#good uncle emperor belos

[oyeedraw-arts]

Dumb toh finale reaction comic featuring tattoo au. Mildish spoilers for that one scene with Belos at the end.

[purplequay]

fluff for yall before you get fucking demolished by the new ep <3

[unfried-mouth-wheat]

[Image ID: A traditional sketch of Belos and Hunter from The Owl House. Belos is an old man with long hair, a broken nose, shirt pointed ears, and a scar cutting across his face, dressed in decorated robes and cloaks. Hunter is a teen boy with short hair with a long forelock, a hooked nose, a scar on his left cheek, and long pointed ears, dressed in a tunic, a vest, and gloves. Belos stands to the left of Hunter, his hand on Hunter’s right shoulder. Hunter is looking up at Belos, holding a book close to his chest. Belos is saying “My nephew isn’t autistic, this is normal behavior.” Meanwhile, there’s an arrow pointing to his head that reads “also autistic”. End ID]

[aroacemisha]

Some RLAU memes, for different points in the timeline.

[crossroadsofchaos]

Retired Leaders AU Info Masterpost

Figured I'd compile basic info about this AU into one big post.

----

THE BASICS:

It's a "Good Uncle" kind of AU, where Belos is a better person. He actually tried to unite the realms, because he believed it would be beneficial for both, but it was doomed from the start and went horribly wrong. He has publicly admitted to and apologized for his wrongdoings and resigned from his position, and the Coven System was abolished. His family occupied leadership positions within his Coven and also left those roles behind, hence the AU's title.

I refer to the family as the Wolf Fam. It consists of Belos, Steven, Hunter and Kiki, along with their palismen. They all live together in a newly built house.

--

THE CHARACTERS:

This isn't a list of all characters that exist, just the Wolf Fam and a handful of others, mostly OCs.

Belos Wittebane (he/him; mid 410s): Former Lord of the Boiling Isles; now a palisman carver; husband of Steven.

Steven Bellamy (he/him; 53 y/o): Husband of Belos; former Head of the Lord's Coven; now a P.E. teacher at Hexside.

Hunter Wittebane (he/him; 17 y/o): Nephew of Belos, raised by him and Steven; former Golden Guard; now mainly focused on pursuing his interest in engineering and tech.

Kikimora Volk (she/her; mid 20s): A sort of adopted daughter to Belos and Steven and adopted sister to Hunter; former Secretary; now works at a history museum.

Crescent (they/them): A floating snow leopard palisman belonging to Belos.

Ash (he/him, they/them): A dark gray wolf palisman belonging to Steven.

Waffles (she/her, they/them): A winged red wolf palisman belonging to Hunter.

Grusha (she/her): A spotted hyena palisman belonging to Kiki.

Jasper Tholomule (he/him; 44 y/o): Younger half-brother of Steven; father of Matt; husband of Cass.

Cassidy "Cass" Tholomule (they/them, she/her; 44 y/o): Spouse of Jasper; stepparent of Matt.

Matthew "Matt" Tholomule (he/him; 13 y/o): Biological son of Jasper and stepson of Cass; nephew of Steven.

Leslie Bellamy (she/her; 80s): Mother of Steven and Jasper; grandmother of Matt; wife of Opal.

Opal Bellamy (she/her; 80s): Wife of Leslie; stepmother of Steven and biological mother of Jasper; grandmother of Matt.

Ren Kanemaru (they/them; 53 y/o): Steven's childhood friend; former scout.

Valerie "Val" Durand (she/her; 54 y/o): Best friend of Steven and Ren, who they met after joining the Lord's Coven; former scout.

Petra Barany (she/her; mid 20s): Best friend and former assistant of Kiki.

That's about enough I think, I won't be including the rest here. One thing to note is that the Collector doesn't exist in this version.

And you may have also noticed that "Steve" is a little different. I created this version back when we only had one scene with Steve and had no idea he was going to get a face reveal and more canon info, and I just chose not to change the name after that happened. So Steve technically exists, but it's not canon Steve. They do have some similarities though.

--

THE STORY:

Back in the 1600s, Philip did not kill Caleb, and reluctantly gave the Boiling Isles a chance. Though resisting it at every turn, he ultimately fell in love with it. He developed the belief that uniting the two realms would be beneficial for both, combining the less dangerous climate of Earth with the more open and progressive culture of the Isles. After Caleb died in an accident during the search for one of the ingredients for the portal door, Philip only became more committed to the idea.

He began to do extensive research into magic, digging for as much information as he could find, which included looking into lost and forbidden magic. The latter is how he discovered both Grimwalkers and a way to extend one's life by consuming palismen. As he formed a coherent plan for how to enact his goal, he began trying out his messaging on small groups of witches to see what works, as well as testing out Coven sigils on the earliest ones until they worked as intended. He also took the name Belos and began to wear a mask.

