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hikaaa-bi · 6 months

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whenever someone says they dislike huntlow, the usual comeback from toxic huntlow fans is that “you're a misogynist and you don't want to see the woman in a relationship being stronger”. so i want to address this issue today. is huntlow bad only because willow is stronger than hunter and isn't a damsel in distress?

in my opinion, absolutely not. that's not the case. i myself am a fan of subverted tropes and relationships where the woman isn't just a passive damsel with no personality. i like seeing independent women and i like seeing men being vulnerable for once.

to demonstrate my point on why huntlow doesn't pull off this trope well, let me compare it to a ship with a similar dynamic: sokka and suki from avatar the last airbender.

let's go through each of the reasons why sukka works as a ship where huntlow fails.

1. Does it make sense for the characters?

the first question here is: do the roles of the strong independent woman and weaker man suit these characters?

sokka was introduced as.. just a guy. he was a regular teenager who wasn't trained in combat. he could fight well enough if he wanted to and being the only man in a village full of mostly children and elders, he was the best warrior in his village (if we are even to believe his claims in s1, that is).

suki, on the other hand, was a trained warrior. she had spent her whole life training in combat and fighting to continue kyoshi's legacy. in her very first appearance, suki is confirmed to be a skilled warrior who is much stronger than sokka.

this setup makes perfect sense. it wouldn't come as a surprise later on that suki is stronger or a better fighter than sokka, and would have to rescue him or help him out in a moment of crisis.

now let's come to huntlow. in s2, hunter is introduced as the emperor's right-hand man who is young but powerful. while most of his intimidation factor came from his artificial staff, it was clear that he was not an amateur and had decent combat skills.

this assumption is only solidified when we see him go head to head with amity, only losing because 1. he was using a new staff 2. he was sleep deprived and 3. he was in an extremely erratic emotional state.

willow, on the other hand, was the sokka in this relationship. she was a regular teenager who grew up in a normal family and went to a regular magic high school.

she was certainly incredibly skilled in plant magic but she was not a trained child soldier like hunter. she had a lot of potential to be a good fighter but she had only recieved the education that every other student had recieved. not to mention, most of her stronger magic came from her emotional outbursts.

so.. does the whole girlboss-malewife dynamic work with huntlow? no. it really doesn't. even if willow trained and grew as a witch, there's no reason why she should be stronger and more skilled in combat than hunter, who had to pass seemingly impossible trials in order to qualify as the golden guard. especially since after the first half of s2, hunter was not only weaker than willow but just weak in general.

i get it, he doesn't have natural magic like the others. but he was still shown to be a very competent fighter. he was also shown to be cunning and strategic, being able to find a way out of any situation if he wanted to. but after joining the hexsquad, he is dumbed down to willow's shy and pathetic boyfriend, who doesn't really do much on his own.

2. are they in character when in a relationship?

when writing a relationship, this is really important. if you write a relationship where one or both characters have to act wildly out of character to make sense for the relationship to happen, those characters are not compatible. it's like when your friend acts uncomfortably different around their crush or partner.

let's start with sokka and suki.

sokka is goofy, cynical and quick-witted, with or without suki. his relationship with suki doesn't drastically change his character, but it does improve it. suki helps sokka change his misogynistic worldviews and respect women, but apart from that necessary improvement, sokka is still the same. he is not out of character when he is with suki.

as for suki herself, we don't see a lot of her away from sokka but it's still safe to assume that she is being herself around sokka. she is not forced into a new role in order to be in a relationship with sokka. the times we do see her on her own, she is pretty much the same rational, independent and nonchalant person that she is around sokka.

and yet, both of them have incredible chemistry and very clearly care for each other. it's not one-sided and it doesn't feel unnatural.

but huntlow?

hunter is introduced as a sarcastic and bratty but deeply traumatized teenager. he is quick to start a banter with whoever he is with, he tends to talk too much, and he generally has a nonchalant attitude to cover up with trauma.

but with willow? hunter is not just shy or awkward around her, he is a completely different person. i can understand that being attracted to a person can make you act strangely sometimes. but with hunter, that awkwardness never fades away. he is always blushing around her, he is often portrayed as pathetic and helpless, and constantly needing willow's support and guidance.

as for willow, she is introduced as this insecure and good-natured teenager. after her confrontation with amity, willow is pushed to the back for a while. all we know about her at that time is that she's the supportive mom friend of the group. she builds her confidence after a while but she is still shown as a kind person who doesn't use force on someone else, unless necessary.

but with hunter? willow is suddenly not just confident but also dominant and forceful. she basically snatches him from the sky and drags him to the ground, just to invite him to her flyer derby team. hunter is practically terrified at this point, but it's played off as a fun cute-meet. later, when hunter wants to leave the team for understandable reasons, instead of respecting his wishes, willow once again forces him to join her again.

i wouldn't call willow toxic or abusive, because she isn't. but i would say that she didn't respect hunter's boundaries in the slightest. she doesn't treat anyone else the way she treats hunter. she's not exactly mean to him but she also does not seem to respect him as an individual. again, she is written wildly out of character just so that she could fulfil the role of the “powerful girlboss” in the relationship. and it doesn't help that a dominant and forceful figure is the last thing hunter needs, considering how he was controlled and abused by his uncle his whole life.

3. Equality

it is my opinion that in a relationship, both individuals should play an important role. and they should balance each other out, instead of clashing with each other. it doesn't necessarily have to be an “opposites attract” situation, they just need to have qualities that brings a balance to the relationship.

in sokka's and suki's relationship, we've already established that suki is the brawn. she's the trained warrior and her agility, skill and speed are her strengths. sokka, on the other hand, is the brains. suki is still a rational and smart person but sokka is the strategist, the “idea guy”.

here, there's a balance. neither sokka nor suki are weak or incompetent, they're just skilled in different areas.

but when it comes to huntlow, willow is the brawn while hunter.. does close to nothing. after meeting willow, he's basically useless. the most impactful thing he does is stand up against belos in “Thanks to Them” and rescue willow from a short fall in the next episode. otherwise, he is mostly pushed to the back despite, again, having a personality and his own strengths prior to meeting willow. the problem here isn't that hunter shouldn't be weak or vulnerable, but rather that he is forced into the damsel role when it goes against his original character.

4. Screentime, interaction and development

one thing that huntlow and sukka had in common is neither ship had too much screentime together. suki wasn't officially part of the gaang until s3 and before that, she just gets two interactions with sokka. but these interactions were used to their fullest potential.

when they first meet each other, sokka and suki do not get along well. sokka was convinced that women aren't good warriors and his pride is hurt by the fact that suki is stronger than him, while suki is understandably put off by sokka's misogynistic and condescending attitude. after he tries to teach her how to fight and is consequently defeated by her, sokka rethinks his worldview. he goes back to suki and asks her to teach him how to fight, apologizing and admitting his mistake. suki agrees to teach him and through this, they bond. it is revealed at the end of the episode that both sokka and suki may or may not have a thing for each other. afterwards, sokka has to leave and suki has to stay behind.

their next meeting is a lot more brief but even here, we see a clear demonstration of their dynamic. sokka is overjoyed to see suki but he still hasn't moved on from yue, so when suki confesses to him and tries to initiate a kiss, sokka rejects her. suki apologizes to him later for what happened, and sokka kisses her as a confirmation that he has now moved on and likes her back. we see a clear respect of boundaries and personal choices from both sides.

finally, after suki is captured by azula, sokka frees her and they are reunited again until the end. at this point, they're basically a couple. there's no more awkward blushing or stuttering; they're just a pair of teenagers who are in love with each other. they have a bit of playful banter and they're very casual and comfortable around each other.

suki was originally supposed to be a one-time character so it's incredible that they pulled off on the best ships in atla with her and sokka. their chemistry was undeniable from the beginning, and the writers knew how to expand on it.

