#of COURSE there is huntlow though

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

(btw this is about a dumb toh au. im jst giving basic info. prepare for a long ass ramble.)

i still think about that one video where awsten knight says that he asked dallon weeks to record background vocals for "fruit roll ups" and i dont know why but ive always been trying to incorporate waterparks into an toh au. as it being my favorite band-- and like ykkkk with every era waterparks does, awsten dyes his hair the color that the album corresponds with.

hes done green and purple. but the purple era came before green. what does his name rhyme with? oh right. amity blight. awsten knight. yk yk.... anyway.

dallon who is idkhow... and this was before the whole scandal happened unfortunately but in this silly idea i literally have hunter and luz in a silly little band called something else but its basically idkhow's music because it feels hunter-coded(???). like idkhow's razzmatazz album feels "Bi boy depressed theater kid" and i cannot explain that but yeah.

"IM A TEENAGE BEAUTY QUEEN OF SORTS" <- him coded. idc. shut up.

but basically, like its luz and him in idkhow tinfoil band. vee being there on the sidelines being a helpful photographer (I FORGOT WHAT SHE DOES BUT ITS LIKE THE SIBLING TRIO.) and basically the three work a dead-end warehouse job (projection lmao) and then go to Eda's bar after work on little sleep to perform at her open mic every other night when she hosts it. luz being the drummer n stuff. because they have a dream and like theyre SUPER passionate about it.

waterparks- irl meanwhile between their second and third album (entertainment and fandom) had a shitty ass thing happen with their record label where they literally stole the rights to their masters.

^ so that feels philip wittabane coded to me in my idea. he would steal record label masters.

somehow raine is a host of the label that amitys (the "waterparks" band) band then goes to sign with after. with a lot of time between. (of course, theres a bit of adjustment there because the entertainment era was purple hair and fandom was green so it wouldnt in theory work 100% with amitys canon hair with that logic BUT HEAR ME OUT--). so, in a meeting amity miraculously finds herself at Eda's bar (fine timing because guess who's preforming teehee-) and like "oh wow shes pretty cute i suppose-" then somehow after the mic closes, she goes to talk to luz for a bit.

and while still really directly unsigned amity wants them to open for her band (again- amitys band but in waterpark's tinfoil coding. its her, gus, and willow).

MAYBE amity overhears luz humming while on tour. MAYBE she asks her on tour why she doesnt sing ever and why hunter sings instead. so like a bit of back-and-forth vibes but it goes on to amity indirectly "accidently" writing a song about luz because whoops.

(btw its telephone if you even ask. telephone by waterparks is so themcoded. i will not debate that. its sappic coding.).

and then like- "kiss goodnight" by idkhow (listen. i will fight anyone who says thats not THEIR song. THAT IS THEIR SONG TO ME. ITS CANON THAT ITS THEM CODED). anyway luz writes "kiss goodnight" as a response unironically. and its just those gay fucking vibes. like idk what to say here. its them being like "yes but does SHE like me???" meanwhile those bitches are literally writing songs about one another without like them being like "oh shit thats... about ME???" oblivious as its finest.

so like... yeah. later on amity asks luz to send her some harmony samples for fruit roll ups, and she objects and is like "why dont you ask my brother???" and amitys like "i want YOU to do it."

blah blah blah anyway luz and hunter get signed (i know nothing about record label shit but basically raine takes them on.) and yeah luz and amity get together.

im not too sure.

its so DUMB but like i cant fucking EXPLAIN.

im sorry but like rn im having such brainrot of an idea i thought of months ago while looking up band au stuff. and like i know for a fact that it will make sense to literally no one because of how random my brain is but fuck it. my blog, my rambles.

i will probably never write it too, but hold on. im going to ramble about it in a sec when my laptop loads. i NEED to convey how hyperfixated on this weird brain stew i am.

[lollytea]

Today's huntlow post is Darius centered, specifically on whatever the fuck he believed was going on.

I think that post-ASIAS his relationship with Hunter was steering in a tentatively positive direction and Darius was plenty capable of giving him some praise and brisk affection. But he still didn't entirely know how to get involved with Hunter's newfound teenage problems.

Hunter started texting Willow regularly during the time when he was getting along with Darius. And Darius, who thinks of most teenagers with disdain, does NOT like where this is going. He's developing a bit of a protective streak towards the Golden Guard and doesn't like how he is clearly getting rather obsessed with some girl that Darius can barely get a read on. All he knows about her personality from his brief interaction with her is that she's impressively gutsy. But that doesn't matter much in this situation.

Darius keeps asking, casually of course, if he can read Hunter's text threads with her, only for him to get all red and defensive and stress that his messages are private. It's endlessly frustrating. Like, how else is Darius supposed to get a temperature on this girl's intentions? Hunter? Hunter is not a reliable source in the slightest. Titan bless his stupid heart, he's not the best judge of character.

Though he's noticeably cagey about the messages, Hunter still ends up yapping about Willow frequently and Darius doesn't know if he believes a word coming out of that boy's mouth.

Darius was a high schooler once. Darius knows what high schoolers are like. Darius even knew a boy who was so uniquely eccentric and socially awkward that their peers found him entertaining. They strung him along for his unintentional comedic appeal rather than valuing him as a person.

There was a time when the idea of the Golden Guard marching into Hexside and subsequently getting humbled by his ruthless peers who do not give a Titandamn fuck about his title would have been hilarious to Darius. But not anymore.

Now Darius is beginning to see that the brat he's known all these years is a lot more vulnerable than he seems. Sensitive even. And though he's beginning to get attached to his peculiar disposition, Darius can still point out every mannerism that a conventionally socialized teenager could bully him for.

He does not like the thought that Hunter is exhausting all of his clumsy affection towards some girl who, as far as Darius is aware, does not care about him NEARLY as much as he cares about her.

Darius is self aware enough to know he might have a bias. The boy he knew ALSO got himself tangled up with a girl with a big frame and an even bigger personality and the consequences of THAT whole mess were literally apocalyptic. It's probably not the same, but it makes him uneasy nonetheless.

What if she's baiting him for interaction only to screenshot his messages and mock him to her friends? What if she's working him up to execute a prank? Or maybe she simply pities him. Somehow Darius finds that just as distressing as the other possibilities because it will probably shatter Hunter just the same.

If Darius is watching a catastrophe in slow motion there is nothing he can do about it. He has his hands tied with more pressing matters, such as preventing armaggedon. And every time he TRIES to subtly discourage Hunter from putting Willow on a pedestal (*scoffs* "She's just a teenage girl, little prince. There's hundreds just like her") he gets huffy and storms away for some reason.

ANYWAY

Timeskip. A few months later. The morning after their whole realm was Collector detoxed. Some people are still complaining that they feel phantom strings but the weird sensation is beginning to fade away.

There's no solid plans for where Hunter will take up permanent residence, so Darius has offered him a temporary place in his home until they can find a more suitable guardian. (Spoiler: not as temporary as they thought)

Hunter sleeps. Hunter sleeps a LOT. He has a lot of troubling experiences to recharge from, so Darius just leaves him to it.

That's when the girl appears at his doorstep, wringing her dishevelled braids. She doesn't look like she's slept soundly. "Can I see Hunter?" She asks.

(I imagine that the kids, specifically Hunter, Willow and Gus develop a bit of fire forged seperation anxiety after the events of season 3. They want to be in each others pockets for a few weeks to months afterwards.)

"Well," Says Darius. "If you hadn't arrived unannounced and actually given us some notice, I could have told you that he's dead to the world right now."

Her eyes widen.

"Asleep." He quickly corrects himself. "You'll have to come back later."

Willow is no longer the enigmatic high school girl who may or may not pose a threat to Hunter's confidence from Darius' perspective. He knows that she's the person who rescued him during the scout attack on Hexside. He knows she kept him company during that time and the Day of Unity. He knows he spent months with her in the Human Realm. He knows their bond had become far more serious than vapid high school friendships. He saw them in the hall of the Collector's Palace, standing close together for comfort, Hunter holding her as they searched for her parents.

Darius decided that even if he had no idea how their relationship began, it hardly mattered. The last few months had aged them considerably. There was no way Willow had the capacity to be a petty mean girl after all she had been through.

And now she wanted to visit Hunter, presumably because he mattered to her. Darius still didn't know the angle of this relationship. He simply knew that it was important to both of them.

And Willow does not give up. She frowns, dejected, before her brow scrunches up in determination. She asks to visit him anyway. She would just like to look at him, just to know that he's there. It doesn't matter if he's sleeping, she just wants to see him.

There is a lengthy pause.

"Not in a weird way," Willow clarifies.

"Right," Nods Darius. "You want to watch him sleep in a normal way."

Somehow, Darius allows it and lets Willow venture up to the room. Mostly because he knows he'll get an earful from Hunter if he finds out that he turned his special girl away.

Even if he still doesn't know how to feel about her, he knows she's harmless. To Hunter anyway. Maybe not to Darius. Once she realized that the man standing in the doorway was the barrier between her and Hunter, her eyes had flashed menacingly for a second. Titan only knows what she had considered doing before she caught herself.

It's about five minutes later when Darius wanders up to the doorway of Hunter's room himself. He leans in the threshold and observes.

The girl has perched herself on the side edge of Hunter's bed, her fingers dancing across his forehead as she delicately wipes back stray strands of ashy blond hair. She's watching his sleeping face with such unreserved tenderness that Darius wonders if they've been building teenagers different these days. They weren't this kind when he was young.

Darius clears his throat, sending Willow springing to her feet. She throws up her hands, as though to prove her innocence.

"I was just..." She mumbles, rose cheeked. "Leaving."

"Mmhmm."

Well. Darius knows one thing for certain now. This relationship is clearly not as pathetically one-sided as he initially feared. But....the reality of the situation is sure to prove very annoying. He's not looking forward to this.

[avatarmerida]

Begin Again

Huntlow fanfic. Bonus points if you can guess the inspo. 💚💛

-

She looked different but so did he. Well, not different, he just looked the way he used to look. His hair, his face, his clothes showed that he suddenly found himself months in the past, whether it was the result of time travel or a dream was unclear. Hunter could not summon a memory of what had been happening before this moment, it was like he had suddenly awoken but he just knew that this logically was not where he should be. But he had found her. Her glasses weren’t gold (and in his opinion didn’t compliment her eyes as well) and her hair was shorter, not quite long enough to pull into the braids she wore when they first met, but t it was undoubtedly Willow sitting at that lunch table talking to her plant as she scribbled notations in her notebook. The sight of her melted any fear or hesitation he would normally harbor in this moment.

“Hey!” He called, excited to see her as he practically sprinted over to her.

“Oh, uh hi?” She said, welcoming but obviously confused. It confirmed that she did not know him. He intended to change that, giddy at the opportunity for a second chance at a first impression even if it might not be real.

“Is uh, anyone sitting here?” He asked, gesturing to the seat beside her.

“Oh, uh no,” she said, understanding. “You can take the chair if you need it, let me just-.”

“Oh, no I uh meant uh,” his nerve almost escaped him as she looked up at him with wide attentive eyes. “Would it be okay if I sat there? Here? With you?”

“Oh! Yeah, of course,” she said, moving the large plant off the chair and onto the table. “I mean, as long as you’re okay with a centerpiece.”

“I’m more than okay with it,” he said with a laugh, sitting beside her. “It’s rather impressive, how long have you been growing it for?”

“Oh, just a few weeks,” she said, flushing out the vivid, bright green leaves that cascaded in every direction. “I just switched to the plant track so I finally have access to the good dirt this species likes. But it’s due to blossom any day now and I wanna be there the moment it does. I know it’s probably a little silly to carry it everywhere but I-.”

“I don’t think it’s silly,” he said quickly. He remembered Willow telling her about this plant and how it had bloomed during a test and she had nearly gotten detention for how loud she gasped in excitement. “I bet it feels… special.”

She beamed. “Thank you,” she said softly, quickly turning her attention back to her lunch as she tried to suppress the small blush that crept into her cheeks. “I was kind of hoping it would. But that’s probably actually silly though, right? I mean I know plants don’t technically have feelings but-.”

“Well, plants can respond to sounds and touch so they can definitely feel your presence,” said Hunter, remembering a conversation they had one late night messaging. “I think they have feelings, just maybe not in the same way that we do.”

“Yeah,” Willow chuckled, brushing her hair behind her ear. “I’m… I’m always saying that actually, heh. Oh, um, I’m Willow by the way.” She extended her hand to shake his, tilting her head and offering him a gentle smile that made Hunter’s heart melt.

But it always did.

“Hunter.” he said, taking her hand with a lopsided smile of his own.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Hunter,” she said. “Are you a new student?”

“Um, well not exactly?” He said, not sure what his technical role was or what version of himself had landed here.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said quickly, her voice flooding with guilt. “I guess I mean I just haven’t seen you around before! If it makes you feel better, a lot of people don’t notice me either! N-not that you’re not noticeable! I just mean it’s a big school, and we’re on different tracks, but I promise you’re very noticeable! I don’t mean that in a bad way, not that I would, but I mean it like-.”