Slightly over 50 years ago he took power as the Lord of the Boiling Isles, becoming the chief religious figure and a sort of constitutional monarch, with his fourth Grimwalker nephew, Anthony, by his side as the Golden Guard. There was an elected government responsible for things like deciding on budgets and passing legislation unrelated to the Coven System, however Belos had ultimate authority and could override any decision. He largely stayed out of their affairs unless he thought what they were doing would undermine his ultimate goal.

However, his plan to unite the realms was doomed from the start. When he attempted to do it on the Day of Unity, it went horribly wrong and shattered his hopes. The Unification Spell didn't work and was simply draining people of magic. It ended abruptly once Belos's staff, through which the spell was channeled, exploded. He, Hunter and the Hexsquad barely escaped the blast by leaving through the portal door. They ended up stuck in the Human Realm for a time, before finding the same way back as they did in canon.

Belos publicly admitted that he had lied about speaking to the Titan, and that the plan to unite the realms was his own doomed idea. He apologized and resigned, with Steven, Hunter and Kiki following him. The Coven System was abolished, and the Isles became more of an actual democracy, without a single individual with ultimate authority being able to override the decisions of the elected government, which also became more transparent.

Belos helped with restoration efforts where damage had been caused on the Day of Unity, and he later took up palisman carving and caring for palismen in general to make up for consuming them to extend his own life. He also released many palismen souls that were previously trapped inside him, and is now aging at a more regular pace. Though some remain, in part because they have fused with his curse - he was cursed long ago, in a similar way to Eda, and his curse is a wolfcat. Both conditions have physically affected him, giving him scars, catlike pupils, sharp fangs, ability to purr, and making him much bigger than he was originally.

--

EXTRA:

spirituality on the Isles

Belos didn't invent a religion from scratch, but rather built on and expanded - or, to put it more harshly, exploited - already existing spiritual beliefs related to the Titan in order to achieve his goal of uniting the realms.

Before Belos, the Titan was rarely (if ever) viewed as a higher authority who, through messengers, gave witches rules to live by. He was mainly seen and respected as the origin of the Isles and all life on it. People thanked him for their existence, their magic, their harvests, etc. and payed tribute to him, but that was largely it. The prevalence of spirituality/religion has gone down over time.

Belos's rise to power with the claim of him being "the Titan's messenger" caused a resurgence of spirituality/religiosity, with him being seen as the authority on the matter by his followers. It has declined again once it was revealed that he hadn't actually spoken to the Titan.

glyphs

They were in frequent use by ancient witches, in part due to them having weaker natural magic and having to rely more on magical tools than modern witches. Over time, they fell out of common use and were limited to specific spiritual/religious rituals, and then only became more rare over time.

Disabled witches who had weak or no natural magic would simply rely on their staffs, due to which they wouldn't rediscover glyphs out of necessity. On top of that, when knowledge of glyphs was still more common, it may have been taboo to use them for non-spiritual/religious purposes.

Covens

There have been a number of different Coven systems throughout history. Some Covens were based around familial ties, some were based around what kinds of magic people specialized in, some were simply regional, etc. Though sigils had not been used before, and it was possible to move between Covens, with the level of difficulty depending on the type of Covens in question. Whether it was legal to be Covenless may have varied as well, with it being illegal in some places at some points in time. When Belos rose to power, he chose to use the specialization-based model of Covens to sort people into.

With Belos's system gone, the concept of Covens wasn't completely abandoned, but rather became non-official and based on voluntary participation, as opposed to a legally mandated system that also restricted what types of magic people could use.

the structure of Belos's government

As mentioned previously, it was a sort of constitutional monarchy. Belos was the Lord of the Boiling Isles, it's main religious figure and ultimate authority, but there was an elected government, responsible for things like budgets and passing legislation. Belos could override any decision they made.

The Head Witches of the main nine Covens were originally appointed by Belos alone, but after Terra turned out to be a disastrous choice and had to be pushed out, he handed the appointment process over to the elected government, and would now simply confirm or deny their appointments. Those officials could be bribed, though, to appoint someone who shouldn't necessarily hold a position of power, like Adrian. Belos tried to keep an eye on such issues - or more so tasked others with doing so, but some still slipped through.

The Lord's Coven was a separate branch of government, entirely under Belos's control, though he tended to be somewhat reclusive, so day-to-day coordination and such was largely handled by other high-ranking members of the Coven.

The top leadership originally consisted of three positions: the Lord (Belos), the Secretary (first Winston, later Kiki) and the Golden Guard (first Anthony, later Hunter). The third position was later split into two, the Golden Guard and the Head of the Lord's Coven (first Lilith, later Steven), with the latter taking on some of the former's responsibilities, which allowed Belos to keep Hunter in the castle more for his safety.

