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phoenix-pheces · 10 months

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Finally time for part three!!! Please see the list of trigger warnings below. I was considering adding an epilogue, so please let me know if that’s something you would read! Once again, credit to @turquoisespace35 for this AU.

Trigger Warnings: Death, Graphic Violence, Weaponry, Body Horror

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Bleeding Hearts - 3/3

“Look away!” Luz screamed, shielding Amity’s body with hers. The king’s eyes melted from white and brown to pure red. His bloody torso now met a long, scaly underbelly. Each of the snakes now protruding from his skull was covered in bits of bone. They writhed angrily, hissing even at each other.

Gus turned away from the king and ran to Willow. He dropped down to her side.

“Willow,” he said gently, “I’m so sorry. I can watch over him, but we need your help.”

She set Hunter down, burying a new wave of grief as he laid unmoving. She unsheathed the dagger she had taken from the armory. The hilt was cold in her hand, but she was more concerned with the blade. The tip was blunter than she would have preferred.

For anyone else, it may have been a life or death difference.

She gripped the dagger tightly as she approached the king. She kept her eyes to the ground. He turned to face her and slowly slithered forward.

“Come now,” he said with a snarl. “Chin up, you can be the first to join that creature in the grave.” He reached to touch her face and she smacked his arm away.

Every memory of her time with Hunter was flashing through her mind. The apple pile he had made for her. Watching the sunsets before bed. Their first kiss. Telling him everything about her kingdom, dreaming of bringing him to see it for himself.

This wasn’t how their story was supposed to end. The king snarled.

“I thought even you might appreciate mercy, but I suppose I don’t particularly care how this plays out.

“You know nothing of mercy.”

Willow met his eyes, and he stumbled backwards in shock.

“How-“

“Don’t you remember why you picked me?” With every step she took towards him, the king scrambled backwards. She was faster. “You needed an easy target, someone who you thought couldn’t even defend herself. You thought those gates would be open in a day.”

Willow grabbed the king by the neck and he let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

“Stop! You wouldn’t-“

“You have no idea what I am capable of.”

She drove the dagger into his heart. The king pushed himself off of her, writhing in pain. He roughly drew the dagger from his chest and threw it to the ground. He attempted to flee, but it wasn’t long before the effort overcame him and he collapsed in a bleeding, cursing heap.

Willow sank to her knees, feeling hollow. It didn’t matter that the king deserved it, she felt just as monstrous. His blood was all over her, and it was a feeling she was certain no bath would ever cleanse.

“Willow!”

Her friends ran to her and tightly embraced her. Safe in their arms, she let herself cry once again. She wasn’t alone in her horror and grief. Amity had buried her head in Luz’s shoulder, and Gus was staring blankly at the ground. They stayed packed together for some time, until Luz spoke.

“If you want us to, we’ll help move him”

Amity tried to shush her, but Willow nodded. They made their way to Hunter’s body. Willow took his hand, its warmth completely gone.

“I’m so sorry Hunter.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, my child.”

Willow turned in shock. Behind her stood a large woman with red locks. She emitted a warm, golden light. She donned the kingdom’s traditional decorative armor, and perched atop her helmet was a small white raven: the symbol of the kingdom’s goddess Lilith. She approached and placed her hand on Willow’s shoulder.

“You did your best to protect him. I thought I had too, but I can see that my efforts have caused more harm than good.”

She placed a hand on Hunter’s chest, and he too began to emit a warm golden glow.

“When he wakes, he’ll be able to control his powers,” she said with a sad smile. “I should have freed him from that burden a long time ago.”

“When he wakes up?” The words barely made it past Willow’s lips.

Lilith nodded. Her body began to separate. Small golden orbs floated off of her. She took the raven off her head and stroked his beak.

“Watch over them for me, won’t you?”

The raven squawked happily, and took off to perch on a nearby rooftop. The goddess’s body was nearly gone. With tears in her eyes, she spoke once more to all four of them.

“Take care of each other, and tell Hunter I’ll see him again someday.”

As the last of the goddess’s form disappeared, Hunter’s wounds began to close. The warmth of the goddess’s magic faded, but his body was no longer cold. His chest rose, and his eyes flew open.

“Willow! Willow?”

She tackled him in a hug. Nearly knocked over, Hunter wrapped his arms around her too. His snakes peppered her with nuzzles and soft flicks of their tongues. He gently kissed Willow’ temple, and they both pulled away with tears in their eyes. Willow took his hand in hers.

“We saw Lilith, did you-“

“I already know,” he said sadly, placing his other hand on his chest. “I could feel it.”

He paused, moving his hand to his forehead.

“There’s something else, isn’t there? Something feels off.”

Luz cleared her throat and attempted to bravely march to their side. She wasn’t hiding her fear very well, but who could blame her after the day they’d been having?

She sat down next to Willow, put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder, and looked in his eyes.

“Nice to see you?”

“Woah! Hey!” Hunter instinctively shot his eyes down and scrambled backwards, then brought his gaze back to Luz in shock. “It’s…gone?”

“Not entirely,” Willow answered. “She said you could control it now.”

Hunter covered his eyes with his palms. The snakes hissed and their eyes turned a deep red, then suddenly stopped. He removed his hands in disbelief. Tears began to stream down his cheeks. Willow embraced him again, but this time the others joined her. For the first time, all of them were together and unafraid of what was coming next.

For now, that was all they needed.

#huntlow #huntlow au #hunter toh #willow toh #the owl house #toh #toh au #toh fic #fic

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cystali · 2 years

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okay I'm not done with Labyrinth Runners.

I love the process of Hunter learning kindness from his friends. Someone made a great post about this episode and how kindness is cyclical, and I reblogged it I think. In addition to that, Hunter has very slowly been introduced to kindness this entire season, and he was finally able to respond to it in these past episodes, which I really appreciated.

Luz exposes him to kindness first in "Hunting Palismen," just by listening to him talk about his research and, indirectly, allowing him the opportunity to do something outside of the "morals" put forth by the Emperor. When he allows Luz to escape with the Palismen, he is acting out of a sort of debt because she helped him out of Kikimora's trap. He does not join her side or even act kindly to her fully because it is not what he knows. No one has shown him that kindness or freedom, but Luz exposes him to it. She also introduces him to Flapjack, who is probably the most influential figure in Hunter's acceptance of kindness.

Continuing on, Amity tries to show Hunter kindness in "Eclipse Lake," relating to him and offering an understanding hand, but he can't do anything with it. This is probably only the second or third time a person has actually. been nice to him in a real, meaningful way. He's too entrenched in his desire to please Belos, who Hunter was raised by and truly believes is good. He has used Belos and the Emperor's Coven as a template for what is good, and Amity can't break through that with one gesture. But in that episode, Hunter also communicates with Flapjack for the first time, and the trust between them builds. After bonding with his own Palismen, seeing Belos break and eat them seems even worse. (I forget where that scene of Hunter cringing at the image of Belos doing that is. I think there are multiple.)

Then we get the Emerald Entrails in "Any Sport in a Storm." In this episode, Hunter has a self-imposed mission that requires him to be social and to a degree, kind. He tries to do that by talking about the Emperor's Coven and all its benefits, but he doesn't get anywhere that way. Then, he meets Willow and Gus. This is the first time we see Hunter having regular, teenage fun by playing a game. Willow offers him understanding without knowing about his connection to the Emperor's Coven, and he is able to work in a team that he trusts. Not fully, but that is still an improvement. When he tries to take them to the Emperor's Coven, he retracts because they clearly do not want to. Their Palismen would be taken away and hurt. Flapjack opened an avenue of empathy for him, and after being shown such impartial kindness from the Entrails, he uses that avenue to understand that the Emperor's Coven would be harmful to them. Darius also offers him more freedom to interact with his friends and keeps Flapjack a secret, which further differentiates Belos' "kindness" from what Hunter is now experiencing.

In "Hollow Mind," Hunter and Luz are back together again, which is very fun for about four minutes and then it's just sadness. In this episode, Hunter still trusts the emperor, but it's clearly been questioned at least enough that he feels uncomfortable with some of his choices. Even still, Hunter resolutely tries to defend him even as they witness Belos attempting to harm witches. But when it comes down to it, Hunter accepts Luz's hand twice: once, when the Palismen creature finds them and they jump through the painting, and once when he grabs the jacket she offered him to hold onto. In the midst of all of this chaos, he does not know who to trust, only who he wants to. Yet, he still trusted Luz enough to accept help when she offered it. Accepting that kindness was his only means of survival, but it's something he may not have trusted enough to accept in the past.

Even in "Labyrinth Runners," Hunter still wants to trust Belos and his version of the world. He tells Gus that his living situation has been compromised, but then he adds "maybe," like he still thinks he can go back, or really just wants to believe he can. But he knows deep down that he can't, which is why he is hiding at Hexside, Hexside being the place that Luz, Willow, Gus, Amity, and the Entrails are. These are the people who showed him kindness or understanding throughout this season, and that affected him enough to view them as safe. Gus shows him Willow's breathing technique, and Hunter tries to replicate it later on. He is learning that kindness is different from what he had defined it to be under Belos' rule, and after a long time of being unable to trust kindness or accept it, Hunter does.

I'm not sure if I've articulated this well enough for it to make sense. I had a lot of thoughts. Regardless, watching Hunter interact with others and change reminds me of my past self, and I really think that kids/young people who don't understand the severity of the situation they are in will be able to find some part of themselves in Hunter. It's a start.

#cystali's fumblings #hunter toh #the owl house season 2b #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #toh labyrinth runners #labyrinth runners #toh hollow mind #does this make sense?? hope so #toh meta #toh analysis

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kinghijinx22 · 1 year

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The Owl House Watching and Dreaming review/analysis part 2

Part 2 The Collector's Origins, Amity and Raine breaking free

While I'm still don't really like the Collector a lot as a character and I think that a lot of people are way too forgiving of them considering how much damaged he caused, I do think the way this episode handles the obvious direction they were taking their character to be really well executed. They work well as the chaotic but ultimately forgivable antagonist compared to Belos's calculated pure evil and I think they play a good role in this episode. Him being a younger god like being who is incapable of understanding death and the harm that they cause on other's is really interesting and plays into a major plot point later on in a powerful way.

I think now is a good moment to mention that I really appreciate how this episode really focuses on the other biggest emotional core of this series which is the adopted Owl family. The found family dynamic between the human Luz, Eda and King has always been really strong and is where the everything started. Three outcasts who didn't fit in because of their differences were able to come together and not fit in together, becoming a found family and showing that the people that matter most are those who love and accept you for who you are. And I love that after they break free from their nightmares and surviving the Collector's games, the Owl family and especially Luz are able to use their immense empathy to relate their own experiences to the Collector's experiences. It's here that we get a proper explanation of the Collector's origins of originally being from a family of Collectors, and that their older siblings are known as the Archivists. According to the Collector, the Archivists had sent them down to the Boiling Isles to get him out of their business and while they were actually able to make friends with the baby Titans, the Archivists were not happy after discovering the Titans themselves and the fact that their powers can cancel out their own. Because they saw the Titans as a threat, they wiped them out but not before King's dad had hid King away and sealed away the Collector, believing them to be the main threat. The whole thing was clearly very messy with some misunderstandings, but what we learn for certain is that the Archivists are the true villains of this situation.

Raine playing a big role in this finale was pretty cool. They've been such a great character throughout the series and are some of best nonbinary representation in any story with how well they've been written. They finally get to start breaking free from Belos's control while Belos was on his way to the Titan's heart and while it was always obvious, it was pretty cool to see even Belos recognising their strength. They tried their hardest, even making one last desperate attempt by banging the violin on ground but was just unlucky and Belos was able to slip through a small hole in the magic barrier.

Speaking of strong witches, Amity being strong enough to regain her autonomy enough to draw the light glyph while she was a puppet was an awesome moment and what makes this moment even more special is that I think this is the first time she has drawn a glyph successfully. And just like it was Luz's love for Amity that allowed her to break free from her nightmare, I like to think that it was Amity's love for Luz that gave her the strength to draw the glyph. She uses what her girlfriend had taught her to help her break herself and her friends free from being Collector puppets. Amity, Willow, Gus and Hunter end up having to save everybody who was turned into puppets and being kept in the archives. I suppose it's now that I'll mention Hunter because I won't otherwise because I still really don't care about him and I never will but I am so happy that they kept him out of the big final battle. As perfect as most of this show is and with how important it has been for it's representation, my one problem is the fact that they decided to introduce this generic cishet white edgeboy and suddenly started pushing him as one of the most important characters to the detriment of the much more interesting queer and poc main characters and sometimes even Luz, the character who is supposed to be the main character. I'm just so relieved that they knew to stop pushing Hunter so hard as a white saviour and to actually let their queer afro Latina protagonist get to be the hero in the end.

So the Owl family is able to relate to the Collector, but to really connect with him Luz decided to take them the places where she was able to connect with other people while sharing her stories. The first place being the Owl House itself, or "the bird house" as the Collector calls it. It's where she properly got to know her now found family of Eda the Witch, King the Titan, Owlbert the Palisman and Hooty the Door. The weirdos that came together and accepted each other when they needed it, just like they were doing with the Collector. The next place they go is the Grudby court which also feels like it could be a stand in for Hexside in general because it represents Luz finding her friends and the love of her life. Where she met other outcasts Willow and Gus and they became close friends, and also where she met and was able to break down the rough exterior of former bully but now loving girlfriend Amity Blight.

The final place they go to is the Knee, the Titan's knee where Eda had taught Luz how to connect with the Boiling Isles or rather the Titan itself, where she was able to learn the Ice glyph with the help of the Titan is great foreshadowing for when we get to meet the Titan in person. The Collector themself even mentions in this moment that he's jealous that the Titan had showed Luz the glyphs and not them. Even though you could have made the assumption, this is our confirmation that the Titan really has been helping Luz to find the glyphs this whole time. The way this comes up, and the way this episode is able to brilliantly wrap up all these mysteries and plot points was very satisfying. This show has always been great at bringing back small plot details and paying them off in a big way. After hearing about all of Luz's adventures and about all the family and friends she's made along the way, the Collector makes the assumption that she must have somehow forced people like her own girlfriend Amity and her cool aunt Lilith who had started off as adversaries into liking her. But as is explained by Luz, people are complicated and sometimes they just need some kindness and forgiveness. There is more to people then what we see on the surface, and sometimes if you are able to see past someone's hard exterior you can reach the kind person on the inside and maybe even bring them to the surface. Throughout the series Luz with her kindness and sincerity has been able to do this for a lot of people, and now she's showing this kindness and sincerity to the Collector.

#the owl house #luz noceda #dana terrace #watching and dreaming #lumity #raeda

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scouts-thingsandrps · 2 years

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General TOH Headcanons

Grimwalkers don’t really feel heat (unless it’s something extremely hot).

⬆️ Grimwalkers aren’t affecting by the boiling sea or boiling rain.

⬆️ Atalanta didn’t know that this was just a grimwalker thing and just thought people were exaggerating.

Also, if a Grimwalker has an incomplete galderstone, it results in either no magical abilities (aside from glyphs) or unusual magic abilities.

Grimwalkers also have an affinity for beast keeping or plant magic

Lystra is still alive, she used a curse similar to the palisman curse to stay alive (much like Philip/Belos had).

Lilith actually doesn’t remember much from her time in the emperor’s coven (similar to Hunter, Steve (partiality), and Atalanta in the golden duo au). This is due to their brain blocking everything out.

Raine and Steve are clumsy

Atalanta and Boscha have a complicated relationship (a mix of platonic and romantic), though neither of them chooses to label it.

⬆️ They, along with Luz and Amity, get teased for it so much.

Othala and Boscha are cousins.

Solis and Lunna are from Latissa, though they moved to Bonesborough recently.

Atalanta only started wearing a face mask after the day of unity.

Nixie and Nithe were the only ones that knew Vee was a basilisk (aside from Camila). However, the two did not know that Camilia already knew about Vee, this results in the two teenagers going to stupid lengths to try and hide it.

All the teenagers have learned how to parkour (skill varies between who with Edric being the most clumsy and Hunter having the most skill (having done it for years), though Willow, Boscha, Luz, and Atalanta are very close behind).

