#but since Hooty IS the house he can do what he wants

[wingsyliveblogs]

oh nooooo not the sad music... she’s got to be missing her mom too but she’s probably afraid of saying even that much 

So... is communicating solely through emojis normal for Luz? If not, that in itself might be suspect, though it could easily be written off as her being unusually busy. 

The more important issue here is probably that the emoji she’s using is the exact opposite of how she’s actually feeling (oof) and that it’s really easy to lie over text and now that I think about it, have they even called each other at all since Luz left? I can imagine why Luz might be hesitant to call, but I’m a little surprised the subject hasn’t come up at all, since texting clearly isn’t an issue.

That being said, Luz has ample motive and plenty of opportunity to make excuses to avoid awkward phonecalls, so it’s possible she’s just been dealing with that issue the same way she’s been dealing with everything else involving her mom.

Aaaaand that serious mood lasted all of five seconds. We can always count on you to lighten things up, Hooty!

...hold up, is that Luz’s signature on the picture in the background there? I wonder when she made that? (I must also wonder if it was visible in an earlier episode and I’ve just forgotten since, because that’s quite plausible all things considered. I can always go back and check, though!)

[threeawfulfruits]

My brain, stirring all my interests around like peeps in a chili pot:

[sergeantsporks]

WATCHING AND DREAMING SPOILERS

Writing request: Luz tells everybody about what she saw in the Realm In Between. Including the weird Hooty in the Titan’s eye. They spend a while questioning and investigating Hooty’s origins, increasingly confused and terrified.

Gus held an illusion microphone to Luz’s face. “Did she look like King?”

“A lot, yeah.”

“Was he as big as the Isles?”

Luz tilted one hand back and forth. “At the end? She was bones, huge when she disappeared. But when I was talking to him… you know what, how about I just draw him for you?”

King’s tail wagged back and forth. “Yes!”

Luz sketched a pear, adding limbs and claws and… she paused halfway through drawing Papa Titan’s face. One of his eyes… “Hey, Hooty? You, uh…. You wouldn’t know anything about… Look, one of her eyes was missing and had a… well, a you dangling out of it. Do you know why?”

“Of course I do, hoot. That’s where I was born.” Hooty bobbed up and down. “Why do you ask?”

King grabbed Hooty’s face in his hands. “Hooty. Hooty. You’re telling me that you lived in the titan’s eyeball, and you didn’t realize I was a titan?!”

“How would I know that? I didn’t live in your eyeball. Geeeze.”

Luz pinched her nose. This was going to be a frustrating conversation, wasn’t it? “Hooty. If you lived in the Titan’s eyeball… why did you leave? How did you get here?”

“Oh.” For a creature without shoulders, Hooty was incredibly good at shrugging. “Evelyn felt bad about taking the eye for her portal door, and offered me a place to stay at her house. Or in her house? I picked in her house.”

Willow’s jaw dropped, and she glanced at Hunter. “Wait, Evelyn? Like, from the brothers Wittebane story in Gravesfield Evelyn? You knew her?”

“Told Gus all about it in our interview!”

Everyone twisted around to look at Gus.

“What?” he demanded, “I stopped listening five minutes in. Have you heard him ramble? He told me every single thing he’s had for breakfast since he spawned! Do you know how many times I heard the phrase ‘and then I ate a bug?!’ Too many times, Luz. Too. Many. Times.”

“Okay,” Luz said slowly, “Hooty, explain. Start at the beginning.”

“Don’t say that,” Gus told her in a strangled whisper, “Luz, what have you done?”

“Well, it all started the day I hatched inside of the titan’s eyeball,” Hooty began, apparently oblivious to Gus’ distress, “I don’t remember it! Not a single thing! But I remember crawling around in the titan’s eye.”

King looked like he might be sick. “Doing… what?”

“Eating it, of course! But then maggots started spawning, so I ate those, and that’s when I realized how tasty bugs were!”

“But… you’re a bug demon, aren’t you?” Hunter asked tentatively, “Isn’t it… weird… to eat bugs?”

Hooty stared at Hunter for a long, long moment, his eyes narrowing as he considered what Hunter said. Hunter shifted nervously, but then Hooty’s eyes popped back open. “Nope!”

“The titan,” Luz pressed, “You were living in his eyeball, eating maggots, and then…”

“There was a great squelching noise, and the eyeball was ripped away! A great flood of light shone through, and I was left hanging out of the socket.”

“And then?” Luz asked again.

“Then I found out just how many bugs there were in the world. Bugs everywhere! Buzzing all around! Grown-up maggot flies, beetles, worms—”

Luz had gotten used to Hooty—or so she thought. Every so often, he’d casually reveal some extra horrifying feature of his, and she’d be left in the lurch again. As far as the way he talked, she was usually confident she could handle it. But right now, she wanted to shake him until all the answers fell out.

“Evelyn,” she interrupted, “She took out the eyeball?”

“Yep! She said she was very sorry, but she needed it for her door, and then asked if maybe I’d like to come along, and I said will there be bugs, and she said more than you can eat, which I said wasn’t likely since I’m miles of empty tube, and she laughed, and I followed her home. And she dug a burrow for me, and I jumped in, but then I found the wood of the house. And there were termites! So I ate them, and burrowed into the house. Boy was she surprised when I stuck my head out the door.”

“And—the portal?”

“You mean Eda’s portal?”

“Yes—did Evelyn build it?”

“I don’t know. I was busy. No bugs were getting in on my watch. I ate a beetle, then a fire bee, then a worm, and then a fly, and then another fly, and another fly, and then I ate Evelyn’s kid, because I thought she was a large fairy, but Evelyn made me spit her back up. And then I ate another beetle, and an ACTUAL fairy, and—”

Gus pressed pillows against his ears. “I warned you! Make him stop!

“—and then I ate a really big beetle that was all shiny gold and white when it came to bother Evelyn—”

Hunter coughed. “Is he talking about Belos?”

“—but I spit it back up because it was the wrong kind of slimy inside, and it scurried off, and I never saw it again! And then I ate a whole nest of fire bees, and a—”

Luz held her hands up in a T. “I’m sorry, timeout, Hooty, go back, you ate Evelyn’s kid? And also maybe Belos?!”

“I was eating bugs and finding out what wasn’t bugs.” Hooty arched his neck, as if trying to appear dignified. “Lulu says I have an inquisitive mind.”

“You’ve got an inquisitive stomach, at least,” Gus muttered.

“So… about Evelyn…”

“Not a bug.”

“Right, but the portal, Belos—”

“Also not bugs.”

Luz almost growled. “Okay, but the house—”

“Not a bug.” Hooty tilted his head to the side. “Waaaait… if I’m a bug… and I’m the house… have I failed? Is the enemy within? Can I eat the house? Will it end, or will I become an endless ouroboros, the bird tube eating its own house?”

Luz blinked. “Uh…”

“Well! Much to think about! Bye, Luz!”

Hooty snaked out of the room, returning to his place in the door. Luz groaned, putting her head in her hands. “Why do I feel like I know less than when we started?”

Gus patted her shoulder, nodding solemnly. “The Hooty effect, Luz. Welcome to the club.”

[morgy-doo]

THE OWL HOUSE RELATIONSHIP HEADCANNONS~

Luz noceda~

has 100% made you read all of the azura books ATLEAST once

has started teaching you spanish because she thought it would be cute if you two had your own cute lil conversations without over people over hearing

always pestering amity on relationship advice

the owl house is basically your second home by now

hooty can never leave you both alone for more than 5 minutes when your with each other

tries to hide whats going on with belos from you but you figure it out pretty quick because she is a BADDDD liar

she just doesn't want you to worry <3

AMAZING at cheering you up, honestly she would throw herself off a cliff just to hear you do that little cry laugh thing

Amity blight~

she is constantly worrying she is not good enough for you

please give this poor girl some love and reassurance

based on the past person she was she is terrified that one day you will realise there are better people and will never speak to her again

even if your not in the track, abomination magic has become a big part of your life

sometimes at school she gets an abomination to follow you around and carry your bags and stuff when she is not avaliable

she thinks its sweet and endearing

you think its terrifying but don't have the heart to tell her

literally gulps down your praise

"you really think i did good?"

she is so proud of herself after that

she cares about you SM

lucky bitch

your safety always becomes before hers and sometimes she forgets to do certain things for herself because she is to occupied with worrying about you

Willow park~

loves gardening with you

honestly you were clueless about how to diffrentiate (did i spell that right?) different types of trees

but ever since dating her you know the label and scientific name of ever plant that's ever grown

good for you boo <3

always is slightly self concious around you

always trying to smooth down her hair

but DAMN this girl is STRICT

if you play a sport or any type of activity that involves potential injury, you better expect her to be wrapping you in bubble wrap the moment you leave that field

if you were trying to impress her with your skills and get hurt, she will scold you the entire time she is fixing your injury, but secretly finds it cute

she will find simple little things to brighten your day like leaving cute little potted plants on your desk before class

Gus porter~

THE MOST supportive boyfriend to ever grace this earth

you wanna try something new? go ahead he will be excited to hear how you liked it

you wanna try out a new sport? he will be cheering you on at every practice and game in the stands

definately owns one of those shirts that say "i love my bf/gf"

tries so hard to impress you

he wants to be the perfect boyfriend for you so if you show interest in the slightest thing then boom you own a whole collection of items related to that interest and he has learnt everything there is to know about it off witchapedia

loves watching you use your magic

it interests him

learns so many different jokes just to make you laugh and smile everyday

Boscha (i only just realised she doesn't have a last name)~

oh god how do i even start this

can be super clingy one minute, but then acts as if she is used to the attention from you and couldn't care less

she takes it upon herself to be your protector

even if its from a potential splinter

BIG on pet names

babe,baby,darling,sweetheart, yk

"heh did you see that babe? i totally just saved you from that rogue grudgby ball"

speaking of grudgby, as cliche as it sounds she has bought you a jersey that has her name on it for when she plays grudgby

honestly dies of happiness when she hears you shout "that's my girlfriend!"

always lends you her jacket when your cold, even when she is freezing herself she is way to stubborn to take it back

or she just lets you wear it around the school hallways so everyone knows the coolest girl in school is your girlfriend

when she is ruling hexside, she keeps an eye on you, no matter where you are in the room, her third eye is always on you

she is terrified she is going to lose you like she did the others

lets you sit on her lap when she is on the throne

can you tell she is my favourite?

Hunter deamonne~

he is literally the definition of acts of service

the biggest gentlemen ever

holds open every door, pulls out your chairs for you, literally he could be your slave

gets red VERY easily

when you give him praise he practically melts

found it hard to open up to you about his past but when he does he feels a huge relief

now he tells you literally everything

you totally gossip together all the time

he loves training with you, it's never serious and he can see your magic in action

you are honestly his everything

he loves playing with your hair too

is honestly so good at doing hair, he has learnt how to get the perfect rounded bun

loves you more than life itself

part two? <3

[milomilesmib]

Okay, so the part at the end of "Hooty's Moving Hassle" (the moonlight conjuring episode) Eda says she wants to join Luz, Willow, and Gus for the next year's moon conjuring. So what I'm thinking is, the next moonlight conjuring, obviously Eda joins them, but also, imagine- Raine is also invited, and King sort of invites himself but everyone's happy to have them there. Hunter is also invited, of course, since he's basically family, and so is Amity, since she's Luz's girlfriend, but then Hunter is like "hold on, Luz gets to invite her adoptive mom figure, I wanna bring my adoptive dad figure" so suddenly Darius is "reluctantly" dragged along (he's very excited and happy), but Alador is like "wait now I wanna come" so he comes along too, and then Luz is all "IF AMITY'S DAD IS THERE I WANT MY MOM THERE" so now Camila is dragged along (and still very confused) and Vee is like "hey where are you going can I come" then LILITH gets wrapped up in it and her parents want to come and so now they're coming too

Basically I want a fic of Luz, Gus, Willow, Eda, Raine, King, Hunter, Amity, Darius, Alador, Camila, Vee, Lilith, Gwendolyn, and Dell doing a moonlight conjuring and accidentally bringing the whole isles to life because oops you get some of the most powerful witches on the isles together to do a conjuring when even just Luz and two very powerful witches brought a house to life? Something big is gonna happen.

