#But no. She also makes fun of Luz for trying to show her way of thanks

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Give me a description of your appearance, personality, hobbies, and what fandom you want and I’ll match you with a character in my fandom range!!!

ooo this is so cool! thank you btw!! uhh im an indian teenage (14-15 though i look younger) girl and she/her presenting. im very easy to tell im indian. i have brown/tan skin and dark brown eyes. i have black curly hair but the tips are dyed a dark red. my face shape is pretty sharp, heart shape i think?? and people say i look like a cartoon? i have bangs that curl and swoop across my face though they fall straight across my forhead when straightened. I'm very energetic and it shows. Im bouncy and fidgety and easily excitable. I'm very friendly and silly, and just chaotic in general. I'm an ENFP and fit like all the stereotypes and everything. Or if you know Owl House, I'm exactly like Luz Noceda. I care a lot about my friends but im not sure if i show it enough? i come off as a lot at first and am very awkward i like to read! and hang out with friends! adventures and exploring and doing things im not supposed to FIRE AND NATURE AND OOO ANIMALS i live and love adventure and will break the law with you i also like to write, though im not very good at it. I doodle sometimes for fun. Crafts are fun too! I bake when i have time but i mainly hang out with friends <33 Any character or fandom! this is just a really cool idea and seems fun! so thanks for seeing my super long ask ( i blabber a lot lolol) :DD

Your Fandom Ship: Leo Valdez (Heroes of Olympus)

Lucky mf

Explanation: first things first I think that he would love the way you look in your heart shaped face and would totally make some friendly jokes about it if you were comfortable with it and if you were insecure, he would stop doing that. He definitely makes jokes about how you’re the more attractive one in the relationship. You both are quite similar personality wise and I think he would complement each other really well because Leo is always cracking jokes. He’s a chaotic mess and he’s just full of so basically a background story is demigods in general are supposed to have ADHD and dyslexia, but even for a demigod, Leo is off the ADHD charts, you get the idea. (He built a freaking flying ship and used a Nintendo switch controller to control it) he’s also a bit of a dork and awkward at first or at times so I think you have that covered and he’s a son of a Hephaestus (the builder/forging God from Greek mythology) and he literally has fire powers so if you like fire, he’s your guy. I think he would totally sit down and write goofy things with you or sketch little doodles with you as he’s often sketching and his own notebook not drawings as much but more outlines for building things but good luck trying to bake with him because it’s just going to end up being a huge flour fight. 

#urlocalnonbinarybastardwritesanswers #hoo #Leo Valdez #leo valdez x oc #leo valdez x reader

[cosmicgamer]

The way Luz's thank you drawing got rejected by the person it was for when she thought she finally found someone who wouldn't make fun of her for her eccentric behavior, that she is worthless..and then the drawing does get recognized, that it's beautiful and why would it get thrown away. She was finally understood (I am in shambles help-)

#My post #The Owl House #Luz Noceda #I have so many thoughts about this pilot I might make another post down the line #But this. Holy shit it got me good- #She thought she finally found someone who'll understand her considering they seemingly stood up for her #And it absolutely gets her; the way her eyes sparkle because she believes she won't be totally alone anymore #But no. She also makes fun of Luz for trying to show her way of thanks #But then Luz does find someone who actually understands; an outcast like her #(New tag but I just realized Amity said that the drawing was beautiful but in a half-assed tone meanwhile Eda means it genuinely aaaaaaaa-)

[sepublic]

The Owl House Pilot Leak!!!

            Oh my titan.

            The Owl House’s original pilot episode (basically a bunch of voiced-over storyboards) just got leaked and OMT. Watching it felt like experiencing the original magic of the show all over again… Reminding me what it was like to fall in love the first time!!! The hype and rush, the excitement to type down my thoughts after a new episode, analyzing and gushing over both big and small moments, the details!!! The pilot has reiterated all over to me again why I love these characters, from Luz's powerful earnestness, to Eda's chaotic demeanor! It’s like having the whole show open ahead of me, the possibilities endless when knowing this is just the beginning and we could go anywhere from here!

            What’s interesting is that Luz’s conflict with Camila doesn’t really exist here; In fact Camila isn’t present or mentioned at all! What brings Luz to the isles is Amity, who’s been learning in the human world, under the guise of being a human by disguising her ears! It’s alluded to that Odalia and Alador made her do it, though we don’t know why…

            But WOW that must’ve been so meta, doing S3 with Amity stuck in the human world with Luz, hiding her ears! It must’ve been a fun way to bring back the older concepts in new form! And indeed, we see a couple of stuff we’ve already gotten glimpses of, such as the storyboards of Luz offering her friendship art to Amity! I love that we get to see the actual scenario of how Amity accidentally defended Luz in the first place, since we heard that but didn’t get to see how it turned out.

            It’s interesting that Lumity is basically the inciting incident of the story, though I can see why the final version opted instead to emphasize Luz’s conflict with her mother. Especially with how she chooses to stay in the isles in the final draft, which leads to guilt over lying to her mom, having her ‘coming out’ moment that eventually occurs in Yesterday’s Lie, etc. So more agency when it comes to Luz losing her access to the human world. Plus in the pilot, there isn't the same emphasis on Luz trying to live out her dreams of being a witch, and her obsession with stories that ties back to Manny and forms the basis for a lot of other themes and arcs.

            That said, I also appreciate what this alternate take offers, and how Lumity helps tie everything together, it really is the queerness that is such a foundational part of the ‘weirdness’ theme that the show is about, and it’s intertwined with the pilot! God Luz being heartbroken when Amity dismisses the drawing… And then crying when Eda compliments it without realizing who it’s about! Or maybe she did, she could’ve recognized Luz there and figured out a way to stealthily make Luz feel better…!

            I love Luz routinely lock-picking her locker because she presumably forgot the combination! And it’s interesting that we have a setup of there being multiple dimensions that the Boiling Isles has access to, and not just the human world and Demon Realm. That plays a role in the climax, more on that later. Given we have what is basically an airport for different dimensions, I wonder if we would’ve seen Luz find her way back home much earlier on, under much less intense circumstances, in a S1A episode?

            The ‘Emperor’ is also alluded to in the pilot, which we didn’t get actual mention of until the fifth episode in the final show. He apparently dislikes humans and wants Luz brought over to him, is this still operating off of the ‘Pupa’ version of the character who claimed to speak on behalf of the true ruler, trapped in their metamorphosis by him? So maybe he wasn’t always human, or maybe this is Belos’ hypocritical way of ‘protecting’ humans by keeping them away and in blissful ignorance of the demon realm.

            We also establish Hexside much earlier! IIRC Hexside was always part of the show, but executives pushed for it to have more emphasis, which the crew continued to follow through on in S2 onwards because that had already been set up. Lilith is the principal, and I recognize the storyboards of her, including her bat transformation! We get a Tinella Nosa cameo, we see Amity, and there’s also a brief cameo of Willow too! Nice way to set her up before her proper debut.

            The ‘barrier’ containing King’s crown turns out to just be a regular human locker, which makes me wonder if the writers updated the final draft to make it a force field that only allows humans through, because of the whole Belos twist. Which makes me wonder if in this draft, Belos is Pupa, who never was human, or maybe they realized the opportunity to insert foreshadowing into a big twist regarding the main villain. Makes me wonder if the house we see Amity enter in the pilot, which is on sale, would've had any significance like in the final show. Love how Tinella Nosa is a student at Hexside, and also Dana having to occasionally insert lines for Wendie Malick and others was great.

            Lilith is a lot more openly adversarial, which is different compared to how her actual debut provides a softer side to her; I imagine this would’ve been apparent in a later episode of the ‘Pilot AU’, and her transformation has me curious; Was she originally the one with the curse, but then the writers changed it to Eda? Or did they both have a curse? Eda also has an owl form she can summon and control at Will, maybe all Clawthornes have a beast mode that’s less of a curse and more of a talent. Lilith ends up trapped in another dimension, which makes me wonder if she’d have a temporary replacement –possibly Pilot Bump- or if she’d return offscreen. We see the portal key get destroyed under much more casual circumstances, though it’s less as big of a deal for this and the established ‘dimension port’ we saw before.

            (Also, Amity recognizing Luz in the hallway… Everything to me!!!)

            Warden Wrath doesn’t exist and neither does the Conformatorium, it’s Lilith and Hexside. With her as principal and Amity as student, I wonder if we would’ve gotten more of their relationship in the pilot AU, if Covention was a way of carrying over that former connection since Amity would be a teacher’s pet in either version of the story. And speaking of ties to Covention, it’s interesting is that Eda’s chest gem seems to be linked to the Emperor’s Coven, as ‘Pilot Kikimora’ uses it to control her. Curiously, we have a scene at the end mirroring what we got with Lilith in the final draft of the show!

            I feel it implies that Eda DID join the Emperor’s Coven with Lilith, if only for a brief moment, but then defected; But the chest gem is basically the pilot version of the Emperor’s sigil, except with the explicit function of being a shock collar. I find it interesting that Eda still has the mirror to contact the EC with, instead of just getting rid of the thing. Is she a rogue agent who hasn’t totally cut ties, because she can’t? Won’t?

And the fact that Pilot Kikimora can just shock Eda at will makes me wonder if the Emperor is low-key just letting Eda roam around, which makes me wonder if he’s aware of the familial connection, is using Eda to find Luz, already knows about her doing that because of the time loop, etc. We’d of course have gotten an episode where Luz finds out about Eda’s connection and helps her deal with the gem… I realize now that Luz learning Eda also wanted to join the EC with Lilith is a carryover of this idea.

I can see the ups and downs between both versions; The final draft sets up Luz’s conflict with Camila and the reality camp, which is foundational to her character arc throughout the whole show. Her pain over being ‘sent away’ is just so vital that I appreciate its inclusion in the first episode. But I also like the inclusion of Lumity and the earnest desire to be friends with someone who showed her, unwittingly, any kindness at all! We get explicit bullying from Luz’s peers in the pilot, but in the final draft we also get her thoughtlessness that plays a big part in her S1 arc. And Luz’s arrival in the isles is more intertwined with Eda and King in the final version, which also feels right; The show is about these three in particular!

All in all, this was wonderful to watch! The magic was experienced all over again, not just in watching an episode, but also commentating on one that was just ‘released’ as well? I thought the last time I’d do anything like this was with the series finale Watching and Dreaming… But as Luz said, it really comes full circle with watching the first episode all over again! So maybe we have other stuff to still look forward to after all… At the very least, we have an eternal anticipation with an unexplored universe ahead of us, that will never reach completion; So it's like our ever-lasting final gift from TOH, and a good last one. So until next time: BBBBBYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

#the owl house #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #eda clawthorne #edalyn clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #analysis

[blindbeta]

Hello! I have two questions, so I'll send two asks in case you want to answer them separately. First, a lot of your posts suggest writing multiple blind characters into your story to help avoid tokenism. However, when I try to write multiple blind characters, they always stand out or feel shoehorned in. Do you have any advice for writing multiple blind characters more "casually" so they don't feel as out of place?

Examples of How to Write Multiple Blind Characters Using The Owl House

Hello. Thank you for your questions! I actually started on this months ago and returned to it answering this question here.

I suspect this is what stops many writers, although they aren’t aware of it. This feeling of forcing representation is the result of society’s ableism and it can be difficult to recognize or deal with.

It might help to think about the reverse- isn’t it strange that so many characters in books and shows are abled? Isn’t it strange that so many disabled characters have no community?

When you write multiple blind characters, you are giving your blind character a community.

Another thing that might help is to show different characters having different conditions and different ways of dealing with their blindness. This is a technique I use all the time. You can even list all the blind characters and their characteristics so you can consider them all at once. For fun, we’ll use The Owl House. I feel that using all-ages examples might help writers feel comfortable engaging with the material.

The following will contain discussions of external and internalized ableism. It will also contain heavy spoilers for The Owl House up to the show’s finale.

Here is an example I came up with:

Main character, Luz, has a low vision in both eyes. She uses a cane for nighttime, mostly, but she feels like more of an outcast when she uses it at school, compared to the enthusiasm with which she used it and showed it to her classmates when she was a child. She stopped using a cane before entering high school. She packs it for camp just in case and uses it all the time on The Boiling Isles. There, she feels more comfortable using it every day. She is eventually able to use her cane and other assistive devices, whether magical or non-magical, whenever she needs to. Growing up, she struggled in school due to neurodivergence and not always getting her accommodations or maybe even struggling to ask for accommodations. She is happy to find that Eda and Hexside are able to accommodate her without making her feel othered. Although she has felt rejected in the past, she is able to fully embrace her blindness once more, celebrating a part of her in a way she was able to as a child. Also, she has several copies of The Good Witch Azura books in regular print, large print, and audiobook forms.

Eda, her mentor, had total enucleation in one eye and wears a prosthetic. How did she lose her eye? She doesn’t remember, now stop bugging her. Due to macular degeneration, her vision isn’t so good in the other eye and is decreasing over time. She doesn’t use a cane after struggling against her mother in childhood. She can use her Palisman or King as guides if she needs help. (King appointed himself her unofficial guide demon.) Her visually impaired partner, Raine, has gently and jokingly encouraged her to do what helps, including using assistive devices. After they started dating again, Eda feels comfortable using Raine as a guide, which also gives her an excuse to cozy up to them. Eda eventually comes to terms with her blindness much like her chronic illness. When she and Raine go on walks, she jokingly makes them carry things, stating if they want her to use a guide demon or a cane so bad, they can lend her a hand considering she only has one. She switches between the cane and guide depending on what suits her that day. Raine also supports her in her times of vulnerability. She can also have her phone or use spells to read, but reading is for nerds so she would rather have someone else read to her, such as her sister, Luz, Raine, or King.

Principal Bump is blind with residual vision and uses a guide Paliman to help him navigate and magnify things if he needs it. When he had Eda as a student, he was excited to help a student with similar experiences, but he quickly learned she was a troublemaker.

Willow is totally blind and uses a fluffy guide demon. She also has a cane decorated with flowering vines, which she enjoys using because she can have interesting tactile feedback. She was born blind and doesn’t struggle with her blindness beyond the occasional frustration with ableism or lack of accessibility. Her dads are very supportive and helpful. They sent her to Hexside hoping having a blind principal would assure she would get accommodations. She enjoys using magic with physical and textural elements, which is why she tried the magical school tracks she chose.

Gus is also blind with a bit of remaining vision. He enjoys looking at colors and lights. Gus chose to focus on illusions because they make interesting shapes and colors, providing his brain with a lot of sweet, sweet stimulation. Gus also enjoys that a track that is very visual is something he can excel at. He met Willow when complimenting her on how pretty her plants looked, describing to her what looked like a colorful blossom on a vine. He uses a cane to navigate, finding it more helpful for stairs and general independence even if canes aren’t quite as popular on the Boiling Isles as magically assisted options such as Palismans and guide demons. He also enjoys using something more similar to what humans use, as he is very interested in humans. He feels very comfortable with his blindness, finding a similar outlook in his friend Willow. Together, the two feel more understood. Willow and Gus pass Braille notes to each other in class. Gus prefers to have his spelled books or illusions read to him, though.

Amity deals with internalized ableism stemming from a need to be perfect, as well as many terrible implications from her parents that she doesn’t let on hurt her. She concentrates on not letting her disability stop her, as that’s what a Blight does. She has low vision, similar to Luz, and progressive vision loss. Unlike the other characters, she does not have much positive support. Principal Bump tries to encourage her to use the many aids and accommodations provided by the school, surprised that she knows the Boiling Isles equivalent of Braille, but only because her parents thought it would give their child an edge and because she attended the same early childhood classes as Willow. Amity politely rejects his help and goes on the be the top student just to prove a point to everyone (a.k.a her parents). She grows up being friends with other kids who say ableist things, leading to Amity feeling even more pressured to rely on her remaining vision. Eventually, her relationships with Luz and Willow help her to accept herself. She is able to act more authentically. This includes confronting her former friends, apologizing to the people she bullied, and attempting to use a cane at school. She is surprised to find that nothing really changes and a few people, including her siblings, even comment on her cane use positively. Willow also shows her how to get her phone to read to her, as well as use the spelled books you can buy that read out loud, which helps reduce eye strain. The similarities between her and Luz helps to strengthen their bond, but otherwise their relationship is unchanged from canon. Amity also has another troublesome barrier to asking Luz to Grom, such as how to make the note accessible. She ends up going with large print and high contrast ink. If she can read it, she knows Luz will be able to.

