#it would explain the different palisman

[jess-the-vampire]

Professor Caduceia and Snakely

Checked out the storyboard for the deleted s1 episode "Homesick"

You can read it here : https://t.co/WpZJFWbR48

I just loved these cut villains, one whose design def seemed like it was given to raine when they got cut. (I wonder if the color palette was similar, but we don't have a reference to that so idk)

Thoughts on the cut episode below:

An episode where king and owlbert of all characters bond is kinda neat, especially since it provides owlbert himself a bit more character here.

The opening is def far different from any of the final ones we ever see in the series, in fact it feels like it should be taking place during the episode but it can't be given we see hooty from being sick to not being sick in pretty chronological order?

A focus on the healing coven was nice to see, especially since we never got that in the show itself, and get some idea of their powerset and what they do magic wise.

So Manny was an ambulance driver, and Camila was a nurse in this. People originally assumed camila was a nurse when the show started, and it makes me wonder if that was changed between seasons at some point cause clearly the crew decided to change her profession and it's unclear why.

you can use your palisman as a communicator? and an umbrella? I do think it's so weird that even at the very end of the show, they establish brand new rules for palisman. Like them being able to shapeshift into objects is straight up not explained and just sorta....happens in the show, like i feel like hunter would have no issue hiding flap if this is a thing. (It also kinda makes stringbean's ability slightly less unique) Like this is displayed in these boards, but they kept it even in the show itself, and i think palisman might need a proper rulebook.

On that same note, owlbert uses magic in this board, like we kinda knew palisman could do some magic without a witch, but this is the only time we've seen one use it to fight another witch that wasn't the batqueen. Like owlbert tries to full on blast people in this. I don't know if removing this episode makes this ability less canon in the world itself since they still can do magic in the show, it's just worth noting that palisman, according to this board, CAN fight back, even if they're not incredibly strong it seems. Certainly the kinda thing that makes you think on other episodes tbh.

This episode also brings up the idea that eda actually CAN and DOES bring human food to the BI, which never happens in the show, in fact luz implies she gets to eat very little options there, so this idea seems no longer canon?

The demon hunters at one point don't even seem to recognize owlbert as a palisman, which does not entirely make sense given they seem to be mostly common to the townsfolk, so I'm kinda glad for that plot hole being gone.

Caduceia makes it out like the emperor's coven forced her to teach? and she thought handing over a house demon to belos would get her out of teaching as if it were some kinda punishment or job she was made to do? I have questions

side note, house demons are called rare in this, like they're not common, not sure if this still applies in the final show, but yeah.

there's some very sweet moments in this with luz and eda especially, but also some funny moments, and some jokes that land a little less....i don't think we needed Caduceia to be kissing her snake like that from that angle, even if it was meant to be a little uncomfortable.

one reason i think this episode did get cut? we got a glyph in this

a healing glyph, which has some ties to water based on it's symbol

i'm guessing since they kept the main glyphs element based, a healing glyph would of stuck out and been a bit weird. Like it just heals people, it doesn't produce water despite looking close to the alchemy symbol for water, and well....we already got ice so this would be redundent.

so yeah, this episode introduced a new glyph that saved them in the end so it would of come back in future episodes, but to keep it simple that would mean cutting the entire episode as a whole just to keep the four.

Since they enjoyed Caduceia's design so much, they must've repurposed it for raine somewhere down the line.

very fun insight into a scrapped episode.

[findmeinthefallair]

Comparing the Bat Queen and Hunter

Both were created to serve their respective masters, having an initial sense of purpose but then losing it when said masters discarded them.

(ueghhh let's not forget that both were created from palistrom wood as well)

There's a thematic contrast between BQ's words here:

and how Hunter wanted to recruit new witches for the Emperor's Coven:

BQ's new sense of fulfilment came from providing a home for lost palismen, while Hunter was one of the tips of the spears of the coven system: helping to recruit young witches and taking them away from their homes and families as Belos asserted his control as Emperor.

Their paths will cross sometime after poor Hunter once again becomes a witch without a palisman (after Flapjack's death). BQ is the inverse: a palisman without her witch.

She would, of course, be an integral part of Hunter being able to find his own new sense of fulfilment after the worst experience of his life on Halloween night.

She and Dell Clawthorne would've known about the boy's past even before they officially met, and something tells me that this scene where she points out Luz's actions towards Owlbert:

was supposed to allude to a future parallel:

where Hunter, overwhelmed by guilt and shame, wanting to and struggling to learn how to carve palismen, tries to explain his past actions.

Both characters have suffered abandonment trauma T_T

But comparing their reactions to being reminded of said trauma is interesting.

BQ is so overprotective that she wants to force a decision on Owlbert's behalf in Escape of the Palisman. She doesn't trust that Luz or Eda could do things differently than how her own master, so long ago, badly hurt her and abandoned her.

Hunter retreats inward to protect himself against the many triggers and reminders around him, and I can imagine that his friends' palismen (and any palismen) would rank especially high on his trigger list T_T

They initially reject any support or help from others, while others are trying to lovingly reach out to them.

But eventually, they take the risk to trust that their worst fears aren't confirmed:

That trust pays off, and you can see how both characters' expressions soften, and there's now a willingness to connect with others and have an open heart.

BQ reconnects with the sense of loss: she didn't have a happy ending with her master, but she wants to trust that Luz and Eda won't mistreat Owlbert the way she was mistreated.

And Hunter wants to trust in Willow's words: that he isn't unlovable or unworthy, that he in fact belongs.

So much time has passed that BQ cannot remember who her master was:

whereas Hunter remembers too much all at once. The wounds are fresh and he's been badly scarred, both physically and emotionally.

Along with Dell, the two of them would help to bring significant healing to the forest and the land after Belos's defeat.

And because BQ would eternally trust that Flapjack made the right choice for his new witch here:

she would likely give Hunter, much later on, the very important and encouraging words that he needs to hear: that he was worthy of being found.