The Lord's Coven was the Isles' military, and they performed other tasks and missions for Belos as well, such as finding abandoned palismen for him to consume as "medicine" - something he agreed was unfortunate, and claimed he was looking for an alternative to - and searching for Titan's Blood. Regular law enforcement was typically done by members of other Covens, though some scouts, mostly newer ones, could get the assignment. Usually, experienced scouts were only brought in for emergencies, or to deal with particularly powerful criminals.

the basilisks

The basilisks were not tortured and were generally treated better than in canon, but they were made to do things they didn't like, and were still kept in captivity, in part out of concern that they'd start attacking people if released out in the wild, and they were unhappy with their lives, so they still escaped.

The basilisk that attacked the schools in season 1 had always had behavior problems, possibly a combination of being the earliest and thus least correctly created, as well as being mishandled by those responsible for their care. They have since been treated, and are no longer dangerous.

Vee had complicated feelings about Belos, but was not terrified of him when she saw him in the Human Realm, especially once he made it clear he had no intention of forcing her to return to captivity.

[beejbsbswiwisnsnwwk]

Good Belos idea, when Hunter was about 6 or 7, he and belos would make little stories together. Hunter would ramble about anything he could think of, and belos would right it down and turn it into a story with a genuine plot. When they finished writing the book, belos would read it to Hunter as a bedtime story

[akisa-acl]

I made a drawing of Belos possessed by the collector who is inside my AU, I'm making a comic about this idea I had, if you want go see it on my instagram, I hope to upload it here too

https://instagram.com/akisa_acl?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=

[alithetiredartist]

Post canon boiling isles politics fights are probably so funny. Like “NO THIS TEENAGERS IS EVIL” “NO THEY WERE THE GOOD ONES” whatever the boiling isles equivalent to thanksgiving is probably like hell

[jessiedoodles01]

I did a quick drawing of good uncle belos and hunter, is it okay to draw hunter without his scars?

[sepublic]

Unlocking the Sad Backstory

I find it interesting how a lot of arcs in TOH have this general pattern of…

Character hurts others -> Character is unhappy, reconsiders their harm -> Character begins to do better -> Character’s sad backstory that re-contextualizes them is unlocked

And it applies even to characters that aren’t exactly villains or even antagonists, but for whom hurting someone nevertheless is a major premise! So to look at examples;

Amity is Willow and Luz’s bully, but we see how she’s unfairly manipulated by Lilith and is ashamed because of it. Luz reaching out to her makes Amity reconsider, she undoes the binding oath she placed on Luz. Then we see Amity’s siblings and how both parties are toxic to one another, and then we get a flashback confirming her parents are abusive. In regards to Willow specifically, Amity acknowledges she’s done harm to Willow in burning her memories, and works to fix them with Luz before we get this context.

Emira and Edric are also toxic to Amity, but in their next appearance they’re remorseful about what they’ve done to Amity, they’re working to make it up to their baby sister. And while they’re not present in the aforementioned flashback, their parents being confirmed as abusive tells you everything you need to know about them.

Lilith has a petty rivalry with Eda, but we see how much she cares and keeps breaking the law to look the other way, too. Then we see how she’s pressured by the Emperor’s Coven, and even threatened by Belos, before she captures Eda. We learn of her curse, but again; We see Lilith next and it’s reiterated that she believes this will cure Eda, we remember wanting to be kinder happened after cursing Eda. We see Lilith attempt to free Eda, and then we get the backstory about how the curse was mostly an accident. We get more info later on how Gwen’s neglect contributed to Lilith’s inferiority complex.

Hunter is the Golden Guard, he threatens to boil Luz, Eda, and King to death and wants the Selkidomus dead, but won’t even do it himself. He kidnaps Palismen to feed to Belos. But then later we see how he’s unhappy over his situation, how he feels like his uncle won’t let him help. Hunter begins to show consideration towards Flapjack and later Luz when he reveals his name, and then we get context as to how physically abusive Belos is, and where that scar came from. Flapjack returns and Hunter spares him.

Alador is either a controlling abuser to Amity, or a neglectful one. But he does hold his wife accountable when she tries to betray their daughter by going back on her end of the deal, and later shows genuine love for Amity when Alador isn’t more concerned about the family’s socioeconomic status. Amity admits how unhappy she is, Alador realizes he truly is hurting his daughter, and promises to talk with his wife over this. We later see him try, and then we see that Alador is also abused, and it’s implied his neglect comes from overworking himself in exchange for his children being spared the same.

Boscha is a bully, through and through. She torments everyone for purely petty reasons. But she also admits to feeling similar pressure as Willow, and then confesses to being lonely without Amity, Skara, Amelia, or Cat. Amity acknowledges that Boscha is lonely, but points out that Boscha needs to respect her for who she is. Boscha listens, and helps stop Kikimora. In the credits we see fully that she really was a miserable, scared child being manipulated by a grown adult.

