#but also if belos was thinking of that he would have used it for the first grimwalker

[yourdandelionofthedeathknell]

Ya know, pursuant to the other reblog I made, I feel like a problem with deconstructions, superhero deconstructions, but also others, is that sometimes, when you deconstruct something, you just end up with…The original trope that that thing was responding to. I mentioned in that post the fact that "what if Martian Manhunter was evil" ends up just recreating the (itself extremely xenophobic by default) sci-fi trope of the shapeshifting alien hiding among us to destroy our great society. See also: Superman, who is framed as a repudiation of the Ring of Gyges, the idea that a man who is freed from physical constraints would be a monster as proof of either mankind's immortality or the socially-constructed nature of justice. Superman is a man who is free from every constraint our society places on people if he wants to be, but he restrains himself. His archenemy is, after all, a man who DEPENDS on the rules of our society to sustain himself, but also has no computations breaking them at every opportunity. Superman's greatest limit is the one he imposes on himself, and the intended message to an extent is that "if you are in a position of power, you should use it responsibly, and restraint yourself even, especially, if no one else will". Also, ya know, the twist on John Carter as an allegory for why immigrants are fine and good actually, ETC. And, in making parodies of Superman who are just assholes because power corrupted them, to an extent, you're just returning him to that original basic idea he was kinda meant to be in opposition to. I don't know if this makes sense, but, when deconstructing certain works, there's a tendency to end up going full circle. I think you mentioned this once in a post about Belos from the Owl House, about how a hypothetical "herofied" version of him would have to come from a vastly more conservative style of story, because that's the story he was meant to exist as a repudiation of. If he was a hero, he'd just be Doomslayer, and we already have Doomslayer. Does any of this make sense?

Superhero deconstructions for the Justice Leaguers who've managed to weasel out of it so far:

Wonder Woman: What's that? You're from a matriarchal, monarchal enclave of immortal, bronze-age warriors who worship the actual Greek gods? Who are real? And you came out the other side of that with values completely compatible with 21st-century progressive mores surrounding individualism, secularism, gender identity and governance? And you're completely accepting of trans people? That is so cool and marketable The Flash: A white midwestern cop has developed omnipresence. This is probably fine Green Lantern: Is the objectively-quantifiable and measurable quality of "Willpower" in the room with us right now. Also. who exactly signed off on this extraterrestrial paramilitary. Is this a cult Aquaman: A hereditary monarchy exerts military control over 70 percent of the world's surface. This is also probably fine

Martian Manhunter: God I wish Martian Manhunter had enough of a presence in the popular consciousness for there to be an intuitive attack surface

[strawberyaurabya]

Do you think Belos convinced himself he “saved” Caleb by killing him?

Hello, @raptors-n-foxes!

Knowing his ideology, probably. From the early 1600s, Philip and his brother were raised in what was inferred to be a strict, Puritanical society with little to no regard for kindness towards those who were different from the optimal image of what was right in their religion’s eyes.

Puritans who had began immigration from Britain and other parts of Europe in that time period initially moved to North America (and what was soon to become the colonies) to pursue a more strict and taut practice of their interpretation of the Bible, since they began to view the churches of England as corrupt. So from there, we can already assume that the people of Gravesfield were already very self-righteous and difficult to subject to change. So putting two, vulnerable orphaned brothers in that society would probably lead them to be heavily indoctrinated and influenced, since it’s the only opportunity for survival and a chance at acceptance.

Since Caleb was revealed to be older, he would be less susceptible to conforming in order to be deemed “fit”, and we can see how he eventually overcame such unsavory discrimination when he befriended witches. Philip, being younger, would not. Children with less developed minds are likely to follow in the path of elders that they look up to… Even if their role models aren’t the most optimal ones. And as they grow older, they plunge deeper into the hatred and warped perception of those around them, with a harder chance to get out. Philip Wittebane is a victim of his time period, which later grows up to be a living example of the foolishness and out-dated standards of his time.

So when Caleb left that hole to find sanctum in the Boiling Isles, where he finally found his true home, Philip saw it as an act of betrayal. Not only towards him, but towards their dreams, their town’s ideals, and their future. My personal take of Philip’s thoughts is that he did not believe that his brother, which he had spent his entire life around, would throw their relationship away like that. He would rather believe that Caleb had spent so much time around witches and forbidden magic, that it had taken over his mind and corrupted him. Hence, came the idea of putting him out of his misery. We can see such parallels in King’s Tide (The scene in which he had captured Luz and was trying to convince her to join him in his return to Gravesfield), when Luz had called him a hypocrite; his exact words were…

“I do pity you. These monsters have warped your sense of reality. Perhaps it'd be merciful to put you out of your misery…”

So it’s either his sadism, or Belos is in so much denial that his way is the incorrect way, that he’d rather believe that Caleb and Luz been swept away by dark magic instead. And since he’s had 400 years to mingle upon those thoughts and convince himself he’s in the right, he would believe it. And it’s so twisted, that even hallucinations of his brother have only fed his delusions. In the episode, For the Future, even near his death bed, he replies:

“I tried to save your soul. It's your fault this all happened!”

Which verbally summarizes what his motivation is behind killing his brother. (Maybe he even believes that making grimwalkers of his brother gives him a certain chance at “redemption”; a chance to prove that he doesn’t have to be seduced by the charm of witches and their realm) (Oh, and also… In this clip, the hand that falls off is his right one, leaving him with only his left hand. Which is not only his predominant hand, but also the kind that Puritans were discouraged from using as it was associated with the Devil’s work. Not related to this question, I just thought it would be something interesting to share!)

