#puppet darius

[waywardsunlight]

Dadrius Week- Day One- Puppet Special thanks to @badgirlcoven-official for helping with Belos's dialogue!! For @sergeantsporks's dadrius week!!

Bonus…

[wishing-well-art]

Puppets!

These looks go so fucking hard

[the-cosmos-withinus]

Staff meetings

I can't seem to track down the original source, I got this far though (x)

[sergeantsporks]

Dadrius Week 2024 Day 1: Puppet

“Goodbye. I’ll see you this evening. Might be late, there’s been trouble lurking around the new palistrom tree, and we’re supposed to be shoring up defenses in the Bat Queen’s forest.”

“Good luck. Do you need any help?”

“Maybe, but you are going to school, so don’t even offer.” Darius handed Hunter his backpack and lunch, stepped back, and disappeared in a puddle of abomination goop.

Hunter shrugged. He hadn’t said anything about not going after school. And if he finished his homework, then really, Darius couldn’t complain. For a brief, fleeting moment, he thought, that’s a terrible plan, you know what he meant, a thought that was quickly replaced with well, he should have been more specific, and he’ll be exasperatedly proud that I found a loophole.

Even after a year of living with him, some days he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Darius. He knew the ex-coven head appreciated a little rebellion and a little sneakery, but he could be an absolute stickler for the rules sometimes. At least when they were his rules. Not so much other people’s.

But it always surprised him how much less scared he felt about breaking the rules when it came to Darius.

Hexside’s warning bell rang, and Hunter shook himself, darting indoors and heading straight for his first class. Amity arched one eyebrow at him when he slid into his seat.

“Hungry there?”

“What?” Where had she gotten that idea? A snide comment about how he’d almost been late would have been way more understandable.

“You’ve got two lunches.” Amity tapped the back of his bag. “Or is one of those breakfast?”

Hunter twisted around. Sure enough, his lunchbox was clipped to a loop on the back of his backpack, completely separate from the bag he held in his hand. “Ah—Darius must have handed me his lunch by mistake.” He must have been distracted if he’d missed the lunchbox on Hunter’s bag and given him an extra. Then again, Hunter supposed he hadn’t noticed either. “You think I can sneak out to get it to him during lunch?”

Amity gasped in mock surprise. “Planning to sneak out and skip school? Who are you and what have you done with Hunter?”

“Stop it, I’ll be back before lunch is over. I won’t miss any class.”

I hope.

Xxx

It’s just a quick trip, I’m barely even leaving the school grounds. I’m not going far.

Hunter repeated the words over and over to himself as he climbed carefully out the window and quickly warped towards Bonesborough. Even though no one stopped him, his stomach churned at the blatant rule breaking. Darius probably wouldn’t like this. Bump definitely wouldn’t. Hunter sent a quick thank you to the dead titan that the detention pit had never been repaired. It sounded… well, it sounded like a great incentive not to break the rules, but in the worst possible way.

Hunter reached the palistrom tree in record time—he really would be back to class with time to spare. Now he just had to find a place to set Darius’ lunch where he’d see it and get out of here before—

“Hunter? What are you doing here?” Steve’s hand closed around his arm. “You shouldn’t—”

“I just brought Darius’ lunch,” Hunter said quickly, “Hey—please don’t tell him, I was…”

Steve’s mouth hardened into a firm, worried line, and he glanced at the trees.

“Is everything alright? Is Darius okay?”

“Uh—yeah, it’s—it’s fine, we’ve got everything—”

Belos had been a world-class liar, and Darius an expert in hiding his rebellion; Steve held nothing on them. Hunter warped out of his grip, darting towards the area Steve had been looking at.

“Hey!” Steve yelped, “Hunter, it’s dangerous, don’t—”

Hunter was already gone, sprinting into the trees. The worry that Darius would be upset he’d skipped school fled to the back of his mind, consumed by the terrible, sick feeling in his stomach that something had gone horribly wrong.

He heard Darius before he saw him. His abomination form slithered over the fallen leaves, whispering with each movement.

Hunter burst through the trees in a flash of gold. “Darius! Are you oka—”

A flood of abomination rushed towards Hunter’s head, and he warped out of the way, this time halting in front of Darius. “It’s me! Sorry, I didn’t mean to… startle…”

Darius’ face twisted up in a snarl, and his eyes glowed a sickly yellow instead of their usual green. Even his abomination matter looked... wrong, like the magic had been leeched out of it, somehow. Darius’ arm moved twitchily, almost like…

Hunter teleported again, this time to the top of a tree when Darius lurched towards him. Every movement he made was jerky, slow, like he was fighting himself—no, not like he was fighting himself, like he didn’t know how to move his own limbs.