Hunter has an inherited retinal disorder, such as LCA or Stargardt disease. All of his predecessors have had a similar experience and Hunter takes pride in being part of that line. Each Golden Guard has decreased vision compared to the last, it seems. Hunter views his blindness as a part of him. His blindness allows him to adapt in ways others may not have a chance to explore. He becomes aware of advantages he has over the many sighted people he works with. He is known for his talent, adaptability, and resourcefulness. Hunter struggles with photophobia, which his mask helps with. For navigation, he has a cane, as well as his staff, which he prefers to adapt for navigating. It is about chest height and acts similarly to a WeWalk cane. He can use it to teleport and use magic, but it is mostly for identification and navigating if needed. Eventually, he considers switching to a guide demon like Willow’s, which can also offer companionship along with his new Palisman. Hunter can read the Boiling Isles equivalent of Braille, which he uses for labeling, personal note-keeping, and reading when his eyes are tired. He can keep working longer this way, although he does occasionally read or write for fun if he has a spare few minutes. Hunter also makes tactile maps.

There we go. I provided examples of several blind characters in the same place. Many of them know each other and maybe even meet because of their blindness. They all have different types of blindness and different experiences with their blindness, even when compared to characters who are on similar places on the blindness spectrum. I explored how they navigate, how they view their blindness, and ways in which they relate to others. Some struggle with internalized ableism, but not all of them. They have their own arcs related to their blindness, although they have the same arcs and interests as in canon.

Rather than seeing multiple blind characters as an obstacle, view it as an opportunity for characterization. For example, Amity’s experience with ableism is heavily rooted in how she was raised, in how her parents treated her blindness as a defect or something to be ignored. Meanwhile, Luz’s experience with ableism originated in childhood rejection. Compared to them, Willow, Gus, Principle Bump, and Hunter are all thriving. Even Eda is mostly cool with everything, only having a confusing and uncertain relationship with mobility aids. Additionally, Luz is able to let go of and unlearn her internalized ableism as soon as she finds people who accept her. Amity, in comparison, takes much longer to accept herself.

I know that some writers who aren’t blind may feel unequipped to write internalized ableism. It isn’t necessary, but instead something I thought fit Amity’s original character arc. Internalized ableism can be a lot more subtle than this or not feature in your story at all. Luz and Eda might struggle with this as well, but to a lesser degree. It would also be similar to their arcs in canon.

Here are additional character breakdowns because I thought they were fun:

Who uses Braille?

Willow, Hunter, and to some extent, Gus

Braille literacy is declining, so not everyone knows it in this A.U, which is similar to real life. However, I prefer to have at least some of my characters use Braille to push back against that.

Who uses audio to read, primarily or some of the time?

Gus, Amity, Luz, Eda

Who uses regular or large print?

Luz, Amity, Principal Bump

Who uses magnification?

Principal Bump and probably Luz in childhood

Who uses a cane?

Luz, Amity, Hunter, Willow, Eda

However, Luz, Amity, and Eda all struggled to get there to some degree. In real life, few blind people actually use canes despite possibly benefiting from them.

Who uses an animal guide?

Eda, Willow, and, later, Hunter

On the Boiling Isles, creatures participate in training schools and are matched with potential handlers. They are mostly given to adults, although some schools allow kids to apply, such as those in their upper teens. I have a post on guide animals here.

Who has some residual vision?

Luz, Eda, Bump, Gus, Amity, Hunter

Who is totally blind?

Willow

In real life, 85 to 90% of people who are blind have some residual vision, depending on what source you draw from. Most of the cast can still see something, even if only colors, light, and shadow.

I hope this helps. This is my first time sharing something like this. Readers, feel free to use this however you like, for stories or fan art.

-BlindBeta

#blind characters #writing blind characters #the owl house #writing more than one blind character #blind #ableism #disability #ask #scheduled post

[amizuki]

watched the pilot storyboards, albeit only 3/4 of it, and I like how the pilot made Luz seem more like an outcast eccentric weirdo, which is what she's supposed to be, rather than an ignorant asshole who is borderline terrorist

instead of her waltzing into school with dozens of spiders, snakes and fireworks, that she all planned to use INSIDE the building with a smile on her face and not a care in the world, here she instead only brings one snake to school and that's it. a snake that stays with her and her only, doesn't bite anyone, and whom she also later sets free OUTSIDE school. sure, she mentions that Azura is going to "explode out of the snake's stomach", but I heavily doubt it meant that, if the teacher hadn't stopped her, she was gonna pull out a big pack of fireworks, like the ones she had in the show, stuff them inside the snake's mouth and blow it up, especially considering she called the snake "friend" and seemed to treat it like an actual living being, instead of a book report prop, since she had a bag of food for it in her locker.

honestly they should've kept this scene in the 1st episode, at least partially.

like, the start of the episode would play out the same as in the pilot, except Amity isn't here and doesn't stand up for her, so Luz just quietly sits down at her desk in embarrassment and maybe pets the snake while looking upset or something. it then continues the same, up until she opens her locker.

(by the way, I feel like this scene would work better to show the audience that Luz is a nerd, by looking at all those things in the locker, that are usually considered as either nerdy, childish or both, rather than having Luz herself just tell us that she likes to do nerdy things)

in the pilot, that's where Amity walks by and Luz tries to talk with her, but since she wouldn't be able to be here in the actual show, instead Luz would hear an announcement from the principal that he needs her to go to his office. cut to her sitting in the office with her mom already there, and then it generally plays out the same way it did in the 1st ep – the principal says that Luz's been disrupting classes often and have been making her classmates weirded out and disturbed by her antics, which also simultaneously lead to her having no friends. no spiders in class and fireworks inside building – only her acting overly eccentric and weird, to the point where she might accidentally ignore some of the social norms, like with that book report in the pilot and the school play in the show. then the principal mentions today's geometry class that Luz interrupted and says that this was the final straw – not only because something like that happened however many times before, but also because this time she brought a live snake to class, and while it didn't bite anyone (unlike in the show, where her snakes bit MULTIPLE people, and Luz was just like "oops, guess that's where the backup snakes went haha lmao"), it was still a very dangerous thing to do. Camila would react to it in surprise and ask "Mija, where in the world did you even get a snake?" or something like that, with Luz just kinda awkwardly shrugging in response, while looking down at the floor. after that, the principal offers for her to go to a summer camp, to "get her head out of the clouds", and everything else plays out the same way it did in the actual 1st episode.

if it was like that, then, once again, it would actually make Luz look like just an eccentric nerd, who doesn't actively try to harm or disturb anyone, and just does things that she thinks are cool or fun. sure, she might come off as a bit ignorant, with her occasionally ignoring classes and social cues, but it would be just because she's too passionate about the things she likes and gets so much into them, that she might forget the real world in the process.

but uh... the 1st episode Luz isn't exactly that

letting dozens of small spiders inside class, while not giving a shit about people who are scared of those is not cool or fun.

letting however many snakes roam free and bite everyone, while, again, not giving a shit about them being bit is not cool or fun.

and, fucking hell, setting off fireworks inside the school without a second thought is NOT cool or fun

so yeah, that's all I've got

also I wish the "Why would anyone throw it away?" moment with Eda was somehow kept in the show, because it's honestly beautiful and I love it. I don't know how they'd be able to pull it off in the actual show, since Amity was never able to go to Human Realm there and thus Luz wouldn't be able to make that drawing of them, but oh well, it's good that we're able to see this scene at least in the storyboard form.

#♤mizu.txt #toh pilot #the owl house #toh critical #not really that critical but I still wanna add that tag #txt

[royal-they]

I feel like a lot of people don’t realize how important it is for people to see ships like lumity and huntlow coming from a brand like disney that’s known for having ships that really is known to enforce a lot of beauty standards on to kids. 

lumity is definitely not “on brand” with disney but i feel like so much of the appeal in it comes from that fact. luz doesn’t fit disneys standards for an attractive girl at all. (she is very pretty tho don’t get me wrong) whereas amity is definitely seen by a lot of fans to be very attractive and i think that makes the ship even more powerful. luz doesn’t fall for amity first, amity falls for luz. 

i don’t think i can even explain how much this meant to me as a poc. like omg the hot gay witch that everyone thinks is super hot falls for the dorky brown girl??? that alone makes me love the ship 1000x more. its amazing that kids get to grow up with a ship like that that really flips tropes and cliches and is still so fun and cute to watch. it really teaches young bisexuals and pocs that; hey! you can totally find a super loving healthy relationship where the other person respects you :) ive mentioned in the past that i used to feel really self conscious of my lips but luz helped my overcome that. it’s a small but very important thing to me. i also used to always be worried about how partners would take me being bi, again luz was so helpful in overcoming that fear. 

huntlow is another ship that i feel is incredibly important for reasons similar to lumity. a lot of people are probably going to hate me for saying that lmao but idk i still think it’s very likely to become canon. again like lumity the character the fandom finds to be the most attractive falls first

some people say that willow fell first but I feel like given the fact that hunters been the only one who blushes a lot more people are gonna go “oh hunter likes willow” rather than “willow likes hunter” (i mean i think willow likes hunter but it’s not as obvious so im not gonna talk about that aspect of this ship and it’s not relevant to the point im trying to get across.) 

a lot of people have also said that huntlow parallels lumity in how lot in how their interactions are written and i really agree with that. hunter has from the minute his face was revealed always been seen as attractive by the fandom. i feel like people only really started saying the same about willow when hunter started showing signs of having a crush on her. 

willow like luz isn’t the conventionally attractive disney princess type. she’s larger, east asian, and more quiet. still through hunters perspective we’re able to see these aspects of her along with how she can still be confident and an incredibly powerful witch. 

just like with lumity the show allows people to stop and be like huh luz is actually really pretty and super cute or huh willow is actually really gorgeous and talented. we’re able to see these characters from the perspective of the people who are in love with them. 

at first amity and hunter both don’t really understand why willow and luz are the way they are. hunter and amity have been raised with the perspective of having to be better than everyone all the time so when they meet luz and willow - two very powerful witches - they dont understand why they’re approaching things with the perspective they have. but slowly they’re able to see a different side of them which in turn allows the viewer to also understand luz and willow more. 

we see hunter and amity have this moment of realization; huh it’s actually okay to let people see a more friendly side of myself that’s more open with people and that doesn’t take anything away from how powerful i have the capability of being. 

I think that just the fact alone that luz is able bring out the best side of amity and the fact that willow is able to bring out the best side of hunter is really cute and admirable. these two standoffish teens with self hatred issues are just are suddenly super soft around these two super sweet cute girls. idk i just really like these two ships. 

#toh #the owl house #toh spoilers #lumity #huntlow #willow park #luz noceda #amity blight #hunter toh #lumity toh #huntlow toh #winter toh #character analysis #god this is like a really unprofessional essay lol #oh well

[roodles03]

You get a Grom outfit! You get a Grom outfit! Everyone gets a Grom outfit!

Gus, Luz, and Amity were simple. Just reference the WAD Grom photo. Everyone else I came up with from scratch.

Ofc I wanted to keep the silly Suit/Dress thing Luz had going on so I did it again.

Amity tbh was probably the most simple one based on what was visible in the photo.

Gus was pretty similar to Amity, being simple outside of having to figure out how to draw his hair at a 3/4 angle because the photo had him at a side profile. (Just ignore I didn't notice he had glasses in that photo please... by the time I noticed it was too late to fix)

I originally wanted to make Viney blue, but then realized I had too many characters I wanted to make blue, so I made her yellow instead. Viney either gets her clothes ripped up by Puddles or she's like Eda and rips her own clothes.

For Skara and Boscha they're likely rich af so I wanted to try and give them fancy dresses.

For Skara and Cat, I also wanted to give them black hairstyles. Skara has dreads in a bun, and Cat has afro puffs.

Tbh I really don't have much to say for Cat's dress.

Bonus:

Amelia wore a suit in the previous grom so I gave her a suit.

Matt was fun because I really do feel like he'd go out of his way to get the extremely rare Cupid-Rose flower just to show off. Also I made his suit half blue half brown because Gusmatt lmao.

#the owl house #the owl house fanart #toh hunter #hunter deamonne #hunter park #hunter noceda #willow park #amity blight #luz noceda #gus porter #mattholomule #toh boscha #toh skara #toh viney #the owl house hunter #hunter the owl house #hunter toh #enchanting grom fright #the owl house boscha #boscha the owl house #boscha toh #the owl house viney #the owl house skara #viney the owl house #skara the owl house #viney toh #skara toh #the owl house season 3 #toh season 3

[ot3]

Why do you find little witch academia better than the owl house? Genuinely curious cuz I really like little witch academia. Hope you have a good day!

I think that akko is a much stronger protagonist than Luz overall because akko I think has more pronounced and consistent flaws to improve upon. I think Luz is really weakly written. I don't find her particularly interesting and I think most of the traits she's given are really shallow.

Additionally I think the core of LWAs narrative is much more strongly and consistently expressed. It's not super complicated - it's just a story about trying to find a balance between preserving tradition and moving into the future. But that tension is also echoed in the main character conflicts, which are akko and diana butting heads + akkos search for chariot

The thing owl house is going for narratively is "it's okay to be different and weird" but. Out of all of the owl house I've watched (which is most of it) that just... doesn't really land... because there's not a ton for it to be in conflict with. I get that the emperor's strict coven system is supposed to be the order and structure that luz and her scrappy crew are ultimately in opposition to but without writing a whole essay here I'll just say I don't think that works the way it needs to.

Additionally Luz is just... not that weird. She's friendly and gets along with most people and doesn't have any massive character flaws. So a story about how Being Different Is Good falls flat with a protagonist this bland. We also don't have any character who is consistently there to represent the Normalcy that luz is supposedly counter to. Amity is introduced in that capacity but they abandon that by episode 7 or whenever it is that they're at the library. Like there's some stuff with edas curse and whatever and with kings whole deal that I guess makes them outcasts in hexside society. But it just all feels kind of not functional in the moment to moment expression of this theme.

I think though the biggest problem with the owl house is that it's not very funny. I wouldn't care nearly as much about the ways the narrative is janky if watching the show was more fun but it's just not particularly entertaining tv. So all of the flaws are on full display since there's nothing to draw attention away from them

[the-owl-house-takes]

I can't take Luz antis seriously I'm sorry but i am starting to hate them for numerous reasons

First of all, why do you ?? Care so much about this random fictional teenage character and the fact that she is imperfect ?? Like yeah I won't deny the owl house can get bad with it's writing at times but why are you so obsessed with hating it. if you don't like it why are you just filling your mind with more hatred and toxicity why are you s toh fan if you hate everything about it

Second of all a bunch of their arguments are useless. I most oftentimes see them ALWAYS bringing you her introduction and how she brang snakes to school. And let me tell you, in kids cartoons - character introductions are very much often exaggerated !!! All the time !! Oftentimes, characters in their introductions are exaggerated so the audience, usually being children, can easily get a quick grasp of who this new character is. Luzs introduction is meant to show us that she's the weird kid, people don't really like her, she doesn't fit in, she likes to have fun in weird ways. Her bringing fireworks,spiders and snakes into school, I believe is not meant to be taken extremely seriously, I believe it's a form of exaggeration, because fictional characters in their introductions are, like I said, exaggerated so they're easier to read

And honestly it seems a bit pitiful to always bring up the same scene over and over again even though it leaves little to no impact on the rest of the show

And don't tell me she is a Mary sue who's flaws never get pointed out. They literally do. Watch season 1. Also clearly she means no harm and she already feels such remote and guilt for things she has done but never has meant (helping belos w his plan). Are y'all trying to make her look morally bad? You're not doing a very good job

I've seen people say that she doesn't 'deserve' friends, her family, her girlfriend, or a happy life.