So, in summary, yes. I do believe that Philip convinced himself that killing Caleb saved him in the long run. This is PART of what makes him evil compared to his older brother. It is his willful refusal to change, to accept the peace between magic and conformity.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

au where the day of unity isn't until decades later and luz never comes to the boiling isles. willow somehow still gets transferred to the plant track and gets really good at her craft. amity never learns that bullying is bad, actually and they never reconciled in school.

and years later, blight industries is the most affluent company on the isles. odalia continues to be allergic to letting amity, who is her only child at this point to not run away from home the moment they turned 18 and cut all contact, associate with witches of "lower social standing."

so eventually when odalia tells amity that she's going to find her a nice respectable spouse amity just rolls her eyes and goes with it. maybe its some other heir to a big company. maybe it's a captain from the emperor's coven. maybe it's even the golden guard, if hunter managed to survive that long.

and then eventually she finds out that her mother has been trying to get her a date with PLANT COVEN HEAD WILLOW PARK

you've seen the countless amity x hunter miserable arranged marriage aus get ready for the amillow friends to enemies to arranged marriage to friends again to lovers 50k slowburn

[caramel-ribbons]

I love how the Titan isn’t a God; he’s a father who has used his power to try and communicate with the girl who has shown nothing but love and compassion towards his son. She wears the Bad girl coven shirt. There’s a Hooty piece where he’s missing an eye. Her last words to her son are “I loaf you” because she knows he likes bread puns. The Titan has more in common with witches and humans than he does with the immortalized version Belos created.

I love how Belos intentionally turned the Titan into this Godlike figure because he’s a colonizer. White colonizers thrusted their religious beliefs onto the people they deemed lesser. They actively took over entire continents and actively stole from and killed people because of their perceived superiority. Belos thinks he’s better than the witches, and so he stole the magic from the Titan, appointed himself its ruler, and attempted genocide against the witches of the Boiling Isles.

And I love how Luz saves the day, not because she was a chosen one with some innate power, but because she’d proven to the Titan that she deserved power.

“Almost as if the world wanted to hide them from me.”

“Almost like the Titan himself didn’t want me to have that knowledge.”

Because he didn’t. Because the Titan knew Belos didn’t have good intentions. But she showed the glyphs to Luz. He chose to show his power to her because he knew she would use it for good, and she did. Unlike Belos, Luz appreciated the culture of the Demon Realm and she learned to love the people of the Boiling Isles, including King, in a matter of months. Belos was there for centuries and yet he never bothered to treat the Boiling Isles with any respect. Why should he earn the Titan’s power when he can’t even respect her or any of the beings she shelters?

I’ve seen a few people (mainly on Twitter), reducing all of this to a “deus ex machina” or, “another cult metaphor”, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about respect. Respect of land and the people who occupy it. It’s about respecting people enough to understand them and their culture without forcing your own beliefs onto them. More than simply being an obvious criticism of the witch trials and the Catholics responsible for them, it’s also a criticism of people who use religion as an excuse to hurt people. Belos used the Titan as a substitute for his own God and then weaponized her against her own people, while Luz treated her offspring with nothing but love and respect.

Luz won because she loved and looked after the Titan’s son and thus, loved her. Belos lost because he didn’t even bother to learn anything about King, his Dad, or the people he protected.

Edit: A really nice commenter reminded me it was the Puritains and not the Catholics who were responsible for the witch trials. Thank you for that. Message still stands but just keep that in mind.

[astrolavas]

i think abt hunter's room back at the castle a lot because it tells us… so much abt his situation.

hunter was always expected to be this strong, mature, trained soldier. he had to act like an adult next to actual adults, in order to be minimally respected by them (and even that barely worked). he wasn't supposed to show any weaknesses, he didn't have an option to be himself freely, he was working as the emperor's right-hand man 24/7. his childhood was literally stolen from him.

and yet in his room, despite the fact that he's supposed to be this "mature" golden guard, there's the sprig plushie under his pillow. there's a cartoon character figurine on his shelf. you see it all and it really just hits you how young he is. that he's just a kid.

hunter was never allowed to have a typical childhood, and at the time as the golden guard, he wouldn't have admitted to wanting one, not even to himself. he was conditioned to believe that he had to be strong and grown up and focused or else he would be seen as weak and useless (especially with him being magicless in a magical society). but even during these times, where he couldn't be fully himself, where he could never even consider being vulnerable next to other people or acting like a kid, he had that plushie. and i just think abt all the nights where he would get back from a long, exhausting shift or from an unpleasant meeting with belos, and he'd just lay down on the bed and hug the plushie, because it was literally the only source of comfort that he had, and because despite everything he was still a kid. and at that moment, in the privacy of his own room, he was allowing himself to act like one, even if he hated himself for it.

and it's even more heart-breaking when we take into account the contrast between the cartoon plushies/figurines and the remaining entirety of his room. the weapons, the stitched up pillow, the potion (which i can only assume was something to help with healing wounds), the first aid kit.

that room is probably very bittersweet in his memories, nowadays. because he was basically trapped in there, he couldn't leave the castle most of the time, besides on weekends for missions, no matter how much he yearned for it. it has many bad memories tied to it. but back then, that room was also a single safe space for hunter; it was the only space that was his, where he didn't have to mask or watch his tone or act like an adult, he could just… feel things, be hunter, be a kid, at least as much as he'd allow himself to.

[sepublic]

“It’s funny how Luz thinks her friends won’t accept her for helping Belos meet the Collector when she sees them being chill with Hunter and his war crimes”

Y’all… Understand why Luz feels that her helping Philip meet the Collector is significant, right?

Don’t you think it’s crazy how in Hollow Mind, Luz sees Belos use the magic of the covens to dazzle people into following him, helping establish his regime. We see how his coven bindings literally killed people. And then she finds out she helped Belos meet the Collector, who gave him this type of magic? Who reiterates in the season finale that they have Belos “magic stronger than anybody’s” as well as the draining spell???

Luz gave Magic Hitler what he needed to rise to power, she saw people directly die because of what she gave him. Those ruins on the Knee she explored? They were ruins because of Luz, people displaced from their homes because Luz ran from hers, and now here she is enjoying what they lost. She knows about all of the systemic devastation, the environmental damage, all of the living things and artifacts and culture endangered; So many lives ruined or hurt or even cut short because of what Luz helped Belos find. Think of the damage the sigils have done, before their role in the draining spell is even accounted!

