#its making luz important times because I can do whatever I want | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

localbidisaster · 2 years

Text

The Truth - TOH Hunter x Reader

Summary: Hunter tells Reader about the whole Grimmwalker thing

Warnings: possible spoilers for Hollow mind and Thanks to them

You can tell that something's wrong, that something's bothering him. He's been quieter than usual, distancing himself not only from you but everyone else. Well, everyone else except for Willow.

It's something you've feared for a while now. He's been getting closer to her, and you can't help but worry that your relationship is nearing its end.

You can't blame him. She's considerate, powerful, courageous, and so much more. She'd be perfect for him...

At this point, it seems inevitable. He's going to break up with you. At first, it hurt; well, it still hurts, but not nearly as much as it did in the beginning. You're trying to accept it. You love him. You'll always love him. You love him enough to let him go if it means he'll get the happiness he's always deserved.

"(Y/N)?" He asks you one evening, visibly nervous. "Can I talk to you outside?" You nod, faking your best smile. "Of course."

It's time.

You take a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself before following him out of the door and onto the porch. You sit down next to him on the bottom step, anxiously fidgeting with your hands.

He takes a deep breath of his own, "You can do this, Hunter," he mumbles to himself. "There's something, umm..." He pauses, trying to find the right words, "I'm not—it's just–" he sighs, burying his head in his hands. "Titan, I knew this would be hard but I thought I was more prepared than this..."

I'm not in love with you anymore. You can imagine him saying it. It's probably what he wanted to say. You turn your head away from him, quickly wiping away the few tears that managed to escape your eyes.

"Are you going to break up with me, Hunter?" You ask, sniffling. "What?" He exclaims in shock, looking terrified as he turns to look at you. "N-No! Never! Why would you think that?" He blurts out, voice laden with fear and confusion.

"You—You're crying– Oh my titan," he gasps, moving to gently wipe away your tears. "Tell me what's wrong. Please! I need to fix whatever I did."

You sniffled again. "You didn't do anything wrong... I'm just being insecure..." He frowns, "You can tell me what's bothering you, you know that, right?" His hands move to cup your face, "You've always been there for me, and I'll always be here for you."

You lean into his touch. "Nothing makes me happier than knowing that you've made more friends," you explain, "But, something's been bothering you recently, and you've been distant. Willow seems to be the only one you want to be around anymore... I'm afraid you don't love me anymore because you've fallen for her."

You gently move Hunter's hands off your face, leaning away from him. "I love you so much. If you're happier with her than I want you to be with her, it's what you deserve."

Small amounts of tears welled up in his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away. "Willow is one of my best friends, but that's all she is. I don't want her. I want you. I've only been spending so much time with her because I had to tell you something important but I was afraid that you'd... sorta... Break up with me..."

You tilted your head slightly in confusion. "Willow was helping to reassure and prepare me to tell you," he elaborated. A mix of relief and concern flooded you.

"What did you want to tell me that had you so scared?" You questioned. He took a deep breath, "You can do this, Hunter..."

"Do you know what a Grimmwalker is?" He asks, looking away. You think for a moment. "I think I read about them in a book once. They're clones that come from a whole bunch of different ingredients. Bones of who they originated from and whatnot, if I recall correctly."

He nodded slowly, "I'm a Grimmwalker. When Luz and I got trapped in Belos's mind we found out. He created me, (Y/N). I don't even know who or what I am. I don't know if I'm human, a witch, or something entirely different. I... I don't even know if you'll still love me now that you know."

With tears streaming down his face he refused to look at you. "Hunter..." You whispered. "Hey... Look at me," you said softly, gently grabbing his face and turning him to look at you. "Why would I stop loving you? You didn't choose how you came into this world. It's not your fault."

You smile warmly, "I can't stop loving you. I don't care about who or what you may or may not be, all I care about is that you're you." He blushes lightly as you proceed to gently kiss his tears away.

"You aren't mad or anything because I'm a Grimmwalker?" He hesitantly asks. You shake your head, "No. Absolutely not." He smiles, "I love you." You grin, "Love you, too."

#the owl house #toh #toh x reader #the owl house x reader #toh hunter #the owl house hunter #toh hunter x reader #the owl house hunter x reader #hollow mind spoilers #thanks to them spoilers

1K notes · View notes

crimeronan · 7 months

Note

hi!! sorry if this has been asked before but i wanted to know if u had a specific editing process? ive read before that u edited ur fics for 6-8 hours and wanted to know what those hours consisted of, technically speaking, if its not too much trouble!!

hello!!

this is a really good question. i want to do it justice but breaking down every single detail of my editing process would take a VEEEERY long time. so i'll give more of an overview

some fics have a Much more involved editing process than others. so i can walk you through what both "processes" look like, step-wise. my most involved process produces the best work but is also the most time-consuming and exhausting.

to start, though: you gotta understand my first draft process. because whenever i tell other writers about how i draft, their responses range from "that's insane" to "that's so smart" to "that's insane. again."

i don't reread anything when i draft.

and i mean Anything. i don't reread a single sentence. i don't reread my phrasing as i'm writing it. i don't even check to make sure that my sentences make sense.

i just write out the entire story as i'm hearing / imagining it in my head. whatever moments, beats, dialogue, Whatever is most important to me. i don't edit as i go, i don't look back. if i can't think of details or lose my flow, i put [add X here] and keep going.

i usually have a bullet-point outline before i draft -- that's my scribbled concept sketch. my first draft is the equivalent to the slightly less scribbly concept sketch. it takes a MAXIMUM of one-third of my entire writing time.

the other two-thirds (or more!) are editing.

so basically. editing is where i reread what i wrote, identify weak spots and pacing issues, revise my dialogue, improve my metaphors, bulk up my imagery..... it's like doing all of the painstaking lining and coloring and shading of a very involved art project.

with my Most involved editing process, i open a new document beside the first draft. i write an entire second draft from scratch, using my first document as reference. that lets me keep all the important beats, rearrange stuff, go more in-depth with detail, etc. THEN i reread that second draft and do all of my fussing.

with my less involved editing process, i just reread and edit the first draft instead of creating an entire second draft. i also do fewer editing passes.

(the involved process includes editing the whole document once, putting it down for a few hours, then starting over from the beginning and editing the Edited Version all over again.)

it might be easier for me to show you the differences in fic quality, for you to get a sense of how the editing process affects things.... rather than trying to describe exactly what i look for / change / do / etc.

so. here's three recent (ish) toh fics

humans are friends. AND food - no editing.

why did love put a gun in my hand (and all other parts of this series) - basic first draft editing.

what we are is the sum of a thousand lies - 2 to 3 full drafts per chapter, 3 to 5 editing passes per chapter, ~30,000 words of outtakes beyond that.

with that vampire AU fic (#1), you can see that it's short, it's quick, it's silly and fun. it's not emotionally deep. it doesn't make much sense. it's very clearly based on Vibes instead of a fully considered story.

the princess luz fic (#2) is Significantly more involved. the increased detail here is partially because this is a horror series instead of a stupid humor romp, but the principle is the same.

all of luz's internal narration about her fear, the pacing of her interactions and confrontations with belos n hunter alike, the ugly body horror and the way she comforted the dying grimwalker... that's all from the editing process. the bare bones were there in my first draft, but my edits were where i got to make things Effective.

basically, i wrote the horror story the way i saw it in my mind. and then during the edit, i could ask questions like - what would make this worse? what is she really afraid of? what is the most LUZ reaction that she could have in this situation? what's the most effective way to show the differences between this luz and canon luz, and the similarities? etc etc etc. all those little details!

then you have wwaitsoatl. which is by Far the most energy-intensive fic i've ever written. that's part of why updates are so sporadic despite there being well over a thousand subscribers at the moment (FAR more than any of my other fics have ever had).

the reason that this fic requires so many drafts and editing passes is because of the sheer complexity of the characterization. the plot is pretty generic, as toh fics go - hunter gets kidnapped away from the castle and learns how to be loved, this fic has been written 100000 times before in 100000 different ways by 100000 different authors.

BUT. every single one of the four narrators in this particular story is unreliable in different ways. every single one has different priorities, motivations, baggage, feelings, levels of emotional intelligence. all four of them are in massive conflict with one another.

the conflicts Between the characters are similarly complicated, so i have to spend a LOOOONG time on all of the dialogue & interactions. these guys do a LOT of projecting, and arguing, and talking at cross-purposes, and making incorrect assumptions, and lying, and obfuscating, and on and on and on. clear communication is basically impossible.

the internal narration also requires a similar level of care. hunter and darius in particular have incredibly challenging POVs to write because all of their narration is tied up in denial, self-delusion, and facades.

hunter's nightmares, cognitive dissonance, and slow breakdowns take Hours And Hours And Hours to get right. same goes for darius's feelings and the things he says and the things he Doesn't say. i literally study every single individual sentence and rewrite it like 15 times, then study every individual paragraph and rewrite and rearrange them like 15 times. and if a scene isn't working, i cut it entirely, even when that adds up to 30,000 words of outtakes.

it's my most ambitious fic by a longshot and i'm confident in saying it's my best work to date. but hoo boy, it is WORK.

so. that's my editing process, basically! and how my editing process changes my final product.

#replies #writing #writing advice #i guess?#toh #my writing #long post #REALLY long post #always a pleasure to get to talk about the process behind the scenes tbh #it is not easy. wow

19 notes · View notes

pandoratheprocrasticreator · 2 years

Text

when ppl do parallels of the wittebane brothers with hunter and luz, hunter always parallels caleb and luz always parallels phillip and i know its bc luz looks and dresses more like phillip and hunter is literally calebs clone but!!!

every sibling pair weve explored in the show has a sibling who ran off to live their best life because they didn’t fit into polite society, and another sibling who had to live in the shadow of the first sibling, leading them to become a huge attention whore who makes a point of how well they fit into polite society to cope.

like almost EVERY pair of siblings have this dynamic. the most obvious is eda and lilith, but there’s also luz and vee. i’ve speculated about mattholomule and steve here. if you squint, you can even say edric and emira are both the ones who disregarded expectations to do whatever they want, while amity became the “overachieving good kid” to get attention. and phillip and caleb, especially with what we know about them now, DEFINITELY fits that bill. caleb was obviously the one who abandoned his life in the human world because he fell in love with a witch. meanwhile phillip spent 350 years to Get The Best Grade Ever In Witchhunting, because after caleb left, what else did he have?

(the only sibling pair that doesn’t really fit this dynamic is luz and king. although that’s probably just because i haven’t thought too much about their dynamic lol if anyone has luz & king brainrot like i have luz & hunter brainrot feel free to correct me)

but anyway, like in her relationship with vee, luz is obviously the one in the luz and hunter sibling pair to abandon her life because she couldn’t fit in. she’s the one who was led to the demon realm by the palisman of a clawthorne like caleb was. she takes the lead every time she goes on an adventure with hunter, even if hunter does more of the action stuff. she has a loving family in both worlds, and falls in love with a witch. she has a fascination with the culture of the boiling isles and its magic, and commits to living there because of that fascination

hunter, however, was the one raised to believe in the merits of hunting witches. young phillip latched onto the identity of witch hunter, because outside of caleb, he had no family. he had no social support without this identity. likewise, hunter latched onto the attention and purpose afforded by the golden guard position because it was an identity granted by belos, HIS only family, in a world where hunter’s lack of magic meant an otherwise meaningless and painful existence. hunter studies wild magic and palismen, but before he left the emperor’s coven, he insisted that the studies was for practical purposes, to fix his uncle’s curse. like phillip, hunter was split between the human and demon realms in thanks to them. he was a lot happier in the human world, but in the end, he still returned to the boiling isles, because his “mission” was more important.

luz never ran away from the stress taking care of a younger sibling, but she had the same sense of adventure and anxiety about her identity and future that caleb probably had. hunter didn’t become desperate to please the adults around him with a persona because he was abandoned by an older brother. but he was overshadowed by belos his whole life, seen as nothing but “the emperor’s nephew” just as phillip was probably seen as nothing but “caleb’s brother.”

their lives echo caleb and phillip’s, but hunter is kinder than phillip and more open minded. luz is more stubborn than caleb and convinced her brother to see reason where caleb’s brother never did. hunter is able to break away from his golden guard persona and decide on his own identity. luz is able to make peace with her life in the human realm and balance it with her life in the demon realm.

belos tried to raise hunter to be a “better version of caleb,” but he ended up raising hunter to be like belos himself. but hunter was able to find his own “better version of caleb” in luz, and became a “better version of phillip” in turn. unlike the wittebane brothers or the clawthorne sisters, luz and hunter’s relationship won’t end in betrayal.

#toh #the owl house #shut up pandora #toh meta #i should use that tag more often a lot of stuff i write falls into that #luz noceda #hunter toh #hunter noceda #phillip wittebane #caleb wittebane #should i tag the other sibling pairs theyre only vaguely mentioned #nah i wont theyre not as relevant #luz and hunter are siblings #with all the effort i put into writing dissertations on baby shows maybe i should study for my wastewater treament exam lol #anyway something something belos wanted to remake caleb but his generational trauma just caused him to remake himself #over and over #he wanted caleb back but he also wanted caleb to suffer the way he suffered as a child so now the golden guards all have phillip trauma #and he didnt know or want to acknowledge calebs trauma so he didnt get what made his brother tick either #he didnt want caleb he wanted the idealized version of caleb he saw as a child #the persona caleb displayed to him #an impossible superhuman that no one could have lived up to including caleb himself

115 notes · View notes

mdhwrites · 1 year

Note

Question: How do I make a character analysis?

And how hard would it be to make one for the owls house characters? Can I ask which characters I want to make one for?

*stares into the void for a good, solid minute* I... You... I mean... You have asked me to cover what could easily be an entire college textbook's thesis statement with a second part on top of it. Like how to properly analyze characters and the complexity of character analysis could cover hundreds of thousands of words. Characters are the complex part of any story and analyzing them demands similar complexity because there's so many angles at which to tackle it from. I mean, I can think of three very easy to define schools of thought for how good a character is that have WILDLY different opinions on Amity ranging from being potentially the best character in the series to being the absolute worst. Full stop. Before I get to that though, the easy part of your question: Make your analysis about the topic that makes you most excited. If you want to try to game the fandom to make whatever video you want to make popular, A: you're going to want to make your analysis positive because this fandom is against negativity and B: Luz, Amity, Hunter and Eda in that order. They're the most popular characters and the TOH fandom in general follows the school of thought that character arcs are the end all be all for character analysis and they are the ones that people at least believe have the most interesting and complex arcs even though I've talked about how at least two of them don't and Luz questionably has an arc of becoming a worse person that I don't think the show intended and then the finale double downed on the fact that she doesn't have an arc. And a reminder to part of how complex character analysis is: Luz not having an arc does not make her a bad main character. Also, thank you for all the people who have followed me recently since I never actually expect these blogs to do well. ^^; So, with that out of the way, here are just three schools of thought for character analysis.

