply to ideas of classism, and the Blight Parents’ elitist attitudes! How Luz is probably telling herself that she isn’t good enough for someone of such higher social standing as Amity, someone who was born above her, has worked harder and has ‘proper’ magic… Luz knows her ‘real family’ is either with Camila, or with Eda and the others; It’s not amongst the upper echelons of the Boiling Isles hierarchy, where Amity lives. Luz doesn’t see herself as fitting in with Amity, and she doesn’t want to jeopardize Amity’s life by having the girl fall in love with a ‘commoner’ like her… Especially since Amity is so much more talented, right?

          Plus, Amity is aiming to join the Emperor’s Coven, while Luz is actively defying Belos and even fought and wounded him! What if they end up on opposite sides of this conflict, with opposing ideals and beliefs…? Luz doesn’t believe in the Coven System, so why fall for someone who’s going to help enforce it? Those are Amity’s beliefs, not her own… Luz has to stick up for what she knows and believes in, especially after what she and her friends have been through! Not that Amity can be personally blamed for choosing the Emperor’s Coven, but at the same time…

I’m on the brink of discovery I think

But what if I’m dreaming

That’s what it seems like

           There’s Luz, discovering her own self-worth, that she’s a lovable person… Discovering actual romantic love with someone she knows, discovering what Amity truly feels like deep down… But on the other hand, maybe she’s just projecting again, or being too wishful? Maybe it’s just like Adegast’s illusions.

Cause this girl thinks I’m part of her world

And that new territory’s scary

If I turn a handle

Am I asking for a scandal?

Should I try to be ordinary?

           ‘World’ could refer to the Boiling Isles, but it could also refer to Amity’s life in general and her social circles, etc. How Amity thinks Luz really is worth it and good enough for her, risking what her parents have to say! And sometimes Luz isn’t sure if she belongs in either the human world OR the Demon Realm… The idea of being in a romantic relationship is new and unusual to Luz, as is the idea of exploring a crush that could be reciprocated, but also rejected!

          Luz is also worried of the ‘scandal’ that will be caused, not just for the potential rift and embarrassment that will ensue if she’s wrong, but again, because she doesn’t want Amity to get in trouble with her parents for falling in love with a ‘lowly human’, a sentiment Luz may secretly, at least partially, agree with. So, should Luz try to be ‘ordinary’, stick with her own ‘level’ of people? Stop trying to project and fantasize and be realistic about the situation?

          Not to mention, Amity aims to be a part of the Emperor’s Coven Luz is so against… What if when trying to be with Amity and be good enough for her, Luz gets wrapped up in the Coven System, and falls for its propaganda and elitist ideals? She doesn’t like the Emperor’s Coven and doesn’t want to join it to be with Amity… Can Luz still love Amity while still being so distinctly her own, separate person from everything else that the Blight girl is and aims to be?

          And of course, handle… The ‘handle’ to a door, perhaps the portal leading to the demon realm? If Luz continues to stay in the Demon Realm, is she just asking for trouble? If she heads back to the human world, does she end up crushing Amity’s heart? And perhaps the ‘door’ isn’t referring to the portal, but simply the door to Amity’s own world in the Blight Manor.

mmBAAAAAAAAH!

           Classic Luz noise.

I’ve always been a little odd

The only pea inside the pod

That’s not an expression I’m guessin’

Oh well

           We have Luz not fitting in, not just back home, but also in the Boiling Isles as a human who can’t perform magic the conventional way, as an outsider to the Coven System, AND Luz also not being of the ‘upper caste’ that the Blights belong to. Only pea, only human, only child, etc. Luz is making up words and expressions, she’s always had a unique way of expressing herself, and if the current ways don’t do a sufficient job of capturing herself, then Luz will MAKE her own method of properly expressing who she is! Just as she found a way to do Magic without bile!

See that’s exactly what I mean!

I’m just as awkward as I seem!

Plus she makes me nervous

I hope she can’t tell

           Again, Luz’s self-loathing is coming back into play, she’s good at hiding her own insecurities at times, but in the end, while she’s learned and grown so much… Sometimes, the trauma of years of isolation still comes back to bite her. Not to mention, Luz remembering that she doesn’t fit in with Amity’s ‘people’, getting mad at herself for not living up to a certain standard imposed by either society or herself for her friends… Etc. Then we have Luz being nervous about all of the other stuff I’ve mentioned beforehand, and she doesn’t want Amity to notice, not just because having your feelings known is mortifying, but she also needs to be the girl’s ‘fearless champion’!