“Oh, no!” He cut her off, not wanting to start things with a misunderstanding. “No, I just meant I uh… well, I went here awhile ago but then I went back to… being homeschooled and I just transferred back,” he said, summarizing things as best he could without confusing her more with whatever was actually happening. “But I wasn’t here long enough the first time to really make an impression.”

Willow smiled, grateful to see she hadn’t totally blown it. “Well, let’s hope this time is different,” she said brightly. “I mean, about being here longer. If you want. Not that you don’t have to make an impression, but I mean-.”

“Me too,” he said. “I’m excited to be back too.”

She offered him a sweet smile of relief that made any tenseness he harbored vanish. Even if he wasn’t sure where this dream was going, he couldn't help but feel safe near her.

“Hey Willow, who’s this guy and why are you holding hands?” Gus asked from beside them, holding his tray of food. They both looked over at the same time, not realizing they had never ended their introductory handshake, which had at some point turned stationary.

“Oh, Augustus! Hi!” Willow said sweetly as she slowly pulled her hand back. “This is Hunter! He just transferred back!”

“Potions track, huh?” Said Gus as he took a seat across from them. “That’s cool, maybe you can help me figure out how to make my potions homework not taste like old socks.”

“Did you try enchanting the straw?” Hunter offered, remembering the solution Gus had offered him when he stayed at his house and they had tried to make a human realm beverage but it had ended up far too sour.

Gus’ eyes widened, highly impressed. “What?! Dude, that’s genius!” Gus gushed. “Willow, I approve of new friend,I declare he is officially smart enough to sit with us.”

Willow giggled before looking back at Hunter (or maybe she had never stopped?). “I promise he means it as a compliment.”

“I know,” Hunter chuckled. “I won’t say he’s wrong, as long as you won’t say he’s wrong for calling us friends.”

“Dang, new guy is smooth,” Gus whispered to Willow, only half caring if Hunter heard him. Willow bit her lip,and even though Hunter knew she did not know him but somehow felt that she could tell he did not talk this way to everyone.

“Deal,” said Willow with a grin and nod, and Hunter was over the moon with how pleased she looked. She took a sip of her juice box. “So Hunter, how are you liking Hexside so far?”

“It’s been… interesting,” said Hunter, unable to help but feel like he would wake up at any moment. “But it’s getting better.”

“Do you remember your way around okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, if you want we can show you around,” added Gus. “Not to brag, but we know all the shortcuts and the best water fountains.”

“Sounds like a plan, Gus,” said Hunter.

“‘Gus?’” He repeated, intrigued. “A nickname? Already, new guy?”

“Oh uh yeah sorry,” Hunter chuckled, forgetting that Luz had mentioned she was the one who given him the nickname. Whatever dream or time travel had brought him her must not have included that detail yet. “It’s a nickname I heard they use in the human realm for your name so I guess I just-.”

“Woah! A human realm nickname? Are you also a human realm enthusiast?” Gus beamed.

“Oh, yeah! I guess I am!” Hunter declared. “I’ve read a lot of books about it. Actually, there’s a book series over there I really like if you have any interest in human literature.”

“Do I!” Gus exclaimed, summoning a happy face illusion to empathize his delight. “Do you have any plans for free period because the human appreciation society is having a meeting and you literally need to be there dude.”

“Sounds good to me!”

Willow smiled, her heart swirling seeing the boys hit it off and knowing her friend group was expanding. It seemed like such a natural fit.

“Do you have any plans after school?” Willow asked. “Gus and I were gonna do homework at my house and maybe watch a movie. I’d love it if you came! I-I mean, we’d like it. Heh.”

“Y-yeah! Yes,” he said quickly, clearing his throat. “I’d like that too! Yeah, I mean I don’t have any after school activities yet.” A light went off in his mind. “I was actually hoping to join the flyer derby team, do you know if they already had tryouts?”

“Oh, Hexside doesn’t have a flyer derby team,” said Willow with a frown.

“I bet we have a grudgby team though, right?” Hunter scoffed.

“Yeah,” Willow groaned, rolling her eyes in exaggerated agreement. “People are just afraid that another sports team will take away from the grudgby budget. I mean, Titan forbid they don’t get new uniforms every season.”

“It’s like people don’t realize that flyer derby involves actual skill and strategy,” Hunter went on, easily falling back into the shared rant he and Willow had adopted. “Just because it’s not as well known as grudgby-.”

“-doesn’t mean it’s not as exciting.” They finished together, Willow joyfully stunned to hear her thoughts echoed.

She couldn’t help but beam. “Yes! Exactly, thank you!” She said with vigor. “You know, my dads actually met playing flyer derby. We used to play all the time.”

“I bet you’re really good,” Hunter said plainly.

Willow blushed. “Oh, well I don’t know-.”

“She is!” Gus stated, and Willow mimed that he should shush but he went on. “You are, Willow! Especially when you’re in the zone! And now that you’re finally on the plant track, I bet you can do some sick tricks with your vines!”

“When he says ‘sick’ he means ‘impressive,’ not ‘ill.’” Hunter explained with an assured smile, hoping to show his support. Willow and Gus looked at him skeptically.

“I know,” she chuckled, and she and Gus shared a small, amused look.

“Oh, yeah of course you do,” he chuckled nervously to himself. “I suppose… it might be obvious, but just in case…”

“Well, I actually have been thinking about starting a team,” Willow said shyly, tapping her plate. “More like daydreaming, if I’m being honest. I didn’t think there was any interest.”

“Well I’m very interested,” Hunter insisted with a chuckle.

“Oh I bet you are,” said Gus under his breath as he pretended to take a drink from his cup.

“I mean, it would be pretty cool,” she admitted. “But I don’t think I could do something like that. Not yet. Besides, who would join a team I started?”

“I would.” said Hunter.

“Oh,” Willow smiled, the blush coming back for another appearance. “Well, thanks. But maybe you should try and start one! I mean, it was your idea.”

Oh shoot, he definitely didn’t mean to steal her idea!

“We could do it together,” he suggested. “Be co-captains.”

“I mean, that could be fun…” Willow admitted.

“Wo-ah! Look at you, joining the plant track and starting extracurriculars! You’re really coming out of your shell, Park!” Gus exclaimed happily, sending a small collection of sparkle illusions above her head. “It’s the year of Willow!”

“Okay, okay,” Willow chuckled as she brushed the sparkles away. “Well, it does sound like a good idea. How about we talk about it more after school tomorrow?”

“I can’t wait.”

Willow and Gus quickly noticed he had neglected to bring a lunch and quickly offered him the highlights of theirs. They fell into a rhyme both new and familiar and Hunter was brought out of it for only a moment when he couldn’t remember if he was always able to taste things in his dreams.

-

Okay, meeting Willow and Gus earlier was not an uncommon dream for him to have. But not waking up shortly after realizing he was in a dream was. How odd it was to be aware of being in a dream. He knew this was his mind’s way of indulgence and wishful thinking but he knew at any moment things would be too good to be true or too hard to accept and the setting would collapse in on itself. There’d be a mixture of realities or a menacing shadow or something to interrupt his escape.

But he would enjoy the fantasized alternate reality as long as he was able to.

Time went by as it only does in dreams or times of safety, and he fell into a routine as though he had been his all along. That or he got lucky and every classroom he wandered into just so happened to be his next class. And when he stumbled into the library, of course the first table he saw had Willow there. She waved him over and they studied, another simple yet common occurrence in his dreams.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Willow giggled softly as she looked up from her book to see he had not even been glancing at his. The library felt like it was just them in the cozy corners Willow had secured, the rain outside pouring like a soft soundtrack.

“Like what?” Hunter asked, worried. He removed his head from his hand and adjusted his posture. “Is it bad? I mean, t-this is how I always look at you.”

“How can you ‘always’ look at me?” She giggled again. “We just met.”

“Right! Yes, I-I mean I guess I assume I look at you the way everyone else looks at you.”

“Ehh, I’m not sure if that’s true,” she countered as a faint blush graced her cheeks.

“Really? I’m sorry,” said Hunter, feeling his hand begin the sweat. “I’m sure it has something to do with my eyes, I’m sure they can’t be all that comforting.”

“No no, it’s nothing like that,” she assured him, placing her hand atop his. “I like the way you look at me.”

“Y-you do?”

She nodded.

“Oh, uh, good.” He said utterly relieved. “Because I like looking at you.”

He returned to the assignment, unaware of the starstruck look Willow offered him now.

After school he came home to a simple home that was a castle in its own right and Darius greeted him with a smile that lacked any sarcasm or secrets and asked him about his day. The mantle held pictures of memories had had no other way of holding besides in the carefully picked frames, showing him smiling at various ages holding things he had made or earned or just found interesting. It wasn't overly detailed, but he could tell he had wandered into a version of him that had never questioned that he was wanted. But just as he began to piece things together over the most extravagant home cooked meal he had ever had (Darius could cook???), night came all too quickly and apparently his guardian was very strict about curfew and beauty sleep.

He dreaded turning in for the night as he was never able to fall asleep in a dream and continue it. He knew he’d be waking up soon, which was a shame because this was some impressive and detailed world building. He was cozy and eager to see more but maybe he’d be allowed to revisit another time.

But if this was the last night in the slice of life he had always longed for, he decided he might as well get the full effect as he reached for his scroll and typed the numbers he still knew by heart.

“Oh! Hi Hunter!” Willow said as she answered the video call, subconsciously curling her hair around her finger. Before (was it before this or would it be instead of this?), they had only ever texted or voice called once in awhile because he said a video call could jeopardize something about coven secrets (he couldn’t remember the exact lie) when in fact sometimes seeing her made his brain stop working and it was harder to hide that lull when she could see it in real time. “Sorry I look a little crazy, I wasn’t expecting your call.”

Her hair was frizzy, most likely she had come back from a run or a work out.

He had to stop himself from staring. “Oh sorry if this is a bad time-.”

“Oh no not at all!” Willow said quickly. “I was happy to see it was you! I guess I didn’t think you’d actually call, er what I mean is I-.”

“No, I should’ve asked or messaged before I did! If it makes you feel better, you look lovely as always, Captain ‘

“‘Captain?’” Willow repeated, arching her eyebrow, trudging past the ‘lovely’ part of his sentence but tucking it in her mind to revisit and analyze later. “It’s a little early for that isn’t it?”

“Well, this way you’ll get used to it sooner,” said Hunter, trying out a brand of confidence he was only able to summon in the deepest dream scenarios.

“Well you deserve a title too,” she pointed out, leaning back into her collection of pillows. “What should I call you?”

“Well, what do you wanna call me?” He said in a tone he had only said behind a mask and to a mirror (simultaneously). No one had ever heard this side and it was a risk he would never take in real life or at least not so early, but he couldn’t argue with the results. Dream Willow responded perfectly, an obvious blush covering her face as she set the scroll down for a moment as Hunter knew she did when something was just too much in the best way.

“Well hold on now,” said Willow after a deep breath, coming to match his energy. “We haven’t had tryouts yet. How do I even know you’re good enough to be on my team, huh?” She took obvious delight in her witty response to his teasing.

“Well then I’ll be in the stands cheering as your number one fan,” he countered. “But I’ll still get to call you Captain, right?”

“Yeah I guess so.” She didn’t expect a response so genuine and clever at the same time, it mirrored his very being.

He could see the reflection in her glasses of her opening a new text box. Within a seconds, he had a new message appear right above the view of her on his scroll.

Hey dude I’m not gonna be able to make it to the movies so it’ll just be you and Willow

“Oh Gus just messaged me,” said Hunter. “He can’t make it tomorrow.”

“Oh darn,” said Willow in a way that did not feel clever and genuine. “Well are you okay with it just being us?”

“I’ll think I’ll be fine,” he said. “As long as you’re fine with it.”

“I’m fine with it,” she said, making herself more comfortable in her chair.

“Cool then,” he said, doing the same. “It’s a date.”

—-

They talked until sleep overtook them. Hunter was awoken by the sound of Willow snoring, her scroll propped on one of her pillows to see him even as she drifted to sleep. He checked the time, the new day had come and he had still remained in the world he had fallen asleep in. He decided not to question it, not missing any chance to enjoy what could have been.

And it kept going.

There were days where he found himself forgetting that he was dwelling in a dream, a strange sense of altered deja vu. But just as quickly as he made the realization, his mind could not locate exactly what made him realize it. Soon he succumbed to letting it go, looking forward to looking forward and knowing trying too hard to control the dream could cause it to dissolve.

---

“... and then they turn the wall into a mural!” Gus finished, recalling a story that Hunter wasn’t entirely sure if he was supposed to have heard before (he was enthralled nevertheless) that he had overheard in study hall. Hunter remembered similar issues happening, an act of vandalism that was the perfect balance of severe and uninteresting for the guards to let him do alone.

“They weren’t afraid the Golden Guard would show up?” Hunter asked only to be met by inquisitive stares.

“The Golden Who?” Gus asked.

“Ya know the head of the Emperor’s Coven? The Emperor’s nephew?”