UeeEEeeghHHhhhhhh mYyyy heaRttttt

[tartsinarat]

I kinda got sidetracked whilst designing nimbus’s outfit for the battle of the bands… so here’s this meme that’s canon to the au and took me longer than I would like to admit,

*UNHOLY SCREECHES*

Peep that Amity design for the au because I’m so proud of it

but anyways I mentioned in one post that Pip ended up inheriting Belos’s curse but it’s not as powerful so he doesn’t fully become whatever slimy deer creature belos’s cursed form is (at this point in the au, it does get that worse later on though :/) and so currently even though Pip’s not in control of himself it’s only mildly inconvenient for the people around to deal with rather than dangerous because he mostly just steals magic objects to drain the magic out of as a snacc, sleeps and leaves slime everywhere (tbh just imagine him as if he’s a weird slimey cat) and if he does get aggressive he’s extremely easy to pick up.

the meme is basically what I imagine happened when luz and amity found out about it because its really funny to imagine that these two were planning a ‘platonic’ study date (this was before they started dating but when the both started getting feelings for each other) and just unexpectedly walking into this chaos

Also just realised I’ve completely forgotten to explain why Pip drains magic, it’s because he’s got pieces of basilisk in him as Belos when making him was attempting to figure out how to solve the whole having to drain palisman problem when they’re basically going extinct so he doesn’t have that problem when he eventually takes over Pip’s body and Belos landed on using Basilisk parts because of their magic draining properties which could be used to supply magic directly to the glyphs on their arms as my head canon of one part of Belos’s curse is that by getting soothed by eating palisman’s thing is because the glyphs on his arms are constantly using him as a power source because he doesn’t have a bile sac which is why he’s constantly rotting, the other part is that his cursed form was much less slimy because it was originally caused by Evelyn after the Caleb ordeal and became that way because of the glyphs.

Because of that Pip kinda has two different curse forms where one is the slimey rotting one which happens when he doesn’t have enough magic stored and when he does have some magic stored, his other form actually has fluff and looks more like a fucked up deer with a hint of titan on crack

I ran out of ideas ngl for the silly GH au masterpost jokes at the end of my GH posts

[numericalbridge]

Another thing that gets me about the fandom's reaction to Darius is that, ok, even if you think there should've been a scene of him directly apologizing to Hunter, considering the age of the target audience... why is Darius specifically singled out and condemed for the absence of such a scene when there is a pattern in the show of the characters displaying 'worse' behavior in the beginning and then switching to a milder characterization without the narrative focusing on the change?

Amity making her abomination draw on Willow's forehead when they are all alone, s1 Lilith looking down on others and her weird comments about humans, Bump's characterization switch before and after Hunting Palisman, Alador playing with Bump's palisman (that helps him see!!!) while his daughter's friends are getting expelled, Collector seemingly acting gleefuly over others suffering in s2? Even many of Eda's interactions with King who is meant to be 8 old. And some of these you can interpret as intentional absense of the full info at the beginning and some of the switches might be excused with character development happening off screen (i even began to understand Bump's characterization switch better on the rewatch)... still in my opinion there is a certain writing awkwardness in many of these cases, and i find this pattern to be one of the flaws of the show.

Yet all these are often excused or even barely aknowledged by the fandom, and when not excused then are seen as flaws in the writing, but not the end of the world for those characters.

And, ok, i admit, i don't actually think Darius really falls into that pattern, i think his behavior is much more consistent than the examples above and more easily explained, if you think about his character for a moment and pay attention to his scenes instead of condeming him outright. I think his relationship with Hunter is a very straighforward case of the 'adult is mean to a child before getting attached' that is played out again and again in media, often with the adults being meaner and for a longer time towards even younger kids. And that trope should be examined critically too, sure, but why is the Black character condemed for it like this, but not all the white characters across all those other shows and books and games and comics? Although i do think there should've been a moment of Darius apologizing to Hunter or talking to someone else about his thought process, but i would want it more for Darius's own character, not because i think he did something so irredeemable.

So why is then Darius's case so different for the toh fandom specifically? If you (general you) also see all those other cases above as flawed writing, then why is only Darius so widely condemned as a person instead of looking at his writing from the same perspective? Especially since ASIAS had not even allowed Willow - a major character - to have a conclusion for her part of the story. Maybe a better point of discussion would be why toh's characters of color get less time dedicated to them and their development than white characters of the same narrative importance. Why did Alador get 2 episodes where he could verbalize his thoughts, why did Gwen get the resolution in one episode that still had some focus on her thought process and realization of her mistakes?

And if you don't see all those other cases as a writing flaw at all and think it is natural for all those other characters to have offscreen development or excuse everything - even the sidelining of Gus and Willow - with the shortening, then why is Darius viewed differently and why does he have to self-flagellate for his mistakes on screen or otherwise he is a considered a bad person in-universe and a bad character unworthy of positive attention?

Why was Camila also widely hated before s3 and had to 'prove' herself in the fandom's eyes by taking care of the white child and being a fellow pop-culture nerd all the while Eda had threatened an elementary schooler with physical violence over stealing her elixir and still was considered the best? How did the super fans manage to examine all those memory portraits and figure out the story for Caleb and Evelyn or invent a sob story for Graye after one episode, but the oddities with Darius's supposed villainy in ER or even his openly upset expressions during the Blimp scene in ASIAS didn't even register for them?

[enfphunter]

CW FOR GORE/DISTURBING IMAGERY

THE BELOS CANNIBALISM THEORY

this is realllyyy dark, but i have a headcanon where belos eats his grimwalkers, not all of them, but some of them. obviously i wasn't going to draw straightforward cannibalism so i made it a bit more symbolic in this drawing, you can probably infer whats happening w/o needing to explain anything soooo

there isn't too much of a reason for this headcanon or theory, but i guess you could say it's because of the probable lack of grimwalker bodies in belos's "pit of failures" (theres thousands at least and it seems more like hundreds in the pit), there also isn't very much human-friendly food in the boiling isles so belos would have to resort to things such as palisman, and then grimwalkers, secretly, lastly, i think it just makes sense with his sadistic personality, and feeling the need to torture those he hates as much as he possibly can.