But seriously- the hijinks, the chaos- it would be hilarious.

[iamchaos1234]

Morreeeeee Owl House headcanons!

Luz's favorite class in school is flex/homeroom hour but her favorite core class would have to be science

Amity uses reading glasses because her eyesight isn't the best

Belos cared a lot for the first few grimwalkers, reminded strongly of his brother. But eventually, as they kept betraying him, his care for them gradually dimmed to nothing

Hunter has worn a cape to school in the human realm and would do it again

Willow's favorite human realm flower is a hyacinth. Despite this sge has a particular fondness towards carnivorous plants as well

Hunter loves to help out, helping Camilla any time he can. Camilla makes sure he gets breaks so he doesn't overwork himself on accident

Lilth made hootie a door to protect in the new school of the boiling isles. Give hootie food and he'll do your homework

Emira and Edric are like the Fred and George of the boiling isles, always pulling pranks on other students. They have figured out the line on what's acceptable now, though.

Boscha and Amity actually become friends again, though it took a lot of time. She is still petty and rude at times, but has definitely softened a bit

Camilla wanted to have another child but didn't have the chance to do so after her husband's death. This explains the bunkbed in Luz's room. She enjoys having Vee and Hunter around in addition to Luz as well, since taking care of people gives her a sense of meaning and comfort

Gus puts on shows with illusions for the younger children of the boiling isles as a hobby

Lilith has dyed her hair multiple colors, trying to find the one she likes best. She really like lavender, though ended up sticking with her iconic red

King, even as a mature adult, does not ever roar to use his power. He still just 'wheh!'s in a much deeper tone. It's kinda hilarious to think about

Eda loves to go on flies with her sister to just catch up on life. She also loves to just go harpy mode randomly and impress people

Hunter and Amity fight over who gets to braid Willow's hair. They ended up making a chart and everything

Hunter in addition to Waffles has multiple other palisman chose him. He makes sure to give them each love evenly. These other palisman include a wolf, a woodpecker, a turtle, etc

Raine and Eda like to go outside when they can't sleep and watch the stars together

Thats all for now!

[thatoneguy031]

Real talk? Real?? Real?!

Why on EARTH was the cast of The Owl House so drippy?!

(A sort of breakdown from someone that's only kinda sorta kept up with the show... Me, Guy.)

Spoilers too, I guess...

Look at our favorite witch-in-training, Luz Noceda. As we can all see here, she's wearing Eda's varsity jacket when she attended Hexside. Level with me, the jacket alone was enough to be a super-dope outfit, but she took it one step further and even wore matching pants, too! Heck, she even tied up her hair in a bun, for crying out loud! She kept the aesthetic of "I'm able to stay calm, but I'm not afraid to kick your butt when the time comes."

And here's another frame of yet another scene...

Luz dancing with Amity during that one Grom episode...

She wanted to look fancy while she boogied with her soon-to-be girlfriend(At the time, anyway), so she decided to wear what exactly? A tutu, and a frickin' tuxedo! Wonderful! Fabulous! It's all so wild, but you can see that not only did Luz have a plan, it worked danged-near flawlessly! And of course, she decided to wear dance shoes, as well.

And you know what?!

I'm still not done.

I'm going to be real with you here. This is where the spoilers for the end of the show REALLY, REALLY begin! If you really want to watch the show without witnessing the beauty of Luz during [REDACTED], I HIGHLY suggest that you stay away from this post, and move on with your day! Please, leave!

...Are you still here?

Are you sure you wanna be here for [REDACTED]?

Alrightie, then...

3...

2...

1...

...

Okay, you asked for it.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Freaking. Bam. Meet Titan Luz.

This is near perfection in cartoon form. Luz looks like she told Amity's parents, "Your daughter calls me mommy, too." She looks deranged in the best way possible.

First and foremost, the cloak nearly perfectly displays everything she's done throughout the series. The glyph on her chest, the bones appearing along the tips and edges of it, referencing her "magic donor", Arin Hanson- I mean Papa Titan(...Is he just called Papa King by the TOH fandom, or am I being dumb? Since, y'know, he's King's dad? I don't know, but back to the comedic analysis).

For Hootie's sake, she even somehow has longer, puffier hair, giving Eda a wink-wink-nudge-nudge without saying a thing. Even further, her eyes turned a pitch-black with yellow irises, making sure that King himself is involved with references as well.

Y'know, this reminds me of a character that I've had written out for a while. Y'all won't see her for a long, long while, but just know that she's tied to this in a way. Backstory aside, she has this one... form, let's call it, where she kind of becomes a vampire. This aspect of her is derived from an art account I follow, I won't say who until the time comes, but she also likes using her legs as her main means of attack, not only calling back to Izuku from MHA, but to her friend who she loves dearly, like a family member.

Back to the main point, I love characters that reference multiple other characters they have a connection to without being overbearing, which is why I love Titan Luz's design. Above all else, this proves that Luz really cared for everyone that has helped carry her this far, and was willing to fight for them, even after her death. And Eda even teaches her magic the way she said she would as early as the second episode of the series, iirc. And, something even more wild, is that Luz sort of looks like Azura, as well, even using one of her quotes for the finishing blow on Belos...

"...NOW EAT THIS, SUCKAAA!"

Admittedly, I don't know much about Luz's palisman, but I do indeed see that they're a cute little snek dude! ...Like how Luz freaked out the school and her principal with those snakes in the first episode(At least, I recall it being the first episode)! Everything about Luz's design is just... It's all just. So. Good.

...Look. I originally wanted to make a fun little ha-ha post about how stylish the characters from The Owl House were, as I highly respect this show and loved it, from the moment I saw King, to the very end of the series where the Collector gave Luz and the Hexsquad the ability to travel between realms, but seeing this transformation and taking the time to dissect her Titan Form design... It really brought me to tears. Not just because the show's actually over, but because I loved it with everything I could give. The way the show handled its characters, even with the rushed development that Disney demanded(Those freaking warm toilet seats), was phenomenal, given the circumstances.

I'll make a post talking more about King and just... him, I guess, but this post is already long enough as it is. Maybe even Eda, Hunter, Gus and Willow as well, if this post really makes its rounds.

[sepublic]

Writers’ Post-Hoot!

            As the title suggests, we just had a Post-Hoot with multiple writers from the show! Those present included John Bailey Owen, Cissy Jones (Lilith), Sarah Nicole-Robles (Luz), Rebecca Bozza (ItsRebeccaRose), Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zarch Marcus, Avi Roque (Raine), with Zelda Black as our cameraman! I took notes, including on some cancelled storylines involving characters such as Vee, Odalia, Edric, Eda, and Hooty!

         Firstly, Zach Marcus has been writing on the show since the developmental pilot. It was confirmed Barcus was not based on him (unlike Jerbo for JBO), but he did say Barcus was ‘his’ character. I believe it was confirmed that Kikimora’s alias Miki was a reference to writer Mikki Crisostomo, and we also learned that The First Day had to be rewritten within a day! Mikki revealed she got hired for the show because she wrote a violent sample script in which someone had their rib cage kicked out, which convinced Dana she had to be on TOH!

         The development pilot is very different from the show according to Zach; It had the classic blood smear moment (in which Luz draws herself and Amity together, gets a paper cut, and uses her blood to simulate a blush as improv), and alas will never be released. JBO also said there are three poems in the show that the fandom hasn’t found yet…?!

         Dana was watching and commented a few times, such as when Avi, Cissy, and Sarah were doing the classic “Then why were you so easy to curse?!” line, commenting “Legendary Cissy line”.

         In regards to cut Season 3 storylines, Zach mentioned that there are so many versions of Thanks to Them that they went through (Dana gave a comment giving approval for them to speak on concepts). He revealed there was a version where the kids would’ve piloted Abomaton mechs in the desert…?!

         (I wonder if this is related to Kikimora, who pilots an Abomaton herself and comes from the desert of Palm Stings. Would Amity have helped in the creation?)

         Mikki also revealed Hooty was a Big Bad at one point in the writing process?! He’d have had as many legs as rib bones, poking through, as well as smoke.

         Huntlow was acknowledged as a major goal by Mikki and Madeleine (who kept asking why can’t they be happy???), and Zach joked that Huntlow wasn’t canon but c’mon. We can thank Mikki for writing the haircut that Willow gave Hunter!!!

         Dana was glad to keep the Star Trek reference, since so many crew members are Trekkies. Emmy also alluded to a ‘bog setting’ where the kids fought ‘bog bodies’… Unfortunately, her internet connection wasn’t so great so she cut out a bit and I couldn’t make out everything. But does this mean Belos would’ve reanimated corpses in the graveyard for the kids to fight?! Or the Grimwalkers?!

         JBO liked doing Luz in the human realm, as it was a different vibe than usual; More melancholy but also creepy. He wanted to explore the idea of what if a kid DID go to Narnia, and how that would affect them afterwards, and he’s happy with how it turned out… Same JBO, same.

         Emmy revealed there was also going to be a storyline where Vee was uncomfortable with having Hunter in the house!!!

         Sarah mentioned a question in the chat about the other coven heads, which could’ve been my question actually… JBO says that there was a lot they wanted to do with them, he really likes Hettie in particular. He considered exploring what Darius did to achieve his Abomination transform, speculating it’d probably take a dark sacrifice to do that. In general they wanted to see the coven heads plot with and try to kill each other; Lots of intercoven drama according to Zach.

         Zach also praised those who designed the coven heads; He lamented how designers often visualize concepts submitted by writers as so much cooler than the writers think they can do justice when writing, once they receive them back.

         Zach Marcus was described as the pun man of the writers, and when asked about what Darius’ Penstagram, they all agreed upon Goo Daddy. He was torn between Darius being a luddite, or nonstop posting what he eats, with a reflection of him in something. The writers discussed stuff like a Darius skincare routine, and him getting up every morning like a Disney Princess with animals, except they’re Abominations (fanartists were encouraged to depict this).

         JBO said he would’ve liked to see more of young Terra, Zach wanted to see more of her and Faust! As a reminder, a previous Post-Hoot had him put forth the idea that they were exes until they messily broke up and Terra tore off Faust’s lips and kicked him out, hence him living at Hexside and being so strict as a means of regaining a sense of control in his life.

         Zach also joked about everyone dying in the original Season 3 plans, but they allegedly changed it to a happy ending because the pandemic meant people needed something uplifting! They were barely in the exploration for S3 when they received news of the shortening.

         They joked about Barcus episodes, and also made a point about limitations actually being pretty good for writing, as it encourages writers to cut out the fat and leave the most essential bits. They said it was fun seeing Dana write on spite, and she thinks about a lot of the stuff they do for the story as the mastermind.

         Zach revealed him and Dana disagree on Mattholomule’s name, with Zach insisting it’s Mattholomule; His only compromise is saying his last name is also Tholomule… So Mattholomule Tholomule canon??? Zach also wanted a character named Corvus.

         Eda was a ‘horn dog’ in OG scripts for TOH, breaking hearts and all that. There was an episode with a B-plot in which Eda went on a date with playboy merchant, just so she could get a deal on crow heads, but Disney didn’t want a ‘horny old lady’. Dana commented that it was jut Eda on a date, but Disney was being weird about it.