now let's come to huntlow. hunter and willow meet each other for the first time in the s2b episode ‘Any Sport in a Storm’. willow is looking for candidates to join her flyer derby team and she sees hunter flying on his palisman. completely unprovoked, the willow who normally never attacked or forced something on people for no reason, decides that the best way to scout this random guy she doesn't know is by encasing him in vines and dragging him to the ground, destroying the concrete in the process. this may have been portrayed as something of a slapstick comedy, but that kind of humor never stuck with me.

after willow explains herself to hunter, he agrees to join her team, thinking it would be an easy way to recruit students into the emperor's coven. fast forward, they get a few members to their group.

hunter notices that all of these members are visibly slacking off and gets discouraged. he turns to leave and willow stops him in his tracks. when she tells him to give them a chance, hunter ‘opens up’ to her a little, by telling her that he had to earn chances, especially as a “half a witch”. this comes out of nowhere because we never see hunter being referred to as half a witch by anyone prior to this. there were certainly characters who disliked him, like lilith and kikimora, but they called him names like “golden brat”. in fact, it's not even clear if anyone other than hunter and belos knows that he has no magic. the whole half a witch line was added so that hunter and willow would have something in common.

willow, instead of reasoning with hunter or respecting his choice to leave, drags him to the ground once again and seemingly teleports him back to the flyer derby team. while this may not have been done with malicious intent, it was still another instance of willow invading hunter's boundaries and forcing him to do something.

hunter is convinced that the team is, in fact, competent. he plays the game with them and has fun doing it. after getting the team captured to join the emperor's coven and saving them from darius, the episode ends with darius turning out to be the good guy and hunter getting a penstagram (or whatever they call it, i forgot).

after this, the huntlow scenes are very scarce. we barely see them interact, especially not alone with each other. in the next episode, we see willow standing up for hunter and hunter blushing and recognizing that the fake willow isn't willow. while this would be sweet for an already established couple, since hunter and willow barely had a bond at this point, it just comes off as hunter being observant. which is somewhat in character for him.

afterwards, there's just a sprinkle of this ship, most of it consisting of hunter being shy and nervous around willow. and willow treating him like she treats everyone else. there's no sign of willow liking hunter back until literally the episode before the finale. where, instead of focusing on hunter's recent trauma with being possessed by his abusive parent and losing his best friend, the show decides to focus on willow's issues instead. of course willow deserves her own arc, but she already got it back in s1. there was no reason to give her ANOTHER issue to work on, just so that hunter can comfort her and give her a reason to like him back.

overall, it was really forced and these two characters never had the kind of natural chemistry that sokka and suki did. their interactions were either awkward or surface-level wholesome. we get exactly two (2) episodes where they interact properly and even that isn't done well. it just feels like these characters were pushed into a ship dynamic that they didn't naturally fit into.

#anti toh #toh criticism #toh critical #toh discourse #toh salt #anti huntlow #anti huntl0w #toh #atla #avatar the last airbender #the owl house spoilers #the owl house salt #the owl house criticism #the owl house critical #the owl house discourse #the owl house

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royal-they · 2 years

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ninadove · 2 years

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In defense of Huntlow

A love letter to Dana and the Owl Crew

Recently, I have been witnessing an increase in anti-Huntlow rhetoric on Tumblr, which I originally ignored, knowing how intense shipping wars can be.

Earlier today, however, I came across a very inflammatory post accusing Dana and the crew of bad - if not intentionally hurtful - writing for seemingly leaning towards making the ship canon.

As an ace, demiromantic lesbian who deeply cares about queer representation in media, I decided to share some thoughts on the matter, by addressing and hopefully debunking the main accusations I have seen out there.

I. A deliberate jab at the aspec community

Due to the dreadful lack of representation in mainstream media, many aspec viewers, myself included, headcanon Hunter as being somewhere on the spectrum.

Some erroneously believe that Hunter’s obvious crush on Willow invalidates this understanding of his character, and have even gone as far as to imply that the writing team deliberately deprived them of representation - ignoring the fact that Hunter’s arc was most likely fully fleshed out long before he was introduced to the fandom.

The thing is, we do get canon representation in the form of Lilith, who might be willing to boogy down to history town, but definitely isn’t willing to boogy down with you or anyone else for that matter. And let me tell you, she is *great* representation - a complex character who is in no way demonised or infantilised.

Additionally, and perhaps even more importantly, Hunter’s crush does *not* negate his belonging to the spectrum - key word here being *spectrum*. He might not fit the specific label you had in mind, but that’s alright - remember we come in all shapes and sizes!

II. Pushing a queer ship out of the spotlight

The argument here is that Huntlow has been distracting both the audience and the narrative itself from Lumity, an explicitely queer relationship that has been providing groundbreaking representation in the otherwise desperately heteronormative world of kids’ television.

I’ll be honest - I don’t really understand where this comes from. Huntlow might have been getting more fanart and fanfic lately due to the novelty factor, but in no way does this pose a credible threat to Lumity, which absolutely remains the main focus on the show as well as the most popular ship in the fandom ( in fact, most TOH artists seem to ship both pairings! ).

As of now, Huntlow is nothing more than a one-sided teenage crush, while Lumity has been getting in-depth development throughout season 2, culminating in their iconic kiss - I’m sure the team had to fight very hard for this scene to stay in, so let’s show some appreciation!

Interestingly, Raeda also benefited from the novelty factor when it was first introduced, and didn’t receive *nearly* as much backlash. The reason for this difference in treatment? Raeda is an explicitly queer ship.

And the thing is, in a series with so much representation, Huntlow might very well turn out to be as well ( cf point 1 ) ! There is a longstanding bias in the LGBTQIA community against « straight-passing » relationships and people who do not look « queer enough ». In all likeliness, we won’t get any confirmed labels for these two ( which is *fine* - they are kids! ), but it would be very interesting if the show actually took us down that road and forced us to confront our own biases.

( Also, people are allowed to be cishet. But that is not my point here. )

III. Underdevelopment and « bad writing »

As a RWBY veteran, I have grown used to Bumbleby-antis claiming the ship overtook the plot while paradoxically getting no development. This flawed logic seems to be repeated here, so let’s explore a couple of possibilities.

Personally, I would prefer Hunter and Willow’s relationship to stay as it is as of the end of season 2 - celebrating the important role first crushes can play in shaping one’s identity, even though they might never lead to any concrete romantic fulfillement. But, in the very likely occurrence that something *will* happen between these two, there is plenty of material to back them up.

A. Lumity parallels or the tomato syndrome

Some argue that Huntlow lacks development because all we’ve seen so far is one-sided blushing on Hunter’s part - completely overlooking the fact that this is exactly how Lumity started out!

The parallels do not stop there, however, as many excellent posts have pointed out. Both Amity and Hunter grew up in physically and emotionally abusive households, and connecting with their respective crushes helped them gain a new understanding of the world. In his « Captain », Hunter has found a person he can experience healthy admiration for, something that is also significant for Willow who has a history of being overlooked and underestimated.

In fact, one might even argue that Amity predicted Hunter’s crush - remember that one scene in Eclipse Lake? This is great foreshadowing!

B. Caleb parallels or the radical act of love

Now that we know more about Belos’ backstory, a key theme of the show is starting to emerge: love as a vector of rebellion, freedom and systemic change - a message that the LGBTQIA community as a whole is very familiar with.

While Hunter and the previous Golden Guards are all unique individuals with a mind and heart of their own, the fact that every single one of them ultimately chose to rebel against Belos is a strong sign that Caleb’s influence has persisted throughout the centuries. And what was Caleb’s biggest crime, exactly?

Falling in love with a witch.

The point here is not that Hunter is condemned to fall in love with a witch himself by virtue of being a clone with no agency of his own. It’s that Caleb’s hardships and bravery in the face of bigotry opened the door for him to proclaim his own independence through the radical act of embracing a form of love that the powers in place deem demonic and unnatural.

And what an amazing message to send out to a young audience.