PS: DON"T ATTACK ME BECAUSE OF THE FACT GRIMWALKERS DONT HAVE THEM SAME ANATOMY AS HUMANS, I KNOW THAT. The Owl House only ever confirmed the ingredients of: Galdorstone (heart), Selkidomus scales (skin layers/extra protection), Palistrom Wood (keratin), Stonesleeper lungs, and Bones of Ortet (Caleb's bones), which is exactly why I drew some of the digestive track, because I'm assuming grimwalkers have it ?? It would be pretty impossible to live without at least one of them so yk

The grimwalkers in the series are also human based, with human function, only with the appearance of a witch and some extra differences you can't really notice most of the time, it would make sense that human-based grimwalkers share at least SOME human organs :p

[mdhwrites]

Would you consider explaining here, in your opinion, the decline of the Emperor's Coven as an antagonistic force or even broadly as a concept within TOH's world? And - if you don't mind me asking - do you think it had that much of an adverse effect on the series?

So I'm going to break this up into two sections to answer the two questions here. The first is going to be their decline and then why that had an actually pretty big adverse effect though not one you'll immediately feel. I'll do bold text and what not to help clarify in case you want to go to each.

The Decline of the Emperor's Coven

So it is important to recognize that there is a decline at all because it is important, regardless of how quickly it happens. The first time we see an EC guard is during the Covention demonstration in episode 5. Before then, we only have the bumbling guards of the Conformatorium as the protectors of the Isles. They have all magics, Lilith beats Eda in a witch's duel implying that she is even stronger than her, bare minimum due to not having the curse, and in general is treated with reverence. They fill out an entire stadium of people wanting to join them. Amity's biggest motivation and desire for the future is to join them. They're a BIG deal and implied to be real threats. Enough so that Eda will actually hide from them unlike in episode 1 where the regular guards made her not worry about needing a disguise of any sort. She isn't reckless with the guard but they are definitely less than the EC, even if not absolutely stated.

But... The decline starts almost immediately as the next time we see them is episode 8, Upon a Swap. Not only do they struggle with keeping Luz entirely under control while in Eda's body but they have a humiliating loss at the end of the episode when Eda swaps everyone's bodies around. I believe we still see some Conformatorium guards, something that effectively stops by S2 but this is the origin of Steve. Still, they lost Luz from other madness going on and the joke at the end is followed up by Lilith's resolve. It could be brushed off.

Unfortunately they don't really ever get another big moment. They turn into the name drop for turning in Eda but otherwise, until Agony of a Witch, we don't see any EC members besides Lilith. Unfortunately, Lilith just lets Eda go once, loses a Grugby match a different time and that's it for TEN. EPISODES. Mostly just jokes as Lilith refuses to actually do her job.

Until in Agony of a Witch, Lilith and an entire squad of scouts are beaten... By Hooty. As a joke. Yes, at the end of the episode, Lilith gets a big fight against Eda but this isn't an even fight like before. They use all the same spells they did in the previous fight but Lilith has to cheat in order to not be immediately obliterated by the power gap between her and Eda. It's not an intelligence thing either as Eda isn't using tactics besides BLOW THE FUCK UP ALREADY. Lilith has to be saved effectively by the timer running out on Eda's magic because she never had a chance. Even if she's acting high and mighty... It still leaves a worse impression for how good her magic and her ability to fight are and she is the COVEN HEAD.

Hunter does not fix this in S2 either. His accomplishments are: Bullies a couple people without magic.

Steals defenseless palisman before losing them.

Beats up Kikimora while she's under sleeping drugs.

Kind of a step down from Lilith getting to claim to have beaten the most powerful wild witch in the Isles, isn't it? On the influence on the Isles side, we don't get a lot but Amity forsakes them kind of just because. No argument or debate about this still being her world and her needing proof that Belos and the EC are evil or can't be changed from the inside. No, she's just now a wild witch because her girlfriend is because otherwise we don't get a reason. Worse, Sport in a Storm... exists? An episode where multiclassing students have less than zero interest in joining the Emperor's Coven despite that being the only way for them to legally practice the type of magic they want. Also, just by concept, it requires that people are so disinterested in the EC that they now have to actually try to recruit people versus 20 years ago when people would curse each other just for a chance into the limited positions available.

Hell, by the end, it seems like most EC guards are honestly one bad day away from quitting, with no repercussions, because of Steve and the guard Dana voices who goes to the cute cat coven which isn't even one of the big nine.

Also means that the cute coven joke, which happened three episodes before The Day of Unity where everyone needed specifically one of then sigils (though why EC coven members were affected without a representative in the ritual is unknown) had to go past Dana so many times she VOICED IT.

Sorry, got off track. On the power side, we only had Lilith before Hunter and Hunter doesn't have magic so the members have to keep up the slack. They are then immediately replaced with Abomatons and the Abomatons lose to... Everyone. They are literally never a credible threat except to Luz who had the worst chances of beating one when that came up because she already been worn down by the rest of the demonstration. Otherwise, the only moments the scouts or the abomatons are treated as real threats are when the Emerald Entrails are captured because they don't actually have a reason to fight them and cause problems for the school and when Amity tries to pretend Willow should be worried about them. Not all of them, only Willow and it's pointedly to make sure the audience knows that Amity is an idiot when it comes to Willow. That she is blatantly wrong about how much of a threat these guys are. That's still worse somehow than in Once Upon a Swap where they at least recognized these people could kick their asses without a distraction of some sort.

But that's how it falls. With how few times it shows up though, it raises a question:

2. Why Does the EC's Fall from Grace Matter?

It's actually pretty reasonable to wonder about this. Besides Hunter, they don't get a lot of appearances so why does it matter that they're inconsistent? Well... For one big reason:

They our only sign of Belos being a bad ruler. Of him being a dictator. Of him... At all. They exert his force more than even Hunter does because Hunter is constantly questioning him and not doing his job. For a villain like Belos, who is effectively not in the series for 90% of it since he doesn't take an active role until the Hollow Mind effectively, before then it's always just sweet words to people that are all lies, THAT'S A PROBLEM.