⬆️ They all just race each other.

⬆️ Adrian and August will join in these races to compare skills

Lilith tries her best to restore old history books/books around wild magic.

Luz memorizes animal symbolism and annoys everyone with it.

Vee has the mouth of a sailor.

Boscha joins the beast keeping track after the day of unity.

Luz, Amity, Gus, Willow, Hunter, Atalanta, Vee, Boscha, Mattolomule, Amelie, Skara, Celine, Barcus, Jerbo, and Viney (along with Edric and Emira on some occasions) make up the ‘Hexside Squad’.

⬆️ Skara and Viney become a part of the squad much later than everyone else

⬆️ They also get into so many shenanigans.

⬆️ No one allows each other to make self deprecating jokes about themselves, they will get a bunch of reassurance/logical arguments.

Lilith is really good at gardening

Skara’s violin playing sounds similar to Lindsey Stirling

⬆️ They’ve also tried to get everyone in the group to at least play one instrument in order to start a band.

Viney is a great dancer.

Also, the town of Gravesfield just kinda vibes with the witches (some shops even take snails as well as dollars).

Raine and Eda stargaze with each other on the roof of the owl house and Hooty interrupts it routinely.

Gus has attempted to start a pod cast about humans.

Adrian and Darius know how to the ‘customer service’ voice.

When they’re stressed, both August and Adrian embroider little patterns.

⬆️ This has rubbed off onto Atalanta, who embroiders their Hexside uniform.

Vitimir and Adrian are actually really good friends.

Cedric was a wild witch and helped teach Atalanta magic.

⬆️ He, along with Eda, helps teach stuff that was considered ‘wild magic’.

Some of the former coven heads (Darius, Eber, Raine, Adrian, Vitimir) volunteer at the school to help the kids.

⬆️ Osran was apart of this at one point, but he started to have issues with the kids (aka, he started to beef with the kids and went absolutely not excellent).

Celine and Barcus are great friends and often tutor each other.

Hexside Squad has a thing called ‘Honesty Hour’ where you can’t lie unless you need to (used to confess emotions).

Adrian and Atalanta can pretty much run on spite (they get it from each other)

Jerbo and Viney jokingly accuse each other of betrayal

#tw trauma mention #the owl house #lilith clawthorne #edalyn ‘eda’ clawthorne #hunter wittebane-deamonne #willow park #agustus ‘gus’ porter #august wolfsbane #cedric wolfsbane #Steve #atalanta ‘attie’ wolfsbane #mattolomule #honestly. most of these could apply to any verse #celine #amelie #barcus #jerbo #adrian graye

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sunnywritesathing · 1 year

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Alternative Chapter Thirty of ATOT

I struggled a lot writing the final chapter of ‘A Treason of Thorns’. I actually at one point had two different versions of the chapter. The Hunter version ended up winning in the end but I kept the Eda version and decided why not post it here? Well, tell me which version you like more and if I should post this on A03 as maybe a bonus short or something.

TW for panic attacks.

——— Eda

It had been three months since the defeat of Belos, three months since the Hexsquad as they called themselves had been restored to being teenagers again. Back to the same age as they had been on the Day of Unity though Hunter had one extra year removed from him. Plus three months since Blondie had returned back to life as a human-witch hybrid and started to live at the Owl House. Eda was getting use to seeing him around the house though she did notice he was trying to avoid her and Raine. She wasn’t sure why the kid was keeping his distance from them. Well, that wasn’t true. She had a good idea why he was avoiding her.

Hunter was afraid of doing something to get himself thrown out. Despite her reassurances that he wouldn’t, he clearly didn’t want to test her. Eda was certain the kid had too good of a heart to do anything that would warrant actually kicking him out. He was a hard worker (probably worked too hard) always seemed to be doing something around the house. He was always doing laundry, doing the dishes, sweeping and cleaning, tending to Hooty or spending his few short hours of freedom he gave himself to read. The Owl House had never been so clean before Hunter had come to stay. The first two months and a half of his stay he was always working. Anytime he wasn’t working he was in his room reading or out with the other kids. Luz and him had a good relationship especially considering how it started, and she even saw him warming up to King though she knew he didn’t know how to act around him most of the time.

Hunter worked hard, avoided most of the adults that came and went from the Owl House (especially Lilith), and kept himself isolated most of the time he wasn’t with his friends. Then there were the nightmares. She had dealt with her own fair share of her own nightmares, dealt with Luz’s before. She still carried around the trauma from the attempted Petrification and now she carried new trauma piled on top of it. But Luz was far more open about her pain, and didn’t shy away from asking for help as much as Hunter did. Eda figured it had been beaten into (more then likely literally) by Belos. Hunter did not ask for help, claimed to not need it, and pushed away anyone except Luz and Willow. And even when he accepted from them Eda still knew he was hiding a good deal from both of them. She tried not to push him, but she was starting to worry about him. She didn’t fail to notice how he started carrying around a bag filled with his meager possessions, like he was ready to leave at any second. He was relapsing.

Eda spoke to the other kids about Hunter, and they all agreed they noticed he wasn’t doing well. Even when he hung out with them and actually seemed to be enjoying himself, he was closed off and quieter then normal. Gus said he usually would talk a mile a minute about any subject that had his attention at the moment he had been quiet. Like his mind was always elsewhere. Willow told her that when she managed to get some short of answer out of Hunter he told her it was nothing to worry about. How it would pass eventually, it always did. Even Amity told her she was worried about Hunter, and those two were mortal enemies at one point in time. Luz was afraid that what ever The Collector had done had reset his brain completely to the age of fifteen and he was allowing himself to process anything. Eda couldn’t help but wonder if the same could be said about the other kids who had been restored.

Eda had made a breakthrough sometime after talking about Hunter with the rest of the kids. She wished it had come under better circumstances. Hunter was in the kitchen fixing himself a glass of water when she walked into the room. As usual she saw him quicken his pace, a soft greeting managing to slip from his lips. She returned the greeting, going for a mug of Apple Blood when she heard the sound of glass shattering. Eda turned to see Hunter staring at the broken glass with wide eyes, hands already shaking. He knelt down on the floor and began to try and pick the pieces of glass up with his bare hands before Eda even had a chance to react.

“Hunter don’t-“

“I got it. I got it. Don’t need to worry. I got it.” His words came out clipped and tight, his breath rapid and panicked. He was shaking so much that he couldn’t grip any of the pieces of glass and they slipped from hands. Eda rushed over and pulled him away, earning a gasp of shock from him. “Please I’ll clean it up! I’ll clean it up! Its my fault I’m sorry.”

“Kid, Hunter, its alright. It’s just a glass but your hands-“

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-“

“It’s alright, its okay. Nothing serious happened. It will be fine.”

“I’msorrysorrysorrysorry-“

Hunter sat on the ground trembling like a leaf, digging his bleeding hands into both sides of his head and pulling at his hair by the roots. Flapjack who never left his side was against the back of his neck shaking himself. She moved him so he was facing her, pulling his head up to look at her. She wanted to pry his bleeding hands out of the sides of his head but was nervous about touching him too much.

“Hunter breathe with me. Come on I know you can do it. Like this.” She pressed her bony hand against his chest, palm flat against him to show him. “In and out, in and out. Like that. You got this.”

Tears sprung from his eyes as he stared at her, amber eyes wide but pupils pinpricks. He was still shaking but slowly he removed his still bleeding hands from his head. She kept up with the breathing, showing him still and he kept his eyes trained on her. Like she was the only thing in the entire world. She had seen fear and pain before but he had gone through far more then any child his age should ever. It was then that she heard the sounds of footsteps coming and turned. Luz and King stood in the doorway, Luz looking at her with wide eyes but also clear understanding.

“Get the first aid kit and tell Raine, King. Luz help me get him to the couch.” Eda turned back to Hunter who eyes were now unfocused and his breathing rattled. “Hey, its alright. Your safe here. No one is going to hurt you. This is your home and your safe here. Your safe. I won’t throw you out.”

Hunter closed his eyes, still trembling but together with Luz they managed to move him to the couch in the living room. After wrapping him up in a thick blanket she had Luz go and make him a cup of tea. Willow had left them some after she had started making her own teas, hoping Hunter would take to them instead of coffee but he never had. Eda enjoyed them from time to time, especially the more calming ones. Raine came in with King, the little Titan holding the kit while Raine held a bowl full of water and towels. Together the two of them treated Hunter’s hands, getting all the shards of glass out of his hands and cleaning the blood out of his hair. Raine whispered something softly to Hunter he relaxed a little more. Luz came in with a cup of tea that they had him drink down and too long after that, while Raine played a calming tune on their violin, Hunter fell to sleep.

“That was scary,” King muttered. He climbed up the couch to sit by Hunter while he slept. Raine kept playing while Luz went through her human scroll looking for something to play herself. “Why did he do that?”

“Freak out? Hunter had been through a lot and all the stuff he’s been through has left a lot of him to process.”

“And he hasn’t allowed himself to.” Raine put down their violin as music began to play from Luz’s scroll, gentle music pulsing from the small speakers. “He is still trying to go with what he was trained to do. Make himself useful, ignore how he feels and don’t let others worry.”

“Will he be okay?”

“Hopefully. He won’t be physically alright for a little while but maybe he will be willing to talk to us after this.” Eda ran her hand through Hunter’s hair and turned towards the small group of them. “Why don’t we let him rest here for a while and I’ll show you all how to brew an anti-anxiety potion for Hunter.”

“You have anti-anxiety potions here,” Luz asked and Eda nodded. They moved away but let the music keep playing while King kept watch over him for a bit.

Eda took the time to show them how to brew the potion before she and Raine made everyone lunch. The potion was something she use to make for herself when she was on her own. It made it easier for her to sleep, to carry her burdens. She had gotten the idea from research and from advice from Healers. Until they could get him to agree to proper therapy it would have to do. When she returned to the living room a couple of hours later she found Hunter had woken up and was staring at the human’s scroll blankly.

“Hey kid,” she said in a calm tone and she saw his amber flicker over to her. “You need something to drink?”

“Hm…” Hunter muttered and attempted to sit up. He managed to after a few minutes, rubbing the side of his head. When he spoke his voice was rough. “I’ll go get myself some water.”

“I’ll get it for you, don’t worry about it Hunter.”

Hunter made a sound that could have been a complaint but leaned back over again to rest his head against the arm. She headed back into the kitchen to make him a ice of glass water. She grabbed the anti-anxiety potion on the way, returning to find him still sitting on the couch with that tired expression on his face. He sat up again when she offered him the glass and took it carefully, bandages hand carefully gripping the glass. There was still a shake to his hands as he held the glass, but he looked appreciative.

“Eda, I’m sorry about before.”

It had taken minutes before Hunter spoke again, having drained most of his glass. Eda had come to sit down on one side of him, sipping at her mug. The music still spayed from the Luz’s human scroll, some light guitar playing soft music that filled the silence. She put the potion between them and glanced at Hunter. He was staring at the glass of water with a off expression.

“I should have held myself together before. I should have been stronger.”

“No one can be strong all the time Hunter,” she replied and she saw his hands shake more. “I know that Belos must have taught you differently but you don’t have to rely on that teaching anymore.”

“It’s all I know. I don’t know why it was so easy to slip back into that mindset.” Hunter chuckled but there was little mirth in his voice. The next words came out choked, words tight. “I feel even more like a kid then when I was twenty three or at sixteen. I am crumbling apart and I don’t understand why.”

“My I touch you?” Hunter looked over at her, amber eyes scanning her face before she nodded. Eda put a hand against his head, ruffling his hair. He tilted his head slightly, clearly confused. “Listen kiddo, I don’t have all the answers but I know attempting to hold everything in is not doing you any good. It’s okay to ask for help, to accept help. It doesn’t mean your a burden or a waste of space. You are just a kid. You shouldn’t have to carry those burdens on your own.”

“But-“

“I know, I know. Technically you were just an adult fighting in a war but as far as it concerns me, you are back to being that kid I met after coming out of the Emperor’s mind.” She ruffled his hair again and caught him closing closing his eyes, ears wiggling. She gave him a smile as she removed her hand. “So I am going to treat you like that. And you really should start treating yourself like that too.”

“Treat myself like…” He trailed off, looking down to notice the softly glowing blue potion in between them. He picked it up after putting his glass down, looking at it. He looked at her after a few seconds, eyes reflecting the blue glow. “I don’t know how to treat myself like a person. I wasn’t allowed to. And now I am expecting to just become normal?”

“I am not expecting you to suddenly become normal. I don’t think anyone is. What is normal anyway? No. I expect you to be yourself. Or learn how to be yourself.”

“Try to learn to be myself.” He looked at the potion he held in his hands, frowning at it. “Who even is Hunter? Who am I? A tool? A weapon?”

“The only person who can answer that question is you. But to me? You are Hunter. A messed up kid coming from messed up situation trying to make your own way in life.”

“You sound like Caleb did when he spoke to me in the Isolation Room.” Hunter uncorked the potion and smelled it, mouth twisting up. “What is this?”

“Anti-anxiety potion. Thought you could use it.”

“Hm.” He downed the potion in a few swallows, making a face when he finished. “That is nasty!”

“Yeah it is pretty gross!”

They both shared a laugh, Hunter’s being brief but to Eda’s happiness it seemed genuine. He leaned back against the couch after they both stopped, looking up at the image of the glowing Owl Beast above them. He put the empty potion bottle down beside him and folded his bandaged hands in his lap. Eda and Hunter sat in a comfortable silence for a little while, and Eda sipped at her Apple Blood while the music continued to play. After a while Eda stood up and offered Hunter a hand.

“It’s getting late,” she told him upon his curious expression. “You should probably eat something before you head to bed and I figure soup would be good on your stomach. Luckily Raine made some earlier in the day for you. Also we managed to clean most of the blood out of your hair but you should probably take a shower before bed.”

“I appreciate it. I mean it.”

Hunter did eat and headed to bed after a shower, Eda assuring him that everything would be alright and she wasn’t throwing him out. King had gathered a lot of his stuff animals around Hunter’s bed and Luz had his scroll filled up with similar music to what had been playing in the living room and left it playing. Eda bid him goodnight before she headed to her room. She made sure to grab an elixir on the way. Today had been a day. Raine was waiting for her, leaning by the window and looking out. They turned as Eda approached, smiling.

“Hunter make it to bed?”

“Yeah. Managed to get him to talk to me for a little while too. I think we made some progress.”

“I overheard a little of the conversation while I was getting Luz and King ready for bed.” Raine wrapped their arms around Eda, sighing softly. “I am glad he decided to stay here. I was worried.”

“I am going to see if I can convince him to see the lady Camila recommended the kids see. Waybright?”

“Hm that sounds like a good idea. If that doesn’t work out I can always see if Steve knows anyone?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good call.” Eda gave a laugh, wrapping her hands around Raine’s waist. “Look at you Rainstorm, so responsible.”

“I could say the same about you, Owl Lady. You said you would make a terrible Mother.”

“Heh, I am just trying my best.”

———

The next morning Eda woke up to the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen. Not an all together unusual occurrence but when she turned in bed she saw Raine was still asleep against her she was surprised. Eda climbed out of bed and gave Raine a kiss before slipping on her slippers and heading for the kitchen. Before she even reached the living room she could hear the conversation Luz and Hunter were having though she couldn’t hear the exact words. The two witches in training were speaking in what sounded like happy tones, some laughing mixed in with King adding to the conversation here and there. She reached the kitchen and saw Hunter was cooking, Luz standing near by with a grin on her face, with King at the table. They were all talking to each other in excited voices, Luz making Hunter laugh with some joke she was telling him. She tilted her head, a smile of her own growing on her face as she watched her kids.

“Morning everyone,” she called and they turned.

“Morning,” Hunter said, turning his attention back to the eggs he was scrambling quickly. “I got up early-“

“As usual,” Luz said, elbowing him in the side.

“Yes as usual but anyway I thought I would cook everyone breakfast. To make up for the glass I broke and-“

“You don’t have to make up for anything Hunter,” Eda said, brushing off the idea of it and headed to the fridge. “But thank you for cooking breakfast. I’m sure Raine will appreciate not having to cook this morning.”

“Ah,” Hunter’s ear tips turned bright pink but he nodded. “Its no problem.”