The Collector is aiding Belos’ genocide, and (seemingly) knowingly. But they’re also fretful over the nature of their ‘friendship’ and are left betrayed and hurt. They meet King, and after being freed by him, we see how they try to be a good friend to King and are slowly listening to him bit by bit, which is why King vouches for rehabilitation over imprisonment. The Collector is already against harm to a certain point, defying what the Archivists mandate. And then we learn that they were unjustly imprisoned by the Titan, and didn’t even know about death in their childish, simplistic view of the world, seeing people as only broken and unmoving yet capable of being fixed at any time, if all the parts are there.

Gwen makes Eda feel ashamed of her curse, she neglects Lilith. But she does care for at least one daughter, and is horrified when she realizes the harm her antivaxxer actions have done. Gwen makes things up not only to Eda, but Lilith especially in taking her back home, even as Gwen explains during her reconciliation that she honestly saw Lilith as self-sufficient. And then a few episodes later, we find out her husband was mauled and left disabled by the curse, unable to continue his life’s work. And we get even more context for Gwen’s obsession in curing her daughter of the condition that gave her so much guilt.

Camila made Luz feel unwanted at home, going along with the camp, and her outburst later on was the wrong call; But she’s not punished for it, that’s not necessary. Instead she apologizes, we see Camila worry about the camp taking away Luz’s passion by salvaging her daughter’s weirdness for her, we see her be accommodating to Luz and her friends when she returns, having reflected in that time, and offering support. And then we learn that Camila was just like Luz, she fit in to survive, and she lost Manny, someone she needed to stand up for herself.

Bump is introduced as a principal willing to dissect Luz, but he also appreciates Willow’s magic and vouches for her to her parents. We see that he’s actually open-minded and cares about his students, he lets Eda enroll Luz on the fair grounds that Eda clear her own messes; Bump insists on following the coven system and places students into the detention track, but when those kids save the day, Bump owns up to a mistake he clearly didn’t like anyhow and changes things. And then we see his past, and how he’s been improving things this whole time, challenging Faust and looking out for Eda!

Even Steve technically qualifies; He’s a covenscout, he’s a jerk who knocks over someone else’s books to express his cop enthusiasm. But Steve forgives Skara for punching him in the face because he kidnapped her, and then admits to Hunter that what they’ve done is wrong, and he’s now reconsidering. Afterwards Steve has his introspective interactions with King, and then we see his face; Implying (and eventually confirmed by Dana) that he is the older brother that Mattholomule spoke of, who gave him the map to the Looking Glass Ruins that Adrian, in the previous episode, admitted he couldn’t find; Because Steve gave away the map to make his kid brother happy.

Likewise, I want to discuss two characters who don’t exactly fit this sequence, and don’t mature or get better, not of their own volition for one:

Kikimora is Belos’ assistant, she’s complicit in his executions. She tries to murder Hunter out of nothing but jealousy, helps bring Raine to Terra, goes after everyone at the Knee, etc. But then we see Kikimora is miserable because of her unsympathetic mother, who is probably abusive; She has no consideration that her daughter is obligated to their dictator, who demonstrated on live television that he’ll execute even his own high-ranking officials if they don’t go along with him, and Kikimora was there in-person. And is now expected to help with a major event involving other high-ranking officials and the dictator himself.

So we get Kikimora hurting people, being unhappy, and having a sad backstory; But we don’t have Kikimora reconsider the harm she’s doing. She accepts Luz’s help for her own sake, and instead of empathizing with Luz as a result, Kikimora betrays her when she sees a potential promotion. Kikimora is let down, we see later that she’s been demoted to the Crate Coven.

But then she attempts to bring Hunter to Belos, and it’s revealed later that she knows what happens to Grimwalkers like him, and has known about the genocide and still went along out of obsessive devotion. Despite this, Kikimora does not warrant Belos’ callousness, it’s not triumphant it’s just cruel because he was going to kill her just for being a demon, villain or saint it didn’t matter. So Kikimora is given her revenge when she helps free the Collector, who splatters Belos, an injury that leads to his eventual death, and stops the draining spell, saving Kikimora’s own life in the process!

At which point, you think she’d learn, right? But instead Kikimora does the exact same thing as Belos, which Luz calls out, despite having had her pedestal shattered because Kikimora doesn’t care about the harm to others, only herself. And so she can only temporarily be an ally, before going back to being an antagonist; The system is fine if she’s in charge, she doesn’t learn anything from what happened. And Kikimora is captured by rebelling students, and forced into community service four years later.

There’s also Belos, whom… Okay do I even need to explain??? We learn that he is upset by his brother’s death and misses him, too. And he does feel guilt about murdering Caleb and even the Grimwalkers, they weren’t purely replaceable in his eyes! But he never reconsiders his harm, he keeps repeating it, he never changes. Belos doesn’t even acknowledge that he’s doing witches and demons wrong. And while we do get his backstory, it’s clear from his priorities, the details, and Masha and the Titan’s own takeaways that he fully chose his misery, and that his backstory is not so sad with this in mind.

