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

[pincushionx]

Okok thinking about the Ghoul Hunter AU and wondering how would the TTT possession play out.

Hunter had been suppressing his hunger and instincts for months and now Belos is in control.

Does he get the same bloodlust as Hunter? Is he able to control it and does he even want to? Does he use Hunter's jaws made for ripping and tearing flesh do to just that to his friends?

Does Hunter have to explain afterwards that the mauling wasn't a side-effect of the possession, not Belos' doing, but an urge Hunter is actively trying to stop himself from acting on day after day?

By the time the possession happened, Hunter would be months without a full meal.

However this wouldn’t be the first time Hunter lashes out as his friends, that would be another time before :3. When the possession happens, the hexsquad would be aware of Hunters tendencies and bit of backstory but not the completed and ugly picture. Hunter censors himself a lot around them, never wanting to expose them to his violence and hating himself for any violence he commits against them or in front of them.

Anyways, when Belos possess him, he is overwhelmed with months worth of bloodlust and hunger. Belos felt hunger and lack of control due to his own past and curse but he was never prepared by overwhelming power of it in Hunter. So unlike canon where Belos has his focus on Titan blood, he’s overwhelmed by hunger and fights with the intent to eat.

It’s shocking, when he possesses Hunter at first with how much hunger and pain he feels as seen in the first image, he didn’t expect it and he can’t control it. So rather than mocking or in control, he’s reduced to a ravenous beast, snarling and salivating with Hunter oh so desperately trying to take back control.

These are also more like concept sketches because I do intend on having more drawings of this particular scene. Belos really thought possessing Hunter would be easy, bro forgot Hunter was used to starving and suppressing urges. :33

Also art of the long hair era thing I’m referring to.

[psychicbarbarianinfluencer]

I wish for the future had used camila a bit more when it came to acting as a parent for the whole group ( mainly hunter and to a lesser extent willow ).

To be honest I very much dislike the way this episode went about hunter's grief and the way his friends acted about it

And I was thinking about this just earlier today but the second to last episode Really would have been a great opportunity for some good Camila and Hunter interactions ( yes I'm a hunter noceda person but that's besides the point lol )

as in the actual episode she seemed to mostly just let the kids run loose And didn't really act like she was the only adult of the group

like I said it would have been a nice chance to see her do some more proper parenting for the group mainly Hunter tbh lol.

and we also could have done with her properly talking to willow and gus as willow's little freak out after Hunter shut them down when they tried to talk to him about flapjack really was not helpful nor healthy.

and it really seemed like it would have been a good chance for Camila to step in and make sure willow and gus are actually doing okay

and also reassuring them that they can't just expect Hunt to instantly be okay or up to talking to them about this and they can't really take it personally like willow did in the episode

and of course just been a more supportive and warm comfort to Hunter regarding his grief in the episode since he didn't really get that in the actual episode ( or from belos at any point in the series )

as his friends kinda twisted it into making him have to support them because he didn't get over his grief quick enough which is just kinda weird writing tbh.

but anyway point is it really feels like for the future should have used Camila more as a parent to the whole group.

and just written the way people reacted to hunter's grief better to be honest.

[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.

[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."

[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.

[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

[findmeinthefallair]

Endless things to say about these two...

Luz means "light", while Hunter was named by Belos in accordance with witch hunters:

Their encounters with one another in Hunting Palismen and Hollow Mind would set future events in motion:

and also led up to Luz telling him "You're family now":

What happened in Thanks to Them reflects the Hollow Mind paintings shown below:

Belos took both of their lives, and we hear a contrast between Luz saying "I feel like I should be used to this by now, but...I still don't know what to say" and Hunter expressing the desires which he never dared to express in Belos's throne room, since the Titan had yet to pass the wisdom of choosing oneself to Luz:

They were pulled out of the water in which they were sinking, by the parent of their adoptive sibling (who also cared about them deeply):

The loved ones who revived them, passed them the last of their strength in order for these kids to have new life:

And King's dad asked Luz to choose whether she'd receive his life force which he offered, while Belos coercively violated Hunter to use his body like he would a puppet.