Hunter finished cooking breakfast by the time that Raine came into the kitchen, surprise on their face as they took in what was going on. Eda did notice though that a smile did quickly replace the shock. As they all sat around the table Raine helped Hunter set everything as King had already set the table before hand. As they ate the conversations remained light. Eda did realize something as the minutes passed; this was the longest he had stayed with the group of them, adults included, since he had come to stay at the Owl House. He normally took his plate and ate in his room but today he was sitting at the table and eating with them. It made her feel that they had made progress.

“Later I want to change the bandages on your hands Hunter,” Raine said and he turned before nodding. “The healing potions we applied should have healed up most of the smaller cuts but I want to make sure the larger cuts are healing well.”

“My hands don’t hurt,” Hunter replied, looking at one of his bandaged hands. He flexed the raised hand a little and lowered it back down. “That’s good.”

“Very good.” Eda took a long draw from her mug before eating some eggs. “I made enough of that anti-anxiety potion so you have a week or so of it to take. How do you feel by the way? Besides your hands.”

“I feel okay.” He poked at his food for a few moments before eating some of the sausage. “I didn’t have any nightmares last night, and I feel calm. Well calmer.”

“Are you okay to hang out with everyone today later?”

Hunter frowned and shook his head. “If it’s okay with everyone I just want to stay here. I still feel…”

“Frazzled,” Luz asked and he nodded. She gave him a bright smile and a thumbs up. “I’m sure they will understand. Maybe we could do something later?”

“Yeah.”

“You still need to take it easy after yesterday,” Eda added and Hunter looked over at her, eye brow raised. “Hey don’t give me that look. You are still drained from that probably. Panic attacks are no joke.”

“Which means no chores!”

Hunter jumped up, eyes wide. “But I have to clean up-“

“We can handle the chores for today, kiddo. You just relax and maybe finish one of your many books? Watch something on the crystal ball?”

Hunter settled back down, though his arms were crossed for a while. He wanted to disagree, that was clear. She wanted to laugh if it also didn’t break her heart a little. Always trying to please those around him, trying to show he wasn’t a burden or a thing to be discarded. That he could be useful. When he went back to eating after some quiet words from King of all people, she found her mind coming to a decision about how to help with that problem if not solve it completely.

After breakfast Hunter made his way to the couch to relax with King keeping him company and Luz headed out to town. Eda stayed in the kitchen for a bit, helping Raine with the dishes. She had made sure Hunter drank another of the potions though before he left the table, suppressing her desire to chuckle at his face. Dishes wasn’t her favorite chore in the world but eh, it wasn’t the worst thing. She bumped Raine with her waist, and they chuckled.

“So I was thinking of a more permanent way of telling Hunter that this is his home. I was thinking-“

“Adopting him? Officially?”

Eda turned to Raine, eyes going wide and mouth hanging open for a second. “How did you know?”

“I was thinking about it myself. I know that he will need a proper last name for when he enrolls in Hexside and I don’t think he would want to go with Wittlebane.”

“No one wants to go with that crappy name,” Eda responded, sticking her tongue out. “So later I’ll head to town to get the paperwork. Will you stay here with Hunter to make sure he doesn’t try to clean the whole house?”

“Of course. There is something I wanted to test with him anyway. I found something that use to belong to him in the archives and I wanted to return it. A guitar he used to play.”

“Ooooh? Blondie wanted to be a bard?”

“When he was younger he came to me with lots of curious questions about Bard magic. I of course indulged him, showed him the basics and while he couldn’t do magic, he showed some considerable potential.” Raine paused in drying a plate and sighed. “Kikimora over heard his playing and told Belos, and Belos had the guitar confiscated. I thought for sure it had been destroyed but Darius found it.”

“Do you think he can do real magic now?”

“I think it’s a possibility but even if he can’t, playing his old guitar could be therapeutic. I know playing helped me.”

Eda gave them a kiss and helped finished the dishes before she headed out. She took King with her and left to head to town. When she explained to the small Titan what she was up to he responded it was about time. The trip was uneventful, Bonesborough having returned to a semblance of normal three months after the fall of Belos and his Empire. She picked up some more ingredients for the anti-anxiety potion, picked up some more elixir and then headed off to get the paper work for the official adoption. She ran into Luz and her group while she leaving and after a quick conversation Luz headed back with her. The kids would be over later to hang out in a more casual setting with Hunter after his panic attack. A slumber party, like the one a few months ago.

When they reached the house, Eda could hear music playing softly the open door and the unmistakable golden glow of magic from one of the windows. She pressed her finger over her lips and the three of them slowly and carefully walked into the house. Hooty was already listening to soft sounds of the guitar so it was easy to slip by him. When they reached the living room Eda paused in wonder.

Hunter was playing a brilliant yellow and white electric guitar in the middle of the living room, Raine sitting on the couch with Flapjack on their shoulder. The tune Blondie played was cheerful sounding, a bouncy beat coming from the instrument. It wasn’t a complex melody but it sounded good. Around the young witchlet was a small field of magic, lifting up the few scattered slips of papers that always littered the living room after Luz studied. Hunter’s eyes were focused on the strings of the guitar with intensity, so he hadn’t seen the field. Speaking of Luz Eda turned and saw her recording the scene with her human scroll, eyes wide. When he stopped playing everyone clapped. Hunter nearly dropped the guitar then and there, head whipping around in alarm and ears going red when he saw Luz.

“Give me that!” Blondie snarled, putting the guitar down before marching over to her. His hand made it’s way towards the scroll even as Luz fought against him. She held it out of his way.

“No no no! Hunter! You have to- stop you have to watch this!”

Luz turned the scroll so Hunter could see the screen and played him the video she recorded. For a moment Hunter just stared at her, amber eyes narrowed in frustration before he looked at the screen. His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open.

“I did that,” he questioned and everyone nodded. “I did…”

“Magic! Actual magic!” Luz grabbed his arm and laughed, big brown eyes wide. If she was jealous of him she made no show of it. “You did actual Bard Magic!”

“How? I know the Healers said I had a bile sac but I can’t do magic. I’m a magicless witch.”

“You know that isn’t true now, and for a novice that was a large field,” Raine said as they got up and walked over. Hunter watched the video one more time before Luz put her scroll away. “You did study a lot of magical theory in the Emperor’s Coven right? It makes sense now that you have access to magic it would come easier to you.”

“Do you think you could do other magic? Oh oh oh! Try something for me!” Luz was bouncing up and down, eyes sparkling. Hunter stared at her still apparently unable to form words. “Picture the light glyph in your mind and try casting a circle!”

Hunter looked at Luz like she had grown a second head but after taking a breath he shrugged. He lifted his left hand into the air, face a mix of disbelief and annoyance, and did as she asked. When a golden ring of light appeared in the air followed by it turning into a ball of golden light, he just stared at it. Luz gave a sound of joy and shook him again by the shoulders. Eda clapped her hands together and he looked up at her as he cupped the ball of light.

“I knew you were capable of casting magic. You just had to try.” Eda smiled brightly at Hunter and they all walked to the couch. She noticed with relief that he had less bandages then before on his hand. The healing potions were doing their job. “Do you feel any different knowing that you can cast?”

Hunter sat down after making the little ball of light vanish, eyes narrowing. He picked at the few bandages on his hands. “I don’t know.”

“This is great!” Luz jumped over to the couch and sat down beside him. “Now my big brother can come to Hexside with me?”

Eda noticed Hunter look at her with those same wide eyes from before, tilting his head. “Big brother?”

Luz bumped into him with her shoulders. “After everything we’ve been through, all the battles and even sharing blood now, we’re family.”

“And I think we should make that official, if you want to.” Eda pulled out the paperwork she had gotten from the temporary government office and handed it over to Hunter.

His eyes flickered from Luz to hers before settling on the paper. Eda watched him read the paper before his face went slack and she saw the paper begin to shake. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes and his mouth worked though no sound came out at first. When he finally spoke his voice was tight.

“Is this real?”

“Of course it is. I think this was a long time coming to be honest. No pressure though. If you don’t want to accept it I can always just throw it away and-“

“No! No I do want this. I just-“ Hunter’s breath caught in his throat and the tears began to fall. Luz took the papers out of his hands as he buried his face in one of the pillows he put on the couch. Raine rubbed his back while he cried. Eda had expected a reaction like this. For being so stoic most of the time (or attempting to be) Hunter was truly just a kid with a soft heart. She sat down on the coffee table by him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Just get it all out kiddo,” Eda said softly, letting him go. Luz was hugging him and she heard his sobs starting to calm down. King watched the whole scene with Flapjack on his head, eyes wide. It took minutes before he started to calm down fully but Eda didn’t mind. He didn’t get up right away.

“Sorry this pillow is gross now,” Hunter muttered before he sat up. Eda dug out a box of tissues and handed them to him. He began to wipe up his face quickly, flashing her an appreciative look.

“Nah, its fine. Nothing that we can’t clean off.”

“Yeah let it all out bro,” Luz said and he shot her a sharp look that quickly softened. “No shame here.”

“I just-“ Hunter took a shuddering breath and ran a hand over his face while he gathered himself. He placed his hands in his lap again, fidgeting with his fingers. “I know Caleb said I was a Clawthorne but I didn’t want to presume.”

“You are a Clawthorne, and we can make it official now.” She handed him the paper and pen, and Hunter looked at the papers with his eye brows raised. He placed them down on the coffee table and leaned over, taking the pen. He signed his name after a few seconds then looked up at Eda.

“You know I won’t call you Mom right?”

“Give it time, you might change your mind.”

The look Hunter gave Eda as she took the paperwork back was enough to make her laugh. Raine grinned themselves, leaning down to look Hunter in the eye. “Now little Robin, you never know how the night will change.”

“I haven’t heard that nickname in a long time…”

“Enough mopping around,” Luz declared and jumped off the couch. “We got to get the house ready for a slumber party!”

“What?” Hunter climbed to his feet and crossed his arm. “Luz what did I say-“

“Later! You said later! And don’t worry it won’t be anything that big. There was a new movie I thought you might like to watch. Cosmic-“

“Wait there is a new Cosmic Frontier movie out?” Hunter grabbed a hold of the front of Luz’s shirt, amber eyes shining. “We have to watch it. Right now.”

“Later! We have to get ready for the party first! Hunter let me go!”

“No I want to watch the movie right this second. Luz-“

Eda watched Luz run off, Hunter hot on her heels as King gave battle call and chased after the two of them. She chuckled and leaned against Raine. “This house is never going to be quiet again.”

“Just the way you like it. Don’t give me that look, its the truth.”

“Hm. Sure is Rainstorm.”

#the owl house #the owl house fanfiction #toh fanfic #hunter clawthorne #eda clawthorne #the gilded future au #my fanfics are getting wild #i had a lot of fun with this #eda is a lot of fun

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the-lone-witch-and-secret-room · 3 years

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Camila Noceda and Flawed Parenting

A perspective by a flawed person with loving but extremely flawed parents

I’m genuinely baffled at some people’s hostile reaction towards Camila. Like… do any of you have flawless parents that always know the best solution instantly, make no mistakes and never get emotional?

My parents are great. They’re super supportive and I love them very, very much. Overall I think I got very lucky in the parents department.

But god, they are far from flawless. I still live at home, and despite all the good, there’s moments when I can’t take my dad anymore. He’s the kind of dad that stayed up until two am to help me with homework when I was in school, and he does so, so many things to make sure I’m happy. I know that. But despite all of this, I have told my mom in emotional moments before that I’m not sure if I can keep living with him, because for all his good sides, he has a couple of fatal flaws that sometimes make him unbearable.

My mom listens to me and is very open to being educated on certain topics, but she has her flaws, too. She hates when I fight with my dad, and gets so torn up about it that I’ve once apologized to my dad out of fear of her getting into a car crash otherwise. She’s very vocal about certain flaws of mine, and sometimes uses the things she does for me as leverage against me when she gets very emotional.

And both of my parents pay a lot more attention to my brother because he needs it more, because he’s more of a “problem child” while I “seem so capable” even when I’m not.

And guess what? I’m not a perfect child. I make mistakes sometimes, some of them pretty severe. Just like Luz, I’m the kind of person that struggles to communicate certain issues of mine to her parents. I’m stubborn, and when I get emotional, I say very hurtful things sometimes. So do they.

And this has nothing to do with my parents being horrible or abusive. They’re neither of those things.

The takeaway from this should not be that my entire family is made up of terrible people, but that we’re all flawed in our own ways, despite loving each other and trying our best. There’s things about my parents I wish I could change, and there are things about me that my parents wish they could change. And to an extent, that’s perfectly normal.

In our strengths and flaws and frustration with each other, we’re all human.

Specific, spoiler-y Camila and Luz things under the cut since this got very long.

We have no indication that Camila has a pattern of emotionally manipulating Luz. Her “emotional manipulation” as I’ve seen some people put it, is people for some reason thinking that the second you become an adult, you’re suddenly perfect and can no longer make mistakes, lest you’ll be dubbed horrible and abusive.

The whole concept is absurd to me. There is no perfect way to parent. There simply isn’t. Of course, there’s some genuinely abusive patterns that are horrible and inexcusable. But out of the parenting styles that aren’t, which one works depends on a number of factors, one of which absolutely includes that every child is different and has different needs. Camila is an amazing parent for Vee, giving the kid everything she’s ever longed for. She’s not an ideal parent for Luz. And that’s because Luz and Vee have fundamentally different needs.

Likewise, Luz is a pretty great child for Eda, but not a perfect fit for Camila. Luz relates to Eda a lot more than she relates to her mom, and that’s why the two of them have an easier time understanding each other. Both of these mother-child relationships exist, and one is not more doomed to fail than the other, but I think you’ll agree that the better you understand someone and where they’re coming from, the easier it is to communicate, pick up on certain signs, etc.

As mom and daughter, Camila and Luz are both flawed and have issues seeing the other’s perspective because of how different they are. And we should simultaneously acknowledge both of their roles in the issue and give both of them the space to learn and grow past those issues.

Luz struggles to communicate her problems. She doesn’t want to burden people in the demon realm, and it’s a given that this started out as not wanting to burden her mom. So she keeps quiet about her issues. Camila tries hard but can’t read her daughter’s mind, so there’s only so much she can do to understand and help the way Luz needs her to. Hell, Eda, who Luz is a lot more open with than her mom, struggles to help her, because Luz doesn’t tell her what’s wrong. I don’t see anyone calling Eda a terrible mom for that.

Camila tries her best, but she struggles to understand her daughter because of this, and because of how fundamentally different they are. She loves Luz’s creativity, we actively see her supporting it in the new episode—she keeps the weird stuff Luz made because she thinks Luz will regret throwing it away, and even plays along in what she assumes to be some elaborate role play because “she’s glad Luz kept her creativity even though it’s not made things easy for her at school”. But at the beginning of the show, said creativity got out of hand and people got hurt. Luz could’ve gotten hurt. So of course Camila had to interfere. I love Luz dearly, but she thought it was okay to bring snakes to school and set off fireworks inside a school building. Creativity is great. Doing reckless stuff that causes people to get hurt is not.

In sending Luz to camp, Camila tried to have someone else fix her issue because she didn’t know how to help Luz. That was a mistake, and a bad one at that, but she’s realizing that. She looks disheartened when Vee tries to throw out Luz’s stuff, because she never meant to change her daughter or take that part of her away. She just thought Luz needed a reality check—which, for the record, is something the narrative actually agrees with.

Luz spends her time in the demon realm getting reality check after reality check, realizing that even her ideal fantasy world where she has everything she always wanted doesn’t mean she’s free of consequences. She goes overboard constantly, causing:

-Eda to be forced to fly into a trap because Luz is chasing a fantasy (Witches before Wizards)

-Eda to almost be branded by her sister because Luz doesn’t think through why Eda doesn’t use magic to publicly announce her presence constantly (Once Upon a Swap)

-Eda and the twins to get kidnapped by a Slitherbeast because Luz stole Amity’s wand (Adventures in the Elements)

-Her friends to get hurt when she goes overboard trying to help Willow (Wing it like Witches)

-Eda to be captured and almost petrified because Luz thought she could just steal from the Emperor with no consequences in an attempt to help (Agony of a Witch)

I’m like 90% sure these aren’t even all. None of those make her a terrible person, for the record, but as all humans are, she is flawed and makes bad choices. She learns from these experiences and matures, just like her mom had hoped she would at camp. She’s also made friends there, which was another thing Camila wanted for her daughter.