And the draining spell meant the Collector had to be freed; Luz thinks the Collector committed genocide on the Titans, and even misremembers them as more violent than they actually were. She doesn’t know what this successfully-genocidal being, who enthusiastically helped Belos attempt genocide on the isles, will do to its people! The Collector being freed led to Luz and her friends being stranded in the human realm, away from their families; The families Luz sees them missing, while Luz gets to have hers despite abandoning it.

Her nightmare sequence in the finale is about Luz seeing the dead bodies of everyone she’s met filling up a pit because of her, while Luz’s surviving friends blame her for this, with Gus reiterating that he lost his dad because of Luz, and losing a father is something Luz can deeply relate to.

And yet people just boiled Luz’s guilt down to just teenage self-loathing and angst, and made jokes about how Luz thinks her friends won’t forgive her for this but they’ll forgive Hunter’s war crimes! You know, the war crimes that fans just made up. That would still be Luz’s responsibility (in her eyes) since she aided in the rise of the coven regime Hunter did them for, if they were real. The war crimes of Hunter that, even if they did happen, he didn’t matter in the long run, he wasn’t needed for the genocide, and part of Hunter’s existential crisis in Hollow Mind is realizing that! But Luz was vital!

It’s absolutely insane, Luz was as explicitly suicidal as a Disney TV show could make a character, she went on a whole rant about it, and the fandom just barely skimmed over it. Idgaf if Hunter lost Flapjack, if their positions were reversed people would be drooling over suicidal Hunter! If Luz was also a white boy people would still remember this, don’t blame this on fans being distracted by what happened to Flapjack. I remember people making fun of Luz’s suicidal rant while cradling poor Hunter’s trauma in their hands!!!

For people who claim to love angst and dark topics and using it as an excuse to focus on Hunter and maybe those white guys over everyone else, it’s just wild to me. And now the fandom has gotten to a point where it’s making up angst for Hunter about him feeling guilty for killing witches (because his colonial violence is about HIS feelings amirite), instead of talking about other characters’ canonical issues. People would rather talk about Hunter’s hands.

The point is that Luz sees herself as just like Belos; A human who saw a world to play out their fantasy in, and ended up causing a genocide because of it… Dare Luz say, she’s a colonizer like Philip. Luz sees it as a butterfly effect where she’s also responsible for the coven system that her friends and the entire Boiling Isles suffered from, because without the Collector it likely wouldn’t have happened. This is why in the finale, Luz’s nightmare has herself as Belos.

And it doesn’t matter if Luz meant well, she’s seen how people, including her own mother, mean well but still hurt others who as Eda says, “have a right to be upset.” This is why in the finale, the Titan insinuates, when condemning Belos, that intent does still matter to some degree; Luz came from a place of compassion and good faith. Likewise, we have her friends pointing out that it’s disingenuous to take this blame because anyone else could’ve been tricked by Belos, he was going through different victims like Blue Fang until he succeeded in getting the Collector.

I’m sorry, but… Hunter killing people and being a war criminal is fanon. It’s not out of the question that maybe he killed others, but nothing’s confirmed, especially in regards to the others knowing. In his debut he’s averse to violence, doing minimal manhandling and resorting to threats, but avoiding killing the Selkidomus and not even checking its corpse. And this tracks with Hunter’s eventual development and belief he’s doing something good.

And even if he had killed, Hunter’s destruction is nothing compared to the coven system, the Day of Unity, the Collector’s reign, etc. Hunter’s a literally replaceable cog in the system and Belos even brings this up to the Collector. But Luz sees herself, partially because of her prior guilt, as a key part of Belos’ genocide from the start.

I get that you’re not trying to invalidate Luz’s trauma by comparing it to someone else’s and yes Luz suffers from a horrendous double standard of self-loathing. But c’mon, the show was NOT subtle about why Luz would think she’s done worse than Hunter, who has no confirmed kills, nobody dead via butterfly effect. And I’m sick of people always downplaying Luz’s trauma and feelings to hype up Hunter. Or even giving it to Hunter because they just gloss over what the nightmare in the finale meant to Luz specifically.

[shadebloopnik]

Ever go along your day and suddenly think that actually we need to give more credit to Edalyn Fucking Clawthorne. Like, she was THE Owl Lady. She was THE most POWERFUL witch on the boiling isles even at middle age. And she received a damn CURSE that ate at her powers and limited her skills SINCE SHE WAS A TEEN. Its been burning through her powers since she was a damn CHILD and it seemed to really only take significant effect decades later. And even at the HEIGHT of the curse, even when it was taking over her entire form, even when it was DRAINING EVERY SINGLE BIT OUT OF HER, she was STILL WINNING AGAINST LILITH; AGAINST THE HEAD OF THE EMPEROR'S COVEN WHO COULD ALSO USE ALL THE MAGIC TYPES, ALSO TOWERED ABOVE OTHER WITCHES IN TERMS OF POWER.

There was a reason why Belos didn't go to fight her himself. He was a bitch but he was a smart bitch and he knew that without the safety net of being related to her(like Lilith being her sister) he'd be a damn sludge on the wall 2 seasons early.

Eda was kicking ass, doing crime and looking good even with a curse that everyone expects would pull her down. She took the chains of her curse and made it her necklace. She kicked cops in the face. She powered through every heartbreak and found people who loved her to bits. Even when her power was finally drained, she got her bombass Harpy form by parenting the shit out of the OwlBeast bc she's just that cool. And even without her powers and forms you say? We'll she's a fucking talented GENIUS, she's literally so smart she's smarter than Lilith despite how chaotic she acts. She's an amazing musician. She's one of theee best potion makers. And again, she's a damn GENIUS in both academics and street smarts. And at the end of it all, she opened up a school and worked to break down the foundations of the very system that shunned her and her people. She made people embraxe individuality all the while teaching them to appreciate the love and support of a family/community. She's building a world, a family that she would have loved to had when she was younger and hurt and confused and alone.

