#gus abuses his illusions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

punkeropercyjackson · 2 months

Text

My Toh self-insert lore masterpost

His name is Verano Azul and he's black/white mixed dominican-Not the Demon Realm equivalent like Willow being korean but as in one of his parent's is from Earth and dominican.The parent in question is named Esta and is something of a dark parallel to Luz,a human who ended up on the Boiling Isles and is instead a magic hater who sides with Belos because she grew up catholic with 'fairy tales' about him.His other parent is named Invierno and he has an older brother named Otoño who goes by Oto

Esta and Invierno are abusive to him because of intergenerational trauma from their latino heritage and encourage Oto to bully him and uphold him as 'the sibling they raised right'.Verano had severe self-eestem issues because of this and it was only added on to by being bullied at Hexside for his shyness and obvious hybrid status(having non-pointed ears,which this amazing picrew sadly dosen't provide)

He's the same age as Luz and was a trio with Willow and Gus until she came along and made them a quartet.He met his first ever two friends the same day they met eachother when they saw him getting bullied by Boscha and Gus caused a distraction with his illusions so Willow could sneak him away to a hiding spot and Gus hid too to avoid Boscha's wrath.Once school let out,Verano nervously approached them to thank them and hung out with them the next day which turned into every day after that

He's in the healing track/coven and got shit from his family for it because they wanted him to 'take a more useful one' and his palisman is a pink strawberryonic dragon named Fresa

Los Padres Azules also never truly let him be feminine as a kid and called him an ungrateful brat for asking for things like children's makeup kits and dolls so as part of her redemption arc,Amity teaches him how to be femme and buys him the stuff they refused to and a particularly special item he's always wearing because it was the first one she bought him is his plain pink choker

His fashion sense is pastel and mostly girly but with some masc hints here and there since he's bigender and it makes him happy with himself.He's short and scrawny and has naturally 4b hair he was forced to relax by his racist mom growing up and he dyes a baby pink streak in it in season 3 as a bonding activity with Amity and Willow until the epilogue where we see he's switched to twists and several streaks and gone from regular pastel to pastel punk

He also invented video games in Demon Realm since Luz introduced him to them and he learned how to make them as he loved them enough for it to become a special interest.He started with an unused pink Tamagotchi gift from Luz and worked his way up to a whole technological revolution he used purely for good(I.e entertainment,education,comfort and so forth games only)

Has a genderfluid pride pin on his dress in Thanks To Them and in the time he spent on earth is when he discovered punk culture and got radicalized and learned he was actually a social butterfly who just hadn't found the right people-The 'right people' being the rest of the Hexside Squad,Vee and Masha.Him and Masha are pastel/goth besties and they get in on the Residencia Noceda secret thanks to it because in this verse we got the full season we deserved and Veesha gets to unfold onscreen like Lumity did and there's also extra Grimwalker lore bits and backstory on Luz's earth life and Camila is a major mc

Eda becomes a mother figure to him throught his frequent visits to The Owl House to see Luz and adopts him mid-season 1 after finding out he's being abused thanks to him accidentally revealing it during one of their conversation's.She went to the Azul residence and tricked his parents into giving her custody via adoption papers and easily beat them when they tried to fight her.Oto wasn't around to witness it but is still scared shitless of her and avoids Verano from then on(He does apologize in For The Future and Verano says he accepts but dosen't wanna be around him anymore and he respects that).Raine is also his parent due to their's and Eda's marriage and there's not a day without both chaos and wholesomeness with them

Considers Camila his official parent too(and she sees him as her son and daughter)and is eternally grateful to her for teaching him about blackness unlike Invierno.Perry,who was never told about Verano's abuse until after Eda came along,did teach him a few things but sadly couldn't get many because of him still living with his racist parents

And his final parent is Darius.This one has funny reasons because the context is that the two of them got so close thanks to Verano being best friends with Hunter that Darius kept dropping hints to Eda he wanted shared custody and she teased him into admitting outright and laughed at his embarrased anger before agreeing to it.Verano was overjoyed when they told him and told them into a group hug after them each a platonic cheek kiss,squealing about how much he loves them and what they were going to do as a family.He also ends up being All Tracks due to his mixed home life making him learn so many magic types