         The writers also mentioned that they considered ‘Mom Tholomule’ and ‘Dad Tholomule’ in what they called the racing episode (I presume Eda’s Requiem’s B-plot), and they planned Steve and Mattholomule being brothers from S1! Zach joked that if the Tholomule parents showed up, they’d have taken attention from everything, with fans losing interest for Lumity, Raeda, and Huntlow in favor of them.

         They brought up their weirdest failed episodes, such as a race (which might be what they meant regarding the Tholomule parents) as well as an episode where Eda and Odalia had beef. It’d have been based on the Rats! musical poster ��the one that gave Raine stage fright- and would’ve had musical elements, but alas Dana doesn’t like musicals herself due to her own experiences with them (which might be the Doylist source for Raine’s own trauma as well now that I think of it).

         Odalia would’ve been one of those obsessive parents, entering an Abomination disguised as a child for the role. Edric would’ve been angry and formed a rivalry with this fake child, wanting to be Momma’s Boy, and it’d end with the fake child getting decapitated and their head sliding off as the big reveal.

         When asked about doing ‘Blaine’ (Belos-possessed Raine), Avi explained they didn’t need to watch Rhys to copy Belos’ inflections, having watched the show plenty. They were surprised about the Blaine development when they went in to voice Raine that day and were told about it!

         When asked about favorite characters to write, Zach said he loved Eda because he didn’t need to go into anyone’s headspace when writing her, it was basically just him talking. Madeleine brought up how Matthew Rhys would charm the entire zoom call with his recording, and Emmy mentioned how twice she wrote for a bloodcurdling scream only for a VA to give more of an Ahhhhh.

         Specifically, Edric would’ve had a more bloodcurdling scream when he broke through his body cast to hug Amity (Zach wrote that, Emmy did the art for it), with everyone agreeing he should be in pain. A ‘piercing scream’ was specified, though Sarah joked about how hard VAs worked, and said a bloodcurdling scream might be done for an Oscar nomination (doing such a scream is taxing due to multiple takes).

         Mikki loves writing Lilith, calling her a big dweeb; Madeline loves Hooty the most, as he’s a wild card and she loves writing those. One example she brought up was in Hollow Mind, when Hooty shut down the Owl House. Madeleine loves it when Hooty goes from zero to sixty in either direction, fully insane.

         JBO also liked Hooty best, as well as King! They referenced the B-plot from Adventures in the Elements, in which Hooty negotiates a drawn body for himself from King, which Emmy and JBO wrote. The actual sketch used in the episode was straight-up one of their drawings, I didn’t catch whose though. Hooty’s dialogue in Eda’s conversation with him (from Something Ventured, Someone Framed) was also written by JBO, with Emmy drawing the bit where his tongue reaches for a fly!

        In regards to writing advice, JBO said to just do stuff, it’s better than nothing; Emmy concurred, it’s still worth it to write it, even if nobody pays you for it. Zach added that for writers, one of their goals is to be more of a tool; Get what they’ve made into the hands of someone who can take it further, it’s collaborative storytelling and writers need to see it from that perspective. Likewise, they mentioned having people read what you’ve written, as they can notice stuff that’s missing that you hadn’t thought of/remembered. Zach hoped for a TOH art book, as he liked a lot of Emmy Cicierga’s visual jokes and hoped people could enjoy them! IIRC Emmy did that one meme of Ariel combining her fish tail with two legs as a solution, so that tracks.

         On a final note, there was a HUGE wave of people commenting about Gustholomule throughout the entire stream. It went unacknowledged alas, but the group also mentioned they couldn’t answer spoiler questions so...

[queerplatonicshipshowdown]

Round 2, Match 5

Crowley and Aziraphale (Ineffable Husbands) from Good Omens vs. Hooty and Lilith from The Owl House!

Propaganda for Ineffable Husbands:

They are each others everything; they discarded their former affiliations to form their own sides; they are the best of friends and so close that they can't imagine life without each other. But they also *canonically* (at least in the books) do not experience sexual attraction, or romantic attraction, at least not in the same way humans do; their relationship *cannot* be defined by something as simple as romance, and this is a view the author (Neil Gaiman) has endorsed. Hence, queer platonic.

EEEEEEEE they're so CUTE and they LOVE each other and the fact that this love doesn't have to be specifically romantic doesn't make it less REAL and that warms my aspec heart.

In the book they’ve been friends for thousands of years and are v involved in each other’s lives (routinely have dinner ‘dates’, Crowley frequently hangs out at Aziraphale’s bookshop, generally hanging out and stuff.) Since their not human, they don’t really understand human relationships, love, and gender which makes their relationship v queer. They’re mistaken as a couple by other characters despite not being in a romantic relationship. In the show the same things happen and new scenes are added showing how their friendship grew, them becoming much more devoted to each other, and various struggles they’ve had in their relationship. (ei. Sorta breaking up, them each wanting different things out of life)

they've known each other for over 6,000 years. they saved the world together. they have saved each other over and over again. they love each other so deeply and you can see their love for each other in everything they do. as an aromantic queerplatonic person they embody what queerplatonic love means to me so perfectly

Propaganda for Hooty and Lilith:

Lilith is canon aro/ace. Hooty is her weird bff like he's never really had a true friend before and now he's finally found someone he's connected with. Lilith is finally processing her trauma and stopping repressing everything. Hooty has helped her grow and supports her journey emotionally. Hooty and Lilith write letters frequently when they are apart. The show emphasizes how they are the only ones who truly understand each other and that their relationship is special and other characters don't really understand it but are happy that they're happy.

[ghost-luvs]

jtk x reader.. the squeekle (chapter 1)

yall this is a part 2 to a rlly shitty (on purpose) fanfic i made on wattpad earlier this year.. this is honestly pure crack and shouldn't be read

As Jeff and (Y/n) got done doing whatever at (Y/n)’s now dead mothers house they decided to just walk back to the mansion. The pair walked back in a comfortable silence, but in that silence (Y/n) was thinking about everything, about how her life is totally different now. Instead of living with her bitch of a mother she would be living at the mansion with Jeff and the others. Occupied with all her thinking (Y/n) didn't even realize how quickly they had gotten to the mansion, before going inside she asked Jeff something. “Are there any rules that you should probably tell me about before we go inside?” (Y/n) asked, not wanting to accidentally anger anyone in her new home. “There's only really one, and it’s just a mandatory at least one shower a day rule that Slender had to make” Jeff said. (Y/n) accepted the rule, it does make sense after all, then grabbed Jeff's hand before walking in.

When they walked into the mansion it was surprisingly peaceful, until they were greeted by Ben. “The chick actually killed someone?” Ben asked, motioning towards (Y/n). “Yea, and it was a good kill too.” Jeff responded. “Well now that you're done training her and shit and she's allowed to stay here, wanna hang out. You've been hanging out with her hella long. Plus it could give her time to hang out with the other girls.” Ben said, clearly bored out of his mind cause no one else wants to hang out with him. “W-WHAT?!?! I'm not like other girls, you can't expect me to hang out with them.” (Y/n) screeched, clearly insulted that he even had that idea. “Why not though, you’re all chicks can't you guys talk about your periods or something?” Ben said, clearly not seeing the problem. “Ben we can hang out after i take her to the Slenders office, he probably has to go over some things with her anyway.” Jeff said, not wanting his precious (Y/n) to get into a fight with Ben. Jeff had walked (Y/n) to Slenders office. “You may be in here for a while since you are new here.” Jeff told (Y/n) in a reassuring tone, then he walked away to go find Ben. (Y/n) walked into Slenders office, to see him drinking from a mug that had ‘Worlds Best Dad’ printed on it in an impact font, Slender then threw the mug into the wall as no one in the mansion was meant to see it. “(Y/n), i've been waiting for you to come to my office, just sit down and i'll tell you everything you need to know,” Slender said telepathically. As (Y/n) sat down Slender got another mug, this time it was just a plain white mug, (Y/n) thought about asking about the first mug but decided against it. “If you havent found out already the mansion is a living sentient being named Emo Hooty. It usually makes rooms for new members, however it has decided to not make you a room for undisclosed reasons. While you’re staying here you must take at least one shower a day or else you will be thrown into the fourth level of the basement for at least 6 hours. There are multiple forms of punishment, but as long as you aren't too annoying you should be fine. I will tell you more but I have to pack for my vacation.” Slender explained to (Y/n), who only somewhat paid attention as she was still thinking about the first mug. By the time (Y/n) had gotten out of Slenders office it was late, and she was tired as she had not slept since before she had killed her mother the night before. Instead of socializing or going and finding Jeff (Y/n) had decided to go straight to her shared room. When (Y/n) had gotten to the room she had hoped to find Jeff in there but it was empty. ‘He must still be with Ben’ (Y/n) thought as she was trying to find something comfortable to sleep in. She settled on one of Jeffs sweaters and a pair of shorts. After changing (Y/n) had gotten into the bed and passed out instantly. A few hours later Jeff had come back to the room to see (Y/n) asleep. So Jeff had gotten ready for bed as quietly as possible and cuddled up next to (Y/n) and fell asleep.

[beezzaroll]

having such a hard time deciding whether Caleb should be killed by the owl beast or the common mold 😭 😭 bro I just want Philip to have trauma

Anyways here's the notes so far:

The Wittebane brothers live in the woods on the outskirts of Bonesborough in a little cabin

Caleb wears old clothes from gravesfield for nostalgia sake

Caleb makes clothes for Philip

Philip doesn't lie to the grimwalkers about their origins. He is bad at names- the first one he made he tried to lie to, but he couldn't handle it. The grimwalkers are created to be witchlings- yes, capable of magic, just very limited- so that they can go into public without a hood. The grimwalkers run errands and sometimes even go to school.

The current grimwalker, Hunter, named himself because he read the word in Caleb's old diary. He thought it was cool and philip didn't have the heart to tell him what it meant.

When Caleb was still alive, he was not careful- running into town, hanging out with Boiling Isles wildlife, or getting himself hurt trying to make his brother clothes.

Philip has fashioned an old hut in the woods into his home. Out of universe, it's like his owl house.

Hunter is in the abomination coven.

Eda is evil...well, kind of.

Philip only made a deal with the collector to help his brother.

The collector got bored of Philip and found Eda. She was much more reckless and willing to set him free - as long as he gave her power over her curse and sister.

Eda doesn't know yet that Lilith cursed her- she keeps her in a stasis mode of being young forever as a way to look down on her

Lilith acts as her bodyguard and student

Eda enforces the coven system - it was collector's idea and she agreed begrudgingly

Canon Luz and Canon Hunter accidentally travel to this warped reality during the events of Hollow Mind: after they land in the real midscape, after the knee memory, but before inner kid belos reveals himself as evil. Like in Canon, Eda, King, and Hooty successfully make the potion to get Luz and Hunter out. Since Eda is proficient in potions, she notices something odd about the potion. According to it, Luz and Hunter are actually close to what's known as a False Memory. However, Eda ignores this as she is just trying to bring Luz back.

The main break from the Canon is that instead of heading into the collector's painting, kid belos leads them into one showing belos sitting beside Caleb in a sick bed. Caleb's eyes are not scratched out.

Canon belos cones through the false memory along with Luz and Hunter. Since he is displaced, he ages rapidly until he is at his 400 year look.

Belos runs away as soon as he realizes he has entered a false memory. He knows the collector and therefore knows the legends of false memories. He accuses Luz for doing this to him but this is before he fully ages so she still sees him as inner kid belos and tries to explain

False Memory: a memory placed in a person's head by a higher power (the collector, probably idk) that does not belong to them in this timeline. It acts a portal of sorts into the reality it depicts. Since it's the collector's magic, only a titan (not glyphs or blood, just a titan itself) can pull someone out of this false memory

Please ask me questions I want to expand this lore

[hisuian-history-makers]

Post-Series Finale HCs: The Owl House (Spoiler!)