You’ll probably realize that a lot of Luz’s behaviors I mentioned follow one of two patterns: 1. Luz’s idealized fantasy world causing problems, when she walks around with rose tinted glasses and gets people in trouble in the process because she hasn’t thought about the consequences, and 2. Luz trying to help someone she loves, but instead making things worse in the progress. The issue with this one is often that she doesn’t communicate her ideas/listen to the people she’s trying to help—like when Willow and Gus said they’ve had enough of Grudgby, or how she never actually talks to Eda about the healing hat idea before doing something reckless.

…does the latter one sound familiar to you at all? No? Because it’s the exact same thing that Camila did.

Some of the things Luz does are reckless and actively endanger others and herself, and that’s something that I think we need to acknowledge before judging Camila. As Luz’s mom, it’s Camila’s job to interfere in those situations. That she made a mistake while trying to protect Luz doesn’t make her a terrible person, especially as, again, the narrative proves her right to an extent.

I’m not saying her making Luz promise to come back and stay isn’t something that hurt Luz—it absolutely is. But it was born out of desperation. She’s emotional and in shock. She’s so full of pain and regret. She just wants her fourteen year old daughter home safe, and there’s nothing abusive or even morally ambiguous about that.

From Luz’s perspective, what she says is absolutely heartbreaking, but from Camila’s, it’s perfectly reasonable. I doubt Camila has the full picture, but even if she does, she’s had a full fifteen seconds to process that her daughter has not only been lying to her for months, but chose to leave her, and is in the demon realm of all places. Of course she’d be emotional and upset about that! Who wouldn’t? Camila isn’t a robot. If she’d been calm about this I’d be way more concerned, honestly.

My parents don’t get mad that easily, but if I would lie to them for weeks on end, they’d be pissed off too, not even taking the running away from home part into account. That’s a normal thing. People don’t like being lied to. Camila is absolutely devastated in that moment because she’s scared that Luz left because she hates her, when Luz actively states that her leaving wasn’t about her mom—which is another thing we should really be acknowledging.

Abusive parents suck and abuse should obviously never be apologized or trivialized, but saying something hurtful in the heat of the moment isn’t the same thing as being an abusive parent. My parents have done this. I’ve done this. And yes, those things can be emotionally manipulative, but there’s a huge difference in whether that’s a habit or a person speaking out of hurt and desperation in a very specific context. I doubt there’s anyone on the entire planet that hasn’t had a bad moment where they’ve said something like this because they were hurting. People lash out when they hurt, and they beg for reassurance when they’re scared. That’s something we all do.

The whole mindset of “all parents have to be perfect and can never get upset or make any mistakes” is harmful as hell, and honestly also very unrealistic. No parent is perfect, and especially people like me who have a relationship with their parents that’s very good overall should know that.

Once you have a child, parenting is a non-stop learning process, every day for the rest of your life. Taking away that room to grow and expecting perfection isn’t helping anyone, especially not struggling single parents.

And I see Camila as someone who is very willing to learn, because at the end of the day, all she wants is for Luz to be happy. Let’s give her some time to wrap her head around this whole situation. Let’s see what she says once she sees for herself how happy Luz is in that world, may it be via the videos eventually coming through or Camila visiting and meeting Luz’s found family, her friends and her girlfriend.

Ultimately, I don’t think Camila will force Luz to stay at home, but we have to give her some time. She wants what’s best for Luz, and she’s gonna need some convincing that a dangerous magical world is what’s best. I feel like that’s very normal considering the circumstances.

Her and Luz need to work on their communication on both ends, they both have things to learn, but I’m certain they’ll manage to fix their relationship in the long run.

If the bunk bed is any indication, I think Vee is gonna stay in the human realm permanently while Luz sleeps at home but keeps attending Hexside in the daytime. That feels like a solution that keeps everyone happy, and allows Luz to spend time with all the people she loves. I can’t see her being forced to choose at the end.

As a closing statement: Eda isn’t an ideal mom, Amity isn’t an ideal friend or girlfriend and neither is Luz, Lilith isn’t an ideal sister… but that’s because no one is ever an ideal anything. Being flawed is a big part of being human. Everyone has different facets to their personality. Their flaws are what makes them such great, relatable, believable characters.

And I feel the same way about Camila. She’s an extremely believable character that reminds me of my own parents, flawed but very loving nonetheless.

(Also honestly, I think it’s pretty telling that some of you guys immediately bash the black single mom that’s obviously trying her hardest while giving the benefit of the doubt to Alador, who has been portrayed as neglecting and threatened his six year old daughter on screen. This was already a thing before we knew much about either of them, and I’m disappointed but unfortunately not very surprised that it still is.)

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sp1d3rg3rl · 3 years

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Why Luz finally is developing feelings/ realizing she likes Amity more than a friend.

SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 SPOILERS!!

We’ve seen it since day one really, that Luz and Amity will always have a connection and have always had one. Whether it’s “hatred” in the form of a rivalry or love they will still be actively thinking about each other. Covention is the first episode we really a glimpse of Amity’s depth and why she acted the way she did in I Was a Teenage Abomination. When Luz realizes Amity isn’t all she’s made out to be, Luz helps her. For nothing in return. Amity is used to deals and promises; help for personal gain. But here’s a girl she was purposely mean to who’s genuinely trying to make a connection in exchange for nothing but trust. Even though Amity is still hesitant to listen to Luz, she does. And this is where I think the turning point is for her. Luz isn’t what she thought and is actually trying her best in magic despite her generally aloof attitude. Lost in Language is the next example of Luz and Amity building trust. Now that Luz has seen a different side of Amity, she wants more. She wants to try and better understand her, and in her attempt to do so, they are both endangered and forced to work together to get out alive. This leads to Luz helping Amity clean up and bond more. Luz even offers Amity her Good Witch Azura book so the two can talk about their interests more. The next episodes that show them grow are Adventures in The Elements. Luz ends up having to train in the same area as Amity and her siblings, and accidentally endangers the twins. To make it up to Amity, despite her protests, Luz does everything she can to ultimately save the twins. In Understanding Willow she also goes out of her way to help Amity fix Willow’s memory and instead of being angry with Amity she takes her time and tries to be nice to her. In Grom we also see her help Amity defeat Grom. My point to all of this is to show that Luz’s love language is acts of service. Time and time again she’s gone out of her way for Amity whether is picking up her books, carrying her to the nurse, or fighting her worst fears, it’s apparent she would do anything for Amity’s sake.

Now, Amity’s love language touch, not acts of service. I don’t want to dive too deep into it since I’m sure we can tell by now through her blushing and physical reactions to Luz’s touch. The turning point for Lumity as a whole was Wing it Like Witches. In this episode Luz and Amity practically swapped love languages; Amity getting Willow and Gus for help and playing with Luz at the risk of her grades, status, and parents wrath. Luz going out of her way to help Amity up and carry her to the nurses despite having “weak nerd arms”. The whole reason Lumity wasn’t working was the two separate love languages.

The first time we see the pair together after WILW is in Escaping Expulsion. In this episode Amity risks everything by openly disobeying her parents in front of a crowd of wealthy investors for Luz’s sake. And it works. For the first time we see Luz blush at something Amity’s done. They’ve both finally learned how to communicate with each other better and it’s working for once. The only reason (other than Eda’s curse) that Luz couldn’t tell Amity was into her, was the lack of communication. Amity obviously wasn’t going to confess and the idea wasn’t even on the table for Luz. But now that they better understand each other, Luz is finally realizing what’s in front of her. Now all that’s left to happen is for Amity to notice.

#lumity #the owl house #amity blight #luz noceda #toh #toh spoilers #the owl house s2 #secret azura book club #i’m hyperfixating #can you tell yet?#lumity brain rot first hand folks #Luz the human #wlw #save me #Dana I love you #the girls are kissing #these witches gay good for them

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jenniferdiazisatransgirl · 3 years

Text

My View of the Blights (Spoilers/TW: Parental Abuse)

So to be clear I am referring to the Blight parents, Odalia and Alador Blight and simply put I hate them. A deep seething hate. I get these are fictional characters but I relate to Amity a lot, and part of why I relate to her, is down to her relationship with her parents. It’s very similar to the relationship I had with my Mum and it is why this storyline in particular cuts deep with me.

But let’s look at Odalia first. This is a woman who does not care about her daughter or her happiness. She cares about money and power and is willing to do anything to get it. The family dynamic also now starts to makes sense. Throughout all of Season 1 we have seen so much pressure put on Amity and there has always been this question of why? Why don’t Ed and Em get the same amount of pressure? But in “Escaping Expulsion” it becomes abundantly clear when we see what Blight Industries specialises in, abomination magic. Ed and Em are in the illusion track and so their skills are useless to the family business and Odalia specialises in oracle magic. Once Alador retires, Amity is the one who can keep Blight Industries at the top of it’s game. So they need her not distracted, they need her to do well in school, they need her to view friends the same way she views enemies. Willow is someone Amity cared about, letting emotions get in the way is not good for business. Get Willow out of the picture, obligate Amity to be “friends” with people she wouldn’t be emotionally attached to. People she will view as her competitors.

And just look at how far Odalia is willing to go for her ends here. She appeals to Luz saying that there might be a way to get her and her friends back in Hexside. Help out with a simple demonstration. I’m next to certain Odalia never planned for Luz to come out of that alive. I mean Odalia says she admires Luz’s tenacity. A tenacity that can be an inconvenience. I mean before Luz was in the picture, Amity was the lonely straight A student. She wasn’t friends with Gus and Willow and her reluctant friendship with Boscha and Skara was tokenistic at best. In reality, Amity had no friends so all her focus was put towards being the best. Then Luz came in and ruined it all. Get rid of Luz, get rid of the problem. And that is literally what she tried to do with the Abomiton 2.0, she tried to literally kill a child. Even when Alador attempted to step in, she was adamant in her quest to kill Luz.

Now, let’s move onto Alador. This man is hardly innocent. He stands by and simply lets the abuse happen. Sure he tried to intervene when Odalia was attempting to kill Luz, but he quickly backed down. The only time the dude showed any backbone was when the Blight name was at risk. The one point where he is stern is that point where he reminds Odalia that a Blight never goes back on their word. Something makes me wonder, was he really defending Luz, Willow and Gus and standing up for his daughter in that instance or was he just ensuring his family name and reputation is protected.

After only one episode of seeing them in the flesh, I can’t think of a single way in which these two could ever be redeemable.

#odalia blight #alador blight #amity blight #edric blight #emira blight #luz noceda #gus porter #willow park #boscha #skara #escaping expulsion #trigger warning #parental abuse #spoilers #the owl house spoilers #the owl house

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mossharpy · 3 years

Note

Do u know any TOH fics where it focuses on human culture/Luz being different? I can't find any :(

i've got two! but then this prompt took me by the hands and i ended up writing my own little drabble.

from ao3:

crossing paths by Vikingfangirl23 | 2991 Words | One-Shot | Summary: Luz deals with bullies, Owlbert's been following her longer than she realizes.

It's Just Hair by foolish_snail | 1889 Words | One-Shot | Summary: Luz is tired of getting bullied for her hair. May as well do something about it.

from me (under read more):

Willow and Gus were avoiding her. It was frustrating; all day they’d been skirting around her questions and attempts to confront them about their unusually skittish behavior. They told each other everything—why was this time different? Luz had briefly worried she’d done something to upset Willow, who tended to still be sore about how much time she was spending with Amity.

Luz understood where the witch was coming from, she’d be upset if her best friend started dating her ex-bully too. But, if that was the case, why was Gus avoiding her? Gus was brutally honest about his feelings; he wore his heart on his sleeve. Willow was more closed off, but Gus was always willing to play middleman if a miscommunication occurred. Even worse, when she’d asked them about wanting to sit together at lunch, the two came up with some on-the-spot excuse about having detention. Luz loved her friends, but they were terrible liars.

But she didn’t push. Luz let them go.

The human poked her PB&J, sighing. She didn’t like being ignored.

Fridays were usually her favorite day of the week. She loved Hexside—don’t get her wrong—more than she’d ever loved school, but on Fridays, as soon as school let out, Willow and Gus would follow her back to the Owl House. There, they’d begin their usual ritual of eating far too much junk food and watching crappy Boiling Isles reality TV. It was fun, it was their chance to put aside all their worries, about school, about magic, about getting home, and let loose.

Their distance made Luz think her friends weren’t willing to hang out that night.

A plastic tray gently found a place next to her, and Luz let her eyes wander upward to land on the face of her girlfriend. She smiled, worries abandoned, and focus turned toward Amity, who nervously pulled a string of lavender hair from her face, a pale blush creeping over her nose and tinging her face.

“Are Willow and Gus joining us?” She spoke formally, a trait the witch often defaulted to when trying to hide how flustered she was.

The question made Luz frown, and she let her head fall against the lunch table. “They’ve got better things to do.”

Amity nodded, taking Luz’s hand under the table, and hesitantly letting their fingers intertwine. “I guess they would be busy, what, with the party, they’re planning and all.”

“…Party?”

The purple-haired witch made a small face, “You didn’t know? Gus has been talking my ear off all day about it.” She conjured her scroll to show her girlfriend, gesturing to the dozens of unread penstagram messages she’d likely chosen to ignore.

“The two of them have been insufferable today, how am I supposed to know the difference between Pep Ph.D. and Dr Fizz? And what in Titan’s name is a clown.” She threw up her hands, irritated, before resigning to letting them sit crossed over her chest.

Luz shrugged, still staring at the number of messages, “Pep tastes kinda like barbecue sauce if it was carbonated, Dr Fizz is sweeter, bubblier, and by far the better soda. And clowns are a staple of every good party.”

Amity looked slightly baffled, like she wasn’t expecting Luz to have an opinion either, then gently took her scroll back to rapidly text a message to Gus.

“…What’s the party for?” The words came out muffled, and slightly anxious. She wanted to help, she was a great party planner—Willow knew that, Gus knew that, why were they leaving her out?

“Oh,” Amity was stilly texting, “I think Gus’s birthday is coming up.”

“WHAT?” Luz slammed her hands on the cafeteria table, startling Amity and bringing the attention of the rest of the lunchroom to both of them, various Hexside students glaring or staring, judgingly.

Amity gently brought her hands to Luz’s shoulders, pulling the human back into her seat and nervously laughing. Said human leaned in, close, raising a hand to her mouth to whisper.

“What do you mean Gus’s birthday is coming up?” She was his friend; she should be an expert in these kinds of things! No wonder he and Willow had been avoiding her, they probably didn’t want to break the news to her that she had forgotten one of her best friends’ birthday.

“The party is this weekend,” Amity supplied, mimicking her girlfriend’s hushed tone. “They’ve been sending out invitations on penstagram all day.”

She turned her scroll toward Luz again, this time, a fun-looking, brightly colored invitation with a doodle drawing of Gus throwing confetti, sprawled across her penstagram dashboard. The specific details were cut out, but she could see that Amity was right—the party was this Saturday.

A small knot formed in Luz’s stomach. She couldn’t get a scroll—they were too intertwined with witch magic, and without a bile sack, it was hard to get one. Normally, if she really wanted to see what was going on, she’d ask Eda to borrow hers, but she didn’t have one of her own. Gus knew that, so did Willow. Did they not want her there? Why wouldn’t they give out invitations in person? Why were they hiding this from her?

She slumped onto the table, burying her face in her arms.

“I guess, well—” Amity faltered, catching up on her girlfriend’s sudden deflation, “It is his thirteenth birthday.”

Luz cringed.

“No, no,” Her girlfriend continued, “It’s his thirteenth birthday, Luz.”

She stared, blankly. “I don’t get what you mean. Why are you saying ‘thirteenth’ like that?”

“Oh shoot,” Amity face-palmed, a pointed ear twitching, “Of course you wouldn’t have the thirteenth, I forget how fragile humans are.”

“Hey,” Luz dragged out the word, scowling, “We’re not fragile, we’re just not meant to digest fairies or survive boiling water.”

