#I’ll write it after I’ve finished the Camila and Darius Spa Day fic

[101flavoursofweird]

The Pariah and the Prodigy

I love how Willow and Gus parallel each other as characters. They have a lot in common (as BFFs often do) but they’re still they’re own people and they bring out the best in each other.

Willow was a powerful plant magic user, but she started off in the wrong track studying abominations, as her dads believed this would offer her more future opportunities. This— along with being bullied for years— stunted Willow’s confidence, her happiness and her true potential. She gained the undeserved nickname ‘Half-a-Witch Willow’, just because she was considered a late bloomer with her magic. Amity shunned Willow when they were little because Willow was viewed as a ‘weakling’.

Gus can be seen as a parallel to Willow. He was known as prodigy from a young age— at least, when it came to illusions. His father hoped he would become a master illusionist. Gus skipped a couple of grades and took on more advanced classes. Other students sought Gus out for his talents and acted like his friend, only to take advantage of him. This led Gus to believe that people would only want to be around him if they had an ulterior motive.

Gus joined the Human Appreciation Society and in time, he became the club’s president. He was concerned when his title of president we threatened. He admitted to feeling overlooked and ignored in the past. 

Gus seemed to project an air of confidence, but deep down, he was insecure about his youth, his abilities and his apparent nativity. He definitely had a case of Imposter Syndrome, where everyone thought he was smart, but Gus still doubted himself. (Because who is Gus, without his abilities? Who is Gus, without his title?)

When Willow met Gus— after he had been tricked into doing another student’s homework— she helped him calm down, saying that she sometimes got ‘wrapped up her own thoughts too’. Willow kept Gus out trouble (like when she disapproved of with his plan to bring the banned Luz to school, or saved he and Luz from the hungry locker), while occasionally going along with his schemes. 

In return, Gus stood up for Willow. He didn’t scream in the face of Willow’s bullies, but rather, he quietly defied them, like when he swiped Willow’s hair clip back from Boscha. By the time the club fair rolled around, Willow set up Hexside’s first flyer derby team. Sure, Gus joined her on the team, but the other members were drawn in by Willow’s speech and Hunter’s flying skills. Gus warned Hunter not to mess things up for Willow, as this had been in tough year for her. Gus had experience of fake friends and he didn’t want the same thing to happen to Willow.

I’ve occasionally seen people wondering why Hunter was the one who got to snap Gus out of his in illusion nightmare in Labyrinth Runners. Why couldn’t it be Willow? We’d seen her calming Gus down in a memory with her breathing technique— something that Gus passed on to Hunter and Hunter tried to use again on Gus, but he just ended up making Gus laugh. In a way, Willow did save Gus…

But I think the reason why she couldn’t do this in the moment was because Gus needed an outsider’s perspective. Willow is his best friend, so of course she would say what Gus needed to hear. Gus had only met Hunter once before Labyrinth Runners. What did Hunter know about Gus then? Gus is Willow’s friend… He uses his staff differently to everyone else when flying… He felt like Hunter stabbed him in the back… But until Labyrinth Runners, Hunter didn’t know the true extent of Gus’s illusion powers. He didn’t help Gus because of his abilities. He helped Gus because Gus helped him (because Gus is a good person) and Hunter wanted to return the favour… and maybe he relates to Gus with the whole trust issues thing.