“‘Emperor?’” Gus repeated, confused.

“Oh, is this from one of your human realm books, Hunter?” Willow asked with an enthused smile.

“Oh, yeah!” Gus said with excitement. “Don’t spoil it! I wanna read those ones once I’m done with Cosmic Frontier! Unless the emperor is in Cosmic Frontier and I haven’t gotten to that part yet but where would he-.”

“No I mean like the coven system? Didn’t the emperor start that?”

“Pssh, you know no one follows the coven system,” said Willow. “It’s just there in case you need help finding people with similar interests to learn from and stuff. It’s not like we get tattoos about them or something; although I would actually love to get a plant tattoo someday.”

“So we can study any track we want? Not just one?”

“Yeah bro,” said Gus. “Did they not go over that at orientation?”

He looked around and noticed the multi track colors, some students had more than others and some still chose to focus on one. Of course Willow and Gus’ colors didn’t change, they just wanted to rep the track they loved the most but it didn’t prevent them from doing any magic they wanted to try.

Maybe Willow just knew she looked the best in green.

“Oh yeah,” he fake chuckled, going back to his plate in front of him. “Yeah, I must’ve forgotten. Cool.”

There was no threat or dark secret lurking over his shoulder here. And so the immersion became stronger.

-

What also became stronger was his connection with Willow. As he became more comfortable with himself their dynamic only became more solid, their banter quicker, and their time… well she occupied that whether or not she was physically with him,

He would go to her house to do homework, not letting on that he had already done it and he held the completed packet in front of him as he racked his brain for other ways he had thought about to try and impress her. Knowing or at least suspecting that everything here was temporary had allowed his nerves to calm when it came to the things he said to her. But the less he worried about embarrassing himself, the more real everything felt. Her hand would slowly move close to his until they were touching and neither of them acknowledged it with words, then their shoulders would follow suit and lean into each other as they felt compelled to share the same book for no particular reason. Now he knew why he was drawn to her warmth and had the time to enjoy instead of worrying he was putting her in danger.

He loved relearning things about her and seeing what was unique to this time around. He still loved how excited she got when she talked and how her eyes shone on him when she listened. Time with Willow not being plagued by guilt or secrets or trying to return to an apocalypse felt quicker and lighter. Seeing her and Gus waiting for him by his locker, both of them excited to see him and have lists of things they wanted to involve him in made him consider if he hadn’t been trapped in a nightmare before and that this was how everything really was.

He dared not to say this aloud, in case it was the trigger that sent him back. With each day, he remembered the specifics less and less of what supposedly was as it melted into what felt like a memory of a memory, something that passed through him rather than something that existed inside him. Not feeling even a fraction of the sadness that had once been his norm lured him into acceptance. Why had he ever doubted this was what he deserved?

—

“Okay, how does that look?” Willow asked, securing the last tie on the sign.

“Perfect!” Hunter beamed from the ground.

“Thanks, I try,” said Willow with a confident air as she flipped her hair. Hunter chuckled, knowing exactly what she was doing, taking his words and twisting them in a way that made him blush. The subtle way her tone and eyes shifted just for him, like another language hidden in their conversation that they made up as they went. He used it as a way to mask his compliments so they wouldn’t overwhelm her and he was starting to suspect she was genuinely doing the same.

Gus referred to it as flirting.

“Well, you’re succeeding,” said Hunter, often being the first to falter in this instances but knowing he loved the rush he got when her face lit up when he kept going. He especially loved the way she wrinkled her nose when he added with a hushed flair, like icing on the cake: “Captain.”

Her nose wrinkled just as he hoped it would as she admired the sign they had spent all night on. They had definitely taken their time on each letter as an excuse to spend more time together but that had been happening so much lately that it hardly seemed abnormal. “So you think it’ll attract some good recruits?”

“Oh yeah, I think it’s very attractive,” said Hunter smoothly as he leaned against the post and Willow giggled.

“Do you guys forget I’m here sometimes?” Gus teased in a deadpan as he continued to pass out pamphlets.

“No,” said Hunter and Willow simply as they continued to maintain eye contact, unfazed and unembarrassed by their public display.

“I don’t know if that makes it better or worse,” Gus whispered, shaking his head endearingly.

Lost in each others googley eyes, they almost didn’t notice a grudgby ball spiraling towards her to knock her off her staff. As she lost her balance Hunter sprang into action, catching her as though it was effortless, as though she was always destined to land in his arms.

“How are you going to captain a team when you can’t even stay on your staff, half-a-witch?” Boscha mocked in her high pitched voice that fell on deaf ears because once Willow’s eyes locked on his such close proximity there was nothing else as far as they were concerned.

“You okay?” Hunter asked, his voice low and calm. She was in no real danger, deep down they both knew that, but he would dote on her nevertheless. And she was not complaining.

She nodded. “Mhm hmm,” she murmured with a dreamy sigh. “Good thing you were around, huh?”

“Excuse me! I’m insulting you!” Boscha exclaimed in anger. “Are you not listening?”

“Do you wanna go do the uh, the uh… um.”

“The demonstration?”

“Yeah! Yes! That! The demonstration!” Said Hunter. “That we planned. We should… go do it.”

“Okay.” Said Willow, moving to rest her head on his shoulder to look at him with a look of secrecy and mischief as if to say I’m perfectly comfortable right here.

Hunter gulped, trying to remind his feet how to move as he simultaneously tried to assure himself he had read her expression right. He tried to summon his former courage and replied “Okay,” as though to say I’m comfortable with you right there too.

“Okay,” she said with a subtle shrug of her shoulders. She gently kicked her feet and giggled as though to ask Are you seriously gonna carry me there?

“Okay!” Hunter said, tightening his hold on her as if to say I’ll carry you all day if it’ll make you laugh before running toward the front of the school as Willow giggled and cheered in his arms.

He looked down at the laughing girl in his arms, her braids framing her face

“Your hair,” he said, as though truly noticing it for the first time.

“What about my hair?” she said as the laughter was slowly leaving her voice, looking up at him as though expecting another compliment. Normally he’d love to offer her just that but something was off.

“It’s… in braids.”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I braided it this morning,” said Willow. “Why? Does it look okay?”

“No, I mean yes, I uh but I mean how is it long enough to be in braids already?” He asked.

“Well because I had braids the first time we started the team so I-.”

“The first time?” Hunter repeated, slowing to a stop. “What do you mean ‘the first time?’ Has this…. Do you know what’s going on? Has this happened before?”

“Um no no it’s not… uh…” Willow struggled to process her own words, as she returned to her feet. “No no because now it’s different! It’s better this time! You’re happier and safe, I mean we both are! And we don’t have to-.”

“Willow, how long has it been?”

“How long has what been?”

“Since we first met,” he clarified. “It feels like things are moving fast like I know it should have been months ago but it was barely days ago, wasn’t it?”

“What? No! Because I mean… well…”

“Willow?”

“We… we have a flyer derby team to start! Together!” She said, forcing a bright tone. “A-and we’ll play a real game, with official uniforms! And in the picture, me and Clover and you and- oh no.”

Suddenly, the light around them dimmed as though unable to exist if Willow was uncertain. The scenery flickered, as though waiting and Hunter felt like he could hear a ringing silence. He felt rooted to the ground, feeling as though he was entering a nightmare. But why now? What had triggered it?

“Willow, I… I’m having trouble remembering,” Hunter said as he realized it, he didn’t know how to describe the feeling but it was like he was suddenly overcome with with a recovering pain. His head had subtle pounding, like how it felt after he had been crying. But when has he been crying? “I-I it’s like I know we’re here but I can’t remember how we got here. Like it’s… skipping things. Does that make sense?”

“Oh um m-maybe you’re dehydrated,” Willow offered, her tone suggesting she was hiding something. “Let me get you some water! I’ll get you some water and we’ll do the demonstration and we’ll get Skara and Viney and we can-.”

“How did you know that?” He cut her off. “How do you know they’ll join?”

“Because well… um…” Hunter wasn't sure if she wasn’t sure how she knew or if she didn’t want to share how she did. “Sorry, sorry I can… hold on.”

A flash of green and suddenly Willow was gone. Everything around him felt… fake. Like nothing had changed but suddenly it felt too detailed, as though it had been staged and not lived in. An edited memory.

Suddenly, he couldn’t recall Boscha actually being there. He knew she had been, but it was like she wasn’t worth describing, worth a detailed vision. Her presence was no more than an idea of her. She existed, but only for this moment. So much suddenly seemed to exist only for this moment. One moment. The current moment. Then once it played its part, it faded like they weren’t meant to go back. Everything went forward. Hunter couldn’t focus on going back to something specific. He couldn’t remember the full layout of his house or his class schedule or how he got to school. Like they were there but too complicated to always be there, like once he left everything went with him and would go back when he did.

Flapjack. Flapjack was… wasn’t he? Where was he? Flapjack was there but somehow out of focus, like a memory of a photo. Like the moments he knew he talked to him were skipped. He knew they happened, he knew because there was no Flapjack to fill his place in whatever trick this was. Hunter knew that he knew, deep down it felt off. But he knew digging deeper would take him from this unfamiliar happiness and whisk him back to a real and familiar sadness. Was it any different than hitting snooze to enjoy a dream a little longer? To pretend it could be forever?

Had this dream been a nightmare in disguise all along?

It was not the first time Hunter had tried to fool himself this way, he would interpret his Uncle’s words over and over again until they made sense. He had to believe he was finding the meaning hiding beneath the surface, that he over complicated things because he was smart enough to understand what most people didn’t.

But now this was less about survival and more about wanting. He wanted a fresh start, he wanted more time with his friends. He wanted to be happy. But somehow, even in a dream, he couldn’t have everything. He did not have his voice of reason to guide and ground him, now he only had an echo he was terrified of misremembering.

“Hunter!” Gus’ voice echoed, even though it shouldn’t echo here. It felt saturated, he didn’t know a sound could feel that way. He appeared like he had to fight the scenery to do so.

“Gus!” Hunter exclaimed, running over to him. He suddenly noticed how quiet it was, no singing birds or even the gentle blowing of the wind. An impossible silence. “What’s going on? Is it the collector?”

“No it's… Willow.”

“Willow? Is something wrong? Is she okay?” he frantically looked around for any sign of her. Gus touched his shoulder, knowing he’d easily spiral if he believed Willow was somewhere needing assistance.

“I… don’t know how to answer that,” Gus confessed, and the color around his seemed to be wavoring. “Because last time this happened-.”

“Last time? What do you mean?”

“Willow she… well, you know Willow,” Gus started, looking around nervously as though his time was limited. “You know how much she cares about people, how deeply she feels everything. How much she wants to help. And when something happens that she can’t fix or help, she feels powerless. She doesn’t doesn’t like seeing the people she loves hurt and not being able to do anything about it.”

“Yeah I-l… I know but what does that have to do with whatever is happening now?”

“When I found out that my mom… left us,” Gus said quietly, the memory still causing him to choke up. “I was a mess. I was hurt and confused and sad and Willow was there for me every minute. But there was nothing anyone could really do, ya know? Nothing could bring her back, nothing could make the part of me that missed her go away. Willow tried everything and seeing me hurt hurt her too and her want for me to feel better took over and she made all these plants…”

“Plants?”

“Poppies,” said Gus. “They make you sleepy, make you have vivid dreams. When they’re made by a witch like Willow with such strong emotions, you forget you’re in a dream. She didn’t do it on purpose, she just wanted things to be better so much that the poppies turned her feelings into… well, this.”

“Willow did… all this?” He wasn’t surprised she had the power to summon such dangerous and potent flowers. “For me?”

He was more surprised that she cared so deeply for him that it altered his universe.

Gus nodded, but Hunter still needed more answers.

“Why?”

“I… I don’t think I can tell you,” said Gus.

“Why? Gus, if Willow is hurting too I want to know why,” said Hunter. “This has to be draining her, we need to find her. Why is she doing this?”

“Hunter I… I don’t think she’ll let me tell you,” said Gus. “She’s trying to protect you and this has gone on longer than before and she could be lost to her own magic. She let it drag her into the narrative she thought would help you. But Amity and Luz weren’t there before, and when they tried to step in they got-.”

“Amity… and Luz,” Hunter said. They hadn’t been there, but he knew who they were. They were part of this world. How did they fit in now? They had been there when-.

“They’re trying to get inside her mind but this feeling… it’s complicated,” said Gus. “It’s putting up walls and shifting things. The longer it goes on the harder it is to stop.”

“How do we stop it? What did you do last time?”

“Her magic wasn’t as strong last time,” Gus said. “Her dads were able to calm her down but I don’t know how to end this. It’s like an illusion, kind of, so I’ve been able to navigate it okay but it’s like it can’t end until she’s convinced you’re happy. It’s linked to you, it’s supposed to be your dream. She’s not gonna be able to stop until she knows you have everything you want.”

Hunter didn’t need to know much more about how this came to be to know it must be draining Willow beyond belief. The ever changing details, adapting to his expectations and maintaining the subtle altered reality. This was dedication and focus that could drive even the strongest witch mad.