If we can't take his coven seriously... Why should take him seriously? Worse yet, why should we take Luz's opinion of him seriously? When she yells about him lying to people and she claims he's hurting people, you're left asking how? The guards are bumbling fools without direction or ability. Most of them, Hunter included, are just one push away from not doing their job. That's not what happens with a dictator and it's not what you should be thinking abut when EC members become the primary threat to our protagonists.

Instead, the show has no tension for its second half except against Belos effectively. Whenever EC members are around, victory or loss is just entirely plot dependent and we know that. That's how Willow can effortlessly bury a person and their abomaton and then they just... show up, covered in vines once we're actually pretending these people are threats. It's why they during the entirety of Labyrinth Runners, its only Gus and Hunter we're following because their lack of magic makes them able to be threatened while Amity and Willow getting in each other's way is the far larger threat than the trained soldiers. An abomaton and captain of the guard is just one not that fancy combo move away from being beaten because they're that little of a threat.

For an adventure show, that's just explicitly bad. From a thematic standpoint, it actually gets worse the more times WILLOW specifically beats them. After all, Willow is the poster child of the regime. She practiced the wrong type of magic at first before finding the one that the Titan blessed her to be able to be a master of. The more times she specifically beats the EC handedly, despite them using multiple magic types like Luz and Eda preach you should be able to... It makes you question if Belos isn't right. The evidence amongst the main characters, Gus included, is that he is and them conquering his forces better than Luz, Eda, Lilith, Barkus, Jerbo or Viney just reinforces that they're better.

Even Amity, who still only practices one type of magic, eventually beats the poster boy of the Emperor's Coven, something Luz never does in a fair fight. So is Belos wrong in thinking witches should only be using one coven?

Yes, him lying makes that the case but the show supports his arguments far more while also discrediting him as some grand tyrant who is a force that needs to be opposed. Hell, Terra tried to poison kids and its his guards, and his laws, that protect Eda and Raine during Them's the Breaks because why not? The EC scouts don't like doing evil. Steve and the cute cat coven members make that clear.

It discredits the final villain and ruins the themes while also just making the show worse at its genre. So yeah, it's a real problem... But only a problem if you think about it. If you care about the worldbuilding. Otherwise, the lack of stakes is the main one that will dig at the back of your brain because you'll want to be invested in what's happening but everytime a fight scene breaks out, it's nothing. Because you know the result.

And as Belos' only manifestation for absolutely the first season and arguably the second... That should be the last thing you feel when one a squad of these guys steps up.

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[regular-gnome]

HELLO im 14 ,love your work and i would love to hear your thoughts

1 how do titana fly ,like we know from papa titan that at least SOME titans have wings , but like ,ther the size of small countries ,and their wings have HOLES in them ,maybe bc of their blood some of their mass exist outside the universe or in a pocket dimension ,thus making them much lighter then they should be , or maybe they just use levitation magic to levitate and they use their wings for steering ,

2. who was the bat queens owner? she can't be the titans palisman right ,even with hoe big she is she still gets dwarfed by the titan at full scale .

3. is the owl beast related to hooty ,

Hi! For the first question, there are a few options to consider. We doon't really know whether titans were capable of flight using their wings or not really. Titans vary greatly in appearance based on the skulls and body structures we've seen so it's maybe their wings had different purposes, could be more like different birds types kind of deal. Some titans may have used their wings for flight, while others might have used them for swimming or as a form of balance. They are massive and hold upright posture so they might be very useful for this. Their niche in the ecosystem could have changed over time, something like comodo dragons do, young live and feed diffrently than the older ones, something that can be taken to an extreme with titans and their wings might have adapted to it. Another thing appearance of holes in their wings could be a result of their tissue structure rather than actual holes. If you're interested in speculative biology approach and how titans might function @velvetwyrmz is creating beastiary that goes into it. We use pretty diffrent worldbuilding but its a cool project that goes into titan physiology

For palismen, I think they have origins tied to titans. Palistrom growing by absorbing titan magic, takes on the form of a creature using that magic after being carved. This could explain why palistrom growth is slow and why plant covens can't force it. Palismen accompany younger titans as they grow in power, serving to protect and give their magic before the titan is poweful enough to protect themself serving more as companions after they outgrow their usefulness. This tradition could have been adapted by witches on a smaller scale. It also explains why palismen live much longer than witches—they weren't meant to accommodate such short lifespans. I think this was implied by Bat Queen when she mentioned being on a grand staff belonging to a giant

Not really, but I think they are both types of demons that originate from the titan. Hooty or house demons in general, were the ones that formed in titans' wounds, while owl beasts are demons that evolved from decomposing bodies, both looking owlish could be atributed to convergent evolution

[crimeronan]

I love political and tactical fantasy shenanigans so I'm very 👀 over that appearing in the princess luz au in some way. There's so much you can play around with, like the public opinion, who gets supplies for not just the castle but the civilians, or runs this or that, and how the different coven's are run (i read a v neat theory that the abomination coven has more opportunities because of Darius, for example), any new covenhead will have to untangle the mess and horrors of their predecessor, and bringing in new people to run a section or help support a coven that's surprise surprise being held together by string and luck because the previous head was incompetent or didn't care enough. Or both.

Like the plant coven's plantations that are mentioned once in Hunting Palismen that guard the remaining palistrom trees. That'll need to be dealt with so more witches can recieve palismen, and then they'll need someone to carve them(possible lead in to Hunter getting intrested in palisman carving? ovo CLAWTHORNE CLAN APPEARANCE MAYBE??). Not to mention the overhaul of the education system, of which TERRA is apparently in charge of, which explains a lot, actually. How many buildings on TBI aren't built to sustain the boiling rain and rely on magic or pure luck to stay standing because the construction coven either didn't bother to do their jobs or they simply couldn't because they didn't have the resources and time, so those who have the most money get priority?

Not to mention taking care of monsters! The empress coven can't be too different from the emperor's coven yet, so they're not very efficient(because they're a cult and that's how they function) and someone has to address that and Lilith is too used to the system to recognise the problems by herself. Maybe Luz makes it law that all coven's now must have a head coven and a vice head of sort, so all the power and decision making doesn't rest with only one person?