She had a disability and she wore it like a fucking QUEEN and idc how much The Owl House fandom dies down in the future, this woman never went down without a fucking fight ESPECIALLY if it was for the people she loves and she DESERVES the never ending praise.

"How pathetic are you, that you can't best me at my WORST."

[electraslight]

hello! inquiring minds want to know about your thoughts on gus. in particular the mask w the third eye + the third eye you drew him with a couple times. i've always been a little disappointed with how little the show expanded on the stuff we saw in e.g. labyrinth runners and you always have interesting things to say (or make up on the spot :P) about your designs ^^

i love gus!! hes so charming and basically every episode with a gus subplot is good. the stuff about the illusionists graveyard and gus protecting it is really cool and gets me thinking about how much gus knows about magical artifacts (he should be a historian not a teacher when hes older imo) and labyrinth runners is one of my favorite episodes. i think the specific way hunter and gus connect is really well written and i wish wed seen them interact more after that (but i just generally very much enjoy their friendship). I think people often talk about gus as if it was hunter specifically that 'stole' his screentime but like, are we forgetting gus and willow were barely used in favor of episodes trying to teach a 5 year old child concepts hes too young for lol. season one was so poorly paced in comparison to s2 that yeah, i dont think it was hunter that took from gus specifically. you could say the same thing about amity

I do however think willow's very shoehorned 'arc' in s3 would have fit way better with gus, who has 1. forced himself to keep up a peppy attitude and uplift everyone else even though hes terrified for his dad and also is like. 12. 2. has been known to have intense involuntary magic outbursts that can sometimes induce flashbacks of your worst moments ever, and 3. you can still do the thing where hunter talks them down bc like. theyve done this before. like i feel like honestly willow had completed her arc in season 2 and after that most willow stuff was her trying to convince everyone else she was better now. I have a lot of issues with how huntlow kind of erased willow and gus's friendship too, which i always though was rlly cute, but again i digress

back to my gus design, the 'third eye' is facepaint like willow or amity's markings, but while hes using his powers it can appear to move around. hes not pictured with the mask here but he has a set of comedy and tradgedy masks (the blight twins have this insignia too but i havent drawn them casually yet) Gus has satyr blood (his grandparent was one of the last satyrs to interact with witches before they left to live in the forest after their lifestyle was no longer supported. God damn it belos) so his ears are bigger than other witches and hes very short.

anyway. i like gus a normal amount. thanks for asking!

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Highlights from the Owl House reunion panel!

Dana headcanons that the Collector, when traveling between dimensions, came across Bill Cipher a dorito, shrugged, and continued on his way

Zeno said that If Hunter and “his big brother” (Caleb? I assume?) could spend the day together, they would go to the zoo, eat junk food, stay up late, and sleep in

Mela thinks that if Kikimora went to therapy, she would write letters (using her hair claws) of apology to the people she’s wronged

Elizabeth said Camila’s palisman would be a chancleta

Avi thinks that Raine loves making collages and going on nature walks in their spare time

Dana added that King would enjoy helping out with the collages and the consensus became that Raine just hosts collage nights

Alex was adamant that Eda would not be afraid of the IRS (*in the Grunkle Stan voice* “SHE WOULD BE THE ONE TO TAKE THEM DOWN! THE PERFECT WOMAN!”)

Zeno said Hunter's favorite Kingdom Hearts character would be Roxas

Dana can't say whether or not she's working on any new projects

Sarah-Nicole thinks that Hooty would be Luz's chambelan at her quinceañera

Dana said that Lilith's palisman is the one holding the camera for the final shot of the show

According to Dana, the Healing Coven Head would have been "silent, stoic, and scary" if the show had gotten to explore her personality more. Apparently she would have been the only Coven Head Belos wasn't sure he could manipulate

Dana also said that the Oracle Coven Head might have known Kikimora's family (and possibly been the one who got her her job)

Cissy and Sarah-Nicole said that Luz would be the illustrator of Lilith's books on the history of the Isles

Avi thinks that Eda and Raine gromposed to each other silmultaneously

[for-those-who-wait]

it hurts me to ask this, but how would blorbo!Hunter respond to the death of flapjack…

Blorbo Hunter has cat brain where he doesn't really have a complex thought process (there's another ask about this in my inbox that I'll answer once I doodle some more, I'll try to go more in-depth about it then) so I think it would be that situation where one of your pets passes and the other is confused about why their buddy isn't around anymore and why their owner is suddenly very sad

I would really like to make a comic about it but it would take a while and my brain is mush so, taking crack seriously, I think it would happen like this (very limited memory of what happens in the beginning of For the Future):

Blorbo Hunter is probably in somebody's pocket or bag for the whole altercation with Belos in Thanks to Them, so he didn't actually witness anything. Everyone is very torn up about it after they go through the portal, the blorbo is a little confused about why Hunter looks sad and weird, but he's just kind of chilling. Hunter can't really stand to look at the blorbo for a bit (something about anxiety about loss and wanting to distance himself emotionally as a coping mechanism) so he passes him off to Luz and the gang to watch over while he broods in the corner at the Owl House like normal. Blorbo Hunter is just hanging out, he's kind of wondering what's up since I think Flapjack would be as constant a presence for blorbo Hunter as he is for regular Hunter and he's similarly not used to not having that presence nearby. They are friends, they love each other, and he wants to know where his friend is!

I think blorbo Hunter has a little bit of a signal thing going where he'll make little gestures about things he wants (he just learned that Flapjack is more likely to interact with him if he opens his arms like he wants a hug, and he kept doing it). So the gang is familiar by now that when he splays his little arms out, he's referencing Flapjack. And he doesn't actually do that until they're all calming down, slowly trying to fall asleep at the Owl House, and he finally wriggles away to find Hunter (because he follows him absolutely freaking everywhere and he might as well have a natural homing beacon for that boy)

Hunter's not really trying to sleep, he's been Irreparably Traumatized, and blorbo Hunter climbs onto him and splays his arms out like "Where's Flapjack?" since Hunter usually knows where he is, and blorbo Hunter has associated Hunter with Flapjack appearing. Hunter isn't even sure if he should respond to that, because he knows by now that the blorbo just can't really understand the concept of loss like that. Hunter's probably tearing up a bit by now because of all the stress and emotions he's shoving down, and now he's got this innocent little thing looking up at him for guidance that he feels he's incapable of providing because Flapjack, the one thing the blorbo is asking for, is gone in a way that Hunter can't explain and the blorbo can't understand.