God that annoys me

You don't necessarily earn these things. Well, you shouldn't have to at least !! Everyone deserves a chance of a happy life, especially ppl like Luz who are just random teenagers who are struggling in their life due to various factors

Luz does deserve a happy life and a happy ending. Yes it might be a bit bland and boring in some people's eyes but that doesn't mean Luz as a person wouldnt deserve love and joy in her life

She continuously tries to "make up for what she's done" and she always blames herself too hard. Season 1 finale, season 2, season 3. It's shown constantly how do you miss it and how can you call her selfish

ALSO SHE LITERALLY LET HERSELF DIE ? And you're going to tell me that she's selfish even though she is literally anything but the things you try to make her be

.

Anyway I don't think Luz is actually that hated in the fandom, I just see very specific people hating on her and it makes no sense to me

Luz defender forever m💪

-

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #long post #fandom takes

[jess-the-vampire]

I love the idea of Eda being this terrifyingly powerdul witch who rules over the Boiling Isles, but she's still a complete softie when it comes to her kids.

Eda: We have ways of making you talk-- Luz, sweetie, Mommy's working right now-- Oh my gosh, did you draw this? *holds up Young Luz's drawing of a flower* That is so good!

(i'm going to pocket that idea as a animatic video i could do later)

yeah the reason this happened was because when i made the au, even though it was a swap au, i really did not have the heart to make eda of all people actually abusive.

so i figured "Hey, if au philip is not going to be 100% like eda anyway and keep some of his flaws from the show, i don't seen why eda can't be technically an antagonist but also keep being a decent parent".

the swap is trying to keep them in character, even if philip is struggling to get better and eda is having her own unique issues.

(like i think there's some misconception that philip is a "Good person" in the au, and while he is better....i would not clarify him as a "Good person", just a "Recovering" and "Improving" individual)

So eda loves her kids, even if she screws up, there's good intent at least.

it's actually what i originally was hoping they'd do for belos before it was revealed what his relationship with hunter was like in s2.

Not that i'm against what they went with (Like it's still a fine story as is), but it would of been kinda interesting for a show to tackle a child leaving their villianous parent behind, despite the fact they have a genuinely loving relationship.

like imagine if philip HAD cared for hunter (I mean i think he technically kinda does in canon, but in a more toxic way), he was still doing all this horrible stuff and still hurting people, but hunter was the exception and he always treated him well.

So when luz and the gang try to turn hunter around, it breaks his heart to see his uncle as a bad person, and how to process that. Not to mention how hard it would of been for him to leave in the first place.

could even still of had the grimwalker aspect and left hunter wondering if his uncle ever loved him at all or he just loved caleb instead.

Making belos abusive to hunter was just the obvious route to take, so it would of been interesting had they done something like this and subverted those expectations. It would of certainly added to the "People are complicated" thing the show kinda was talking about near the end.

But i don't write the show, so instead i just added some of those aspects into my au instead with eda and luz (Though eda in this au really isn't that bad a person tbh)

i guess it makes for a fun dynamic in the au, eda cares about her kids and her family and that's more the motivation for her being an antagonist then anything.

#my art #eda clawthorne #eda the owl lady #edalyn clawthorne #luz noceda #a reverse of feathers and mud au #areverseoffeathersandmudau #a reverse of feathers and mud #emperor belos #philip wittebane

[theaceofarrows]

Buckle up, this is going to be a long post⬇

Thinking about the unbridled chaos that would have been Hunter if he had gone to public school with Luz during they're time in the human realm

Would it have made sense for him to suddenly go to school, him the guy whose only previous experience with public education is an undercover afternoon at Hexside, a completely different realm where he didn't even attend class? No, it wouldn't have made any sense whatsoever.

But just imagine it. That you're a student at Luz's school and one day the weird girl who let loose a bunch of snakes in the school shows up with her "cousin from Sweden". This mysterious 16 year old dude with a facial scar who is an absolute beast in gym class whose got even the P.E. teacher speechless.

This guy who has a glare that makes even the seniors shudder and think twice about saying anything about the Noceda girl, and the one time the bully didn't take a hint and keep his mouth shut, and actually tired to take a swing at the guy, doesn't land a single hit because the Swedish dude breaks out some kind of Spider-Man moves and back flips out of the way and the bully ends up punching the locker instead and breaks his hand, and Swedish dude just goes "you would have broken your hand anyway with the way you were making a fist" whilst causally flicking a speck of dust of his shoulder.

He always spends his lunch period outside, and a cardinal shows up everyday without fail to join him. He's either having what appears to be an intense one sided conversation with said cardinal, or the bird is casually nesting in his hair while he reads a book and eats his lunch.

It turns out that all the teachers love him. The home ec teacher is so impressed with his sewing that she doesn't even mind that he nearly blew up the oven while they were making cookies. The math teacher loves him because he's apparently also a math whizz who can do college level problems. The P.E teacher is trying to recruit him for at least three different sports teams. The drama teacher loves him because He's a natural at acting and doing improv. He's always the first one to class, takes the most notes, he's super respectful to the teachers, reminds the teachers about homework, does extra assignment work for fun. This dude who is wicked smart and sarcastic, and witty almost all the time, and then raises his hand in history class and asks "What's a Spain?" With the most sincere expression.

Just imagine that

#the owl house #hunter noceda #hunter deamonne #toh hunter #luz noceda #toh luz #luz and hunter are siblings #we were robbed #this would have been so funny #i'll never be over him #hunter my beloved #bonus points if you got that reference

[prodigaldaughteralice]

Man, you know what hit me while watching For the Future, and I didn’t say anything about it at the time but it’s been circulating in my head since then?

Amity saying to Boscha “This is a bit much, even for you!”, in comparison to her father a few episodes back saying “this is too much— even for you.” The similarity in structure, the difference in delivery, you know.

And I keep thinking about the theory that Alador and Odalia were pushed to marry by their parents, and about how Amity was pushed to be friends with Boscha, and imagining a bad future where Luz didn’t show up and they ended up in a similar position.

It’s not going to be that bad, right? Sure, Amity never really *liked* Boscha, but you don’t have to like someone to be their friend, you just have to be around them, do things with them, listen when they talk. Having a wife will be like that, right? She’ll just… do the things she’s supposed to do, and live alongside her. It’ll be fine.

The wedding is just another formal event her parents throw, with the complication of Boscha’s parents being part of it too, and constantly trying to one-up hers. In her final act of rebellion, Amity sends Willow an invitation. She doesn’t come. Amity closes a door.

Odalia lightens up on urging Amity to join the Emperor’s Coven when she realizes that as the only one of their kids who follows in Alador’s footsteps magic-wise, it’d be better for her to train to take over the factory someday. She can’t say she exactly enjoys working under her father, since he only ever talks about work, and not even with the spark of interest in his eyes she remembers him having when she was little. Her mother spends most of her time sniping at her mothers-in-law and asking when grandkids are coming, though, and the twins are gadding about through high society and making fun of her whenever they can, so he’s kind of the family member she’s closest to by default.

Things don’t really go well. Boscha thinks the way their mothers constantly fight is hilarious, and she definitely enjoys the status that comes along with the Blight name, but she definitely doesn’t love the way her new in-laws expect her to wind potions skills into the family business or else just stay out of the way. She wants to win trophies, not be one. She’s also not stupid, and she knows Amity doesn’t love her— knew since long before the wedding, but she hoped that would change over time, and as it continues not to she’s building up an intense resentment. They were meant for each other, why can’t Amity see it? She’s being the queen of Bonesborough society, they’re on top together just like it was in high school only better, but Amity still doesn’t love her, and it’s not fair.

Some years on, they have a daughter. She’s the absolute light of Amity’s life, but by the time she’s toddling Boscha is already starting to take out some of her resentment on her. She pushes her too hard, she makes fun of the way she garbles words. The baby’s  just being a baby, and Amity tries to get Boscha to lighten up, but Boscha says she’s just having fun and being a mom, which Amity isn’t because she’s working all day, and she doesn’t have a comeback for that.  

Amity’s trying to calm Boscha down, taking her to matches when she has a rare night off and they can get a sitter, but it just prickles at her more— she wants to be on the field, not watching; she wants to be on a real date with her wife, not an awkward attempt at appeasement.

It’s all eating away at Amity. She looks into her daughter’s three beautiful gold eyes and she’s terrified her little girl will feel like this, someday.

She’s sleepwalking through her days, she feels like one of her mother’s ghosts. She’s working, because it’s the only thing she really understands anymore. She’s elbow-deep in the beta design for the 3.6, and she nearly jumps out of her skin when her father puts a hand on her shoulder.

He has a bottle of hard apple blood. They go sit on the roof, and they talk.

She can’t say she sees a way through to happiness, but at least she’s not alone. That’s something, isn’t it?

#owl house #the owl house #toh #toh for the future #toh fic #owl house fanfiction #pd alice writes #amity blight #alador blight #toh boscha #maybe someday they’ll both tell their wives ‘enough’

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

I just read a bunch of Owl House Criticism and have to say… a lot does make sense. I still rate the show very high and honestly I blame the pacing for a lot of the issues we DO have with the show. I also think people are taking this way more seriously then they should and some do the complaints feel nitpicky.

One thing a lot of people brought up is Luz’s character and how the first episode showed her casual dismissal of others and their safety occurs. Then there was a few comments on how Vee is right to call her out on running away and other things.

I don’t fully disagree. Luz fucked up big time her first episode where she brought live animals and fireworks to school. It’s just… no. I don’t deny people should have punished her for it. I vote that the Shakespeare play and the cheerleading thing aren’t worth punishment though. Because both are honestly just quirky kid things. She wanted to be cool so she did something she liked to try and impress others. They thought it was creepy and reacted to it. Good reasons for her to be kind of shoved aside by some people. The spiders and snakes though? Yikes.

But to just call her a bad character puts a nasty taste in my mouth because I think she is one that is a good character and whom I think would have been fun to explore. It’s just… she’s kind of a concept that was tried but fell flat.

I think the summer camp thing was handled badly and I would have liked to be explained why they never tried to talk to her about what a reasonable amount of creativity is in her school work. If it turns out they had attempted to do so multiple times but she never listened: the camp is probably a better idea then not. More so given her actions could have gotten her arrested. Honeslty leaning on that idea would have been interesting. Luz being told she had to go to camp or face probation or something would have been an interesting hook.

My friend said she felt therapy would have been better and yeah that’s a good point: but what if they did try and it didn’t work? What if they felt a camp was less expensive ? (Which it probably was.)

I would have liked more evidence that Luz was an outcast. I saw a lot of criticism on this because if you just look at the show face value: Luz does seem like she’s whining about a lot of stuff. Her mom turned out to be like her and only wanted her to not get bullied as Camila did in school. She could have made friends at camp. There’s just so much there that does make Luz seem like a bad person for being upset. And honestly it would be interesting to explore that to, to really pick apart the dramatic ‘me against the world’ mindset of teenagers who see themselves as outcasts. But the show is supposed to be about weirdos and found family.

So: I would actually nix Camila being a nerd. Manny was the nerdy one who loved fantasy, encouraging it in Luz. I would have had him be the one who was more open about Luz’s everything while Camila was more wary and put off. Sure, she could still laugh at the snake skin incident, but I would want her to be less accepting of the other stuff. I said that the first episode reminded me of my mom when I got my diagnosis of autism and she didn’t understand it. I would want to lean in.

Manny and Luz should have been canonly neurodivergent. Camila is neurotypical and she constantly compared her two family members because Manny could mask very well. Luz couldn’t. But I would have Camila struggle to understand that her daughter’s own brand of autism/ADHD is vastly different then her husband’s because it’s so common. I can’t tell you how many time people are like: oh you’re lying about being this cause you don’t act like BLANK.

Camila and Luz then have a conflict which makes it more understandable why Luz is willing to lie to her mother about not being at camp. Because Camila is set up to not understand Luz and possibly she would be pushing her daughter to act ‘normal’ because she doesn’t understand. Again this is inspired by my mom. I have vivid memories of her worrying about appearances and how others think of us, with her pushing me towards things I didn’t like. Some of it was out of concern for me, but there was a huge lack of understanding that drove a wedge between us for a while.

I would then have the idea that Luz is bullied be obvious. Luz would reference it or recall incidents. And I would have them be unpleasent. Being ditched by so called ‘friends’, name calling and mocking. Maybe having her things stolen or random crap dumped in her locker. I would have her be the outcast from the start. I would also address her being a POC person in a small town. Luz could have met Masha or the other two kids: I want a reason why she didn’t connect.

I grew up with almost no friends but people generally didn’t hate me. I got bullied a bit but most of the time I was ignored and happy about it. When I was a kid I was very particular and drove people off due to this. When I made friends I was with other weirdos: some of whom were alone because they were just… I can only call them very weird and slightly disturbing. One of whom was a girl who’d flip on a dime if she liked you or not.

Masha in canon is goth and is there to be the ‘cool goth kid’. I would have had them be dismissive of Liz’s fondness for the Azura series and possibly the type to mock her for liking a ‘gushy girly book’ because take it from this enby: a lot of us go through the phase of shunning anything feminine and romantic to be ‘cool’. I would have a reason why two people who could have totally been friends weren’t.

Luz would be an outcast among outcasts. Just that shade of different.

I want her to have suffered in school. I want her to have to explain that it’s true no one understood her. I want her to be able to look Vee in the face to go: you know nothing. Because Vee only sees a surface and not the full sum of it. Vee who isn’t into Azura and thus gets Masha being: oh you matured cool. I want to hang now. Who goes to Camila who is thankful her baby seems able to mask now.

I want Camila to be able to mistake Vee for her own kid because ‘oh god yes she’s finally normal’. And I want Luz to point this out. I want Luz to point out to Vee the other kids said camp was prison. And that ‘you might have liked it for some reason but can you say I would have? Masha thinks I’m a freak for liking Azura. They told me I was a loser for it.’

I want there to have been a damn good reason more then we got for WHY Luz stayed in the isles.

Not to say I don’t want Luz to feel bad about lying or anything. I just want the whole outcast thing to be more apparent. Luz feeling awful about lying and about resenting her mom who does love her versus the fact she never felt safe in the human realm is an idea worth exploring!!

#the owl house #owl house rewrite #luz noceda #camila noceda #vee the basilisk #toh critical #I guess #more ‘I still liked the show it’s just that this would have been interesting’

[sepublic]

The Owl House's Ending Anniversary...

So it's officially been one whole year since The Owl House ended.

One year ago, I wondered how I would move on. How I would keep going. But I also knew I would, no matter what, because time keeps going on. Things will eventually pass, they always do, that's how so many moments and days for me have gone. Even entire periods of my life.

So I'm not surprised how things have gone on since then; I still had plenty more things to say about TOH, and I still love it just as I have. I've gotten new hyperfixations, and even returned to old ones as some of you can see with recent posts, so it's only a matter of time before TOH circles back again.

And man does it feel so slow, only to feel so brief, it really feels like this anniversary has snuck up on and surprised me! And once again, we have some other, appropriate event lined up; A solar eclipse on this anniversary! Luckily there's no sigils nor coven heads gathered to make me worry. But dang, it was raining in Connecticut when Luz returned there, and it was the rebirth of Jesus when Luz was resurrected.

Makes me wonder if anyone of the Boiling Isles, justifiably, has had PTSD from solar eclipses, and dreaded any that showed up, despite knowing it couldn't happen again. People must've held their breaths the entire time during the first eclipse, panicked at even the slightest fatigue, and then it passed and they realized it really was impermanent and over. And that there was another step towards moving on, which I guess I can relate to now, though this is something I'm much less happy to see gone.

I think a lot about how TOH has influenced both me and my writing, how I approach characters and stories now. I've found myself gravitating more and more towards personal, character-driven stories and situations now. I still have a bit of a taste for grander-scale stuff, but TOH was special for me in that it feels like the first time I really got and understood a show and its characters from the ground-up as I experienced it all in real time. The first time I truly grasped themes and character arcs and could make reasoned predictions based on those, some of which came true! It really feels like THE big start of my media literacy in a way?

It's been fun looking back at TOH as a 'whole' work more or less to reevaluate, and learning other things behind-the-scenes about the show. We've had a few more livestreams and stuff confirmed. Dana's done more drawings, including on her Patreon.

I haven't been writing as much TOH stuff lately, and tbf I've already said soooo much. I might have other, new things to say later down the line, and I do have a few thoughts I've written in notes that maybe could be fully-fledged posts in their own right. I've found comparisons to protagonists of other media, like Miles Morales, or Arin from Ninjago.