Character agency, depth and complexity is king. How much potential for stories does the character themselves have? This is actually a school of thought that is the most divorced from the source material. It's the one most likely to be fucked up because they judge a side character negatively for not having as much emphasis or time spent on them despite, you know... Being a side character.

Character Consistency. This one says that if you cannot track how a character behaves, they the character themselves is against their core without proper reasons for it, that character is bad. This is probably the one that cares the most about arcs because a shift in character needs to be justified to it as otherwise the change can incredibly inconsistent to what we've seen before.

The Character's Place in the Narrative. Do they contribute to the themes of the piece? How about its plot? How easily could they be removed and little to nothing change about the overall story? How much are they a waste of time? This is very utilitarian but also still important because in theory your characters should serve your story.

So, by those three schools of though, here is how, and not even being anywhere close to being comprehensive on each because each angle is incredibly complicated in and of itself and debating which one is the most important in general, how they bleed together, which one is most important to TOH's goals, etc. like that is a whole mess of things in and of itself. After all, place in the narrative doesn't matter as much for an off the wall, wild comedy as it would an adventure series so judging a character by that is questionable. ANYWAYS:

This is easily the one that is kindest to Amity because what S2 and 3 do to her aren't as much of a problem. Her becoming mostly Luz's girlfriend has interesting elements to do with her lack of love from her family, her dependency on approval, her dedication to her goals, etc. like that. Her angst, complicated family and personal goals in S1 make for a compelling character who feels like they could have been the main character of their own story and to this school of thought, that is DEEPLY important. If there's a way that Amity fails for this school, it's that her depth is never explored or made more than just in large statements. Most of her character isn't given more depth or complexity to these personal elements that she has so you have a character with a lot of potential and a lot of interesting ideas but they're shallow. They don't have much depth from the narrative itself.

This one HATES Season 2. It is the one that considers Amity to be mostly functional but not impressive. Even S1 has bumpiness to it because her first appearance kind of matches her second but then never again. The base we're shown at first isn't the one we actually get, even if the character we see in Covention is more consistent with who we'll get for S2. This one cares about Amity's base as a smart character who is extremely driven by personal goals, has little care for those who get in the way of those goals. It cares about her lack of love meaning that finding a crush is going to have a very large impact on her and actually is okay with the shift to focusing more and more on Luz because she obviously wants approval and puts a lot into her goals. The problem this school has with Amity is that the arc is so abrupt with so many core elements of Amity's character. Her parents, who were made out to be a big deal, and even bigger post her breaking off from them, are dealt with too quickly and flatly. Her friends who she's known for so long and was pressured by society to care about are discarded like lumps of trash. Her magic and grades, the FIRST thing about her that we find out she cares about are even discarded for the sake of Luz with Luz not even asking for her to abandon those things. Amity just... does and it's not supported enough even for a side character to justify the entire 180 that is her character's priorities, interests and pressures that is Escaping Expulsion.

This school thinks Amity is the worst character in the series. That's not an exaggeration or hyperbole. The show is, ostensibly, an action comedy that has a focus on found family and Luz's relationship between reality and fantasy. There's also an overarching theme of following your dreams/passions regardless of what anyone tells you. Amity just fails this entirely, especially for how much is dedicated to her. There are gestures towards these themes. Amity is the one that Luz quotes Azura the most about so if the show is about Luz learning that reality and fantasy are different, she should fail in those fantasy tropes with Amity. But she doesn't. Luz copying her books lead directly to the opportunities for her to become Amity's friend and eventually have a cotton candy haired goddess as a girlfriend. Hell, explicitly, Luz in "The First Day" talks about tempting a vulnerable, hot upperclassmen into being with her and if we take Amity's knowledge of magic instead of her grades to make her an upperclassmen of Luz's, then this fantasy explicitly happens. Amity might function for the following your dreams aspect but only in that Luz becomes Amity's dream. Her goals and interests are entirely discarded by her interest in Luz which is at best neutral towards this theme. Found Family doesn't work with her because her plotline with her family is explicitly about choosing which members of her biological family she cares about. It's not about escaping her family entirely. And there was a fandom meme for a long time that nothing bad could happen in an episode with Amity because she is just not allowed to be a part of the plot. When she is, her contribution is minimal and could easily have been done by another character. This is the big reason why this school of thought hates Amity WAY more than Hunter because Hunter at least is explicitly connected with the plot. Worse yet: She takes up seven+ episodes of S1 alone and arguably another 7 in the second season. And in both cases, even if Eda and King have a chance to interact with Luz in those episodes, they're minimal to give more time between Amity and Luz. King NEVER gets to even be partially there for episodes between Amity and Luz and arguably Luz and King's relationship is literally the most important in the series with how things ended. And King only gets 8 episodes, if you're generous, where a plotline revolves around him and Luz versus Amity's fourteen. So from this perspective, Amity wasn't just against the Found Family theme in her own plot but was actively against it as a whole by taking up so much of Luz's time away from Eda and King. And that's part of why she is the worst character by this school of thought.

And again, these aren't even all the angles you can look at a character from. How entertaining are they individually? How much of an impact do they have on other characters? It goes on and on because analyzing a character is much like writing a character: Context, priorities and just EVERYTHING in your story is going to matter in their creation if you want them to serve the function they need to. It's madness. And just real quick: I'm by no means perfect. I've made bad characters. I've made bland as shit characters. My one off characters are usually shells just to serve a purpose because I'm focused on my main characters. Just because I critique doesn't mean my writing is going to be perfect, especially when my critiques aren't perfect. So I hope this was illuminating but I'm sorry that it's also probably not helpful to whatever plans you had. There's a reason why I appreciate the asks giving me focus on what part of a character to talk about and even then, I definitely trend towards specific takes on what's important for a character when I discuss them. I try to be reasonable but personal bias of what draws you to media is going to happen and that's okay. That's honestly part of criticism because nothing can be objective, but it is good to be aware of it. As a note: I definitely towards how likable a character is, how entertaining they are, how well they function in the narrative and how consistent they are. Depth does matter to me but I'll take a fun but well executed, blunt character over a deep one any day. Oh, but, as a bit of positivity to end this with, I do want to shout out one of the best characters I've seen in general recently: Chai from Hi-Fi Rush. Not only is that game the epitomy of doing a simple concept EXTREMELY well (there's very little original about that game and that is 1000% okay because it is so charming with the story it tells) and Chai going from a selfish, more self absorbed, but mostly well meaning, idiot to proper himbo and friend is an incredibly compelling arc that really helps elevate the story to something genuinely sweet. Is he deep? Nah. But I think internet analysis has poisoned what people think is necessary for a good character and that's where we get a show like The Owl House thinking it needs to redeem an antagonist every season because that's good character writing... Right? Wrong. It's so much more complex than that.

#Writing analysis #The Owl House Criticism #TOH Critical #Amity Blight

23 notes · View notes

acaciapines · 1 year

Note

lol I meant to type actually the middle number of 46 but you can do 31 too! I love hearing about this au

both of them it is! im glad you love hearing about it bc there is. truly so much. <3

31. Baptisms – Radical Face

“it’s not that bad, you know.”

mari looks up at her, ears still pressed flat. whatever sickness has been hurting luz has left her mostly quiet the entire time amity has been sitting here, and though there’s a hint of pain in the way mari holds her shoulders her eyes are bright and alert.

in amity’s lap, alma shifts: cat, glowfish, spottedfish, lionfish, and cat again. amity rests her hand across her palisman’s back, brushing soft fur.

“it’s not the same.” mari looks away, out towards the window where the moon trickles in. “you never…you get to figure out who you are. i already did, and i…”

“got it wrong?” alma offers, and mari’s lips curl back in a growl. alma’s purr rises in volume, loud enough that mari should hear it, too. it rumbles though amity’s own veins. “that’s okay. we did, too.”

46. Bugbear – Chloe Moriondo

she’s not so sure why she’s here, at school, doing this, when eda and king and firefly and lilith and burkit and every single adult she cares about save for mom is back stuck in a world under the collector’s control.

“it’s to make mom happy,” hunter says, a tiny red bird on her shoulder. he’s been doing that a lot—the bird, and the slipping up. calling camila mom, just like she would. “this way, we at least are able to somewhat pass for normal.” he fluffs up his feathers. “but…yeah. i get it. i wish we were with mari and flapjack, too.”

“it’s not fair,” luz whispers. she’s hidden herself away in an empty corner of the hallway for lunch, because people always stare at her weird when she and hunter talk to each other—just another one of those ways where she won’t fit in, talking to her daemon in public. “i want mom to be happy, i do, i just…why doesn’t this make me feel better?”

hunter shrugs. “i don’t know.”

“yeah.” luz huffs. “just five more hours of this.”

“five more hours,” hunter echoes, flapping down to peck at her sandwich. “let’s get through them together.”

DISCUSSION

starting w 31: OH MY GOD I KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THIS IS FROMMMMM its from episode 9! eclipse lake! when luz is sick w. common mold i think its called? yeah that but anyways in that episode luz is super out of it but mari isnt (for Reasons like: it isnt common mold lol but they arent important for this scene).

anyways! that means that amityalma and mari have a really sweet scene together...both of them have been struggling over being unsettled (luz n mari bc they were settled but unsettled, amity n alma bc they spent all of s1 pretending to be settled as something they werent) and they get to bond over it...mari cant talk about this stuff w luz but she CAN with amity and alma, and sort of. figure it out then.

also this is before i decided cats in the demon realm were fun shadowy nightmare creatures lol. originally alma took the form of a white cat (like ghost in the show) but bc i have A Thing im doing w forms that changed.

and 46: yet another luz and hunter suffering in the human realm scene! i think ive said it before but bc of the four of them hunter is the only one able to change form, and luz needs to pretend to be settled for long plot reasons im not getting into, luz and hunter go to school together as a human-daemon pair and neither of them like. enjoy it. theyre still melding together a lot and this Doesnt Help, and luz is used to the demon realm way of human-daemon interactions (aka the way i like them) vs the human realm way (aka Every Other Daemon Au).

hunters also supposed to be a lizard here hence luz commenting on him being a bird. its a fun time! a fun fun time. these kids are Going Through It

#toh #luz noceda #amity blight #hunter toh #daemon au #daemons #i write #fun fact there is a small small chance luz n hunter might end up in the human realm alone #(aka amity willow gus stay in the demon realm for s3)#but proooobably not bc i think their unhealthy codependency hits more if they have their friends theyre just actively drawing away from the #it was a fun idea tho! it would be interesting thats for sure #bc then the pov would swap between hunterluz and then one of gus willow amity #so youd see the demon realm in this aus s3e1 #but eps 1 n 2 might become one big thing where each chapter alternates so you could still get it?#idk we aint there yet lol #and a grove of palistrom to you

4 notes · View notes

aconitewolfsbane · 1 year

Text

I posted 1,472 times in 2022

That's 187 more posts than 2021!

13 posts created (1%)

1,459 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@akela-nakamura

@indiigocats

@worldheritagepostorganization

@biggest-gaudiest-patronuses

@moringmark

I tagged 1,196 of my posts in 2022

Only 19% of my posts had no tags

#lmto! - 393 posts

#fanart - 302 posts

#stevenuniverse - 243 posts

#video - 204 posts

#comic - 183 posts

#feelzcure - 183 posts

#pearl - 144 posts

#world heritage post - 100 posts

#truth - 96 posts

#theowlhouse - 85 posts

Longest Tag: 74 characters

#this is the only su slander post i'll reblog because its fucking hilarious

My Top Posts in 2022:

Uhhhhhhh... ...

I’m... already following them?

"Hey, we see you like this user enough to follow them. Maybe you’ll also like this user?”

FYI, I’m one of those 45 notes.

Oh Tumblr. One day, your owners will learn how to program you.

1 note - Posted January 23, 2022

The Owl House s3 theory

I was thinking about the ending of season 2, wondering how they were gonna get back to the Demon Realm with King’s blood or anything.

But then I realised...

Luz carved the palisman wood into an egg, because “I got to decide what my future looked like when I chose to be a witch, and I want them to have that option too. Until then, I'm willing to wait.”

However, when Luz was starting her palisman carving lesson, King asked “Are you going to carve me?”

I believe that because King put the idea into her mind as she was carving the palisman, at the beginning of season 3, possibly after a small timeskip, the egg will hatch into... a small titan, modelled after King.

King did hatch from an egg after all.

It won’t have anywhere near the level of power that King will grow to have, or even has now.

But the most important ability it will have will be the ability to open a portal between the realms.

Luz simply has to tap the palisman staff against any door, open it and step into the other realm.

This is the only way that I can see the kids being able to return to the Demon Realm in season 3.

2 notes - Posted July 3, 2022

Crazy idea I’m unable to do anything with...

A business rating app, for employees.

A business has their name and address submitted with reviews from current and past employees.

Rate the business based on the wages, how you were treated whilst working there, the general work environment, ect. Also, a field to share personal horror stories of any petty firing practices or toxic work environments. And maybe a scale to display usual starting wage, hours you get paid for versus hours they expect you to work. Ratings are datestamped so you can compare older ratings to newer ones and see if they’ve gotten their shit together. And also to make sure you’re going with the most recent ratings. Maybe a filter to select only those from a certain time period so you can look at only those submitted within the past month, or whatever? With the score adjusted for that time period only.

Basically, a way for jobseekers to see if a particular place is good to work at, or if it should be avoided at all costs. Written by people who currently work there or have worked there.

A easy system to report any managers/bosses who learn the app exists and create an account to try and raise their score by giving 5 stars on everything. So if they get flagged 3 times by different users as a manager trying to protect the bottom line, their rating will be deleted so it won’t affect the true score, and their account deleted too. A similar thing for users who recognise that someone is trolling, leaving poor reviews to screw with people. 3 reports, deleted and removed.

Users have to check a box to say if they’re a current employee of the place or a past one. Past can maybe have a field to say how long ago they worked there, so people can see if it’s an older complaint compared to a possibly better later rating from later employees. They can also chose to say if they were fired or they quit.

Businesses will have to either fix the problems, or shut down because they can’t hire enough people to stay afloat. Corporate can see why a particular store isn’t doing well and send someone to fix the problem. Getting rid of a toxic manager, improving conditions, ect...

Someone trying to find a job and sees a place is hiring can check the app to see if it’s worth applying there, or if it’s actually a gate to the hell dimensions to be avoided.

Just, basically, a way for people to know how shitty a place is before they apply for a job, and to also compare experiences at different places.

Maybe called JobRate? JobScore? RateMyWork? RateThisPlace? I dunno, I’m bad at naming stuff... And I dunno if any of those names are already used for anything else. *shrug*

4 notes - Posted August 5, 2022

Uhh... Okay, I guess...