I wonder if the takeaway is that these characters can’t truly get better because in the end, they won’t acknowledge the harm they’ve done; They won’t admit it, they won’t do anything about it. And so they can only be counted on to care about making themselves feel better, but that’s it. And so on a pragmatic level, co-existence has to be forced.

Because with Kikimora, she’s made to do community service, and with prisons being abolished for hospitals, she’s likely on house arrest because the alternative is execution and no state should have that power. And with Belos, he proved himself too dangerous, he was well past his lifespan and dying anyway, and they were not going to sacrifice even a single, unwilling Palisman to keep Belos alive.

As for all the other characters, for whom things do work out with? I find it interesting how Sad Backstory is something for the protagonists and viewers to unlock. Maybe the idea is that the protagonists aren’t prepped to forgive a character simply over what happened in the past, just what’s happening now, and what they’re trying to do about it. You can still empathize when they’re sad, even without a backstory for context because look at Luz during Covention!

But as a whole it makes sense for the takeaways of those around them, because why should I care that you were sad, if you’re still being a jerk anyway? Now I know your sad backstory, but you’ve known it the whole time you were hurting me, so what difference does it make about you if you’re not changing; Do you just expect me to keep forgiving you out of pity?

It could be a consideration for what characters around them might realistically feel. The sad backstory, the re-contextualizing for why they’re like that, is the cherry on top to their arc; Yes this person sucks, but maybe they aren’t having a great time either. They give people a reason to be sympathetic. And then those people get to really appreciate their side of the story when they don’t have to worry about still being hurt.

Maybe it’s also a message to the audience, because with other characters showing that you still need to be careful in extending a hand, and given the toxic and abusive relationships we see, maybe this could be the context for that? An abuser’s sad backstory is the last thing on your mind; Your first thought should be that they’re hurting you.

But if they’re looking for help and actually want to improve, then you can offer it, and if they accept, then you can let yourself be caught up over their tragic past, instead of making excuses for them from the get-go because of that, RIP Hunter. When it comes to Willow, she was allowed to be angry well after learning Amity’s Sad Backstory, when she felt Amity wasn’t pulling her weight in making up for everything.

By contrast we have Eda not really giving a damn whether the curse was an accident, because Lilith still took knowingly took Luz hostage and threatened her, captured Eda. So her present actions are being unaddressed even if Lilith thinks her past one is. And when King vouches for Lilith, Eda refrains from taking vengeance; Lilith saving the family and taking the curse, past and present actions made up for, culminates in forgiveness.

It’s not enough that Lilith felt bad about it, she needed to tangibly do something about it, something genuine that doesn’t miss the point (unlike a certain emperor), and so to a no-nonsense adult like Eda, that’s when she can be forgiven. That’s when her sad backstory resonates, just as for the audience, that’s when we learn it so we can even appreciate it at all.

Some of this may just be basic storytelling conventions, like of course you’re going to get the character first and their characterizing actions, and then their backstory. But then again you could just as easily mix things up. Or it could just be an extension of this show’s larger fascination with re-contextualizing previous scenes and details. I just think it’s an interesting pattern to dwell over, and I wonder if it was intentional, how much was intentional, etc. Because with a show wanting to help kids understand abuse, to avoid it and/or realize it’s happening to them, to get help and heal, and finally figure out if they should forgive their abusers, if they want to… All of this could work in that regard.

[myobsessions247]

A Hunter Au, it might not be for everyone but there is mama Eda and a younger Hunter, also big thing: Hunter is cursed (but you’ll have to wait to find out how!)

Runaway Owlet

Chapter 1 - A Lying Emperor and His Ward

He thought he should look up to his uncle. But once Lilith and he started to get close, they became more comfortable around each other. He realized the stark contrast between Belos and Lilith, how he could talk to Lilith about wild magic but his uncle… The atmosphere when he’s around Belos is very different to Lilith, shouldn’t it be the opposite? Shouldn’t he be able to talk about his interests to his uncle freely?

Hunter stares at himself through the mirror, with a far look on his face. He watches the blood stream down his neck soaking into his sweater, staining it. The last six minutes were a blur. The strike across his face was a blur. The run back to his room, leaving a trail of tears and blood was a blur. He thought so many different thoughts staring at his bloody hands and face, as all the colors around turned vivid and blur, was a blur. 

Would Lilith do this to him? He wouldn’t blame her if she did. He doesn’t know if she would. No, she wouldn’t. Lilith would never have to hit him. Not even if he’d mention how life might be better without the coven system, or being able to cure his uncle’s and his curse with wild magic. She’s too kind to hurt him for thinking there’s a better way to live. 

Hunter feels unsafe around Belos.

He should’ve known this for a while now. 

His heartbeat races. His breathing shortens. His bloody hands shake. He feels the feathers forming on his arms, face, hair, legs, and chest. His eyes widened. He frantically searches for a golden yellow potion. He finds it in a drawer and chugs it down, face furrowing in disgust. The feathers lift as he sticks his tongue out, I keep forgetting how bad this tastes! He remembers.