The Owl House still is and will probably always be something truly special to me; It feels like my first real fandom experience. My first time understanding and learning a show, appreciating it as it develops and even as I speculate. It broadened my tastes and horizons, my ability to participate with others in stuff.

I miss it; I miss new episodes, new developments. I'm still agonized over things that could've been, things I would've loved to see more of. I'm apprehensive over whether we'll get that Raeda prequel because I don't wanna get my hopes up. Plus Dana needs a well-deserved break and is trying and experimenting with new, different things. And I get that.

It's bittersweet, it's scary, it's freeing, it's sad, it's happy. I've gone so far, this show and fandom has gone so far. And it'll keep going, it has to, time keeps marching on. Luz had to lose her father Manny, process that, but still keep going and must be surprised looking back how much she's adjusted since then, how much she's still grown and gained and learned, while still holding him dear; The same applies for the Titan and the magic she once wielded. With grief and acceptance being a core theme in this show, I'm not surprised that it prepped up the viewers to do the same, and now we have.

And you know what? I'm gonna keep going on, like Luz Noceda, possibly my favorite protagonist of all time, one of the greats and a huge inspiration now for how I really want to write and focus on my own protagonists, too. I'm gonna keep doing this like it never ended. The rate and frequency might fluctuate, but every now and then I'll have things to say, and stuff to drop by and check, such as with the tag and the occasional trending post, others' reblogs, and so forth.

So again, thanks to Dana and the crew. Thanks to Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne, King Clawthorne, and the other many, many characters! Luz's story is one where it feels like the show really is about her at its core and wraps around to her, and I want to do a story one day that accomplishes the same feeling. And as I see how Dana has been inspired by past influences, I can't help but look forward to future generations and stories that will themselves have been inspired by The Owl House, I know I've been already, retroactively applying it to things that were already fairly compatible to begin with, and really needed the fresh breath of new inspiration.

I'm repeating a lot of the same things I've said last year. Will I say the same stuff another whole year from now? I'll see. But until next time... BBBBYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

#the owl house #ramblings #meta #nostalgia #psa #the owl house anniversary

[ordinaryschmuck]

Why I Love The Owl House-Part Two: The Relationships

Prev Part

Salutations, random people on the internet who are already skimming past this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And welcome to part two as we discuss everything I love about The Owl House. Because a single review wasn't enough, and, boy-howdy, did I prove that with Part One. Like...Wow. That was a lot.

But where Part One discusses the lengthy list of great and sometimes bad characters, Part Two is all about relationships. Because on top of having a diverse cast of different races, genders, sexualities, ages, and even species, The Owl House also has a diverse set of relationships that can be familial, platonic, antagonistic, and, of course, romantic. Each one is adorable and entertaining in its own right, and we're going over the best of the best today.

Quick disclaimer, though, we're NOT going to discuss relationships that didn't get much attention or ones made more interesting in fanon. I would love to talk a lot about how Luz and Vee are like sisters, but they only interacted in one episode and there's not much to go off of with the small tidbits of photos we see in the finale. And I would adore talking about how Camila's the honorary mother of every child who had come into her house. However, aside from a handful of conversations, she never interacted with anybody outside of Luz. Which is a shame because I would LOVE to see how she would get along with her future daughter-in-law. With that said, I will discuss characters who interact a bunch but note the missed opportunities they represent. Do we have an understanding? Good.

(Also, this one is going to be 26 pages long...Still better than last time, right? Right...)

Now, for this one, we’re going through it by category. Starting with…

Families

The Owl House has a surprising amount of family drama in a variety of ways. Whether it’s between siblings or parents and their children, there are a lot of stories to be milked out of with these relationships. And to start things off, let’s talk about what’s probably the healthiest mother/daughter relationship in the show.

Camila and Luz: I talked a lot about this kinship the two had last time, primarily through how Camila feels about Luz. To keep things brief, Camila LOVES her daughter. The only ones who denied that are idiots who focused too much on the negatives. Despite some missteps, Camila is proud of everything that Luz is, and came to realize that she should NEVER have tried to change a thing.

But that’s everything on Camila’s side. On Luz’s side, the love is very much mutual. No matter what mistake Camila made, Luz NEVER resented her for it. Luz may have felt sad for going to summer camp or worried about keeping Camila’s promise, but there was never any anger. The closest we got was her absolute refusal to go to summer camp, but even that was followed up with Luz feeling a quick moment of guilt for having to lie to her mother. This is because Luz LOVES Camila and, above all else, wants to make her proud and happy. The problem is Luz doesn’t approach things the right way, accidentally causing Camila strife through causing trouble at school and choosing to lie for too long so Camila wouldn’t be worried about what’s happening with Luz’s current situation. And when coming back, Luz still apologizes for leaving AND for lying, knowing that her choices weren’t the best ones to make and she regrets making Camila’s life harder. Camila’s actions weren’t the best either, but Luz was never bothered by that. She loves her mom. When stuck in the Isles, all Luz could think about was returning to her, and that’s because Camila is the one thing that connects Luz to the Human Realm. She has no friends, significant others, or mentors that made life fun in the Human Realm. Camila’s all Luz has, and vice versa.

When Manny died, it left Camila and Luz with just each other for the longest time. Because of that, they’re trying their best for one another. Camila does all she can to be the mom Luz needs and Luz, in turn, attempts to be the daughter Camila deserves. Neither got it right, but that doesn’t change their love for each other. They’re both all they have, and it’s sweet to see a mother/daughter relationship where both ARE and AREN’T at fault for a lot of stuff but still hold a great amount of love and respect for one another. They’re probably the healthiest example of a mother and her child. Though, in fairness, that’s not a steep competition.

Odalia and Amity: Yup. Might as well rip this bandaid off as soon as possible.

I think the best way to start off with these two is to ask a question: Did Odalia love Amity? I know that’s a weird question to ask considering EVERYTHING Odalia did but it’s still worth bringing up. Because I think that the answer is YES…upon CONDITIONS. As long as Amity acted exactly as Odalia wanted and followed this “perfect plan” she laid out, then Amity has Odalia’s love. When Amity DOESN’T, Odalia’s “love” turns to anger, and that’s because Odalia doesn’t want a daughter. She wants a mini-version of HER. You can see it in Amity’s Season One design, where her dyed hair and how she wears it is meant to be a reflection of Odalia. It explains why Odalia puts so much pressure onto Amity, forcing her to succeed and gain the highest ranks of society. If Odalia couldn’t be the most influential and powerful witch in all the Isles, then surely her daughter, who looks and acts exactly like her, should. And yet, Odalia’s still surprised that Amity chooses to rebel and be her own person instead of a mini-Odalia.

Amity’s resentment towards her mother is easy to pick up and the same goes for her inaction. To many kids, there’s nothing scarier than a parent, especially one like Odalia who can be very violent when angered or scorned. Amity has often rebelled in LITTLE ways against her mother, but it isn’t until meeting Luz does Amity find a lot more to fight for. She wants to carve her own path and becomes less afraid to stand up against Odalia. Amity dyes her hair and calls out Odalia’s behavior because it’s worth it for the fight for individuality. But despite this rebellion, it’s interesting that Amity still makes one last attempt to reach out in “Clouds on the Horizon.” Because while Odalia isn’t a good mom, Amity has it in her head that, surely, Odalia isn’t evil. I think a lot of kids, even ones with truly awful parents, have that mindset. Because even if they’re bad at parenting, that doesn’t mean they would stoop so low when lives are at stake, right? Except, not only does Odalia completely dismiss all life that isn’t her own, but she is surprisingly okay with the complete genocide of her people. The woman IS evil. Amity didn’t want to believe it because…well, no child DOES. But it’s that last bit of confirmation that Amity needed to cut Odalia out of her life forever…I just wish that conclusion had more of a satisfying punch to it.

I know I said it last time, but it really does suck that after everything Odalia did to Amity, things end by Amity proclaiming that she’ll never talk to Odalia again and blatantly ignores her in the finale. The thing is, I can see that being satisfying in its own right, but with how much Odalia messed up Amity’s life, treating her as a tool instead of a daughter, you can’t blame a schmuck for wanting Amity to do more. Still, I can understand Amity’s desire not to even ACKNOWLEDGE Odalia and I can live with THAT being the conclusion to their relationship. It’s definitely a better pill to swallow than what happens between—

Amity and Alador: On paper, making Amity a Daddy’s Girl sounds sweet, as does making Alador a caring father to contrast Odalia being…Odalia. But in terms of execution, this is an idea that could have definitely utilized more time to be perfect.

Amity’s desire to seek Alador’s approval and be like him feels way too sudden as every instance Alador’s been on screen before “Reaching Out,” it shows him doing something Amity has to fight back on. Granted, he was likely doing it to keep Odalia from doing WORSE things to Amity, but the audience didn’t have the knowledge of HIS situation yet. So to us, it’s more of a bitter pill to swallow that Amity wants to be like him. It’s slightly easier to understand on a rewatch, but just barely. Then the writers try to sell that Amity has a ton of faith that Alador would be on her side when going against Odalia, and it's similar to Amity trying to convince herself that her mom isn’t evil. The only difference is that, this time, Amity’s right. Her father ISN’T evil and he actually cares about his kids, which is sweet but it’s still information given to us LATER than it should. The same goes for Amity’s love for her dad. Knowing that she had such an admiration for him is something best left revealed as soon as possible and is NOT as easy to reveal through a retcon. Previous episodes leads us to believe that Amity fears and hates BOTH her parents, so having it where she loves her dad leaves one to scratch their head in confusion. But that’s just on Amity’s side. For Alador’s, it…barely works still.

I mentioned it last time, but the retcon that Alador is a father who actually loves his children is an idea that works well enough, but could be better. As sweet as it is to give Amity ONE parent that cares, it still comes up way too late in the series. By the time “Reaching Out” premiered, The Owl House was almost over, leaving not enough time to prove how much Alador cares. There’s some cute moments like him telling Amity that she did a good job through just an ATTEMPT to escape a forcefield, accepting “Luz” as Amity’s girlfriend, appreciating Amity’s new hairstyle, and giving her those little mittens. The writers ARE trying to make this idea work, but it admittedly feels like it’s too little too late.

Amity and Alador’s relationship COULD have been something great. It just either needed to be presented earlier in the series or more time to develop properly. Unfortunately, neither of those options were provided, and what we got was something that was awkwardly done. It’s still nice to see Amity get along with a parent for once and the epilogue proves that Alador kept his promise to be a better father, what with how happy he is to see her after what looked like a long journey. It’s just that, despite these attempts at cute moments, the relationship could have been done better. Still, on the bright side, at least they got along better than either did with Odalia. And, at least with her siblings, Amity has SOME positive relationships with her family…eventually.

Amity, Emira, and Edric: At the start, Ed and Em seem like antagonists to Amity, wanting to make her life suffer. I remember seeing a few fanfics that treated Edric and Emira in such a way because…well, how could there not be? Their very first episode involved them wreaking havoc in Amity’s safe space and threatening to leak pages of her diary for everyone to see. While me and my sisters definitely had our problems, they NEVER acted that way to me. It’s why I’m glad that after realizing they took a prank too far–And accidentally creating a monster that nearly killed Amity–Ed and Em went from antagonists to supporting characters. Oh, they still messed with Amity for the shits and giggles, but now it’s more out of how LOVING older siblings screw around instead of how the two twits acted in “Lost in Language.” They tease, jab, and mess around in Amity’s personal space, but it’s definitely out of love instead of malice, creating a dynamic that’s a lot sweeter to see. They went from another hardship of Amity’s homelife to one of the only people in her corner. Though, in this case, it’s less of a feat caused by character development and more by the writers changing their mind on what to do with them. Thankfully, unlike Alador, they changed their mind soon enough where this little course correction for Edric and Emira is a lot more believable and MUCH easier to swallow. It also benefits Amity by giving her two people to rely on…Or, just one.

Yeah, Edric’s primarily the odd man out in this dynamic. Emira and Amity have this adorable sisterly relationship where Emira tells Amity what she needs to hear and provide advice. With Edric, both Emira and Amity treat him as the dumb one, either making sure he doesn’t hurt himself or reticule him for his stupidity. There is SOME adorableness, though. Like how Edric ran in a full body cast and went through physical pain just so he can hug Amity. That shows he cares IMMENSELY about her and doesn’t care what happens to him to prove it. And with Emira, there’s something fascinating about how Edric’s fear is being alone forever and Emira’s is being alone with HIM forever. It IS likely that she’s joking at Ed’s expense, but there might be some truth to it. They do a LOT as a pair. They dress the same, act the same, wear similar outfits, and even have similar names. Emira definitely cares about Edric, but she doesn’t want her whole life to be defined as being his twin. It’s part of why they both went off to do different things and have their own careers not defined by what the other does. It’s great showing that while these two are similar in a lot of ways, they’re still very much different. But, once again, this is an analysis based on what’s implied and not what the series shows. There’s not enough time to build off this idea, and it still leaves Edric out of having something meaningful like what Amity and Emira have. And even then, what Emira and Amity have is something based on a few short scenes of Emira being a GOOD older sister. Still, it’s sweet for what it is.

The Blight siblings don’t have a deep or compelling relationship, but they don’t need it. Edric and Emira fill a supporting role for a secondary main character, and for what they do, it’s great. Emira’s sweet, Edric provides comedy, and they both EVENTUALLY give Amity what she needed. Her mom never truly cared and her dad…could’ve been better, but at least Amity had two siblings who care about her to a great degree. They might drive her crazy, but that’s siblings for you. Plus, at least none of them cursed one or the other. I mean, could you IMAGINE? That’s be crazy…

…

…

Eda and Lilith: These two…are complicated. And I’m well aware of how much of an understatement that is, but it’s true. As kids, they were thick as thieves, with both of them willing to do so much for the other. Lilith would share a scraped knee with Eda and Eda…would be willing to sacrifice more. She would throw herself under the bus so Lilith wouldn’t get in trouble with their literal demon of a principal and would willingly give Lilith a position in the Emperor’s Coven. The show makes it clear that Eda cares a great deal for Lilith. All they really had was each other in school and Eda didn’t want to change that situation, already assuming, as a teen, they would spend the rest of their lives doing EVERYTHING together. It’s sweet…and it makes Lilith’s petty jealousy and cursing Eda feel so wrong.

Lilith ALSO loved her sister, but took Eda for granted. Lilith’s drive to be the best, earning a place in the most powerful coven on the Isles, led to her fighting to be better than Eda. This fight started a rift between them, even before the curse. After quizzing Eda, and showing that she knew more than Lilith, Lilith started studying HARDER, trying to prove that SHE can learn more. She couldn’t stand being second place to Eda, so it drove Lilith to try harder and to get desperate. By the time Lilith cursed Eda, that rift between them only got worse due to a mix of Lilith’s guilt and her position as a Covenhead. Once they were adults, Lilith is in a position where she HAS to hunt Eda down for the Emperor, but in a weird way, Lilith still puts Eda first. Despite Eda’s criminal antics, Lilith wants to give her sister a chance to join the coven on HER terms, only going overboard when feeling threatened by Belos. In moments like that, Lilith tells herself that it’s all for the greater good, that Belos can cure Eda and that she and Lilith can finally do EVERYTHING together, just like they wanted as kids. And Eda might want the same thing. She might resent Lilith for hunting Eda and Eda CONSTANTLY takes Lilith down a peg, but she still loves her. Just look at when Eda races Lilith for a flower and tries to remind her about how they used to do the same thing as kids running to their kitchen. Or the times Eda showed Lilith mercy, like saving her from that crab spider or giving Lilith Eda’s ring so she wouldn’t go back to Belos empty handed. Even during their first witches duel, Eda didn’t really go out of her way to hurt Lilith. She saw it more as a game, with a lot of Eda’s attacks being more to contain Lilith or aggravate her. It’s proof that her sisterly love didn’t entirely go away all those years later…Until Lilith went too far.