(From days to weeks) Right after;

—Raine spends time between recovering and pitching ideas to rebuild the Isles, reconnecting with Eda. They find out what music range the Owl Beast spirit cannot handle to avoid making their girlfriend (later wife) go deaf. Happiest they have been in years since the breakup.

—To limited degree, witches can use magic outside their coven sigil now. The sigils cannot completely block other magic-types only just restrict it. Biles sacks are pretty fragile though.

—Several cults/religions tried to start up once people learned King was a living Titan. Eda shut them down before they could get established—the Collector has a few cults too.

—Hooty helps Lilith practice her own Harpy form. Has to catch her several times as the other half of Owl Beast is less sentient(?) than Eda’s own curse. It grows to be a Raven. He finds being in his “Porta-Hooty” mode to be more fun since he can hang out with Lily.

—Alador spends time catching up with his kids. He likes to study how various beasts and animal species are adapting to the raised left arm. (If the Abomination track wasn’t expected of his family, he would have joined the Beast track.)

—Luz does, in fact, keep a portion of her Titan form’s power. Being in direct contact with such immense power has left its mark. She has fangs and magic will spark off her fingers whenever she holds Stringbean. Her shouts are loud!

—The decision to tear down the ruins of Belos’ castle is pretty unanimous. They find several thousands of snails hidden away, remains of the Grimwalkers, and old wild magic texts.

—So much rebuilding to be done. Not just buildings but the entire infrastructure of the Boiling Isles. People outside the main cast wonder what in the realm happened for everything to crazy during the Day of Unity.

—Hunter does some soul-searching in between joint custody of the Nocedas, Clawthornes, Parks, and Darius (plus Eber). There is a lot to unpack in his life after everything that went down. He ponders what being a Grimwwalker means, processes Flapjack’s passing, and what he is going to do going forward. The poor boy is traumatized to high heaven being raised under Belos/child soldier/clone of Caleb Clawthorne.

(Yes. I headcanon that Caleb took Evelyn’s last name or they refer to him by that after finding out what his brother did.)

—Eda jokes about Hunter technically being her and Lillith’s however-many-greats-grandfather.

—Wrath has to go through a redemption arc. Seriously! He sees how much Braxas missed him and begrudgingly accepts that the coven system was wrong. It takes a few years though.

—The Collector does not go straight back to the siblings who left him alone. This idea is argued for by the main cast who want them to spend time being a kid. King begs him to stay.

(I do not know how to write pronouns for a person who has He/him and They/them).

—On a side note, everyone who was ever mean to King is now genuinely terrified of him. :)

—People wonder why the Titan’s left arm is stretched out toward the sky. Even Luz does...

Four Years Later;

—The concept of carving a palistrum egg has boomed in popularity. Stringbean inspired many people to respect Palismen as individuals.

—Cultural trade between the Boiling Isles and Earth is still tentative. Unfortunately, Andrias’ invasion made humans wary of other realms. (We know ToH and Amphibia share a universe due to easter eggs. Might as well capitalize~)

—Gus secretly eats movie DVDs. He knows that they are supposed to be watched but they taste good. He will eat some on his lunch breaks.

—A president/representative has been put in charge of the Boiling Isles. Democracy is still new so there are a few kinks to work out. Each town has a few spokespeople for them to really give everyone a voice in how things are run.

—Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Eda, King, Lillith, Raine, and the others are still the main celebrities on the island. Their popularity has finally died down from fan-worship levels much to their relief (Raine, Hunter, & King mainly).

—King keeps discovering glyph types outside his parent/father’s elemental ones. The combo testing can get a little crazy since this is his new magic language! He is really excited to learn it.

—Funnily enough, future students of Eda’s have visited using the time pools. They never say anything too revealing about the future but the subtle picture they paint is chaotic.

—The Basilisks help the Unversity of Wild Magic keep from burning down/freezing/exploding/imploding/getting damaged by wild studies.

—Willow acts as a motivational speaker for young witches and demons in the Flyer Derby off-season. The still-new freedom of magic can be overwhelming in sheer choices to the kids.

—Camila can only handle a certain amount of the Boiling Isles’ otherness. She loves that her first kid found such an accepting second home, really she does! But it is still a lot to take in...

—The Collector took care of the Titantrappers years ago. Only the youngest members are more open to interacting with King.

—Eda still finds it ironic she became a teacher.

—Amity spends her days exploring the world, though she is always a call away from Luz and her friends. She did not expect to fall in love with exploring different Titan-civilizations.

—Viney has interned under Camila to learn about Earth animals. The difference in biology between the two realms plays a part in how she judges treating pets at her mythical pet clinic. Some species react adversely to magic being used on them which she learns cause of it.

—Hunter gives each past Golden Guard a name based on what little he could find about their personalities. He still sees their ghosts but in a “guardian angel” way. Is for sure dating Willow.

...It. It took a while for him to carve Waffles.

[jay-zzz87]

Lumity and B!Lumity fluff

Warning, there is implied smut. Not actual, just implied through jokes. Also it's only with Betas cuz they're 18. Anyways I lowkey kind miss doing writing prompts.

Luz: Amityyyyyyy

Luz is standing outside Amity's balcony with a bouquet of flowers for her awesome girlfriend.

Luz: I'm ready for our daaaate!

Suddenly the door swung open and a taller figure came out. It was Amelia, Amity's oldest sister.

Luz: Oh, hi Amelia

Amelia: Hello Luz

While Amelia is definitely intimidating given that she's taller, older, and has an attitude, she still has a sweet spot for Luz given her circumstances and how happy she makes Amity.

Luz: I'm here to take Amity out on a date

Amelia: She's inside getting ready

Luz: Ok, I'll wait

There's silence for a brief moment until Luz starts up again.

Luz: How are Ed and Em?

Amelia rolls her eyes.

Amelia: As annoying as ever.

Luz lets out a nervous laugh: Hehe....siblings

Then, she looks at the flowers she got Amity.

Amelia sighs: How's your sister?

Luz looks up: Lucia?

Amelia, sarcastically: What, you got another sister I don't know about?

Luz: N-No, I-I um....she's good. She's just at home....doing stuff

Amelia: Doing what?

Amelia wants to know but is hoping that she doesn't sound too interested.

Luz: I don't know. Watching oracle or something?

Amelia: Hmm....ok

There's a moment of silence again until Amity comes out of the room to the balcony.

Amity: Hey batata

Luz can't help but stare at how beautiful her girlfriend looks.

Luz: Whoa

Amity blushes: You like it? Amelia helped me pick it out

Luz: You look amazing amor

Luz quickly goes up to Amity and gives her a hug. When they seperate, Amity notices the bouquet in Luz's hand.

Amity: Ooo, are those for me?

Luz sheepishly laughs: Yeah, I picked them out myself.

Amity: They're beautiful love

Suddenly, Amelia clears her thoat loudly to imply she's still around.

Amity gets annoyed and tolls her eyes.

Amity : Really? You don't have to be here

Amelia, sly: I don't have to cover for you. I can always tell mom about your batata

Amity growls but Luz holds her hand to calm her down.

Luz: C'mon amor. Let's just get on with our date.

Amity: Yeah, ok

Luz summons Owlbert and they both get on and fly away. Amelia scoffs as she's a little irritated that her little sister would talk to her that way. Especially since she's covering her and could easily get her into trouble with their mother if she wanted to. Although there is a part of her that's is proud of her for sticking up for herself. She won't deny that it is definitely something Amity needs to work on. In the meantime while they're gone, she's gonna have a bit of fun. She summons her staff and flies to the owl house.

Lucia is on the couch sleeping her ass off. The previous night left her drained from having to complete a bounty just so she can get Luz enough money to atleast afford a nice restaurant to take Amity. Lucia usually doesn't care about Luz and Amity's relationship, but she does care about Luz. That was enough to help out Luz to get some snails. After that, she immediately went to bed and knocked out.

Amelia arrived to the house and was immediately greeted by the bird tube.

Hooty: Hello!

Amelia: Titan! Don't scare me like that!

Hooty retreat back to the door

Hooty: But that's my job! Anyways, Lucia is inside and sleeping! Thou shall not- ow!

Amelia kicked the door open to force herself in, then shut it. She can here Hooty on the other side complaining.

Amelia: Titan he's annoying

Lucia is suddenly awake with a line of saliva on her cheek.

Amelia: Hey

Lucia looks around and lets her eyes adjust before landing them on Amelia.

Lucia: Oh hey. What brings you here?

She does a quick stretch.

Amelia: I got bored

Lucia: Oh, sucks

Lucia lays back down. Amelia grabs one of the pillows and hits her with it.

Lucia: Hey!

Amelia: Asshole

Lucia sits up: Profanity

Amelia: Shut up. You spit shit all the time. And it's not like your sister is here.

Lucia: Ok ok. Chill girl

Lucia rubs her face.

Lucia: What do you want?

Amelia: I just wanna do something

Lucia: ....well it better not be me cuz I'm tired as fuck

Amelia hits her again

Amelia: I DIDN'T MEAN THAT STUPID!

Lucia couldn't help but laugh.

Amelia: You're such a child

Lucia: If I'm a child, then you're a pedo-

Amelia hits her again, this time repeatedly.

Lucia grabs the pillow and pulls it away.

Luz: Ya, I'll stop Ames

Amelia rolls her eyes: Whatever

Lucia grabs her waist and pulls her close.

Lucia: Don't whatever me baby

Amelia and Lucia have been dating for a while. They definitely dated after Amity and Luz got together but had relations before then. Eventually they fell for eachother and Lucia took out Amelia for a date. Amelia made it clear if they dated it had to be kept a secret. She's afraid of her mom and ex knowing. She knows that Lucia's life would be on the line if they ever found out. Lucia claims that she's not afraid and could take them on, but Amelia wants to be safe. She can't stand the thought of losing someone that actually cares for her for who she is and not her popularity.

Amelia pushes Lucia away.

Amelia: Not here stupid

Lucia lets go and giggles. She loves seeing Amelia get nervous and mad. It's really cute to her. Almost reminds her of a mad cat.

Lucia: Ok. You wanna go somewhere else?

Amelia: Yeah. Did you have something in mind?

Lucia: Not really. Like I said, I'm tired.

Amelia: We can go to your room and.....I don't know, cuddle.

Lucia: ....yeah sure. Lets go

They get up and go to the upstairs room. Lucia gets the sleeping bag comfy for them. Amelia is aware of the situation Lucia and Luz are in. There are times where she wishes she could just give them a bed since it's not much to her, but Lucia is stubborn and always wants to earn everything. She managed to get one for Luz so at least she doesn't have to suffer due to Lucia's ideals. Lucia lays on the bag and Amelia lays on top of her. Lucia holds her and kisses her head. Amelia has her head on Lucia's chest. She likes hearing Lucia's heart beat. It's very calming to her for some reason.

Lucia: Did you wanna do something later?

Amelia: Maybe, if you're ok with it.

Lucia: Yeah baby, I don't mind. I just wanna rest a bit first

Amelia looks up at her

Amelia: Ok babe

Lucia pecks her lips and rubs her waist. Amelia couldn't be happier that she's with Lucia. She wants them to be public just so they can at least hold hands all the time, but she can't risk anything. She needs Lucia and Luz to be safe, no matter what.

One day

[sergeantsporks]

Dadrius Week 2024 Day 3: Secrets

Darius had made pancakes for breakfast.

This immediately set off every warning bell in Hunter’s mind, cutting through the lingering fog of sleep. Pancakes were for special occasions. Pancakes were for first and last days of school and flyer derby match days. Pancakes were for holidays and birthdays.

Pancakes were not for ordinary Tuesdays. Ordinary Tuesdays were days when Hunter poured himself a bowl of Kraken Krisps, or, if he was feeling special, made toast.

Don’t jump to conclusions, he told himself. They were probably just either a ‘thank you for saving me’ breakfast or a ‘sorry I tore open your arm’ breakfast. They probably meant nothing. Still, Hunter squinted accusingly at Darius.