Blorbo Hunter, ever the cat, at least recognizes that Hunter's upset. The blorbo climbs up onto his chest, probably lays right up against his chin, and just sits there for the sake of closeness and an attempt at comfort. And for his part, I think Hunter would just grieve a lot about it because Flapjack was probably there to help him process even accepting blorbo Hunter in the first place (I think Flapjack would immediately love the blorbo and would have to spend a long time convincing Hunter to give him a chance as well), and now he's left with the guilt of having initially disliked the blorbo and also killing his friend. Like "I killed Flapjack with the hand that I am currently using to try and comfort this weird clone-cat-creature he was friends with, I'm so incredibly messed up and terrible for this."

This child can fit so much trauma and self-hatred in him holy crap

ANYWAY sorry for the ramble, hopefully that answers the question, thank you for asking it :))

[co-dependance]

I’ve seen people talk about the main theme of the owl house being acceptance, and I think they’re completely right about that. But I haven’t really seen anyone look at the sub themes depicted in the show around the acceptance theme.

Specifically how the owl house is really advocating for child autonomy. Specifically in the ways of discipline, showing that communicating and talking with children ends up being a lot more beneficial and effective than punishing them.

The most obvious example comes with the collector, where instead of talking to him, King’s dad punished the kid by putting him in essentially time out, for the actions of his siblings. Which he would’ve learned if he had talked to the collector. And then following that, every interaction before talking with Luz, has the collector being used or placated in some way instead of being treated like an actual child due to the amount of power he has. The titan trappers revering him as some sort of god, Belos manipulating him, and even king attempting to appease the collector, instead of really talking to him. Though for king it’s a bit more understandable. Even so, the show showcases the collector’s change only after he’s talked to like a person, and then shown why his views were wrong.

Luz, who’s the main focus of the show, has her character arc and journey centered around being punished for her not fitting in at school. And while, yes, some of Luz’s antics that were shown seemed to be legitimately dangerous, the real solution would’ve been to talk with her and teach her about safety and why bringing wild animals and fireworks into a school building is dangerous. It should have also been that Luz should be able to talk and negotiate with her teacher about what would be acceptable for her projects with her endless creativity. The solution was not to essentially punish Luz for being creative, and what that only did was make her feel worse about herself and more isolated from the people she thought would be on her side. And then we were shown in thanks to them and for the future, Camilla’s growth into understanding that not talking to Luz about this, and essentially forcing her into normality, was not the way to go about things.

And we see this theme again, with Willow forced into the abomination track because her parent’s thought that was what was best for her, until she was able to showcase her skills and switch to what she was actually good at. Alador realizing he missed a lot of Amity’s growth by not talking to her, and then making it up to Amity by letting her set the boundaries and reestablishing their relationship. Odalia being controlling and not listening to her children which lead to actively harming their social development, until she was confronted and then shut out. Belos manipulating Hunter, isolating him, and abusing him, not even listening to what he had to say. And all of these situations were made better and more bearable when they were given the chance to take charge and be heard.

All this, in an attempt to showcase that children can be vulnerable and malleable, but they are also smart and understanding. And instead of deciding what a child needs, it’s important to communicate with the child instead, asking what they need and listening to what they’re saying. And implementing that by guiding and supporting them, not attempting to control them to what someone else thinks is right.

Children are smart and observant, they just need to be taught how to communicate, and viewed and thought of as actual human beings.

In a way, the owl house is attempting to advocate for it’s audience, and that’s beautiful.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

I never thought Belos was going to be able to possess a grimwalker for the final act even before this episode tbh. Like I know they were setting up Belos collecting grimwalker ingredients all season 2 so there was going to be something that happened with a grimwalker. Maybe in a full season 3 Belos would have possessed a freshly made grimwalker and then after they defeated Belos the grimwalker would have been left alive and Hunter would have gotten a new brother. Gatherer, if you will. Or maybe Belos would have made a new grimwalker to replace Hunter leading up to the day of unity and the same thing happens.

But with a shortened season 3, the problem with this premise is that the grimwalker Belos possessed would have been his own person. That’s the whole point of the grimwalkers in general. Belos used them as his tools/replacements for his brother, but Hunter had his own thoughts and feelings. It wasn’t fair for Belos to project his brother onto an innocent child, and the extent that he did shows how monstrous he had become in his hatred and grief towards his brother. The same goes for the rest of the grimwalkers.

If Belos were to make a new grimwalker and go through the final act while possessing him, then the crew would have to establish that, yes, this grimwalker is also an innocent child who Belos took advantage of. Like the Collector, Hunter, Lilith, and everyone else manipulated by Belos, he deserves to be free of Belos and live a happy life where he could choose his own future. If they establish this, the crew would have two options:

1. Have the gang defeat Belos but have the grimwalker survive that, and have him be taken in by whatever characters are appropriate to live happily ever after.

2. Have the gang defeat Belos but have the grimwalker die during that. Then, everyone would lament how evil Belos was for causing the death of yet another kid.

The second option obviously wouldn’t be allowed in a TV-Y7 rated Disney show. I guess they do a version of that in For the Future? Where the grimwalker in Belos’s lab was already dead and Belos couldn’t possess it. But in here, the rest of the characters don’t know it happened. They can’t reflect on the humanity of the grimwalker or the tragedy of its creation/death, so the more horrifying implications aren’t explored onscreen.