Her girlfriend snickered, “Like I said, fragile. Anyways, when a witch turns thirteen, you have to go through some… trials.”

“I like trials,” Luz mumbled.

Amity smiled, fondly, then grimaced, “They’re not fun trials, Luz. A witch’s thirteenth birthday is said to be cursed; you have to spend the day with bad luck, and if you manage to survive, at the end of the day you can throw a party, celebrating your ability to wield magic and become a real witch. It’s a rite of passage.”

She ‘oohed’, “That sounds cool. Why wouldn’t Gus tell me about it?”

The purple-haired girl made a face, “I’m not sure. You’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, even if you are… squishy. I’m confident in your ability to survive the death threats of a thirteenth.”

Resting her chin in the palm of her hand, Luz grumbled. “Thank you.”

She moped the rest of the school day.

When her final class came, and the last bell screamed, Luz sulked, taking her time to put away her spell books and potions, slowly zipping her bag and slowly tucking away her pencils. She wasn’t looking forward to walking home alone.

Her feet felt heavy, footsteps echoing down the bustling hallway as other students excitedly talked about their weekend plans. She tried to ignore every whisper of ‘party’, flipping her cowl up to hide her face. Normally, Luz didn’t mind people staring. At home, she got enough of it already, but in the Boiling Isles being the only human made her feel… important.

She didn’t feel important right now.

Her hand gently pushed the front door of the school open, light momentarily blinding her as her eyes got adjusted to the outdoors.

“Luz!” An excited voice called her name, forcing her head to instinctively turn toward the offending noise.

Suddenly, two bodies were tackling her, and Luz found herself toppling to the ground.

“Ohmigosh, are you okay?” A very frantic Gus clambered from their pile of entangled limbs, pushing himself and Willow off of Luz.

“Wha—Gus? Willow? What are you guys doing here?” She blinked a few times, rubbing at the arm she had stupidly hit on the stone ground. Dumb human arms, always getting injured. “I thought you would’ve been getting ready for the party.”

They both cringed.

“Oh… you found out about that?” Willow fiddled with the hem of her skirt, looking away from the human’s face.

Luz felt her face get hot. She was not going to cry about this. Absolutely not. “Of course, I found out! What I wanna know is why my two best friends decided I’m not cool enough to go to their really scary thirteenth birthday party? I know Gus has to go through dangerous trials, and like, prove himself and whatever, but I’m tough! I can take it.”

Gus looked between her and Willow, as if debating whether he should say something. A beat of silence passed.

“Of course, I want you at my party,” the younger witch finally spoke, “actually, that’s what we were coming to talk to you about—”

He scratched the back of his neck, pausing briefly.

“Eda told us that humans don’t have bad luck rituals on their thirteenth birthday, so we—well—we may have—”

“It’s a double party!” Willow interrupted, face quickly turning bright pink. “Sorry, sorry! I’ve been dying of anticipation all day.”

She pulled a rolled-up parchment from her bag, unfurling it to show Luz an edited version of Gus’s party invitation. This one included a small doodle of Luz as well as Gus, both donning matching party hats and throwing confetti. At the bottom, the date and time were clearly listed.

Saturday, 9:00pm, The Owl House.

Luz’s eyes widened, a large grin forming on her face.

“You guys!” She d’awwed, pulling them into a group hug.

“We didn’t want you to miss out, and Eda said you’d be able to handle all the bad luck just fine, and King’s okay with it as long as we bubble-wrap you, and we didn’t want to miss your birthday in case you had to go home before we can celebrate—” Gus cut his own rambling off, taking a breath.

“We got a clown!” Willow laughed, excitedly clapping.

Gus nodded enthusiastically, repeating her, “We got a clown!”

“Is this why you were texting Amity all those weird questions?”

Her friends both gasped, Gus especially offended, “I wanted to be as accurate as possible, the party is human-themed after all. Amity wasn’t supposed to tell you about it! That’s the point of a surprise party.”

“Eda was setting up pre-birthday decorations at the Owl House for tonight’s sleepover.” Willow added.

“Sleepover?” Luz repeated, awestruck. “Oh, my Azura, you guys are the best.”

The three kids hugged again, laughing about their birthday schemes. Human or not, Luz should’ve known better than to think her best friends would exclude her like that.

This was going to be the best Friday ever.

#long post #ask ask #writing bits #talking bits #writing recs #ao3 #toh fanfic #toh writing #toh luz #toh oneshot #the owl house #my bad if this is a mess it's not beta read and i wrote it in like. an hour #jhkjhkj enjoy!#misunderstanding trope my beloved #dirts and drabbles

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sergeantsporks · 3 years

Text

Do You Want the Knife You Left in My Back, or Can I Keep It?

Rating: Teen and up, Gen

An injured Hunter wanders into Hexside. What was Luz supposed to do, just let him bleed out on the floor?

Ch 3/5: Fevered Dreams

Ch 1, Ch 2

Ao3

Eda stalked through the living room, glancing at her unwanted guest as she passed the couch. He’d fallen asleep on his stomach, his face turned to the side. She had to admit, he was pretty cute when he wasn’t being an annoying brat. He looked so… vulnerable. And small, wow, he was small. He inhaled and exhaled in little puffs, his brow furrowed like he was busy chasing down wild witches in his dreams.

Eda shook herself. “Whoa, there, owl lady,” she told herself, “He’s Belos’ stooge. You are absolutely not allowed to like him in the slightest. Nope. That’s Luz’s little pity project. He’d arrest you in a second.”

She caught King as he attempted to make a flying leap onto Hunter’s back. “Nu-uh, what do you think you’re doing?”

“He called me a rat. Therefore, he is now my personal heated beanbag. Lemme go.”

“King, you can’t jump on top of him, you’ll hurt him.”

“Yeah? Why do you care all of a sudden, Miss I’m-going-to-tackle-him-to-the-ground?”

Eda set King on the ground. “The sooner he heals, the sooner he’s out of here. Besides, I think the kid’s been through enough. Leave him be.”

“I think you’re going soft.”

“I am not! Shoo! Go find someone else to bother!”

King scrambled off, and Eda shook her head, glancing down at Hunter. He’d started to shiver, and she shook her head, tracking down a blanket and draping it over him. King was right. She was going soft.

Xxx

Luz made shushing noises at Gus and Willow as they approached the owl house. “You gotta be quiet, Viney said he needs to rest!”

“You have the Golden Guard in your house!” Willow yelped, “I am not going to be quiet!”

Luz pushed the door open. “Okay, okay.”

Gus and Willow stampeded in. “Awwww, he’s asleep!” Willow murmured.

“’Bout time,” Luz grumbled, “I was starting to wonder if he even ever slept without getting knocked out.”

Gus poked Hunter’s face. “Whoa. I still can’t believe you’ve got the golden guard sleeping on your couch.”

“Hey, don’t poke him, you might wake him up!” Luz looked down at Hunter. Something… wasn’t right, here. His breaths were coming in short pants, and his face was flushed, despite the fact that he was shivering under a blanket. She felt his forehead, and winced. “EEEEEEDAAAAAAA!” she called, pounding up the stairs. She should have known that something was off by the fact that he hadn’t woken up—he didn’t exactly seem like the type who’d be a sound sleeper.

“He’s your pet, you clean up his messes,” Eda responded from where she was rearranging the bedding in her nest, “You promised he’d be your responsibility.”

Luz grabbed her arm. “I know, I know, I know I promised, but he’s sick, Eda!”

“Sick? What do you mean, like a mold?”

“I don’t know, he’s got a really bad fever, and he didn’t wake up when Gus poked him—” Luz felt tears spring to her eyes. “Did I do something wrong? Does he have medicine he’s supposed to take or he gets sick?”

Eda sighed and clambered out of her nest. “Alright, alright, I’ll go check on your pet project. Don’t panic.”

They traipsed down the stairs, and Eda glanced down at Hunter. “Boy, he really does never relax, huh? Even when he’s asleep. Alright, what do we have here?” Fever, not waking up—I think he’s just sick, Luz, everyone gets sick. Just keep him warm, keep him hydrated, there’s not much else you can do but wait it out.”

“But Eda, he got stabbed!”

“Hmmm, you’re right, could be an infection. You should probably call up your healer friend to check, then.”

Luz raced towards the door. “Going! Gus, Willow, you coming?”

They nodded and followed her, but when Luz opened the door… something was wrong with Hooty. He was looking off into the distance, eyes glazed over, and he didn’t even notice them.

“Hooty? Hooty!”

Kikimora stepped out. “Hand over the Golden Guard, and no one needs to get hurt.”

Luz whipped out a set of glyphs. “I’m never going to give him to you. Put Hooty back to normal!”

“Well, as normal as he gets,” Willow amended.

“I won’t ask again. The Golden Guard belongs at his coven. And you are keeping him prisoner. Emperor Belos will not let you go twice, especially not after you kidnapped one of his own. Release him to me.”

“I’m not keeping him prisoner, I’m keeping him safe! From you!”

“What could he have to fear from me? I’m his coven-member.”

“Fat chance. I know you tried to kill him, twice.” Luz slammed an ice glyph down on the ground, and a spike shot out, stopping just inches from Kikimora’s face. “Leave. Now.”

Kikimora glanced at the spike, unflinching. “I will be back. And I can get past your house demon, remember that. It’s only a matter of time before the Golden Guard is mine.”

“I said, leave!”

“Very well. Tell me one thing, though; is the guard well?”

Luz froze. She knew, didn’t she? Hunter had said he’d seen a projection of her—maybe she should have taken him a little bit more seriously.

Kikimora snickered and turned to go. “I’ll be waiting out here for you and your friends, human. Never forget that.”

She disappeared into the trees, and Luz whirled around, storming back inside and slamming the door shut. “She won’t let us get help,” she growled, “She’s going to stand out there, and if she doesn’t get Hunter, the fever will!”

Eda shook her head. “You don’t know that. It’s just a fever, Luz.”

“But he’s hurt, and he’s lost a lot of blood, and I know fevers usually aren’t a big deal, but what if this one is?!”

“Okay, so what are you going to do about it?”

Luz sat down next to Hunter with a whump. “I…” Lil Rascal hopped up on her lap, chirping anxiously. She scratched the palisman’s head. “We need a healer. We just don’t know enough about what’s going on.”

“Yeah, but Kikimora’s out there,” Willow reminded her, “She’s not going to just let us go get one.”

Luz looked down at Hunter. He was still shivering, still sweating, and the heat radiating off of him was strong enough that she could feel it even without touching him. He needed a doctor, or medicine. Now. “Gus, Willow, I know it’s a lot to ask. You don’t know Hunter, and… I can’t expect you to drop everything to help him. And if you say no—”

“We say yes,” Gus interrupted her.

“Even if we don’t know Hunter, you’re still our friend, Luz,” Willow agreed, “We’ll help.”

“Okay. I’m going to go confront Kikimora. I’ll distract her, keep her busy, so you two can go get Viney, or another healer.” Luz turned to Eda. “I’ll be careful, I promise. No unnecessary risks, I won’t lose control, no matter what she says or does. I know I said I’d take care of him by myself, and I know you don’t like him. But… can you please keep an eye on him?”

Eda sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll take care of him.”

Luz set Lil Rascal on her shoulder. “Okay, you guys ready?”

“Ready.”

Luz threw open the door. “That demon is going down.”

Xxx

Eda sat next to Hunter, gently shaking his shoulder. “C’mon, wake up, kid, we need to get you somewhere more defendable than the couch. There’s a crazy demon out there screaming for your head.

His eyes opened just a bit, bright from the fever. “…Lilith? What’re you…”

Eda snorted. “You mistake me for my sister again and I leave you out for Kikimora. C’mon, we’re gonna get you upstairs.” His eyes slid shut again, and she shook him again, ignoring his whine of pain. “Hey, stick with me, here, I don’t know if I can carry you.”

“Dddddon’t wanna,” he mumbled, snuggling further into the couch.

Eda sighed. Oh, she was going to hate herself for this. “Golden Guard,” she snapped, doing her best impression of her sister, “the emperor requires your presence. Now.”

If he’d been a little more coherent, it probably wouldn’t have worked. But as it was, he blearily opened his eyes, grabbing her arm with a hot little hand. “Wait… ’m… coming…”

Eda helped him off of the couch, one of his arms around her shoulder. “Alright. That’s it, here we go.”

“Hnnnnghh…” Hunter whimpered as she half-carried him up the stairs, shivering, his little body burning hot against her.

“Okay, almost there.”

He collapsed with a whine when they got to the top. “Don’t… tell him… I can… I can do it… Just… a…”

Oh, okay. Ouch. That hurt. Eda scooped him up, trying her best to avoid putting pressure on his wound. “Emperor changed his mind, he said you can take a break.”

He clutched her shoulder, huffing. “No, I can—I can—don’t switch me, I can—”

“Hey—whoa, calm down. You’re not getting replaced, Belos just decided that mission actually needed to be done next week, not today, so… you’re good!”

He relaxed. “Wanna… go… bed…”

“Yeah, okay. Okay, kid.” Eda carried him into Luz’s room, setting him down gently on her sleeping roll. He whined again and yelped.

“Ah, right—” Eda turned him over so he wasn’t on his back anymore and draped blankets on top of him. “Sorry, kid.” She peered out the window. She didn’t see any disturbance—hopefully that just meant Luz hadn’t found Kikimora yet, not that Kikimora had already won. “What’s everyone putting up such a fuss about? You’re just some kid, what did you do that made Kikimora so determined to kill you?

He predictably didn’t answer, and Eda sighed, sitting back down next to him. “Belos really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut tighter, turning onto his side and curling up into a ball, still panting like a dog.

“Ooo, that can’t be good for your back.” Eda stood up. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

She went back down the stairs towards the kitchen. “Ahh, look at me. Being all… motherly. And to the enemy. Luz really did a number on me, huh?”

Xxx

“Golden guaaaaard. Golden guard, wake up.”

Hunter didn’t want to open his eyes. His head felt like it had been wrapped in cotton, and breathing was hard, and he was just going to lie here forever. Yes. That sounded good.

“Lazy brat.”

Hunter cracked his eyes open just a bit at that. “Hngh?”

A Kikimora illusion appeared in front of him, Luz behind her, wrapped in glowing magical bonds. “I caught your little human friend. Come on out before I burn the owl house down to get to you.”

Hunter struggled to get up, but a wave of dizziness swept over him, and he fell back down. “Hnk—I—”

“Pathetic. Truly. If the emperor could see you right now, I wouldn’t have to worry about him favoring you again. Come find me, or I’ll kill the human and then come for you.”

The image fizzled out, and Hunter’s head thumped back down to the pillow, spinning. He needed to get out of here—Kikimora would kill Luz whether he came or not, but if he could just get the drop on her… yes. This would work. He was a sitting duck here, but if he could get to Kikimora first… He struggled up to his feet, and made it, inch by painful inch, to the window.

“’m coming,” he mumbled, “Jusssst… hang on…”

Xxx

Eda swirled the content of her potion around in its bottle. Painkiller, if she’d done it right. She might not know how exactly to help Hunter, but she could do this, at least. She pushed open the door to Luz’s room, kneeling next to the pile of blankets.

“Hey, Hun—” as she nudged the pile of blankets, she realized that they were too flat. She whirled around to see the open window. “Oh, no. No, no, no!” she checked under the blankets just in case, but her fears were correct.

Hunter was gone.

Xxx

Luz stepped back on the path to the owl house, shaking her head. Willow and Gus had made it safely out, and she hadn’t seen a single sign of Kikimora. Maybe that should make her suspicious, but mostly she was relieved that Gus and Willow would be able to find Viney.

That relief immediately vanished when Eda came swooping down from the sky towards her. “Luuuuuz!”

“Eda?! I thought you were staying at the house with Hunter!”

Eda landed and folded her wings with a whoosh. “I was, but Luz, I left him alone for, like, ten minutes to make a painkiller potion, and when I got back, he was gone!”

Panic swept over Luz. “Gone?! How?! He couldn’t even move when I left!”

“Yeah, I know, and he was pretty solidly out of it when I left him, but when I came back up, the window was open, and I didn’t see him anywhere!”