IV. But… But the age gap is predatory!!!

I might be gay, but I can still do Maths. So let’s do just that.

Hunter is canonically 16. I don’t believe Willow’s age is ever outright stated in the series, but I assume she is around Luz’s age. Had it not been for Disney being, you know, Disney, our girl would have celebrated her quinceañera in season 3, so we can extrapolate that at this point in the story, Willow is around 15 as well.

That’s a one-year difference. Come on, guys.

Final thoughts: maybe stop being mad about everything all the time

Look guys, I get it, I really do. We have all been starving for queer content our entire lives, so when we finally get it, we expect it to match every single one of the expectations we’ve been desperately holding on for so long.

But the thing is, harassing a queer creator who is fighting tooth and nail to provide kids with life-changing ( and potentially life-saving ) representation is only going to hurt us further.

Use this energy to write fanfic, draw fanart, create a story that will inspire others the way this show does for so many of us. Campaign for more representation in media. Question your own biases and be a little kinder to one another.

And, most importantly - watch The Owl House!

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anti-spop · 3 months

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Hello! I just saw ur post saying g hintlow is badly written in your opinion. Could you please tell me why you think so? I'm kinda curious?

I also didn't really like huntlow since it kinda came outta no where all of a sudden but what do you think??

*cracks knuckles* (just kidding lol)

Honestly, I just think H/untlow has several writing problems. I'll be pointing out the main reasons I think so under the cut. If anyone who follows me or comes across this post ships H/untlow, it's totally fine, just please don't send me hate for what I'll say here:

Hunter and Willow have nothing in common. The show forces the "half a witch" thing onto Hunter despite the fact he was never called that anywhere in the show, he's usually just called annoying or a brat. Besides, Hunter could be a metaphor for disability considering he doesn't have natural magic powers (until the show decided to kill off Flapjack, but I'll get into that later). However, Willow is not the case. She may not be good at abomination magic, but she's incredibly powerful with plant magic. But for some reason, the show treats these experiences as equals, even though that's a thing Hunter has more in common with Luz than Willow (and in this case I'm not talking through a romantic lens).

Hunter and Willow are out of character. Hunter, the prodigy and the emperor's right hand, becomes utterly pathetic and wimpy just so Willow can look like a badass girlboss. And Willow then just comes off as cruel sometimes. I appreciate Willow for being nice but also being a badass, but even then, Willow was never cruel prior to her meeting Hunter. She apologized to Luz when she realized she could've hurt her, and when Willow met Gus she was patient and understanding, teaching him a breathing technique to calm him down. I'm not saying Willow has to be overly nice, but she just randomly captures Hunter to make him join her flyer derby team. And at this point she doesn't even know that Hunter is the Golden Guard, so she just... attacks a random kid and scares him for no reason. Worse yet the fact that she drags him into the ground THE SAME WAY BELOS DOES in Hollow Mind. Even after Hunter tells her he's "half a witch", Willow isn't patient with him, she's just a brute again. Which is my next point:

Unhealthy power dynamic. Hunter refers to Willow as "captain", and it's honestly a red flag to me. I am NOT saying Willow is abusive. However, we have to remember that Hunter's abuser uses his position of power to mistreat him. Hunter looks up to someone who's not an equal to him and in turn, he does not value himself. And Willow never seems to realize it and explicitly say that she's not his leader, she's his friend. This pairing is basically the girlboss/malewife model, but not only does it not make sense, it's not healthy for Hunter to fall in love with someone who has power over him, and who might be paralleled to his abuser as I pointed out before.

Ruined character arcs. I think most of us agree that Hunter's character arc was unsatisfactory as he became another Caleb without ever processing it, but Willow was definitely done dirty as well. Willow never had her own episode, not even Understanding Willow was about her, it was more about Amity. Any Sport in a Storm also focuses more on Hunter. Even Gus had more character development than Willow, despite the fact he was also done dirty in the end. Willow's breakdown wasn't carefully developed, it was never hinted in Thanks to Them or anywhere before that. It came out of nowhere in For the Future, and in turn it just pushed Hunter's character (and Gus, literally) aside so he could save Willow. And this is yet ANOTHER point I hate:

Willow only reciprocates Hunter's crush when he gains powers. Seriously, for the longest time I didn't even think H/untlow was going to be mutual. Only Hunter seemed to be attracted to Willow, by blushing and being shy around her. Willow never seems to see Hunter in another light in the following episodes, not even in Thanks to Them despite them living with each other for months. That only happens in For the Future, which left a bad taste in my mouth. Like I said before, Hunter might be considered disabled, but his disability is "cured" with magic, and ONLY THEN does Willow fall for him. That contradicts the entire message of the show, which welcomes and celebrates disabilities.

And overall, Hunter and Willow never have a genuine emotional connection. Hunter has more connection and things in common with Luz, Gus, and even Amity (and sadly, his parallels with Amity were never really explored after Eclipse Lake). Hunter and Luz don't have magical powers. Hunter and Gus are both taken advantage of by others, and they have an identity crisis, not knowing how to trust themselves anymore. Hunter and Amity then, they were both raised in an abusive household and they're expected to be someone they're not, and they have to push everyone else down so they can be better. But Hunter and Willow don't share this kind of connection. They might touch on the "half a witch" thing but that never deepens. And in For the Future, it comes off as rushed, and Hunter has to push down his grief for Flapjack to save Willow. Not to mention Gus and Hunter never get to talk about Caleb - Gus always knew about Hunter's secret, and not even THAT gets a satisfying payoff because the show is more concerned in making H/untlow canon. But that would have to be its own post.

Sorry this got long, lmao. I have very strong feelings about how H/untlow was handled. I actually used to ship it at first, I think it COULD'VE worked. But they don't even seem to be close friends at the very least. It sucks because even R/aeda was written better despite the fact it had less screentime than L/umity. Sure, Eda and Raine were ex-lovers, but I thought their relationship was written very well for the most part. I don't know how the writers dropped the ball with H/untlow this way.

#asks #toh critical #anti huntlow #<- tagging for blacklist #not spop #abuse tw

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rulerzreachf4n7 · 1 month

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Fight me all you want but huntlow/lumity antis are the weakest links in the toh community,

HEAR ME OUT...

...unless you don't have ears idk block the haters

SKIP IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN SHIPS WARS IT'S HONESTLY EMBARRASSING I HAVE TO SAY THIS!!

All this slander is coming from the goldric/huntmira/lunter/guster/amiter shippers, yes that's a mouthful, and yes I'll be blocking you if you're a toxic shipper, if your not, good! except if you ship amiter, fuck off you lesbianphobic bitch, anyways back to my rant, also sorry if this comes out as insensitive, rude, or if I sound over dramatic I just really hate these types of people

If I had a dime for every toxic shipper I've encountered since I first came into the toh community...BITCH ID BE RICH CAUSE SOME OF Y'ALL ARE WILD ASF 😭🙏, this is based off of a rant I got below this post so yeah credits to anon it was very helpful pookie

Y'all toxic ass shippers will go FUCKING PARAGRAPH LENGTHS TO DEFEND YOUR SHITTY SHIPS, and this is targated twords lunter and goldric, again, if you're not toxic this ain't for you I don't mean to offend anyone, cause tell me why there is this account on Pinterest, I ain't afraid to say their name it's something like TheGoldenCoven, or some shit like that, BROS A LUNTER FAN ACCOUNT 💀, and a toxic one too, dw I got some proof

How the fuck do you normalize the TWO MAIN COUPLE OF A SERIES??? Hunter was never intentioned to date Luz and vice versa, this is a perfect example of toxic a lunter shipper, and not only are they toxic they're...LESBIANPHOBIC!! I know it was probably from 2021 and they've moved on buuuut they did post amiter art, and they're not even a nice person although having in their bio "I'm nice you if you're nice to me" or some bullshit idk