“Everything I… Willow,” he whispered. “Willow Willow! I want to see Willow!”

No sooner had the words left his lips did the world around him shift and shuffle and there she was as though out of thin air. Her outfit kept changing like a glitch, switching between her sleek school uniform and a tattered black dress with striped leggings. He knew this outfit, but he didn’t know how. He knew he had made that W patch for her. That he had seen it… in a store? He had been in a store with Luz and Amity and it was… he had to wear a hat… it was all there, just beyond where he could reach but it was like when he tried to focus on it it just made it blurrier.

He saw it and thought of her and when she saw it she was happy… because she could wear it for… where were they going?

It was like there was a shield over it because remembering it meant he’d also remember something painful. Willow took it upon herself to hold that pain for him and it showed.

“Willow-,” he started, stepping towards her but before he could get closer vines wrapped around his ankles and stopped his movement.

“No, don’t,” she said, trying to hide herself. She closed her eyes, and Hunter wasn’t sure if it was the poppies trying to take back control or her trying to tap back into them but either way he knew she was ashamed. She was unraveling. She was tired. She was scared.

“Willow, please we need to get you out of here-,”

“No, no please don’t worry about me!” she chuckled nervously, her voice strained. “This is, uh this is nothing! Really! I just need to uh… to…”

“Willow…”

She sniffled. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, and Hunter swore he could hear her heart breaking. The vines eased for a moment but did not fully release him. “This isn’t what I wanted to happen, this wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t… I shouldn’t… I’m sorry.”

“Willow, you don’t have to-,” but before he could rebut, the vines grew as though to interrupt him and tell him no amount of reason could make its way through.

“I… I lied to you,” she whispered, as though scolding herself. “I manipulated you and trapped you because I thought I knew what was best for you. How am I any different than Belos?”

“Because you care if you hurt me,” Hunter said simply, slipping his arm out of a coiled vine. “You don’t want to hurt me.You didn’t do this to control me, you didn’t do this to help yourself, Willow you don’t even try to do this; you just wanted me to be happy. The idea of me being in pain made you do all this to try and help me. Willow, I could never be upset about that.”

“But it’s not… it wasn’t… it’s not enough,” she whispered. “This, all this won’t fix anything, it will just make everything hurt longer and hurt more when I mess it up.”

“Willow, I knew at the beginning it wasn’t real,” he said. “I knew and I stayed because I… I wanted to be better, make a better impression. Willow, meeting you changed my life. You made me want to… to have fun, try new things, be myself. Figure out what that meant. I liked who I was around you. I like who I am.”

With each word he said he felt the ground become more unstable. Against his first instinct, he took that as a good sign and continued.

“I know I’ve made mistakes and done things I’m not proud of,” he went on. “And sometimes I wish I could undo them or forget them but I know I can’t. I know it’ll hurt sometimes to think about it but I have to, so I can go forward. So I can do better, know there is something better.”

“But you were,” she said, struggling to speak againest the tears overtaking her whole being. “You were healing, and growing and you were happy. You were silly and you got to relax and it was… it wasn’t fair. You weren’t supposed to get hurt again, you weren’t supposed to lose him. You were… you almost…”

“Mijo! Willow! Sweetheart, please, can you hear me? Are you two okay?” Camila’s voice was a muffled echo just beyond the walls of endless shades green and red.

Scenery flashed around them. The lunchroom, a classroom, his room, the basement at the Noceada’s, the flyer derby field, the throne room, the graveyard.

The graveyard,

The graveyard.

The graveyard.

They were still in the graveyard. They had never left.

She couldn’t keep it up anymore, reality was creeping in. The others were trying to reach them. WIllow was holding on and it was destroying her. She was fighting to be his shield, blinded by her bleeding heart.

This magic was taking everything from her but she could care less so long as she could give everything to him.

Everything came back to him all at once and flooded his being with an intense numbness. It was too much to process, and he instantly accepted that he may never fully be over it. But what kept him afloat was knowing without a doubt that he did not have hide this feeling, he did not have to feel ashamed or bear the weight alone. He may feel this pain forever, but he knew it would not be the only thing he felt.

“I wanted to give you everything you wanted,” she whispered, exhausted. “I should have done something sooner. I should have known something was wrong. I should have… I didn’t save you. I couldn’t save you. We almost lost you. We lost… you lost…”

“I know.” His hand grabbed his chest, an aching feeling washed over him. “I know.”

The ground trembled as tears built up in her eyes. “No no no!” with every word their surroundings shook, her tears hit the ground like waterfalls. “I was supposed to make you feel better! This was supposed to be everything you wanted! I thought maybe… I tried… I don’t know anymore. I don’t know what to do Hunter. I’m so sorry.”

“I know… that you don’t like that I feel this way,” said Hunter, taking a small step towards her. “I know you care about me. But then you should also know that I don’t want you to feel that way either. No ones ever cared about me so much before.”

“But it’s not enough,” she whimpered. “I’m not enough.”

“Don’t talk about my friend like that!” Hunter demanded, a gentle golden glow surrounding him as the rage ran through him.

She exhaled, her breath shaky but slowly beginning to steady. She brought her eyes up to meet his, the green glow was faint now and the bags beneath her eyes envied his own. In reality, perhaps no more than an hour had gone by but she had endured weeks worth. She had gotten just as lost as he had. But she knew this was him, this was not something she had persuaded him to believe or say, no this was truly him. His truth was helping her release the hold she had on herself.

“I won’t lie, I wish I could start over,” he said. “I wish I got to meet you sooner and be a normal witch and have Flap… but I’ll take having you at all, no matter when it happens so long as it happens. I didn’t have enough time with Flapjack but thinking about that doesn’t erase the time I did have with him. And I’d rather make new memories with you guys than dream about what could have been. I know that’s real.”

“But I tricked you,” she said with a tired sigh. “I tricked you to feel the way I wanted you to feel about me.”

“Willow I promise you don’t trick me.”

“But we were… and you said… t-that we… it was-.”

“Willow at first I was aware that things weren’t really like that,” said Hunter. “But I… didn’t care. I took it as a second chance and I promise that the way I feel about you didn’t change, just maybe the way I acted about it did.”

She wiped a tear from her eye. “You say I make things better but here you are making me feel better,” she joked as she adjusted her breathing as the tears dissolved. “It’s just.. hard to let go. To go back. I don’t… want you to have to go through that, you’ve already gone through so much.”

He finally reached her and took her hand in his.

“But now I won’t have to go through it alone.” He realized it as he said it. It was the truth and it didn’t erase the overwhelming weight his grief had collected, but it took away some of the pressure. He knew it would always be there’s but it wouldn’t be the only thing that was there. Willow saw it too. She couldn’t undo the past or guarantee the future, but their present didn’t have to suffer in solitude.

It all came crumbling down as she fell into his embrace. Suddenly, the colors weren’t as vibrant but they were real. The air was chilly but the warmth of her embrace canceled it out. The silence was less deafening. He heard everyone else call out to them, uncertain of how it had all looked from the outside. He knew he was sad, he knew his safety was real but temporary. He knew it wasn’t over. He knew this might be a turning point he’d wish he prepared for more but none of that held him down as Willow wiped away his tears, barely harboring enough strength to stand as she took him into the nape of her neck.

He synced his breathing to the sound of her heartbeat.

“So you’ll really be okay? For real?” Willow whispered as the others surrounded them, keeping them safe from the chill and checking them for injuries.

He didn’t know how but it was like he felt his own heart beating for the very first time.

“Maybe not right away, but I will be,” he said softly into her hair. “As long as I have you, for real.”

[mayandjuly1811]

WHY HUNTLOW IS A FORCED AND UNREALISTIC  SHIP.

1. First impressions:

Raeda has the most amicable meeting. About Lumity, Amity shook Luz's collar and almost got Principal Bump dissect her. It stems from misunderstanding, because Amity doesn't know Luz is human but a strange non-Abomination that Willow used to cheat. About Huntlow, Willow seems to be violent for no reasons at all. Hunter disguises as a Hexside student so to Willow, he's just a student that she doesn't know. He's not a threat at all. Yet she summons the vines to wrap him tightly and drags him down the ground so hard that the asphalt gets damaged. Treating strangers like this is not fine and out of character for Willow.

Also, when Hunter is about to leave again, Willow drags him down the ground and takes him to the field without asking his permission. This crosses boundaries a lot. In comparison, even though Amity sees Hunter as an enemy in Eclipse Lake, she just simply uses Abomination magic to capture him, not dragging him down violently like Willow.

2. Understanding:

Raine and Eda have a genuine common interest in music, magic (Eda is interested in wild magic and Raine supports her). Luz and Amity are both interested in Azura, the idea of being not enough for anyone, the idea of being accepted and loved for who they really are. Amity is also interested in Luz's glyph magic and she learns to draw it many times. 

About Huntlow, I don't see any common between them besides flyer derby. The whole “Half a Witch” is forced. Half a witch means a witch who is not powerful enough. Willow is a powerful Plant witch, her fathers just didn't realize her real magic talent and put her into Abomination track, which isn't her forte. If you're only good at Maths, but not Chemistry, does it make you unintelligent overall? Of course not. 

About Hunter, first off, he is not even a witch. He's a Grimwalker with no bile sack, his pointed ears were adjusted to look like witches’. Also, he's skillful at using magic staffs so no one sees him as powerless. He's the elite Golden Guard, one of the most powerful figures under Belos. No one dares to call him half a witch, even if they do think he's weak. And how he quickly recognizes the illusion of Willow in S2ep18 is unrealistic. How come Gus, Willow's long-term friend can't figure out before Hunter? The fact that Willow seems to be scared of Hunter is understandable. Last time, he literally locked her and her friends up, then kidnapped them, he also worked for Belos. Who knows if he's gonna do the same?

Hunter and Willow know little about each other. It's one sided. Hunter knows Willow is a strong and independent person, a caring and selfless girl. But Willow knows too little about Hunter compared with Luz, Gus and Amity. They never have a serious talk about Hunter's trauma caused by Belos, only a short scene of Willow cutting his hair. In Thanks to Them, Hunter has a deeper conversation with Luz and Gus than with Willow. With Willow, he just blushes even though nothing happens. Gus and Hunter's bond makes more sense than Huntlow to be honest. They both like Flyer Derby, they both like Cosmic Frontier, Gus knew about Hunter's being Grimwalker and his conflict with Belos, Hunter comforted Gus when he felt sad in Labyrinth Runner and when he missed his Dad. Hunter's screentime with Gus is even more than with Willow. Their platonic bond is stronger than Huntlow's forced romantic one.

Feeling development.

The way Willow and Hunter like each other is too rushed and unexpected. Starting with Hunter, he met Willow only one time in ASIAS and started to have a crush on her? He only met her once directly and already blushed? And Willow, she treats Hunter the same way she treats everyone. Only until Hunter has power and saves her does she fall for him. It's so rushed all of the sudden. Some people say they live together in Luz's house for months so they have feelings for each other. But there are no bonding moments between them besides the cutting hair scene. Even though the show is cut short, from Willow's scrapbook, she and Hunter don't have any bonding moments between the two of them.

Comforting.

It's one sided again. Hunter is understanding and sympathetic towards Willow. Meanwhile, how Willow tries to comfort him is questionable. He just lost Flapjack and Willow isn't understanding at all. She gives him the Flapjack picture, causing him to feel grieving again. He's been struggling to hold back his grief to focus on helping others. This backfires really back. She should have waited until Hunter brought things up about Flapjack first, just like Gus. He knows Hunter is a Grimwalker since the Day of Unity, but he doesn't bring anything up first and waits until Hunter says it first. He thinks about Hunter's emotions after being traumatized by Belos 

Also, when Hunter looks upset, Willow should have stayed to continue to comfort him?! Instead, she acts like she's the one who is hurting and leaves. Imagine you're feeling sad, someone tries to comfort you. You haven't felt better since you need time, they feel sad and leave you. Now you feel guilty because you can't be happy to make them happy. This is making things worse. Hunter can't even make himself feel calmer after Flapjack's death, yet now he'll feel guilty because his own sadness and grief makes Willow feel sad! Also, when Hunter calls out, she keeps walking and ignoring him. 

In conclusion, Willow and Hunter are better off as friends. They don't have any romantic chemistry or deep understanding. The ship is so forced and rushed.

[dejaroze]

Ive Seen some weird shit today so here’s a little rant, aimed towards the TOH shipping community but can be used for any fandom-

Just because you ship one thing, doesn’t mean you can criticize other ships for no specific reasons.

I love a TON of ships, I don’t really stick to one and that’s the fun of it!

Here’s the thing, I know majority of the fandom that ships lumity is against lunter, I personally think both ships are fine, even though I prefer lumity way more.

Saying hunter and Luz are siblings is a HC, which I do believe, I love imagining them being siblings. THEY ARE NOT BLOOD RELATED, NOR IS HUNTER ADOPTED BY CAMILA. Hunter and Luz are both bisexual! Just because Luz is dating a girl, doesn’t automatically make her lesbian.