"What’s wrong?” he demanded. His throat still hurt from getting half strangled yesterday, and his voice came out raspy, but at least talking was possible.

“What do you mean, what’s wrong?”

“Pancakes.” Hunter squinted at Darius. He still had on his silk sleeping cap, too—it was too late in the day for this. Hunter could recall on one hand the number of times he’d seen Darius emerge from his room not fully prepped and ready for the day. “And why are you still wearing your bonnet?”

“Hm?” Darius reached up casually—too casually, like he was pretending he’d quite forgotten it was there—to touch the cap. “Oh, I suppose I just wasn’t quite up for getting ready. Strange day yesterday and all.”

“Why pancakes?”

“Goodness, can’t I do something nice? I did maul you yesterday.”

He said it flippantly enough, but Hunter noted the way his eyes didn’t quite hold that same carefree attitude, instead flickering with guilt.

“Hm.”

Maybe it was just an apology breakfast. He could at least eat it before he grilled Darius any further. He took it slow. Darius had cooked these perfectly—Hunter could cut through them even without a knife. Which was good, since he couldn’t exactly hold a fork and knife at the same time right now.

Darius leaned back in his seat. “So, Hunter.”

There it was. He’d known it.

“Yesterday was…”

“A lot,” Hunter supplied. Why wouldn’t Darius look him in the eye?

“Yes, a lot.” Darius took a deep breath. “And I was thinking, that while you recover… here might not be the best place for you to stay.”

“What?” Hunter shook his head, ignoring the twinge of pain from his neck. “Is this because I skipped school? I’m sorry, I thought I’d be back in ti—”

“No. Hunter, this isn’t your fault. It isn’t because of anything you’ve done. I just think, for your recovery, it would be better if you stayed with Edalyn and Luz.”

“Wha—but—” Hunter sputtered, searching frantically for any reason to stop him. “You think it would be better for my recovery to stay with Hooty? That’ll be—it’ll be ten times more distressing. Obviously, I’ll need peace and quiet to heal, which won’t happen if I’m—”

“This isn’t up for debate. Luz is coming to get you at the end of her school day. You will go with her and stay at the owl house at least until your next healer’s appointment. Then we will reevaluate.”

“You mean you’ll reevaluate,” Hunter grumbled, “What happened to letting me make my own choices?”

Darius’ nostrils flared, but his body remained perfectly still and calm. “This one isn’t your choice to begin with. It’s mine. I think it will be better for you if you are not around me right now, and since I don’t want to leave you on your own, you must go to Eda’s. See, this is good, because otherwise, I’d go check into a hotel to keep away from you, and you’d be left all alone.”

“Better for me if—Darius, I’m not scared of you after yesterday! I know better than anyone else what possession can make you do—I know it wasn’t your fault.” Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true—an uneasy anxiety settled around Hunter if he didn’t keep his mind busy, especially when he looked at Darius. But he knew how he wanted to feel, never mind the lingering paranoia. “You don’t have to trade me off for some kind of—of peace of mind you think I’ll have!”

“Well, perhaps it is for my peace of mind.” Darius stood up, taking his plate to the sink. “I’m not discussing this anymore. I have an appointment—I’ll be back before Luz gets here. Please. Be ready to go.”

Darius stalked upstairs, leaving Hunter with a sour taste in his mouth. Why wouldn’t Darius listen to him? It was like he didn’t trust him to make good decisions, like he didn’t think Hunter was capable, like… like…

Like how he’d treated Hunter in the coven.

Well, not completely. Hunter could say that much—now, Darius brushing him aside ran with an undercurrent of caring, of concern for Hunter’s well-being. But still.

Darius had treated him like that, in part, because he’d been hiding his rebellion. He’d pushed away anyone who might be a threat to his cause, anyone who might discover his dangerous secret. He’d made himself unlikable, a distant, haughty, self-absorbed figure who couldn’t be relied on. Why was he doing that now? What secret was he protecting this time?

Xxx

Darius took a deep breath, pulling his sleeping bonnet off.

His hair still wouldn’t take its abomination shape.

In fact, every attempt to use magic had run him into a frightening wall—it was the same wall he’d felt when he’d first gotten his coven sigil. He could feel the magic blocked off, locked away behind a gate he couldn’t break. But now, now it was blocking off his abomination magic instead of the other eight.

Darius tossed the sleeping cap to the dresser, pulling his locs back into a ponytail. The bonnet had aroused suspicion, he knew that, but his hair would have drawn more. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was hiding his current lack of magic from Hunter, but it felt important. Some sense in the back of his mind told him that if Hunter found out, it would mean danger. For him or for Hunter, he couldn’t say, but it was definitely linked to that gem and to that little voice in his head that had told him to kill Hunter.

Still, Darius was starting to become keenly aware of just how much he used his magic. He couldn’t transform his hair, and he didn’t want Hunter to see. He couldn’t simply warp out of the house, and he couldn’t send an abomination soldier to check when Hunter was out of the kitchen.

Fine. He knew other ways he could disguise himself.

He tugged his old cloak out of the closet, a pang of nostalgia sweeping him off his feet. Sometimes he missed skulking around, having a secret identity, being part of a secret organization. If it weren’t for the looming pressure of the world-ending threat, it would have been… fun.

Hiding this from Hunter, though, going behind his back even when he’d promised to let Hunter make his own choices… the secret double life was less fun this time go round. Regardless, he swung the cloak around his shoulders, pulled the hood up to hide his hair, and escaped out the back door while Hunter opened and closed drawers in his room with a little more force than Darius thought was strictly necessary.

Steve waited for him around the corner with his motorcycle. He raised one eyebrow at Darius’ cloak. “Very inconspicuous.”

“Did you turn anything up?”

Steve shook his head. “Not much evidence, I’m afraid. Even Eber didn’t turn up a trail.”

“No familiar scents?”

“No Collector scent, if that’s what you’re asking.” Steve scratched his head. “I think he said… there was an unfamiliar scent, and he followed it as long as he could. But then it… disappeared?”

“Must have teleported. Unless Eber is emotionally close to the subject of teleportation—such as when I use my warp—he can’t tell where they’ve gone.” Darius scratched absently at his chest where the gem had been embedded. “Well—I’ve found some clue, unfortunately. My magic still hasn’t come back—any chance you’d be up for a bike ride?”

Steve drove much more slowly this time—of course he did, there wasn’t a life-ending threat this time. But still, Darius wished he drove a bit faster. He thought morosely that his abomination teleport would have them there already.

“How’s Hunter? He okay?”

“He’s recovering,” Darius replied stiffly, “I don’t believe he’s particularly pleased with me at the moment.”

“Because of the slicing? Man, that’s rough. It’s not like that was your f—”

“No. Not the injury.” Darius looked away, discouraging any other questions.

Steve pulled the motorcycle to a halt at the old Latissa police station. “Weird place for a visit.”

Darius rubbed his face. He already didn’t want to be here. “For better or for worse, we do have experts on missing magic now. It might not be the same as the issues they’re looking to solve, but…”

“They might be able to narrow the field,” Steve finished, “Any reason in particular why you’re looking at the building like you think you can set it on fire with your mind?”

Darius carefully schooled his face into a calm mask. “It’s fine.”

He pushed the door open, and had the immediate misfortune of bumping into Alador on his way out.

“No, we haven’t made much progress, yes, I will tell you when we do, we are working on it. And we need peace and quiet to do so.”

Darius rolled his eyes. “I’m not here for that. I’m here for… this.”

He pulled off his hood, his hair tumbling down over his shoulders. It had been ages since he’d gotten a haircut—he’d relied on his magic to keep his hair cared for and styled for so long, there hadn’t really been a need.

Alador stared blankly at him. “You’ve got your natural hair,” he said flatly, “What, did you want my opinion on the look? It’s better than the pile of goop you usually call ‘style’ if you really want to kno—”

Darius’ cheeks flushed, and he yanked the hood back up. “It’s not on purpose,” he hissed, “Something’s wrong with my magic.”

Alador straightened up. “Viney?” he called.

A young girl poked her head out of another room, spotted Darius, and almost immediately started glaring at him. “What’s he doing here?”

Oh. Yes, Darius recognized her. She was one of Hunter’s teammates. One of Hunter’s teammates who’d crashed his blimp.

He could have sworn he’d explained himself. Maybe that had just been to Willow and Gus. Or maybe, he realized, noting the Penstagram scroll in her hand, Hunter had reached out to his friends about how Darius was dumping him onto Eda. He wished he could tell her that it had been for the best—that he wanted to keep Hunter safe from Darius himself—but she’d likely just relay all of that immediately to Hunter, who would immediately try to get involved.

Well, wait a minute. “Shouldn’t you be in school?” he asked. Sure, he’d let Hunter have the day off, with the injury and all, but that didn’t explain why Viney was here.

It was definitely the wrong thing to say, though, because her frown only deepened. “I’m here as an elective,” she told him matter-of-factly, “It’s my healing class clinical. Jerbo and I are writing a thesis. Once again, what are you doing here?”

“He came here for help,” Alador told her, a small, smug smile twitching onto his face. Darius bristled at the sight of it, but pushed back the part of himself that wanted to launch immediately into an argument. That wouldn’t be helpful here.

“My magic isn’t working properly—isn’t working at all, in fact. I know it has something to do with some sort of hex cast on me yesterday, but I was hoping you could tell me more.”

Viney nodded slowly, twisting her earring around in her ear. “We-ell,” she drawled, “if it doesn’t have to do with sigil magic, I’m not sure how much we can help you. For instance, if it shares more similarities with the owl beast curse, we’re not going to be much use. I can try, though.”

She whistled sharply, and a griffin bounded to her side. Viney took a deep breath, and drew a circle, a blue circle with a wire of orange twisting around it—healing and beast magic mixed together, Darius realized. Viney’s eyes glowed, and so did the griffin’s—the two moved eerily in sync, pacing a circle around Darius. Viney made a couple of cawing, growling sounds like a griffin, and Darius could have sworn, inexplicably, that he heard Viney’s voice mumble from the beak of the griffin.

The glowing faded, and Viney sniffed, blinking hard. “Griffin senses can often pick up on magic trails witches can’t,” she explained, “Puddles is a great help.” She clapped her hands. “So! There’s good news, and there’s bad news. The good news is, I know exactly what’s causing the magic blockage!”

“That is good,” Darius agreed, “What’s the bad news?”

“It’s your sigil. It’s active, like on the day of unity.”

Darius’ hand went immediately to the mark on his arm. It looked… normal. The same way it always did, no golden veins sprouting up his arm. “No it’s not. It’s not glowing, and I haven’t keeled over yet.”

“Multiple spells layered on top of each other,” Alador offered, “One to drain the magic, another one to mask the effect.”

“It’s not as strong as the day of unity spell,” Viney explained, “It’s definitely the same magic, but I don’t think the intent is to kill you—only to siphon off your magic at a sustainable rate. You know, the kind of energy you’d use on a day-to-day basis, but not your actual lifeforce. There’s actually three spells squished together, but I’m not quite sure what the last one is.”

“Mind control,” Darius growled, “That part’s been broken, thankfully.”

Hopefully.

“Mmm.” Viney eyed him skeptically. “Well—there’s still traces of it. Like I said, I detected three different spells. Be careful.”

“So.” Alador tapped his chin. “Three spells—alright, so, they mind control you. Get you to do…”

“We don’t know. They didn’t get that far.”

I highly doubt they mind controlled me just to take out Hunter, given that he wasn’t even supposed to be there.

“Fine. They try and fail to mind control you, but there’s a failsafe built in, a spell that keeps going after the mind control is broken.”

“If they can’t use my magic, no one can,” Darius realized, “Oh, that’s devious, isn’t it? Makes perfect sense. If they can’t have me as a puppet, they certainly don’t want me as an enemy.”