As for toxic goldric shipper accounts I haven't seen any Pinterest or Tumblr accounts so that's good! But majority of the shippers are the most insufferable human beings on earth, their only excuse for shipping them is "they want a mlm couple and they're the same age" noting against wanting a mlm couple it'd be super nice...buy may I remind you this is post early season two...HUNTERS NAME WASN'T EVEN CONFIRMED YET 😭🙏, And let alone having only two or three minutes of screen time makes the ship have an even worse reputation, and the shippers are just bitchy and biphobic, always complaining that Hunter should be canonically gay instead of literally anything else so he can be shipped with only Edric, and I know huntmira shippers exist but I've actually never had an interaction with one, hopefully they aren't too bad

Y'all will come out withe the stupidest excuses not to ship huntlow/lumity, also sorry I got off track 😭😭, for lumity, don't know how it exists, but it's either "it's abusive" or "it's toxic" brother ew 💀, name one way Luz or Amity have hurt each other and DO NOT say it's by how Luz always makes stuff mess even though it's literally apart of her personality or by how she didn't wanna tell her about the portal door in S2 or how she accidentally helped Philip/Belos, I'll wait 😊, and I see the point of how Amity's personality downgraded to only being Luz's gf but she still did have her family problems but I guess they just didn't wanna make it an episode, I mean we got Clouds on the horizon that counts ig?

And for huntlow I keep hearing the same shit "I-Its a crack ship, I-Its forced, t-they have no chemistry 🥺🥺🥺" yeah I can see your toxic ass shipping a 12 and 16 year old together don't think you're slick bitch, and just because huntlow was rushed doesn't mean it's necessarily bad, you don't know if Dana had intentions on it but because of the cancellation it was forced to be rush, and I'm sorry to y'all hearing the shortened s3 excuse but it's true since there's literally no other explanation, also don't come into the comments saying "B-But you don't know that!!🥺🥺" it's just speculation my brother in Christ 😭🙏, merely a theory put together with brain cells which almost everyone in this community doesn't have, another weird double standard is how everyone ships gustholomule and veesha even though there's very little evidence it'll be canon was supposed to be canon but since it's a more noticeable and popular ship no one bats an eye for some reasons even though huntlow is too a popular ship, but these are the more bigger ones so I'll more obscure like cameda or aladarius which where probably never meant to happen and totally fandom operated

Anyways that's all, I'll block haters/toxic shippers in the comments so don't think you'll get a reaction outta me with some half baked and barely thought through argument you found in a Reddit post

#my posts:3 #the owl house #toh #huntlow #lumity #anti lunter #lunter #goldric #huntmira #guster #amiter

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astrolavas · 10 months

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what's your favourite toh ship?

i'm genuinely not sure, i love all of the "main" ones 😭😭

lumity is obviously iconic and (since it features the protagonist) we see every little way in which their relationship develops throughout the show; it has most on-screen content/development out of all the ships. we see how they start out as sort of "rivals", how they grow closer, we see them pine for each other, we see them confess, become girlfriends, we see them during their established relationship, etc. we see how luz helps amity become her own person away from her parents' hurtful influence, we see how amity supports luz when she needs it. you know, they're silly, they're so cute, they try to communicate best to their abilities, they dress up and travel together. they're so good, love them sm.

huntlow is the ship i probably think abt most since 90% of my thoughts ever as well as conversations are related to hunter, my #1 blorbo, thus: also to hunter's relationships with people + to hunter's closest friends. since neither hunter nor willow are the main protagonist, obviously there's not as much content/attention on them (+ shorter time too but y'know) but they're still so good and well-written. they value and respect each other so much, they fit together so well and their relationship is built on being equals, they're so silly, they're losers (affectionate), they started off as friends, they're always there for each other, and ugh! love them sm.

raeda has that small sprinkle of Tragicness in itself, like they're just so cool. starting off as childhood friends, then being together only to have to break up and drift apart for decades, until time finds them again and this time they make it work. ughhghhh again, love them sm.

they're all just... very different dynamics with such complex, three-dimensional characters, it's just! they're all unique. i love them all.

#short answer but yeaghg #feel like. lumity is probably my fav when it comes to how developed it is. raeda fav vibes-wise. and huntlow fav brainrot-wise.#nicole answers #anonymous

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flower-boi16 · 3 months

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

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

The Good

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

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

The Problems

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

#toh critical #toh criticism #toh #the owl house #toh analysis #not tagging this anti huntlow because I really don't hate the ship #I just think it's ok #anti raeda #also you are perfectly allowed to ship whatever you want #I'm just experssing my opinions on TOH's ships

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homosexualbehaviors · 1 day

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Welcome to my Blog

This is simply a post to let you know the fandoms I am in/the ships I ship. And to maybe get to know a bit about me.

*NOTE: If you have any questions about me or my fandoms or ships, please do not fear to ask. I will answer literally anything! (Nsft included)*

Fandoms and Ships

(The ships with "(#1)" by them are my top ship of that fandom. I have only marked such in fandoms I have listed multiple ships.)

Wednesday: Wenclair (#1), Yokovina, Yoko Divina and Bianca (I am unsure of the ship name)

Stranger Things: Ronance (#1), Elmax, Steddie, Byler

Pitch Perfect: Bechloe (#1), Staubrey

Arcane: Caitvi

She-Ra: Catradora

Adventure Time: Bubbline

Hawkeye: Bishova

The Owl House: Lumity (#1), Raeda, Huntlow

Heartstopper: Nick and Charlie (#1), Tara and Darcy, Tao and Elle

The Harley Quinn Show: Harlivy

The 100: Clexa

Atypical: Cazzie

Orange is the New Black: Vauseman

Dickinson: Emisue

Glee: Brittana

Euphoria: Rulez

One Day at a Time: Sydlena

Shameless: Gallavich

13 Reasons Why: Hannah and Clay (though I prefer to talk about this show as a whole, more than focusing on a ship)

Other shows/movies I enjoy

Modern Family

The Big Bang Theory

Wentworth

Grey's Anatomy

Everything Sucks

I Am Not Okay With This

Sex Education

The Fear Street movies

Every movie with Jenna Ortega in it

The Edge of Seventeen

(If I have listed a fandom but not a ship and you'd still like to ask something about it, please feel free, I am still open to answering! You may also ask about a fandom not listed, if I know of it, I will try my best to answer!)

About me

Hello, my name is August. You may refer to me as such. I am 18 years of age. I am Trans FTM/Trans Masc, as well as Omni. My pronouns are He/They. And I am autistic. The main Ship/Fandom I am in is Wenclair/Wednesday. My top three ships are Wenclair, Ronance and Bechloe. Most of my ships are Sapphic (This is not meant in a weird way, I just find them to be cute and they hold my interest.). Besides being delusional about my ships, I enjoy Reading (fanfiction and poetry), Writing (fanfiction and poetry as well) and Drawing (mainly 'horror' art) in my free time. As well as listening to music. My favorite musician is Billie Eilish. I have been a fan since the beginning. She means a lot to me. Anyhow, that is all I have about me for now. If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read this <3

Agian, if you have any questions about me or my fandoms or ships, please do not fear to ask. I will answer literally anything!

Here's a pretty flower, for you 🥀

Have a nice day, beautiful human 🖤

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auralucariogamer · 3 months

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Why I love Luaisy

Welcome to another edition of "Why I love this ship!" In favor of the recent Mar10 day that had passed, I thought this time I'll tackle into why I love Luaisy!

Now, first off, what's Luaisy? Luaisy is the ship between Luigi and Daisy, both from the Super Mario series.

Now, what do I love about this ship? Well, just like with my Huntlow post, about everything, really! We've gotten some really cute moments between Luigi and Daisy over the years to match this as a secondary ship after Peach and Mario.

First off, let's go to the Gamecube era, with the first two games, Toadstool Tour and Power Tennis. In Toadstool Tour, at the opening of the game, Peach and Daisy call out to the two bros, with Peach calling out to Mario, her love interest and Daisy calls out to her love interest, Luigi. She even watches him play with style too in the intro.