The things that Luz and Hunter went through, in parallel, underscore the clash between Belos who told endless lies about the Titan's will, and the Titan himself - King's father - who had very different plans for the Isles. Caught in between:

They were put through so much.

(The big comparison post I made before thinking of this analysis - it's just a picset and not a meta/analysis - is here: link)

[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.

[captainmera]

My God I love your depiction of the Wittebane brother ❤️

Do you think there might have been a chance that your Pip wouldn't kill his brother when Calec goes to Demon Realm? He seems way more tolerable of weirdness and is actually curious about the taboo things. That it makes me wonder if other steps were taken by people around him, maybe he would make different choices and not turned into a brother-killing genocide goop man. Obviously, the blame is still his for what he did, but I can't stop wondering what if.

And him getting along with Evelyn instead of hating her right of the bat is really cute.

Thank you! :D <333

He grew up with this theatrical bisexual of a brother. Pretty sure the reason Belos didn't give a hoot on the Boiling Isles about queer stuff is because he kinda knew, and accepted, that Caleb was kinda queer. In some cases, people can ignore or bend certain rules for people they love. Even disregard them or pretend they don't apply or exist.

(long rant about writing and narrative foils and blah blah under the cut)

Unlike Caleb, I think Philip is the sort that only picks-and-chooses whatever rules he feels will supports his personal wants/thoughts and tosses the rest.

Caleb was not hiding it as well as he thought he did. lol.

I think that, sure, there was probably a turning point for Philip.

And absolutely, people around him influenced him. He's just a kid, a vulnerable one at that, in a protestant Christian cult.

I kinda like to think of it as a corruption arc. Mostly because it seems (to me) that the whole reason Luz was meant to have a depression-arc and Philip getting all "YoUrE JuSt LiKe Me!" thing was because.. There was supposed, I think, to be similar beginnings for them.

But Luz, in season 3, got depressed and felt a lot of guilt, so her arc is going from this happy-go-lucky kid interested in different things, to a depression arc where she questions herself. While Philip has a corruption arc, where he gradually goes from a well-meaning kid interested in different things, to evil and delusional.

I am also combining Luz, King, and the Collector into Kid-Philip's themes.

King is fascinating as a pre-narrative foil for kid-Philip. I think. As King was very clingy to Luz and didn't want her to leave, he too had a delusion about his own importance (disregard that it was kinda true in the end there). King tried to dictate (in that book episode) about what his and Luz' book should be about, how it should go, and it really hurt Luz' feelings. In the end, they solved it. But as a narrative foil, I think for the Wittebanes, they probably had a similar struggle on a larger scale, and it didn't get resolved.

The Collector, too! They're desperate to be close with someone, anyone, who gets them and wants to play on their terms. Kinda like Belos wanting him and Caleb to be witch hunters. Not accounting that Caleb is his own person outside of him-- Which, if you think about it, Caleb made his whole life (in my version anyway) about taking care of Philip. So I'm sure Philip felt like he really was Caleb's entire world. And then suddenly he wasn't. Because of a witch. The Collector, despite having this incredible power (just like Pip having his brilliant brain) is still a child and using their power in selfish ways. Not intentionally, I think, just out of a fear of abandonment or isolation.

I personally am in favour of nobody-is-born-evil-but-anyone-can-become-evil kinda thing.

I would like to explore how Philip gets corrupted.

I am slowly influencing Philip in my fanfic with little things that will, eventually, boil down to not so great moments.

The thing about delusions is that the person truly believes in it. Philip believing he's a hero has to make sense and feel believable.

Belos is a jerk. Philip isn't, yet. He becomes that jerk. But I don't want to write a sociopath. I also don't like using less-favourable mental illnesses as an "easy way out" to write why Philip became Belos and a genocidal maniac.