Replaying Breath of the Wild, trying to beat my personal best time for a hundo.

I was going through Woodland collecting Koroks and heading towards the Tyhphlo Ruins, and I stopped to look at my bows and pick out a good one for the next challenge when I noticed something... weird.

All of my bows, including ones that I already had, had all become triple-shot ones.

I have no idea when or why this has happened. I only had two triple shots before, and now they all are. I think one I picked up after noticing this was also randomly a triple-shot.

They all look like regular single-shot bows, but looking at them with the cursor shows that they have the x3.

I can’t find anything about this online, as most are about how to clone existing multi-shot bows. Nothing about regular single shots suddenly becoming triple-shots...

I’m not complaining of course, this is awesome. But very confusing, cause I wasn’t doing anything kind of known glitch AFAIK, and this has just... happened. *shrug*

Has anybody else experienced this?

Will post video of my bow stash in a few days, once I'm done with the hundo, so you can have a look.

9 notes - Posted July 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

This is the most perfect thing I have ever seen.

105 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Huh. Neat.#OPaconitewolfsbane

1 note · View note

drabbles-of-writing · 3 years

Note

Sense i im running out of question can you tell us a bit more about Society Au or what ideas you have feel free to rant about them nothings stopping you :)

hell yeah >:3

the Boiling Isles is still named after body parts (like the Knee) but its not so much a giant skeleton as it Looked like certain body parts and the gang decided to give it all names, since none of the ghost towns have their original names anymore. the many tunnels are called the Veins, the breezy field thats never still is called the Lungs, the Knee is still a thing, the long stretches of land in marsh are called the Fingers, etc.

farms are a frequent and easy find. so is dead livestock. but sometimes, if they’re lucky, they’ll find some living chickens, cows, horses, pigs, etc, that managed to survive out there. most of them aren’t mutant, at least. Luz especially likes finding anything alive thats young, like baby age. a) cause its cute, and b) because it means, to her, that life Can be sustained out there and that theres hope to continue on.

Eda hates going into Bonesborough, she sees everyone there as weak sheep, but sometimes she has to. food, materials, and others are still things she Needs. because of this she tries to Sneak in but the kids usually spot her and happily chat w her. everyone looks @ the kids funny bc they know of Eda, the weird crackhead lady outside of town. why do these kids know her?? should they be worried??? this also means that sometimes when hurt Eda has limped into town before. and maybe has run into Camila on more than one occasion. shes not so against going into town to get patched up these days. Luz Knows. Eda pretends she doesn’t.

Camila is not originally from Bonesborough. she moved in when she was pregnant w Luz. it was a way to ‘escape’ whatever the HELL is going on w everywhere else. poor her, she got stuck in This mess. this was RIGHT when they were beginning to close of Bonesborough as the rest of the Boiling Isles was clearly not going to recover and they couldn’t have this info get out. and since they were so busy w That they never got any real like Papers for Luz when she was born only a few days/weeks later. they have papers on every single person in the town so they can keep track of ‘em and their mind-control updates. Luz, technically speaking, Does Not Exist. they were too busy to notice a new kid born, they figured they’d just get to it later and then Didn’t. she has a birth certificate but no documentation w the scientists. meaning that if it ever WAS discovered that Luz was the one causing this whole mess, and they proceeded to go look for her file when they don’t HAVE one on her, it would cause an uproar. Luz, of course, doesn’t know this. and Amity is the one who finds it out. she had to process for a few hours that Luz could quite literally Sneak Into The Entire Building if she wanted without her mask because Nobody knows who she is.

the gang breaks into the labs All The Time. usually to steal random papers and dip out. maybe blow up some things, flood a bunch of rooms. throw in a siren or two. the Blight kids are tired. and remember the “what do you have in your mouth?” I brought up earlier w Luz’s mask? there is, at a point in time, when Luz broke into a room, grabbed a stack of papers, turned to see Amity holding a Gun @ her in the doorway, the two of them staring at each other, and then Luz shoving the papers in her mask mouth and BOLTING

50 notes · View notes

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

Text

The Owl House and pacing, a perspective from a fanfic writer that works with a large cast

I’ve seen a bunch of complains about the way The Owl House is paced lately. People claiming that it’s bad writing, and rushed, and whatnot. But from how I see it, you’re complaining for all the wrong reasons, and to the wrong people.

TL;DR: this is an overlaying issue with Disney and the industry that doesn’t allow long shows anymore, essentially forcing writers to pick between good pacing and complex stories being told with large casts.

For context: the fandom I wrote for before I got into The Owl House had a pretty small main cast. There were a few reoccurring characters, but most of them only showed up like five total times over the course of four seasons or had little personality, so my main cast I was writing about always consisted of my main five characters, with occasional cameos here and there. All characters were living together and experienced the adventure from the same perspective. There was one overarching storyline and not multiple. The interpersonal relationships still varied, though, for obvious reasons.

Now think about how large The Owl House cast is, and why that’d send them running into issues. Or don’t, because I have a whole-ass in depth analysis under the cut because this got unreasonably long.

(Also I’d appreciate a reblog, I spent… an unreasonable amount of time on this, lol)

The Owl House is different. There’s the main characters: Luz, Eda, King, maybe Hooty, technically (someone recently pointed out that he’s technically the titular character of the show and I’m still processing that, lol).

But they also have a HUGE additional cast to work with. There’s Lilith, Eda’s sister, and the main antagonist of season one, who has a lot to her character and gets a ton of screen time. There’s Amity, and there’s Willow and Gus, Luz’s friends. They’re all very fleshed out characters, and got a bunch of screen time and development, despite “only” being reoccurring characters and not the main characters.

Then there’s characters that have played a fairly minor role so far. There’s Belos, the big bad villain, who we will likely learn a lot more about this season. There’s the Golden Guard, the new main antagonist our cast deals with personally, who we’re just starting to learn more about. There’s Camila, Luz’s mom, who, despite only showing up a couple of times in the show so far, is very relevant to Luz and how the plot will ultimately turn out. There’s Edric and Emira, Amity’s siblings, who despite only showing up a few times as well seem to have a very worked out personality and background and also have a story that is (at least to some extent) going to be told according to the AMA.

There is at least one more seemingly important character whose role in the bigger story is hard to tell at this point, Raine, but according to the description of the episode, they’re probably going to influence the story a bunch.

There’s Alador and Odalia, who are responsible for a lot of their children’s toxic behaviors, and seem to have bigger plans that will probably be relevant later on.

The characters that are only focused on for an episode or two (like Matt and the troublemaker kids) all have very worked out personalities and even short arcs.

And heck, even characters like Boscha, who is extremely minor and seems like a very one-dimensional bully for the most part, get their moments that hint at there being more to them. We know Boscha has a clingy mom, that apparently has a rivalry with Odalia and works with Amity’s parents. The scene at the beginning of Wing It Like Witches tells us a lot about her general mindset and how she’s embraced that winning at whatever cost is the only thing that matters.

This leaves us with: 3-4 main characters

3 friends with fleshed out stories

Lilith, who is probably the most relevant aside from the main cast

Belos, the main antagonist, and the Golden Guard, currently starting to become a lot more relevant

A whole handful of minor reoccurring characters that have the potential to become bigger characters at any point in time

A handful of minor reoccurring characters that mainly seem to be there to further the story, but still get to have distinctive personalities and motivations (looking p.e. at the troublemaker kids)

That is AT LEAST 9 pretty major, relevant characters whose stories have to be tackled in the same show, in addition to the people that joined in season two and a huge supporting cast of well-developed characters that clearly also have stories of their own, even if not all of them will get told.

On top of that, the Owl House lives from exploring different relationships and different storylines. There’s the overarching story of how flawed the system is that will likely end with them overthrowing Belos, but there’s so much more.

Eda and the curse. Eda becoming a better mentor for Luz. Eda coming to terms with the loss of her magic.

Luz learning to cast magic with glyphs. Making friends for the first time. Slowly falling in love with Amity. Fighting to be able to learn whatever kind of magic she wants to. Learning that she’s not a burden to people. Struggling with her relationship with her mom, and trying to restore the portal so she can get back to her. Figuring out her future and what she really wants.

Lilith trying to cure Eda, and now in season two coming to terms with the loss of her magic and fixing her relationship with her sister. Lilith learning to ask for help.

Willow switching tracks. Willow growing more confident.

Amity becoming a better person, fixing her relationship with Willow, standing up to her parents, falling in love with Luz. Starting to fix her relationship with her siblings.

King finding out where he came from.

Hints at Gus struggling with decision making and stressing himself out less. Gus learning to be more selfless. Struggling with his magic track and being the youngest in his grade.

The newly introduced plot point with the Golden Guard. The plot point about the rebellion that will get introduced next episode.

The mystery with the letters.

And I’m like 90% sure I’ve forgotten something.

That is… a lot of different plots and relationships that are in some way important to the story.

In comparison, as stated, the last show I wrote for focused mostly on the same five characters and their relationships with each other, and one overarching plotline aside from some minor interpersonal relationships with two people’s family members that weren’t even introduced for several seasons. The first season fully focused on establishing the bond within this found family with exactly 1 important reoccurring character, an antagonist that had little personality and got a total of one line of backstory before he died.

If you have 90% of a season to develop 5 characters who live together, that’s a lot easier to do than developing twice the amount of important characters + introducing reoccurring characters season one of The Owl House has—the majority of which have separate lives and do not live together and thus can’t be focused on at the same time.

I’ve seen a bunch of people complain recently that the pacing of The Owl House is off, that the writing is bad, that the show is rushed, etc. etc.

And I get those complains. Believe me, as a viewer and also as an author that takes a lot of time to develop each character and their issues individually, I 100% get it.

But as an author that’s currently learning how hard it is to tackle a cast of the size that The Owl House has, I’ve also come to a whole different understanding from the perspective of the writers on the show.

For context, Locked Out focuses on a couple of serious themes, in the same way that the show does. It has 4 main plotlines: Amity Camila and Luz, Edric and Emira, Eda and Lilith, Willow and the Grudgby Squad (as well as a Gus arc that ties into the last one while also being its own thing, we’re getting to that part). So far, it prominently features: Luz, Amity, Camila, Eda, Emira, Edric, Willow and Gus, and to a lesser extent King, Lilith and Boscha, Skara and Amelia in relation to the separate plots.

That’s eight main characters across five different households. And then there’s the reoccurring characters that will have a larger role later on that I’ve not even had the opportunity to bring into the story yet/feature in a more prominent way. The cast is still growing.

And heck, I have all the time in the world to write this thing, because I don’t have an episode limit, or a deadline, or a limited amount of money to produce it.

For Locked Out, it took me 120k to get through a single week of plot at a very high level of character development, with about as many important characters as TOH has in season 1, and with an equally high number of reoccurring characters, some minor, some major. I think you can compare it to the show pretty well. I’d say, if I were to split Locked Out into episodes, I’d set one episode at about 10k. That would be 12 episodes. 12 episodes to get through a single week. Heck, even if I said 20k words were to be one episode, which I’m pretty sure is too much realistically, that would still be 6 episodes for one week.

And TOH covers more than three months.

That would be at least 72 total episodes to get through the three months of summer camp. And we’re currently progressing past that point.

72 episodes.

Let that sit for a while o.o

Everything that’s happened in season one (which as we know now was about 2 months) would have happened in 48 episodes rather than 19. Pacing-wise, everything would happen at less than 0.5x the speed. The first four episodes of season two would’ve been 24 episodes, assuming we hadn’t skipped a week and a half and had instead shown the immediate aftermath of the petrification ceremony, too.

And I’d love if we could have that, and if we could actually develop the characters and their relationships that thoroughly.

But the sad fact is that shows like The Owl House do not get the amount of episodes that would be required to develop every single aspect of the show to its fullest potential. Disney rarely greenlits shows of 150 episodes anymore. They used to, once, (Phineas&Ferb for example had 130+ episodes—you could tell one hell of a story in that many episodes), but that’s not a thing anymore. And the writers know that going into a show. They know the chances their story will be told in that way are very low.

And thus, the writers, especially ones working with large casts, have to make a choice: cut characters they love, and plots that are important to them, because they know they won’t get the amount of episodes required to do everything perfectly, OR include most of what they want to do, but at the cost of the pacing being off and everything seemingly happening too fast.

The Owl House crew went with the second option. The biggest issue the show has isn’t bad writing. The show’s biggest issue is that its cast and the story the crew members want to tell are too big for the amount of episodes they’ve been given (especially now that Disney decided to cut season 3 down into just three 44 minute specials).

And that’s on Disney, and Disney alone.

The crew is making the most of the amount of episodes they have, and unfortunately the lack of time forces them to rush things, and to sometimes sideline characters to focus on others.

Lilith got a bunch of screen time in the first four episodes. I’m sad to see her go, but she’s basically guaranteed to be back by season 2B. And there’s other people that have gotten way less focus than her so far. We‘ve seen basically nothing of Willow and Gus for the first few episodes, and I’m super happy Gus finally got some focus! We haven’t been inside Hexside all season except to see Luz expelled! And episode seven is even going to introduce a new character. Sometimes there’s parts of the story that certain characters don’t have a place in. And it sucks if they’re characters you like. But Lilith has to go for a bit so other characters can get the same amount of spotlight she did. At the end of the day, Lilith is not part of the main cast. She’s a very important reoccurring character, yes, but so are Amity, Willow and Gus. The main characters are Eda, Luz and King, and they’re the only ones that will always be around. And heck, even Eda got sidelined for a bit in the last two episodes, because we needed to focus on other characters. If not even the main characters are always around because we need some spotlight time for other characters, you can’t expect any more minor reoccurring cast member to be.

God, I wish they’d be given more time and more episodes to bring every part of the plot to its full potential, but they don’t have those, so they sometimes have to take shortcuts that unfortunately cheapen the story here and there. It’s the only way they can hope to tell their story to the end at all. And that makes me hella sad because it’s so obvious that they have an incredible story to tell, and that there’s so much more to so many of the characters we just don’t have the time to focus on.

The thing is: I liked the episode with Gwendolyn. It sends an important message that will hopefully get some parents who watch with their children thinking, and I’ve seen a couple of people talk about how close to home it hit for them. I have also seen a couple of people complain about that being too fast—and also just in general about things in the show getting sorted out too fast. And I get it. At least with this particular episode, I 100% get it.

(I’ve also seen some people complain that “Amity stood up to her parents too fast in Escaping Expulsion”, but I vehemently disagree with that. We’ve been building towards that moment since season one, with her doing more and more things that were technically defying her parents. I don’t see how this was rushed.)

Just… please don’t blame the writers. Dana even said that Keeping Up A-Fearances is one of the episodes that hit very close to home for her in the recent stream iirc? So I highly doubt this was rushed on purpose, or because the whole thing is “bad writing” when the entire writing quality of the show says otherwise.