Then, in Power Tennis, as shown in the gif below, Daisy calls Luigi "sweetie" in a cute way. Easily, this makes me giggle on the inside.

Oh, and we can't forget one of the most precious things with the two of them. Their own statues in shiny, glorious form on Daisy Circuit in both Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 DX! These moments were the ones that really stood out to me the most.

The dynamic of Luigi and Daisy is something that my heart will never let go of, and I'll always cherish forever. To Daisy, Luigi's her #1. It's clear that Daisy has a big love interest in Luigi and she cares about him more than any other person in the Mushroom Kingdom. Together, they're an amazing pair-up and their love will blossom forever and ever.

Luaisy forever 💚💚💚

Steady Sweeties forever 💖💖💖

Also, and this is "definitely" not a shameless plug, but if you want to see some fanmade Luaisy moments that I made myself just to show how much I love the ship, then check out my Smash Bros. fanfic, "Super Smash Bros.: Mystery of the Mushroom Kingdom." Almost every chapter's ending contains a Luaisy flashback and it is somewhat Luaisy-centric.

#super mario #luaisy #luigi #princess daisy

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pandoratheprocrasticreator · 1 year

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If i had a nickle every time a huntlow shipper started a friendly conversation with me but it quickly devolved into them aggressively sending me the same 3 screenshots or repeating the same 3 ooc headcanons to convince me that the huntlow ship is canon and therefore it must be good and therefore i have to like it, i would have at least 4 nickles.

Which isnt a lot, but the fact that its happened at least 4 times means i am never going to like this ship lmao

#the owl house #toh #shut up pandora #huntlow #two of them were a lot friendlier than the two others tho #so those are the two i havent blocked #one person i did block said if i liked the show then i wasnt allowed to dislike huntlow bc thats part of the show too #which isnt how anything works #the other one whos since deactivated said i shouldnt use so much critical thinking bc it spoils everyones fun and YES I AM QUOTING THEM #the friendlier ones kept saying its totally cool if i didnt ship it but it was clear tha they wouldnt leave me alone until i did ship it #despite the fact that i said repeatedly that ppl trying to push the ship too hard was part of my problem with it in the first place #other than that the reasoning behind huntlow shippers seem to be a mixture of reading WAY too much into the bit actually in the show #not remembering their characterization outside the ship unless it helps push the ship #and a general inability to understand why someone might not like the thing they like #they assume my reasons for disliking the ship is that i dont understand why THEY personally like it #so when i say i do understand but those are the reasons i dislike it #they cant accept that and must explain it to me again #this isnt a problem inherent to likers of the huntlow ship this is just annoying ppl on the internet #but this is the most recent thing where this has happened so im grumping about it #lowhunt

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lakesparkles · 5 months

Note

17 huntlow and lumity

17 - Are they relatable as characters or as a pairing?

I think I can answer both ships at once!

As relationships, I wish,, I really think the show knows how to write health relationships in the right way (something that is rare to me, honestly) and this inspires me, especially seeing how toxic my past relationships were.

As characters, they all are in some level. It's probably very easy to everybody watch the show is relate to, at least, one of those characters. The one I do the most is Luz, there were so many scenes I felt she was exactly like me (especially when I was younger) and that made me tear up.

#ask tag #ask game #lumity #huntlow

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theoneandonlygothicrainbow · 2 years

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I swear to god I really don’t understand why Huntlow anti culture is as big as it is. Thankfully it has been less prominent nowadays, but it still happens a lot.

As the meme suggests (of which the template comes from Reddit), my guess is that most Huntlow antis are bitter about it for a perfectly justifiable reason. Maybe they prefer a fanon ship, maybe they like to have certain sexuality headcanons in mind, or maybe they just don’t vibe with how it’s presented. All those reasons are totally valid.

But instead of voicing their standard reasons like a normal person, Huntlow antis decide to claim that Huntlow is immoral. Saying that the age gap is too big, Hunter can’t be in a relationship because he needs therapy, they started off poorly so therefore it’s toxic, or that the ship is prejudiced in some way. By doing that, they’re just being idiotic at best or severely toxic and offensive at worst. They’re clearly trying to stop others from shipping it and it’s disgusting. Huntlow is not a proship, so we should be respecting people’s preferences.

So yeah, if you dislike Huntlow, that’s totally ok! But you shouldn’t try to make people feel like garbage for shipping it. I know some people with said experiences and it’s awful. Learn to be a nice person.

#the owl house #toh #toh hunter #hunter #hunter noceda #the owl house hunter #the owl house specials #toh season three #huntlow #hunter x willow #toh willow #willow park

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mdhwrites · 1 year

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This may be a hot take ask but it's been in my mind forever.

Do you think toh was queerbaiting?

I know it was intentional to have gay ships not just for marketing purpose. But the way they were handled didn't differ that much. Amity's character was assasinated as soon as the ship sailed. Rain is a nobody outside Eda. Huntlow is one sided (and only later they revealed their orientations so they were considered stright for a while), Aladarius is more of a concept than anything.

They didn't focus on the characters (and ships) as they bragged about, but they didn't focus on the plot either. So what do you think?

Sure they did put effort in it for the first season (only lumity) but they got rid of it just as effortlessly for the rest of the show after it was said and done, like any corporations after pride month is over. And if we're honest some of us didn't even know what the main plot was even about in s1 if lumity was suppose to be the side one. Like literally there was no main plot till the door got destroyed.... oh, Luz's quest to become a witch was it? Where is the quest part🔍👀

So to the first half: That's not what queerbaiting is. This isn't Wednesday where a lot of the marketing material hyped up Wednesday and Enid like their relationship was going to be the most important (which arguably it is to be fair to that show) before then swerving into ALL THE STRAIGHT SHIPS POSSIBLE! even to the detriment of the show. That marketing team had explicitly setup what looked like it might be a queer show and even the show seems to want to keep nudging you that something might happen here but nothing does. That is queerbaiting, at least my understanding of it, because what looked like representation was put on a hook, only for the audience to find out it was all a lie once the trap was sprung.

Real representation, even if not done well or boringly, is still representation and as such, isn't bait. It might be a bit more spoiled than you initially thought but it is still real.

The plot of TOH on the other hand? That is a far more fickle thing, isn't it? Especially for a plot driven show.

Now I've been told that modern cartoons nowadays actually seem to commonly spend their first season on a much lower key than the rest so as to setup characters, be more family friendly, etc. like that. Good shows of this sort will still have a major point to this though. Amphibia absolutely follows this method because the music box and going home are brought up only a couple times in S1, though those setups actually do have payoffs and longer lasting consequences in S2, but it's still doing work. It's still enriching Anne's character and giving a satisfying story of a girl growing up.

Comparatively, Eda as a wild witch makes up maybe a third of S1 of TOH and her curse takes up even less time. That is ostensibly the plot of S1 before it claims to be transitioning into its grander plot. And to be fair to this: It does get two episodes of resolution in S2 between Affearances and Knock Knock Knockin'. But here's something that happened between me and another author by the time Clouds on the Horizon came around. They were only invested in Eda getting a coven sigil... Because they forgot Eda didn't have magic.

By the end of S2, Eda was such a minor character, so non-aggrieved by the end of S1, that another fanfic writer, someone who should be tracking these elements more than most, forgot about it entirely. And this is the curse of TOH where it's both serialized and episodic. Where consequences don't last and the focus never stays on the task at hand. Even interactions can go back and forth depending on the needs of the episode.

After all, despite the curse being an issue for Eda... Luz doesn't actually care about it until the end of S1. She could have done more. They could have highlighted their growing relationship by Luz deciding to focus on Eda's curse rather than her school life and magic, shown some character growth there too and given a reason for Hexide to exist plot wise... But they didn't. So many elements of TOH are disconnected from each other in ways that make it so TOH often has to introduce a new element to have a plot for an episode rather than EVER following up on previous hooks or the like.