“He climbed out of a window?!” Luz ran a hand through her hair. “But why would he do that, there’s no…oh. Oh, no!”

“What? What is it?!”

“Hunter had been seeing Kikimora—I never saw her, but she might have been using illusion magic to communicate with him!”

“What could she have possibly said that would get that boy up?! He’s a mess, he couldn’t even make it up the stairs!”

“I don’t know, but we have to find him!”

“Luz, I hate to say it, but you don’t think that he… left to go with her? Back to the coven?”

“No WAY, Eda, he definitely wouldn’t go back with Kikimora—they hate each other. Wherever he is, she’s looking for him, too. We have to find him before she does.”

Ch. 4

#toh #the owl house #toh hunter #luz noceda #kikimora #edalyn the owl lady #my writing

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starsfic · 3 years

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Of Thrones Inherited, Chapter 2: Talk To

Summary: Three plans are made.

-_-

“I can’t believe-”

“I can!”

The Owl House living room was awash with laughter. All of the pillows and blankets had been dragged down to create some kind of nest where Willow and Luz sat. Eda was out of the house with King and Hooty to visit her parents, so the girls were alone in their sleepover.

And it was the most fun Luz could ever imagine.

Even though she’d had several sleepovers since coming to the Boiling Isles, Luz still couldn’t get over it. She had never had been invited to sleepovers back on Earth. Any tries on her part had been ignored. But here… here she had friends. Actual friends.

Which only made it harder to determine which realm she wanted to stay in without speaking to her mother.

“Oh wow,” she said now, leaning back. “I mean, your poor dad but that must’ve been hilarious.” Willow had been recounting her fathers’ latest attempts to help with her plant magic. This time had involved one of them leaning too close to a flower that sprouted hallucination-inducing thorns and the other two had been forced to deal with his drunken shenanigans for the rest of the day.

“I mean, it was in hindsight, but then… wow.” Willow sighed contently, resting her hands in her lap. The two descended into an easy silence, Luz taking the break to take a sip of her tea. With that, Willow said something that made her freeze. “Amity’s supposed to come back next school day.”

Luz froze.

...Amity.

It had been a few weeks since their adventure in the library. Since Amity had kissed her on the cheek. Amity hadn’t returned to school in those weeks, not even after Luz’s first adventure with the Golden Guard.

She was probably avoiding her.

She couldn’t bring herself to be upset. Luz would avoid herself too.

“Oh,” she said awkwardly. “She is?”

Willow sighed and then gripped Luz’s shoulders. “Luz,” she said in that voice she couldn’t help but pay attention to. “You and Amity need to talk.” She opened her mouth. “No buts. I just…” She sighed. “You know Gus and I are getting kinda sick of watching you two but I hate to see you upset.”

“...I know.”

Willow gently cradled her chin, forcing her to meet her eyes. “Promise me you’ll sit down and talk with Amity?”

Luz nodded, unable to do anything else, even if she knew it would just end in heartbreak.

“I promise to talk to Amity.”

-_-

Unknown to many of the residents of the palace, the palace had secret passages.

They were carefully hidden from anyone outside the circle of trust. For these passages were much, much closer to any of the Titan’s organs, excluding the emperor’s throne. So far, the only ones who knew of their existence were Kikimora, the Emperor, and the Golden Guard.

The latter two descended down one of these passages.

Hunter was still gaping at the fact that, apparently, Luz was part of his uncle’s plans. “I thought you didn’t like the human.” he finally said, breaking the silence. He hadn’t been able to say the words when they were in the throne room, certainly not when Belos had beckoned him to follow. “Didn’t she defeat you?”

“And that was the result of my own arrogance.” his uncle said, voice calm and steady. “I looked down at her and saw an ant instead of a lioness. Her coming was the will of the Isles and I fear that, if I may harm her, the Titan will come down on my head.” They reached a door and Belos pushed it open.

The door led to a simple room. It was dark with the only light coming from a cauldron. Belos and Hunter arranged themselves around it. “I know my health is failing.” his uncle said simply. He moved to shake his head and deny it, but he pressed on. “It is. I believe my curse will overtake me soon enough. But, if I pass before the Day of Unity, it is important to have plans set up in case.”

“But-”

“I have tried my best to mold you. To become the greatest version of yourself, but I know that there is potential there. Potential I have missed.” He swallowed back the lump in his throat and tried to not think about Rascal. “Potential that I will miss flourishing. But… you do not have the will.”

“I…” It was true. Of course, it was if his uncle stated it so calmly.

“But the human has it in spades.” Belos waved his hand over the cauldron and it began to bubble. “Her strength comes from kindness. So willing to sacrifice her own well-being to help others.” An image appeared in the cauldron- one of their run-ins, where Luz had shielded him from a creature’s claws, breaking her arm. Hunter had managed to finish the fight and had gotten her to a nearby Healer’s, where her arm was soon fixed. “But, compassion is her strength. She will pause, hesitate at taking the necessary steps.”

Hunter nodded.

“I trust in you that task, to make sure she has the strength to help lead.” The image disappeared to be replaced by a key. The key to the portal. “She will bring us the key eventually. And, when she does, I will explain her role in our plans. And when I pass…”

Another image.

This one, of them, older and dressed in similar white robes. Sitting on his uncle’s throne, staring down at the utopia Belos wanted so badly to create.

“I trust that our people will be in good hands.”

The image faded and the liquid bubbled.

Something floated up to the surface. The lump returned when Hunter was gestured to pick it up.

It was a mask. It looked to be a combination of his own mask and Lilith Clawthorne’s own. Golden patterns decorated the white mask, golden ribbons streaming from the ends. Hunter stared at it, gulping as he imagined Luz’s brown eyes staring coldly out of the silts.

“Thank you, Uncle.” he finally managed.

He needed to talk to Luz.

-_-

Outside the secret room, Kikimora fumed.

She had peeked inside the throne room when she failed to hear any sounds of punishment. She had been imagining such horrible things happening to the little brat… but there had been nobody there. Until she noticed the secret passage.

And now…

Unbelievable.

Hunter was a clear traitor. Luz Noceda was a clear threat to the system her emperor had worked so hard to create. And now both were being rewarded for it.

Well, she wouldn’t allow that.

Kikimora turned and stalked up the stairs.

She had people to talk to.

#Of Thrones Inherited #The Owl House #Willow Park #Luz Noceda #Emperor Belos #Hunter #Golden Guard #Kikimora #fic #my writing

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sepublic · 3 years

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When Eda/Luz is Threatened...

Okay, I know @novelist-becca already went over this in the past, but screw it, I’m in the mood to gush about Eda and Luz, so;

It’s worth noting that there’s a pretty clear difference between how Eda reacts towards someone who threatens her, VS someone who threatens Luz. Tibbles and Lilith serve as pretty good control groups, given how they’ve interacted with Eda and Luz separately on a different basis, and Eda’s reaction to them in each scenario clearly differs…

In Tibbles’ case- There isn’t any retaliation to begin with, at first! Yeah Eda hates his guts, but as soon as she gets her elixir, she and King just ditch him to his fate. Eda doesn’t even know that the Mud & Sundry stand is about to collapse on Tibbles when she leaves, so from her perspective, HER issue with getting the elixir is well and done- And that’s it! No need for revenge, Eda has no pragmatic quarrel with Tibbles, and it’s very practical of her as a result.

…But when Tibbles threatens Luz, King, Willow, and Gus? When he tried to KILL them outright, whereas the last time, he just dressed King up in cute clothes? THEN Eda retaliates violently… Tibbles’ scheme is already ruined and she could easily steal his snails for herself, the kids and King are safe, Eda herself had no participation in Tibbles’ scheme… But the kids were threatened, and Eda goes out of her way to dump a bunch of crab-apples upon Tibbles, setting him up to be eaten alive by his own animals- She’s trying to kill him here, and honestly, I can’t blame her.

Eda’s lax attitude towards Tibbles is also prevalent early in Really Small Problems; He’s apparently been trying to send her death threats, and even if that wasn’t Tibbles… Eda seems more concerned about Tibbles’ potential plot towards her, than actually getting back at him for past incidents. Even when she easily sees past Tibbles’ attempt to poison her, Eda just… Goes on with her day, doesn’t bother with Tibbles. She leaves him be, repeatedly spares him of her own volition- And so Tibbles pushes his luck when he targets Luz. THEN he only has himself to blame when Eda sets him up to die; If we never see Tibbles again after this, it’d be a safe assumption to say he actually gets killed off-screen because of Eda.

All in all, Eda’s attitude towards Tibbles is incredibly lax- Yeah he’s a threat to her, yeah he’s annoying and despicable… But otherwise Eda only does what needs to be done, until Luz is threatened. This pairs well with her interactions with Lilith- Lilith is set to capture Eda… And obviously, Lilith doesn’t plan to actually kill Eda, Lilith thinks she’s helping Eda, and also they’re both sisters who –mostly- know one another… So yeah, that plays a role into Eda not feeling all too threatened nor preemptively defensive when Lilith is around. She lets Lilith into her space, doesn’t try to strike back in anticipation UNTIL Lilith messes up…

And even then, Eda never actually aims to hurt Lilith! She goes out of her way to save her, and their duel in Covention was clearly treated as more of a fun spat than an actual attempt to hurt each other! Eda seemed to treat it that way at least, and when her curse is brought up, Lilith makes it clear again that, yes, she doesn’t actually mean to hurt Eda (even if she still does anyway by accident).

But then Luz is captured, and… Well, Eda’s downright murderous attitude towards Lilith says more than enough. When she confronts her sister minutes before execution, Eda first mentions Lilith hurting LUZ above all-else, as if that’s more important to her than being cursed. And, I can see why- The curse happened years ago. Eda knows that Lilith has been trying to fix the curse, that much was made clear since Sense and Insensitivity at the latest. She obviously regrets what she did, and hey, it was only at EDA…

But Luz didn’t deserve to be threatened. Luz didn’t deserve to almost die, whereas Lilith’s curse never physically harmed Eda, at least not in a direct sense. And it’s King vouching for Lilith by pointing out that she helped LUZ, that Eda then stops her attack- That, and to also not hurt King. Eda seems to care more about Lilith hurting her found family, and conversely, that means Eda is less than impressed by attempts to appease her; But attempts to make up by appeasing the ones she loves and helping them, THAT changes her tune!

Which, one could perhaps get into speculation that maybe this relates to Eda perhaps not thinking very highly of herself… Or at the very least, she of course values her loved ones WAY more than she does herself, which doesn’t necessarily mean Eda has any low self-esteem! She definitely seems confident enough and it’s not exactly an illusion, but Eda’s own pride in herself could’ve partly stemmed as a survival tactic from the pain and ostracization of the curse by others, being persecuted by the Emperor’s Coven, etc. She does seem to genuinely believe what she says, Eda isn’t just saying it to fool herself- And while there are cracks in the façade here or there, they seem more standard insecurities, and not pointing to Eda making everything up.

Really, you could go out and say that this evokes the attitude of Eda not really blaming people for being mad at her, even! She knows she’s mischievous and a troublemaker, a rascal who revels into it- She’s a pickpocket and well aware of it… Eda has a tendency to intentionally aggravate others, so she figures it’s not too personal if people hate her, because YEAH- If Eda met herself, she’d hate Eda too! It’s like Eda’s lowkey accepting and admitting her own flaws, or that in some scenarios, such as Tibbles in Hooty’s Moving Hassle- It isn’t meant to be anything personal besides individual gain and greed. It’s just someone trying to get by, even if it IS at the expense of someone else, but that’s about it. And even when Tibbles DOES try to get personal with Eda, again- She lets him be.

Eda accepts that yeah, she IS a bit irritable and a mess, what about it? It is who she is, and HEY, she’s pretty empathetic, she can understand why people do things, she won’t hold a grudge… But when her own loved ones are threatened, that’s different, because they mean SO MUCH more to her! Not to mention Luz is a literal child and doesn’t deserve any attacks by whatever adult is targeting her… Eda’s willing to forgive and forget, but when it comes to Luz, hurting her apprentice/daughter is borderline unforgivable.

Then we have people like Wrath; Eda seems like she could’ve initially humored his request to be his girlfriend for like, a day or two before she’d make it backfire on him… But then she notices Luz, who’s being physically harassed by Wrath, and she makes up her mind- If Luz has to put up with this danger and discomfort for even another second, and ploy or ruse to get by Wrath isn’t worth it! Eda will take him head-on, and even then… She makes it clear that her main concern is always Luz, she makes sure LUZ gets away from the Conformatorium, even at the risk of Eda’s self- It’s Luz who matters for Eda, it’s what happens to Luz that forms the basis of her priorities!

We have Adegast, who Eda mostly knows as the creep who targeted Luz and held her hostage… And likewise, he had a LOT of those fake maps created, so who knows how many people he’d target, or already had? And how many of them are kids- These ‘Chosen One’ maps seem like they’d only work for the kind of young kid with that sort of imagination… So naturally, Eda doesn’t hesitate to kill Adegast by eating him alive, because hey, she can also get a snack out of it!

There IS a bit of an exception in the Slitherbeast… However, the Slitherbeast isn’t some malicious adult- It’s literally just a wild animal, they don’t and usually can’t operate on our usual standards of morality. Not only that, but the Slitherbeast didn’t go out of its way to hurt Luz, it ony retaliated when she wounded it with a pretty huge fireball- And even then, it didn’t actually hurt Luz, it only succeeded in kidnapping Eda, Emira, and Edric. The Slitherbeast DOES at one point corner Luz later on, but she manages to fend for herself, and with everything mentioned above- And yeah, Eda isn’t going to hold any grudges against the wild animal that HAD been trying to mind its own business, when Luz had accidentally hurt it- And it’s not like it could’ve known that was an accident.

So, Slitherbeast gets a pass. Then there’s Once Upon a Swap… Again, Lilith is a special case in that Eda knows she’s fundamentally a good person, they’re sisters and whatnot- And of course, Lilith doesn’t know she’s threatening Luz, she think she’s going after Eda, so Eda can’t blame her for intentionally trying to hurt Luz, that’s a pure accident that’s kind of Eda’s fault anyway. On the flipside, you have Boscha and her friends attacking King-in-Luz’s-body… And to be fair, it’s King- King can definitely get himself into deserved trouble. So they’re not REALLY retaliating against Luz for her own actions, it’s King for HIS own actions, even if they think it’s Luz… Plus, Boscha and her posse are literal kids.

Aside from mixing everyone’s bodies up to provide cover for herself and the others, Eda doesn’t try to harm or retaliate! She doesn’t even try to get back at Roselle and Dottie, who tried to hold her prisoner! Again, Eda really is a forgive-and-forget kind of person, but when it comes to others… She can’t speak on their behalf, and she doesn’t ever want a kid like Luz to feel obligated to forgive an adult who hurt her. That’s not Luz’s responsibility, she shouldn’t have been hurt no matter what in the first place.

Then we’ve got all those other episodes… Eda doesn’t know that Amity tried to get Luz dissected, and anyhow I doubt Amity actually intended for Luz to be hurt, just aiming for her to be pushed into a corner where she’s forced to out herself. Being a young kid like Luz, whom Eda knows is the child to Odalia and Alador, who likely stood out to her as a nasty bunch… And she can understand, even if it’s wrong- At least enough to not go out of her way to seek revenge on a literal child. This also applies to Covention, and Amity didn’t even try to hurt Luz, and as far as Eda knows, Luz agreed to that binding oath to not practice spells if she failed!

Eda doesn’t know about the Demon Hunters who threatened Luz or the others… She DID meet them in Escape of the Palisman, but she doesn’t seem to recognize them, and clearly Luz and the others tried their best to cover up the incident. If Eda had recognized the Demon Hunters, I imagine she wouldn’t have just let things be, but who knows? She doesn’t hold anything against them, and in THAT case, they didn’t know Eda was a witch, they thought she was a wild animal out of control and a threat to others… Which she WAS (Eda even threatens Luz and King in that state), so Eda can’t blame them.

Eda doesn’t know about what happened in Lost in Language… Mattholomule’s antics and that Detention Monster are already being resolved and anyhow aren’t life-threatening. Eda isn’t aware of what went on with the Bat Queen, but ultimately the Bat Queen turned around for Luz’s sake and only tried to chase off Luz for Owlbert’s sake, because Luz DID hurt Owlbert, so Eda can of course sympathize with that kind of protective nature- Plus Eda and the Bat Queen are on good terms and they love each others’ kids!