The second Lilith kidnapped Luz, Eda was already out for blood, being the most violent she’s ever been towards her sister. But when Lilith revealed that she cursed Eda, she  lost all sense of mercy and was willing to go for the throat. There was this brief moment of Eda BEGGING Lilith to keep Luz safe, likely reaching for SOME goodness she HAS to believe is in her sister. But that sentiment disappears quickly as Eda was willing to spend her last moments of life on trying to KILL the little traitor. Needless to say, Lilith did a lot of damage and it seemed like she had a lot of work to do…Only for things to go back to normal after one confession and another grand gesture. Sure, Lilith sharing a curse is a great start, but Eda treats it as if it’s enough with her acting like it never happened. She mentions the curse in a flippant manner, but that’s something that a person does YEARS after someone made up for betrayal, not a week. And Lilith doesn’t do much better. Despite her moments of wanting to be better, Lilith still acts like she has to be better than Eda while also behaving like she already believes she IS. Still, after all this time.

I think I like the potential Lilith and Eda’s relationship has more than what’s done with it. There’s some interesting stuff surrounding Eda’s desire to keep Lilith and Lilith wanting to make up for taking Eda for granted, but it’s NOT explored enough. They act about the same as they did in “Covention,” the episode that introduced this relationship in the first place, only now there’s a slightly less of a desire to strangle each other. Slightly. There’s some sweet moments, with Lilith comforting Eda about the stress of the Day of Unity and Eda reassuring Lilith that the curse isn’t so bad when she gets used to it, but those scenes don’t stop their dynamic being nothing no more than…acceptable. There’s a fun sibling rivalry between the two mixed in with some heart, making something entertaining to see. But when the show presents interesting ideas like Eda’s love and Lilith’s guilt, only to gloss over BOTH of them, it leaves me wanting a little bit more. I’ll take what I have, but you can’t leave a guy wanting.

But as unhealthy as things got between these two, at least they didn’t nearly cause the end of the world.

Nah, that’s the NEXT sibling relationship.

Caleb and Philip: It feels weird to talk about this one because we only know about one side of the relationship. And yet, it’s the catalyst for EVERYTHING revolving around Belos and his creation towards villainy.

In his own twisted way, Belos loved Caleb. He was all Belos had and Belos would go to great lengths to “save” his brother from damnation. I went over it last time, and I won’t repeat myself here, but while the show makes it clear that Belos’ twisted love for his brother is what drove him, we never really know how much Caleb cared for Philip. Through the memories in Belos’ mindscape, we can see that they cared much for each other as kids and Caleb was happy to see Philip again in the Boiling Isles. There’s some definite brotherly love there, but people keep circling back to how Caleb abandoned Philip. To me, with the information we have, it’s more like how Luz went to the Boiling Isles without telling Camila. There was never any malice behind the action. Some carelessness, perhaps, but neither Luz nor Caleb meant any harm to disappear into this new world and make life-changing relationships. They were both willing to come back to this person that means the world to them. Just look at Caleb’s smile upon seeing Philip again. You don’t smile like that when you resent someone or feel glad to have abandoned them. I’m sure there was love there, but again, we never get to see Caleb’s perspective of things aside from implications from Belos’ memories. For all we know, Caleb WAS a bastard bitch who hated his little brother. There’s never really an answer and I’m kind of glad there isn’t. Because Belos’ admiration for someone, even if he does or doesn’t deserve it, is still an engaging aspect for his motivation even if we don’t know the whole story.

Belos’ obsession towards his brother caused a monster to be born. He already hated witches, but losing what mattered most caused him to become genocidal. Again, I’ll skip past it because I went over it enough last time. But one thing I don’t think I can skip over is how Belos’ feelings towards his brother reflected over how he treated Hunter.

Belos and Hunter: Once again, I’ve talked a lot about their relationship last time, primarily how Hunter feared Belos. I don’t think Hunter was ever looking for love from his so-called uncle, likely because he didn’t understand the concept of love upon his creation. What Hunter looked more for was respect, to be seen as the perfect soldier that he thought Belos wanted. The problem is that Belos wanted more than a soldier and perhaps more than a tool. What Belos wanted was an outlet to project his issues toward Caleb onto.

Granted, Belos likely wasn’t aware what he was doing with Hunter, or ANY of the Golden Guards for that matter. He was creating tools for his own evil plans, but because Belos made these tools through the literal bones of his dead brother, it creates this sort of power dynamic that I think psychiatrists could make entire books about when trying to dissect it. Belos practically brought his brother back from the dead, but each time, he was always younger than Belos, reflecting the perfect brother he remembered. Only this time BELOS is the older one who knows better and gets to decide what they do and how they do it. Not only did he create a role reversal between him and Caleb, but he created a version of Caleb he hopes to have no free will. To Belos, he wanted his brother back, one that would never betray him again. Except that he did. They ALL did. Every single Golden Guard found free will and willingly went against Belos. This always leads to Belos killing these “failures,” these unusable copies of Caleb that fail to understand that Belos knows best. He refuses to accept that no version of Caleb will ever see Belos’ way, so he keeps trying to make one that does.

By the time Belos gets to Hunter, he does all he can to wipe away ANY sense of rebellion, even if he has to beat it out of him. Sorry if that statement was dark or triggering, but it reigns true for Hunter and Belos. Their relationship and everything Belos does to Hunter is a result of one man’s incapability to accept his brother’s choices and takes that as an excuse to hurt Hunter. It’s a painful reflection of real life abusive parental figures as a lot of them treat children as an object to take frustrations out on. It’s never healthy and no one should forgive an evil bastard like that no matter WHAT justification they have. All you can do is hope the child gets out of this situation and learn what real love is.

Thankfully, Hunter got that happy ending through Darius. And I WOULD go over that, but I think I said as much as I could about those two last time. The real meat of it is on Darius’ side of things as we never really got to see how Hunter felt about him aside from how the love was mutual. It’s sweet, despite not having much to talk about. As for Eda and Dell, I said about all I could last time and the same goes for Gwen. They’re characters defined by their relationships of their kids and I’d ONLY repeat myself here. But don’t fret, there’s still ONE OTHER good parent/child relationship we can talk about.

Willow and Gilbert and Harvey: No, not Gus and Perry. Due to how little of an impact Perry had in the series and how he and Gus barely interacted, we don’t get much of an idea about what their relationship is. We know they love each other, but there’s not much aside from that. With Willow and her fathers, we don’t get much with them either, but the crumbs we DO get offer some decent insight.

Willow LOVES her dads, that much is sure. Two of her biggest core memories involve her spending time with her papas, having fun and laughing with them. But more than that, Willow idolizes her dads. “Any Sport in a Storm” shows us pictures of her dads when they were younger AND that they were on the same flier derby team. It hints that Willow got her love for the game through them and wanted to become the best player she could be to honor them. It’s SORT OF stretching the facts because we don’t know for sure, but it’s still a sweet thought and how much Willow loves her dads as they love her.

Gilbert and Harvey were willing to quit their jobs just to homeschool Willow and give her the best possible education after she got expelled from Hexside. That is…an intense amount of dedication to caring for your daughter. Sure, the previous scene had them ground Willow for an insane amount of time, but that’s clearly a reaction that comes from being upset over your child being suspended. Odds are they were going to relax on that grounding with time. And even then, Gilbert was willing to let Willow sneak out and to pretend he didn’t see anything. There’s a definite love all three of them have for each other, and you have an easier understanding of why Willow misses her dads the most in the final season. With Gus, we don’t know enough to really GET how much he misses Perry, and we all know the complicated mess between Amity and Alador. It’s easier with Willow and HER dads because while we don’t have much, we have ENOUGH to get a better picture. Though I DO wish we had more time with them all together to make the relationship feel stronger, and to give more appreciation to gay parents. They keep showing up in media, especially animation, but rarely do they feel like actual characters with defining relationships with their children. While I appreciate what’s done between these three, I AM left demanding for a little bit more.

And with that, I’m finally done talking about families. But don’t worry, there’s TONS more to talk about with our next category.

Friends

There are a LOT of friends in this show, mainly because The Owl House is the kind of series that values the friendships one has with other individuals. Families are important, but the friends we make, the groups we create, can lead to more changes in our lives. They can sometimes bring out the best of us just as effectively as any family member, while also providing a great escape if our families become too much. Most of the friendships in the show are all about this, and we’re going to go through all the ones that are important.

Starting with what’s probably the most talked about friendship in the show…

Amity and Willow: The second that Willow revealed she used to be friends with Amity, the intrigue behind their dynamic SKYROCKETED. Because it would be one thing if Amity was simply a bully to Willow, but knowing that they were once close friends brings up a ton of questions. Why were they friends? Could they be friends AGAIN? Why did they STOP? Er, well, okay, that last one was answered pretty quickly by Willow in the same episode, but after “Lost in Language” hinted that Amity’s bullying is an act to not show weakness, it begs the question if there is more to it. And “Understanding Willow” proved that Amity WAS forced to end the friendship, meaning that every interaction she had with Willow since then was Amity pushing Willow further and further away to save her from a worse fate. It’s another interesting way to look at Amity’s bullying, because she DOES care about Willow. The problem is that, as Amity perfectly puts it, she wasn’t brave enough to be Willow’s friend, to fight for something she WANTED. Finally, thanks to a certain human, Amity started to gain that courage and apologize to Willow, promising to be better. Thankfully, Amity does, talking Boscha down for making fun of Willow and not even hesitating to step up and join Willow’s grudgby team when they need a third member. It’s a reflection of both Amity’s character growth AND her platonic love for Willow. She wanted to be friends again and, once gaining the courage, she set out to do just that…The problem is that Amity might have been TOO willing to be friends again.

My absolute favorite scene between these two comes in “Follies At The Coven Day parade.” Amity comes over to Willow’s after stressing over something going on with Luz and Willow, in turn, offers a healthy distraction to take Amity’s mind off her worries. At that moment, Amity says she’s glad to be friends again, but Willow’s response to that is fascinating. She doesn’t disagree, nor does she nod. Willow just…keeps quiet, frowns a bit, and lets Amity braid her hair, leaving Amity’s comment hanging with no real response aside from a light hum. While Amity’s more than happy to pick things up where they left off, this moment shows that Willow’s not exactly there yet. She’s not entirely AGAINST the idea, she would have been more vocal about her disapproval otherwise. But Willow’s not willing to COMMIT to their friendship again, feeling like there’s still more to do before getting to that point. And I love that the next episode that focuses on Amity and Willow’s relationship, “Labyrinth Runners,” expands on this idea. Amity is trying too hard to pick things back up where they left off, acting like Willow’s someone to be protected. The problem is Amity's thinking of the Willow of the past and not acknowledging the Willow of the present, who’s capable and willing to kick ass if necessary. Willow’s trying to take Amity’s attempts at support on the chin, but it doesn’t stop Willow from finally blowing up and telling Amity to back off. It wasn’t out of anger but frustration, as Willow gets Amity’s attempts to be better, but things won’t work unless Amity accepts that WILLOW changed too. It’s a great progression from how this relationship started and where it would inevitably go, and I’m glad that Willow presented boundaries that Amity needed to respect…I wish they stretched THAT aspect out a little bit more.

After “Labyrinth Runners” established that Amity needed to learn to see who Willow is NOW, the episode ends with her doing just that…and the rest of the series goes on thinking that’s enough. Yes, it’s a good start for Amity to see the error of her ways in the same episode Willow calls her out on, but then they go straight to fist bumps, counseling one another, and jumping with glee together with their arms intertwined. They’re right back to being the same friends they started as after one major hiccup. In fairness, there could have been MORE interactions offscreen where they worked through more stuff, but we never see that. All we have is what the series showed us, and it’s…fine. It’s FUNCTIONAL. But after an intriguing concept of two friends reconnecting after a BAD ending to their relationship, it could have had stronger pacing to make it feel more impactful. But despite how rough things got with Willow and Amity, at least Willow had TWO friends to count on.

Willow, Gus, and Luz: Gus and Luz were the exact friends that Willow needed after falling out with Amity. With Gus and Willow, they share a camaraderie through being near the bottom of the social ladder. Willow’s picked on for not being powerful enough with her magic and Gus was a kid whose naivety was taken advantage of by older kids who had no brains of their own. They didn’t have anyone else for friends in school, but they always had each other. That idea alone is sweet enough, but the things these two did for each other is even sweeter. Because all they had was one another, they protected one another in different ways. Willow was there to keep Gus emotionally stable, calming him down when he feels stressed or lifting his spirits when he’s down in the dumps. Gus, of course, repays that by supporting Willow’s interests, being protective when he’s suspicious of someone like Hunter, and hyping Willow up whenever possible. They both care IMMENSELY about each other, which makes sense when you become friends with someone you met at your lowest moment. But as great as Gus is for Willow, he was never really there to help her grow. Oh, don’t get me wrong, he was always a shoulder to cry on and all, but both were content to be at the bottom at the bottom. It’s until a certain someone ELSE came along did Willow realize she deserved more.

Here’s where Luz comes in, as a friend Willow needs to push her FORWARD. Luz would support Willow no matter what, but in almost every instance of character growth Willow went through, Luz was almost always responsible for it. Helping Willow cheat at Abominations class led to her proving her great strengths as a plant witch and allowing shenanigans to happen ended up jumpstarting Amity and Willow reconnecting. Of course, Luz could be TOO pushy, like training Gus and Willow too hard for a game she didn’t want to compete in, but there’s a reason for that: Willow’s the first and only friend Luz has ever had, so she goes above and beyond to make Willow’s life better. Even if Luz can sometimes go overboard, it all works out in the end, with Willow appreciating all the ways Luz helped her blossom (Haha). And in turn, Willow was there for Luz in a lot of ways, either by being her magical muscle in a dangerous situation, supporting some crazy scheme Luz comes up with, or being the voice of reason when one crazy scheme goes too far. Luz went out of her way to help Willow, so Willow returns the favor by protecting Luz to the best of her ability. It’s a perfect give and take relationship where both get something out of it. However, there’s something to be said about how Luz and Gus are the best friends Willow could ask for, they don’t really act like they’re best friends with each other.

Don’t misconstrue my words, Luz and Gus DO care about each other. Gus hypes up Luz as much as he does Willow and Luz is as supportive and counseling towards Gus as she is towards everyone she cares about. The problem is that you don’t FEEL that friendship. You get it, but you don’t FEEL it as effectively as you do with Gus and Willow or Willow and Luz. And that’s because there’s not many interactions between Gus and Luz. Throughout the course of the entire series, there has only been TWO episodes that focused on Luz and Gus’ relationship, and Gus was using Luz for selfish reasons in one and they both ditched the other to hang out with crushes in another. There’s not many positive moments between these two, which wouldn’t be TOO bad if the show didn’t paint Luz, Gus, and Willow as a TRIO. They’re ALL supposed to have this big connection together, and there’s a piece of the puzzle that’s missing. Willow and Gus are often paired together as they’re often shoved to the side, and Willow’s often treated as Luz’s first true friend, but there’s hardly anything with Luz and Gus. It doesn’t help matters that Luz barely interacts with EITHER of her best friends in Season Two onward, which is especially weird given how much importance Season One gave their friendship. Still, at least we got a lot of cute moments and two great dynamics that warms the heart, even if it wasn’t as effective as it could have been as a trio. Which gets odder when you remember that Luz and Gus have a common friendship with someone ELSE, and still not with each other. Still, to be fair, Luz barely has a strong connection with this other person too.

Luz and Hunter: Luz’s friendship with Hunter is interesting but underdeveloped. They start off strong with this dynamic that has big brother/little sister energy with the two of them annoying each other easily, more so with Luz annoying Hunter than the other way around. But despite their annoyance with each other, there’s this connection through a shared interest of wild magic…only for the show to drop that idea. Yeah, there was something there about Hunter being fascinated and even excited about wild magic, but hides it due to fearing what Belos might do to Hunter if he gets too curious. It could have been a great way to establish a connection between him and Luz, but that idea’s forgotten as quickly as it’s brought up. I’m not entirely complaining as the sibling-like bickering was fun enough as is and there was even a BETTER connection formed between them: Shared guilt.