As I will continue to point out: S1 ended in such a way that Belos should have been the main threat. Luz's theoretical nature to care for any oppressed person like in the first episode should have come out in a raging hurricane of pain and vengeance for almost killing her new family and cutting her off from her mom. Lilith could have even paralleled and fueled it because of Belos' betrayal of her and her ambitions.

Instead... It doesn't. It barely focuses on Hunter, the new plot element and takes a third of the season to do another Amity plot with him but worse and a quarter of the season, mostly in S2A, is giving lip service to the portal door but only two episodes in the season are actually about questing for it because frankly nothing is actually earned in this show. Luz puts more work into getting Amity's badge back, INFINITELY more work even if off screen, than getting the journal that will take her home. It's even made more bullshit by this random mouse I guess deciding to follow Luz from the library after its only interaction with her is getting screamed at.

That's not serialization. That's not using your current elements to tell your story so as to need the audience to have seen what came before. However, these episodes also aren't fun enough or satisfying enough on their own to be properly episodic. In order to get anything out of them, you HAVE to be invested already and have the greater context.

It's just another version of TOH's split personality and S3 REALLY started showing the cracks when stuff like Willow's breakdown happens and a lot of people seem to have turned to my side of "Wait... When was this actually shown to us?" Because Willow was an early element that they never did anything with. Similarly goes for Gus' confidence issues in his personal episodes while a lot of his comic relief stems from him being the pinnacle of confidence and then getting knocked down. The dude has a line of "No biggie" in response to Willow getting called the strongest witch Luz knows. Dude is secure... unless the focus is on him. Same goes for King in S1 especially frankly.

It leaves TOH in a limbo where it's not comedy focused, it's not scenario focused, it REALLY wants to be character focused but then rips apart its character's potential, and it also REALLY wants to be plot focused while having so much romantic stuff going on that it never has time for its own plot or never focuses on it.

It's just a mess, even from S1. But again, as always, S1 was at least trying to be more fun and satisfying in the individual episode and that goes a long way to making an audience be invested in the plot you're hinting at.

But eventually, you have to start your story and TOH was far more interested in new stories than satisfying conclusions to old ones.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

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avatarmerida · 2 years

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Status Update

This is kind of two different fic ideas that I rolled into one? Because I’m trash and love this ship? Set like literally right after Labyrinth Runners. I just really love the idea of Willow and Hunter texting. I’m on mobile so pls forgive any errors or whatever k thanks ~Huntlow~

———

“Hey Hunter,” Willow said skipping over to where the Golden Guard sat as a student on the healing track finished liking him over. When she entered his view, a small smile graced his face and his tired eyes softened. “Ed had some extra clothes in his locker that should fit you, why don’t you go change and freshen up before filling us in on... everything?”

He nodded. “Excellent idea Captain,” he said taking the folded clothes from her. “Thank you.”

“It’s my outfit from the play last semester, don’t you think he’d prefer something more modern?” Ed whispered to her as as Hunter went to change.

“No, I think it’ll be just his style,” said Willow. “It’s very similar to the outfit his favorite character in his favorite book wears, so I think he’ll be thrilled.”

“Well, if you need any styling tips feel free to reach out,” replied Ed with a shrug.

Willow watched fondly as Hunter navigated his way down the hall, looking back at her for reassurance he was going the right way. She sent him a thumbs up to confirm and Gus couldn’t help but notice the sigh of content his friend let out in response to merely giving directions.

“Hmm, suspicious,” Gus murmured to himself a she ran beside his friend, nearly catching her off guard. “How did you know that?”

“Know what? That the clothes would fit?” Willow asked. “Just a hunch, I mean Ed and Hunter are about the same height so he should be comfortable-.”

“No, no I meant about the book,” said Gus.

“Oh, he told me,” said Willow plainly. “One night he asked what I was up to, and I told him I was reading and so we started talking about books which of course lead to our favorites, and that’s how-.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been messaging with Hunter this whole time?” asked Gus, his arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Willow couldn’t help but giggle as he looked so much like his dad when he did that.

“Well, I guess because you never asked and it’s none of your business?” she responded with a sassy smile as she adjusted her braid which has started to come undone.

“Yeah, well...” she had a point, Gus was at a rare loss for words. “You don’t usually keep secrets.”

“It wasn’t a secret Gus, it just wasn’t something I shared, that’s all,” said Willow with a shrug. “You can read our messages if you want, but it’s not like he was trying to recruit me to the Emperor’s Coven again. It’s mostly cute pictures of our palismans.”

“No, that’s okay. Sorry, you’re right; you’re entitled to privacy. It’s just that... if there was something going on you’d tell me right?”

“Something like what?”

“Something like... is Hunter okay?”

“Woah, that’s a pretty loaded question Gus,”

“I mean... when I found him he was literally living in the trash,” explained Gus. “And from what I gathered about his life in the castle based on context clues alone, the dude seems kinda messed up.”

“Well, yeah but who isn’t?” asked Willow. “He’s still getting used to opening up to people and he’s a little rough around the edges but he’s sweet. We mostly talked about flyer derby practices and he’d ask me about the plants I like.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He’s also a very slow typer so I did most of the talking to be honest,” chuckled Willow. “But, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about him too. I’d ask him what he’d had for lunch and he’d change the subject, I’m worried he’s not eating.”

“I can safely assume he hasn’t been eating well,” said Gus, recalling the state Hunter was in when he found him. “I think he really needs our help but I think he might not wanna ask for it.”

“I think you’re right,” sighed Willow. “Wait, did you say he was living in the trash?”

“Did he... not mention that?”

———

Seeing his reflection in the mirror, Hunter has to steady his breathing again. He was still adjusting to... everything. What it meant to be him, who he really was, who he was supposed to be. The eyes that looked back at him were scared and tired and he wondered whose they really were. But he knew all of this would have to wait; he had people waiting for him, people who needed his help. People he could really help, not how the Golden Guard “helped”people. But would just Hunter be enough? Was he ever meant to be enough? Was he-?

“Hunter! Hunter! Hunter!” Gus exclaimed frantically running through the door.

“What’s wrong?” asked Hunter, concerned.

“I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad!”

“Hey, what? W-why would I be mad? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? You look scared.”

“No but...” his eyes darted to the door and Hunter stepped in front of his, furrowing his brow in determination.

“Stand behind me Gus, whatever is it I won’t let it hurt you,” said Hunter, taking a deep breath as he neared the door. “Whatever it is, we’ll defeat it together. There’s nothing stronger than-.”

He pulled the door open quickly and stood ready to attack, his staff at the ready to take down-

“-the Captain?” Finished a confused Hunter, stopping himself dead in his tracks as Willow stood unwatered, her arms crossed and her face wearing a stern look that sent a shiver down Hunter’s spine. She slowly walked up to him, her face mere inches from his own, commanding attention and Hunter felt frozen and on fire simultaneously.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were living in the trash?” She said simply, her voice serious and haunting.

“Huh?” Said Hunter, obviously not expecting her to say this.

“I’m sorryyyyyy,” whispered Gus, hiding further behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were living in the trash?” Willow repeated, not backing down.

“It, uh, never came up?” He tried, offering her a nervous laugh.

“We talk every day and you didn’t think it was worth mentioning?” She said, refusing to lose his eye contact which made him feel petrified. “You let me talk for hours about different kinds of mulch but you couldn’t take five minutes to give me a very important life update?”

“I just didn’t...”

“Didn’t what?”

“Didn’t want to worry you...” he said quietly, looking at her sheepishly. Her face softened and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Well, whether you want me to or not I’m going to worry about you,” said Willow sternly. “What if something happened to you and you needed help? It’s okay to ask for help, ya know.”

“I-I do know... now, kind of...” started Hunter. “I’m just... still figuring a lot of stuff out and I-.”

“-don’t have to do it alone,” finished Willow. “I know how hard it can be to let other people help sometimes but it doesn’t mean you’re weak or a bother. If I asked you for help, would you think less of me or think I was weak?”