So yes, I see them as sibling coded. This doesn’t mean I go attack lunter shippers and accuse them of being pro shippers.

THIS GOES BOTH WAYS!

I see many lunter shippers trashing on lumity shippers, most for pure pettiness. A few of these people also trash on huntlow, which is a ship I adore but, everyone has their opinions of course. ( I personally HC Willow and hunter in a qpr )

CONCLUSION

Do not attack others for shipping things you don’t ship! ( unless it’s illegal, then yeah that’s weird asf )

[daystarvoyage]

Glad Certain fans are calling out the toxicity in fandoms, hey everyone back in action for a long wait.

Hello, Everyone, It's Kyoko Cane Of Daystar Voyage Giving You A Quick Update of what's been going on,

I have been off Tumblr for a while due to situations in fandoms, & Life, if you don't know yes I am a blogger and content creator who does cosplay & creates art, I also focus a channel on animation, Family entertainment & Fandom Topics With Some variety.

But I am back now gonna try to make this a short message cut into three parts cause I have to start packing for Momocon, now that's the introduction out the way let's get on to these parts on the sections from future videos, calling out show flaws and my love for all animation & why you should give it praise,

NOW LET'S GET IT ON

1. Very Proud of People calling out Fandom Discourse on Shipping & toxic problematic stuff, way to go

when animation got through the good times of the golden age of animation 80s & '90s through my times experiencing it myself, i do love people have a natural conversation about their favorite shows and fiction & nonfiction works, it felt really organic to see others commend me for talking about things out without hiding behind a electronics, seeing growth in positive ways,

I for one watch any new shows that are lighthearted in its comedy story & world-building with good writing that excels and few who have a lot to learn from them. (Example Disneys Kiff Big City Greens Amphibia & Haileys On It) Along With light-hearted anime shojo & Josei to be exact, have really put me into a comforting mode and have made me look at a perspective of what characters have to offer.

however, that's not without its negatives.

The 2000s & 2020s later with the uprising of the cost of living, and jobs declining it really did take a toll on people's mindset without a safe space to have open-minded discussions due to toxic fandoms on the internet propelling popular media. (escapism etc)

though our love of media contorts and distorts in many ways that's not without negatives

i have suffered a lot from a recent fandom the Owl House recently,

Oh forgot to mention one part the fanfics are coming out great for the Owl House movie fanfic and short story I have to make for the Witterbane Origins so they are cooking in the oven as we speak Release coming soon

now you are wondering why I brought this series to light.

well we know things have become problematic with its fandom from shipping, writing & character exposures, I for one have been scammed in this fandom cause i wanted a specific ship (lunter) keychain & i was placated & gaslighted into thinking i got a finished product, unfortunately, it wasn't preserved properly & Toxic nonfactors who hide behind a character who wish they'll give them time of day. SEE AT THE BOTTOM BELOW

AND HAVING TO DELETE VIDEOS OF SHIPS BESIDES HUNTLOW OR LUMITY CAUSE OF BULLYING ITS DISGRACEFUL AND NASTY BEHAVIOR, DOWN Below

Yes there’s proof and FACTs THE FANDOM CANT TAKE A LOGICAL REASON AND CALL OUT THE WRITING AT TIMES., so I’ll be discussing that soon in a future video, cause nothing stopping me

Up above pics 👆 this is a prime example of how fandom has become toxicity from characters being defined by their sexuality, TV tropes not properly executed in good ways, and today's culture following suit of creators compromising the show to the audience's liking (do to fandoms)

be it Racism, Poc Representation compromised & white favoritism & supremacy. There are times the show shows bad writing & and of course shipping discourse just to make up these flaws however it doesn't save them, cause this shows fandom needs a wake-up call so ill be roasting & giving reasonable and logical critiques 247.

That is all for number 1 and I'm proud of the fandoms talking about the owl house flaws in the show

, we as fans of past present of future animated lovers should have been giving this content and I'm not bashing the owl house but waking up people to how yall act as a whole, from yall bullying other creators from new upcoming Disney shows too which is not ok, so much to say but ima save for future videos

2. Future Videos will not stop me from talking & ranting on issues be it unscripted or scripted to get my feelings out.

ill will be getting back on camera for soon with the many topics on my polls from past posts here and will be discussing my favorite genres Shojo & Josei on how the Western audience perceives it as compared to back in the day

It's been such a great way to use Tumblr to open my mind to others who agree knowing I don't have a big following.

( cause you know people all act the same on social media who lack creativity or originality)

Ill be using my channel to create content to understand my world as a genderqueer person and to know that everyone needs to bring out a confident you and speak your mind on terms & causes that matter cause where all on this earth and where all the same if we open our minds.

3. Your all Welcome to message me afternoons only (don't go too far on boundaries) Yes fanfics are in the oven, & will be doing photos at momocon cosplays YES ILL BE MAKING ENTERTAINING SHORTS and have a blessed starry day.

Last segment right now im doing better however will be going to the doctor when I can, Also Advise people to have a life outside of fandom.

I use art as a way to create and diffuse from bullying on social media cause I am single and looking for love does play a part cause as a black person, where seen as scum Not desirable, and just nothing and unpretty.

but I for one say otherwise, cause I'm defined by my heart of gold and jolly disposition, airing out my stress with art and content.

So make sure to check out my Latest videos on channel daystar voyage.

so I leave to yall for a while I may post often about other content when I have time and an update on the amity video coming up but shorts will be out in the meantime thank you so much.

[sea-creature-things]

Slow Down Time

A huntlow fanfic

This is a huntlow story about the BIID (Boiling Isles Independence Day) and Hunter struggling with his feelings about it.

They are so cute together, enjoy <33

Read here below the cut or on AO3 with this link:

Hunter was lounging on the floor of Willow’s room, the afternoon sun shining through her curtains. Waffles and Clover were playing, flying around the giant green vines thriving around the room. Willow was sitting cross-legged next to him, writing something in her notebook.

They were surrounded by books and articles, pieces of paper scattered everywhere. Willow had an important presentation for one of her plant track subjects, so Hunter offered to help her prepare. He really just wanted to spend time with his girlfriend and, by the way she had smirked, Willow saw right through him.

Besides, if there was any kind of homework she didn’t need help with it would be plant magic.

He just really wanted to be close to her. It made him feel better, especially today. Also, listening to her talk about flowers and true roots in the evolutionary tree of plants was a nice distraction.

Waffles caught up to Clover, apparently winning a game of tag with a tiebreaker. The palismen had tired themselves out, collapsing on the little bee’s bed. They snuggled up in the sunlight, not that it offered much warmth this time of year, but they just gravitated towards it like the little plants they technically were.

As he noticed the beam of light on the floor had moved a few inches again, Hunter felt an uncomfortable feeling creep in and settle in his stomach. He was reminded that he’d have to go home for dinner soon. And soon after that he’d go to bed. And soon after that it would be tomorrow.

Another day closer to the Boiling Ilses Independence Day.

He stretched his arms and rolled over the ground, until he landed on his back with his head in Willow’s lap.

“Hi~” Hunter said, looking up at her pleasantly surprised smile. She put her notebook aside, seeing as he’d basically taken its place and forced her attention on him.

“Hey there~” She replied with a flirty tone, not minding his ploy for affection at all. Actually, she loved how comfortable he’d become with her touch. As long as she wasn’t overwhelming him of course.

She kissed her index finger and booped his nose with it, giggling at his delighted expression. Blissfully enjoying this sweet moment.

Hunter’s stomach erupted in a whole flock of butterflies. She still made him feel so weightless after a whole year. Not that it was their anniversary or anything, but it was around this time he realised how much she meant to him.

He was the last to realise though, as Gus loved to remind him.

He settled contently as Willow kept brushing her finger over his nose, closing his eyes. But the feeling didn’t last. He couldn’t keep the dread from creeping into the edges of his mind.

Her promise that he could tell her everything, anything anytime, suddenly ringing in his ears. She had beat it through his thick skull with much care and he knew it was true.

But he was still a little reluctant.

“I wanna leave.” He finally confesses, forcing it out like a terrible secret he was sworn to keep.

“Okay…?” Willow stopped brushing his nose, taken aback by his intense tone. And honestly a little disappointed too, she thought they were having a nice moment. “You can if you want to.”

Pointing her thumb over her shoulder towards the door, she gave Hunter a puzzled look. Which sent the shock of realisation through his spine.

“No!” He instantly reacted, a little too loudly. He felt his face heat up from embarrassment and paused briefly before explaining himself better. “No, not leave your house, just… leave.”

Maybe not that much better.

Willow smiled softly, he sounded so sad. She ran her fingers through his hair, wishing she could help him.

“And go where?” She decided to ask. She still didn’t really understand what he meant, but just asking for clarification didn’t feel like the right move.

“I don’t know,” he admitted downcast. He shrugged as well as he could with his shoulders essentially trapped in place by her knees. He searched his mind for anywhere he’d like to go instead. “Australia?”

“What?” She was utterly dumbfounded.

A very welcome wave of excitement washed over him as he thought about it more. He shot upright, turning around and looking at his girlfriend enthusiastically.

“Yeah, it’ll be great! We’ll pet kangaroos, feed dolphins, dodge deadly spiders.” He wiggled his fingers at her face, making her giggle as she shooed his ’creepy-crawly hands’ away. He clasp his hands together in a pleading pose. “Run away to Australia with me Willow!”

She burst out laughing and Hunter followed not long after.

“Hunter, we have school.” Willow eventually said as counterargument, as it was the only thing she could think of right now. She was still astonished by his idea and his eagerness for it. “We can’t just go to Australia.”

“We have a week off from school soon.” He smirked, completely indifferent to the absurdity of his own plan.

The more he thought about it, the more he actually wanted to travel across the ocean. Luz had told him a lot about Australia after the first time they watched Bluey. She showed a few videos on her phone and let him research some more on her laptop.

She’d explained the concept of countries way back when they were trapped in the human realm. It was very weird for them, as the other Titans were usually not inhabited and none of them had ever been away from their own Titan. But Australia was definitely his favourite, with its strange creatures that bore a striking resemblance to the demons of his home.

“Yeah, for the Ilses’ Independence Day.” Willow reminded him and it felt like a bucket of ice water was dumped on his head.

Hunter’s bright smile fell, he looked away and fidgeted with his hands. Her stomach squirmed and her heart broke as she finally understood what this was all about.

“Oh…“ she couldn’t help but utter softly. Willow reached out to hold his face, rubbing her thumb over his scarred cheek. She stood on her knees to be taller than him and started kissing his forehead.

“I was never enthusiastic about it,” He despondently closed his eyes, leaning into her touch for support. Her soft pecks were painfully hard to focus on. “But the closer it gets the more I just want to… leave.”

She sat back down, placing a soothing hand on her boyfriend’s knee.

“I understand.” Willow struggled with what to say next. She wanted to help and support him so badly, but she also desperately wanted to go to the celebration with her family. “But I… kinda wanna be home for that, I’m so sorry.”

At once, Hunter wanted to bash his head into the wall from his own stupidity. This is the first time the Isles was celebrating the liberation from Belos and the Collector. Of course she’d want to spend that time with her dads!

“No, no, no.” He desperately waved his hands in front of him. “Please don’t say sorry, I totally get it. You don’t have to come with me- I mean… I’m probably not going anywhere anyways and-”

Willow cut his rambling off by pulling him into a tight hug. Hunter took a deep breath, enjoying the hug and letting it calm him down.

Willow let go, too fast for his liking, and started cleaning all her homework scattered around. Hunter stacked her huge textbooks and placed them on her desk, then watched as she grabbed a blanket and sat down on the edge of her bed. She pat the space next to her and he didn’t hesitate to oblige.

When hunter sat down, she wrapped the blanket around both their shoulders like a warm shield. He rested his head on her shoulder. Waffles and Clover woke up, flying over from the bee’s fluffy bed. The sun was gone and tomorrow came ever closer.

Hunter sighed. Everything anything anytime, right?

“I wish time would slow down, so I could stay here forever.” He mumbled as Waffles hopped in place on his leg, demanding chin scratches.

Willow sighed and smiled weakly. She wanted to agree, but her brain had a different plan. She cocked her head to the side and leaned slightly forward to look at his face, faking confusion.

“Specifically here or just generally in this time?” She teased him as her devious side took over. As she waved one hand vaguely around the space, Hunter rolled his eyes.

“Specifically here.” He deadpanned, removing his head from her shoulder and catching her hands. He pouted with his gaze locked on her fingers, rubbing them softly with his thumbs.

“I wish that too.” She whispered, interlocking their fingers. “I can’t believe it’s already been a year.”

“Yeah…”

They sat in silence for a while. This time Willow put her head on his shoulder and Hunter rested his on her. Their palismen tried to entertain them, playing tug-of-war with the ends of the blanket. Which were pretty much stuck in place by the bodies of their owners.

They were cute, Hunter would give them that.

“… so why Australia?” Willow suddenly asked, a confused look in her eyes and an amusement smile dancing on her lips.

“I know we can’t actually go there.” Hunter muttered, the tips of his ears heating up.