A lot of shows in general have the issue that they have to be written season by season rather than as a full story these days, because there’s always a chance that they won’t get a next season. How large scale the story they want to tell actually is doesn’t matter if there’s a solid chance they won’t get to do any of it.

From a viewer perspective, I get being frustrated at the pacing being off. But from a writer perspective, the chances are very high that this is a choice they had to make, rather than one they wanted to make. And I don’t think you can truly see this if you’ve never worked with a fleshed out cast that large—Locked Out was really eye-opening for me in that regard.

This isn’t simply a case of bad writing/bad pacing by choice. It’s forced. They’re forced to rush through their plots because otherwise they won’t get the chance to tell certain parts of the story at all. And the saddest thing about this is really that those 72+ episodes to flesh out these plot points further wouldn’t have been an impossible thing to get, at a time.

Go for Disney’s head. Yell at the industry for being what it is today, for constantly axing shows before even giving them a real chance. But this isn’t on the crew.

243 notes · View notes

storyofmychoices · 3 years

Text

Home: Where She Belongs

[Levi Schuler x Laura Day Masterlist]

Pairing: Levi Schuler x Laura Day [F!MC] with Lily (daughter) Book: Mother of the Year (chapter 16) Word Count: <1,600 (sorry it's a big long!) Rating: General

Prompts: @choicesaugustchallenge relaxation; @choicesbookclub : MOTY Replay Chapter 16 ; @wackydrabbles #108 (prompt in bold)

A/N: As a whole MOTY is a solid book, but one thing that I hated was the fact that instead of going home with her daughter after winning the court case MC sneaks off with her LI for a 30 diamond scene. I love those scenes, but that wasn't the time.

Synopsis: Following the celebration with their friends over the court case win, Laura and Lily head home for a private celebration, knowing they had won and no one would keep them apart. [Fluff with some comfort/care]

Bliss. Laura thought after some consideration. That's what this is—bliss.

Her body fluttered with a pleasant warmth that enveloped her in its comfort and relaxation. She breathed easily for the first time in weeks, the weight of the world no longer on her shoulders. She could simply enjoy the moment without worry of tomorrow.

She knew better than to expect the future to be sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, but for the moment, this was enough—actually, it was more than enough—it was perfect. The outcome might not have been everything she wanted, but it was better than what she feared. Lily was hers, and she always would be.

The voices of her friends surrounded her. They had all been eager to join in for a celebratory dinner. She had never needed to ask them to be there; they just were. She wondered how she and Lily would have survived in Goldcliffe without them; thankfully, they'd never need to figure it out.

Laura leaned forward, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she watched Levi play a game with Lily and Luz across the table. Their laughter was a melody in the night air, one that filled her heart with joy. Her eyes glistened in the dimming light. She wondered if the smile etched on her face would ever fade.

Lily's mouth opened, a silent yawn slipping out between excited explanations of her science fair project and how her newly rebuilt rocket was better than the previous one.

"It's late," Laura finally said, interrupting their game. "You've had a big day, my Stargirl. We both have. How about we head home?" Home—Laura couldn't help but smile at the word. Lily was going home with her, where she belonged.

"Okay," Lily agreed, without any complaining, knowing they had already planned their own little private celebration.

Laura said her goodbyes, thanking her friends once more for all they had done. Lily made her rounds, giving hugs and reminding everyone of the upcoming science fair.

"Thank you," Laura whispered as Levi drew her into his arms, holding her safely. "I couldn't have survived this without you."

"As much as my ego thanks you for that, you're the strongest person I know. You can survive anything." He brushed a kiss on her forehead as he leaned back, his attention turning to Lily. He pulled her into a bear hug that lifted her off the ground, causing her to giggle into his shoulder. "Goodnight, Rocket. I'm glad we'll still get to be neighbors. I'd hate to lose my partner in crime."

"I'm glad I get to stay too!" Lily beamed. "Do you want to come have celebration hot chocolate with us?"

"Celebration hot chocolate?" Levi set her back on the ground and bent down to her level. "I don't want to mess up whatever you and your mom have planned. You two have fun."

"But, there's extra marshmallows!!!" Her eyes widened, pleading with him.

"Extra marshmallows, huh?"

Lily nodded enthusiastically. "And whipped cream. And cinnamon! And chocolate syrup!"

"Wow. That is tempting." His gaze shifted to Laura, who was attempting to hide her smile behind her hands. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! You have to come!" She insisted, slipping her hand into his. "Right, mom?"

"I think she's right. I mean, how can you argue against celebration hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, AND cinnamon?" Laura shrugged in defeat as if though there were no other options than to accept.

"Then, there's nowhere else I'd rather be," Levi decided.

It didn't take long for the water to heat once they returned home. They worked together, moving through the kitchen as if it had always been like this—the three of them. Levi got the mugs ready with the powdered chocolate mix. Laura carefully poured water into each, leaving plenty of room for Lily to add all the toppings.

Marshmallows rained down over the three cups as she scooped large handfuls onto each mug. Lily grinned excitedly as she tipped the can of whipped cream, creating white, fluffy mountains, with one peak noticeably higher than the others.

"Do you think you need that much sugar before bed?" Laura questioned with a raise of her brow.

Lily's eyes widened, and she nodded enthusiastically. "It's a celebration!"

"Just this once!" Laura kissed the top of her daughter's head, her fingers trailing through her silky, black hair. Every day had always been a treasure with Lily, but now more so than ever. She would never take a second of their time together for granted.

Lily sprinkled cinnamon on hers and her mom's cups. "Do you want some, Levi?"

"Hmm‚" he pondered. He dipped his fingers through her cinnamon-dusted, whipped cream ridge, sampling it. "Mmm, that is good!"

"Hey!" Lily pouted. "No fair."

Levi laughed, a playful smirk pulling at his lips. He scooped up some of the fluffy topping off of his cup and dotted it on her nose. "Better?"

Lily's mouth fell open in surprise. Her hand was on the can of whipped cream again. The nozzle pointing at Levi, her finger hovering dangerously on the trigger, ready to set it off with the slightest change in pressure.

Their gaze narrowed at one another, the corners of their lips pulling up as silence fell in the kitchen.

"If it's war you want—" Lily began, breaking the quiet. "Then you shall have it."

Levi grabbed the plastic container of chocolate syrup, holding it up. "Two can play at that game, Rocket."

Lily stood in her chair, keeping her finger carefully on the nozzle. "I have the high ground."

Before he could respond, Laura stepped in, snatching both containers from them.

"Mom!"

"Laura," Levi moaned, matching Lily's tone but adding a teasing wink.

"You two are trouble!"

"Only the best kind of trouble, right?" Levi took his mug and lifted it up. "What do you say, rocket—partners in crime still?"

Lily lifted her mug, clinking it against his. "Space partners in crime," she added.

"How could I forget?" He took a sip of his cocoa as Lily did the same. Both of them ended up with whipped cream on their noses.

Laura sighed happily, watching the two most important people in her world laugh effortlessly together.

After about an hour of Lily vibrating from her sugar high and rattling off the names of all the stars in the night sky above them, she finally crashed on the couch. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth still attempted to finish the list.

"I think it's time for bed, my little astronomer." Laura helped her sleepy daughter to her room to get ready for bed. She tucked her carefully under the covers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Good night, my beautiful girl. I love you to Andromeda and back."

She paused at the door, taking another look back. A part of her worried she'd never have this moment again. The sight of Lily safely asleep in her bed, the glow-in-the-dark stars above her keeping watch as her daughter dreamt dreams bigger than she could ever imagine.

When she returned, she found Levi where she left him on the couch. She curled into his arms.

He brushed her hair back, kissing the crown of her head. "What do you need? What can I do for you? Lily wasn't the only one with a big day."

"This," she whispered, closing her eyes as she breathed in his scent. "Just hold me."

"Done." He hugged her closer, wrapping her in his warmth. His fingers caressed her back, massaging her tenderly. "I won't let go. I love you, Laura—you 'n Lily, more than I could've thought possible."

Her body trembled, and she let out a sharp cry. The tears she had pushed down all day erupted at the sound of his confession.

"Shh, it's okay. I've got you."

She buried her face in his chest, hoping to quell the tears that kept coming, not wanting to wake Lily.

"It's okay. You did good. Lily is safe. You're safe. It's going to be okay." He continued whispering tender encouragement in her ear as he kept her close, allowing the weeks of frustration and heartbreak to pour out.

Slowly, her breathing steadied, and her sobs subsided.

"That's it. You need sleep. Come on." He lifted her into his arms, much to her surprise. His brow arched as he caught her eye. "What? I said I wouldn't let go."

She nuzzled back into his neck. "Thank you...for everything."

"Shh, just rest." He carried her to her room at the end of the short hall, placing her down on the edge of the bed. He ran his thumb over her cheek, wiping away the last of her tears.

Her eyes were red and swollen. "Stay?"

"Are you sure?"

She stood to meet him, wobbling a little, not realizing how tired she was, but he was there to support her. She cupped his face. "I've never been more sure. I love you, Levi."

He kissed her softly. "Okay. Who am I to disagree with what the lady wants."

"Good. I'm not ready for you to let go yet." Laura slipped out of her clothes, grabbing a baggy t-shirt to put on.

"Great band!" Levi noted as he took off his pants and shirt and slid into bed. "I have the same shirt at home."

"No, you don't—" Laura climbed in, nestling into him once more. "—because this one's yours."

He breathed out a laugh as he rested his head on hers. He held her close, humming softly until she finally fell asleep in his arms.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate your support. Likes, reblogs, and comments are always amazing and make my day!

I hope you enjoyed this story. (Don't worry, Laura and Levi will still get their 30 diamond scene... that night just didn't feel appropriate for it).

Tags in a reblog, please let me know if you want to be added or removed!

#levi schuler #levi schuler x mc #levi schuler + daughter #mother of the year #moty #fan fiction #levi x laura #levi + lily #laura + lily #moty book club #levi choices #playchoices #choices #tara day #zoey day

86 notes · View notes

owlish-owlhouse · 3 years

Note

are the requests open? if so, you can do an Eda x reader x lilith, where she has a "discussion" for the reader's attention?

(Takes place in Season One. I misread this ask so I apologize :") )

"Hoot hoot you have a visitor!" Eda paused and looked up from what she was doing. She was surprised too see her sister at the Owlhouse. Eda was outside looking for something she'd lost earlier (thanks King) when Hooty informed her that her sister was approaching. As Eda shooed Hooty away the demon frowned whining before going off to bother someone else.

Staring at the woods hands glowing as she looked for intruders Eda tilted her head. Lilith was alone which was something very unusual for her. She almost always brought backup, the emperor's guards never got past her defenses but Lilith always tried. Leaning against her staff waiting for her sister to get closer Eda could see she had that look in her silver eyes. Something was up, something serious. She wouldn't be here otherwise.

"... Lilith." Eda greets before going back to her searching. Whatever Lily had to say she could say while Eda continued her task.

"Edalynn I have something to discuss with you." Eda simply hums continuing to look for the thing she lost. She can't even really remember what it was she was looking for but its probabaly something important if she came out here to find in the first place. All she knew was it was somehwere in the bushes, she was almost sure of it. And she'd know it when she saw it.

"We need to discuss (Y/N)." Eda stops her rummaging and stiffens before she turns slowly. This wasn't the first time Lilith and her had this conversation and it probably wouldn't be the last either. Eda doesn't respond and goes back to searching, her usual smirk was now a tight frown. Lilith always had to do this...

"Edalynn what can you give them?" Lilith deamnds trying to get her younger sisters attention. "We've been skirting around this subject for weeks but its time we act like adults. (Y/N)-" Eda signs before getting up and dusting herself off. Turning towards her sister slamming the butt of her staff into the ground so Lilith would stop ranting and focus on her she signs. Owlbert hoots and hops off the staff going on her shoulder and Eda smiles scratching the talisman as it nuzzles her.

"I can give them just as much as you can Lulu." Eda responds matter of factly before she turns to look out at the woods. Eda, Lilith, and you used to run through those woods, you used to have fun together, you used to all be so close. That felt like a lifetime ago now. Owlbert chirps and Eda hums softly before turning to glance at her sister. "We both know they wouldn't want the life you want for them anyways. Whatever grand idea you have for them isn't them. Besides I'm not worried." The witch states with confidence. You were somewhere inbetween Lilith and Eda, you didn't activaley break the law like Eda but if something was wrong and the laws prevented you from helping you didn't follow them to the letter like Lilith did. You always tried to do what was right even if you got hurt or demonized in the process. You were a good person like that.

"Edalynn." Eda holds up a hand to her sister before she begins walking towards her.

"(Y/N)'s always made the right decisions. There's a reason their still at school internshipping under Principal No Fun. They don't want to be in a coven. They dont want to follow the rules. It's why we get along so well." Eda smiles as she says that, shaking her head as she remembers multiple adventures you've both had. That you'd all had once.

You may not be as wild as her but you had your moments and you had a fire in you. It was one of the reasons Eda liked you so much. You were yourself and she wouldn't let her sister ruin that. You weren't one of Beloses puppets, you weren't just some powerful witch, you were her friend. More so you were family.

"Edalynn! This is serious! If their associated with you they'll become the Emperor's next victim! Don't you understand? You can't protect them! Only I can and only if they side with ME! They'll be safe under my protection but with you-" Lilith huffs as her sister interrupts her not intrested in her sisters long lecture.

"Have you even asked what they want or did you just decide what they wanted like you always do?" Lilith pauses as she stares at her sister. The witch was looking at her nails unintrested in this conversation as she waited for her sister to answer.

"I know what they need." Lilith responds angrily. Eda chuckles at that before staring at Lilith, bright golden eyes meeting clever silver ones.

"But what about what they want?" Lilith stutters and her sister hums in response. "I thought so." Lilith was smart, she was dedicated, she was skilled. But she wasn't good with emotions and she was terrible with reading people. She always made decisions for others thinking she knew best, without really thinking of how her decisions may truly effect them. Lilith was a control freak something that had driven the sisters apart over the years. Eda was proud of her sister, proud she was powerful, proud she had made a name for herself, and proud she was happy. However, she wouldn't let her sister dictate your life. Your decisions werw your own.

"(Y/N) needs me." Lilith finally responds and in a rare moment of loosing composure she begins shaking. Eda turns away feeling her sisters blue fire begin to catch on the grass.

"No you need (Y/N). There's a difference."

The audible hiss of fire going out and the tension in the air made Eda pause. That may have been too far.

"Edalynn." Eda stops as she sees blue shadows against her house and smelled smoke. Lilith was pissed. "When they come running to me for protection because everyone on the island is after them because their on a wanted poster. When they loose their job with Principle Bump and all their friends for being a convicted criminal. When they are at my feet crying I'll make sure to remember you said that." There was a caw sound and suddenly Eda was alone hands grasping around the object she'd been looking for.