“What? Never, Captain!” Hunter responded without hesitation. “You’re fearless and confident and-.”

“-and even I need help sometimes,” finished Willow. Hunter thought he saw her blush, but he assumed it was just a trick of the light. He was secretly grateful she cut him off when she did because he knew the list was fairly long. “Being friends means working together and recognizing that you don’t have to do everything yourself. You need to realize that people have strengths that you don’t.”

“That’s absurd Captain, you have all the strengths!”

Willow laughed and took his hand. “Then let me help you,” she smiled. “The way you helped Gus. You don’t think less of Gus for needing help, do you?”

He looked back at Gus, still hiding from the wrath of a Willow and shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Great,” beamed Willow. “So after you fill everyone in on whatever is happening with the Emperor, we’re gonna make sure last night was your last night sleeping in the garbage. Sound good?”

Hunter fought back tears. “Sounds great,”

———

Hunter held Willow’s hand the entire time he was explaining everything to the Hexside crowd. Gus noticed when the subject became particularly painful or triggering, Willow would squeeze his hand and he’d take a deep breath and find a way to continue.

It was a lot to take in, but Hunter did his best to answer any questions the crowd had. There was still a lot he didn’t know (and a lot he wasn’t ready to share) but getting it all out in the open made the burden easier to bare. Having Willow by his side didn’t hurt either.

“Psst,” Amity whispered to Gus as Hunter spoke to Principal Bump.

“What’s up?” asked Gus.

“How long has that been going on?” She gestured over to where the pair stood.

“Hm? Oh, uh remember we told you he was on our flyer derby team and then he kind of got us kidnapped and then-,”

“No, no I mean Willow and the Golden Guard,” said Amity. “How long have they been together? Can’t say I’m totally thrilled, but they do look cute together. Guess Willow and I have more to catch up on than I thought.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Gus, confused.

“Oh, I guess it must still be early,” continued Amity, with a small smile. “But it’s pretty obvious, look at the way he gets sweaty and nervous the closer she stands to him.”

“I think Hunter’s just a sweaty and nervous guy,” said Gus.

“It doesn’t remind you of anyone? Not a certain human perhaps?”

Gus looked closer, focusing on the blush that made its home on Hunter’s face each time Willow spoke and couldn’t help but think it seemed familiar.

Just like Luz and Amity.

“Woah,” he said, finally seeing it.

“So I’m guessing it’s very early then,” she sighed. “Well, he is her type. Or was? Wow, heh, we do have a lot to catch up on.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me,” assured Amity with a chuckle. “I have firsthand experiences with this and I can tell by how red his face is right now that he most likely hasn’t figured it out himself yet.”

“Awh, that’s kind of sweet,” gushed Gus.

“Yeah,” agreed Amity fondly before her tone turned more sinister. “But if he hurts her...”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” assured Gus. “He’s kind of terrified of her?”

“Hmm, we’ll then he’s definitely her type.”

———

Now that Amity had pointed it out, Gus couldn’t unsee it. The way Hunter’s eyes darted to Willow, the way they softened when she went to speak, the way he almost forgot to speak because he was so lost in listening to her.

He couldn’t wait to tease him about it.

“So, how are you feeling?” Gus heard Willow ask Hunter as he ran up to his friends, the crowd slowly dissolving as everyone made their way home. “I know it was a lot.”

“It was,” said Hunter timidly. “But it’s good to know I’m on the right side now. I think I’ll sleep easier tonight.”

“Speaking of that,” sang Willow. “I already called my dads and they said you could totally stay at our house!”

“At y-your house?” Mumbled Hunter. “With you? Where you live? Captain, I-I couldn’t impose-.”

“It’s not an imposition, it’s an invitation!” She said. “I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

“Well that’s... I mean I can’t... it’s just that-.”

“-just that Hunter is already staying with me!” Interrupted Gus, much to Hunter’s relief.

“Huh?”

“Yes!” Continued Gus. “He’s staying with me!”

“When did you two decide this?”

“When I found him in the garbage,” answered Gus. “I said ‘wow you smell awful, I don’t think 100 showers could help you smell better but my dad has this strong aftershave that could help hide the smell you should come over and try it!’”

Hunter wasn’t thrilled about Gus reminding the Captain he had been living in garbage or pointing out how poorly he smelled, but he was thankful for the rescue. He wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to turn down the captain’s hospitality, but from Gus’ quick leap to his assistance he had a feeling his friend did.

“Yes,” added Hunter nervously. “That was what he said to me verbatim, I remember it well!”

“Okay...” said Willow not totally buying it but grateful to know Hunter would have a safe place to sleep. “Sound like a plan. You boys have fun okay? Text me updates? Even if they’re not good, I still wanna know what’s going on. Got it?”

“Affirmative, Captain,” said Hunter, suddenly less tense. “I’ll send you an honest status report.”

She smiled. “Good,” she as she made her way down the hall to start her own walk home. “And don’t stay up too late playing stupid games!”

———

“I win!” Announced Gus proudly, jumping from the spot where he and Hunter sat on his bed in victory.

“I don’t understand this game,” complained Hunter. “If it’s a thumb war, shouldn’t they have other resources and allies to call upon? How is this fun? Because it’s stupid?”

“Yeah, basically,” laughed Gus. “I heard it’s like a major sporting event in the human realm.”

“Whatever, let me inform the Captain of your victory,” said Hunter, typing on his scroll. Willow was right, he was a slow typer. Painfully slow.

“Ya know, you don’t have to tell Willow everything we do,” said Gus.

“But I promised her that I would,” said Hunter before his tone became nervous. “You don’t think I’m annoying her am I? Of course I’d misunderstand such a simple order, she’s probably busy and I’m eating her time! I’m so stupid to-.”

“Woah! No!” Gus cut him off. “Hey dude, you’re not stupid! That’s not what I meant at all! I meant if you wanna summarize everything in one text later on it might be easier for you. But if this is more your style, go for it.”

Hunter sighed. “Thank you. I’m sorry. I guess... I’m still getting used to this,” he said, motioning to the scroll. “I’m just not used to people wanting to know things about me or how I am. Before the Captain, no one had really asked me about the things I liked or disliked. No one really cared. It’s... nice.”

“So... speaking of things you like,” began Gus, smooth only in his own opinion. “Is there anything or maybe anyone you like that you didn’t tell Willow about?”

“Like what?”

“Well I know you guys message everyday but is there maybe something you wanted to tell her you like that she maybe didn’t ask you so you maybe didn’t think you could tell her but you wanted to?”

“I mean... yeah? That’s why she yelled at me in the bathroom earlier?”

Gus smacked his forehead. “I mean is there anything you wanted to tell her about how you feel? Maybe about her?”

Hunter looked frozen. “So you’ve noticed?” He asked faintly, his face fallen. Gus reacted to his word and not his appearance.

“Yes! Amity told me!” He squealed.

“Blight,” growled Hunter to himself. “I should’ve known she’d be behind it.”

“Behind... what, exactly?”

“This curse!” Said Hunter as if it was obvious. “It adds up, the Captain told me about their history. Of course she pull something like this!”

“What curse?”

“She’s testing me!” Continued Hunter. “Trying to test my loyalty or something deranged, I don’t know I can’t read her mind! But all I know is every time I’m near the Captain or talk about the Captain or even think about her I feel like my heart is going to explode! Like right now! Can you hear it right now? This is all Blight’s doing!”

Gus smiled. “Oh man, you’ve got it bad.”

“I know! That’s what I just said!”

“Hunter when would Amity have time to curse you? Or plan to curse you? She didn’t even know you knew Willow that well before today. And if you’ve had these feelings for awhile, well, the timeline doesn’t add up.”