As for the first option, I doubt it would have gone over well in a full season 3, much less in a shortened season. To introduce a new character to the cast, especially one with such an important connection to Hunter, another main character, would require giving him a lot of characterization for the audience to have an emotional attachment to him. Otherwise, while the audience may recognize the grimwalker is important to Hunter and the rest of the gang, it wouldn’t tie in well with the rest of the story.

The emphasis on the humanity of grimwalkers in general throughout the show would also come across as hypocritical if the only focus on this grimwalker is what he represents to other characters, not who he is as a person. This plot point should be a midpoint of a story normally, so more time is available to characterize the grimwalker. But if you make it something Belos does in the final battle, especially in a shortened season 3, we don’t get anything out of the new grimwalker character that we wouldn’t get out of Hunter. Him possessing Hunter in Thanks to Them already had most of the emotional impact that this scenario would have had. Even more, since we actually know Hunter. Doing it again would just be redundant.

[leo-artista]

Soooo I've been thinking about this roleswap au that I made and how Eda and Stan's backstories would change in accordance to their new setting, and here's what I have so far:

- Eda and Lilith's conflict stems from Lilith feeling like her accomplishments aren't recognized by her parents because they're always more worried about taking care of Eda (she's chronically ill, because in toh her curse is used as a metaphor for that so I thought it would be cool to include it here). And like Stan and Ford they never communicate about it, so it ends up souring their relationship

- Their fall out happens because Eda accidentally breaks Lilith's project, and Lilith assumes she sabotaged her on purpose. Then they fight and Eda decides to leave the house to get away from her sister and also her overprotective mom

- Fast forward a few years, Lilith calls for help from Eda because she was tricked by an entity she thought was her friend (Belos). They fight, Lilith goes through the portal, Eda steals her identity and spends 30 years working to bring her back, you know the drill

- So in this au I thought about making Luz and King twins, but then I had the idea of King taking Soos's place as the adopted son figure who works in the shop since it would kinda match with their canon relationship, so instead Luz and Vee are sisters here, and Vee's adopted. Idk if they would actually be related to Eda or not, maybe her and Camila are friends and she asks Eda to let her kids spend summer with her or something

Now to Stanley:

- So like. The whole "six fingered freak" stuff kinda doesn't work anymore because this is the boiling isles and everyone's weird here. I still want Ford to have six fingers because it's an iconic part of his character, but it's just seen as a normal thing in this setting so it doesn't change anything

- Ford has an afinity for all types of magic, and he wants to join the emperor's coven so he can be allowed to study and use all of them. Stanley's also good with magic, but since he doesn't pay attention at school and doesn't care enough to learn more than he has to, he's known as the "dumber twin", even if in practicality they're on the same level

- To be honest idk how the whole curse thing would go. Maybe Ford is manipulated by Bill (who takes Belo's place in this au) to curse his own brother in exchange for joining the coven because he sees potential in him? Well in any case, Stan gets cursed and attacks Filbrick while in his owl form and that's how he gets kicked out

- Maybe Soos could be King in this au, since I don't want Stan to just be all alone and I think they'd have a cute dynamic

- Mabel and Dipper end up in the boiling isles after they ditch summer camp and end up with Stanley. Dipper doesn't like him at first, but Mabel thinks he's really cool and she wants him to teach her magic (which Stanley eventually does, begrudgingly). Dipper really likes the boiling isles and wants to learn everything he can about it, so he ends up getting into Hexside (followed by Mabel who wants to learn more about the magic system so she can become the coolest witch ever)

- By this point Ford is working with the emperor and trying to catch Stanley because he thinks he can find a cure for the curse (Bill told him so, and he'd never lie to him, right?)

So that's all I have for now, if you have any comments or suggestions I'd love to hear it

[xjulixred45x]

Can i request headcanons of hunter with a Romantic and platonic s/o that is like flutershy from mlp? Like,extremelly shy,meek and sweet,loves all animals no matter how dangerous they are and probably a beast keeper,i hope is not to much for you,keep doing good work and take care🫶

Oh yes! Yes! Thanks for the Request!

Hunter Noceda x Fluttershy! Reader

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: female

Warnings: this include Golden Guard Hunter so, he's kind of a adorable jerk sometimes, but it gets better, Reader is very shy and kind, Reader is a Beast Keeper, References to Belos but nothing grafic. Fluff.

As always a little context.

reader has always had a great connection with animals (perhaps her parents could have been farmers or already part of the beast coven?) and this was both a great advantage and a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, she could be quite safe in Bonesburgo compared to the average, since she could VERY easily tame the creatures that came across her, be they fairies, spiders, any creature.

Her family may even have been able to make a living from this lol

However, it also had its bad side since reader was not able to see that most of these animals and creatures were only friendly and docile to HER, generating incidents such as fairy infestations, bringing honeycombs of fire and causing injuries, things for the style.

Although, being bonesburgo, most people only saw readee as a very tender killing machine whom they should respect more than anything else xd.

Apart from that the affinity with animals only increased as she grew, drawing more attention.

reader joined the coven of beast keppers very early, gaining even more prestige, much to her bad luck.

Because precisely having had so much attention from such a young age made her become more shy and in a certain way reserved.

She simply doesn't like to be the center of attention, so she tries to be as discreet as possible.

More when sometimes she gets involved with famous creatures in smuggling or that Belos does not explicitly allow.

Maybe even thanks to this, reader tried to live as far away from people as possible, simply because that way she could raise her little animals and not so little animals in peace.

but obviously you can't always make a living from what you do in the garden (I would like to) and you go to the city from time to time for supplies.

NOW, I have two versions of how Hunter and reader may have met.

1- on one of these trips to the city or 2- the reader could be the apprentice of Eberwolf (the leader of the Coven to which she belongs).

For a certain matter of ease, I'm going for the second.

Training with Eberwolf is... strange, mostly because reader has to interpret everything he "says", but it's not as bad as one would think considering the feared reputation of the coven leaders.

Hunter would probably know at a superficial level about the existence of reader, mostly from the incidents involving her "little animals."

but I don't think they interact as such until the episode where Hunter wants to earn the respect of the Coven leaders.