“But why?” Willow asked again. He felt her head trying to escape so he sat up straight in order for her to do the same. She gave him a spurring but kind look.

“Well…” His voice trailed off. An almost nauseating feeling surfaced, but he swallowed it away. He continued as lighthearted as he could. “I can’t be on the Ilses and I can’t be in Gravesfield…”

“So Australia is the logical next step.” She said matter-of-factly, grinning as she bumped her shoulder against his.

“Willow,” Hunter took a deep breath, clapping his hands together and pointing them at her. “They have Emus.”

They both laughed, loudly and full of snorts. Willow’s papa voice interrupted their fit, telling her it was time for dinner. They both exclaimed, loudly and full of disappointment.

Willow stole a quick kiss before jumping off the bed, still making Hunter feel completely euphoric. He got up much slower, carefully folding up the blanket and stalling for time in the most obvious way.

“Why don’t you ask Darius to take you?” Willow asked as she took the blanket and lovingly tugged him towards the door.

“Yeah right.”


“Why not?”

“He planned almost every part of the celebration!” Hunter retorted, whistling to Waffles to leave Clover alone and follow them downstairs.

“It was a group effort.” She shrugged with a cat-like smile.

“Willow…” He shot her a cracky, tight-lipped look.


“I’m serious!” She laughed. “He really cares about you Hunter, you should know that by now.”

He remained quiet, not really sure what to say but also not wanting to say it.

When they got downstairs, Hunter first greeted her parents as they made quick smalltalk about the presentation, then he said goodbye to them. As he put his shoes on in the hallway, Willow studied him like one of her articles on moss.

“Listen,” Willow held onto him in the doorway before he could leave. “If you tell him how you feel, I’m one hundred percent sure he’d drop everything and fly you to Australia himself.”

“You don’t actually know where it is, do you?” Hunter squinted his eyes. He stepped closer to the door, grateful for a few more minutes with her.


“No idea,” She shrugged, earning a soft chuckle from her boyfriend. “But that’s not the point!”

Hunter couldn’t tear his eyes away from her intense stare.

“Fine…” he relented, Willow cheered and clapped her hands excitedly. “But I’m telling you, it’s not gonna happen.”

_______ _______

“Hunter, let me get a picture!” Darius yelled from across the field. He speed walked over, because the caretakers of the animal sanctuary had told them not to run. It could spook the kangaroos. “I promised Camila I’d take as many as I could.”

“She would’ve loved this.” Hunter laughed as he made sure the baby kangaroo in his arms was secure and comfortable. He held the bottle at the best angle for the sweet baby. This might be the cutest thing he’s ever seen in his life.

“Smile!” Darius said as he snapped a few pictures with his scroll. He seemed satisfied with the result, then suddenly realised he was standing in a field and looked disapprovingly at his dusty boots.

“I’m going over there again.” He pointed to the gravel road next to the field where visitors could still feed and pet the kangaroos that came close to the fence. “Remind me to get a souvenir for Eda before we leave tomorrow. She went through all that trouble to get us on a plane.”

“Sure,” Hunter nodded. The bottle was empty so he put it down and started just petting the tiny human realm creature instead. “Were visiting the Outback tomorrow, right?”

“Indeed.” Darius said proudly, puffing out his chest. He’d spend a lot of time planning this road trip after Hunter told him how much he was dreading the Independence Day back home.

Turned out Willow was right. Again.

“They’ll be lots of those creatures you love.” Darius wiggled his hands around to imitate spiders “And then Eber can actually come out of the car.”

“You think he’s still upset?” Hunter craned his neck, trying to see the jeep they had rented in the city.

“Nah,” Darius waved his concerns away. “He knows it would be bad for the humans to see him, but he was pretty sad he’d have to miss these little angels.”

“I think he’ll have more fun with the creatures.” Hunter smiled, writhing his free hand in the same way Darius had done. His guardian rolled his eyes and chuckled in amusement, leaving for the safe gravel at long last. Hunter went back to petting the bundle of soft kangaroo fur.

He was so incredibly happy right now.

[fairytales-and-folklore]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @marimbles! ♥️ No pressure tags: @litfeathers @lollytea @ashanimus @greyhavenisback @princecharmingwinks @tails89 @nutellarghh @ash-mcj @childlikegoblinqueen @daydreams-and-honeybees @avatarmerida @asarcasticwitch @sailahina @secretly-of-course @sapphic--kiwi @haystarlight @zyrafowe-sny @peachytea04 @slightecho

1. How many works do you have on AO3? just hit 100 last month!

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 479,814

3. What fandoms do you write for? I've dabbled in quite a few over the years, but the ones I've written the most fics for are doctor who (eleven/amy) teen wolf (sterek) and the owl house (huntlow)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Error 404: Brain Cell Not Found (teen wolf | sterek) You Always Want What You're Running From (sleepy hollow | ichabbie) What To Do When Your Emotionally Constipated Werewolf Boyfriend Gets Cursed By A Witch: A Guide (teen wolf | sterek) Gold Rush (the owl house | huntlow) Lovesick (the owl house | huntlow) 5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do! Every kind comment means so much to me, so I always take the time to respond to all of them (though I'm not always great at getting to them on time.)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm probably The Courtesan and the Writer (doctor who | eleven/amy) I used to dabble in angst a bit more when I first started writing fic, but these days all my fics are pretty much guaranteed to have a happy ending, because real life is hard enough lol

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Pretty much all my fics have happy endings, but one of the happiest I wrote would probably be my huntlow college AU Until You Meet Someone Who Makes The Fall Feel Like Flying

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I wouldn't call it outright hate, but I have gotten a handful of rude comments over the years (complaining that I don't post often enough, telling me my headcanons are wrong, telling me how they think my story should have ended — one time someone yelled at me in all caps because I said that a character chilled red wine lol that one was wild)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! Smut is fun. Mine is typically more focused on the emotional aspect than the physical, is usually the result of a long tension-fueled slow burn buildup, and is usually tooth-rottingly fluffy, soft, and sweet.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have! Back in the days where superwholock plagued tumblr, I wrote one of the silliest cross-overs imaginable, combining doctor who, torchwood, bbc sherlock, supernatural, the avengers, and sleepy hollow: Lords, Gods, and Madmen

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yup 🙃

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! But most of them never saw the light of day 😂 one that did is called An Eggcellent Morning For Cooking Lessons co-written with @ash-mcj @tails89 and @nutellarghh

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I think my top three ships are reflected in who I've written the most fic for: huntlow, sterek, and the eleventh doctor/amy pond

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Luckily, everything that's posted to AO3 is finished, but at this point I'm thinking I'll probably never get around to writing the little nightmares, reylo, and captain swan WIPs I've had sitting in my drafts since 2019

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I capture the characters really well, which means a lot to me. I've also been told that my writing is cozy and comforting and fills people with warm fuzzy feelings, which is always nice to hear 🥰

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I will sit there and agonize over the same paragraph trying to make it sound perfect instead of just letting the writing flow, so sometimes a fic will be in the works for a very long time until it's finally ready to be posted (by which time I'm probably sick of it and never want to look at it again 😂)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've dabbled in this a little bit, but it's usually been plot-relevant, like a character learning to speak the language (i.e. when Hunter tried to learn Spanish in Being Human.) When I do write in another language, I always do my best to research and try to get the translations as accurate as possible, and I always include the English translation either in the fic itself or as an author's note so readers don't have to break away from my fic to google anything. (And also so that they know what my intention was, on the off-chance I translated something wrong and accidentally wrote something offensive.) 19. First fandom you wrote for?

Does anyone remember that vampire show that came out back in like 2009? Moonlight? Yeah, that one lol

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? God, that's like asking me to pick my favorite child. Okay fine, it's Until You Meet Someone Who Makes The Fall Feel Like Flying

[stanlunter]

H@ntlow thoughts

I guess it's just my thoughts, but to be honest, even though I'm not a hater Huntlow, I'm terribly stressed by some moments in this peering. Throughout the episode about sports, Willow treats Hunter just awful. Completely ignores his opinion, his desires and his personal space. Even when he was essentially a stranger to her, she, not even knowing that he was a Golden Guardian, just grabbed him with vines and dragged him hard to her, breaking the asphalt at the same time. Hunter wasn't her friend then, or even an acquaintance. She wanted him on the team – now he's on her team, it's just a fact, whether he likes it or not.

Later, when Hunter wanted to leave (surprisingly), she just took and dragged his roots through the ground without question. Without even thinking, how little does he have claustrophobia? And even if not, what kind of adequate person would even think of such a thing? It is rather ironic that she literally parallels Belos, Hunter's main abuser, with this.

Also, when Hunter did not even agree to her invitation to the team, she already shakes his hand rather rudely, actively hinting that he actually has no choice. He's already on the team because Willow wanted him to.

Of course, these moments are not so disgusting, but I'm also a little annoyed by how roughly Willow hugs Hunter, not interested in whether he likes it or not. She just does what she wants with him and makes him do what she wants. To be honest, in "any sport in a storm" Willow specifically enraged me and further annoyed me for quite a long time because of this.

Later in "looking and dreaming" there is a small moment when Hunter was just confused, almost panicked, because of the actions of the Collector. Then he looks at the calm Willow and calms down too. As if he himself does not know how to behave, and therefore repeats after Willow, as if he has no emotions of his own. He's doing something again, not because he wants it and thinks it's necessary, but because Willow is doing it.

In fact, in this case, it's not even surprising that they like each other: for Hunter, this is a comfortable type of relationship, because he is used to doing everything he is told and not having his own opinion yet because of Belos, and for Willow, a person who listens to her in everything, runs after her, and allows saving yourself is a good way to raise your low self-esteem.

On the one hand, because of this, they are ideally suited to each other, but on the other hand, their relationship is codependent and to expose it as something cute and as an ideal relationship, in my opinion, is at least wrong.

Also, to be honest, I really like that Lumiti has developed and stopped blushing in front of each other for a long time, this shows that now their relationship has become completely comfortable and they are used to each other, but, alas, even 4 years have not helped Huntlow. He is still twitching because of Willow's sudden movements and is embarrassed in front of her. Which, in my opinion, is a bit strange

I will say again that I don't have any hatred for Huntlow, it's just my thoughts, because I really don't understand why people like it so much.

[childlikegoblinqueen]

Huntlow Week Day 1: Prompt Halloween/Hooty

"Oh! Good evening Hunter!"

A sliver of light passed over Hunter's body from the inside of the Park house.

He'd knocked.

He had.

Willow liked the danger of Hunter sneaking in through her balcony, and though she'd offered to "magic him up" with vines, or to have Clover fly him up, tonight of all nights, Hunter opted to act appropriately and knock.

Slowly, the door cracked open and a small sliver of warm light slid out from the Park's kitchen in a line over Hunter's head.

"Ah! Hunter. Good evening!" Harvey Park smiled. "Please come on in!

"Thank you Mr. Park!" Hunter gave a small smile and Harvey opened the door even wider which made Hunter's smile wider as well.

"Gilbert's out getting some last minute grosseries for dinner, and Willow's upstairs waiting for you!"

"Yessir!" Hunter bowed his head only to feel Harvey's sturdy hand on his shoulder.

"Of course." Harvey chuckled. "And Hunter? I do hope one day you will call me Harvey?"

"I hope so too." Hunter whispered.

Within seconds he had rushed up the stairs, with a thick tapping sound from his pink crocs. He reached another door covered in pictures of various types of flora and knocked again.

"Trick or treat!" Hunter sang out as Willow's sunny face answered.

"BOTH!" She answered, pulling him in as quickly as she shut the door behind them.

Then, Willow Park had Hunter in her arms. She tackled him gently and they fell on the floor in breathless peels of laughter.

Hunter let out a snort and lifted his hands , "I SURRENDER!" he shouted. "I AM AT YOUR MERCY! ANYTHING YOU WANT! IT'S YOURS!"

"Pfft! You're being a pushover on purpose." Willow teased. She laid her head across his chest, ear to the place she had told him so many times was best to hear his heartbeat. "Did you bring the goods?" She whispered.

"Check my bag." Hunter nodded.

They sat up as Willow dug her hands through his school bag pulling out a big pillow case full of every kind of Human Realm Candy possible.

"W-we probably should wait until after dinner before we get started on that." Hunter rubbed the back of his neck as he watched his girlfriend line up each piece of candy in order of what she liked to eat first.

"Hunter?" Willow stopped a moment. She looked at him with a soft smile. "Are you sure you're not mad that Gus is over with Luz and the others for Halloween?"

Hunter shook his head. Gently, he pressed his hand against his chest where Flapjack lay. "I get it. Maybe one day I'll be ready to do a real Human Realm Halloween again? But I wouldn't want to hold anyone else back." He felt a sharpness behind his throat. "Are you disappointed?" he whispered. "I mean, that you aren't over there now?"

Willow's cheeks went pink. "Nah." She waived her hand and shuffled a bit more through the pillowcase. "Getting to do Halloween last year was fun and all ... until ... you know. Until it wasn’t?" Her eyes watered a bit. "But there's a lot of things I get to do this year that's even better?"