Like strings had wrapped around him, moving his body around in an imitation of Darius’ usual fighting style.

Hunter warped to another tree, his mind racing. The Collector was on their side—weren’t they? No, he was sure of it. But Darius’ movements were so similar, and the yellow eyes… it was almost the exact same. Had something happened to them? Had they failed to talk to their family, and another Archivist had come down to finish the job?

And how were they controlling Darius? Titan magic wouldn’t work to break him out of it, not without King.

Hunter warped again, the tree he’d left behind cracking in half from Darius’ blow. But as Darius twisted to face him, he spotted a glitter that didn’t belong. A glowing yellow gemstone in Darius’ chest—it was well hidden, masquerading as one of the many eyes that covered Darius’ abomination form, but it shone just a little too brightly, and moved too much like something solid and firm inside of the gooey abomination.

Get the gem.

Save Darius.

Hunter warped down to the ground, twisting fluidly to dodge another blow. Warp left. Right. Right again, to keep whatever was controlling Darius guessing. Left. Left.

Darius lashed out again, and Hunter seized his chance, warping in close while Darius was off balance. He plunged his hand into the false socket, shuddering at the slimy feel of the not-quite-right abomination. But despite every instinct screaming at him to yank his hand away, his hand closed around the gemstone, and he skipped backwards, ripping it out of Darius’ chest.

“Haha!” he crowed, holding it triumphantly to his chest. “I got it! You’re okay! Dariu—”

He caught it as a flicker of movement, a familiar rearing back, and he flinched to the side just as Darius lashed out, one hand turning to a sharp spike and hurtling towards him. His instinct saved him, but still, the attack slammed into his upper arm, cutting deep. Bright, aching, stinging pain erupted from his arm, and Hunter stumbled back, realizing too late, too dizzily, that Darius’ eyes hadn’t changed from yellow. The gemstone fell from his numb fingertips, and he scrambled for it with his uninjured hand even as Darius closed the gap between them.

A vise of abomination wrapped around Hunter’s throat, and Darius lifted him off the ground, squeezing. Tears ran down Hunter’s face, outmatched only by the blood dripping down his arm.

“Dari—” Hunter broke off in a squeak as Darius’ fingers jerkily tightened.

Steve

Amity

Anyone…

He would have loved to believe that Darius was fighting back, that the reason he wasn’t dead yet was because he was fighting with every ounce of his being to keep Hunter alive.

But Darius’ marionette-like movements denied that. Told him that the only reason Hunter could still gasp for a trickle of air was because the person controlling Darius hadn’t figured out how to make him crush Hunter’s windpipe.

Crush…

Hunter felt the gemstone in his hand, heavy and brittle. His hand tightened around the stone, and he took one last desperate look into Darius’ eyes, begging him to recognize him, begging him to fight back.

They stared back, blank and yellow.

Please… titan… whoever… let this work.

The gemstone shattered in Hunter’s grasp.

[7-ate-9]

I would give anything for puppet history to do an episode of a story they’d done in the first few seasons or in ruining history. Invite the same guest, tell neither of them that they’ve heard this before, and see what they remember (fully expecting it to be nothing). The professor just gets increasingly disappointed as neither of them even realize that they’ve sat through this exact lesson before.

[iloveundertaesooomuch]

The Fun Gang!!!

Empress Luzura AU by @talisman975

How can I say that I love this funky stupid teens without screeming my lungs out?? I cant-

Caleb is SUCH good protag for this AU! Like- I like how complex and imperfect he is, changing throughout the story, both for better and for worse in the same time! His agrst in the "s3" is SO GOOD!! I am ready to scream!!

He reminds me so much of myself and the mistakes I have made. It is great to see him grow and learn, finding the understanding and love, but also the strength to live in reality, not hiding into his escapism fanazies anymore.

Truly, an artist with good intentions, but with bad understanding of how world works.

Now, to adress da gays in the room. I LOVE Alador and Darius!! They are such a mood! They remind me of the real teens I see everyday. They do silly things, they want to have fun, be dorks! Catch some problems on their butt!

(Especially when Aladors status as a son of a Abomination coven head official helps them escame a lot of problems.)

Alador is an insecure soft bean. He needs help to open up and allow himself to be silly sometimes. Alador is just a kid, he doesnt need to act like a grown up just because he is a son of someone important. He also needs to overcome his insecurity about learning only two tracks, when it is "the more the better" mentality with a lot of expectations put on him.