There not only Hunter interacts with Darius and Eberwolf, but also with reader.

Maybe Eberwolf is trying to get Reader to go with Hunter to improve her social skills since they are both of a similar age, or maybe he just wants to annoy her, we don't know.

or even reader may be one of the few people who actually stay when Hunter calls the Coven leaders because well, he's the Golden Guard! He technically has a higher position than her and doesn't want to get into trouble.

and thanks to this small show of respect and "discipline" Hunter drags her with him to his mission as an "assistant" which, to the reader's discontent, involves interacting with people.

Regardless of how she has been assigned to Hunter, reader at first is used to just following him because she doesn't really know what to do in this situation, she is almost as socially inept as Hunter, so when they try to come up with ideas of how to get more people in to the emperor's coven, they unintentionally end up sabotaging themselves.

H: Do teenagers like the same things that we don't? rules, train-

R: fierce but cute animals? follow the strongest? silence?

H: animals that end our enemies for us? you are a GENIUS-

In a way they do bonding through their VERY WRONG ideas of normality and when they go to bring recruits they fail even more than in the canon.

(I imagine reader doesn't think much about FlapJack at first, she just can't help but see the Palismans as animals too, so she pretends she didn't see anything every time Hunter talks to him).

However, when the topic of the Flying Derby comes up, things definitely start to take shape.

I don't think Reader is weak basically, you have to have strength to handle wild animals even if they are tame, so when they practice a little, Hunter ends up QUITE impressed with how much weight she can actually carry.

(When he makes a comment about it he meant it as a compliment but it sounded ruder than he intended. He facepalmed for a long time).

Reader quickly becomes friends with Vinny and hee griffon, even telling her everything she knows about his specific breed type, diets, allergies, clothing size--

reader compensates her lack of speed with strength and her animals, speed is Hunter's strong point so they both complement each other quite well.

reader may even share a little of her philosophy with the animals (and people) to Hunter when they win, having a better understanding of each other and the "opportunities" they were given.

Even when the mission ends and Reader has to return to Eberwolf, Hunter continues to seek her out for other missions after that.

I would say that for quite some time their dynamic is like a "villain" that no one takes seriously with a faithful "servant", except that Hunter treats the reader as a sidekick or teammate. He doesn't feel like he can do the job without her.

especially when her positive affirmations become something he EXPECTS, or he gets used to having hair from whatever animal the reader brought with her that time, or when he learns to sharpen his hearing to hear whatever the reader murmurs when she thinks that He's not listening (which he's not doing! Not at all!)--

Let's say it's obvious to everyone except them.

If we talk about a relationship in general, it is a perfect balance.

Hunter wants to pretend for a long time to be the perfect guard, who doesn't make any mistakes and who is arrogant and so on. but in reality he is much more in need of attention and AFFECTION than he wants to admit.

reader is someone who evokes a certain tenderness and kindness, someone who you would think would be incapable of harming a fly, but is much stronger than she seems, she could perfectly turn all the fauna of the Boiling Islands against you--

Hunter learned quickly not to underestimate reader and sincerely likes that she can handle herself, of course, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like to show off a little and protect her from time to time, but knowing that she can protect herself leaves him very in peace.

Hunter wants to know as much as possible about the reader's interests to be more helpful when her "little animals" get out of control.

I honestly think Hunter is surprised how the reader can find any of the creatures on the Boiling Islands remotely endearing (except maybe King?) but he definitely understands how her connection to nature (which doesn't want to kill her) helps the reader.

Hunter supports any animal his partner brings in as long as it doesn't bite her off a limb.

although the Hunter post Time Skipe is definitely much more into the topic of animals and will happily introduce the reader to the WORLD OF WOLVES.

Hunter is happy to have a partner with so much empathy and who sees the good even in beings who objectively cannot see them that way, having lived with Belos all his life. Hunter is truly touched by how the reader takes care of the animals as if they were her own babies.

Hunter will definitely fight for the reader's animals (not only for her, but because at this point he is as in love with her as he is with the animals).

Hunter himself is shy, and although at first it was difficult for him to adapt to his partner's shyness, he quickly adapts and even feels safer with her because of it, because he knows that she will not judge him for having problems communicating certain feelings.

👏introduce👏reader👏to👏Darius👏both he and Eberwolf definitely saw it coming from afar, but Eberwolf still made good money.

READER TEACHING HIM HOW TO MAKE ANIMAL EMBROIDERY AND THANKS TO THAT HE DECIDES TO MAKE A FLAPJACK EMBROIDERY I CAN'T---

I know I just said that Hunter would not be overprotective, but I can see him being cautious in social settings since the reader's personality can be the target of either 1- teasing or 2- attempts to make her feel bad for that very reason, and Hunter ITS NOT HAVING IT.

Don't even get me started on unity day :,) Hunter would insist the reader not only not go to the congregation, but to RUN AWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. If reader didn't do it and, worse, was with Hunter by the time the drain spell passed, both of them would be heartbroken to see the other in so much PAIN.

We could say that it is even the reader's personality that helps him in especially dark moments, like when he is in the human world (without reader) he probably tries to cheer himself up or tries to think of an alternative plan thinking just " What would do reader?" and so even if it's just being a little happy thinking that "she would probably hug a "bear" or whatever that thing is"

GHAAAA DURING THE COLLECTOR SPECIAL HUNTER WOULD BE SO WORRIED ABOUT READER AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO PHYSICALLY PREVENT HIM FROM COMING AFTER COLLIE IF HE TURNED HER INTO A PUPPET---

reader is like his TORCH of hope in the black sea where Belos left him, which encourages him to get out of there, see all the possibilities, be HAPPY. and Hunter wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING AT ALL.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[thousandyearphantombunker]

The Owl House Critical Post, scroll away now I don't know if I am being too harsh in this post but I wrote it anyway so if you don't wanna read something potentially upsetting this is a warning (to those who decide to read please tell me if I'm being too harsh)