“Hollow Mind” is an episode that chewed Luz and Hunter up and spit them out with a TON of issues. It was an unintentional mission for Luz to show Hunter how evil Belos really is, with Hunter being in denial throughout most of it while Luz becomes more and more frustrated with him. But despite that frustration, she’s still willing to help Hunter leave Belos and be there for him when confronting how disposable Hunter is in Belos’ eyes. It tells us that Luz cares about Hunter and wants him to be safe, which is a given with Luz. She’s a caring person in general to people who have a good heart shielded by a rough exterior, and that’s no different from Hunter. There were brief moments of warmth between him and her in “Hunting Palisman” and I’m sure Willow talked up the good parts of Hunter after “Any Sport in a Storm.” Luz knows there’s something worth protecting, likely why she’s working so hard to convince Hunter Belos is evil and have him be on HER side so she can help and protect him. She just didn’t expect things to be more messed up, making Hunter realize how severely screwed he is and the type of monster he helped. Things didn’t get any better when Luz realized that Belos was actually Philip and that she accidentally helped this demon of a man. So after BARELY escaping death, Luz and Hunter were left with the knowledge that they helped the most evil person alive and indirectly caused so much pain to others, including people they deeply cared about. Needless to say, it left Luz and Hunter severely messed up. And when Belos almost won and a NEW threat came to be, Luz and Hunter would feel WORSE about the pain they had a SLIGHT part in causing. They didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it due to fear of rejection and isolation from the ones they care about, but Luz and Hunter still had each other to confide in with their issues. It’s why Hunter goes to Luz about his fears that Belos is back. Neither wants the others to worry and both know that Belos is likely to spill the beans just to mess with heads. These fears give Luz and Hunter something great to bond over…And it STILL feels like their relationship is underdeveloped. Despite this big thing that brings them together, there’s hardly any attention on it as it's only focused during ONE episode. Now, don’t get me wrong, they feel SOMETHING for each other. Hunter broke down in tears when Luz said he’s worth being protected too since he’s part of the family. He HAS to care about Luz’s feelings for him if that was the case. And in “Watching and Dreaming,” Luz’s nightmare revealed that she feels a little guilty for getting a palisman in less than twenty four hours after Hunter lost Flapjack. Hunter doesn’t even blame her for that one, but it proves how Luz cares about him like she would for any other friend. But that’s the thing: Out of everyone in the friend group, Luz probably has the most one-on-one time with Hunter, yet he’s still just one of her friends. There could have been a stronger connection, and it’s not there. What they DO have is fine, it works, but when Luz has a personal bond with most of the Hexsquad and barely has anything with Hunter, it feels a little off. And it gets even weirder when Hunter accidentally steals Luz’s best friends out from under her.

Gus and Hunter: Oh, don’t worry, we’ll get to Hunter and Willow’s relationship later. For now, I want to talk about how CRAZY it is that Gus and Hunter have this brotherly dynamic. I mean, it was inevitable that Gus and Hunter would go on an adventure together. Hunter shared the spotlight with the others in previous episodes, so Gus was due a turn by the time we got to “Labyrinth Runners.” And at that point, most of Hunter’s walls were cracked and crumbling, with him trying and failing to build them back up. By the time Gus found Hunter, the poor boy was emotionally vulnerable and capable of breaking down at any moment. When he finally DOES, Gus was there to pick up the pieces and help Hunter through his panic attacks and offer advice about what could help Hunter in the future. Hunter, in turn, tried to save Gus from danger and provide some comfort too, even if Hunter is a little awkward at it. This dynamic ends up being what these two share through the rest of the series. When Gus figured that Hunter was hurting about being a grimwalker, Gus offered him a book series that gave Hunter the exact thing he didn’t know he needed with a story that had a character Hunter could relate to. This helped him a lot, and it’s an obvious attempt from Gus to get Hunter to slowly work through what ails him, and I’m certain that Hunter appreciates all of it. The same goes with the way Gus might appreciate Hunter protecting him. It was Hunter who had a protective arm around Gus after “King’s Tide” and he saved Gus’ palisman, not wanting his little buddy to go through the same pain he did. There’s an equal amount of care and comfort with these two, added with secret handshakes and the two wrestling with each other in one after-credits image. It really does feel like they’re brothers to each other, and it’s crazy to me that despite having comparatively less interactions together, Gus has a closer bond with Hunter than he does with Luz. Or, I should say, a more well-defined bond that’s easier to understand and describe. Luz and Gus are close, but you FEEL how close Gus and Hunter are. And that’s great, every guy needs a bro, but how does this happen? How does a central character done dirty by lack of screentime ends up being more of a best friend to a reformed baddie than his best friend who’s the main character? It feels crazy, and the only way it could be crazier if it was a comic relief character who became besties a reformed—

Lilith and Hooty: How?! No, seriously, on paper, this sounds LUDICROUS! Yet it WORKS!

By Season Two, Lilith is at the lowest point of her life. She lost her magic, career, and the respect of hundreds of witches. So when Lilith is stuck with Hooty, a bird tube so desperate for friendship that he’ll take it from ANYBODY, including trash like Lilith, she takes it. At first, like any reasonable person, Lilith REFUSED Hooty’s attempts at friendship, feeling like she was better than him. But when it finally occurred to Lilith how much she NEEDED Hooty, she gave in and became his first REAL friend. The best part is that she didn’t fake it. Lilith was kind to Hooty, laughed at his jokes, and gave him caring words of advice when he started doubting his place in “Knock, Knock, Knockin’ On Hooty’s Door.” Lilith DID treat Hooty as a friend because he was the only one who gave her respect in a time when she didn’t get any from anyone else. This leads to Hooty treating Lilith as his favorite person…maybe a LITTLE obsessed at times, asking for hair and beating up anyone who he thinks might steal Lilith away (Poor Steve). But Hooty being so…let’s say, ENTHUSIASTIC about Lilith is because she’s the first ever person to treat Hooty right. Everyone else either verbally berated or physically assaulted Hooty due to disgust, annoyance, fear, or all of the above. Sure, Lilith acted the same way at first, but after giving in, she became friendlier and Hooty decided he would do ANYTHING for her because of it. Whether it's to face enemies for Lilith or even step in the line of fire for her, Hooty’s willing to go above and beyond for his Lulu. Heck, it was HER voice that somewhat broke whatever spell The Collector had on him. And Lilith, in turn, was so happy to see his face again while trying to bring him back. And it’s…adorable! I can’t believe that’s the word I’m using to describe Lilith and Hooty’s friendship, but it fits! Despite how ludicrous it sounds to give Lilith and Hooty one of the most wholesome friendships in the series, the writers ran with that idea and made something that worked when it had no right to. What’s next? Making one of the main characters befriend someone that  fans expected to be a new main antagonist?

King and The Collector: WHAT THE F**K?!

But jokes aside, things between The Collector and King are more or less one-sided, and I’m willing to bet that was intentional. King treated The Collector as something to be controlled, to be reigned in so he wouldn’t cause too much damage. Meanwhile, The Collector treated King as a true best friend, someone to play with and have adventures together. They never clued in how King was never really ALL IN with the friendship. He acted nice with The Collector, but the line is somewhat blurred with whether or not it’s genuine or King trying to prevent a cosmic sized meltdown. But The Collector appreciated it all the same, having a similar reaction to Hooty in which he was all alone for so long that someone genuinely being NICE to The Collector caused them to treat King better than he would with anyone else. When asking to have Francois sleep with them, The Collector was fine with the boundaries King set and respected them instead of getting angry. Sure, The Collector pushed to have King leave Francois on the nightstand, but he still kept their promise to leave Francois alone like a good little godling. And, heck, when assuming King was considering a FINAL solution for The Collector, he looked about ready to cry. The kid was angry, throwing a temper tantrum with Belos the second he dropped The Collector down a cliff. It only hurt more with King because, despite having different intentions with The Collector, he WAS genuinely nice. There may have been some annoyance about being The Collector’s playmate and the OCCASIONAL raised voice, but for the most part, King treated The Collector with kindness and patience. He knew that The Collector was just a kid who needed to mature a little and learn how to treat others properly. King acted as both a voice of reason AND a conscience, acting as The Collector’s friend to keep him happy AND maybe because he learned from Luz that it’s better to befriend your enemies. It explains why he was so patient and even believing that The Collector can be reasoned with. He knows that they’re POWERS are dangerous, but The Collector is still a lonely kid who just doesn’t know better. It’s why despite all the missteps, King wasn’t willing to give up on The Collector, hoping for the best with acting as his friend and maybe being genuine near the end there. I believe King when he says he hopes that The Collector comes back soon, because there couldn’t have ALWAYS been bad times during their months together. And now that The Collector proved that they DO know better, it could mean a better friendship for him and King. Things were definitely rocky for them both at first, but the finale left them off on what could be a good start, even if what we see will be all we’ll get. As for what we DO get, it’s a complicated relationship that I say works well enough leaving it up to interpretation to how close King and The Collector are.

But seriously, how many characters end up befriending characters we thought we would hate?

Gus and Matt: Gus befriended ANOTHER baddie?!

Okay, but seriously? I wasn’t sure where to put these two. Gus and Matt were definite rivals only to become FRIENDLY with each other near the end of “Through the Looking Glass Ruins.” Still, even then, Matt admitted that he wasn’t sure if he and Gus were friends. It felt IMPLIED, but future episodes didn’t really prove that they were friends now. At least, it doesn’t prove it on Gus’ end. He still acts annoyed with Matt while Matt seems more…indifferent? He doesn’t clap back, but he doesn’t really react at all. I guess that’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t give a definitive answer to whether or not these two are friends, and I’m willing to blame the fact that Gus got screwed over as a character with little to no solo episodes to develop him and his relationships. Gus is friends with characters who are important in the plot or are within the main cast so that he has more of a chance to develop bonds because the story moves WITH them all. Matt is a very minor character so there’s less of a need to develop a friendship between him and Gus. This results in a weak connection between them, making it feel like they would have been better off as rivals than friends. Which is a shame because I do like the idea of Gus making peace with a bully instead of continuing a never ending cycle of them constantly trying to one up each other. Now, that’s not ALWAYS the case in life, but it’s not a horrible thing to teach kids. Especially when the show proves that there are bullies best NOT to be friends with.

Amity and Boscha: Hey, not every friendship has to be good.

There’s not many interactions between Amity and Boscha, but despite that, so much of their relationship is easy to understand and dissect. From the first time we see them together, it’s clear that their friendship is as real as Amity’s hair color. Boscha seemed to believe that she and Amity were friends, but it’s pretty telling that in the end of “Hooty’s Moving Hassle” that Amity chose to sit AWAY from everyone during the Moonlight Conjuring. Amity doesn’t see the other girls, especially Boscha, as real friends. “Understanding Willow” confirms this as it’s revealed that the only real reason why Amity’s friends with Boscha is because her parents approved it. So, believing that she had no better options, Amity kept the charade going to keep her parents happy and Amity safe. But when Amity finally found someone worth fighting for, and the bravery to match, she dumped Boscha for REAL friends. It was freeing for Amity to be rid of something, only for the writers to later decide that it wasn’t fake for Boscha.

I know that I said last time that the reveal that Boscha had a form of obsession with Amity felt rushed and forced, but that doesn’t stop it from being an interesting idea. Despite the friendship being forced upon them, Boscha DID consider Amity a real friend to do everything together. What she didn’t know was that those feelings were very much one-sided because…A. Amity didn’t appreciate having a friend forced upon her after losing another. And B. Boscha wasn’t a good friend. Not just with Amity either, as Boscha had this bossy, controlling attitude with ALL her “friends.” Now, we never saw Boscha act this way towards Amity, but there’s not really any evidence that proves she wouldn’t, either. And given how Boscha inevitably became the most controlling president of the entire school during the apocalypse, I wouldn’t put it behind her. Despite that, though, Boscha never saw herself as a bad friend and initially believed Amity’s making a mistake by aligning with “losers.” Amity never cared, and that just made Boscha frustrated, even jealous when Luz and Amity became close. Those feelings were easy for the audience to pick up, only for “For the Future” to further confirm them and put Boscha’s reactions in a new light. We now understand more about how torn up Boscha was in previous episodes and that’s why I don’t hate this last minute idea that the writers threw in. It’s still rushed and forced, but the potential it COULD have had makes it interesting. If there were more episodes to develop this idea, then it could have been a better relationship to dissect. As is, things are still fine, but weakened by doing too much too late.

But that’s enough about friends. Now that we started something negative, it’s time to lean into it by going over some enemies.

Rivalries/Enemies

The Owl House may be a show about friendship, family, and being kind to those you didn’t expect to deserve it, but there are still some characters who hate each other. These are more than negative, toxic relationships. These are pairings between characters who mutually hate each other, even if one side strongly dislikes the other more. And we’re going through a lot of hate, so let’s start with something light.

Willow vs. Boscha: It’s a classic dynamic: A bully and her nerd. That’s how it’s treated, that’s how it’s mostly seen, but I understand it as something more. I said so last time that Boscha is the perfect rival to Willow. There’s similarities in how they’re physically driven girls who need to affirm that they’re capable of being strong. The difference is their attitudes, as Willow goes out to prove that she’s as good as ANY witch and Boscha insists that she’s better than EVERY witch. Boscha believes that she has nothing to prove because she’s already perfect. So it makes sense that she feels threatened when Willow gets more attention. Boscha thinks that Willow is at the very bottom of the social ladder due to her lack of magical talent and made fun of her for years because of it. So when Willow gets a confidence boost and people notice her more as a result, it infuriates Boscha down to her core. So it’s no big surprise that Boscha doubles down on her bullying to make Willow’s life worse…For one episode.

Yeah, you would think Boscha’s worsened bullying would be continuous, but instead she lets up after the end of “Wing It Like Witches.” To be fair, it makes sense NARRATIVELY that Boscha would stop as the episode presents this idea that no matter how superior she ACTS, people will still praise how cool Willow is. That look of fear on Boscha’s face when her friends swarm Willow and ask her to join the team is a sweeter victory for Willow than beating Boscha at grudgby. And it SHOULD work…but it’d be better if Boscha was just a one-off bully. Except that she’s not. She’s WILLOW’S bully who spent so much time making Willow’s life miserable. So while it makes narrative sense for Boscha to back off, it doesn’t make sense for her CHARACTER and her place in Willow’s life. Plus, “Wing It Like Witches” isn’t exactly a satisfying end to their rivalry. It becomes more noticeable as an issue in “For the Future” when Willow finally stands up to Boscha without anyone else doing it for her. That’s a great start but then Boscha gets a forced redemption and Willow goes “This isn’t over” in a more playful tone instead of a spiteful one. And…that’s the end of that. Willow doesn’t have any final fight to shut Boscha up for good or even say, “Stay away now and forever.” They just end things on friendly terms and that doesn’t seem right? I mean, it fits with this whole “Make friends, not enemies” idea that The Owl House loves to use, but not only does this seem like a case where it would have been fine NOT to use it, it also feels a little cheap. Like, that’s how the rivalry ends? They hardly interacted in the very last episode that they’re together in, and all they did to each other comes to a close with one-sided playful banter? It definitely could use more punch to it, preferably one from Willow. And sure, you could argue that they weren’t meant to be rivals in the first place, but even if that’s true, which I honestly believe it isn’t, it would be a missed opportunity to take, which it honestly kind of is anyway. I like MOST of what we got with these two, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more.

But, hey, at least SOME rivalries lived up to their potential.

Kikimora vs. Hunter: Okay, this one’s definitely more or less one-sided, but it’s everything it needed to be.

Kikimora had an INTENSE jealousy towards Hunter, and that’s putting it VERY lightly. She tried to kill him three times, with her not knowing it was him the second time, and Kikimora decided her new life purpose was to prove that she was better than Hunter. And Hunter…couldn’t care less. It’s actually kind of funny how much he considers Kikimora as a non-threat. If anything, he’s threatened by what Kikimora USES, whether it’s a dragon, a mech, or a small battalion of grunts. As for Kikimora herself, Hunter reacts to her surprising the others in “For the Future” the same way a person would if they forgot to buy milk. She’s a minor inconvenience to him at best, and Hunter has no fear dealing with her. Meanwhile, Kikimora continues to plan his death as if their rivalry was on equal terms, even though it very much is NOT. And while the conclusion to this one isn’t strong either, it doesn’t really need to be. It’s a rivalry used for entertainment value and to further emphasize how detached from reality Kikimora is to believe that the Emperor’s right hand considers an angry little gremlin as a worthy opponent. It’s a short and fun dynamic that works because the show didn’t need it to be anything more. It’s not like they’re the BIGGEST enemies in the show…That’s the next relationship.