Darius is someone Alador partially looks up to, because he is so awesome and cool and bold (totally not gay feelings to have)! A son of a nobody, that just appeared in the school and never left Aladors mind.

But at first - Alador and Darius are just friends. Shhh, it is a slowburn.

Darius has a problem with feeling clean. And I dont mean it only litteraly. Looking like he always knows what to say, what to do, confident, strong and unbreakable. Keep his image clean. Be perfect to be short.

It isnt because Darius is egotistical, but just because he learned that weakness is easily spotted by people sorrounding him. So not displaying your imperfections is the best way to drift bad people away for the time being. "Freeze your brain" moment for me there.

[misccy27]

Okay, I'm committing to my interpretation of the puppet thing.

I'm going with the idea that the puppets were only conscious when being used in games and when activated by strong emotions.

First is this from For the Future:

Lilith: Hootsifer! Is he okay? Can he hear me? HOOTSIFER! CAN YOU HEAR ME? Hooty: Sequestered at a darkness like unto death, the dulcet tones of an angel wakes me. Be it you?? LULU??!!

Lilith was puppeted on the Day of Unity, so she should know how conscious Hooty might have been. This exchange suggests that it wasn't just an unending And I Must Scream paralysis nightmare the entire time, which is good for Darius (and everyone else ig). It's also notable that Hooty seems to have woken up specifically in response to hearing Lilith's voice here.

In Watching and Dreaming, the kids seem to regain control to stop themselves from attacking Luz.

They remember being collected and they're aware that this is a nightmare game that the Collector is playing with Luz.

Amity: We've all been collected, including Camila. The Collector came from the sky, and- Gus: He's playing games with you, Luz. He's trying to keep you away from King and Eda! Willow: But if you want to save anyone, you have to wake up!

This nightmare sequence was highly emotional, so they were probably conscious during all of it. Which is a trauma haha oh no.

Amity activates her light glyph shortly after this, so they were conscious to some degree in the immediate aftermath of the nightmare. But it still does take them a moment to orient themselves:

Amity: [rubbing her left eye] Miss Lilith? [Gus, Willow, and Hunter all awaken. Gus looks at more Collected figures and screams in terror.] Gus: Where the heck are we? Willow: These must be the Archives.

This suggests that they weren't fully aware of their surroundings while like this:

After this, Camila cries in puppet form when Luz dies. This seems to be more of a "mothers always know" trope; even if Camila was fully conscious during this, she'd have no way of knowing that Luz just died from her perspective in the Archives. When Camila is unpuppeted, she asks where Luz is and is worried but not actively grieving.

So I'm taking all of this to mean full consciousness during games and varying degrees of consciousness tied to emotion outside of games.

Which works for me when considering Darius' POV. If I'm taking the reunion scene literally, then the way Darius reacts suggests that he isn't seeing Hunter's new scars (and new everything else) for the first time.

This works if you interpret the Archive scenes as meaning that hearing Hunter's voice for the first time in months was enough of an emotional stimulus to wake Darius up:

(btw my eyes did in fact lock on to background Darius immediately during these scenes. Hunter just turn around and look up a little he's right there omg)

[wheretwofacesmeet]

[drabbles-of-writing]

I do find it immensely funny that the common public opinion on Darius’s mentor is Long Hair. Occasionally you’ll see “was a jokester” but the long hair is a STAPLE. If you see art of a blond Golden Guard with a borderline rat nest on his head then there’s a decent chance that’s the mentor. When did we decide this. When was this the norm. Who did this.

With all that said. This is all quite an interesting trait when we know Belos has a habit of giving mullets during possession. And the fact Hunter currently has longer hair. I’m just saying. We can use this

[tcthinecwnself-a]

@thcsevoices​​ liked

“I’m - I’m alright.” One hand reaches out, holding tight to the wrist that lifts him up. His head is swimming, and he almost falls over the second he stands. It seems like no one wanted to play with a puppet with a broken leg and a busted arm. But this one had been broken to begin with. He made those Abomatrons too powerful for his own good. 

“What ... Darius?” He finally registers the man standing before him. Alive and well. “What happened?” The draining spell. “My kids!” It’s the only thing he can think of. “Darius, where are my children?”

[lex-n-weegie]

Alright, back to star child theme

[nemmet]

i finally got around to watching the owl house and (sighs dramatically) i might have a favourite character

-

Image description: a bunch of drawings of Darius from The Owl House in assorted poses. Starting at the top, he's seen in pajamas with cucumbers over his eyes and a relaxed expression, with text reading: "Day off!". Then, he's seen in front of the bi flag with a flustered expression as a cartoony Alador kisses his cheek, then in puppet form with an uncanny grin.