"Yeah? Like what?" Hunter gave his girlfriend a lopsided grin. From the look on Willow's face he knew that she'd found it. The one thing he'd hidden in the bag of Reeses', and Hersey Bars, and those weird triangle things that Luz insisted were "loser candy." And then, Hunter felt his grin spread.

Gingerly, Willow opened the box of Pocky and slid out one long thin cookie, resting the chocolate covered side between her full lips. With the tips of her fingers she drew his chin closer towards her own. As Hunter began to eat one side as Willow ate the other, meeting in the middle in a soft, sweet crumb covered kiss.

"I get to do stuff like that." Willow whispered as Hunter felt his ears light up.

"Mmmmmmm." He hummed. "That was nice."

"You wanna have another piece?" She whispered.

A sliver of guilt filled Hunter's stomach. "B-but your dads are gonna be calling us down for dinner soon?"

"Maybe?" Willow shrugged. She crawled closer, placing the new stick between her lips and with a devious laugh, she rumbled, “But it is Halloween, and I think we're required to spoil our dinner with something sweet."

And without any further argument, Hunter closed the space between them with another kiss.

[lollytea]

Okay okay okay so my thoughts are a little jumbled right now so I'm not very coherent but I need to blabber about this one element of huntlow in For the Future that's got me going off the rails. It's the way in which they both take initiative in their interactions with each other, specifically how it differs with both Willow and Hunter.

There's a bit of a vibe in a lot of huntlow content that puts emphasis on Willow's confidence and Hunter's shyness, so she's the one who talks, who flirts, who acts, who gets the ball rolling. Meanwhile, Hunter clearly reciprocates and enjoys her attention but allows her to take the lead, rather than initiate anything himself. And this interpretation is perfectly fine. It's cute!! And Thanks to Them kinda gave us the impression that it wouldn't be that unlikely.

But the scenes involving them in For the Future were SO good. As an interesting subversion of the point above, it's actually Willow who's become the more uncertain one in their dynamic. As a contrast to how she comforts Gus when he tears up, Willow is rather hands-off when it comes to Hunter. It's likely because she understands that what he needs right now is space to process his grief, but in addition to that, she might be at a complete loss on how to help him. Because what could she possibly say? Willow can promise Gus that she'll find his Dad, she can assure Camila that things with Luz will be alright, but she can't bring Flapjack back. And even at this point in the episode, this may have been adding to her steadily escalating feelings of stress and helplessness. ("I can't help my friends...")

Willow feels like she keeps fucking up when it comes to Hunter. When she allowed herself that brief moment of childish indulgence by being silly with the plants, which resulted in Hunter snapping at her? Oh the way her smile dropped and she looked utterly devastated. She must have felt so guilty, so ashamed, so frustrated with herself for being so stupid and goofing off when her friend was severely hurting. And it's not like he was wrong for saying they didn't have time for this. But in typical Willow fashion, she shoved those feelings down and put on a smile for Gus.

There's no implication of it but I wonder if she also felt like an idiot for letting her emotions get the better of her when she saw that puppet of her Dad. She put herself in harm's way, forcing Hunter to charge after her and pull her to safety. Do you think she wonders if he was annoyed by that? Maybe that was eating away at her too. She's trying to be level-headed and reliable but it seems like she keeps slipping up. And Hunter is always there to witness it.

Of course, Willow didn't stop trying. Though she may have felt a bit rejected and disliked by him at the time, Willow still made the effort to look out for Hunter in any way that she could. She suggested they go outside and keep him company while he was pacing himself into the ground. And later on, she lit up with delight when she found something that she believed would comfort him.

And then she expressed, in her typical warm Willowy way, that they loved him unconditionally. She didn't have the perfect words to make everything okay. She was just being herself. Willow took a chance with this boy she didn't know how to help and simply said what she felt, hoping it would give him some semblance of solace.

But being herself wasn't good enough. At least not in Willow's eyes. She already had fragile confidence in regards to Hunter's current opinion of her but ohhhh the deafening silence that followed after she had bared her heart to him. The way she brought him to tears, leading her to believe she had rubbed salt in the wound. The way Luz had to gently intervene to make sure he was alright and Willow felt like sinking into the floor. How Hunter's quiet little "I....don't know..." speared her through. All of those things pushing her to her breaking point. She's made everything worse. Because that's what Half-a-Witch Willow does.

Hunter's perceived opinion of her is utterly deteriorating Willow's self confidence and it's the thing that results in her self loathing inflicted descent into thorny vines. She's in denial at first, still struggling to hold it together, still insisting that she can grasp hold of some facade. The pitchy and nervous tone of voice as Hunter appears on the scene and she desperately feigns nonchalance. She knows deep down that her magic is spiralling out of control but she cannot let him know. She cannot let him see her like this. And with this added anxiety of Hunter's presence, the vines only get worse.

Meanwhile, when it comes to Hunter, he is not idle by any means. He takes a proactive role in almost all of his significant moments with Willow.

Obviously, Hunter is a protector. He shields his friends from physical harm. He's especially paranoid about them getting hurt now after what happened to Flapjack because he can't lose them too. This paranoia, in addition to his overwhelming grief and recent trauma, has made Hunter high strung and irritable. Keeping his friends alive is his priority right now. Because of this, their emotional needs and how his snappish behavior is affecting them, is understandably the furthest thing from his mind.

But once he realizes that he's hurt Willow's feelings? Oh he looks completely shattered. The way Gus runs out the door to find her and Hunter murmurs "Wait..." before he rushes after both of them, calling out their names, begging for them to come back. There's none of the hesitation that Willow demonstrates with him, only loud desperation. What does he even intend to say to Willow? Who knows. Honestly, I don't think Hunter knows either. But it's not about that. It doesn't matter if Hunter has no idea what he's gonna say once he catches up with her. What matters is that he's running after her at all. He knows one thing and it's that he has to do something.

And that's what Hunter continues to do from that point. Something.

When he finds her tangled up in her own vines, mentally and emotionally unraveling, Gus hanging in distress above their heads, he's immediately asking her to explain, concerned and alarmed. When Willow's feigned cheerful demeanour shows its cracks and the vines start to ensnare Hunter, the last thing he does before he's fully bound is take a step towards the obviously overwhelmed and frightened Willow and try to reach out for her. Again, what was he planning to do? What was he gonna say? He probably had no idea. His actions were likely instinctive. But the fact that trying to provide some form of comfort to Willow was an instinctive response from him speaks volumes about their relationship. He's not going to stand around and do nothing while she's upset. Even if he's bad with words and emotions, he's always gonna try. She's worth trying for.

Cannot stress this enough but by the time her vines begin to consume her, Willow has probably convinced herself that Hunter's high regard for her has completely plummeted. Because why wouldn't it? This is, without a doubt, Willow at her most pathetic. But during this moment of complete wretchedness and self destruction, Hunter is the one who acts.

He bursts out of the vines and bundles her up in his arms. His hands press down on her shoulders and he frantically assures her that she's not to blame for any of this and she didn't ruin anything. He eases her anxieties by vocally expressing just how much he cares about her. He begs her not to be so mean to herself. And then, with desolate eyes and a soft gentle voice, he asks if she's been holding all this in the whole time.

He wants an answer. He wants her to talk to him. He wants her to tell him what's wrong so he can try to help. He wants to listen. And he's taking the initiative to get there.

And Willow's completely stunned face upon hearing all of this shows just how overgrown her insecurities had become, leading her to become entangled in the worst possible conclusion. She was now receieving affection and loving words from none other than the boy who she fully believed had lost patience with her for constantly messing everything up. The way the first tears pricked and her mouth wobbled when that soft gentle voice expressed concern for her, seconds before the dam inevitably burst. It was all a little too much for her I think.

Also can I talk about the little finger link?? I've been dying to talk about the little finger link!!!!

Everything about how that scene is executed is so sweet to me. Willow, though she's a lot more reassured over where she stands with Hunter, is still a little unsure on how to approach this. She doesn't hold his whole hand. No, that might be a bit much. For both Hunter and herself. Let's start smaller. Less nerve racking.

Of course, if she's still so hesitant, she doesn't have to touch him at all. But she wants to. She really wants to have physical contact with him in some capacity right now, even if it's as tentative as could be. In holding his hand, Willow would be making a rather bold statement. But in linking pinkies, it's more like she's asking a question. Is this okay?

She's clearly a bit unsure. Noticeably not looking at the touch, eyes locked on her feet before she speaks. But as unsure as it is, I think she's pretty brave for doing it at all.

What gets me is that what Hunter said left such an impact on her that she was compelled to thank him. She was grateful to be told that she didn't ruin everything. She had wanted to be told that she meant something to him. Even though she wasn't aware of it, she's realized that hearing those words took a huge weight off her chest. Willow could breathe again. She could see him a little clearer now. And she would like to tell him just how much those words meant to her. Just how much he meant to her.

This is the moment where Hunter silently answers Willow's question. He's choked up, he's nervous, he's overwhelmed, but in spite of all that, he still takes initiative.

In linking their pinkies, Willow is asking Is this okay?

And when Hunter deliberately presses the back of his hand against hers, he's answering her question. It's more than okay.

Anyway Hunter being proactive in almost all of the huntlow scenes, Willow being the more nervous one between them, neither getting to the point they've gotten to if they didn't each take the lead at different moments. It was all so good.

[avatarmerida]

Found this deep in my drafts. I know we’re all trying to avoid spoilers rn so here’s some lighthearted silly human realm huntlow to distract us from leaks and such. There’s no plot, just Willow after dentist ✌️

———

“All right Willow, sweet heart, you’re gonna sit out here with Hunter while Amity has her turn, okay?” Camila said as she guided Willow to a seat beside Hunter in the waiting room. The night before, Luz had shown the girls what rock candy was and while she was at school, certain incidents had taken place resulting in an emergency trip to the dentist.

Hunter had offered to accompany them, hearing the word ‘emergency’ and shifting into solider mood. Camila assured him there was nothing to worry about, but she realized that after the visit she may need help keeping the girls intact as they may feel rather... loopy.

“How was your trip to the human tooth healer?” Hunter asked, extending his hand to help guide Willow to her seat.

“It was... bright,” she stumbled a bit before plopping on the couch beside him, staring at the ceiling as though she was hypnotized. “Woah.”

“Are you feeling okay, Captain?” Hunter asked, following her eyes but seeing nothing to warrant a reaction. He had peeked into the room where they had taken her and where Amity was now and saw a collection of small weapons lined the table. He trusted Camila and knew she would never put any of them in harm’s way, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly concerned, given Willow’s current state.

“They needed to look at my teeth closer because of reasons and I think they thought I was gonna bite them so they gave me a potion to make me not bite,” she explained, barely understanding what they had done even when she wasn’t under the affects of anesthesia. “But I can still bite, see?” She demonstrated by moving her mouth and biting the air.

“What kind of potion did they give you?” Hunter asked.

“I dunno but I felt this way the last time, the felt last time I- Ugh,” Willow tried to compose the sentence. “The last time I felt like this, Amity had set my mind on fire.” She finally managed to say calmly, despite Hunter’s immediate reaction to the subject matter.

“What?” Hunter exclaimed, closing his book. “Why would she do that?”

“Secrets,” Willow whispered, pointing to her temple. “To hide the secrets hiding in mah mind.”

“Well that’s not what’s happening now is it?” asked Hunter, worried and having little knowledge about what a dentist actually did .

“I don’t think so...” said Willow, placing her hands on her ears seeing if she felt the heat she had felt then. “Oh no, what if my secrets all fell out? What if I lost them?!”

“Well, can you remember them still?” Asked Hunter, feeling as though the situation was dire, scanning the floor for fallen secrets (whatever those were supposed to look like).

“Are you trying to find out my secrets Hunter?” She said, squinting her eyes at him and growing more loopy as she slowly swayed side to side in her seat.

“What? No of course not, I-.”

“You think I have secrets about you,” she giggled, twirling her finger in his face before gently booping his nose, then adding in a hushed dramatic whisper. “Because I doooo.”

“Y-you do?”

“Yup,” she she said, popping the ‘p’ and making herself laugh even harder. “Yup yup yup.”

“Well if you can remember them then that means they’re-.”

“When you came to Hexside, remember that?” Willow asked, her tone calm once again as she traced the pattern on the chair with the tip of her finger. “When we first met the first time? Remember?”

“Yeah, I do.” he said with a laugh, feeling confident her ailment wasn’t as dire. Willow suddenly was hit with a fit of bubbly laughter that she tried to suppress and Hunter found himself joining her, the laughter contagious. She motioned for him to come closer and he cautiously obliged as she leaned over and rested her chin on his shoulder and sighed.

“I thought you were cute,” she whispered her secret directly in his ear, cupping her hands around it so it couldn’t escape.

“Oh? R-really?”Hunter stammered, clearing his throat. “Are you sure you-?”

“Oh, wait wait oooh,I love it when you do that!” She squealed, placing her hands on his cheeks and squeezing his face.