“Hm. Well, like I told you, we haven’t figured out a way to reverse the sigil magic yet. Short of finding the person who did this, or waiting for the Collector to come back and see if they can reverse it, there’s not much you can do. Without the source…”

“I’ve got the source.”

Darius jumped. He’d forgotten Steve was even here. But the ex scout pulled a small pouch out of his pocket. “What did you…?”

“The pieces of the crystal. The source. I gathered up what I could—gloves on of course.”

Alador snatched the pouch from Steve’s hand. “We can get somewhere with this.” He glanced up at Darius. “Can’t promise it’ll be our top priority, but we’ll certainly give it a look.”

Darius acknowledged the statement with a cool nod, but turned towards Viney as a thought struck him. “Don’t tell Hunter I was here?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to worry him. And I don’t want him getting involved and trying to investigate on his own.”

“Mmm. Fair enough.” Viney crinkled her nose at him. “He’ll figure it out, though. I mean, with your hair the way it is, and the fact that Steve’s driving you places…”

That much was true. Unless… Darius sighed. “Alador, I have one last favor to ask you.”

“You are full of them today, aren’t you?”

“Nothing big, just a quick ask. You don’t happen to still have any of Odalia’s old concealment stones, do you?”

When Steve finally dropped Darius off—again around the corner from his house—Darius’ hair floated once again over his head. Or, at least, it looked that way. Darius checked once again to make sure the concealment stone was tucked out of sight, and finally went back home.

To his relief, Hunter’s duffel bag was full, and Darius noted an open drawer.

Much less assuringly, Hunter sat on the floor, leaning against his dresser with his eyes closed. His skin was paler than it had been this morning—shouldn’t the opposite be true? He should have cooked something else for breakfast, something with more protein and iron in it.

“Hunter?”

“Mm.” Hunter opened his eyes, although they still drooped considerably. “Oh—hi.”

“Are you alright?”

“Just… tired.” Hunter rubbed his eyes with his good hand. “I guess I just overdid it a little bit when I was packing. How was your… appointment?”

Even in his exhausted state, Hunter’s eyes darted across Darius’ face with an alert calculation that made Darius pause before answering.

“Fine,” he said finally.

Hunter’s eyes flicked up to his hair, to the old cloak he wore, and a small frown pulled at his mouth.

“You’re all packed?” Darius asked briskly, moving the conversation away, “You remembered your toothbrush?”

Hunter gave him a distracted thumbs up. “Your appointment, did it have to do with—”

“Steve is close to apprehending the culprit.” The lie slid off Darius’ tongue so easily it startled him. He should find lying to Hunter harder than this, shouldn’t he? But maybe old habits died hard, and, of course, this was to protect him. He had to keep his issues a secret, to protect Hunter from them. “That’s what the meeting was about. Steve’s been working hard to find out what happened yesterday, and he was giving me an update. He’s close. The situation is almost completely handled.”

Hunter eyed him skeptically. “…Right.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright? You seem…”

“It’s just the blood loss. I’m fine.” Hunter got to his feet, leaning on the dresser for balance. “Whoa—dizzy.” He took a deep breath. “I still don’t like that you’re sending me away.”

“I don’t like it either. Believe me.”

“I do believe you,” Hunter said lightly, but Darius could hear the sentiment behind his words clear as day.

I believe you about that. But I know you’re hiding something.

Darius shook himself. “Let me get your bag. Luz will be here soon.”

Hunter would go away, and would be safe from this mystery. Darius would resolve the issue on his own, perhaps with some help from Steve, Alador, and Viney. And then Hunter would come back. Maybe after it was all over, Darius would tell him the whole story.

But for now, it had to stay secret.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Algea

Chapter 1

Algea: personified spirits of pain and suffering–body and mind–, grief, sorrow and distress. The bringers of weeping and tears.

Stranded in a world not her own, Luz works to make a way home while the Boiling Isles struggle under the rule of Emperor Belos. It won't be easy, but with the support of her friends and found family she feels there's nothing she can't do.

Then random chance and careless spite collide into an act of unimaginable cruelty, leaving multiple lives shattered.

Luz is devastated but there’s no time to pick up the pieces. The Emperor's tightening his grip, and Luz and her friends have to push their own pain aside and pull themselves together if they want to prevent the ultimate tragedy.

The day of Unity is fast approaching and they have a plan to stop it, but their allies are few and their enemies are many, and they have plenty of tricks of their own. Hardship haunts them at every turn, their group suffering loss after loss as they struggle forward. Each time they manage to pull through, but their hope is steadily eroding. And their own survival may not be the benchmark they can use to measure victory.

For there are many fates that are far worse than death.

Ao3

Next>

Luz headed down the trail leading away from the overlook, Amity walking right beside her, their fingers entwined. Everytime Luz actually thought about that her heart gave a little flutter.

She hadn’t been able to do her tradition today, go to her dad’s grave with her mom. Spend the day together, talking about all the happy memories they had of him.

Amity’s fingers tightened ever so slightly against her own, giddy butterflies bursting to life in her chest.

But today had worked in its own way.

Reluctantly, Luz slowed to a stop as they came to where the path split “So…you probably need to be getting home now,”

“Actually…” Amity turned towards her “Do you think I could stay over at the owl house tonight? Today was a lot, and I’m not sure I’m ready to go back home to dad…and mom,”

“I’ll have to check with Eda but I think that should be fine! You can sleep on the couch, you might have to deal with one of Hooty’s midnight musical numbers but other than that there shouldn’t be a problem,”

Amity let out a laugh “Midnight musicals, good one,”

Luz just blinked back at her.

“Wait was that…not a joke?”

A short while later the two of them walked through the door into the owl house.

“Eda!” Luz shouted with a hand cupped around her mouth “Can Amity stay the night tonight?”

“Yeah that’s fine,” Eda shouted back from the kitchen “We’ll have to shuffle the sleeping arrangements though, we have another guest,”

Luz turned towards Amity, the two sharing a curious look “Another guest?”

They hurried back to the kitchen, spotting Eda talking with–

“Oh hey aunt Lilith,”

“Wait Lilith!?” Amity whipped back and forth between Luz and the bespeckled puffy haired witch sitting at the table “Aunt!?”

“Oh hello, yes it’s me,” Lilith gave them a little wave.

Amity looked her up and down “I…I didn’t recognize you,”

“I suppose I have changed quite a bit. Ever since leaving the Emperor’s Coven I’ve been working hard to shake off the shackles of conformity and step up as a Bad Girl Historian and Cool Aunt to Eda’s wards,”

“Yeah! Just last week we went back in time to meet the journal author,”

“What!?” Amity whirled back on her, eyes blown wide “You met Philip Wittebane!?”

“Yeah, he turned out to be a jerk though,”

“I punched him in the face,” Lilith said primly.

Amity whipped her head back and forth between Lilith and Luz, mouth working open and shut.

“Alright I’m turning in and leaving you nerds to it,” Eda pushed away from the table and stood “Lily you ok with bunking in the nest with me so Boots can take the couch?”

“Yes that should be fine,”

“Alright, goodnight nerds, have fun with your nerd talk,” she turned and started heading towards the stairs, leaving the three of them in the kitchen.

“Hang on just a second…” Amity shakily took a seat across from Lilith “You guys actually went back in time,”

“Yup,” Luz sat down next to her “We used the time pools,”

“I thought those were an urban legend, next you’ll be telling me possums are real,”

“While possums might be a myth I can assure you that time pools are very real,” Lilith stood and pulled down a large chart from the top of the wall, on it was a drawing of a large pool of water, to the left of the pool was an illustration of a dripping blue liquid, to the right a mossy green mass. Both them them helpfully captioned ‘Titan’s blood’ and ‘Boiling Algae’. Arrows from either picture pointed towards the center of the chart, swirling together into the picture of the time pool.

Amity blinked “Wait, did you already have that set up…or do you just carry it with you…?”

“Yeah she’s been doing that a lot lately,” Luz leaned over and whispered to her “Apparently a good Bad Girl Historian is always prepared for a lecture,”

“You see time pools are formed by congealed titan’s blood mixing with prehistoric algae,” Lilith pointed towards the pool in the middle of the chart “The resulting composition is unstable, both chronologically and geographically, unlike other deposits of congealed titan’s blood, so not only can it provide windows through time, the physical location of these pools is constantly changing as well,”

“Hang on, other congealed titan’s blood!?” Luz shot up out of her seat “What other titan’s blood is out there?”

Lilith adjusted her glasses “Well not titan’s blood per say…”

She reached up and pulled down another chart, this one showing the titan’s skeleton lying in the boiling sea, but it was a cross section with various subterranean spaces visible, including the mine on the knee.

“When the titan fell in the boiling sea, sea water along with prehistoric forms of algae leaked into the titan’s body, forming the first non boiling lakes and rivers,” Lilith pointed to a large swath of purple on top of the titan’s pelvis “At the same time, large amounts of titan’s blood pooled and congealed in the lower areas of the titan’s body,” she traced her finger down, the purple of the pelvic lake turning into a deep turquoise as she traced the map of the water below sea level “Over time the algae consumed the pockets of the congealed titan’s blood, assimilating it into its physiology and permanently altering its biochemistry. Resulting in a host of different algae-blood amalgamations within the titan,”

“Wait…” Luz leaned forward, practically hanging over the table “Does that mean lakes and rivers could be portals through time to?”

“No,” Lilith’s finger lifted, tapping the tangled rib structure above the teal underground lake “Not only is congealed titan’s blood exceedingly dense, the algae it amalgamated with are a primarily subterranean species. As such all known amalgamations, time pools excepted, have settled deep underground. This combined with being filtered by the titan’s skeletal and vascular systems prevents algae-blood amalgamations from affecting the accessible levels of lakes and rivers,”

“Yeah,” Amity cut in “Like Lake Lacuna, it runs super deep in the middle, but aside from the razor eels the shallower areas are pretty safe, a lot of people go there for picnics and swimming,”

“Quite right, now this is also why titan’s blood has been historically mined at the knee,” Lilith tapped the picture of the knee “The elevation isolated it and prevented amalgamation with algae. Creating veins of pure titan’s blood. Now time pools are unique in that their shifting locations have brought them up to the surface and allowed some scant observations, but for the deeper deposits only trace samples have ever been recovered,” she turned back to them “Quite frankly there’s no telling what sort of properties these subterranean algae-blood amalgamations have,” 

Luz sucked in a gasp “We should have a beach day tomorrow!”

Amity blinked in surprise for a moment, before a stray giggle escaped her “That was your main take away from that lecture?”

“I’ve been through the time pools before, but we’ve never had a beach day! And you said people go swimming at the shallow parts of Lake Lacuna, so let’s do it!”

“Well I for one am proud that I was able to deliver such a thorough lesson on short notice,” Lilith said with a satisfied nod, rolling up her charts with a snap “But it’s getting late and I must retire, so I’ll leave you to plan you delinquent outing,”

With that Lilith strode out of the room, Luz still buzzing with excitement beside Amity.

“We can have not-dogs, and invite Gus and Willow–”

Amity felt a bubbly warmth filling her chest, Luz’s sunny enthusiasm contagious, as she pulled out her scroll “I’ll shoot them a message on Penstagram,”

Only seconds after she sent it her scroll chimed with a reply. 

Luz leaned in over her shoulder, the two of them reading the response “Willow says they can come after Flyer derby practice, and they want to know if the rest of the team can come,”

“Sure! The more the merrier!”

Amity laughed again, already composing the response.

---

Alador yawned and pushed back from his workbench, wincing as his spine popped. It had taken longer than he expected but he finally finished working out the prototype for the Abomatron. Normally he’d make a beeline to bed right now, so tomorrow he could start work on his next project bright and early, but tonight something made him drag his feet.