Sorry, I'm rambling, I just love this kind of stuff, I go a little insane over it. Adding on all the characters being very stupid or very crazy or both makes for a funny time.

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!! THIS IS ALL SO GOOOOD these thoughts are all so good. at first i didn't want to plot a big long story about what exactly luz does to solve some of these issues, bc watching and dreaming addressed everything so well... but the circumstances of this AU have changed enough that i'm getting invested anyway. like. how DO you dismantle an empire when you also have to pretend that that empire is normal and fine and that your fragile allyships with power-hungry coven heads are fine and that your so-called "divinity" isn't based on the bullshit lie of a genocidal colonizer. HOO BOY.

i love love love political worldbuilding fic that explores things like infrastructure and different political dynamics and schisms in fantasy worlds, that was ALSO one of my fave things when i would write homestuck ancestor fic. plotting out what a galactic war might look like and how resources were distributed and how empire weaponry could be commandeered and how propaganda on both sides would function.... MMM. my bread and butter

i think the thing i've put the Most thought into toh-wise is the abomination coven, simply because i am a darius girlie and think about darius All The Time. like i think that the abomination coven has opportunities because there's a lot of capitalist stuff going on, because darius has taken a very libertarian-seeming hands-off approach to running his coven. but you can't apply 1-to-1 real world politics to it because actually, darius """small government""" deamonne is letting people get away with having fake abomination coven sigils and repeatedly break the law and game the empire's systems... all under the guise of "i don't know anything about that. i'm just lazy"

i had Extensive palistrom tree lore (and tragedy) planned in the darius & prev gg fic i outlined, i don't know if i'll ever write it in full but MMM the palistrom trees and the bat queen are on my mind Constantly. also tucking these construction coven thoughts into my back pocket for later use because i hadn't thought much about the infrastructure of the isles' buildings but you're RIGHT. living in portland oregon there's CONSTANT vicious local debate about rebuilding our bridges and older buildings and coastal evacuation plans for when cascadia ruptures, bc most of that wasn't built with a 9.0 earthquake in mind. could definitely pull from. All Of That. LOL

[keithbutgay]

i have so so many questions about hollow mind :OOO

wait so the original intention of the sigils was to straight up just kill them? that seems. unnecessarily elaborate considering the golden guard destroyed their city just fine ;—;

i mean. he needs the palismans right but when he broke one off its staff none of the green stuff came out?

also im guessing at least one of the old golden guards was darius considering luz made a comment about him being sad and i guess hes working with raine now?? maybe???

im guessing the evil belos is the green stuff like. corrupting him or something?? like how the curse is a separate entity in edas head??? it is like. blue tho which is interesting cus the palisman magic is green and his glyph magic is yellow and his general designs are yellow and brown

wait also also we still dont know who made the door if belos didnt like. go back through it?? idk i assume thats like actually a thing thats gonna be answered

is the collector the titan? because they seem to like the coven idea? and theyre kinda the one leading belos i think? at least in this memory

sorry i dont like. have a brain :PP

(this feels kinda hollow knight to me but idk why :P)

so there's a lot i want to say but unfortunately a lot of the answers to your questions are spoilers--- i will try to answer as much as i can though :PP

the intention of the sigils was never to kill them! it was for a different reason that probably would have ended in their death, however. but like. all of those people did die anyway. they just. froze to death. instead of being killed by the sigils.

there's no good explanation for that one unfortunately... i have no idea why the palisman soul didn't come out when he broke it off. my guess is that it's either just like an oversight or that since the soul was already manifested in the palisman soul creature in his mind, it didn't show up in his memories

darius was never a golden guard, however one of the previous golden guards was his mentor. i can talk more about the golden guards once you've finished the episode and i have a lot to say about that so if you want to hear um i guess just let me know there's a lot lot lot of secrets and little things hidden in hollow mind that are so interesting and it's so good to pick apart and all of the pictures are like foreshadowing and interesting little things and just. it's such a good episode---

so the green stuff is actually never explained, but in my mind it's palistrom wood. because he took the souls of so many palismen to keep himself alive, he is slowly being corrupted by the false magic and the inhumanity of it all, and the scar on his face looks like rotten palistrom wood. but the entity overall is made up of all the souls of the palismen he's killed to keep himself alive, cause they're like trapped inside of him since he just kinda like snorted their souls

so i actually don't remember if that's a thing that's explained that well later in the show because like the series got cut short and also i don't remember as much of the later episodes as i'd like but i can talk more about that once you finish the show i'm so sorry--- but no belos did not make the portal

the collector is not the titan! he's just such a silly little guy and i love them so so so so much and i feel bad cause i literally never draw them--- (also he canonically uses he/they pronouns!!! which is amazing i love them so much um don't look them up though because spoilers)

[gracefireheart]

Thinking about that QSMP x tOH [the Owl House] AU I posted once about a while ago but got more thoughts about now aaaaaaaa--

Basically, some of my thoughts are still the same as my previous post about it (Phil being a Wild witch and being cursed with the same thing Eda and Lilith has, and Wilbur being a Bard witch). But some of my thoughts (most notably whether the eggs would be Titan kids or orphaned witches, and what coven Missa would be in) I feel like I've finally been able to choose what would fit for this AU.

First off; I can't help but see the eggs as Titan kids in this AU now. All of them with different looking skulls, different fur colors and eye colors that match them, different accessories their [adoptive] parents made for them, etc. etc. As for what happened to their Titan parent, uhhhhh--

Second off; I decided it would be very fun if Missa was a Bard witch that's [secretly] a Potions witch as well. Like I mentioned in the previous post, it would just be so cute that- after a while of Missa and Phil taking care of Chayanne (and later on Tallulah) together- Phil tells Missa at some point about his curse, which leads to Missa making it his mission to create as many elixirs for Phil as he can (which could lead to him running out of certain ingredients to make said elixir, so he would go and search for those ingredients he's missing). And ofc, he's a Bard witch 'cause he do be playing that music 💃

Now onto some new things I wanted to add, which was what the other islanders' coven(s)- and maybe Palisman- are!