It was a golden friendship bracelet, one you, Eda, and Lilith had saved up for and bought together when you were kids. Holding it close Eda chuckles closing her eyes as she clutches the precious metal bird. You were the only one that still had yours. Eda lost hers long ago and Liliths was destroyed.

King had found your braclet on the sink after you left the bathroom and had tried to bury it because it was shiny. Eda was looking for Kings outside hoarde pile and hopefully your lost bracelet but than she'd gotten distracted by Luz, and than Hooty, and finally her sister just now. She almost forgot what she was looking for but she remembered when she saw it.

Smiling and taking a deep breath as she holds it over her heart she looks at where Lilith had been. The scorched grass the only sign her sister had visited.

What Lilith said... what she threatened... Eda would never happen to you. She was good enough for you. She was more than enough just like Lilith was more than enough if you picked her instead.

"Game on Lilith. Game on." She mumbles realizing both sisters had fallen for the same witch.

114 notes · View notes

toh-writings · 3 years

Text

Fortunes of Love Pt 6 (Eda x OC)

Summary: Niliana goes through a rather tiring day, just wishing she had more time to sleep.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6

The market was bustling with life that day. Niliana just had to be there on the busiest day of the week at the busiest time, didn’t she? As she struggled to push her way through the throng she wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to just skip the nap and go earlier in the day even if it would have left her exhausted. Whatever, she couldn’t do anything about that now.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she finally reached her tent, the din of the crowd muffled ever so slightly by the heavy fabric of the tent walls. With a snap of her fingers, the dark was lit by the clusters of various candles scattered about. She was thankful to find that nothing had been moved or taken while she was gone. Usually, she would put up some sort of ward to keep potential thieves and troublemakers away but she hadn’t gotten the chance to do so yesterday after running into King.

It had been a very long time since she had taken the tent down. She couldn’t even remember the last time that happened. This tent had been her home for so many years now, there really had been no need, but today would be different. She really couldn’t leave it up if she wasn’t going to be around for a couple of days.

It really only took a few minutes to pack everything up, items flying about. The tent folded in on itself, blanketing everything else until it formed a single pack. Then, with a circle of light, it vanished. All that was left was her small stall, but she could leave that behind. It wasn’t exactly that important.

Unfortunately, now that the tent was gone she was surrounded on all sides by the crowd once again. She noticed that there was a small group of witchlings nearby that stared up at her in wonder. Clearly they had watched her put her tent away, amazed by the show of magic they were incapable of doing themselves. Nily gave them a shy little wave and a few of them waved back before the whole group ran off, talking and giggling amongst themselves.

She made her way to the library, avoiding as much of the crowd as possible. The library itself wasn’t nearly as busy, the silence deafening after the noise from outside.

It took her longer than she would have liked to go over the beast taming section, glancing through the different book titles. There were a few books that sounded promising. She picked those ups and gleaned through the chapter titles, but nothing seemed to quite fit Eda’s situation. After some time she decided it may be best to look in a different section. Eda was cursed, right? Then maybe she needed a book on curses instead.

By the time she finally left the library, sadly empty-handed, the sun was getting dangerously close to the horizon. She felt a bit of panic rise in her chest. Eda would be waking up soon if she hadn’t already. She took a deep breath. She was sure it would be fine. Hooty knew not to let him out and she had to trust King was smart enough not to get himself killed. Still, she rushed back as quickly as she could.

Luckily, when she got back the house hadn’t been torn apart or something.

“Hey Nily!” Hooty croaked in his annoying voice as the witch approached the front door.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep!”

Nily had opened the door before he had even answered but froze in the doorway.

The living room was empty.

She took another deep breath, shoving the panic down once more. Hooty said everything was, so she must be in the house. She just wasn’t in the living room. And she couldn’t be chasing King around or something because there was no screaming or the sound of running footsteps.

She left her staff by the door, the wooden snake curled on top suddenly springing to life and slithering up her arm to rest on her shoulders. She smiled at him, giving him a little scratch under his chin before going to search the house.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long. Eda was just such a large creature there weren’t too many places to hide. She ended up finding her in what she assumed was her room. The pair of double doors were already open, revealing the decently large room beyond filled with various shelves and boxes of stuff and a large nest against the left wall, complete with sticks and some shiny things. That’s where Eda was, laying in her nest, pitch-black eyes staring at her the moment she appeared in the doorway. A low growl filled the room, making the witch freeze in place.

The growling quickly turned into chirps of delight. She bounded out of her nest to meet the witch. She smiled, chuckling at her.

“Hey hun, what’re you up to?”

The beast cooed back. Apparently not much.

“Do you know where King is?”

Eda just blinked back at her.

“He’s probably napping somewhere, isn’t he? So much for keeping an eye on you, huh?”

She chuckled to herself and went downstairs, Eda following close behind.

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

When Luz got home she didn’t burst through the door like she usually did. She was a bit more subdued. Of course, that didn’t stop her from shouting an “I’m home!” and smiling at the wonderful smells that were coming from the kitchen. She smiled a little wider when she got to the kitchen and saw everyone together. Nilly was cooking, of course, while King looked like he was trying to play with a very uninterested looking Eda at the table. She looked at the girl as she walked in, making a cute little cooing sound.

“Welcome back, hun! Did you have a good day with your friends?”

“Yeah, it was pretty good.” Luz shrugged her shoulders, sitting at the table.

King whipped his head around, narrowing his eyes at the girl critically. Luz started to sweat a bit under his gaze.

“Are you sure about that?” He asked, leaning a little closer. Luz tried not to look right at him.

“Whaaat? Yeah, of course! Why would I lie?”

Clearly, no one believed her. Even Nily was giving her a side glance that said she knew something was off. At least she didn’t bother the girl about it, unlike King.

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

“Something happened.”

“Nothing happened!”

“Something had to have happened! I know these things.”

“Clearly you don’t.”

“Yes I do! I know everything.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I do!”

“Then you tell me what happened.”

“So something DID happen!”

Luz groaned in frustration, sinking into her seat and stubbornly crossing her arms, refusing to say anything else. King looked triumphant, proudly resting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest like he just won some great battle. Nily shook her head.

“King, leave her be. If she wants to talk about she’ll talk about it. Pestering her isn’t going to help anything.”

King deflated slightly at her words, sitting back down.

“Sorry, Luz.”

She smiled at him.

“It’s okay, King. I just don’t want to talk about it.”

For a moment they just sat in awkward silence. Luz desperately looked around for something to talk about to break the quiet.

“Hey, why is Eda wearing a collar?”

That seemed to do it well enough. King blinked at Luz, then looked really hard at Eda who blinks back owlishly. It was very difficult to make out, blended almost perfectly with the feathers on her neck, but sure enough, there was a collar there. It just looked like she had some gray leather around her neck.

“It glows in the dark.” Niliana said, not even bothering to look up from her work. She was already getting the plates ready. “So I can keep an eye on her when she goes outside at night.”

“What!” Luz shouted, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands on the table, making Eda and King jump. “You’re playing with her outside? I want to do that!”

Niliana hummed, thinking it over. Of course Luz would want to spend more time with Eda, especially outside where there was more room. But going out at night did not seem like the best idea, especially for the teenager who was still growing and needed her sleep. Maybe if they went out earlier in the day.

“Not today.” She finally said, placing the plates on the table. “It’s a bit too late and I don’t want you outside when it’s dark. We can try tomorrow before dinner.”

Luz huffed but sat down. “Fine.” Of course, the frown didn’t stay on her face long. “I can’t wait! We’re going to have so much fun!”

“Hey! I want to come too!” King shouted, apparently feeling left out. “I can make her my minion of evil!”

Eda was staring at them intently and Nily noticed. Well, she wasn’t staring at the people at the table. It was more like she was staring at their plates, grumbling to herself and drooling. So, she made another plate and put it on the floor for her, too. There wouldn’t be any leftovers today, but no one really cared, especially when King and Luz just laughed and giggled at how happy it made the owl beast.

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

This night was darker than yesterday. Niliana could only just make out the branches of the trees above her and the trunks surrounding her. She had to walk slowly to make sure she didn’t run into anything. Far ahead of her, in the branches, she could make out the glow of something teal, Eda moving around and jumping about, doing whatever.

It was only the second night, but Nily was already slowing down. She was still tired from last night and not getting nearly enough sleep throughout the day to make up for it. Still, she trudged on, keeping Eda within sight the best she could.

And that worked for a while. But then, well into the night when the moon was on its way down, she lost sight of her. It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, she could make out the glow of her color bopping about ahead of her. The next, it was gone. Niliana didn’t freak out like she thought she would. She was far too tired for that. Instead, she just sighed and mounted her broom, flying above the tree canopy.

It was much brighter up here, the moon and stars lighting everything up and giving them a silver glow. But Nily didn’t really have time to admire it, she had a cursed beast to find.

She didn’t see anything above the trees, so it was unlikely she had flown away. She flew down, hovering over the canopy and gazing through the branches, searching for any sign of movement or the glow of the collar.

She had only been at it for a short while, likely less than a minute, when she heard the branches nearby start to rustle. Suddenly, a giant mass burst out. She just managed to swerve out of the way and avoid getting knocked off her staff. Well, that was one way to wake her up.

“Eda, what was that for?” she shouted, but there was no anger in her voice.

The owl beast was flying next to her. Well, flying circles around her, really, each beat of her wings nearly grazing the witch's shoulders. The beast trilled at her, a smile clear on her face.

They flew together for a while, Niliana just following Eda around. She had more than enough time now to admire her surroundings. Sure, she flew around quite a bit, often very high, but it had been a very long time since she got to do it a night. The stars were so clear and bright.

The horizon was just turning gray, dawn fast approaching, when Eda decided she wanted to go home. She walked through the woods slowly, clearly very tired. Not that Niliana was complaining. She didn’t exactly have the most energy either. So, they walked, the morning air crisp, the birds just beginning to sing. It was nice.

When they got back to the house, ignoring Hooty’s good mornings, Nily immediately collapsed onto the couch, face down in the cushions. It was not a very comfortable couch, but she was just so tired it felt like the softest couch on the Isles. Eda settled next to the couch, staring intently at the witch until she moved again. She just grabbed the blanket and dragged it over her shoulders, mumbling a good night to the owl beast before promptly falling asleep.

Eda watched her a moment longer before giving an enormous yawn and curling up as close to the couch as she could. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep, either.

When Luz and King came down later in the morning, they decided they wouldn’t bother Nily today. They let her sleep as long as she needed.

#the owl house #toh #the owl house eda #toh eda #edalyn clawthorne #eda x oc #eda x reader #edalyn clawthorne x oc #edalyn clawthorne x reader #reader insert #the owl house reader insert #toh edalyn clawthorne #the owl house edalyn clawthorne

42 notes · View notes

ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

Text

What I Thought About "Hunting Palismans" From The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Today, I present to you reason #4,693 for why The Owl House is the best thing at the moment: It's the perfect balance of serialized storytelling with an episodic format. The story always moves forward with an exact order for how episodes should be watched, but each episode still functions as its own standalone tale. Having prior knowledge of what happened before adds more to the experience, but you can still watch whatever you want and still have an enjoyable time. Take "Hunting Palismans," for example. It adds so much more to the overarching narrative while slightly continuing other threads. But it's still something you can watch as is without remembering the past or wondering about the future.

However, to properly explain how requires spoilers. I wasn't kidding when I say that this episode adds so much, so you're going to want to be wary of that when you continue reading.

With that said, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Coven Heads Meeting: We already saw these fellow schmucks in the trailer, but that doesn't take away how cool they are! It's not explicitly stated which head belongs to which coven, but you can already tell who goes where just from their designs alone. And I love that. I love that just by showing us some excellent character designs, anybody with half a brain can already figure out the particular type of magic each Coven Head specializes in. It's a perfect example of the show-don't-tell level of storytelling that is always at its best through animation, and I'm all for it because of it.

What the Day of Unity is: Several fans, myself included, have already speculated that the Day of Unity was that Emperor Belos planned to combine the human world with the Boiling Isles and rule it all with an iron fist. That being said, figuring it out is one thing, but being told that it's true is a whole different level pants-s**ting horror that I AM NOT READY FOR! Even when it's going to happen, I can assure you that I will not be prepared to witness it ...and I am scared of when it does.

Belos Body Horror: ...Disney, I was already scared s**tless of this guy. I DO NOT NEED THIS!

That being said, seeing Belos do...whatever the f**k that was, helps explain further why he needs the magic in palismans. I always assumed because it's like fuel for a car, giving him the power he needs. Now, even though the answer is more apparent, there are still some questions to be had. Is he cursed, and the magic keeps it at bay like Eda's potions? Or did he experiment with the wrong type of magic, and the palismans keep him stable? Only the future can say for sure...and I'm also not prepared for the answers from that either.

Golden Guard is Belos’ Nephew: Gosh dangit, THE INTRO HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET, AND THIS EPISODE IS ALREADY GIVING SO MUCH!

But, yeah, the most powerful witch on the Isles is apparently Golden Boy's Grunkle Belos. That very knowledge is incredibly interesting to discuss while presenting possibilities for future narratives. I don't know about you, but I see the Golden Guard going down the path of Zuko, learning that the magic of friendship is worth much more than whatever power he gains from being Belos' nephew. And possibly earning his uncle's love seeing how he's the only family he has. It's a situation that's vastly different from Amity's because even when she defies her parents, she'll still have Edric and Emira at the end of the day. For Golden Guard, knowing that he lost a great family to wild magic, the inclination to go against Belos is a lot weaker due to him being all he has left.

Oh, and also, Belos' family getting wiped out because of wild magic. Yeah, not only does that give the best type of motivation for Belos' distaste for it, but it also explains the Golden Guard's hesitance to use it. He's inclined to so he can save his uncle, sure. It's only the fact that he knows what happens with wild magic that causes some resistance...Also, we're less than a minute in, and I'm already getting all of this from one discussion between two characters.

HOW IS THIS SHOW SO GOOD?!

Intro Changes: It's about time too. It seems weird that the crew waited to change Eda and King's designs in the intro this late in the game, but it also tells me that Amity dying her hair lavender is the last huge change this season will present. Otherwise, why change the intro at all if you were going to alter Luz, Willow, and Gus' designs anyway? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Luz Keeping the Echo Mouse as a Pet: The fact that she keeps the most important creature in the world to her as a pet...it's...it's adorable, alright? And as we established several times, I cannot hate adorable things.

Don't judge me!