           Not to mention the allusions to Adventures in the Elements and how Luz acted then… Luz is nervous about messing up when she really DOES want another friend, romantic or otherwise! To Luz, she’s already messed up and hurt Amity’s feelings before, and after Amity gave her another chance when she didn’t have to, Luz doesn’t want to appear weak or make Amity doubt in her decision… She wants to validate Amity’s trust by being worthy of her love! Like, she knows the girl already had self-doubt issues already. This is the closest thing she has to a fresh start since the Abomination Incident and Luz wants it to be GOOD.

What is it she sees in this cluster clump of me

Or could it maybe be I’m going crazy?

           Once more we have Luz defaulting back to seeing herself as a freak and not being good enough for Amity, especially after all of the times Luz has blamed herself for hurting Amity’s feelings! She doesn’t want to hurt Amity, and that’s even assuming Amity is actually interested in her at all to begin with!

And hey who am I kidding?

This isn’t some sweet beginning

Just a detour to the end!

           Once more, we have Luz remembering she needs to go back to the human world/her place in society. None of this is permanent, she has other places she ‘belongs’ to, and it’s certainly not by Amity’s side, even if Amity is always welcome around her… This as far as Luz’s relationship with Amity will go, especially given what the Blight Parents have to say!

[Repeat]

Do I rewind? Induce amnesia?

Pretend I didn’t see her?

Succumb to stupid fear?

           We’ve got the obvious callback to Little Miss Perfect, which really ties up how Luz and Amity are two sides of the same coin, but are ALSO struggling with the same issues with coming forward, because they don’t see themselves as good enough for the other, wonder what the other sees in them, if they’re just delusional and/or projecting, not to mention their different places in society and how they’ll both go towards different directions… And it’s silly, these girls are afraid of the same thing and it just goes to show that they really need to believe in themselves more! But it’s also sad, because again, self-loathing. Then we have ‘stupid fear’, which could be a callback to Grometheus, with Luz not facing the challenge of being frank to Camila about where she truly feels at home, ergo she decides to instead just go along with what Camila says, rather than face her fears!

Or just believe in my heart?

Why play a part?

Why follow the herd?

Why not trust in my words?

Don’t wanna go with the grain!

Why try to make myself plain!

I’m on the brink of rediscovery I think!

So what if I’m dreaming?

I like the scene that I’m in!

           Finally, we have Luz practicing self-love and belief in herself! Why bother playing a part, in either the human world or the Coven System (especially since she already attacked Belos)?! She’s defying her previous doubts about where she ‘really’ belongs, because Luz belongs with those she loves and vice-versa, and no social class will stand in the way of that! And if Luz can trust in her words to cheer up and inspire others, if they can trust in what Luz has to say… Maybe she can finally take her own advice to heart for herself?

           So why bother? Why bother trying to stick to her place in society, why not stand out and reach a hand to where Amity is, not just to be with her, but to ALSO be a powerful Witch in her own right! Luz is rediscovering who she is, her placement in this world, her relationship back home and with her mother, her feelings towards Amity and vice-versa, magic in general… There’s so much more to do and explore, why go back on that now? She’s always been a curious soul!

           And so what if Luz is dreaming? Even if one needs to be wary of confusing dreams with reality, it’s important to still have SOME fantasies, that sometimes it’s not about being realistic or being pragmatic, or doing the ‘useful’ thing, it’s about pursuing who you want to be and being happy with it! That’s what Eda taught her, and we see how unhappy Willow was when trying to be in the Abomination Track with its ‘more opportunities’.

          Not to mention, this line could also be in defiance to how the Reality Check summer camp and others before have accused Luz of being delusional, of no doubt being too much in her head and hyper-fixations… But what’s wrong with that, really? What’s wrong with being neurodivergent, and passionate into one’s interests? Luz likes the Boiling Isles, she likes her friendship with Amity, she likes who she is and she doesn’t care what others have to say! If she can defy Belos, she can defy the Blight Parents!

And this girl is a part of this world

The thought of being normal’s far more scary

I’ll be brave and I’ll be kind

I’ll make a choice and change my mind

I will mess up all the time

They’ll say I’m weird but I’ll be fine

I’ll be anything but ordinary!

           Once more, Luz sees Amity is not just a part of the Boiling Isles, but a part of the found family she feels happy and accepted in! After seeing what conformity has done to others, after witnessing what it was like back home, the idea of losing all that is too much for Luz! Luz will be brave, not just for others but for herself, she’ll be her OWN fearless champion!

          She’ll make a decision and change her mind on herself as a lowly person who isn’t worth it, as someone who needs to go back to the human world… Plus, Amity’s ‘world’ could also be her place with the Blight Parents and the Emperor’s Coven, which Luz KNOWS is toxic for her, and she’s seen what it does to others- So if she’s so against the system for this, why not go in and try to save Amity from it as well?