I remember initially hating how the show handled its villains, they all felt like jokes, they never felt like threats or like they provided a meaningful challenges for the main cast, they never had any real depth or complexity. but i bit my tongue, I was told that I was basically a dumbass for complaining that Bump openly breaks a law that's supposed to be punishable by death so that Luz could fulfill her witchy fantasy and that he wasn't arrested. the show could've had him make the multiclass student thing be something underground- boom it lets luz live out her fantasy but doesn't ignore what was established about the setting and creates potential stakes if these underground classes ever got discovered! That already made me angry but the cult thing is what I wanted to complain about- i only had basic ass knowledge about cults and TOH fails at portraying that crap, most people in the EC can just quit and do so in a way that makes it feel like they're just quitting a job, it doesn't feel like they fear losing their friends or sense belonging and community, they don't feel like they're anything but jokes. Leaving a cult is scary, often times cults will send their followers into the real world and set them up to have bad experiences so they'll come running back, they'll hire thugs to scare them into staying or position them in away so that they suffer (sending them out without money or the skills to survive), they humiliate those who begin to ask questions so that they stay in line. guilt tripping, putting members against each other, cutting off contact with the rest of the world! The show only adds the whole 'forced to fight on a mountain' thing for flavor! Everytime it brings up actual stuff cults do it feels like it's more for flavor than actually writing this topic with sensitivity- look at how they treat Lilith! Imo It feels like the show insulting people for ever trusting belos, treating them like they're braindead and could've just realized fairly easily that he was evil. It's the most egregious with hunter who was basically fucking born into the EC. the show is also pretty black and white, which is curious for a show that gets praise for its portrayal of religious trauma. You think the show would be more grey. I did deeper research into cults and just got SO tired of people talking about how good the show was at conveying such a heavy topic. The titan reveal also doesn't help- Luz is told by an all powerful deity that she is the chosen one basically and is told that old man is evil and needs to go down- isn't that the same justification that belos uses for his actions- not saying belos should've gotten redemption or forgiveness but this feels wrong. He deserved to die don't get me wrong but using this justification feels gross. What's even worse is that the titan made Philip's life harder on purpose- ah yeah that brainwashed cult victim would totally change his mind especially if you make his life harder- yeah I would've preferred if belos was depicted in a flashback just having a bad time on the boiling isles and cherry picked those bad experiences to justify his actions. Also I hate that the show just writes belos off as greedy and glory seeking when it could've conveyed a message about how people can get absolutely get warped by religious dogma. I do wonder though if I'm being too harsh because TOH is for kids and I was told it would be hard to portray this stuff in a way kids could understand. I can come up with ways to make the breaking the law openly thing less egregious but I am struggling to think of ways the show could have handled the cult thing, I am aware that maybe I'm accidentally saying stuff that is kind of bad faith but this is my truth. I feel like TOH wasn't good at villains and it sure as hell didn't write cults well

[sepublic]

So in Willow’s debut, it’s established that Abominations is considered as having better career opportunities than Plants. And in hindsight, it makes sense now; Abominations are valued by the coven regime in the way Blight Industries does them, as industrial Abomatons that can be controlled, as a means of military power and not magitech medicine as Alador shows in the epilogue. Belos buys them from Odalia, he practically assimilates Blight Industries.

This is because Abomatons don’t think for themselves, they’re servants that can replace covenscouts in areas that would challenge morality, and they lack the sapience to be targeted. They’re beings Belos can control without having to learn more of the magic he despises to do so; All of this is in contrast to how Darius or Amity use Abominations as a reflection of their own skill, the individual.

We see how the Abomatons aid the coven regime, and esp see through the Day of Unity; The Abomatons can be programmed, and do nothing without orders; They’re not going to become witches and demons in their own right, they’ll maintain those walls and then do so for the end of time.

They don’t need to be targeted for genocide as victims of the draining spell who would be incapacitated, so they can do their job while that happens. They keep witches corralled because the closer to the ritual, the faster the covenbound die. Of course, those who haven’t collapsed might try and stop the spell by removing the coven heads, which would place them within weakening proximity anyhow…

But that paranoia over covenbound who aren’t yet unconscious is justified; The Abomatons’ own creator rendered their role in the Day of Unity and the regime as a whole obsolete, because he had the strength away from the ritual to help the kids reach the skull, which allowed King to free the Collector and undo everything.

Plus, Belos is loathe to the isles; He depletes its natural resources, he wants all life to die and devastating the ecosystem is another way to do so. Hunter suggests growing Palistrom wood and he’s furious at the idea. So of course Plant magic is devalued, because it’s focused on life, on sustainability, with keeping others alive.

It’s the exact opposite of the cold industrialism that will make the Day of Unity happen and leave the land barren afterwards because the Abomatons themselves are barren in that sense, lacking magic and with little to contribute to the ecosystem, if anything. Plant magic is half of nature, the other being Beastkeeping, I wonder if that is also devalued by the regime?

Makes sense the Demon Hunters have to resort to menial city jobs instead of their traditional livelihood, forced to assimilate into an urban society if their environment has been depleted by colonialism. Adds to Darius and Eberwolf being rebels. And with Terra, it shows how much she’s willing to throw her fellow witches under the bus for utopia.

I remember speculating it since I was a Teenage Abomination; Abominations really is STEM, down to being used for military applications. Given TOH’s critique of the American education system, you can see how this metaphor extends when the work of creating a sustainable society and environment is secondary to destroying enemies and establishing supremacy and capital (As established with CEO Odalia’s motives).

Because it’s fun and easy to destroy, rather than do the banal yet meaningful work of actually building and healing and feeding people, thinking of how society can be sustainable. It’s easy to talk about how you can destroy witches zombies in an apocalypse, instead of how to keep a community of survivors alive; All that talk about how dudes bored with their lives dream about being an action hero at the expense of society’s collapse, without understanding what the world really needs is builders and not destroyers, and that they’d be nothing without the people who do this ‘boring’ work, is so very Belos.