Amity Staying Home: There are two plausible ways why Amity didn't go to school that day. Either she's getting punished for dying her hair or because she's trying to avoid Luz so they won't talk about the you-know-what. Either could work and seem understandable to Luz, thus explaining why she admits how "that makes sense." Although, there is something to discuss in how Luz is curious as to where Amity is. Judging from the tone of her voice, it's pretty clear that she wants to talk about the little peck on the cheek and maybe get some confirmation as to what it means. Because there is no going back from that. You can explain away saying or doing something stupid, but you cannot un-kiss a cheek. That is a point of no return, and if Amity really is avoiding Luz because of it, that means it's up to our favorite weirdo to make the first move. As for what that may entail...we'll just have to wait and see.

Frewin: We get two bits of information here for the price of one reveal here. Knowing that Frewin is a palisman is shocking enough, but the knowledge that Bump is partially blind and needs Frewin to see? That is an intriguing piece of intel that I would have never expected to get revealed. This is reason #5,279 for what makes The Owl House so good. Even when the show presents information you wouldn't guess, it's all so interesting anyways that you can't help but go along with it.

Adopting Palismans: First of all, love the fact that the Bat Queen makes a return to provide a solution to the palisman trees being rare and solving her own problem regarding the discarded palismans. It's a situation where everyone wins in a way that is so clever that I can't help but admire it.

Second, the idea of students choosing to adopt palismans instead is cute. I'd say it gives further insight into who these characters are in how they say what they want to be, but there's nothing really new added that fans couldn't figure out from the get go. But I will say that it's pretty cool to know that these characters have official staffs now. Speaking of which, if you're upset that their palismans don't match up with your headcanons...grow up.

This was a cute and smartly written scene that should not be bogged down by whiney fans who can't accept a series doing something different from what they expect.

Little Rascal: I’d take a bullet for this bird. That is all.

Luz Being Uncertain of her Future: A lot of fans offer several ideas of what the future could look like for Luz. Will she stay in the Boiling Isles? In Connecticut? Or will she go back and forth? We don't know, but one question we rarely brought up is what does Luz want? More specifically, what does she want to do? After everything Luz went through, the adventures she's gone on, and the lessons learned, what is something that Luz wants her future to be? That's an answer she doesn't really figure out, and I'm genuinely ok with that being a question that's tabled for another day. Most kids who ask that question themselves aren't always going to find an answer after a short amount of time and sometimes even need to spend their lives trying to figure it out. So having it be something Luz has to consider and probably find out in a future episode is the smarter option, as it allows time for it to simmer in her own mind and provides more insight into her character. As stated several times in this episode, she doesn't think things through, so it's nice that the writers finally allowed her some time to wonder what's next when the adventure is over.

Luz Having to Improvise Without Paper Glyphs: You want to know what my favorite Spider-Man moments are (this is relevant. Trust me). My favorite moments are when Spidey's web-shooters run out of fluid, and he's forced to improvise with that big brain of his to find a solution. That's sort of what happens with Luz in "Hunting Palismans." She didn't bring her glyphs with her (why would she), so she's forced to use the environment around her to make new ones. Plus, Luz also flexes her knowledge of the Boiling Isles by mixing her glyphs with a magical plant (which Willow certainly told her about) so that she and the Golden Guard could knock out Kikimora's dragon. It's yet another showcase of her intelligence that a lot of fans are too keen to overlook. Unfortunate to see, too, because looking at how well Luz can craft the perfect solutions by fighting smarter, not harder, is a fantastic add-on to her personality. I love characters who win through their wits rather than their raw powers, and I once again hope more people will catch onto that aspect of her too.

Golden Guard Whistling the Theme: Look, I love it when a show acknowledges its own theme song, ok? Leave me alone.

Luz and the Golden Guard: This is one of those dynamics you didn't know you wanted until you have it. And now that I have it, I DEMAND MORE!

Seriously, seeing these two interact off of each other was a ton of fun to watch. When Luz and GG are initially at each other's throats, their threats and mockery towards one another aren't out of spiteful anger between two mortal enemies. It's more like...two siblings who get on each other's nerves yet are supposed to deal with one another. It's equally adorable and hilarious, and yes, I absolutely loved that they're forced to work together in this episode because of it.

Although, while the entertainment value is fantastic, it also adds more proof of why Luz is the best character in the series. She spends one night with this guy, and that's more than what she needed to make a difference with him. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they're buddies now, but Luz definitely sowed the seeds into his redemption. He's far from willing to join her side, but he still does something he rarely does with anyone else: He told her that his name is Hunter. And this is what Luz does. Through nearly every person she meets on the Boiling Isles, she always manages to change them for the better. It'll be a while before Hunter deflects from Belos, but if Amity proves anything, Luz has a way of sneaking into people's hearts. They just need to spend more time with one another, and I can't wait to see what happens next because of it.

Kikimora Wanting to Kill Hunter: This shows a lot about who Kikimora is, but it potentially proves just how dysfunctional the Emperor's Coven can be. If Kiki proves anything, the coven must be filled with people willing to backstab and cheat their way to get on Emperor Belos' good side. Just look at Lilith. She literally cursed her own sister just to get in and received all the rewards because of it. The Emperor's Coven may be the best choice for witches to do magic, but if you're surrounded by people you can't trust, then is it really worth it?

The Guards Not Knowing Who Hunter is: This helps add to how much of a big deal it is for Hunter to reveal his name to Luz. If people can't even recognize his face, there's a chance it means that he keeps his true identity a secret except for those in his inner circle.

And the coven guards brushing off his brand is more than believable to me. They may be aware that Belos' right hand is young, but teens will be teens. Anybody with enough artistic talent can fake a brand. So it isn't too far off for those two to think Hunter was just a kid pulling a prank.

Hunter is Powerless Without his Staff: Not much to say here. It's just some more neat insight into Hunter's character that makes me wonder if even Belos' magic is real magic.

But I will say this: The fact that Hunter comes from a lineage of powerless witches, well, who's to say that isn't because of a...certain ancestor?

(*Cough* Hunter is related to Philip *Cough*)

Hunter vs Kiki: A pretty well-animated fight scene that adds potential drama to the story for the future. Now that Kikimora knows that Hunter helped Luz escape with the palismans (albeit unwillingly), she may or may not hold that over his head when the time comes. Or, at the very least, decides to keep a closer eye on him whenever he makes a slip-up.

Eda and King Getting Luz her own Palisman Wood: These last two weeks have been severely lacking in the Eda and King department, but scenes like this more than make up for it. Those two have formed such a bond with Luz to the point where they would do the impossible if it meant she would feel better. It proves just how much of a family they all are and the lengths they would go for each other. After all, weirdos have to stick together.

Little Rascal going to Hunter: Hunter is right. That was surprising.

Given how much Little Rascal stuck by Luz, I was more than positive that she would be the one he chose. So seeing Little Rascal pick Hunter instead is a much nicer twist. There could be multiple reasons why, and I'm just going to leave that to the analyzers in this fandom to decide. Especially since the answer isn't really all that important.

So, instead, I'm going to go ahead and sit in the corner as I wOrRy AbOuT tHe DaY tHaT bElOs FiNdS lItTlE rAsCal!

IT'S GONNA HAPPEN! AND I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY, IF THE WRITERS KILL HIM, I WILL NOT BE HAPPY!

WHAT I DISLIKED

First, there's...um...

Well, there was this...

Ok, as much as I liked--No, that turned out well anyways...

…

...

...I've got nothing.

I, honest to goodness, have no complaints about "Hunting Palismans" Not even the tiniest of nitpicks I would usually ignore due to how well-executed everything else was.

It's all written fantastically to the point where it's...perfect.

IN CONCLUSION

"Hunting Palismans" is an easy A+. It introduces even more plot threads, gives insight into characters, and despite being essential to the story, it still manages to be a fun episode all on its own. And, I'd go so far as to say that it's one of the best, if not the best, episodes in the series. There's nothing bad about it, and that surprises me. I rarely find nothing bad to say about any story, even the ones I enjoy greatly. I'm sure there are some flaws that others would be more than happy to point out, but why bother hunting for the imperfections when I could accept that, for once, an episode is simply perfect.

(And that’s six hits in a row...THAT STINKER IS GOING TO HAPPEN! It hasn’t happened yet, BUT IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN! I CAN FEEL IT!)

#the owl house #the owl house season 2 #the owl house reviews #luz noceda #the golden guard #hunter the owl house #emperor belos #what i thought about

66 notes · View notes

novelist-becca · 3 years

Text

Won’t you let me in?

Fandom: The Owl House

Relationships: Eda & Luz

Summary: After the events of Separate Tides, Eda and Luz have a talk. Title is from the song “Strange Sight” by KT Tunstall.

AO3

What a day this is turning out to be, Eda thought as the so-called “Golden Guard” approached her and Luz.

The witch had originally planned to take the money back to the house after checking in on the Selkidomus.

But then she got caught, and it turned out Luz was on the ship instead of safe at home. (She had expected Luz to follow the cart home after they started driving back to the house) The kid had apparently wanted in on the bounty hunt, once again not knowing what she was getting into. Forget the money that was forgotten in the boiling sea, Luz was more important! Eda had of course questioned her.

“Now why were YOU on that ship to begin with? You could've gotten killed!”

And then the Golden Chump showed up, and here they are.

“Hello, criminals!” He said. “What's about to happen should be relatively painless. If you just do what I say.”

“And why would we do that?” Luz retorted.

“Because none of you can use real magic.” He said, pointing a finger at the both of them.

Eda narrowed her eyes and pointed back. “You don't know that.” Sure, glyph magic was different, but she won't stand the talk of it not being “real”. They haven't seen Luz in action.

The Golden Guard shrugged. “Maybe not. But I do know you're standing on a plant that eats flesh.”

On cue, Eda and Luz looked down to see that they were indeed, standing on a flesh eating plant. And just in time, both of them could already feel the thing burning through their shoes. They yelped and lept to the side as the guard just watched.

Ugh, stupid Golden Guard…, Eda thought.

“Ahahaha! Okay.” He chortled. “The human will remain a sailor to repay all the money she lost.”

Eda tensed up at that idea. As if she'd allow Luz to become a pawn for the stupid emperor, just for some stupid money!

Luz needs to be safe at home…

“While the Owl Lady will be arrested, again! For attacking one of the emperor's ships.”

Luz looked at Eda, surprised. “Emperor’s ship?” She repeated.

“They're the only ones worth robbing.” Eda replied. At least the kid didn't know. She thought. She supposed Luz wouldn't have gone if she knew this was a setup from Belos. She turned back to the guard.

“Why are you guys hunting the Selkidomus? It's a peaceful creature and you're provoking it!” Eda demanded.

“The emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders.” The guard said nonchalantly.

Losing her cool, Eda glared at him. “Well I'm just gonna smack you around a bit!” She shouted, snapping her arm off. Unfortunately, the Golden Guard was too quick for her, dodging her to the point where she tripped.

“Leave Eda alone!” Eda heard Luz shout. Then the kid was tossed aside next to her.

Apparently, the dingus wasn't finished with them quite yet, because he then threatened to dip them into the Boiling Sea, ouch, but then he changed his mind.

“I don't have to be that mean.” He said snarkily.

Titan I hate this guy already…

“No one will have to be a sailor or get arrested. If one of you follows those Selkidomus tracks and slays the beast.” He ordered. “Here! I'll help!” Then the guard materialized a sword into the air, dropping it in front of them.

What is it with the coven and slaying innocent creatures?!

Luz looked at the sword, and back up to the guard, pleading with her eyes.

The guard rubbed his mask. “Ugh, you're making this difficult. Go, or I drown the bird.” He said, revealing King behind the cage he had. Thankfully, the demon appeared unharmed.

Eda looked at Luz, seeing her conflicted face. If she had Owlbert with her right now, she would've grabbed her kid and tried to make a break for it, as if the ordeal never happened.

But of course it wasn't that simple.

Luz sighed. “Fine.” And to Eda’s alarm, she picked up the sword. “I'll do it.” She said in a low voice.

Eda reached out an arm as Luz headed towards the cave.

“Luz, wait!” She pleaded. There had to be a way out of this other than killing! “Luz!”

On the way to the area where the Selkidomus was, Eda was trying to disuade Luz from doing what she was about to do.

“Luz, don't hurt the Selkidomus. We can find another way out of this.” She said.

But Luz kept walking. “You heard what he said, Eda. If you and King want to be free…” Luz stopped in front of a ditch and jumped onto a shipwreck. “Then I have to do this alone.”

The witch found it hard to ignore that Luz excluded herself from the “being free” deal, and her heart started pounding at the sight of Luz being above a ditch again. She didn't like where this was going at all.

“What's this ‘alone’ business? Don't you remember?” Eda tried reminding her. “Us weirdos have to-”

“What? Stick together?” Luz snapped. She looked at Eda, forlorn, almost startling her with the sadness in her face. “Because you stuck with me you lost your magic! You almost got turned to stone, and now you can't even afford your apple blood because you're worried about what I need to eat!” She rambled, looking down sadly.

Eda stared at Luz, her heart breaking for the girl. She knew Luz was going through some things, but she didn't think it was this bad. Only a week and a half of them being together again, and Luz still blames herself. She should've paid more attention in the last week. Eda tried to find the words to tell Luz that no, this isn't your fault, you can come down from there and we can find a different way to go back home together.

But before Eda could come up with an answer, the Selkidomus below growled, meaning it was awake. Luz kept her balance on the beam, then looked away from Eda.

“It's my fault all this happened, that's why I've got to do this alone.” She looked back at Eda, smiling. “I'll make it all up to you, Eda the Owl Lady. I promise.”

Then, to Eda’s horror, Luz let herself fall off the beam and down the ditch. She couldn't help reaching her hands out, as if she could actually catch her. Her heart dropped to her stomach and she couldn't help crying out Luz’s name.

No, no, NO-

Suddenly, Eda was reminded of that day on the bridge. Her sister tossing Luz aside like a ragdoll, into the ditch, that terrified little girl screaming as she fell, onto the spikes-

“LUZ!”

Eda shook herself out of her stupor, reminding herself of what to do.

Thinking quickly, Eda grabbed a nearby vibe and lept down the ditch to find her kid.

She just got her back, and she'll be damned if she lost her again.

Soon enough, the witch found a safe ledge to stand on and Eda spotted the kid on the ground, preparing to throw herself at the Selkidomus, which was already defending itself. Eda spotted a nearby branch, thick and strong enough to use. She tugged on it, preparing to swing.

Just as Luz had catapaulted herself in the air with her ice glyph, Eda swung in just in time. She wrapped an arm around Luz, holding her as tight and as close as possible under one arm so she wouldn't be dropped.

I gotcha, kiddo!

Thankfully they were able to avoid the creature’s jaws and landed safely in a bush.

As soon as they landed, Luz had tumbled out of Eda’s arms and clumsily sat back up. Eda recovered as well, turning back to the kid.