For Fit, I can't help but see him as a Construction witch that could secretly be a Wild witch.

Tubbo's definitely an Abomination witch, trying to create all sorts of shit with his magic.

Pierre I can also see as an Abomination witch, but I could also see him trying either some Construction, Beast Keeping, or maybe even Potions magic.

Foolish is both a Healing witch and a Construction witch, but hides his Healing magic whenever he's around the Federation. (Palisman is some sort of [golden] shark creature)

Etoiles would either be a Plant witch or a Wild witch. Or just a Wild witch that prioritizes Plant magic.

Antione could be an Oracle witch that was secretly a Wild witch, or maybe he could be something like the Collector that just pretends to be an Oracle/Wild witch.

To me, Jaiden feels like an Illusion witch 'cause of her gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss ways B) (Ofc her Palisman would be Ari (or some sort of bird version of a cerberus, but it's two heads instead of three, and it's both Ari and Tofu))

I can't explain it, but my mind can't help but see Cellbit and Bagi as Abomination witches.

Bad is definitely an Oracle witch and no one can convince me otherwise.

Charlie [Slimecicle] definitely mains Abomination magic, but also uses Bard magic here and there. (Palisman is obviously some sort of slime creature)

Baghera I'm a little unsure about, but I could see her as both a Bard witch, and either a Beast Keeping or a Plant witch. (Palisman is a mix of a duck and a goldfish)

IronMouse would be a Bard witch that is also either an Oracle witch or [secretly] a Wild witch. (Palisman is some sort of demonic bat creature that's maybe mixed with a mouse)

Tina being a Plant witch that also is secretly an Oracle witch, yes yes :]

Pac I'm also a lil' unsure about, but I could see him as either a Potions witch, a Healing witch, or maybe even a Plant witch.

Pol being an Illusion witch that uses his magnificent Illusion magic for his movies/videos <3

Roier as a Beast Keeping witch with a giant spider as his pet, or as a Plant witch that uses his Plant magic vines to swing around from place to place. (Palisman either some sort of spider, or rat, or a mix of both)

Quackity- again- I'm a bit unsure about, but I could see him as either a Bard witch or an Illusion witch. (Palisman is some sort of duck creature)

Mike I'm- once again- unsure about, but I could see him as a Potions witch, a Construction witch, or maybe an Abomination witch.

And that's about it for the islanders I have at least somewhat of an idea for what Witch coven they would be in (+ their Palisman). Though I'm open to hear y'all's opinions on most of these character's coven(s) and/or palisman- especially those I wasn't able to give a coven/palisman to- considering idk every QSMP streamer's character to heart óvò

[genericnam]

Dear TOH Fandom,

Pretty soon, I'm gonna be making my first multi-chap for TOH on Ao3 (GenericNam is my username there too), but I can't decide which fiction to decide on between my Ideas. So. I've decided to leave the choice in YOUR incredibly responsible hands (sarcasm).

Propaganda under the cut:

All fics would be Luz centric, or at least have her as one of the main characters, because she is my hyperfixation character. I will likely write all of them eventually, but this is to see which will be most popular.

1. Luz and Eda Swap AU: Luz is a witch and Eda is a human; they don't swap ages though, so Eda still takes on the role of sassy grandma and Luz is still the innocent happy-go-lucky delinquent. Luz is the Snake Lady instead of the Owl Lady. Eda wants to learn magic for personal reasons, and if she accidentally adopts several traumatized witches and demons along the way? Why not? Luz and Eda are both the main characters. It would have some series rewrite stuff about it, but there would be a lot of canon divergence because of the characters different goals. Would probably be pretty long.

2. Luz Palisman AU: Luz dies in a freak accident at some point before the Hexsquad get their palismans. Through some handwavy magic that can be explained in the fic, Luz becomes Amity's cat palisman, instead of Ghost. But anytime she tries to tell Amity who she is, some external force stops her. Luz has to balance figuring out how to return herself to being human, while also trying to help Amity stay afloat. Amity herself is having a lot of trouble, her parents don't cut her any slack, even while grieving Luz, and things just keep going downhill for her; good thing she at least has her palisman to comfort her. Luz and Amity are the main characters. Would be probably mid length.

3. Cliche Captured By Belos AU: Belos uses the memory tweezers in order to edit Luz's memories and gaslight her into working for him. Just one small problem… Luz is still a smol bean who loves making friends, regardless of how hard Belos tries making her hate witches. Luz is the main character, but Belos, Eda, and the Hexsquad all play major roles. Would probably be the shortest of the three options.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

My favorite character from the Owl House is Hunter because his character arc is so good and his relationship with Willow is adorable. (He literally fell for her at first sight)

And my favorite character from X Men is Kitty (I hate her relationship with Cyclops because she was a CHILD AND HE WAS A GROWN ASS MAN WHEN THEY MEET IN THE COMICS. Also can I just say that I hate that they make Bobby (the guy who does the ice thing) gay because that came out of nowhere and it only happened because an alternative version Jean Gray and her version of Bobby is gay so she decides that all versions of Bobby is gay and she needs to help them be their true self and Bobby who keep in mind has shown sexual and romantic interest in women up to this point 'realizes' he's gay and the rest of the comic is just him coming out to everyone one by one and hardly anything else happens. I wouldn't have minded so much if it wasn't for the fact that most media still treats sexuality like there's only two options gay or straight which completely erases Bisexual, Pansexual, Demisexual, Asexual, to name a few. It just grinds my gears you know anyway sorry for the rant. Kitty deserves a good love interest hopefully she gets one)

I feel like if reader had magic I feel like it would be similar to ether to Luz's or Eda's.

Hunter was so awesome, and he felt relatable, too. He and Willow are cute together, let them have plant and palisman babies!