The situation with Amity and the brawl kept going through his head, one of the reasons it took him so long to finish the prototype plans.

Amity didn’t want to join the emperor’s coven, she didn’t want to join a coven at all. When did that happen?

He stood up, knees popping as well, discarding thoroughly stained apron and work gloves on the bench. The action so practiced he barely had to think about it, leaving his mind to dwell on other things.

As long as he’d known it had been Amity’s dream to succeed and rise high. To be the best of the best and do the Blight family proud.

Then again…how long had it been since he’d actually sat down and talked about her dreams with her?

There was the first day of her baby class, an abomination just a little bit taller than she was tottering after her as she ran down the path, proudly proclaiming that she wanted to create the biggest abomination ever, as big as the titan! But that was nearly ten years ago, surely they’d spoken more recently…

Alador searched his mind for any memory of such a thing, and to his dismay came up empty.

Guts lurching uncomfortably, he shut off the lights and headed upstairs. He hadn’t been meant to ignore Amity or the twins, he’d been busy with his work, and Odalia was always better at that sort of thing. He’d never been good at planning and networking, or anything that involved talking to people. Better to let Odalia handle those things; she was charming, intelligent, an absolute force of willpower. With her guidance their children were guaranteed a good future.

But maybe he’d taken things too far, delegated too much, and somewhere along the line he’d become so distant from his children that Alador barely knew them.

That thought made him unbearably sad.

Reaching the top of the stairs he paused with his foot in midair. Down the hall to the right was the small guest room he slept in when he couldn’t be bothered to shower after a long stretch of work. Odalia never banned him from their bedroom but she put her foot down when it came to abomination stains on the sheets. That’s where he should go, get some rest so he could be ready to start work on the Abomaton 3.0 tomorrow. But despite knowing that he found his attention pulled to the left….

After hesitating a few more moments, Alador turned and started heading down the hall to his left.

Maybe he wasn’t good at this, maybe Odalia was better at planning their childrens’ futures than he’d ever be, but that was no excuse not to at least try. And Alador wanted to know his children again.

Soon enough the door loomed in front of him, one Alador didn’t remember walking through in years. He raised a hand then hesitated, intestines twisting into knots.

Swallowing back the sensation, he forced back his nerves and rapped his knuckles against the wood.

After a few moments of unbearable silence Emira’s voice echoed out.

“Uh…come in?”

Alador cracked open the door and peeked inside. When the twins were born they’d shared a nursery, as they got older they’d moved into separate bedrooms, connected to either side of the original nursery. And the nursery had become a playroom, a way to isolate the destructive chaos of twin toddlers from the rest of the manor, and the twins’ favorite place to hang out.

To his relief that much hadn’t changed, while the decorations were more mature than he remembered. Each side of the room was decorated with what looked to be Edric and Emira’s tastes respectively, although there were strands of fairy lights and a small desk near the window that didn’t appear to match either style. 

Edric and Emira were lounging on plush chairs on one side of the room, each of them looking up from their scrolls to stare at him quizzically.

“Hey…” Edric said slowly “Amity’s spending the night at the owl lady’s house, she’ll be back tomorrow.

Alador blinked “She is?”

How checked out was he? His youngest daughter wasn’t home and he didn't even notice. Was he really that little of a presence in his childrens’ life?

He gave a quick shake of his head to dispel the spiraling thoughts. For better and worse Amity had made it clear where he stood with her. Now it was time to clear the air with Emira and Edric.

“I didn’t come here to talk to Amity, I wanted to talk to you,”

Both twins glanced at each other “About what…” Emira said slowly.

“Oh just…” Alador stepped fully into the room and gently shut the door behind him “How are your studies going? Are you two still in the illusion track?”

The twins shared another look, silence stretching out longer and longer until Emira cleared her throat “Actually…I’ve been working on healing magic to,”

“Oh that’s…good,” he turned towards Edric “How about you,”

“I’ve been…checking out beastkeeping, and potions,”

Aladror started a bit “Wait, were you the one responsible for what happened to Warden Wrath at the brawl?”

Edric jerked in his seat, face flushing deep red “That wasn’t– I…uh…”

“Because that’s impressive,”

Now both twins jolted in surprise.

“Really…..?” Emira said hesitantly.

Alador felt his face grow hot. Was it really so unusual for him to take an interest in his children? Well if it was that was changing now.

Maybe he wasn’t good at this, but titan dammit no matter how bad he was Alador was going to be there for his kids.

“Tell me more about your beast potions,” he gingerly took a seat at an empty desk chair “And your healing illusions…”

---

Darius had to fight back a yawn as he made his way back to his quarters. With the day of unity fast approaching the workload was never ending, luckily he knew a shortcut through the back corridors to save him some time.

Spotting an ivory cloak and glint of gold as he rounded the corner, he felt his sour mood recede a bit, the beginnings of a smile curving on his lips. It looked like he wasn’t the only one using these back hallways tonight.

The Golden Guard, right hand to Emperor Belos himself, was hunched over in a corner partially hidden behind a column, unmasked and staring down at his scroll, the personal one Darius himself had given him, like it was a particularly challenging puzzle. Which to him it probably was.

He slowed to a stop, his presence still unnoticed “Having trouble little prince?”

Hunter jolted upright, whipping around to face him “I wasn’t– I was just–”

“Because it looks like you were using Penstagram to chat with your little Flyer Derby friends,”

His face flushed red all the way to the tips of his ears, shoving the scroll into his pocket with far more force than was needed “I was just…gathering intel. It’s not a distraction from my duties,”

Darius planted a hand on his hip and fought the urge to roll his eyes “You know the coven won’t come to a halt if you take an hour for yourself,”

“Wh…whether or not the coven can function without me is irrelevant, I have a responsibility to uphold and I can’t neglect my duties,”

A heavy sigh built in the back of Darius’ throat, but he bit it back before it could escape. Thanks to that whole debacle with the Flyer Derby players he knew there was an actual teenager inside that uptight shell, but he had to be coaxed out gently.

“Little Prince you work twice as hard as people more than double your age. Quite frankly you deserve a break,”

Hunter flinched a little bit at the word ‘deserve’ so slight Darius nearly missed it, but he continued without missing a beat “I don’t know what they taught you in scout training, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using your spare time to do something that makes you happy, even if it doesn’t contribute to the continuous progress of the empire,”

Gloved knuckles tightened around his staff as Hunter cautiously peeked up at him “You…think so?”

“I’m the head of one of the most profitable covens in the Boiling Isles,” Darius gave a good natured grin and reached out to ruffle his hair “I know so,”

Hunter blinked in surprise before reaching up to smooth his tousled hair “I guess if you’re sure, just…don’t tell uncle,”

“Of course,” Darius patted him on the shoulder “Now you better hurry, I know Kikimora uses these back halls to,”

“Understood,” Hunter turned and strode away, pivoting back to flash a quick wave as he went “Thank you Headwitch Darius,”

Darius gave a slow wave and a smile in return as he watched Hunter hurry down the corridor “Anytime,” he kept waving until Hunter vanished around the corner, pausing for a moment before lowering his hand and continuing on his way.

Maybe it made him a bad rebel to be giving pep talks to the Emperor’s right hand man, but Darius had never given a damn what other witches thought. 

And besides it wasn’t as if he could recruit him for the rebellion. Hunter was a child, to say nothing of the conflict of interest…

That particular thought made the smile drop off his face.

Belos may be a tyrant but he was also Hunter’s uncle, and it was unreasonably cruel to ask a child to forsake his only family member for the good of the isles. For titan’s sake the only thing Hunter should be worried about was more outings with those little Flyer Derby friends of his. And if everything went according to plan, soon he would. Darius and the other rebels just had to keep their heads down and avoid raising suspicion until they took out Belos and stopped the day of unity. Honestly between the two of them they had so many worries that the Emperor finding out about his nephew’s hobbies was barely worth a second thought.

Sure Belos might not be happy about his nephew running off to play with other witches his age when he could be training or studying coven law. But he’d thrown tradition to the wind and raised his powerless teenage nephew to the role of Golden Guard. Belos clearly favored the boy, how angry could he actually be.

[rhineposting]

POSSIBLY TRIGGERING CONTENT AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

THE SCENARIO DISCUSSED IS IN RELATION TO A CANON DIVERGENT INTERPRETATION OF A CHARACTER.

THE DISCUSSED AND DESCRIBED THEMES AND HEADCANONS APPLY ONLY TO THIS PARTICULAR VERSION OF THE CHARACTER, AND NOT THE CANON AND OFFICIAL VERSION OF THE CHARACTER THAT IS DEPICTED IN MY OTHER, LIGHTER WORKS.

I DO NOT CONDONE BEHAVIOURS DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING WORK. THE WORK'S MAIN PURPOSE IS FIRST AND FOREMOST A STUDY OF TWO CHARACTERS' MINDSET FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES.

It had been two months since the Day of Unity, and they hadn’t made any progress in unstucking themselves from the Human Realm and, in turn, Camila’s home - which was pretty obvious, considering they were technically illegal immigrants with no papers or anything. Interdimensional immigrants, but immigrants nonetheless, and according to Luz, those weren’t taken so kindly. Which was… absurd, frankly. Their world was much vaster than the Boiling Isles, with so many more places to see and be in, and yet, for some reason, people just insisted on banning each other from doing that. And the worst part? Well, it was that apparently, that  wasn’t even the worst part of living in the Human Realm . They didn’t dare ask what actually was, though. They'd seen and heard enough.

However, they couldn’t deny that some things were objectively better in the Human Realm - like the houses. Doorbells didn’t eat people alive and no one had a house demon. No one had a Hooty. Who… they kinda missed. But, most importantly, they had so many more options in terms of entertainment! Circuses with actual safety measures, or cinemas - basically crystal balls but bigger and with better sound and even special, cinema-exclusive snacks! Malls, too - like city markets, but stuck in buildings with nice smelling air and brain-numbing white lights, along with fancy water fountains and exotic plants strewn here and there, like in a garden. A very strange, synthetic and shiny garden.

Most most importantly, though, they had… the internet, which was basically all of those things combined. It was available on everyone’s devices, and was even out there for free, sometimes, in some places outside. And there was everything on it.

Everything.

Gus had almost died of overdosing on arcane knowledge, in fact, but that was a tale for another time. 

‘She likes girls? So you’re saying I actually have a chance?’

Despite its dangers, it still held many good things - one of them being Net-flickers, or however that went. Luz didn’t agree on it being that good, but at that very moment, Hunter had no choice but to disagree.

It was raining outside, and while the others were sleeping through it, he and Luz had decided to hook her laptop to the TV to watch some old movie. So, here they were, huddled under a blanket on opposite ends of the couch, their eyes transfixed on the pale screen, blank as they simply and silently took in everything happening on it.

‘Dude, Mrs. Ember has a wife and three kids,’ a fake teenager on the screen snorted. ‘What are you even thinkinggggg?’

‘Dude, come onnnnnnnnnnnn!'

The fake teenagers laughed some more as they patted each other on the back before skateboarding off to the mall, where they would inevitably bump into some stereotypical bullies. Though that was for later. At that very moment, Luz quietly laughed too, which  was nice. She didn’t smile very often anymore. Most of the time, when she wasn’t sulking, she just… stared at nothing. Almost as if she wasn't there in the present with them.

“... Hey, Luz?” Hunter suddenly found himself interrupting their comfortable silence, and the girl's head turned to face him. “... Can I ask you something real quick?”

“Of course,” she replied, resting her chin on her palm. “Hit me.”

… Hunter wasn’t sure why on Earth she thought he'd want to hit her, but he guessed that was a yes.

Despite being given the green light, though, he still found himself at a loss for words - opening his mouth only to close it again. Moving his hand in some vague and meaningless gesture before pulling it back to himself. Turning to Luz with furrowed brows, only to immediately look away and down at his hands. The longer this went on, the more puzzled Luz appeared. Even though he'd literally seen her doing the same whenever she happened to dance around a question.