Eda pointed a finger at Luz, and she stared back with wide eyes, startled.

“You think throwing your life away is gonna help me? Well it won't.” Eda said firmly. She needed Luz to hear this. Luz deserved to hear this.

“You helped me find King’s crown when you barely knew me, you saved me from turning to stone,” Eda averted her eyes from the kid, starting to feel emotional. “And you even got me talking to my sister again.” She looked back up, seeing that Luz was still listening.

“So…unfortunately for you…my life is pretty great because I'm friends with Luz the Human.” Eda finished, her voice wavering.

That seemed to be exactly what Luz needed, because now she was looking at her with glistening eyes and a trembling lip.

Eda blinked her eyes hard to keep the tears at bay, and her face got serious again.

Focus, Eda, we need to get out of here.

“Now,” She snapped out of it and grabbed Luz’s face, startling her. “Your guilt-ridden brain is clouding your judgement.” She said, poking Luz’s forehead. “There’s gotta be a way out of this where no one has to get hurt.” Eda let go of the kid’s cheeks and looked around the cave.

Just then, a small noise made them turn around. A baby Selkidomus had approached them. Luz looked at it for a moment, putting the pieces together in her head, then turned back to Eda.

“Eda,” the witch looked at Luz, willing to hear any plan she had right now.

“Do you wanna learn your first glyph?” She asked with a determined smile, holding up one of her light glyphs.

Not for the first time, Eda marvels at just how bright her kid is.

Later, Luz and Eda had managed to create a fake Selkidomus out of plant glyphs and made it work by using the light glyphs to fool the Golden Guard into thinking they were fighting the real thing.

The power of theatrics and a bright young mind.

Moments later, Eda had gotten up and used whatever paper was left to draw more light glyphs on the ground.

She still remembers the first time Luz casted these glyphs. They were so beautiful, and Eda always found them comforting. And now she gets to draw them herself. It only took a week for her to finally try it, but it was worth it.

It wasn’t long before Luz returned with King safely out of the cage. When she approached, Eda took a ball of light in her hands and glanced up at Luz.

“My first glyph! Did I do good?” If she was being completely honest, Eda felt like a giddy little kid again, learning new magic and sharing it with the people she loved. It felt wonderful.

Luz observed her with a bright smile. “Yeah! You did great!”

The baby Selkidomus returned, quickly worming its way toward Luz, nuzzling her, which delighted the kid as she was hugging back.

“Baby, awwwww!” She cooed, and a part of Eda was relieved to see the Luz she knew begin to return.

“Wait- what is that?!” King asked, alarmed.

“Don’t worry, King, once the mother saw we weren’t a threat to her baby she calmed down.” Eda reassured, patting the baby gently. Then she turned to the mother behind them. “This area is dangerous,” she explained. “You need to move further out, into the sea.”

Understanding Eda’s warning, the creature nodded. Then something strange happened. It started...gagging. Until it puked up a pile of some gold goop, which Eda recognized to be Selkie Gris.

Mother of Titan, they hit the jackpot!

Luz stared at it with disgust for a few seconds before Eda excitedly pulled her close in a side hug.

“Hot dang! It gave you the treasure of the sea!” Eda said in excitement, holding her kid with one arm and holding the other arm out to present their prize.

“Gold? ...Tuna?” Luz said in confusion.

“It’s Selkie Gris!” Eda let Luz go and scooped some of the stuff into her hands. “People pay big money for it at the night market!” Seeing Luz’s still confused face, she got an idea. The witch smushed it in her hands and took the opportunity to rub it on the kid’s face. “Ahh, feeelll the money, Luz! Luxuriate it!” She teased.

“No, no, Eda! Ahh!” As expected, Luz protested and squirmed against the touch, but she was starting to laugh, which is what Eda wanted.

Eda smirked, taking hold of the kid’s hands as she tried and failed to get away. “What? Don’t like to luxuriate? There’s a whole pile of luxury right here!” Then she grabbed Luz’s arms and swiftly tossed her into the pile, earning a yelp from the girl. “Move over!” Eda said, following suit and landing face down.

“Edaa!” Luz protested, but she broke out into laughter with Eda. It filled the witch with much joy to see Luz laughing and smiling again. She deserved it after the rough day they just had.

With that being said, after a minute, Eda got up and decided it was finally time to head home. Maintaining her balance, she reached her hands out to Luz and hoisted her up, keeping a tight grip on her so she wouldn’t fall.

Thankfully, the Golden Guard didn’t obliterate her boat, so they had a way back home. Eda used an extra sack she had to bag the Selkie gris so they could take it home. It was significantly lighter than the snails. They would have to make a trip the night market to trade it off soon. Something had finally gone right today!

“You ready to go home?” Eda asked, turning to Luz, who was settled behind her with King on her shoulder.

“Aye-aye, captain!” Luz said, saluting.

That’s the Luz I know and love, Eda thought. “Alrighty then, brace yourself!” and she, King and Luz started their way back home.

It was seven in the evening, and the trio had made it home. After Lilith had presented her scrying potion, Eda had gone off to order their takeout, leaving Luz alone with her thoughts in the hallway.

...Something Luz really didn’t like doing.

A lot had happened all in one night, from her and Eda getting ambushed by the Golden Guard, to her being forced to go slay the Selkidomus (knowing she was about to take away a baby’s mother back there made it worse to think about), to Eda talking her out of it.

In all honesty, Luz felt like she needed to hear those words. Eda was right. She had done so much to help her, and she did seem happier whenever Luz was around. Maybe she wasn’t a burden after all…

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the witch in question came back around the corner.

“Well, I’m tired. How about you, kid?” She said, yawning.

“Hungry.” Luz said simply.

“Don’t worry, food should be here in about a half hour.” Eda replied, ruffling Luz’s hair. Then she noticed a familiar look on her face. “You okay, kid?”

Luz shook herself out of her thoughts. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Eda put a hand on her shoulder. “I know that look. You’re deep in thought.” Luz looked down at the floor. “Do you wanna talk about it? You know you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” The witch knew it would only make it worse for the girl to keep things inside. And after what happened in the cave, she wanted to know how it got this bad.

Luz supposes it wouldn’t hurt. She trusted Eda. “Okay…” she gave a small nod.

Eda slung an arm around her shoulders. ‘’C’mon, walk with me.” and the two walked slowly down the hallway.

“A lot just happened tonight.”

“That’s for sure.” Eda agreed. “I- you really scared me back there, you know?” she said, hand tightening on Luz’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Luz answered. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Eda. She supposes she doesn’t always consider that endangering herself contributes to that. “I just...wanted to make things right.”

They stopped walking as Eda turned to her. “You don’t owe me anything, Luz. You know that, right?” She said, meeting the girl’s eyes.

“But-”

“No buts. I promise I’m not angry, kiddo, I just hate seeing you like this.” She sighs. “I wish you would’ve told me before things got this far.” Noticing Luz starting to sag, she guides them to sit against the wall so they can talk more comfortably.

“I promise I’m not angry.” Eda repeats softly. “You're just a kid, you really shouldn't have to carry shit like this…”

Luz takes a breath and continues to speak. “I hated seeing you and Lilith have such a hard time with money. And most of the money that we did have was spent on me. I-I thought that if I got a big enough bounty, you wouldn’t have to worry so much about me anymore, and I wouldn’t be such a burden to you.” Luz could feel tears starting to build up. “But I guess I messed that up.”

“Hey.” Eda said, tilting Luz’s wobbling chin up. “Listen to me. Don’t you think like that.” She moved the hand to Luz’s shoulder. “You were never a burden, okay?”

Luz looked at her with teary eyes. “Really?”

“Really. A burden is an unwanted responsibility. But you?” Eda used her thumb to gently wipe away some of Luz’s tears. “I’ll never get tired of you. You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. I want to take care of you. You mean so much to me.”

At this point, Luz is smiling wide with a few stray tears rolling down her face. “Do you really mean that?”

Eda nodded, cupping her cheek. “Of course I do. I told you a week ago that I don’t regret anything. You’re a wonderful kid, Luz. Anyone that calls you otherwise is stupid.” Luz giggles at that. “I’ll pummel anyone that says otherwise.”

Luz hesitantly moves in for a hug, and Eda draws her in easily. “You promise?”

Eda nods, pulling Luz closer. “I promise. It’s okay.” She begins to stroke Luz’s hair a little bit. Then another thought intrudes her mind. Her grip tightens around her kid once more.

“You really scared me when you jumped down there…” Eda spoke. “I thought I was gonna lose you again.” The memory of Luz falling towards those spikes is never going away anytime soon. The witch felt like her nightmares were coming true. No way in hell does she ever want to go through that again.

Luz nuzzles closer. “I know… I promise I’ll be more careful.” She isn’t sure it’s a promise she can keep, but she’s willing to try. A part of Luz notices that Eda’s becoming more and more casual with touch, but chooses to ignore it.

“Good.” Eda pulled away from the embrace, still holding Luz by her shoulders. “Remember that, okay? I don’t want you talking to yourself like this.” She said, tapping the kid’s head.

“I will.” Before they got up, Luz moved in for one more hug. “I love you, Eda.” Not for the first time, Luz was grateful that Eda made no small effort to just be there for her. She underestimated her.

Eda hugged her back. “I love you too, Luz.”

Then, a knock at the door, and a screech from Hooty.

“Looks like the food’s here! You still hungry, kiddo?”

“Oh my god, yes.” Luz groaned.

Eda laughed, stood up, and offered a hand to help Luz up. Unfortunately, the girl stood up too quickly, causing her to stumble a bit.

“Ahhh, head rush, head rush!” Luz murmured. She held onto Eda’s hand.

“You good?” Eda asked with a laugh.

“Yup, yup, I’m good. Just stood up too fast.”

“Wanna race to the kitchen?” Eda offered. “I’ll give you a head start.”

Luz chuckled. “You’re on!”

Yeah, Eda thought, looking fondly at her kid. I still don’t regret anything.

And Luz looked at Eda, seeing her heterochromatic eyes. True, the witch might've lost all her powers, but she didn't lose her love.

61 notes · View notes

mdhwrites · 11 months

Note

First off I want to say that your TOH criticals are a good read. It puts my grievances with the show in words I can only ever feel and brings a bit of closure in the "whys" of those grievances. That being said I haven't gone through all of them, so feel free to direct me if you've already made comments about my upcoming ask elsewhere.

Regarding Elsewhere and Elsewhen, what do you think of the show using time-travel as a plot device only once and not returning to it? The way they used it, Luz might-or-might-not be a catalyst for what wounded up happening and we might-or-might-not be watching a show that's been on an alternate timeline. I would think that's a pretty big deal but the show just moves on from it; Luz might as well have given Belos that glyph in the present since time-travel is never dwelled on again.

I think it would have helped make a more solid finale if they used time-travel again because of the possibilities, where ALL the characters could benefit from it, instead of whatever the intention of 3 characters babysitting The Collector was.

So first, thank you for the kind words! Secondly... No. Just no. Time travel is REALLY tricky to use in a narratively fulfilling way. This is because you run the risk of creating a paradox or having it not matter OR BOTH like TOH since the literal only real change from Luz entering feels to be the saving of the journal. The Collector otherwise was about to teach him other magic, we never get an instance where him learning the light glyph is important and he literally already killed one person doing this scheme of his: He would have found another. Literally the only thing that really changes is the EXACT when of the Collector and Belos meeting, which hardly matters with how much time Belos had, and the journal which... only brought about Luz and changes literally nothing else if lost so... Yeah, even if it's a stable timeloop, it's a really dumb one that still has the paradox of Luz needing to show up to save the journal.

And if this feels overly critical... Blame the trope. Time Travel plots usually are ALL about the consequences. Going back in time inherently begs that question for the audience. There's a reason why a lot of time travel stories end with the lesson of DON'T FUCK WITH THE TIMELINE and restore all to status quote with the main character having not changed anything. Or it introduces multiple timelines like Dragonball Z to allow a series to eat its cake and have it too.

So what is my advice for time travel plots?... Lean into the fun of it. See, a lot of my issues with the specifics of the time travel element of Elsewhere Elsewhen are nitpicks. The larger issue for the episode is that it's just the WORST version of Lilith, Lilith and Luz are at their absolute dumbest, arguably at least as dumb for Luz as she was in the SECOND EPISODE. And this is the second episode of the second half of the second season. I think it's reasonable to ask for a little better from Luz at this point.

But the time travel itself is mostly just... There. They don't do ANYTHING with it in the episode, between like two good jokes that are mostly just portal jokes frankly more than time travel episodes except for a little tweak in flavor. The Isles we're shown is incredibly boring. What they do there is boring. Philip is EXCESSIVELY boring... So what am I supposed to focus on?

So I focus on the mechanics of the plot. And how stupid they are. And how literally they seem to reclassify how the portals work 3+ times because they could stick their heads in and out but that doesn't constitute it moving because now it would inherently be in the same place twice, they found the portals because they were in the sand but now if that sand gets moved by the tide, it'll make the portal disappear? Couldn't they just wait until morning? Or is there a timer on them? How do they know when the portals first showed up? For that matter, why the fuck does a device that is likely most tracking magical anomalies need Titan's Blood to detect an anomaly as strong as TIME MAGIC which doesn't seem to have been developed yet in the Isles?

And yeah, if that sounds like nitpicks... You're right. But you nitpick when Suspension of Disbelief is broken and the most common way it breaks? Boredom. Sheer fucking boredom. If what is happening on screen that you're supposed to just mentally tank as "Yeah, that sounds fine" even when it might be a bit dumb logically is just boring... Why tank it? Why not question it when in the questioning, you might enjoy yourself more than simply accepting what the show is doing.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the MASTERCLASS at how to fuck up Suspension of Disbelief seven ways to Sunday because everything sucks and nothing you do matters, but at least that was part of the movie's point. With TOH... You don't get anything for watching it. Satisfying reunions of friends? Nah. Amity and Willow never have a satisfying friendship. A grand tale about a human rising up with her found family and her hard won magical powers? Frankly, how much do King and Eda actually do in the finale? Like they're there but swap them with literally anyone else (like how Raine is just randomly right by Luz's side effectively too for this finale) and nothing really changes because their involvement isn't important. Luz's magic isn't earned nor even HERS. Want a satisfying conclusion to Palisman? Nope because Stringbean makes no sense. Want satisfying character arcs? Look elsewhere because we're not going to look into the hardships that come about with those changes, despite both Hunter and Amity having VERY clear reasons why this change would be potentially DANGEROUS for them.

Elsewhere Elsewhen is just of a kind that way. Outside of its first five minutes, and the two minutes with Dell... What are you getting out of this episode? Comic relief Eda which is always the worst comedy in the show and this is the worst of it as Eda is bonked with the stupid stick like Lilith and Luz? Lilith and Luz interacting with a SINGLE person in the past who doesn't even reflect the culture of the Isles back then so he could have been just a homeless person in the present if not for the twist it's Belos? For the lack of puzzle? For the strict anti-climax of the threat because Luz was lucky enough to poke her head into the right portal to give her the solution at the end?