          Amity being brainwashed like your typical EC witch is far scarier than any pain of rejection that Luz may have; She needs to do this for Amity, too! Being in subservience to her parents and/or Belos is NOT something Amity deserves, and as her fearless champion, Luz will protect Amity!

           And Luz knows she’ll make mistakes. She knows she’ll ‘mess up’ in the sense that she’s neurodivergent, that she won’t be doing things the proper way for either world she’s a part of… That things will be messy, that she’ll do the ‘impractical’ thing and go by her emotions, instead of just being ‘smart’ and keeping her head down, and not defying the natural order or whatever.

           She’ll make mistakes, and that’s okay, Luz isn’t a terrible person just because she isn’t perfect, that yes she HAS hurt Amity in the past, but that doesn’t mean she can’t make a change, especially not when she’s already done so much for Amity otherwise, especially not when even someone like Lilith can begin making amends! Not to mention, mistakes are an outlet for learning… Luz is learning not to be overly-critical of herself, as she was no doubt taught by a school system that punished her neurodivergence.

           Luz knows that she’ll never be ‘perfect’, that even if she does improve herself, she’ll still screw up here or there in her relationships and whatnot… But if she can be forgiving of the mistakes of others, why not her own? Especially when others feel the same! And others may say she’s weird, but you know what? Considering others’ ideas of what conformity means, maybe that’s a good thing!

          And Luz has always known that her rightful place wasn’t with ‘the herd’, but with her own weird, outcast group of weirdoes! It’s who she really is, and being weird is Luz embracing herself and her identity! Quite frankly… She’ll be anything but ordinary, because whatever she is, whatever the potential she has, and there’s SO MUCH of it…

          It’s definitely not going to be the person she used to be, or who others wanted to be! And even if Amity doesn’t reciprocate her romantic feelings, well. Luz still learned to defy a ‘natural order’ in the end, as she always will! She’ll still be friends with Amity. And she’ll still be someone who can believe in herself, so why not? Why NOT give it a try?

[sergeantsporks]

Friendly Conversation

Rating: Gen, General Audiences

Hunter meets Vee's friends. Turns out you're NOT supposed to remember everything people say? Wild.

Part 4 of Camila is Hunter’s Mom Now

Ao3

Hunter let himself get tugged along by Vee, his palisman perched on his other shoulder. He dug his heels in as he started to recognize the path they were taking. “Aren’t we getting a little close to the museum? What about Jacob?”

“Oh, he won’t bother us. He’s terrified of you.” Vee seemed to stop and think for a moment. “Come to think about it, he might be scared of me, now, too.”

“Do I want to know?”

“Probably not. Besides, it’s the closest green space to the house, so that’s where we agreed we’d meet up! They’ve been dying to meet you ever since I showed them pictures—”

Wait. What. “You have pictures of me?!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sometimes I snap candid shots when you’re not looking. They think your ears are neat, by the way.”

Hunter reached up under his hood to cover his ears, disturbing his palisman from its perch. “They know about my ears?! Are you trying to get us discovered?!” Red warbled chidingly at Vee, then settled on Hunter’s raised arm, its claws digging into the fabric of his hoodie.

Vee rubbed her arms. “Look, I… I know secret is safe. And it’s not like I’m planning on transforming in front of them or anything. But you… you can’t just change your appearance to fit in like I can. Luckily, you’re pretty much human, except for the ears. And we can just call those a birth defect. You can’t go around wearing hoods for the rest of your life.”

“Why not?” He had up until now—in the coven and out.

“Because it makes you look… suspicious? You should probably start practicing explaining your ears if you’re planning to stay in the human realm. Besides, if you want to stay inconspicuous, you prooooobably shouldn’t walk around with a live bird on your shoulder.”

Hunter scooped up his palisman, cupping the cardinal in his hands protectively. “Red stays.” His palisman gave him an affectionate peck on the thumb, chirping an agreement.

“Okay. Just… have a good explanation for it.”

“I do. It’s a service animal.” Red chirped an agreement and fluttered up to land on his head.

Vee wrinkled her nose. “A service animal, huh? Alright.” She waved to a group of teens hanging around the statue that Hunter just could not get over how much it looked like Belos. “Hey, guys! This is my brother, Hunter!”

A shiver ran down Hunter’s spine. He still wasn’t used to being called Vee’s brother. Or getting called “Noceda,” it was all so weird. But a good weird.

Vee’s friends all bobbed their heads in acknowledgement.