“Then why do I feel this way?!” He demanded suddenly grabbing Gus’ shoulders. He quickly released him, not wanting to scare him. “Sorry! But I just... when I’m around the Captain... I feel afraid? But it’s not a fear I’ve felt before because it also feels... good? Trust me, I’ve been afraid most of my life, I know what I’m talking about. But I want to be close to her but far from her at the same time? And no matter which it is, I feel nauseous and dizzy and light and sweaty and-.”

“-happy?”

“I don’t have a lot of experience being happy but I’m assuming maybe, briefly, yes.”

“Dude, it’s okay,” laughed Gus. “You just have a crush.”

“I knew it! Someone is trying to crush me!” Said Hunter. “But if it wasn’t Blight, then who? Is this something the Captain did?”

“No dude, well yes, kind of? It’s...” how did he explain this to him? Was it better to know or not to know in this case? Would Gus explaining what a crush was help him or just embarrass him? “It’s not a curse, I’ll tell ya that.”

“A potion maybe? It’ll wear off soon?”

“Something like that,” laughed Gus. “It’s not a bad thing; it just means you like Willow.”

“Duh, of course I like the Captain,” scoffed Hunter. “She’s loyal and determined and tough and beautiful. Her only fault is wasting her time on lower beings that don’t deserve her, but overcoming that has made her stronger. But what does me respecting her have to do with these curse like symptoms?”

“Okay... let me try and explain this... the way you feel about Willow is the same way Amity feels about Luz.”

Hunter looked at him as if he had grown a second head. “I don’t want to try and get her dissected by your principal, why would you say that?” Hunter said with a concerned gaze. “You’re not making sense. Are you dehydrated? Let me get you a glass of water.”

Hunter hopped off the bed, mumbling something about never mistaking the Captain for an abomination.

“Here, you’re a faster typer than I am, let her know what we’re up to,” he tossed his scroll to Gus as he stood I the doorway. “I’ll trust you to edit the important parts. I don’t want her to worry.” At the idea of her his face turned red and she closed the door before Gus could make a comment.

Gus opened Hunter’s texts to Willow and saw there were... quite a lot.

He knew it was an invasion of privacy, so he collected all his inner strength and prevented himself from reading their precious conversations. Even though Willow had said they were mundane, knowing now what he knew about Hunter he was sure he could find some compelling subtext.

He did read the last few messages he sent to to see what he needed to cover. He quickly noticed he had started all the recent messages the same way.

STATUS UPDATE: have arrived at Gus civialin residency. Safe. The walls r yello

STATUS UPDATE: sum of the walls r blue

STATUS UPDATE: have showered.

STATUS UPDATE: his father is making sOUP. It Is WaRM.

STATUS UPDATE: there is an oRANGE roudn obJect in the soup. Do NOT CARe for it. Gus like s it??? HE can have Mine

The messages went on and on, with Willow responding to each one with a thumbs up or word of encouragement. As he stated to compose a message to Willow, an incoming text from her interrupted his typing. She had sent a picture of Clover curled up in a pile of clean laundry. She was right; they did send a lot of Palisman pictures.

Gus went to the drafts to retrieve the message he had started, and was greeted by a sea of unsent messages. Without thinking, he went ahead and sent them, knowing Hunter was serious about keeping his promise to Willow and was still new to using the scroll and probably didn’t realize they hadn’t sent.

“Wasn’t sure what temperature you preferred so I have three options of varying coldness,” said Hunter re-entering the room holding three glasses of water. “What did you end up saying to the Captain?”

“I told her I’m the all time champ at thumb wars and I sent her some messages that didn’t send earlier,” said Gus casually.

Hunter dropped the glasses to the floor (they did not break, they merely spilled) “You sent the Captain my drafts?!” He asked, mortified. Gus was surprised he knew what they were called. “All of them?!” He shouted, taking his scroll from the younger boy.

“Yeah?” Gus replied, confused.

“Some of those were from weeks ago!” Spat Hunter, as he starting pacing. “There’s a reason I never sent them! She was never supposed to see them!”

“Then why didn’t you delete them?!” Shouted Gus.

“I don’t know how to do that!” Shouted Hunter back. “I don’t even know how to send the colorful little pictures!”

“Okay, okay calm down,” said Gus, taking a deep breath. “It’s probably not that bad. This stuff happens all the time, Willow will understand. I’m sure it nothing bad!”

“No! It is! It is bad!” Said Hunter reading the messages Gus had sent. “Oh, see for yourself.”

Gus took the phone back and scrolled through to see what the damage was

I think my fAVOrite coloR is still gold? but NOT like being the Golden.Guard but like yOUR glasses, they look nice with yOUr eyes

wHAT if I sent u flowers?? Is that OK on The pLannt tra ck?? Or may be jUst dirt?.

Darius called u little Princess to day.Be cuz he calls me “Little pRINCE” but in mY opinion u wud be a queen

Coven head meetings r sooooo bORinG.wish I was with u instead

U look nice in that piCture wIth CLover.lovely

I Miss u

“Aw, Hunter,” Gus couldn’t help but smile. “These aren’t bad, they’re really sweet. Why didn’t you send them before?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking to the ground. “I was embarrassed? But I don’t know why! They’re not lies. I just didn’t want the Captain to know them, but also I did? Does that make them lies then? I was just... scared of how she would respond. That she wouldn’t... that she’d think...” he sighed and allowed himself to collapse on the floor, raring his head in his hands. “I do feel crushed.”

“Hey man, it’s okay,” said Gus, sitting beside him. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“I know it’s not the end of the world because that I know how to deal with,” groaned Hunter. “This is even more complicated. What if she realizes how weird I am and then she never wants to talk to me again? Or even worse, she wants me to explain the messages further? What would I say?! Wait! What if we say I left my scroll out and Flapjack typed all that and accidentally sent all that? Or what if you tell her I died? Or-.”

“Hey! Snap out of it!” said Gus, this time taking Hunter’s shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay! Willow is your friend! She likes you!”

Hunter felt as though he was going to pass out. “Ugh, er how do you know?”

“She told me, she says she thinks you’re sweet.”

The blush was back. “S-she said that? About me? Did, uh, she say anything else? Maybe-?”

“Wait! She’s typing back!” Gus said and Hunter held his breath in anticipation and held the scroll straight to his face. The dots graced the screen for what felt like ages before finally her message appeared:

💚

“What is that? What does that mean?” asked Hunter shoving the scroll in Gus’ face.

“It’s a heart.”

“That’s not a heart, thats not anatomically correct at all,” said Hunter, rolling his eyes. “There’s no bile sac or veins and they’re not that color. Even it was, why does it mean?”

“You don’t know what a heart means?”

“I know what it does, pumping blood through the body and keeping you alive,” said Hunter before adding timidly. “Does this mean s-she’s glad I’m alive?”

“Actually-,” began Gus before stopping himself as Hunter rooked at the screen like it was a precious jewel. “Actually, that’s exactly what it means.”

“Wow,” said Hunter breathlessly. “W-what should I say back?”

“Whatever you feel dude, no pressure,” said Gus. “We should probably turn in though. I dunno about you, but I am super tired.”

“Huh? Yes, of course,” said Hunter, crawling into his sleeping bag but not taking his eyes off the screen for a second. . “Ya know, I’ve never gotten to stay up this late before. What time do morning chores start? 4am? Or 5am because it’s the weekend?”

Gus simply yawned in response, too tired to compose a proper answer and Hunter followed suit. He laid in his makeshift bed brainstorming the perfect responds for the Captain, hating to make her wait but unable to stop staring at her heart.

———

The next morning, Gus had awoken to Hunter’s snoring. He was relieved to see the former Golden Guard had managed to sleep in, getting some well deserved rest. He looked further and saw his scroll was till in his hand, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Hunter falling asleep texting Willow. Looking further, he saw that in response Hunter had drafted a full page of golden hearts but had fallen asleep before pressing send.

Gus figured this was a draft he wouldn’t mind sending.

Message Sent

#huntlow #winter toh #toh #the owl house #willow park #hunter wittebane #huntlow fanfiction

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