I like Kitty, and I haven't read the comics (except a handful) so I didn't even know that relationship was thing. (Who the f*ck wrote that?!) I use my favorite X-Men medias as canon, along with head and heart canons, because let's face it: There are so many separate comics with different writers, different movies and timelines, even three (now going to be four) separate X-Men cartoons, whatever books and games they have for the various media, and even the anime and other Marvel shows where the characters show up from time to time. It is SO confusing. So, I just pick my favorite out of the bunch and roll with those (and usually it makes enough sense. Except the timeline changes in the movies. That STILL confuses me. Who is alive? Who is dead? Hopefully Deadpool fixes things).

And yeah, for Bobby, only one version of him was gay. It would have made more senses if they built that into a story arc, took it slowly, instead of being so abrupt. Let the guy be gay or bisexual, but at least make it make sense and not just be considered a quirk or passing fancy. Give it some development. Some thought. Make it mean something. Let it happen like how The Owl House portrays romance and self-discovery. (I myself am part of the asexual community, and that took awhile to figure out, and to this day I'm still finding out more about how I view relationships, platonic or romantic or otherwise. I'm not sure if I truly am interested in romance or not, but in the past I had a crush on a guy and girl, and later found out I just thought they were really great friends). This stuff can take time, it can get messy and feel gut-wrenching, but it doesn't make a person less for being bisexual or gay or lesbian or asexual or straight or trans. None are better than the others, and none are less than the others. It does help to realize all of this isn't back and white. It's a big, mixed canvas of grays in every shade of cloud and ash and silver and stone and eggshell and storm and smoke. (Point is, LGBTQA+ isn't back and white, neither is being straight, but these things are not just quirks. They shouldn't be treated that way, as those are valid beliefs and emotions that don't go away). (I hope I said this right, I'm not always great explaining my thoughts on this kind of thing).

Reader having a power similar to Luz or Eda would be so wild! Surprise, they have glyphs! Surprise, they're part owl beast! They have wild magic, they're blessed by the last Titans, they kicked an evil old emperor/hypocrite into dust! The series finale might have been a little rushed (thanks a LOT, Disney. You should have given them extra time! Extra episodes! A whole lot more episodes than just three for the third season!) but I thought it was still good for the constraints put on Dana and her team. They did good.

[thousand-winters]

Hey pal, I hope you're doing well and that the weather is nice over there! 💖

For the ao3 writer wrapped 3, 6, 18, 20, and 29!

Hey there! Thank you 💕 The weather is so cold, haha, but I suppose good enough, I'm just more of a warm weather creature, ngl.

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

You'll only get halfway. It was a long shot that something like this would actually happen in the show haha, and ultimately I'm happy with how it ended but I still really love this concept and I think I did a nice job with it! Also terribly proud of the title, that one I was like "I know no one will ask, so I'm going to explain it anyway because otherwise I'll explode" ahahaha.

6. Favorite title you used.

Children of dust and ashes. I have a vision there, the name and lyrics of the song it comes from fit SO well for that fandom and the particular idea. It was connecting so nicely in my brain, sadly I don't think anyone in that fandom is interested and it bummed me out so it's just there now but oh, well.

That or Precious cargo, bleeding heart. Listen, listen, I have a vision there too, I always have a vision for my titles haha. Most of them come from songs too, so this one actually has another part that's not actually there because it didn't feel overall relevant. In my mind, and for the vibe of this fic in particular, it goes like: "precious cargo" is Darius, "bleeding heart" is Asphalia/his palisman, "paper tiger" is Eberwolf and "posioned dart" is the mentor. Thoughts were had when I picked that one.

18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

Alador freakin' Blight.

Part of the problem is probably that there are inconsistencies with him in the writing of the show itself but oh, how I struggled with him anyway haha. In the end I'm pleased with how he came out though I'm not 100% sure that I got him right. Good enough for all the blood and tears.

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

I'm gonna assume posted, but the answer is different if we're talking wips.

I don't tend to reread my fics often, lowkey only if I share them with someone because I want to see them through their eyes as they could read it. But the one I've reread the most is probably The stars too, they tell of spring returning, mostly because it's a multichapter, so sometimes I need to check some details I included or I want to see if I'm keeping the same tone I started with.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

I have the memory of a goldfish, but from what I can remember, I'm partial to this one:

But the Force won't listen. It didn't when his men turned their blasters on their own, it didn't when his student, his kid, was shot without mercy, it didn't when his people were massacred and the survivors forced to flee. This girl and him are reliques of a past era. They're all alone in a galaxy that wants them dead. Nobody is listening. Maybe he can still try.

Thanks for the ask, friend!!! 💖

From this ask game.

[tartsinarat]

He’s just a lil creature

Unlike Belos’s cursed form, Pip actually has two versions. The one drawn here is when he has enough magic stored inside, is a Frankenstein-ed up mess between a basilisk and whatever Belos’s curse in canon is meant to be but because curses in general aren’t explained in explicit detail (especially belos’s one) I thought it would be neat to attempt to give it a cool headcanon

so my idea of what creature these two got stuffed with is something that’s nicknamed a “false Titan” which are a long extinct species of demon? (They might be a sub category of titan though I’m not too sure yet :/) that evolved to mimic titans in order to better hunt their children as well as hunt smaller species of titan that don’t grow to be giants, these guys ended up getting killed off in the war between archivists and titans because the archivists couldn’t tell the difference between the two species but one archivist eventually did and captured one of them for safe keeping/ preserving.

Evelyn was a seller of all kinds of dangerous magical artefacts and human items, she mostly used her business as fun hobby as well to help Caleb with starting their carving business that they wanted to do together because Evelyn running around exploring dangerous ruins wasn’t a good idea because they obviously were planning on starting a family together. Uh that kind of failed spectacularly ngl when the whole fight between Caleb and Philip started so Evelyn in revenge literally grabbed every curse she had in storage and just murked Philip with them after seeing Caleb dead, one of the curses just so happened to be the “false titan” which Philip wasn’t able to remove.