Next, he's seen in his timeskip design with his goop hair forming a thumbs up, then as a teen holding a tiny Abomination in his hand, with text reading: "Little guy..."

Then, he appears in sunglasses, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and carrying Eber in his other arm like a purse dog. Then, he's seen seated with his legs crossed, speaking, and finally, he appears in the Family Guy death pose as Hunter tears up and asks: "Dad?!" End description.

Description credit: anistarrose

[kolapon-art]

“Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” Two versions cause I couldn’t decide which possessed Hunter I like more. And look out for one with Puppet! Darius cause love me a dad-son duo who lost their autonomy 😭

[sergeantsporks]

Not sure if this was what you had in mind for Day 1, but here's some crack:

While experiencing with Archivist magic, Darius accidentally turns himself into a puppet like in that one episode of Angel, and when his coworkers notice what happened, he has this to say:

MUPPET DARIUS. PLEASE. I WOULD KILL.

[penny-anna]

GROUP CHAT: COVEN HEADS

GRAYE: alright folks I hate to do this via Penstagram but in the absence of any other channels of communication, here we are.

GRAYE: who's not dead. Sound off.

SNAPDRAGON: still kicking

GRAYE: Terra darling, good to hear from you! feared the worst when you weren't in the puppet show with the rest of us

SNAPDRAGON: oh believe me it wasn't a mercy

MASON: I'm here

CUTBURN: I am alive

GRAYE: good to hear from you both

WHISPERS: Adrian.

GRAYE: Ugh. Whispers.

DEAMONNE: I'm here with Eberwolf

GRAYE: Typical. Has anyone seen Vitimir or Osran?

MASON: last time I saw them they were puppets

GRAYE: ah well

GOLDEN GUARD: hi gguys

SNAPDRAGON: oh come ON

GRAYE: ugh seriously? the world ended and nobody took the chance to off the brat?

GOLDEN GUARD: greatto hear you/re not ded either adrian

GOLDEN GUARD: belso gave ti his best shot but i^m still here

GOLDEN GUARD: gus porter says hi

GRAYE: ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

DEAMONNE: watch it Graye the kid's with me

SNAPDRAGON: hahahahha you've changed your tune Deamonne, I thought you couldn't stand the brat?

DEAMONNE: Terra so help me I've had a very difficult day

MASON: the Golden Guard's still alive?

MASON: where have you been?

GOLDEN GUARD: human realm

GOLDEN GUARD: long stgory

CUTBURN: What were you doing in the human realm?

GOLDEN GUARD:

"selfie of Hunter & Luz throwing up peace signs to the camera with a Penstragram filter that makes it look like they are both wearing sunglasses.jpg"

SNAPDRAGON: well I guess that tracks

GRAYE: how is it that after everything that's happened I'm still finding ways to be surprised

*GOLDEN GUARD's nickname was changed to HUNTER*

GRAYE: Hunter?

HUNTER: yeah taht's my name

GRAYE: excuse me

MASON: I know this might not mean much but I'm glad to hear Belos didn't kill you

HUNTER: thanks you too

HUNTER:

"extremely blurry selfie of Hunter & Gus pulling faces at the camera with Darius just visible drinking coffee in the background.jpg"

CUTBURN: Oh, you meant the boy's literally with you?

GRAYE: was anyone going to tell me the Golden Brat's name is Hunter?

WHISPERS:

"equally blurry photo of Hunter & Gus taking their selfie, Darius clearly visible.jpg"

SNAPDRAGON: where are you people

HUNTER: hangin out

GRAYE: seriously did everyone else know the Golden Guard had a name this whole time

HUNTER: di d you htink belos never gave me a name?%

GRAYE: well when you put it like that it sounds dumb doesn't it

WHISPERS: I mean I wouldn't put it past him

VITIMIR: Good day have I missed anything

HUNTER: hi;

VITIMIR: Who is this Hunter individual

HUNTER:

"photo of Eda the Owl Lady shooting finger guns at the camera.jpg"

VITIMIR: what in the world did I miss

HUNTER:

"photo of Hooty staring directly into the camera.jpg"

VITIMIR: WHAT HAVE I MISSED??

[sepublic]

Thinking of the old Hexside group. Did they all know each other, or was it simply that Eda knew all of them? If the former…

How did Lilith think to teach her friends’ child, to have Alador and Odalia’s daughter look up to her? Was it a bit of triumph, esp knowing Odalia wanted to be in the Emperor’s Coven, or at least wished it for her children; Did she settle for Blight Industries because she wasn’t good enough, while Darius met the Golden Guard as he advanced in the Abomination Coven?