“Hey, Hunter. I’m Janea,” the redhead grinned, “Nice bird.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, whoa, hey!” The one in all black peered at his face, and he shuffled back. She knew—he didn’t know how, but she knew. “You have a gap tooth like me!” she said finally, “Gap-tooth buddies! My name’s Anissa, by the way, and that’s Steven.”

The guy nodded. “Sup.”

“I’ve never seen you before,” Anissa commented, “You’re not from around here, right?”

Hunter nodded. Perfect chance to practice his backstory. “Traveled a lot, until Ms. Noceda took me in.”

“Ooooo, mysterious backstory, I like it! Love your ears, by the way, are those natural?”

Hunter reached up under his hood, putting his hands over his ears. “Yeah.”

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed,” Janea piped up, “They’re cool!”

Hunter slowly lowered his hands. They really didn’t seem suspicious at all. Humans were… a lot dumber than he’d thought they’d be. “You think so?”

“Definitely,” Anissa chimed in, “I wish my ears looked like that—I have to settle for fake ones, though.”

The conversation moved on to aimless chatter about where to get fake… elf… ears? Hunter felt himself get pulled along in without really registering what was being said. It was a sort of… friendly noise? He nodded along, then forgot what they’d been talking about a few minutes ago after the topic of conversation had moved on.

That was a bit concerning. He had a memory like a steel trap—so what was going on?

“I have to go,” he piped up suddenly, “I have… things to do.”

“What, more algebra?” Vee teased.

“Ew!” Anissa yelped.

Hunter wrinkled his nose at Vee. “Yes, in fact. More algebra. It was… nice. To meet all of you. But I should go now.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” Janea called, “See you in school?”

He waved, wandering back to the house. “Luz!”

Luz poked her head down the stairs. “What?”

“What do you know about interdimensional travel and its effects on the witch brain?!”

“…What?”

“I can’t—I’m not remembering everything!”

Luz traipsed down the stairs. “So? I don’t remember everything. I forget a lot of things, actually. What was your name, again?”

He grabbed her shoulders. “Quit messing around. This is serious. I don’t forget things!”

“I’m sure you’ve forgotten things before. I mean… what did you have for breakfast three months ago to the day?”

“Nothing, I didn’t eat breakfast regularly three months ago, but that’s beside the point, the point is, I forget maybe some stuff, but I couldn’t remember what we were talking about five minutes ago, what if it was important—”

Luz wriggled out of his grasp and put her hands on his shoulders, gently pushing him back and down. “Hunter. Breathe. I don’t remember every conversation I’ve had with Willow or Gus. I remember the important stuff, but I don’t remember every single thing we ever talked about.”

Was she crazy? How had she kept friends this long? “But you should, right? I mean, if they’re important to you, you should remember everything they say, right? What if you suddenly need to know something they mentioned in a conversation five weeks ago, and you can’t remember it? What if they said something, and it seemed trivial, but it had a deeper meaning, and they want you to figure it out, but you can’t because you can’t remember what they said?”

Luz gave him a look that was bordering on concern. “Then I ask them—uh-oh, we’re unlocking a new trauma today, aren’t we? Okay. Hunter. You don’t have to remember everything everyone says. Your head will literally explode. No one expects you to, and especially not in friendly conversation. You’re supposed to forget half of what everyone says. If it’s important, you’ll remember it. Promise.”

Hunter’s head was swimming just thinking about it, thinking in circles. “But how will I know if it’s important?!”

Luz shrugged. “If you remember it, it was important. If you don’t remember it, it probably wasn’t.” The color drained from her face. “Wait. Have you been remembering every single conversation we’ve had here?”

Hunter tilted his head. “A couple days ago, you said that Amity has most of the portal ingredients, and she can probably make a portal back in the isles. You also said there was a monster behind me.”

“You weren’t even paying attention to me! You were solving algebraic formulas! How did you—beside the point. I want you to forget about the monster part.”

“What?”

“Forget about the monster part. It wasn’t important. The info you needed from that conversation is that Amity might be able to build a portal. You don’t need to remember that I said there was a monster behind you.”

What was this supposed to do? Hunter eyed Luz. Why did she want him to forget about the monster part? So she could do it again?

Luz caught the look. “I’m trying to help you figure out how to tell what’s important to remember and what isn’t. Amity can probably build portal—important! Luz said there was a monster behind you to get your attention—not important. Got it?”

“Mmmmkay.”

“Don’t worry about not remembering everything said. Seriously. Don’t. You’ll drive yourself crazy—if you aren’t already.”

Hunter stuck his tongue out. “I’m going to remember you said that.”

“Good, you should remember not to remember everything people say.”

Hunter crossed his arms with a grin. “No, I meant that you called me crazy.”

Luz groaned. “Hunter! That wasn’t the important part!”