Luz vs. Belos: Out of everything in the story, the relationship between the main protagonist and antagonist is one of the most important things to get right. Fortunately, The Owl House understands this with Luz and Belos. Like most antagonists, Belos is a dark reflection of Luz. They’re both humans who came to the Isles, worked hard to find a way to do magic like everyone else, made connections with others to help get by, and changed the world through their actions. However, that’s where all the similarities end with these two, because even though they have surface level comparisons, they couldn’t be more different with what they did and why they’ve done it. Luz changed lives for the better, all because she loved the Boiling Isles and all the friends she made in it. Belos changed lives for the worse because he despised witch kind and wanted to eradicate them all from the inside out. And when both faced the other, Luz and Belos had different ideas of who was the hero of this story. To Luz, it was obvious. Almost ANNOYINGLY obvious, as she couldn’t get how no one else could see how Belos was clearly evil. As for Belos, he didn’t necessarily see Luz as the villain, but instead as a tragedy. Just like his brother, Luz was taken in by the witches and their sinful allure and was too far gone to fix. Belos is still “merciful” to her, but that’s because Luz is the first human he has met in years and he’s willing to refrain from eradicating her like a common witch because there’s a chance that she might see the light. It’s why, even during his death, he is begging for Luz to reclaim her humanity again and be better than those witches. There’s just one problem: Everything Belos believes Luz to be is complete horseshit.

Luz isn’t a tragic loss, she’s a GOOD PERSON. Hell, she’s more human than Belos could ever be as Luz treats everyone in the Isles as actual PEOPLE instead of sinful monsters. Luz chose to help witches because she genuinely cares about them and wants to save THEM from danger. Right from the beginning, Eda was more than willing to let Luz run away back home only for Luz to stay because these witches and demons needed her help. That doesn’t make her a tragedy but a person who’s actually pure of heart. And as for Belos’ “mercy,” it was out of selfishness despite how much he’d tell himself otherwise. When letting Luz free to save Eda, he practically did it with a gun to Eda’s head so Luz would be willing to give up the portal door. That and likely because he deduced that he needed Luz’s help to get The Collector. And after nearly killing Luz in “King’s Tide,” he decided to stop because Luz convinced him that she could be his guide in the modern human realm and verify his achievements. Belos may have believed that he was being altruistic, but in reality he backed Luz in the corner, forcing her to do and say what Belos wanted. Only for Luz to prove that she’s NOT an idiot by outsmarting him both of those times, nearly killing Belos the second. It shows that not only does Belos misunderstand the kind of person Luz is, he underestimates her. The man who lied and tricked his way to the top got beaten at own game by some teenage girl who is great at sleight of hand and appealing to someone’s needs. Yet despite this, Belos still thinks that he can outsmart Luz one last time by blaming his actions on a curse. Because he still believes he knows that Luz is a misguided girl and tries to use her kindness towards others as a way to convince her. But while Belos fails to understand Luz, Luz came to learn EXACTLY the kind of person Belos is.

Being a fan of fantasy as a genre, Luz could tell upon seeing Belos that he was evil. And, again, it’s pretty telling how Luz feels about him when she, the kindest character in the show, immediately went for the head. But while Luz was aware that Belos was obviously evil, she didn’t know with Philip. Her first impression of Philip was that he was a wise man who could potentially help her, which is the exact image Belos tried to portray with Luz years later. The only reason why it works with Luz when she meets Philip is because she read his adventures, which were personally revised by Philip himself, and he didn’t look like much of a threat. It isn’t until Luz catches onto what type of con artist Philip was that she soon switched gears to hating the old bastard. Rightly so, of course, but it would unfortunately come too late as Luz already helped Philip without even knowing that he was on his way to becoming Belos. The realization that Luz accidentally created a monster haunts her and will continue to do so for years. It’s why she REFUSES to buy any other trick or lie Belos tries to pull and kills him without any mercy. She knows that there’s nothing he could say to change Luz’s mind, because all the tricks in the past proves that he’s full of it. And as he berates witches with his last breath, it’s all Luz needs to know that she’s making the right choice. Belos was a monster that ruined lives, including Luz’s, and she’s most definitely glad to be rid of him.

Luz and Belos has a perfect hero/villain dynamic that I adored. I DO wish they interacted more to further sell that dynamic, but that’s nitpicking at best as they’re both still wonderfully written. There was definitely no missed potential with these two…Speaking of missed potential…

Darius vs. Alador: Alright, in fairness, this one might not have had much attention on it anyway, even if the show had more time. And large and part because it’s something that’s more or less written in the background of everyone else’s stories. Just small comments like Darius calling Alador a hack and actions where Alador tosses Darius’ book away in disgust. They were never a focus of an episode, but the writers still made it a fact that Alador and Darius couldn’t stand each other. And it works for what it is…but then there’s this level of intrigue presented in “Them’s the Breaks, Kid,” a flashback episode that briefly revealed that Alador and Darius were once friends. That inevitably led to questions, all circling around what could have happened between then and now to cause their friendship to change into a rivalry. There’s some definite intrigue to what could have happened, and it’s why I’m willing to say it’s a missed opportunity to not explore it…HOWEVER, I will also admit that it’s not a HUGE thing to focus on. Out of everything in the series, there’s bigger fish to fry than explaining why a secondary character’s dad came to hate a side character. If the show had all the time in the world, it would definitely feel more like a missed opportunity. As is, it’s still perfectly functional as a rivalry with a bit of unresolved intrigue. I would have loved more, but I’m not losing hair over it.

And yes, I know, there’s a possibility that these two could be a couple, but that’s more or less hinted as a possibility because of ONE interaction near the end. I wouldn’t say it’s anything official outside of that…But since we brought up SHIPS…

Couples/Ships

Quick stipulation, this isn’t about popular ships within the fandom. You’re not going to see Viney and Emira or Viney and Skara just because there’s a lot of fan fics and MoringMark comics about them. There’s also not going to be any POSSIBLE ships here. We’re discussing what’s canon and official based on what we’ve seen in the show. So no Veesha, despite how adorable and crazy it is to have a crack ship actually be a possibility.

No, instead, we’re discussing the ships that were built up within the show, their ups and downs, and how they worked as a couple. And to start, let’s just go ahead and rip off the bandaid. There’s one ship we ALL know deserves to be talked about, and it’s best to start off with…

Alador/Odalia: Hey, not every couple is good for each other. 

Full disclosure, I had NO idea where to place these two. I THOUGHT about putting Alador and Odalia in the family section, but their relationship cannot be described as that. Even putting them HERE feels like a stretch. But there’s not really any better place for these two. I could call them enemies, but that also feels like an oversimplification because they don’t really hate each other…At least not until “Clouds on the Horizon,” but we’ll get to that.

Just like asking if Odalia loved Amity, I have to wonder if she loved Alador. Because, truthfully, I think she DID, once upon a time. I look at that photo of Alador winning the Bonesborough Brawl, and it definitely hints that there was SOME infatuation there on Odalia’s face. Granted, being attracted to someone and loving them are two different things. Dozens of fans hate Odalia with their final breath, but will go on record saying that she’s pretty hot. And…yeah, fair. But I definitely feel like she felt SOMETHING that went beyond physical attraction once. As for whether she feels the same in the PRESENT, I definitely say that same spark no longer exists as Odalia sees Alador as nothing more than a business partner than a romantic one. She compliments his work, but you can argue that’s just Odalia being glad that she’ll be getting richer instead of admiring Alador’s passion in his craft. And when Alador says something Odalia doesn’t like, she doesn’t waste a second to threaten divorce and take away what Alador really cares about: The kids. Odalia may not fully care about her children, but she knows Alador does and is too willing to use them as leverage. Any attraction Odalia may have felt is certainly gone, with the only thing she has left to feel is maybe physical, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Mainly because Odalia seems like a woman who would have private affairs with better looking men, and can get away with it because she’s in charge of every aspect of the relationship. And Alador suffered for it.

Now, as for whether or not ALADOR loved Odalia, I’m once again willing to say yes…to a point. Some say that their marriage was more or less arranged for the sake of business or Odalia pitched their marriage as a business proposition rather than anything romantic. And while I can definitely see that, a part of me believes that there WAS something there and that Alador stuck with Odalia because he initially fell for her. If it was strictly a business thing, Alador would have walked out any time with how Odalia treated him as an employee rather than a partner. And the arranged marriage seems off too because Alador, even before working through hell, seemed too messy to be from a rich family willing to do business with Odalia’s. So I believe that the best explanation is that Alador used to love Odalia once, but that love would fade away over the years. The only thing that kept Alador by her side despite the anguish is both the kids and, quite possibly, because Alador’s feelings didn’t COMPLETELY fade until “Clouds on the Horizon.” Trust me when I say that for some couples, even married ones, find it hard to get out of a relationship that’s toxic because they cling too tightly to the good times. You know you can do better, but you stick it out because your brain keeps telling you “Well, they’re not ALWAYS this bad.” I feel like the show hints how THAT’S how Alador feels with Odalia. Look at that smile he gives her in the end of “Escaping Expulsion.” Odalia’s compliment might not have been wholly genuine, but Alador’s smile was. It’s almost as if he’s taking the compliment at face value and sees it as an example of Odalia being not so bad. He takes little moments like that until finally meeting his wits end in “Clouds on the Horizon,” where after learning that he missed so much of Amity’s life in “Reaching Out,” Alador’s a bit more willing to fight back against Odalia. Still, there’s that part of him saying, “Well, she’s not THAT bad.” And just like Amity, Alador’s telling himself that Odalia couldn’t be THAT evil in selling weapons to a genocidal maniac. But once finding out that she IS, it’s the last push Alador needed to shut up that voice inside his head and officially cut ties with Odalia forever. It’s a great representation of how a toxic marriage can grow over time and that even men can face abuse from women…At least, that’s how it should be on paper. But much like the rest of Alador’s character, everything is better on paper than it is in practice.

A lot of what the writers do with Alador and Odalia still works…enough. It’s right on that line where everything the writers try is still functional but could still be better. A lot of my analysis between them is based on looking deeply at minor implications at best and seeing something that isn’t there at worst. It would benefit MORE if we saw the good times Alador and Odalia had together or if we saw more of a conflict with Alador’s perception of Odalia. As is, I still LIKE what’s done and what it represents, but I still admit that it could have been better. Maybe with more time, it COULD have been, but alas, that’s not the case.

But that’s enough of a ship that sank. Let’s talk about one that had SOME fans at first only to SKYROCKET into popularity when the writers started making it a possibility. To the point where you see them almost everywhere. And that is…

Willow/Hunter: I’m not kidding, it feels like these two are EVERYWHERE now. I remember seeing, like, one or two bits of fan works of Willow and Hunter together that made me question people’s sanity. And then “Any Sport in a Storm” happened and a lot of people, including myself, went, “I get it now…”

There’s a lot of potential present with Willow and Hunter. They’re both people who work hard to prove that they’re stronger than anyone expects. Willow is quick to identify with Hunter’s self-deprecating view of being “Half a witch,” and Hunter admires Willow’s show of strength and determination. The ideas of these two becoming a couple grow stronger the more “Any Sport in a Storm” goes on, with Willow showing that while she understands Hunter’s plight, she doesn’t treat him like a wounded puppy and YANKS him away to prove that NO ONE should be underestimated. It shows that while Willow cares, she will be direct and to the point, the type of language Hunter understands. And to Willow, it’s really smart that she was introduced to HUNTER first instead of the Golden Guard. To her, Hunter wasn’t a threat, but a kid. A weird kid, sure, but one who still has insecurities and comes across as a little awkward in a charming way. Even when the truth comes out, Willow’s taken in by the charm of how Hunter clearly doesn’t know how to act as a kid. As for Hunter, he’s definitely the one who developed a crush first, proven by that little hint of a blush near the end of the episode. It makes sense, given how Willow was the first person Hunter met that was BEAMING with positivity and didn’t immediately want to kill him. Add that with the fact that Willow is a no nonsense person who has some of the most powerful magical abilities he’s ever seen, she likely checks the boxes that Hunter believes to be noteworthy. But it’s Willow’s kindness that sucked Hunter in.

Hunter knows Willow is tough, but he appreciates the way she seemed willing to forgive Hunter despite kidnapping her and the rest of the Emerald Entrails. Willow’s nice, and she continues to be so when stuck in the human realm. Willow cuts Hunter’s hair as he’s having an identity crisis and supports his bizarre fashion choices after he reads Cosmic Frontier and gains a better understanding of himself. The best part is that Willow didn’t know the full picture during these moments. She just thought Hunter wanted his hair cut and was trying something new and fashionable, but the facts didn’t matter because she was a hundred percent on board anyway. That level of support was something Hunter rarely got in his life, and he got it from Willow the most. It all adds up to why Hunter has a crush on Willow, making it easy to buy why he does…The problem is that I can’t exactly say the same about Willow’s crush on Hunter.

I get that Willow likes Hunter and that she cares deeply about him. She’s crying the most when it looks like Hunter’s dying in “Thanks to Them” and it’s when Willow fails to help him in “For the Future” that almost breaks her. We GET that she cares, but there’s never really that MOMENT where Willow’s clearly crushing on Hunter beyond implications and two “blink and you’ll miss it” blushes that come near the end of “For the Future.” There could be the argument that Willow likes Hunter the MOST out of the friend group, with some pointing out that she went the most feral in “Clouds on the Horizon” when she thought it was HUNTER who was in danger. A friend of mine pointed out that Willow would have acted the same way if she knew it was Luz, and while that’s definitely true with her attacks on Kikimora, Willow went from the first to hijack an airship to save Hunter to the most held together when she found out it was Luz. So I could definitely see the case that Willow cared a lot about Hunter but never realized it was a crush. What bothers me is that it doesn’t feel BIG when Willow discovers her crush. I mean, yeah, it’s sweet that Hunter admitted how much Willow means to him and that he’s willing to be a shoulder to cry on…but that’s the same with Willow’s other friends. There’s nothing that different with Hunter as there is with Luz or Gus, and by the time Willow’s blushing it feels like something that NEEDS to happen to confirm her crush. And I fully blame how underdeveloped it is on the show’s shortening.

Hunter and Willow becoming a couple was an idea brought up when the show was nearing the end, leaving the writers with a handful of episodes and three specials to make it make sense. What went wrong was that they focused more on Hunter’s feelings than Willow’s and made it canon as quickly as they could. And even then, the canonicity of their relationship is more implied if anything else. Like, it’s obvious to anyone with EYES and a BRAIN that Hunter and Willow are a couple, but there’s never this verbal or physical confirmation that they’re together. They have their arms around each other in the finale, but there’s not much other than that. On the one hand, that’s great role reversal as shows for YEARS had to rely on implications towards their same sex couples while being as explicit as possible with straight ones, where The Owl House is the exact opposite. But on the other hand, why even make these two a couple when you’re not even going to make them kiss?

Back when I said “I get it now” after “Any Sport in a Storm,” I realized I was excited more by the IDEA of Hunter and Willow without knowing the actual execution. We could have seen Hunter deal with his first ever crush and Willow learn that she has someone who loves her no matter how “powerless” she can be to others (Primarily Boscha). What we got instead was HALF of that, watching some great stuff with Hunter but not much with Willow. Still, these two have their fans and I can definitely see why. The IDEA of them together is great and it’s why I still like them being a pair. However, based on what the show gave us, their love didn’t bloom (Hahaha) as effectively as it should.

But I know the REAL couple you want me to talk about. It’s one of the biggest relationships in the show, due to how effectively it appeals to the LGBTQA+ community. And that is…

Raine/Eda: Because, let’s face it, older people can be queer too.