So The reason why Belos snacks on palisman is because they’re grown from using titan magic as well as they have healing properties so like how Eda eats voles, Belos is addicted to eating titan magic because of the curse, also by having the glyphs carved into his arms he fucked himself over even more because the glyphs need to have magic/ energy to function but that then causes the curse to get more agitated and causes the slime/rotting

Obviously Pip ended up getting cursed too because it got passed onto him but due to him being a weird amalgamation of grimwalker parts and basilisk, Pip isnt really interested in eating titan magic and can eat most magic just fine, so King or palisman aren’t in danger around him… but he is carnivorous and has to actually eat the creature to drain the magic rather than just inhaling it Kirby style like how basilisks do

A fun fact about that is that Luz just assumed that Pip just casually eating raw meat was just a witch thing until she learned more about witch diets/ foods and was somewhat horrified and intrigued by what the fuck is up with Pip even more. It’s even funnier when they all eventually go the human realm and Pip is just like this with a piece of raw meat or something

and Luz got so desensitised to Pip and his horrifying habits that she completely forgot to give a heads up to Camila, who at that time just assumed that Pip was just a normal human that was brought into the boiling isles or something and so she was completely taken off guard that out of the gang Pip is the least human/ knowledgeable in acting as a human, she’s mostly fine with it afterwards and only sets a few rules like making sure to not leave blood everywhere but she does almost have a heart attack seeing Pip’s cursed form just napping on the sofa like a weird giant cat

a wild GH masterpost link has appeared!

[numericalbridge]

I also feel weird about the way some fans complain about Evelyn's mistreatment by the show? Usually i am all for discussing how women are treated by the narrative, but it is weird when the focus is on Evelyn specifically when she is just a background character. Especially when the discussions about the mistreatment of characters of color are dismissed or are met with mockery.

And there are definitely things to critic about toh's writing of women - shallow body diversity, how there are almost no dark skinned female characters; how Hettie - who is supposed to be so evil even Belos is afraid of her - is the only one with that type of tall, broad figure; how Flora as a brown woman is made to be a corrupt historian serving the colonial propaganda to contrast a 'good', 'cool' white woman. How Skara crying was played as a joke in ASIAS (imagine the uproar if there was a scene where Hunter was treated like that?). How Willow was heavily side-lined in s2, and her and Luz's friendship left unexplored. Or Lilith's arc ending on a joke in Oh, Titan. Even Odalia being written in that Stephen King-esque way in the Clouds.

If you want to talk about a side female character who was set up to have an interesting arc but it was left unexplored there is, again, Skara - despite hints even in s1 that there is more about her character, we didn't even see her palisman wish. If you want to talk about a clear case of "it is disappointing that there was no time to explore her more because the show was shortened" there is Vee, and Luz's and Vee's relationship.

It's just weird when Evelyn gets more complaints about her treatment when her case is the most understandible. Yeah, it would've been cool (not for me, but for others) to see her in a flashback. But i think finally getting proper screentime for Camila and Willow was more important.

I see how the fandom mistreats Evelyn, turning her into one of the 'acceptable' magic pixie dream girl/girlboss/girlfailure stereotypes reserved for thin, perpetually young white waifs. I can even see a discussion about the cliches of the tragic love story involving pregnancy or the way a white thin supposedly attractive woman from a different world is there to represent the presecuted minorities. But ultimately Evelyn doesn't really get any treatment or mistreatment from the writers because she is a character who only appears in paintings and mentioned briefly. Same as Caleb.

And it's very likely that if there was a backstory episode some of the cliches about the love story would have been subverted. Like, Evelyn is more likely to get her lore explained or get a spin-off than Gus or Willow or Skara.

And no, it's not like it should be one or another - certainly you can critic various writing choices and care about all the other characters while caring about Evelyn. The problem is that some fans only care about Evelyn's and Caleb's screentime and are dismissive of all the other discussions.

[whataraineyday]

Ask game! 8, 14, 15.

8: One of my favorite head cannons that I’ve seen people incorporate into their fanfics and art is that Daruis’s hair is a palisman. I think it’s just so funny to imagine a little mischievous palisman who acts as his hair. It’s also a clever way to hide a palisman from Belos. I also like the head cannons that people have for Grimwalkers, Behind the ear scratches, heat resistance, and other head cannons are so just creative and funny to me!

14, I love Aus. I love human realm ones where everyone is in the human realm and the boiling isles doesn’t exist, what can I say it’s interesting to see what they would be like and how it would effect them. I also love to see how people change things like Belos’s curse, Daruis’s hair, Palisman, and things like that to be more realistic to the human realm without magic. I also really like Aus that take things that happened in the show and change the ending to those events. What if king went with Luz and the others into the human realm? How would that of effected the collector and the plot of the 3 season? What if Hunter recognized Kikimora in For the Future? A au I have been brainstorming for such a long time is one where Hunter somehow goes to another universe where their are different characters in their places and most of the events that happened to Luz happen to him but they are a bit different. Sometimes they turn out the way they did for her and sometimes the opposite. It’s a bit hard to explain but I’ve made up a whole cast for it and stuff and I think it would be cool!

15: In my opinion the owl house has some of the best antagonists in a tv show I’ve watched. I love Lilith and Hunter because they really thought they were doing something good. Lilith really thought that Belos was going to heal Eda’s curse, also can we talk about how good Lilith looked on the time skip like good grief she is slaying that red hair and black lipstick, she thought that she was going to be able to heal her sister and fix their bond. For Hunter, He didn’t know better. Belos was his uncle, his only family and the person he trusted and loved the most. I cannot imagine what that must feel like and how much that must hurt, that in the end you find out that the one person who you loved, who raised you, who talked to you was evil and was trying to kill everyone, Also Hunter looked amazing in the time skip as well, everyone did! I do have to say I do feel for Belos a bit. I just read Mera’s fanfic about Evelyn, Caleb, and Philip (Belos) and it really made me think about them. In the actual show, you know that Caleb and Evelyn existed but you don’t really think about them as much as you think you would. All Belos had back then seemed to be his brother and imagine how much that would hurt if you find out that you aren’t the only person in his life and that he is in love with the thing that you are suppose to be fighting and against. Of course that doesn’t justify all the horrible things he did and trying to kill a whole realm of people but I can see where the hurt comes from even if he did take it WAY to hard and out on others, he killed his brother.

But anyway thanks for asking and these were so fun to respond to!