He looks back at the mirror, it suddenly reminds him of the wound. Now calm, he grabs his healing kit and gets to work cleaning up his injury.

He doesn’t feel safe around Belos.

It’s patched up, though you can see where the blood dried and the splotches of a darker red in his sweater.

Hunter doesn’t feel safe in the emperor’s coven.

He wants to leave so badly, yet he doesn’t. He doesn’t know where else to go. But wouldn't living homeless be better than living in a place that doesn’t feel like home? How would he eat, he barely eats here anyway. What about Lilith, what about Belos?

Hunter isn’t safe here.

He finds a bag to pack his stuff in. Two pairs of clothes (he’ll have to deal with not being able to wash them), some extra bandages, and… he doesn’t need anything else, does he? Though he does want some things. One of his favorite books, and a stuffed frog. 

Oh! Elixirs! 

…

He doesn’t have any more. He looked in the dresser drawer, desk, under his bed even! No sign of a golden yellow potion. He won’t get that stressed, would he? If he can survive without food, he’ll be fine, maybe.

Hunter, you are not safe there.

He waits until it’s two in the morning before leaving his room. He lived in the castle, he knew the scouts’ schedules and the layout like the back of his scared, gloved hand. Sure, it’s not like the entire building is empty, there are plenty of guards still guarding. But the only flaw: is shifts. Hunter waits near the entrance until the security walks away to get the next shift of scouts. That is when Hunter takes his chance to leave the castle. And then, he runs.

He runs for a good hour until his legs give in and he collapses on the cold forest floor. He doesn’t know how long he’s been crying, he only notices once he leans against a tree. Keep running. A little voice in his head nags. He ignores it, no, I’m tired. 

Belos will find you. Keep. Running.

No one knows I’m gone. I’ll worry about it in the morning.

Hunter’s breathing slows, and his legs ache. It’s cold, his nose is running, and he can feel his cheeks wet from the tears. Why is he crying again? 

Snap! Hunter jolts awake, he didn’t even know he drifted off. His ears twitch, in whatever direction the sound came from. It’s Silent. Is he going crazy? He hugs his legs, why did I leave? He hates that he wants to go back. He hates that he would rather get hit again, but still stay and rest in his bed. But I don’t want to! He keeps contradicting himself! 

He can’t get what he wants, a place to stay with a bed and food, and not to get hurt for a thing he says or does. He wants Lilith and not his uncle. He has to choose. Go back. Stay here.

He didn’t notice he started crying again. Oh well. Lilith would comfort him if she was here. Belos would just say “Quit crying, that’s not how you handle things.” He would say to grow up, and no one else is crying about not getting dinner. 

Like most nights, Hunter cried himself to sleep. Hugging himself and his pink stuffed frog he got out during his crying fit.

NOTES:

This will be a short chapter just like another few after this, I am trying to write a lot of the chapters ahead of time. I have so many ideas for this and for fluff I write what ever feels right in the moment. And most of the mysteries will stay mysteries until it either needs to come up or the truth will come out later(hint hint for Hollow Mind >:3) I do hope you like this idea enough to stick around, and don’t forget to let me know if any of it feels unnatural, like characters or anything else.

And lastly thank you for reading! Have a good night/midday/morning!

[oyeedraw-arts]

Hi! I saw your newest post and what's tattoo au about? I searched the tag but besides a few posts there wasn't much

If the tag gives you about 25 posts, that should be it. Here is the link just in case - https://oyeedraw-arts.tumblr.com/tagged/tattoo%20au

Tattoo au is my feel good fix it au with Belos. Tl;dr of it is 18 years before canon, a grimwalker grieving Belos gets goaded into a drinking contest with heartbroken Eda because she was loudly shit-talking the Emperor. Next morning he wakes up in his room with the tattoo and no memory of the previous night or how he got back. He goes investigating, and finds out that the local trashvendor and swindler Eda has a matching tattoo, can get him most ingredients he would normally need in secret, and she is amusing to gossip with.

Cue the vendor and her now most frequent patron connecting over being smaller siblings, witches having been mean to them, smack talking the EC (mostly Eda, lol) and both quickly shooting down the other's bullshit (aka swindler on swindler radar). Belos traumatizes himself again early on and Eda is in a good place in good time to help out. Belos starts putting in more legwork in their not just yet friendship after that to return the favor. Shenanigans happen.