Piniet… WELL, that’s an interesting conflict- If Luz and King hadn’t escaped, I also feel like Eda would’ve been VERY brutal with him, if aforementioned precedents set any example. She’d of course track down Piniet by learning about Ruler’s Reach, and Piniet would be in for a reckoning… Then we have The First Day, the Greater Basilisk is already incapacitated/dead by the time Eda arrives. Eda doesn’t know what goes on with Inner Willow, who only targets Amity from being literally set on fire… And while we don’t see Eda tackle Grom herself, she was obviously poised to beat it to kingdom come. And then there’s Boscha in Wing it like Witches, which Eda doesn’t know about, and also Boscha is a literal child.

Repeating what is already well-established and obvious by this point- Eda seems to have an almost selfless double-standard… In that, she doesn’t really hold it against others who have a conflict with her, unless it’s a really personal betrayal like in Lilith’s case… But even then, Eda doesn’t go out of her way to kick an opponent when they’re down, or even hurt them, until Luz is threatened. And, I think that’s really sweet- Eda knows she’s flawed. Eda’s a full-grown adult, she’s definitely done things that would make people rightfully mad at her… But Luz?

Even if she DID mess up, it’s definitely not out of malice, because that kid is trying her best- Plus she’s a KID, she doesn’t deserve to be hurt for that! Eda can understand if another kid doesn’t quite understand that, because children don’t think things through… But when an adult with power and age levies that over Luz the child? Eda doesn’t necessarily think of Luz as lesser or ‘weak’ for being a kid… More on that later… But while she wants Luz to be able to stand up for herself and be her own person, let her do things by her own request; As someone who was alone for so long, abandoned because of the curse and for being a criminal…

Eda can’t bear to let Luz handle that burden on her own, even if she could- Because she’s a KID, she shouldn’t HAVE to do that in the first place! Eda’s not gonna fail Luz, not like how Gwendolyn seemed to fail her and Lilith… And, that plays into her kind of laughing off Luz’s attempt to take on Grom, when she first announces it! Eda doesn’t necessarily think of Luz as weak, and it’s clear that by the end of the day, she knows that as a kid, Luz shouldn’t be expected to handle that kind of terror… And this of course plays into how Eda has zero judgment when she reassures Luz and is ready to take on the responsibility of Grom, until Amity steps in. Coupled with giving the Witch’s Wool cloak to Luz (which Eda also had the concern that she herself wouldn’t need it soon enough), and Luz’s own accomplishments in the season finale… Managing to free Eda, fighting her way through the Conformatorium, instantly solo-ing Warden Wrath, and even damaging Belos?

Coupled with how Eda has no issues with learning glyphs from Luz, because she believes and trusts in Luz’s guidance, knowledge, and skill as a witch- And I think it’s likely that Eda greatly respects Luz’s strength as a witch, if she hadn’t already… She was clever enough to figure out the glyphs, after all- And I think that REALLY began to change Eda’s perception of Luz’s potential, even beyond Luz rallying Tiny Nose and the others against Wrath, and having the maturity to dispel Adegast’s illusions! Luz wasn’t just strong in the emotional, spiritual sense- She has a real pragmatic cleverness, wit, adaptability, creativity, and now magical skill, that is worth recognizing and honing! And not just because she has no other choice, I think Eda genuinely trusts and respects Luz, to be willing to learn from her…

…Even so- Eda’s totally going to freak out anyway if anyone keeps trying to threaten Luz, and dang it, she’ll do all she can to protect Luz, even if Luz is arguably more capable of defending herself now! Because she’s a kid, just because she can, doesn’t mean she should, Luz shouldn’t have to worry about that, screw anyone else who suggests otherwise!

#the owl house #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house lilith #lilith clawthorne #the owl house tibbles #the owl house adegast

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citadelspires · 3 years

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since I’m more or less back in business I feel it’s past time I ramble about another au I will (probably) never write. I’ll start off simple with an amphibia owl house au I was thinking up last night at work. (slight disclaimer that I have not seen any of season 2 yet so this is with exclusively information through the end of season 1). Concept below the cut cause it’s a pretty extensive one.

The concept starts at the same point the owl house does, more or less. Camila is concerned, Luz is getting sent to summer camp etc. etc. This time she gets distracted by an unusually pink frog hopping into the woods, and decides she probably has time to go chase after it. So she follows it into the woods until she suddenly trips over something and falls to the ground, turning around she sees it to be a music box sticking out of the forest floor. Curious, she digs it up and starts examining it. She thinks it’s really pretty and she’s about to open it when she hears voices coming from nearby and goes to check it out.

She finds Willow and Amity in a small clearing, think essentially the scene in the actual owl house where she sees them for the first time, except here they’re both human, though Luz doesn’t know them because they both go to some pretentious private school, Amity because she’s a Blight so she had to, and Willow because she got a scholarship for it and didn’t have the heart to tell her dads she didn’t really want to go. The scene plays out in a similar fashion to how it does in the actual show, with the exception that this time without the magic element Luz doesn’t feel the need to keep hiding and instead marches up from her hiding place to chew out Amity for being a jerk. Unfortunately she stumbles on a tree root as she approaches and, still holding the music box, accidentally pops the lid open.

So that’s how the three of them get transported to Amphibia. I like the idea of taking the setup and world of Amphibia, which we’ve seen through the lens of the characters that got transported all being close “friends”, and coming at it from a different perspective, i.e. one of them is a complete stranger to the other two and the two that do know eachother are already not on very good terms going in. (Amity and Willow have essentially the same history in the au that they do in toh).

Luz is dropped right in the middle of Newtopia, and while she’s very excited about the prospect of a fantasy adventure, she’s also pretty worried that she has no idea how to get back home, and she doesn’t take to the city as well as Marcy did. Part of this is due to her having her doubts about the ruler of Amphibia, who in this case is not Andrias, but Lilith(I understand Belos is probably a more fitting character for the role but I just don’t know enough of his character or really care about him enough to implement him, so Lilith it is! She’s more interesting for the setup anyway, depending on what Andrias’ weird master thing ends up being, maybe that would be a belos type deal but honestly I’d probably just not implement that part into this. If you can’t tell this is much less a “amphibia but with the owl house cast” and more of a actual approach to writing something new with the old setting and characters).

This is mostly due to the fact that, while wondering around the city attracting suspicious stares from newts that have never seen someone like her before, she ends up bumping into a newt who appears to be running from the majority of the city guards. They both fall down and Luz helps her stand up, a showing that is enough to convince the guards that, whatever the weird creature is, it’s in league with the felon, so they begin chasing her too. The criminal newt, who is of course Eda, takes pity on her and brings her along to her hideout, where she meets a weird little robot that insists she refer to him as King. He begins to declare that his full title is “King of...” and then kinda falters off as he seems to realize he actually isn’t quite sure what he is. Luz gives Eda a concerned Look but she just kinda shrugs it off and says he always does that.

Luz finds out that Eda deals in the trade of questionable artifacts and considers herself pretty lucky to find someone like that as soon as she did, and she asks if Eda knows anything about a music box, describing it as best as she can, because she didn’t really think to take any pictures. For her part, Eda is pretty sure what it is, and that’s the moment where she resolves to watch over Luz, at first just because she’s Concerned the box is back in Amphibia, though it eventually ends up that she gets a soft spot for the kid.

Though Luz doesn’t find out a good deal of this until later, and it’s gradually, Eda is still Lilith’s sister here, meaning that yes, she had equal claim to the newtopian crown, but the history of the crown never sat well with her (i.e. she finds out newtopia was built on the foundation of bloody conquest, along with the fact that it’s encouraged they want to get back to that point and nopes out of there). While she’s on her way out she starts off her new life of stealing shiny things by grabbing a weird little statue that had always seemed kinda off to her. She figures she could sell it at least, but while looking over it after escaping she realizes that it isn’t a statue at all, but what she decides must have been a defective robot from newtopia’s past, being much smaller and more... expressive? Than it should have been. For some reason she decided to try fixing it, and though it took a good deal of time she eventually got it to work again, which is how she came to be friends with King.

Luz’ story is largely slice of life relationship building with her, Luz, and King, until the point where the path to the valley opens, and the three of them go on what Luz finds out is an annual trip Eda takes around the valley to see if she can find anything interesting to add to her stand, as well as find new customers in the valley. Luz figures if she has a shot at finding either of the two girls she came with, and hopefully the box too, it would be on that trip.

Willow gets thrown into Toad Tower before she even realizes what’s happening to her. She has no idea where she is, didn’t even get a good look at Luz before the teleportation happened back on earth, and is overall not having a great time. She’s not convinced she’s not dreaming until she’s literally tossed into her cell and the impact hurts enough that she’s sure she’s really there. At first she believes she’s alone in her cell until she hears an awe-filled voice ask what she is and why she’s there. She isn’t able to figure out where the voice is coming from until a tiny blue frog jumps up on her hand. She introduces herself as a human, which gets him very excited, and he introduces himself as Gus, explaining that he was thrown in prison for “almost kind of knowing things he shouldn’t” as he put it.

It turns out Gus is something of a scholar, though he admits that most frogs are more inclined to call him a crazed conspiracy theorist. All of his studies have to do with mysterious other worlds and their inhabitants, which he has always been stubbornly insistent do exist. He’s overjoyed that he finally has “a real life specimen!!” and Willow is excited enough at the idea that there might be someone who actually knows what happened to her that she lets that comment slide. She quickly finds out what the meaning behind his weird prison sentence is, as she brings up getting sent to this world from another, and he attempts for a wise nod as he goes “ah yes, you must have experience an encounter with the calamity bucket.” Still he’s kind of helpful and he and Willow get along pretty well, so they end up hanging out together for the rest of the story, he basically tags along everywhere with her Jiminy Cricket style.

Amity has arguably the hardest time adjusting to the world she suddenly finds herself in, as she ends up in the forest on the outskirts of Wartwood, and promptly determines that this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. Despite having the box that “weird girl” used to send them here, opening it and closing it over again provided no help at all, and trying to go into Wartwood provided even less. Still being in Full Blight mindset she is really haughty and superior and the townspeople do not take it well. Even deducing Toadstool as the only persons superficial enough to potentially care about her status, she can’t get anything out of him cause he views her as a massive publicity risk, which he’s already not doing super well at.

The only frogs in the village that seem to not turn away from her immediately are a mischievous pair of frog twins that joke around and mess with her, and though it’s all lighthearted she’s stubborn enough at first that when they do offer to help her out she flat out refuses them. Eventually between living in a cave and their hanging around her whenever she’s in town anyway she’s worn down enough that she begrudgingly accepts their offer of help.

Not being Blights in this au has done a good deal in the way of making Edric and Emira happier. While they’re just as much of tricksters as they always are, and they occasionally overstep a little in their jests, they’re quick to apologize, and lack any of the actual malice behind their knack for causing trouble. The two of them run one of the stands in the marketplace, something they get Amity to help out with eventually as the town warms up to her. The two of them find it easier to grow closer to Amity than the rest of the town does, maybe it’s cause they’re the only ones who have really tried, or maybe it’s cause they’ve got a reputation for being trouble in the town already anyway. Whatever it is Amity gets begrudgingly closer to them until she eventually refers to them as her siblings once, and though they refuse to let her hear the end of it for a few days, they’d been calling her their little sister since the beginning, and while Amity had been certain for a long time they were just doing it to mess with her she starts to like it eventually.

Like in Amphibia, the three girls all represent one aspect of the Heart, Strength, Mind trio. Figuring out what those all are takes a lot more for these girls than it does for the amphibia trio though. The focus of this story is less on the relationships the characters have, though that is definitely a part of it, and more on the attributes their assigned to and the personal growth they have. Each of them holds the attribute that is both their strongest and most repressed. The three all hold themselves at very little value in the areas they’re actually the strongest in, and through their journey in Amphibia they start to learn.

Willow had always believed that strength was an inherently negative thing. Strength equated to power, and people who had power used it to hurt others, without fail. People like, well, Amity. She prefers gentleness and peace, and to her that and strength is mutually exclusive. She reacts to the concept that she could be charging the box with the attribute of strength very negatively.

Through her time in Amphibia she gets to learn that her strength can come in different forms, and while she is undeniably strong physically, her physical strength is nothing compared to her emotional resolve and capacity to extend that emotional resolve in the strength of heart to pick up the people around her when they need it. She does, though, get to learn that power isn’t something that is inherently evil, and even that if she uses the strength she has to protect the things that are important to her, that doesn’t mean she’s forsaken any of the things believes.

aka she gets to punch a heron in the face. Boscha (captain of toad tower) is very impressed, though she pretends she isn’t. Speaking of Boscha, she gets to experience a similar development to Willow, but more on the reverse side of the coin. Having always been powerful, and that having always been enough to make her more important than everyone else, Willow strikes her as weak at first, given her lack of aggression. The longer she stays stuck with Willow though, the more she comes to realize some important things, foremost among them being that Willow could totally kick her ass, and just chooses not to, which isn’t something Boscha understands at all, and Willow ends up teaching her how to be more of a person than a weapon, even just leading by example.

Much to Willow’s complete disbelief, (she swears to Luz the box is broken and they’re doomed), Amity is the heart. Amity doesn’t really believe it either. Strength would’ve been Okay, but personally she would’ve picked the attribute of intelligence for her. It was like the box went through all the effort of looking into their souls and didn’t even bother to check her report card. Ludicrous. It doesn’t help her that her time in wartwood is miserable for a good deal of the start. For the first time in her life Amity isn’t perfect, and it’s all because there’s nothing to be perfect at in this stupid little town. She should have all the frogs praising her superiority, but literally None Of Them are impressed by her in the slightest. They didn’t even have a school!

The only thing Amity took to quickly in Wartwood was the town motto, resolving that she would be even slower to respect the citizens of Wartwood than they would her. This started off a bit of a rivalry between her and the town, but the longer she had the horrible influence of her parents replaced by the well meaning nagging from her frog siblings, and the more time she spent not being perfect because for once in her life she literally couldn’t be, she started to think it wasn’t so bad after all, and the little rivalry between her and the town became much less of a real one, and a lot more of the friendly banter type, though she couldn’t recall ever making a concious choice to do so it just sorta... happened.

Eventually she starts to think about the school she was initially so annoyed didn’t exist, and begins to wonder if really no one is gonna do anything about it being in ruins. Eventually, she starts going over to the ruined building and reading to whatever kids in wartwood were in the mood to listen. before she knew it she had built up the closest thing to a school Wartwood had in a while, and where she once would have felt a smug pride, she only felt a casual happiness that was new to her, but not entirely unpleasant.

Luz never would have considered herself good at any of the three options. She knows she’s not strong so that’s out. All the kids at school think she’s weird and she has no friends so she really doesn’t think the whole “heart” thing works in any capacity. But the only thing left besides that would be intelligence, and she’s had enough students and teachers alike call her out for being an idiot that she’s absolutely confident that isn’t it. It doesn’t help that since she’s with Eda, who actually knows what the box is, she ends up worrying over what she’s supposed to be from the very start. She spends a lot of the time before the valley opens up thinking the box made a mistake, and since she didn’t have any of the attributes it wanted it wouldn’t work again at all.

In the end she only finds out what she’s supposed to be through process of elimination. Knowing Willow is strength and Amity is heart she finally comes to the realization that she’s supposed to be intelligence, and her confidence crumbles. Of all the options that’s the one she’d been hoping it wouldn’t be the most. How could so many people be wrong after all? It was pretty unanimous back home that she didn’t really have much going on upstairs, and after hearing it enough time she had gotten around to believing it. Her path in the story largely focuses on coming to terms with her own worth, despite her insecurities and the weight of everything she’s ever heard to the contrary constantly on her mind.