Lilith is petty, so I can see her enjoying it a little; And then afterwards, she betrays Amity’s trust but it doesn’t matter too much to her, not anymore. And that was brief compared to her sister being right there.

Darius was mentored by the Golden Guard, the previous head of the Emperor’s Coven; Now he sees his classmate become the same, and even mentor another Abomination witch. He feels strongly about his mentor’s legacy, so was he critical of Lilith failing that mentor-mentee bond, in someone he could’ve seen himself in?

Did he feel pity for Amity, make an exception for her despite how unpleasant Alador and Odalia became, or even because of that suspected parental abuse? Did he never notice any of it, did he think, Good for her when Amity developed a proper friendship with Lilith later on? And was Darius critical and slow to consider Alador because of his abuse towards his own kin?

Eda would’ve seen her friends’ daughter with Lilith, but to her that had also faded long ago, perhaps she didn’t think much of it as a result. But seeing Amity’s baggage through Luz and interacting with the twins, you have to wonder if she was surprised or not, that Alador and Odalia’s kids would turn out that way.

Similarly, Perry could’ve heard about Amity’s bullying of Gus’ first friend through his son. He saw Eda being executed and remained impartial and true to his job… Until his son took over, and he very conveniently stood by and nodded along, doing next to nothing to stop Gus and his friend’s call for a protest. Did he feel happiness when Eda and Lilith escaped together that night? Did he and Eda consider reconnecting through their kids, only to decide maybe that’s awkward, it’s been too long, it would look bad for Perry’s high-profile job if he did…

Did Raine and Darius, when they watched from afar? Agonizing that they couldn’t do anything at the moment, it’s not yet ready. They can’t jeopardize it now and maybe they couldn’t even do it even if they wanted to, they were too far away. I would not put it past Belos to suspect their sentimentality, and send those two far away when he called for Lilith to deliver Eda by the end of the day.

How much disappointment did Raine have in Lilith and Darius? They’ve only been coven head recently, and they figured it out the corruption well before them; Or at least Lilith. What relief was there when Darius turned out to be their side, and what disappointment did they and Darius have over Alador and Odalia selling dangerous weapons to the coven, making their plans more difficult and contributing to their failed sabotage?

For Eda, of course she lost Lilith. Then Darius. Then Raine. All three became coven heads, cop supreme. Alador and Odalia became arms manufacturers, only Perry was chill. The first time Eda talks to Gus, he proudly owns up to being from a long line of dweebuses, after she calls him that; Was she thinking, I know better than you about that kid, was exactly why I said it.

Did Odalia lowkey cope and seethe over her friends becoming coven heads while she didn’t, while Alador became apathetic to everything? Did she decide it didn’t matter, when she had strength and independence from the coven, and a family? Only for Belos to assimilate her work, and for her family to leave her because of Odalia’s obsession?

Was there any particular reason she chose Raine’s puppet to help her with the Collector’s task; Out of all of the coven heads, some of whom are stronger or have more/longer arms, she chose someone she grew up with. The only other one was Darius, but that bridge was clearly burnt in a personal, direct way, and not just them gradually drifting apart. Did Odalia find some comfort in having Raine around, and/or did she just feel good to lord over another classmate in Alador’s place?

Alador is tired to the point of apathy; He never expected his childhood friend turned wife to do this to him, but it was gradual enough he didn’t even realize what was going on until he talked to a child about it. If Darius made it as a Coven Head, did it matter to him when he was the architect behind Blight Industries, whose products phased out Darius’ own technique? If he agreed with Odalia on Willow not being good for Amity, maybe he too dismissed Eda as a delinquent; Even so, he didn’t feel personal about it, wasn’t bothered really by their kids hanging out with hers.

And to Bump? It may have been pride to see three coven heads be his former students, and for another two to start a successful corporation. Maybe he had some reservations about the coven system, being born before it… It felt good to repair relations with Eda, but being at the mercy of two of his students? Between this and Lilith being so dismissive of him, it must’ve been striking to realize how age inevitably means children who depended on you, now having power over you.

“Us weirdoes have to stick together” says Eda, and when we see Luz struggle to keep the family together when reciting this mantra in a season finale… Man did Eda relate, is it why she even came up with the saying? And when she did stick together with other weirdoes, it led to King and Luz, it led to a long chain of events that resulted in almost the whole Hexside gang, and her family, coming back together. Maybe they’d grown mostly apathetic, it was just “Goofing off” as Alador put it, but then they started interacting properly and they realized how much they’d missed it.