I have lot more plotted out for the au, but I'm holding most of it under wraps because I want to work on the presentation of it (illustrations or comics), but I might just say "fuck it" and info dump. Like, Luz gets in the Demon Realm much earlier, still kid Adrian follows around Eda and incognito Belos, Kikimora covering for the missing Emperor, other humans on the BI (still a v small minority), Belos making a new grimwalker, other witches who connect with the duo because Eda is a social butterfly, how the mouse found Belos, and how Eda's and Belos friendship clash with Belos being the fucking Emperor. Also Collector drama at one point and a cross over if you can spot it ;)

[ppeasants]

thinking about Hunter and his relationship to hands

(cw: child abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts)

thinking about how hands were the first thing he ever experienced. when he was created, buried under the ground, his own hand poking above the dirt. how the first thing that touched him was Belos' hand, pulling him up out of his grave.

thinking about Belos' hands, too. the hands of his loving uncle, who saved him from wild witches. who cared for him, clothed him, fed him, raised him. hands which gave him a mask, appointed him The Golden Guard. hands that gave him a purpose.

The Emperor's hands, the ones that hurt him. hands whose soft touches turned to reprimands, turned to punishment, turned to abuse. hands which transformed into scythes and scarred him, marred his skin, his soul forever.

thinking about Hunter's own hands. how they were never made to be his. created only to serve a dictator. created in the image of a man he never knew. his hands created only to be controlled.

how his hands bear the weight of that creation. every callous formed from his work he was forced to as a soldier. every scar received from the injuries he's taken, from the punishments Belos gave him. every one a reminder that his hands are not his.

thinking about the others that taught him what he could do with his hands. how Darius taught him to sew, how the Entrails taught him flyer derby. how when truly given the choice on what to do with his hands, he chooses kindness. he chooses creation. he chooses to be good.

thinking about how he held Flapjack in his hands when He killed him.

thinking about how that probably wasn’t the first thing he’s killed, the first thing he’s felt die in his hands. his hands pointing his staff at prey, at palisman, at other witches. bringing them all Belos, to die, or just doing the job himself. killing them with his own hands.

how he would attack his future friends as the Golden Guard, ordered to hurt them when they were in the right, yet unable to disobey the strings controlling his hands.

how when he was possessed, his hands were forced to do that same thing again - fight, hurt, almost kill his friends. how he would successfully kill his palisman, his first real friend, his best friend.

the others try to console him, try to tell him that it’s not his fault. that he was never in control of his choices. but they don't understand. they don’t know the feeling of the staff's magic as it blasts a hole through a wild witch. the feeling of blood running down his hands as he executes another enemy of the Empire.

the feeling of a palisman’s life force dripping down his palm, only left alive so he could watch everyone else die, once again. a sick punishment for a person that Hunter never knew, yet whose hands still touched - still loved - Flapjack all those centuries ago.

how when finally given control of his hands again, he used them to throw away the titan’s blood. used them to throw away his own life. used them to sacrifice himself so the others could live. used them to try and drown himself. just one more in a long list of people he's killed.

thinking about how other hands saved him. when he couldn’t save himself from drowning, how Camila’s hands brought him to the surface, how Flapjack’s hands - wings - brought him back to life.

he doesn't know why they saved him. his hands have never done anything good. they’ve never been his. all they’ve been good for is hurting others. how they were made solely to hurt others.

now that he finally has control again, he can do something good. He can use the knife which has killed so many to do something good. All it will take is one cut, one slash along his wrist, across his neck, and these evil hands can finally -

thinking about how, when everything is said and done, and Hunter finally gets to choose what he wants to do with his hands, he chooses creation. he chooses kindness. he chooses to be good.

how Hunter sews. fixing rips, making clothes for everyone, thanks to Darius. how he still plays flyer derby with his friends, thanks to the Entrails. how Hunter learns what a soft touch is, thanks to everyone who loved him.

how Hunter uses that knife to instead carve palisman. to bring life back to an endangered species. to bring joy back to a suite of witches who lost their own because of his hands. to pay back the love he got from Flapjack, that he still can't believe he deserves.

thinking about how Hunter’s hands may never belong to him. he was created from a set of parts, with a stone instead of a heart, from a bone of a long dead human, with hands that were never his. hands made from the scales and feathers of a creature murdered so he could live.

hands shaped by love. how he pets Waffles in the morning, how he cradles the new life of any palisman he carves. how he holds Willow’s hands, hugs Luz with them, swats away Darius’ with them when he ruffles his hair.

Hunter is an amalgamation of every one who came before him, of everyone around him. his hands are not his own, moulded in the shape of everyone but himself - but maybe that isn’t a bad thing after all.

[glyhpsrfvckincol]

Yay! Can I request angst where reader gets petrified and Hunter (toh) has to watch it because belos is teaching him a lesson :)

g/n reader pls

Petrifaction || Hunter Noceda

Synopsis - Hunter Noceda painfully has to watch as you slowly die.

Warnings - Angst. Death. Toxic relationship. Tragic lovers. Abuse. Gaslighting. Manipulation.

A/n - I’m sorry in this isn’t any good, I haven’t written angst before nor do I really understand how sadness works T_T

Requests are opened; headcanons only

↳ Belos is so fucking cruel.

↳ Forcing Hunter to have to watch you be petrified. Like I’ve mentioned in another post, Belos is a psycho.