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kinghijinx22 · 1 year

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The Owl House Watching and Dreaming review/analysis part 3

Part 3 Luz's Death and Meeting King's Dad

It's at this moment where the Owl family notices the influence of Belos, spreading his goo self across the land in a desperate attempt to take control of the Titan's corpse. Like a disease running through someone's body. Along with this he even creates a kaiju body for himself that comes from the Emporor's castle which is was just absolutely wild and unexpected. When the Owl family and the Collector go to confront Belos, the Collector tries to use what they just learnt about kindness and forgiveness on Belos which very obviously doesn't work and Luz ends up having to sacrifice herself to protect the Collector from Belos's blast. Luz gets in the way and disintegrates into balls of light that float across the Boiling Isles, the place that she'd learnt to call her home and that she fought so hard to protect. This scene is not only a good way of showing that there are some people that are so evil and stuck in their ways that kindness and forgiveness doesn't work which is a brilliant subversion of the "befriend all your enemies" trope that a lot of stories do and is much more realistic, but it also brings back what we learnt about how the Collector perceives death earlier in the episode and this was a devastating but effective way to teach him the weight of what it really means. He'd started to make friends with Luz, but now she's gone and they can't bring her back they've finally started to regret their actions helped lead to this.

Another tragic thing about this scene is that while the balls of lights that once made up Luz reach their destination, they go the Archives where her girlfriend Amity, her friends Willow, Gus and Hunter, and her mother Camilla are. As this happens we see that even while Camilla is a puppet and even if she didn't see what happened to Luz, we see tears come from her eyes. Like she knew what had happened to her baby, and it's hearbreaking. It's almost like Luz just wanted to see her mum again, but also the light is what turns back into a human just like it did with Amity and friends. She wakes up and talks to the kids who still don't really know what happened to Luz, but even with their bad feelings Camilla is able to take some insipiration from daughter by not giving up. She comes up with a plan to draw glyshs on the sticky notes she bought to help the kids to rescue the Puppets, using the knowledge she had learnt from her daughter. I have to mention here that I've always loved Camilla learning to draw gylphs throughout season 3, it really goes to show with everything else that she's been doing that she fully embraces her daughter and wants to a part of her world by leanring about it and understanding.

As Eda and King get taken over by their sadness and anger, going into super beast forms to fight Belos, one last bit of Luz's light drifts into the Inbetween. She turns back into herself as she starts to drown, but the Titan himself appears to pull Luz up before it's too late. Luz finally gets to meets King's dad, the Boiling Isles Titan themself. Or rather King's parent, as he says when they quote their son "I am both king and queen, best of both things." Luz met the equivalent of god and he is genderqueer which is just awesome. I assume you could refer to the Titan with any pronouns, but they do say "but dads fine" so I'll keep referring to him as King's dad and in this situation I'll use "he" and "they" but not she for the sake of not getting confused with Luz. So we learn that they have been using the mirror cubes to watch Luz and the Owl family this whole time, watching over the people who have been looking after son. As it turns out, it really was the Titan who in a mystical was helping Luz to find the glyphs this whole time. In fact the first glyph Luz had found was the light glyph and it helped her to protect King from Eda when she turned into the Owl beast which makes this knowledge even more poetic.

So this whole scene of Luz meeting King's dad is one of the best in the entire show and besides what I've already mentioned about it, the biggest thing that really makes this so good is the conversation about Luz's guilt and how she irrationally compares herself to Belos. She says that her and her friends wanting to protect their families and Belos wanting to protect humanity must come from same place, and so she feels guilty for wanting this. The response from King's dad however is incredibly important and has a powerful truth to it. He points out that Luz's feelings come from a genuine place, she has the heart and she's come to love the Boiling Isles and the friends and family she met while their. Meanwhile Belos's feeling are disingenuous, he just wants to be the hero of his own dilusional world and it's because of this that he fears what he can't control. I think it's pretty obvious what King's dad is talking about here but to get real, this perfectly discribes why bigots exist and the way that the people of right leaning idelogies think the way that they do. They have an idea of what an acceptable human should be and it always happens to benefit them. They want the praise that heroes get but need somebody that they can call an enemy to overcome. They lust for violence but need a justification for hurting others. So they manipulate the public perception of vulnerable minorities by fabricating scary stories about those that are different, othering their victims and creating an "us and them" scenario which justifies the violence they get a rush from. It also ensures that they are perceived as heroes who deserve to rule, and sends a message that anyone who steps out line will feel their wrath. It's evil, that's the only word to desrcibe it and the fact that this show is speaking out against this toxic mindset and the evil people who perpetuate it is especially relevant right now with the unfortunate rise of Rubuplican Conservative efforts to attack and eventually genocide queer minorities. Make no mistake these people are not doing these thing's for some sort of "greater good" or because the "care about the children." They just need someone to point their fingers at so they can indulge their violent nature and appear as the heroes in the process.

This is also how Belos thinks and why he's the perfect villain for the this story. For a story that celebrates what makes use different, encourages self love and understanding of others, having a villain who refuses to understand and sees nothing but reasons to hurt when looking at the differences of others, Belos is a perfect villain. He is a perfect depiction of the old timey Puritanism that he comes from and unfortunately the Fascism that is still rampant to this day. But this is also what makes Luz the perfect hero. She is the opposite of him in every way. She's kind, accepting of others and is always trying to help people to the point of being self sacrificing. She came to the demon realm and saw the beauty in the land and it's people. She was able to make a positive impact on the lives of so many witches since her arrival, meanwhile Belos had the exact opposite impact and has bought nothing but pain and suffering. Luz herself is a bisexual neurodivergent afro Latina girl. She belongs to several historically oppressed groups and is exactly the type of person that a bigot like Belos would discriminate against in real life. They are complete opposites in everyway which makes them the perfect hero and villain for the story of the Owl House.

King's dad tells Luz the truth that she needs to hear to put her mind at ease before deciding to give the rest of their power to her. He's fading away because of Belos's influence, but they've put all of their trust in Luz to save the Boiling Isles and defeat Belos for good. As Luz returns to the demon realm, King's Dad tells her one thing that they want her to tell his son which you don't get to hear until after the fight is over but it is really cute and funny. One last thing to mention about this perfect scene is that Luz's Dad turns into the giant skeleton version of themself, and what I take from this is that this is what he actually looks like currently but was taking the form of a human sized version of King with a dad bod, a Badgirl Coven Shirt and glyph cover pyjama pants which is just really funny to think about. Also have to mention it, what was the mini Hooty coming out of their eye? Is this a hunt to Hooty's origin? Is Hooty a part of a titan? Definitely gets the imagination running.

#the owl house #dana terrace #luz noceda #lumity #raeda #watching and dreaming

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toh-writings · 3 years

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Fortunes of Love pt 3 (Eda x OC)

Summary:

King has a bad day and now has to try and face a problem he is not at all prepared to deal with.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3

Eda grumbled at the morning, all but collapsed on the kitchen counter. Luz was just getting ready for school so she could call her friends. Eda didn’t fully understand why she needed to call them before school. She was going to see them soon enough anyway, but whatever. It made the kid happy.

She gave a big yawn, at least attempting to stand up a bit straighter as Luz stumbled into the room.

“Good morning, Eda!”

She grumbled some sort of greeting but Luz hardly even noticed. She was far too busy eating the breakfast that was sat out for her. Eda shook her head, a fond smile on her face. She could put anything out and Luz would eat it. The girl just paid so little attention, she was so eager to meet with her friends. While she ate, Eda got herself some apple blood.

“Eda, can I walk to school with Gus and Willow today?”

She hummed thoughtfully, looking over to the clock, then shrugged.

“I don’t see why not, kiddo.”

But before she had even finished the sentence, Luz was already grabbing her bag to leave. She paused at the door a moment, before running back over to the kitchen and giving her mentor a big hug. It took a moment for Eda to process, but when she did she hugged the girl back. Soon enough, she was rushing for the door again.

“Thanks for breakfast, Eda! Have a good day!” The door slammed shut before Eda could give her own goodbye.

She was putting her mug in the sink when she heard little footsteps running upstairs, then an odd series of thuds that sounded suspiciously like someone falling down the stairs, punctuated by a little squeak. She snorted out a laugh and smirked when King came stumbling into the kitchen, looking around frantically. After a moment of searching, he looked disappointed, body sagging.

“Did Luz leave already?”

“Yeah, she had to leave early.”

“Oh… I wanted to say goodbye before she left.”

He bowed his head, sadly walking to the kitchen table, only struggling a little to get up onto a chair.

“Don’t worry, you have the whole weekend to spend time with her.” Eda tried to encourage him, giving him his own plate of eggs for breakfast. It seemed to help a little bit. At the very least he wasn’t slouching while he ate. Good enough.

Eda gave another yawn.

“Well, I’m gonna go take a nap.”

King looked up at her as she left the room, a look of concern on his face.

“Already?” He asked, hopping off the chair to dash to her side. He clutched at the skirt of her dress, stopping her retreat. “But it’s still early! Are you feeling okay? Is it the curse? Did you take your elixir today?”

Eda huffed, pushing the small demon off herself, forceful but not hard enough to hurt him.

“I’m fine. I took my elixir already and I’m gonna head to the market later to get more. I just..” She gave another yawn. “I just need to nap first.”

She walked on despite King’s protests, collapsing onto the couch and promptly falling asleep. King gave an indignant noise, crossing his arms.

“Fine then! I have my own things to do anyway.” He stomped off only to return a moment later with a blanket. He draped it over Eda, making sure it covered her up. “Okay, now I’m going!” He ran off again.

----------------------------

Morning turned into afternoon without much fuss. Everything was quiet and peaceful, the only sound being King as he assembled his army of stuffed soldiers upstairs and acted the wars to come when he regained his power the occasional annoying sound from Hooty. King found it suspicious. Eda should have made some sort of sound by now, maybe yell about going to the market or bumping around in the kitchen. He should probably go check on her.

He tried to be quiet as he walked downstairs, peering into the living room.

“Oh."

In the middle of the living room was what at first looked like a giant pile of gray feathers. But of course, King quickly realized it wasn’t since it was breathing, it’s massive side rising and falling slowly. That was Eda! She had turned into her owl form after all. Well, at the very least she was still sleeping.

King inched forward ever so slowly, now more than ever needed to keep as quiet as physically possible. He hid behind the couch, trying to get control of his breathing. When he had calmed down at least a little peered out at the giant beast in the middle of the living room. She still slept soundly, so he tried scooting a little closer. Then a little closer. Then even a little more. He managed to get all the way to her face without waking her up.

“Eda?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper. He had to actively restrain himself from bapping her face. As much as it would make him feel better, it would also probably get him killed. The only response to his whisper was a loud snore.

Alright, this was no problem! He just had to get some of her elixirs! Then she would turn back to normal!

He tiptoed out of the room, ever so careful, but once he was in the hallway he ran up the stairs to Eda’s room.

“Alright,” he said to himself, looking around the slightly messy room. “If I was an elixir, where would I be?”

He remembered Eda opening a chest before, so he looked through a couple of chests she had around the room. He gave an irritated huff at every chest that held nothing but books and junk. Then there was only one left. He opened it with a triumphant “Ah-ha!”

It held nothing but empty bottles.

“Oh. That’s not good.”

Looked like Eda was out of her elixir. He remembers she did mention having to go to the market for more earlier. Well, he guessed he would just have to get it for her. It wasn’t like she was in any state to get it herself.

He snuck back downstairs, peering back over the couch at where Eda still slept. She hadn’t moved an inch, snoring away. Maybe he could get to the market and back before she woke up. He definitely needed to get back before Luz returned from school. So, he snuck out the front door, trying to open it without a squeak and close it without a slam.

“Watcha doin’, hoot hoot!”

Hooty’s screech nearly made King jump out of his skin. He turned on the door with a glare and a loud “Sshhhhhh!”

“Eda’s sleeping, don’t wake her up! She turned into her owl form again. I’m heading to the market to get her more of that elixir. Can you keep her in the house?”

“You got it, hoot hoot!”

And as annoying as the owl was, at least he lowered his voice. That would have to do.

King ran all the way to the market. Well, he mostly ran. He had very short legs, after all, so he needed a few breaks. Still, he managed to make good time all things considered. He was at the market within the half-hour. Now he just needed to remember where the elixir stand was…

He spent more time than he would have liked just wandering. He knew what the stand looked like, he even knew what the guy running it looked like. Still, there were a lot of stands, even if he knew the general area.

Finally, he saw the familiar stand not far away. He dashed over, taking a few hops before managing to grab the edge of the counter and climbing up.

“Hey! Potion man! I need your help!”

A young man on the other side of the counter jumped at King’s shouting.

“I’m sorry! Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can give me Eda’s elixir now before I send my dark armies to destroy you!”

He looked at King for a moment, confused, before something seemed to click into place.

“Oh! You’re Eda’s pet, aren’t you?”

“I am no pet! I am her close friend and confidant! And I’m here to pick up her elixir.”

The man looked upset, glancing to the side before looking back at King.

“I already told Eda, it won’t be ready for another five days!”

“What!!”

“She ordered more two days ago and I told her then that it would be ready in a week. I still need five more days to finish it.”

“But she needs it now!” King said, definitely not whining. The King of Demons did not whine.

“I’m sorry, my hands are tied! You can’t rush these things or the elixir won’t even work.”

King huffed and puffed, stomping his feet before devolving into his scream of rage, a high pitched squeak that made everyone in the nearby area stare and snicker. His tantrum was only stopped when unfamiliar hands picked him up. He struggled in their arms, hitting and kicking anything he could reach.

“Unhand me, fiend! I must destroy this potion man!”

“Why? What’s going on here?”

King calmed down a little bit when he heard the familiar voice, turning in the arms to glare up at their face. Niliana looked down at him, a look of concern and confusion on her face. Perfect! She and Eda were friends or business partners or something, right? She could help!

“I need to get Eda’s elixir from this guy, but he won’t give it to me!” He shouted, crossing his arms and glaring at the man. HE looked and sounded every part a grumpy child not getting his way. At least it was about something important.

“I can’t give it to you, it’s not done yet.” He replied, words slow and emphasized in an attempt to get it across to the small demon.

The older witch looked between the two, took a deep breath, and let out a long sigh.

“Okay, Eda needs this elixir of hers, but it’s not ready yet.”

The man nodded.

“When will it be ready?”

“Five days.”

“Okay. Then we’ll be back in five days.”

“But-” King tried to speak up.

“We’ll be back in five days, right King?”

He huffed and looked away, still very aggravated with the turn of events. Finally, he gave a resigned nod.

“Fine. But it better be ready!”

Niliana gave a little bow to the man and walked away, the grumbling demon still held in one arm. She climbed onto the staff in her other hand and flew off, headed to the forest King had come from. He was thinking so hard he hadn’t even noticed they were flying right away.

“Where’s the house?”

King pointed at the general direction. The few minutes it took to get there were spent in silence.

King had no idea what he was going to do now. Eda had been taken over by her curse. She was an angry monster now with no way to turn her back. What was he going to tell Luz? How were they supposed to handle this over the next five days? He really didn’t know what to think. He wished this had never happened. He just wanted Eda back.

They landed a few feet from the house. King gave a sad little thank, dropping off the staff. For a moment, he just sat there before forcing himself to his feet. Still, he didn’t walk to the house, just looked at it as his worries grew.

He heard the witch behind him shuffle about before sitting next to him.

“King, what’s going on? What does Eda need the elixir for?”

He tried to look angry when he looked up to her, but that was hard to do when he was also trying to fight back tears. He debated whether or not it was even a good idea to tell her, but they really good use her help. He really didn’t want to go back into that house alone.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone else!”

“I promise.”

“Pinky promise!”

She did so, and that was enough reassurance for King. He told her everything he knew about Eda’s curse, which granted wasn’t much. She was cursed when she was younger and if she doesn’t drink her elixirs she turns into a giant owl monster that attacks anything that moves.

“Which is why I was at the market.” He finished. “Eda’s out so I thought I’d get her some more. Now she’s stuck as a monster and I don’t know what to do!”

Niliana hummed thoughtfully, looking over to the house. After some time she got up, hand clenched around her staff tightly.

“Alright, we can handle this.”

“We can?” King asked, shocked. “You’re going to help us?”

“Of course. I’m not about to just leave you all like this. Someone’s going to get hurt.”

“Thank you!” He shouted, throwing himself at the witch. She managed to catch him in her arm, smiling as he gave her the best hug he could manage. They both looked to those, silent as they thought over what to do next.

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