I have strong feelings about de-stigmatizing mental illnesses in writing, without romanticizing them or leaving out the really awful and less discussed sides of it. This includes diagnoses within all the clusters of the DSM5. I will not sit here and say I only support a diagnosis like Autism or GAD, and not things like Histrionic or Borderline.

And including people with MH issues and personality disorders is important, too, as well as not trying to downplay them.

People throw around Belos with things like Narcissism and Psychopath, without actually understanding what those means or what the different types there are. For example, is he a grandiose, oblivious or a fragile narcissist?

Yes, these disorders are looked down upon. A lot of people who have them aren't very nice people. But that doesn't mean they're evil or have no heart.

Lots of children can display early signs of these, and in a rough time like the colonial 1630s of America, it is not unthinkable that those rough times bred some dysfunctional people. I'm sure Philip has his own slices of pie as far as mental health goes, just like Caleb and many other struggling people.

But, I will not write from an angle that implies Philip just has darkness from the start in him.

There's a reason why I had Caleb go on a rant about being born evil in chapter 5. Because puritans, and Christians alike, at the time - truly did believe bastards were just... Half people. Did you know that if an orphanage found out a baby was a bastard, they wouldn't let it suckle the nursery goat's udders. Because they were afraid it would soil the milk and, in turn, might give the non-bastard babies bad influence. Somehow.

With that kind of logic in your culture, it's no rocket science that people would put nonsense together and think it made sense.

I'm much more interested in how puritanism and witch hunting culture influenced and corrupted Philip into becoming who he became, and why he refuses to budge on his beliefs to the point of murder.

As the owl house, the show, has commentary on systems influencing cultures in a bad and positive way. But in particular, the one Belos tries to influence the Demon Realm with; being a not-so-great way. So! With that as a clue: what made Philip turn bad, most likely, was partially the puritanism and its extremist ways. I think TOH is also a bit of a nudge at the HAYS-code of Hollywood and how it has trickled into most all the American culture-core. As it's both trickled into schools, morality, politics and other things outside cinema.

Just pointing at him and going "He's a sociopath because he became a genocidal tyrant" is, to me, cheap. Not only does it further stigmatising mental illnesses by implying only a disorder can make someone do such evil things. But it also disregards the most horrific truth of all; that the true monsters are people not at all unlike yourself. And that they, too, were children once.

[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.

[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!

[lunar-wandering]

Actually no I cannot stop thinking about the fact that, it's not that that Scene is the first time the Collector has cried, it's just the first time there's been tears.

I mean;

Look at this. This is the expression of someone who's about to cry. And, notably, they do.

We can LITERALLY hear them crying in the next scene- but when Luz approaches them;

There's no tears. Quite possibly because, physically, it's not meant to be possible for them. After all, they are meant to live in space, I think having water freeze right when it comes out of your eyes would be a hinderance, honestly.

But, then later,

they do cry tears.

so what's different about them here than before??

My first thought is the icky moss stuff. Which is, coming from a combination of Belos and The Titan. Aka, the being that can negate all of the Collector's magic. And it is shown that the Collector's magic was not working. They were, for all intents and purposes, as close to human as they could be, here.

Clearly, they have enough power to hold up the archives, but it's very obviously painful for them- which is weird, from someone who can easily move the moon, you'd think that stabilizing the archives would be easy- except for the fact that, other than the star-board he's standing on (something that seems to be more of an magic item than his own magic, in my opinion, since others can seemingly use it without his input), and the ribbons (possibly also an item), he's not actually using magic to hold it up, just their own raw strength. (Which, wow, if this is how much they can lift at their weakest, how strong is this kid just in terms of physical strength?)

But anyways, that's not my final point.

My final point is that, even after the moss is gone- suddenly we see tears forming in the Collector's eyes, when we didn't before.

Their ability to form tears didn't go away.