↳ Hunter tried begging, but after so long, his throat hurt and all he could do was cry.

↳ “Hunter. Look at them.”

↳ Hunter remained curled into a tight ball, his chest heaving heavily as hard sobs tore their way through his body.

↳ “Hunter.”

↳ Belos’ voice seemed to darken, adding edge to the boy who was heartbroken on the floor of the throne room. This displeased the lord, as this was meant to be a moment of punishment and for Hunter to realise that getting attached to people was weakness.

↳ Hunter knew it was a bad idea. Knew that straying from his duty’s as the golden guard would end faster than a match’s soft flame.

↳ You knew it too. You knew that if caught, not only would Hunter take the blame for it, you suffer great consequences yourself.

↳ But the blonde boy let you take him under your control, let you care for him and love him the way he craved. Had he not grown addicted to you, he would’ve realised that Belos had already caught on.

↳ Your body had only been petrified half way up, Belos wanting to drag it out, but you couldn’t even talk, due to the Emperor having also tortured you prior.

↳ Fucking Maggot.

↳ You wanted to comfort Hunter so badly, hoping that it might calm him down a bit. To tell him that none of this was his fault, and that Belos cruelty was at play.

↳ “Y/n, I’m so sorry!! I’m such an idiot for getting us caught!! I’m sorry!”

↳ Oh poor Hunter, his apologies and pleas for you meant nothing, especially to Belos.

↳ “Hunter, all your weaknesses are because of this wild witch. But I understand, a relative of ours strayed and let a wild witch control him. I know the pain that comes with it, and I’m just trying to protect you.”

↳ Oh how you wished you could’ve screamed at the Emperor. Not only for hurting Hunter but also the abuse that was evident in his and Hunter’s relationship.

↳ You could feel your skin slowly turn colder as it continued to turn to stone, now reaching up past your neck and now starting to permanently shape your chin.

↳ “Uncle, please! Let them go! I promise I’ll never talk to them again if you just leave them alone! I swear!”

↳ Belos scoffed.

↳ “Then how would you learn anything? If I let them go, how do I know you won’t fall for another wild witch? One that wishes ill intentions on our home here in the Boiling Isles.”

↳The emperor truely could not synthesise with his nephew, even as he watched Hunter cry harder, after realising you were fully stoned.

↳ “I know it’ll take time for you to get over them, but I know it won’t take you to long, right Golden Gaurd?”

[aroacemisha]

Autistic Hunter Week, Day 1: Shared Interest

(Tap/click for better quality)

Hunter's main special interest is mechanical engineering and tech, and he shares that interest with Belos, from whom he got a lot of his knowledge and skill. He has been fascinated by the subject from a young age, and continues to pursue his interest in it. They're discussing some schematics here.

There's also been a couple design updates for both of them, like Hunter's shirt color and a slight change to his overalls, Belos's scar shape and droopy left eyelid, and his dress being a lighter blue. It'll probably be tweaked again later.

And I'm super late for my own prompts, yay.

Do not repost/reupload my work, but reblogs are appreciated.

[brother-bon3s]

A Brief introductory to Salem (A Grimwalker OC)

Note: Salem is part of an au that is separate from the William au and he is one of my many sons who I love dearly.. also these drawings are nearly a month old my goodness.

These are the first three drawings made of a grimwalker oc, Salem, he's kind of co-owned with me and one of my friends ( @try02line ). We made an au together where he, another grimwalker oc (Hansel), Hunter and Pip (Philip) are all brothers. Pip is basically adopted into their family (same way he was in the William au, Luz and Hunter pulled him out of the mindscape and had no real clue who he was) while Salem, Hansel and Hunter are raised to believe they are all brothers and not just clones of the same man. The reason there are three of them at once is because Belos had harvested the three of them at the same time as he accidentally made three of them at once! (Oops, silly old man) Out of the three Salem is the eldest. While on the character chart it says he is 25 in the au he is only 20, he is extremely optimistic, always looking for the bright side on things. He cares deeply for his brothers and almost mothers over them. Unlike his brothers, he is mildly aware of the revolution Darius, Raine and a few other coven heads have been planning against Belos. He doesn't tell his uncle of it because he himself believes that Belos is growing too old and delirious to stay emperor and that his health is heavily declining from the curse.. however when Salem brought this up with his uncle he suffered a nearly ripped off jaw. Salem is nearly tempted into joining this revolution, but it is much too risky for him as a Golden Guard and as an older brother. Despite the abuse he endures from his uncle, Salem stays positive and is a great role model for the citizens of the boiling isles. Citizens often see him as incredibly friendly and approachable, he set the standard of what a Golden Guard should be. He's always eager to help others even if their problems seem unimportant, he will never turn anyone down.

That is only some of the basic info on Salem, there is a lot more I could yap about but I am very very sleepy. I will post other drawings soon and those drawings will also be accompanied with a wall of text, then you can meet Hansel.