And that episode is one of the most important plot points of the SERIES. It is one of the only plot points that is actually brought back and kept consistent and one of the only, ONLY times something happens and it actually affects Luz, even if it's delayed. This is the episode that revealed that Belos and Philip were the same person. It is critical to the series overall.

And most of it is just a BORING waste of time. While doing TIME TRAVEL. Instead, their priorities in this episode were really lazy 'subtle' storytelling to say the covens are bad and to allude to the twist at the end of its own episode and... Not fucking much else.

And why should that be surprising? We never get a proper idea of what the Isles and its people are like because we don't spend real time with them (besides them just being humans), it's contradicted all the time, etc. like that and that is their MAIN setting and time period. Is it really that surprising that the Isles of the past is just a utopia to these writers? Or that they literally have to ignore the conversations they themselves wrote for fish out of water jokes when the witches go to the human realm?

But these aren't concepts in a professional work you can half ass. You have to actually give a damn about a trip to a new universe or time period for the episode to not reel rote or boring or the like.

And, well, I'd love to see the timeline where the writers really cared about a lot more of TOH than they seemed to have.

#toh critical #the owl house criticism #Time Travel #suspension of disbelief

16 notes · View notes

tedturneriscrazy · 3 years

Text

Another Saturday, another episode! Let's take a look at Keeping Up A-fear-ances!

(Good lord I'm starting to make myself sound like some sort of content creator)

Oh, okay, we're just starting at that level of intensity, huh?

Chest gem origins

Gwendolyn not being satisfied with managing the curse and determined to cure it? I'm sure this won't be a real world allegory in the slightest.

Oh, so Eda literally just stumbles upon the portal? I could call that contrived, but honestly it's not dissimilar to how Dipper found Journal 3. For that matter, the entirety of Lord of the Rings is predicated on an accidental discovery like this and nobody gave Tolkien shit about it.

Was the eye on the portal cracked in previous episodes? I don't remember.

Seems like Gwen is the "well-meaning but ultimately misguided" flavor of mom.

As an aside, I am now quite curious about how Eda's first trip to the human realm went. Maybe a future episode will cover it? At any rate, I smell a new favorite fic prompt.

The screaming alarms in the Demon Realm will never not be funny to me.

Also, that is a worrying number of hearts. Eda is straight up murdering these poor creatures.

For some reason the gold fang being removable never occurred to me as a possibility, and now I feel like a kid who's discovered that Santa isn't real.

Oh hey, the new outfit! I'm also impressed how close to symmetrical that tearing was.

I need to get a screencap of Luz sleeping on that stack of books because she is adorable.

Also, staying up all night researching? This season seems determined to completely eradicate the notion of Luz being dumb, and I am here for it.

I have a feeling the Hexside mug will be making its way to The Mystery Shack in the near future.

Lilith's first experience with transformation and she seems understandably horrified.

The curse acting stronger when stressed? That seems...important.

Ah, so the dismemberment is from the curse! A surprisingly useful side effect from what we've seen so far.

Can I just say that I appreciate how Eda's reaction to Lilith's first taste of transformation is immediate remedy, explanation, and reassurance? And doesn't make any snarky comments along the lines of "now you know what it's like?" Whatever happened in that week and a half must have been cathartic as hell.

"Always. Always curious." Luz is the TOH fandom.

(Also, Eda, you know she is, considering how much she went on about your "mysterious past" at the Covention)

"Magic bird tornado?!" Luz has a way with words that's just *chef's kiss*.

"Gwendolyn." Eda is already just fucking done.

"MOM?!?!" Jeez, Lilith, you're just now hearing all this?

I was charmed by how motherly Gwen was acting toward Eda, but then she kinda just...dismissed Lilith, and now I'm somehwat less charmed.

(Sweet flea as a term of endearment is kinda cute, though might have some unfortunate implications depending on how you want to interpret it)

"Who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" OH WE GOING FOR THE ANTI-VAXXERS NOW YESSSS

Luz and Lilith's reaction to that whole exchange is priceless.

Everyone's perspective here makes perfect sense for who they are and what they've been through.

Poor Lilith. Her cursing Eda is beginning to make more sense.

Ah, thus begins the collaboration.

"We'll be consulting someone very special." Why does that seem so...ominous?

Is there anyone who watched this episode for the first time whose bullshit detector didn't go off immediately when Gwen mentioned finding someone who promised a cure?

Heh, Palm Stings.

Nonbelievers will be blinded by the power of the tome? I'm sure they will be, Wartlop.

I must say, as something of a scientist myself (okay that's not true, I'm a QA tech for a food manufacturer, but I do have a chemistry degree), I am 100% here for the swings being taken at faith healing/"miracle" cures/anti-vaxxers in this episode

Oh, we Wile E. Coyote now, huh?

Also, interesting how much apple blood is being played up in this episode.

Lilith please you're projecting your mommy issues on a literal child

OH WE REALLY JUST WILE E. COYOTE HUH?

You're right, Luz, Gwen's bicep game is goals.

(Somewhat disappointed the scars are from questing and not beastkeeping, but eh)

Why do I get the feeling there's gonna be a future episode where everybody stages an intervention for Eda's apple blood problem?

"Those feathers mean we're driving the beast out" Gwen no

Hooty is holding the brain cell? Oh no...

If that ice cream came from the Night Market it would explain why Lilith sounds drunk.

(Side note: I can't be the only one getting flashbacks to Mermista's ice cream binge, right? Different context, but still)

"Abomi-berry" "Franken fruit" "Key slime pie" These are A+ flavor names.

Oh, there's the transformation...

I must say that whole segment kinda rubbed me the wrong way. The way King's opinion on his dad was changed seemed...I don't know how to describe it. I get that they needed a trigger for Lilith's transformation, but honestly if any part of the episode is contrived it's this.

"¡It really is that good!" So that's what an accent slip in written form looks like. (The upside down exclamation point is used in Spanish, in case anyone didn't know)

I keep half expecting Eda to say "Beep! Beep!" at this point.

Luz is finally asking questions. Took long enough.

Ah, the classic "moving the goal posts to extract more money from a desparate family member" technique.

Luz channeling Scorpion, we love to see it.

There is an exquisite irony in Eda's mom being scammed, I must say.

Ah, so that's where the elixirs went. Dammit, Gwen.

Luz is definitely thinking "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

Beast!Lilith is massive.

"Sweet flea?" Gwen just realized she done goofed.

"I can see you still need a little time." God Luz is so fucking smart.

The con revealed.

OH DAMN SCARY MAMA

(Also I am terrified of bees/wasps, so extra scary mama in my book)

The scam is revealed, goblins, getting back into the Wartlop disguise is kinda pointless.

She joined the Beast Keeping coven entirely to cure the curse? That's dedication. A shame you couldn't have spared some of that for Lilith.

Still, I do like badass scary mama Gwen. I'd be down to see more of that.

Owl Beast fight!

I am slayed by the fact that the portraits are now officially a recurring gag 😂

Aw, here's The Moment™️

"My turn to drive" Does this imply cars are a thing on the Boiling Isles after all?

Lilith crying almost immediately💔 She was holding onto a lot of pain.

Yes, King, she was trying to do her best. I mean, road to hell or whatever, but at least Gwen got there in the end.

WHAT?! YOU'RE BREAKING UP LULU AND HOOTCIFER?!?!?!?

Terrace, that's just cruel. (Worthless brownie points for whoever understands that reference)

No, seriously, you can't just give me my favorite inter-character relationship in the series after Lumity and just...take it away like that, come on! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I know I should remark on how Lilith told Gwen about the circumstances of the curse, how Gwen rightfully accepted responsibility for the whole situation, and how Luz finds the big hair aspirational, but...NOOOO DON'T END THE ADVENTURES OF LULU AND HOOTCIFER WHYYYYYYYYY💔😭💔😭💔😭

"BUT I CAN'T HOLD A PEN!"

I will never emotionally recover from this.

Okay, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway...

Not the only human, huh? Cue the "Belos is a human" theorists going into maximum overdrive.

That said, a tantalizing lore dump.

We certainly do have a lot of garbage. Some of it even holds office. HEY-O!

Setting up the next episode, too. Continuity!

Camp's over, huh? That means it's been three months.

Way to misdirect with Camila, guys. That said, we have now seen Camila cry and I HATE it. (In the right way, I think)

WHAT THE FUCK

HOLY SHIT

CREEPY LUZ IS REAL WHAT

OWJEIWHQGIWWOPQ

(It's hard to keysmash on a phone, even with autocorrect off)

That wraps it up! The flaws in this episode seem more pronounced than any others in the season so far, but the good stuff was really good! Overall a solid episode! I know everybody's looking forward to library Lumity in the next one (so am I), but I'm personally eager to see what they do with Gus. His part is the A plot, after all.

Anyway, I'll be back at this next week! Still hard to believe this is a thing, but that's life, I guess.

#the owl house #eda clawthorne #gwendolyn clawthorne #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #king of demons #toh king #toh s2 spoilers #the owl house s2 spoilers #the owl house season 2 spoilers #toh spoilers #the owl house spoilers

48 notes · View notes

sepublic · 3 years

Text

Unpopular King Opinion

Unpopular opinion I’m about to repeat AGAIN; But King actually has a lot more depth and nuance than people give him credit for, and he has that depth regardless of whether or not he was an actual king of demons or has some mysterious, all-powerful backstory or whatnot. If we look at him just as-is, at face-value, with what we actually have in canon, no speculation; King IS a very interesting character, actually, with a surprising amount of darkness!

There’s the parallels with Lilith that I’ve brought up in the past. King is a very artistic individual who wants glory and recognition, but on his own terms; He wants to be appreciated for stuff he cares about and feels he has agency in, not because he’s superficially adorable or anything! But at the same time, King DOES want to be coddled and cared for, given a sort of childhood he never really got- But he just wants some respect and agency with that as well, is that too much to ask for?

And that fits with how Luz babies him, but in a way that respects and listens to King’s requests, taking heed of his advice and lessons; Eda treats them both with respect and a proper level of accountability, while also protecting them because they’re both kids who don’t deserve that. This contrasts with Amity who’s kind of forced to grow up and is superficially taken seriously, but on the downside, she’s severely emotionally stunted and feels like she has to do all of the heavy-lifting for herself and others, by herself.

King is kind of coming to age in his own way like Luz, learning to take accountability and responsibility for his mistakes, as part of that quest to be taken seriously and respected, while still getting to be treated kindly and looked after, and then looking after Luz by himself occasionally. He wants power and control, but he sometimes has issues with the responsibility that comes with that, with demanding attention from Luz in Really Small Problems, and how King has to step up to his alleged leadership role by owning up to his mistakes, how we see him be a great teacher at Hexside for a day.

We see him start as a terrible teacher in I was a Teenage Abomination, before he improves in The Intruder, and by The First Day he can win the hearts of an entire class of teenagers, kids he once thought were terrifying after Once Upon a Swap- But who he grew to better understand thanks to his experience in Luz’s body, as well as learning to understand Luz herself and be a better person to her! Even when his fears of judgment aren’t fully conquered during Grom, no thanks to Eda’s own personal experiences and warnings- Gus manages to encourage King’s eventual confidence to speak out!

King’s got a disconnect with Luz and Eda in that both are only really demonized or looked down upon, as criminals and troublemakers, a cursed witch and a human, dehumanized… While King has been mostly fetishized, but that too is also dehumanizing, reducing him to a prop and a toy, a doll and a pet; One that people like Roselle, Dottie, Tibbles, and Boscha think they can just buy and own without permission. Just a cute animal to own and be carried by his collar by say Lilith, who also dehumanizes Luz as another one of Eda’s ‘pets’.

And as I said, that disconnect about being fetishized and seemingly ‘wanted’, to Eda who was cursed and ostracized and seen only as a monstrous freak; It means she doesn’t quite understand and even downplays King’s issues with that, which it’s why it’s important she literally walks in his shoes during Once Upon a Swap, that Eda realizes that being fetishized isn’t fun either, that her and King both just want respect and agency and to be treated by people with their own agency, and not like, say, someone’s younger troublemaker of a sibling who doesn’t understand what she’s getting into, as Lilith sometimes feels about her.

Likewise, King has issues with feeling outpaced and left behind by others, we see it literally happen in Covention and Really Small Problems. And this inferiority complex makes King convince himself that it’s okay if he acts against his friends, THEY can easily handle a minor loss or two when they’ve got so many wins under their belt, when they’re much farther ahead; King just wants to catch up, to be on equal footing with them! And he IS, Luz and Eda do respect and care for him, even if they sometimes forget to, but it doesn’t justify King working behind their backs, using Eda’s owl-beast form to get revenge on a toddler, or taking the credit for Luz’s work and even trying to make her friends disappear.

He’s got very artistic inclinations, if King were a witch he’d easily be a Bard AND Beastkeeper at least, maybe in Abominations as well! It provides a sense of control over mindless, obedient people… But honestly, I don’t think King is THAT obsessed with power. He just wants to feel in charge when for so long he’s just been brushed aside, ignored, and talked over. When he’s in a good environment and feels safe and in control to a reasonable degree, I don’t think King would actually care for an army to command as much, if at all.

I’ll say it again, but it’s hilariously meta that people ignore King’s depth and personhood, his individuality often, and just boil him down to the cute pet, a borderline shallow mascot; Just another pretty face, a garnish to a more important criminal like Eda on her Wanted Poster, or as Luz’s little furry animal companion and sidekick. That’s what the characters in-universe do… And it’s what the fandom kind of does, in a sense? People in-universe don’t even have the luxury of getting to know King intimately as an audience member.

…Mind you, I STILL love adorable King fanart and memes to death! I am not at all trying to fault anyone who doesn’t recognize King’s depth this way, I can see why you’d miss it in a sense, and I’m not implying that anyone is somehow a ‘bad person’, or a ‘fake fan’, or whatever, for not considering this a lot more. You do you, and I’m not saying it’s a personal requirement that people intimately discuss and consider King, I will always enjoy the cute fanart and depictions of King, the Incorrect Quotes, all that stuff! I just kinda wish we could have that, AND more acknowledgement of King…

So I want BOTH things, so even if I’m missing out on one- I’m definitely going to enjoy the other, and it’s okay if one wants to as well! Go ahead, enjoy King as you please, guilt-free… I just wanted to get this out there, and anyhow, I’M not the boss of anyone, it’s not like I can tell anyone else how to engage with this show, its characters, or the fandom through the content that’s produced! I’m just another fan and viewer.

#the owl house #the owl house king #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #meta #character analysis

57 notes · View notes