“Do... what?” Hunter said the best he could, his mouth squished.

“When your face turns all red like that!” She said as though she was marveling at some great stunt. “And it reaches your ears. It is veeeery cute.”

“You... notice that?” Hunter asked nervously, hoping the obviousness has been all in his head, knowing this happened often around her .

Willow nodded vigorously, so quickly she made herself dizzy. “Woah, why is the room spinning? Hooty what did you do?”

“You did say the potion they gave you was pretty strong maybe you should take it easy,” said Hunter, his concern for her outweighing his embarrassment. “Are you in pain at all?”

“Nope,” she said shaking her head, but once she started it was like she couldn’t stop and she shook her head even faster. Hunter reached out to stop her, worried she’d make herself dizzy all over again.

Successful in his efforts, he suddenly realized his hands were on her face. She stopped and looked at him with bright eyes as though this has been an attempt to gain her focus. If his face was red before, he could only imagine how it looked now.

“Um, do you want me to get you anything?” He asked as he went to remove his hands, but before he could she placed hers over his to keep them there.

“Do you wanna know another secret?” she whispered dramatically, and Hunter swore her eyes were sparking.

“Um, maybe now isn’t the best time,” he chuckled nervously. “I think this might be the potion making you say all these things and I don’t want you to feel embarrassed when it wears off.”

“It’s not embarrassing,” she insisted. “It’s about you.”

“Okaaaaay ha ha,” said Hunter, quickly removing his hands from her face and placing them at his sides. Had she found about the grimwalker thing? A nasty rumor from his Golden guard days? Did she think his haircut didn’t actually look good? “What about if we watch something on the television box?”

“No, no you were reading and then you stopped cause I came in,” said Willow dramatically. “You should read again. I’ll be quiet.”

“Did you... um... I can read to you if you want?” Hunter offered bashfully, thankful she has seemed to dropped her desire to discuss her secret about him. “It’s just a book about wolves, so if you don’t want to-.”

“Oh please please please,” said Willow excitedly, placing her head back on his shoulder. “I can turn the pages for you.”

“Are you sure? I know my voice isn’t-.”

“I know how to turn pages, Hunter.” She said, playfully rolling her eyes and making herself more comfortable beside him. “Tell me the secrets of wolves.”

“Okay, well let me go back to the first chapter,” said Hunter, trying to downplay his excitement that can out whenever wolves were involved. “There are some really cute pictures of baby wolves, look!” He turned the book towards her so she could see. When he went to observe her reaction, he found her eyes were not on the book but were locked back on him. He held her gaze for a moment before turning his attention back to the book. He could feel her eyes still on him, but he pressed on to begin reading.

“I still think you’re cute,” she whispered, loudly enough where it was clear that she wanted him to hear but softly enough that he could pretend he didn’t hear her, just in case it truly was just the potion talking.

[sleepingdeath-light]

s/o with selective mutism hcs ; poly huntlow

requested by ; anonymous (10/04/23)

fandom(s) ; the owl house

fandom masterlist(s) ; main | hunter only

character(s) ; hunter wittebane, willow park

outline ; “if you're currently doing requests could you do hunter and willow x reader who has selective mutism? preferably one who struggles with both verbal and nonverbal communication too if you can”

warning(s) ; none, just fluff!

hunter and willow are the most understanding and adaptable partners you could ask for — always making sure that there’s a way to include you in whatever they’re doing and brainstorming alternate ways to communicate with you when you become non vocal and/or get to a point where even non verbal communication is a struggle

of course they do the minimum of carrying around a pen and paper with them when they’re with you and learning sign language to communicate during non verbal episodes, but they go beyond that as well

if even non verbal communication starts to become a struggle for you they make sure to keep some more simple, easy communication aids handy — things like cards with phrases and objects on them for you to pick through, apps on their phones with buttons you can press to ask for anything you need, and of course they do become familiar enough with your body language to be able to tell if you just want to be left alone for a bit

they make sure you’re included until you ask for some alone time (at which point they obviously respect that and help you find somewhere more private for however long you need) — and if that means translating for you when talking to shop clerks or when ordering something to eat, then so be it

also, as a quick aside, hunter has a much better ability to read your body language than willow whilst willow is much quicker to pick up sign language than hunter

they’re both also incredibly protective over you in their own ways as they’re more than used to being treated differently or unfairly for things beyond their control — in hunter’s case this manifests as him snapping at anyone who tries to treat you like you’re less intelligent during the times where you’re mute, whilst willow’s protectiveness tends to come up as her making sure you have what you need at all times and that your boundaries are never crossed by them or by anyone else (though, of course, hunter can be comforting and willow can be scarily defensive, but they generally tend to lean towards the roles described here)

[flower-boi16]

The Owl House Is A Bit of A Mixed Bag When It Comes To Ships

The Owl House is a show that I love a lot, but when it comes to relationships I have some mixed feelings. Now, I don't hate ships in TOH but I do have some issues with them.

The Good

First let's start of with the good; one of the things I like about how TOH handles its ships is how they don't overtake the plot or anything, which is a pretty easy trap that any show with romance can fall into (looking at you Star vs). There's also no bullshit romance drama in the show (the closest thing we get to that is Luz not opening up in S2 EP11 and EP14 but that was about it and its also executed in a way that's not absolutely insufferable).

Lumity is also the show's best relationship; it's gradually built up over the course of season 1 and the first half of season 2 and they are legitimately pretty cute together. Ships like Veesha and Aladraius are also pretty neat. So now let's get into...

The Problems

NOTE: Any issues I have with TOH's ships are most likely due to the shortening, so take my critiques with a grain of salt. Also there will be some criticism levidied towards Huntlow and Reada, if you don't like that don't read the rest of this post.

I think my issues with TOH's ships have to come with the ship's themselves, mainly Raeda and Huntlow. Lumity is good as I already said but the other two have a few issues. First I'ma talk about Huntlow; I don't hate Huntlow as a ship, It's OK, I just think it could have been done a bit better.

The ship mainly suffers from being less developed than Lumity, as Willow and Hunter don't really have that much-developed chemistry with each other. There is one interesting thing about the ship though, that being how they are both young witchlings that were shunned for not being born strong and called a "half-a-witch". That is an interesting parallel, but I don't really think the show develops they're relationship beyond that. The ship is just kinda underdeveloped which is my main problem with it, they're relationship just isn't that fleshed out to me, and as a result, it feels a little bit rushed.

I WILL say though, the moment they had in FTF is cute, it's neat harmless little fan service that doesn't take away from the plot or characters, which is nice.

But overall Huntlow isn't terrible but I have my fair share of issues with it. I honestly feel like this ship has more developed chemistry in fan works than in canon. Like, seriously, Willow and Hunter are incredibly cute together in a lot of Huntlow fan works more than in the actual show.

Anyways, now let's get into...Raeda. I've already talked about this ship before and why I personally don't care for it so I won't go too in depth here, but Raeda to me just suffers from how Raine, as a character, is heavily defined by Eda, and they don't have much depth outside of that. If Raine as a character had more independence from Eda I would have liked this ship a lot more, but they don't.

Again, my issues of Huntlow and Raeda are purely there because of the shortening. If the show wasn't shortened than Huntlow would've definitely been more developed, and Raine would have been a better character with more actual development beyond "Eda's ex".

Conclusion

So ya, that's my thoughts on TOH ships. The shipping in the show isn't bad but I think it could've been better, though again, it's worth mentioning the show got shortened so these problems aren't necessarily its fault, buuuuuut my points still stand. So....bye.

[anfervaldez]

Dancing under the rain

I wrote 31 huntlow drabbles for October of last year, they are originally in Spanish but I thought it would be good to translate them and share them here So, let's start with day 1. I'm sorry for my terrible English.

1-Dancing under the rain

Raindrops rattled against the window of the house.

They had an almost calming rhythm.

Hunter sighed as he focused his attention on the window. The entire outing that he had planned was ruined by the sudden arrival of rain.

Maybe he should have checked the weather forecasts more, although it was too late to do so now.

He gave an apologetic look to the girl next to him, though Willow simply gave him a sweet smile. Of course she would never get angry over something like that.

“Sorry, we'll have that picnic another time.”

“It's okay, we can find something else to do.”

The girl's sweet voice filled him with calm almost instantly, it didn't really matter what they did, the important thing was that they were together.

“I wanted to give you a nice date in nature” 

He admitted, feeling his cheeks burn. Although they had been officially dating for a couple of months, it still embarrassed him beyond help.

Willow's eyes brightened at his words and she approached him, taking his hand in hers.

“Well, who says we can't do it? We are in the human world.”

Every once in a while, they traveled to Camila's house, both to visit her and to get to know the human world.

It was much easier now that the collector had helped them with a stable portal.

Hunter had planned the date there, aware of Willow's fascination with human plants. He liked to see the emotion on her face, that smile that always left him breathless.

"A date in the rain?" He asked, eliciting a giggle from the girl.

"It seems somewhat romantic to me" 

The witch admitted, her cheeks also colored crimson.

The rain of the human world did not burn, it did not boil. They had already tried it a long time ago, but they had never done it, just the two of them.

"Let's do it," he whispered in response, gathering the courage to lead them towards the exit.

The first drops fell on his skin as he crossed the threshold. They were cold, but not annoying.

He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the sensation. It was strange how something like that could bring him so much peace.

When he opened them again, he found the girl's face in front of him, the drops running down her skin, the rain soaking her hair, making some strands stick to her forehead.

She had a smile plastered on her lips, which caused his heart to skip a beat in his chest.

Sometimes he still wondered if all that was not a simple dream.

Willow was too perfect to be true.

Her beautiful emerald eyes locked onto his, he felt his pulse accelerate instantly.

"Dance with me," the girl murmured, carefully taking his hands and placing them on her waist, while she placed her own on his shoulders.

They were too close and Hunter couldn't take his eyes off hers.

They began to sway awkwardly, following imaginary music. Perhaps the very rhythm of the raindrops falling to the ground.

For a moment the rest of the world ceased to exist, it was just the two of them and the feeling of the rain against them.

Gathering courage from somewhere, the blonde closed the distance, placing a quick, chaste kiss on the girl's lips.

His face turned completely red, up to his ears, but there was a happy smile on him.

A pair of flowers emerged from the witch's hair, followed by a distinct blush on her cheeks.

“I...I love you Willow.”

“I love you too Hun”

They stayed like that for a couple more minutes, letting the rain wash away their problems for a moment. In that instant, it was just the two of them, in their little bubble of happiness.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

This little huntlow drabble has been sitting in my drafts for ages. It's short, but I figured today was a good day to release it into the world

Almost every day of their first month in the Human Realm, at least one member of the Noceda household wakes to a gift at their door. 

For Vee, her alarm clock, duct taped haphazardly back together and only showing three out of four digits. For Willow, a fresh bouquet of wildflowers, carefully arranged by color in a glass. For Gus, a stuffed giraffe held together by lopsided stitches. For Luz, a scarf in the colors of the bi flag, knitted in heartbreakingly soft yarn. For Amity, a figurine of Hecate, carefully painted over blank clay. For Camila, a tray of breakfast, every single day she sleeps in late.

They start out feeling flattered, accepting the gifts with warm flutters in their cores and thanking Hunter with tight hugs and beaming smiles. But when the gifts continue, week after week, the smiles fade to concerned glances. The gifts continue, bigger, better, more elaborate— but the shadows in the eyes of their recipients only darken, until Willow pulls Hunter aside.

“You know,” she says carefully, “you don’t have to… bribe us into being your friends. Right?”

Hunter’s eyes widen. “I wasn’t trying to bribe you! I just— I thought— isn’t this being a good friend? Making people happy?”

His voice cracks with desperation on the last word. Willow puts a hand over her mouth. Takes a deep breath. Tries to think of a way to explain without him hearing an accusation.

“Hunter,” she says, “do I make you happy!”

“Of course!” he cries, so quickly she knows he’s already blaming himself for her asking the question.

“Why?”

“You make me laugh,” he says, so immediately that she feels a warmth rush through her core. “You encourage me. You’re so strong and confident, just being around you makes me feel better about myself.”

The warmth has grown, filling Willow with sunlight, and even though it isn’t the time or place for it, she fights the urge to beam. 

“So I make you happy just by… existing.”

“Yes.”

“Hunter,” she says, and takes his hands, “you do the same thing for all of us.”

She feels his hands go limp, his expression already darkening with denial, and squeezes them with a desperation of her own.

“You do. You make me laugh, too. When you get excited, you talk so fast, like your speech can’t keep up with your brain, and it makes me excited before I even know what you’re talking about. You love the simplest things like pancakes and dogs and weird human shoes. You love, even after everything Belos did to you, and you’re so brave that just being around you makes me feel like I can handle anything that comes my way.”

Hunter is breathing rapidly now, his face red with the effort of keeping the tears at bay, and Willow lets go of hid hands to wrap her arms around him.

“You are good,” she tells him, “just as you are. I wouldn’t like you nearly as much as I do if you were perfect.”

Hunter hears her, she knows he does, because he finally gives in and sobs.