Fortunately for the both of them, he eventually sighed and went with it - after all, what was the worst she could say?

“... So, uh…” he stammered, avoiding her gaze as he fiddled with the edge of his blanket, “... is it like… normal… for people our age to… um, like adults…?”

Much to his surprise, instead of immediately electrocuting him for even asking that, she… laughed. 

Again.

“Pfff, of course, dummy. Everyone had a crush on an adult as a kid, it’s like. A rite of passage.”

“... Wait, really?”

“Well, duh!” Luz nodded, now fully smiling. Was she actually happy to be having this talk with him, or was she ridiculing him? Titan help him, he had no idea. “Trust me, I've been there - I had crushes on allllll the teachers that were even slightly nice to me. Like… my PE teacher, my art teacher in fourth grade, that one music teacher I had for three months before she moved, my english teacher…”

The longer she went on, the more bewildered Hunter appeared.

“And… okay, but you gotta keep this between us.” Even more so after she suddenly scooted towards him, cupping a hand next to her mouth as she looked around, as if she were about to confess to a murder. And was she? Wait no, they weren’t even talking about death, dying or killing. “Can you promise me to never, ever tell anyone? If you do, I’m killing you, myself, AND I'm burying us in one grave!”

His face turned one shade paler as he nodded, uncertain whether she was being serious or not under that weird, half-embarrassed smirk. Did he have any other choice than to agree, though?

At least it made Luz happy.

“Alright, so…” the girl lowered her voice to a murmur, still keeping her hand hovering in mid-air, throwing suspicious looks at the empty living room, “I… used to have a small, very teeny tiny crush on Eda when I first came to the Boiling Isles. But that was before I, y’know, got closer to her and before she… kinda became my second mom.”

There it was again : a glimpse of that searingly dull pain that seemed to always persist behind her eyes, where she kept it hidden, all to herself. Though, before Hunter could even think of saying anything, she continued talking, as she was certainly well aware of the opening she'd just left. She needed a distraction. Quickly.

“I mean, she has it all! The glorious hair, the fashion and all that coolness she puts into everything she does. Y’know? Even Willow saw all that! Willow! That surely means something, no?”

… As odd as it was to imagine someone like Willow yearning for the constantly-on-fire hairball in high heels that was Eda, he was… relieved to hear it. Enough so that he sighed and went back to resting against the couch, since, for the last five minutes, he'd been hunched over. For some reason.

“Whew, haha, good to know.” He smiled at Luz, who in turn smiled even wider. “Thanks, Luz. I knew you’d be the right person to ask.”

Yeah.

But before he could savor the peace and relief, he was proven wrong as her smile suddenly turned into a devilish, mischievous grin.

“Buuut, my wisdom does come at a price! And now you gotta pay! With YOUR wisdom!”

The smile on Hunter’s face fell. He looked away.

Then, just like a little kid about to be told a fairytale, she turned her whole body towards him and crossed her legs, her hands now holding both her cheeks as she stared at him expectantly :

“Who was your adult crush, huh? You wouldn’t ask if you didn't have one! Come on, spill it!”

“... Hunter?”

He wouldn’t look at her anymore.

“... Hunter, who was it?”

Precisely because of that, she still chose to listen to him as he finally came up with something more to say.

There was no answer from Hunter, and that alone was enough of an answer to Luz - now deeply disturbed, her eyebrows furrowed and almost at a loss for words.

Almost.

“...Hunter that’s…That’s not right,” she eventually spoke - her voice cracking, “That kind of crush is not right, okay or anything of the sort!”

She couldn’t see his face anymore, but she still saw his ears twitch downwards. Enough of an indicator of the slowly creeping in shame.

“...Didn’t you just say you used to think that way about Eda?”

“W-Well, yes! But that was a long time ago, I was still dumb and-” the girl found herself stammering over her words, struggling to not sound like a hypocrite, even though she knew it was not the same. “And she’s not actually my mom, we’re not related or anything, y’know?”

Yet, none of those words seemed to convince Hunter, as he still sat with his knees held to himself, fully turned away. Had they known each other any shorter, and Luz would think he was being difficult on purpose, but both to her fortune and misfortune, she could tell from a mile away when the boy was not with them anymore - instead back between white gold banners, kneeling below a mold-green giant heart and a pair of unforgiving blue eyes hiding behind brass. This too, was one of those situations.

“...You said you liked Eda because she’s cool, among other things,” he murmured, nearly burying his nose between his knees by then. “...For me, it was how…He was nice to me when I did good, unlike everyone else. They’d treat my every success as something obvious. Like…”

He interrupted himself with a huff, rubbing at the back of his neck - once again struggling to find the right words, the right comparison that would make Luz understand - while she simply waited. Even though it was the last thing she wanted to do right now, even though a part of her wanted to tell Hunter to stop talking and reminding her of just how horrible his life was. It was too much, being constantly reminded that one of her best friends never got the same opportunities she and her other friends had, and that there was nothing she could do to fix it, besides carrying the burden of knowing and offering advice - which she wasn’t even remotely equipped to give. As much as she loathed to think about it, a part of her somewhat resented him for putting her in this position. It was an awful, selfish thing to feel.

“...Humans don’t reward their devices for finding things they need on the Internet, right?”

To that, Luz nodded. Already understanding where he was going with this.

“...But they do get mad when they don’t. They lash out and yell,” he continued. “That’s how it was with the Covenheads or senior Scouts.”

For a moment, Luz wondered if Raine or Darius were included in that statement, and she didn’t really want to know. Especially in the bard’s case.

Hunter sighed again, now rubbing at his scarred cheek.

“...He did too, but,” he added, Luz’s thoughts momentarily going back to the dusty hall of gold framed memories, color briefly fading from her face as she recalled some of them. To this day, she was glad they didn’t see all of it. “He’d smile at me. He’d tell me he was satisfied with my work, and that he hoped he wouldn’t have to replace me anytime soon.”

He paused again, but this time to let out a bitter, pained chuckle.

“...I mean, now I know he was lying about all of those things, but back then…Hearing that was the best thing in the world.”

Oh no. Please no. Please don’t tell me it’s not what I think it is, please. I can’t deal with this alone. Why do I have to deal with this at all? I’m his friend, not a therapist! I don’t even know how to help! Please, stay quiet! Just- Just don’t say anything-

Just as Luz started to think her heart couldn’t break any more for him, she was proven wrong once again. Of course he wouldn’t have a crush on a teacher or anything like what she had. It was just like how her mother told her - if a dog is regularly mistreated by ten people and one of those people occasionally gives treats and pats, the dog is going to love that person to death despite the abuse. Wait, no, she didn’t mean to compare Hunter to a dog, that was even worse than simply considering him an extension of the Emperor and nothing else. Okay, maybe she should have started thinking about something else before she eventually blurts something awful out.

After hearing him out, the girl sighed and leaned back against the couch like a deflated balloon, her gold-brown eyes now full of sadness and understanding alike, her gaze trailing off to the side.

“...Still,” Luz added in a murmur, “Crushes on family members aren’t normal. Generally anything romance related between relatives is…Bad.” Especially if the family is an older caretaker. Especially if the family was Belos, “But hey, at least now you know that it was-”

From the corner of her vision, she saw Hunter’s head abruptly snap in her direction - his magenta eyes wide open and face pale, just as she finished her sentence.

“...Wrong.”

Hunter didn’t say anything.

The look of horror, of realization in his wide open eyes said everything for him. Dropped all the burden on her again for him. Right then and there, she should have excused herself, maybe under the excuse of going to the bathroom - only to run to…She didn’t know. Her mom. Amity. Or even Willow. They’d know how to help, they’d know the right thing to say, the right thing to do, right? But wouldn’t it be selfish? Wouldn’t that just make Hunter feel like she cared about her own comfort more than him? Of course it would.

So, there she stayed again, but instead of following her own internal yelling, she did the opposite of not saying anything.

“...Hunter,” against her better judgment, she spoke up again. “...Your crush was the only thing between you and him, right?”

A part of her hoped it wasn’t, in retrospect, it was the dumbest, most naive part of her that always believed things couldn’t get any worse. And it just so happened that almost everything regarding Hunter’s life seemed to get worse and worse the more she learned about it. It almost felt comically grotesque, as if he had been carved through life for someone’s entertainment. with each wound simply being another point on the program - and Luz didn’t dare wonder what the finale would look like, should this feeling turn out to be true.

In the end, Hunter almost turned sheet white in the face. He looked like his heart went ahead and turned itself off.

“...I…I thought it’s a normal thing between people that trust each other when they’re old enough,” Hunter said, his voice blank. “...He didn’t lie about that one thing, right?”

Luz was going to be sick.

Words, feelings, everything she had eaten all day had suddenly made a line to come out her throat all at once. Seeing it coming minutes later did nothing to prepare her for what felt like a stab directly through her stomach, and if that wasn’t enough…Her brain just had to fill in the gaps with images of something she desperately didn’t want to see in any way, shape or form.

She imagined Hunter, right about his current age. Lonely and clueless, lost in his feelings that he had to tend to alone. Then, she saw the blue eyed man that haunted her nightmares and thoughts. He would play with his faded brown-blonde hair, his gaze lazily narrowed like that of a serpent’s. A smug smile present across his face marred with blue scars and blemishes as he would have assured him that there was nothing to be embarrassed about, since after all he didn’t see Hunter as his actual nephew or anything else besides a pawn. Then, he would have probably made that annoyingly arrogant hand gesture to get him to come closer and—

Too much. It was too much, and it was her own fault. If she could have pried her skull open and set her brain on fire, she would have. Why would it do that to her? Hunter needed her right then and there. And now, she couldn’t even stay to actually try to help, even if she hadn’t had the slightest idea how to.

“...Sorry Hunter, I’ll-” She gagged, only slightly managing to conceal it. “...I’ll be right back. Pee break, haha.”

In the end, she just barely made it to the toilet bowl.

Hunter heard everything. Gagging. Coughing. Retching. Wheezing. As he unwillingly listened to the direct result of him trying to seek shelter in Luz, he stared wide-eyed at the TV screen until his eyes hurt from drying out - no longer paying any attention to the plot of the movie.

It felt like the more his friends knew about him, the more he wounded them in the process. Almost as if every time he opened his mouth, the venom constantly bubbling inside his guts poured out on them, slowly rotting them on the inside like him. And they didn’t deserve it. They didn’t deserve to keep putting up with a burden like him.

Never again, he decided, and by the time Luz came back, he was gone.

-------------

For the record, I did not write this for the sake of entertainment. While I do not owe anyone the history of my trauma for the sake of avoiding backlash, I would like to mention that the thought processes and actions of both Luz and Hunter are things I have done and experienced personally in the past- as both the listener and the one realizing that their world-view is skewed and based on twisted half truths and incomplete information on top of emotional immaturity.

Hence, this work takes neither Hunter's nor Luz's side, as they are both victims in this scenario, with Luz being a child suddenly faced with things she's not equipped to handle alone, and with Hunter also being a child who had been left to his own devices for most of his life when it came to his feelings and mental health. Neither of them possess the maturity and knowledge to act rationally in this situation - as, I cannot stress this enough, they are both children who had gone through emotionally stunting traumatic events. Neither of them are to blame, except the perpetrator who had put them through said events in the first place.

And again, I am not a licensed or educated professional in psychology. All the conclusions above come from my personal experience and knowledge which may be subjective and faulty at times.

With that said, if you still come screaming into my ask-box or notes about how I'm apparently a p*do or that I support SA, I'm going to spray a lemon in your eyes and sell your brain since you're clearly not using it for anything anyway.

And to those who read this far without thinking of doing that, thank you.