On top of being a stellar representation to have one of the main characters fall in love with someone non-binary, The Owl House does great at telling Raine and Eda’s love story. Cleverly, the writers introduce Raine as someone Eda knew and was obviously in love with. By withholding most of their past for future episodes, it leaves this first assumption that they were both in love with each other for years but likely never bite the bullet by asking each other out. I mean, they were nervous together with Eda being a blushing mess half the time. It’s not like they were exes, because people don’t act that way towards someone they broke up with…Then, literally, the next episode later, it was revealed that they WERE exes. Even better, Eda didn’t want to break up. She DID want Raine, but Raine felt like they weren’t wanted because Eda wouldn’t let Raine in to help with the curse. Eda left them at arms length to keep them safe, only for Raine to break things off because, well, how would YOU feel about your partner being distant when all you want is to be close? This brilliantly recontextualizes “Eda’s Requiem,” as Eda’s the one always blushing and looking away, as if she doesn’t want to let on how much she still loves Raine. Yet, upon seeing them for the first time in YEARS, Eda practically jumps at the chance to work with Raine in rebelling against Belos, partially because of the chaos she’s excited to cause and because struggling to grasp that her kids might leave one day so Eda throws herself into the first relationship she can think of reconnecting with. Raine, albeit too late, catches onto this and stops Eda before she makes a mistake she can’t take back, helping her live so that she can be better to her kids than she was to Raine, letting them stay instead of pushing away when it feels easier. And likely because Raine still loves Eda too.

Then Raine grew kidnapped…sort of. They ARE taken away with Terra trying to brainwash Raine into changing everything they are, but Raine’s smart enough to avoid the obvious trap and tricks everyone into believing that they WERE under Terra’s influence. The thing is, though, that Eda AND the audience didn’t get this information until FOUR episodes after being fed information that they’re brainwashed. So when Eda tries to rescue Raine, they had to keep up the act because Eda would ABSOLUTELY interfere or throw herself into danger for Raine. But Raine doesn’t want Eda in danger, so they lie and keep her as far away as they possibly can…doing almost the same thing Eda did years ago that caused Raine to break up with her. The details aren’t exact and the circumstances are more complicated, but the spirit is still there as Raine tries to keep Eda as far as possible from any danger so she won’t get hurt. Only for Eda to prove that she’s one to face danger head on for the ones she loves and that the safest place is right by Raine. It also helps that Eda initially contacted them, begging Raine to save Luz because she needs to be FAR from danger and Eda doesn’t care what’s going on with Raine at the time doing this. Eda trusts them more than anything, and this moment of fragility helps Raine realize they’ve been thinking backwards in trying to help Eda. And helping Eda is all Raine set out to do, trying to give her any out possible from being branded with a sigil and ripping Eda’s arm off so she wouldn’t die with the others…It sounds horrific out of context, but trust me that it proves how much Raine cares for Eda, willing to do anything for her survival. The love between these two is as clear as day, and how the writers went about showing Raine and Eda’s feelings is smart…BUT…

As good as this ship is, a ship like Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen from Adventure Time shows what Raine and Eda could and SHOULD be. It’s a similar dynamic, as Bubblegum and Marcy broke up in their younger days only to reconnect MUCH later because they needed more time to grow before becoming the perfect couple they were meant to be. It’s to show that your first love CAN be your true love, but sometimes people need time apart to become better before realizing you never wanted this person out of your life in the first place. That’s not the same for everybody, but for these old gays, it is. The difference between Raeda and Bubbline, though, is that Bubbline focuses on the growth BOTH characters have to go through. Bubblegum and Marceline have their own baggage to overcome and the majority of their time on the show is about them learning to deal with it not necessarily for each other but for themselves and the people they love. With Raeda, it’s the same idea, but it’s Eda who grows more. And that’s because Eda, upon conception, was her own character where Raine, as I said last time, was a love interest. Still wouldn’t say that makes Raine less of a character, but for this relationship that means there’s less attention on THEM to grow as they’re often treated as this perfect person who Eda tries hard to fight back for. Now, there’s stuff that Raine did wrong too, with pushing Eda away from danger and constantly putting Eda’s needs in front of their own. However, the show never really digs deep into those issues, nor is there a moment where Eda confronts Raine for how THEY acted. Granted, Eda doesn’t have a leg of her own to stand on, but we’ve at least seen her grow past pushing people out of her life and letting them back in. Most of Raine’s development coincides with Eda’s, making it where Raine can’t adequately grow past their own failings. It makes it feel like it’s EDA that has to grow more to get Raine back, which would be fine, but it also makes Raine feel more like a prize Eda needs to earn instead of a character who has their own stakes in the relationship. It’s the part of Raine and Eda’s love story that gets to me a little, but, even then…I still loved that these two got back together.

Raine and Eda’s chemistry is on point and you get why they love each other. They’re both agents of chaos, Raine going for more controlled chaos while Eda is just all in for pure havoc. Eda brings extra fun into Raine’s life while Raine makes sure they BOTH don’t get into trouble. It’s like Raine and Eda were made for each other and you DO want them to get back together. Those scenes where Eda peppers Raine’s face with kisses and later snuggles up to them when all the craziness is over is ALL I ever wanted. I’m glad I got it, even if the development of their relationship could’ve been better, I’m still happy that they BOTH got their deserved happy ending.

But that’s enough teasing. You may have noticed that I haven’t talked about ONE relationship yet. One that is HUGE within this series. A relationship so big, so important, that to lump it in with all these others is a disservice to how major it is. A relationship SO GOOD that it deserves its own category as…

It’s Own Thing

You all know who they are. They’re a relationship that makes the show what it is and are the very reason why it’s so good. They’re so important that The Owl House wouldn’t be the same without them. And they are…

Luz, King, and Eda: Or our main trio, to be short.

Yeah, crazy enough, the most essential relationship in the show happens to involve the three main characters in it. The Owl House starts with them, ends with them, and features them almost always going on adventures, sometimes alone but always ending up back together. Together, they’re more than a group of weirdos stuck together. They’re a family.

Luz and Eda have this VERY obvious mother/daughter dynamic. Eda may have called Luz her human, apprentice, and, most times, KID, but it always felt like she was one slip of the tongue away from saying “daughter.” Eda’s motherly instincts kicked in nearly instantly, where the second Luz is put into too much danger, all the woman can think of is getting Luz FAR away from it. It’s large in part because Eda’s a naturally caring person, whether she likes to admit it or not, and doesn’t want this young girl to get hurt. But the more time Eda spends with Luz, getting to know this crafty kid with a good heart, the more it becomes clear that Eda wants to protect Luz because Eda sees Luz as her own. Not only can see it in all the ways Eda smiles at Luz’s antics or comforts Luz when she needs it, but Eda’s motherly love for Luz is clear as day when you notice that Eda’s at her most panicked and angry when Luz is in danger. Anyone can be nice to some random teen that refuses to leave their home, but it takes a mother to be equally soft and protective towards that child. And let it be known that the feelings are very mutual, as Luz often looks up to Eda as a second mother. Just like how Eda is always SO CLOSE to saying “daughter,” Luz always sounds like she means “mother” when she says “mentor.” Luz constantly goes right to Eda for help, information, and advice on pretty much every aspect of her new magical life. Sure, this could be because Eda’s the closest thing to an adult that could take Luz in, but Luz ALSO forms a better bond the more time they spend together. Luz cares so much about how Eda sees her and wants Eda to be happy above all else. You could say that it’s the least Luz could do for freeloading in Eda’s home (and you’d be a prick for saying that), but it comes from a genuine love, respect, and admiration for Eda. Hell, it’s LUZ who’s the first to admit that they’re like family and to say, “I love you” in “Young Blood, Old Souls.” They both clearly see each other as a mother and her daughter, even if neither of them use the actual words “mother” or “daughter.” The spirit is definitely there and it’s adorable and entertaining to see each episode.

However, out of the three, I feel like it’s King who’s often treated as an afterthought. For Luz and Eda, King’s either treated as a sidekick, a friend, a son/brother, and a pet. Although, this is primarily because the writers clearly didn’t know what to do with King until Season Two, which is around the same time Luz and Eda started treating King more consistently. Luz became more of a protective order sister and Eda became more of a mother (Mainly because King legally made himself her son). BUUUUUUUUUT, it doesn’t change how off the inconsistencies felt early on, nor was there enough time to make these dynamic changes feel like they stick. Especially since King rarely showed any genuine care until near the end of Season One. He still showed that he appreciated Luz and Eda and was happy to have them, but also treated them both VERY poorly, like with how much he intentionally annoyed Eda or cracked jokes at Luz’s expense. He didn’t hate them, but it definitely took King more time to love the family he has. Likely because Season Two made him realize that he didn’t have any biological family outside of Luz and Eda (and sometimes Hooty). Even when the idea that his real family is out there, King still considers Luz and Eda a part of it. It’s all sweet to see even if it feels a little late to the game.

The best part about these three, though, is the mutual amount of love and care for each other. Some of the sweetest scenes in the show feature Luz, King, and Eda lifting each other up, comforting one another, or just…goofing off and having fun. Their bond and chemistry as a trio is on point and you get how important it is when this trio splits up for Season Three. Because Season Three…was better than it had any right to be. “Thanks to Them” started the season out strong as the best episode in the series, “For the Future” also existed as good but not great, but it wasn't until “Watching and Dreaming” did things start to feel right. As good as “Thanks to Them” was, it felt like one of the pieces of the puzzle was missing. I loved almost every minute, but there was something that made “Thanks to Them” unable to be the best representation of what makes the show so good. And what was missing was King and Eda. It felt so wrong to watch an episode without either of them being right there with Luz, almost as if the show was incomplete without them. Things didn’t feel much better in “For the Future.” King and Eda were there, but separated from Luz as they dealt with The Collector while Luz was dealing with…a lot more. We saw all of them in the same episode, but something STILL felt missing. It’s not until we get to “Watching and Dreaming” does it become clear: What was missing was seeing the trio TOGETHER. Seeing all three of them reunite and interact with each other again finally made it feel like I was finally watching The Owl House again. You could have a great show if it was Luz with her mom and friends, dealing with teen drama. You can even have an okay show if it was Eda and King going through some magical nonsense. But when you bring them together, have them go through everything with each other close by or by their side, then you get The Owl House. All these other relationships could’ve been cut and the show wouldn’t suffer, but The Owl House wouldn’t be the same without Luz, King, and Eda’s bond.

And…Yeah, that’s about it.

The relationships in this show are varied, both in the different dynamics each character has and the quality of how they’re written. There’s a lot of great ideas, but some seem like there’s not enough time to make them meet their full potential. Regardless, the ones that DO work succeeds in bringing more warmth and intrigue to an already great show. There’s much more ups than downs, and it’s always endearing seeing great characters forming perfect bonds with other great characters.

That’s all for now, though. So I will see you all next time as I discuss—What? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I forget something?

…OH! You thought I forgot ANOTHER relationship. One that features two of the best characters in the series. 

A relationship that’s adorable and gave me so much happiness in this dark place we call Earth.

A relationship that is IMPRESSIVE LGBTQA+ representation due to its normalization and how much attention is given to it.

A relationship that, while The Owl House wouldn’t be the same without our main trio, the very same could be said about this other relationship.

A relationship SO GOOD, that to just go over it as simply as I went over the others would be too great of a disservice.

Because that relationship is, without a doubt, the best thing about the series. And no, I’m not kidding.

You’ll see why…next time.

Next Part >

#the owl house #the owl house review #LONG POST AGAIN #sorry #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #camila noceda #amity blight #willow park #gus porter #hunter deamonne #emperor belos #what i thought about

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Assorted Musings: A Jumbled Collection of Owl House Rewrites

So, I've been thinking of ways to improve The Owl House and the short answer is: make it actually stick to its premise. Show how the Boiling Isles is under the thumb of an oppressive dictator, make Luz an actual outsider in her home world, better explain how Belos came to power, etc.

The following is just a loose assortment of basic premises without rhyme or reason:

On Hexside and Amity-

Hexside and all schools (all buildings really) have a portrait of the Emperor that they say a vow to commit themselves to eradicating wild magic and upholding the Titan's laws. Luz is creeped out to the max by this as it reminds her of North Korea and other dictatorships (in addition to loving Azura, she's also a massive history nerd, to the point of correcting her teachers back home. She doesn't have many friends because she's rather intense about her hyper fixations and can be rather judgy). Hexside is also an exclusive school where a lot of students end up getting into the EC or in the upper echelons of the coven system. They have portraits of all the Hexside alumni who served as coven heads.

Amity is the top student of the school and a firm believer in the Emperor, since her mother is the ceo of Blight Industries and works closely with the Emperor himself. It is guaranteed she will be in the Emperor's Coven. She doesn't actively bully Willow, but does shun her and because of her influence, other kids avoid "half-witch" Willow as well.

On Luz in the Boiling Isles-

Eda is lazy and only took Luz in to help her in her illegal trade and sends her to Hexside so she will at least be out of her hair. She disguises Luz as a witch with undetectable magic (it can only be used in small amounts and only for minor spells). The detention kids don't multi-track as such an idea is sacrilege and it takes Luz to introduce the idea to them. Even then, they're nervous as hell about it. But Luz being Luz, she convinces them that it's not "wild magic" it's just trying out different methods to see if this is the right track. You don't want to upset the Titan by choosing the wrong magic, right?

While she is disguised as a witch in Hexside, she obviously can't use magic, which everyone makes fun of (like Akko in Little Witch Academia). She excells in Potions and Tarot Card Reading, basically anything that doesn't require a bile sac. Everyone calls her a half-witch (a term for a witch with weak or no magical abilities--sometimes witches are born with a malfunctioning bile sac). She makes friends with Willow and Gus, who is still a nerd for all things human related but keeps that secret because human trash is quickly picked up by the coven scouts. Luz steals some of Eda's human junk and explains what they are to Willow and Gus. He's thrilled but also terrified because his new friend is showing him contraband. Willow is suspicious and questions how Luz knows so much. Luz hems and haws for a bit before changing the subject. Hooty is pretty much the same. 10/10 character. King is not a child in this rewrite. His egg was in stasis for a long time and when he hatched he's functionally an adolescent but being in the egg for so long stunted his growth. He's very immature and still thinks he's the King of Demons. He pretends to hate Azura but rereads Luz's book when she's at school. Then Luz stumbles upon his fan fiction. Eda figured out right away that Luz stole her stuff ("but I gave it back, Eda!" "yeah, and I was going to sell it this afternoon but then it mysteriously wasn't in my inventory. You lost me a customer, Luz.") Eda then teaches Luz how to be a better thief and find more human stuff before the EC does.

On Belos-

Under Belos' reign, witches are judged by their strength and power; certain covens have more prestige than others: Abomination and Plant are near the top. Construction and Healing are more in the middle. Bard is at the bottom. Back in the days of the Titan, magic was communal and while, you could specialize in a specific type of magic, it was not regimented and more seen as a preference. All of it came from the Titan and all witches shared their knowledge and gifts equally.

In the days of the Titan, the Titan could speak to people but only through mediums. Although, there were some who argued that the Titan could commune with anyone if you listened and kept yourself spiritually open. Even then, some doubted how the Titan could talk at all if it was dead and perhaps the mediums were just powerful oracle/illusion witches. This led to some factions and divisions over what magic really is in the isles and how it is best used. Over time, fewer witches shared their gifts equally and petty squabbles warped into tribal conflicts. Belos manipulated these tensions by claiming the "elite" mediums spread lies about the Titan's wishes. He claimed that there used to be peace because there was one system and one way of doing things instead of all of this confusion and division. He passed himself off as a humble witch who received a vision from the Titan saying that magic should be unified. But this vision was so powerful that it left his face scarred, hence the mask (although he will show the doubting crowd his face). That only the wisest and most experienced witches could realistically practice all forms of magic while the rest would do the Titan's work in their chosen field. That way, the gifts of the Titan is still being shared among the populace but now with proper guidance. And thus the coven system was born.

Belos uses his curse as proof of being the Prophet of the Titan; when he regenerates an injury without healing magic, everyone is shocked but most importantly, they believe him. He spends his time proselytizing from town to town amassing a following. He calls them his "little birds" and they all wear bird masks as a precursor to the coven scout uniform. When they (rarely) experience violence, Belos whips them up into a frenzy as proof that the "wild witches" are against them. In one incident, Belos and his followers are prevented from preaching in a town. A fight breaks out and one of his followers is killed. Belos declares them a martyr and asks if his followers will sit by and not defend themselves? The crowd--already upset of course--then burns the town to the ground. As the years go by, people notice that Belos doesn't age and doesn't eat or drink, leading more people to believe in his divine message and join him.

#the owl house #belosfanstakeover #emperor belos #philip wittebane #luz noceda #amity blight #eda clawthorne #toh rewrite #long post