It could, of course, just be a symbolic thing, you know, but... there was some Titan magic mixed in with everything. What if the Collector is now more mortal than he was before? Does he know? Can he be affected by things he couldn't before, like illness or poison? Did it impact his decision to return to the stars?

What does becoming just a bit more mortal mean to an immortal?

[ofaatuu]

Similar, Tonowari x Poly!reader x Ronal

(not my gif!)

part 1 here, part 2 here !

warnings: none 👍🏽 maybe a little angst

Bold / blue words are spoken in Navi!

summary: you meet the Tsahik and Olo'ekytan of the metkayina clan and have similar features. They found you interesting and watch you from afar.

(Reminder this is Polynesian and polyamorous!)

taglist for similar! @zoexme @ellabellabus07 @yeosxxx @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @manumanulau @belos-simp69 @ratchetprime211 @tojisleftarm @sakuuo

You land in the reef clan and jump into the sand, but today you are in your Avatar. You still have all your tattoos and such. But it feels so weird. You haven’t entered your avatar in awhile. You walk to jake’s marui, bouncing a little on the walkway

You enter and greet them “Hi Jake! Hi Neytiri! Hi kids!” You greet them and sit down “Hey y/n, I can’t believe you’re in your avatar! It’s been years.” Jake says surprised. You nod, you just didn’t want to feel small compared to them anymore. “Yup..You know I can’t stay in it for too long, so don’t get used to it!” You say trying to remind him this isn’t permanent . “I still think you should at least try. You’ll be like me and get a Navi partner! But hey atleast you fit in with them! You still have your tattoos.” He pokes at your arm and leg as you scoff “No Jake, I can’t atleast try, they need to fix software or something.” You hear someone enter the Marui and feel eyes burning into your head, you then hear a familiar hiss “Who is this?” You hear Ronal hiss at Jake as he explains who i am.

You turn around to face them and see their face soften for a bit then tightens. “Ronal it’s me. Y/n” she gasps “Sky demon?” She reaches up to touch your Navi features. “But you are Navi?” She looks at you with widen eyes then turns around to tonowari who is already looking at her. They speak through their eyes and say goodbye. You turn around and look at Jake and Neytiri. “Can I just crash here tonight?” You don’t want to go back to lab because they would be pestering you with questions. “Yes. but you reek. You must go to the pond and rinse off. I will get a tweng from the Tsahik.” Neytiri says laughs as you roll your eyes and follow her out.

You reach the pond and strip from your t-shirt and shorts and dive in. You sit there waiting for Neytiri to bring your so called tweng for you to change into.

after your shower you hear some rustling in the bushes and out comes Ronal and Tonowari. “Oh..” you cover yourself and your cheeks flush in dark blue. You then reach out for the tweng and stand up “thank you.. I am going to change now.” They nod but do not move. Well thats new. You end up just moving backwards a bit and changing, you never leaving their site. “Thank you for the clothing.” You sign the I see you and start walking away but tonowari grabs your hand and whispers close to your face, “Come to our marui with your belongings. You are sleeping in our marui.” He looks at you tense. A shiver runs down your spine and you hesitate to answer but you just nod. Rushing you enter Jakes marui and tell him everything. “Holy shit! Do you think they like you? I mean they always had their eye on you but I thought it was because you’re human!” He rambled off as you hurry to grab your shit. “I don’t even know jake, but I trust them.” You say goodbye and walk towards the marui. Tonowari comes out from behind you and slips an arm around your waist. “come.” He says. “I will bring you to our home.” You walk with him tense as fuck because his damn buff ass arm is around your waist. You walk in and see Ronal and smile nervously. She smiles and pats the sleeping mat. “Come. We welcome you.” They seat you down and also give you very pretty Navi jewelry. Isn’t this a way of courting? I’ll ask Jake or norm. Right now I just need to focus on what’s happening in front of me..

god I fell. Hard.