His Bad Girls coven shirt is all shades of pink and he adores King and Darius' abominations so much and technically lives with both Raeda and him due to how often he stays over at his.Verano got a taste of the fine life starting in 'Abnomination and Son and Daughter' when it started and he learned to employ a couple of his daily routines and mannerisms into his own.He calls Darius 'Daddy' instead of Dad and the man started sobbing on the spot the first it happened

His full name is technically Verano Azul Clawthorne Noceda Whispers Deamonne but for the sake of shortness he just uses his first name when introducing himself

When he started unmasking,he turned into a very bubbly and optimistic weirdgirl who slowly became a Team Mom as his friend circle grew.His favorite stims are chewy necklaces,flappy hands,running around and echolalia,he's good ar handling meltdowns,his special interests are dragons,cats,ghosts,video games,pink and anarchy/chaos,his safe foods are booding and Dairy Queen(post/during season 3)and he has a whole diy'd backpack of safe items he carries around

Like the rest of the Hexside Squad,he had an episode dedicated to his first meeting with Hunter and their's was called 'Little Pink Flying Hood and The Hunter'.It took place post Eclipse Lake but pre Hollow Mind and had them bumping forehead first into eachother due to his broom going out of control and getting lost in woods and trying to find their way back home.They became friends at the end as they bonded deeply,including Verano telling him he dosen't have to be perfect and Hunter responding that they don't need to feel like a freak either.They don't reveal his secret identity in ASIAS but there's a running gag that he thinks they will and at one point they snark that if he keeps at it they'll spill the beans

Verano,Willow,Gus and Hunter are called 'The Four Emeralds' and their group chat they created after Darius gave Hunter his phone is titled that and it's extremely chaotic but sweet

His Flapjack tatto is on his right palm

He's Gus and Mat's wingmanwoman and finds Mat's cringe to be super cool.They're something of a subtrio as they get their own episode with Steve too that's about brotherhood shenanigans(The Tholomule bros with Verano + Verano and Gus),gay anticts(Gustholomule)and trans femme swag(Verano)and it's called 'Oh brother,where art tholomule?'.This trinity's name is 'The Creation Counts'(yeah,like the vampire joke.They are dorks SUPREME)

His halloween costume was a pink and white dragoncat onesie with blue catdragon face paint and strawberry scented paws

He's a Penstagram influencer technically but the influence is just him being witch Megan Thee Stallion where he just posts positivity,humor,him having fun and activism related things.Also as an adult he posts 'thirst traps' that're just him having that drip but the Healer Girl Summer Nation go wild

He also appears in Chibi Tales and was redrawn as Tiana in her blue dress fit for Black History Month by an artist on the crew.His character is meant to be representation for black femmes like how Luz is for black baby butches

The second design is from a swap au created by @theautisticcentre where he's the grimwalker instead of Hunter so rather than Philip,Belos had a sickening obsession with a mulatta from his time period and Verano's name is instead 'Victoria Wittebane' as a result.Belos holds no attraction to 'her',an egg he forces not to crack out of being a puritan,but he's a very awful 'father' to Victoria and she's known as 'The Golden Maiden'.If you want more lore,go ahead and ask Mathew about,he is a fantastic content creator and takes requests for headcanons and fics as well♡

And the 3rd design is canon complaint,as Belos gets his hands on Verano to torment Hunter and Luz in Watching and Dreaming by 'dehumanizing' him to show Verano's 'true self' by making him half Dragon,dragons being on par with Titans in godhood status but considered lesser than them and having been at war as a result like they were with Collectors,but this backfired on him because Verano is dragonkin/a dragon therian and Titan Luz and 'Dragono' defeated him at last together in a show of sisterhood,holding hands when they finished and going back to their loved ones while leaning on eachother for support.Like i headcanon Titan!Luz,Dragono still lingers in Verano

And also like his hermana,he regularly travels between worlds and it turns out there's a place called Dragonland that's kept secret to avoid new conflict and he becomes an ambassador for them!!!

27 notes · View notes

obsidianstrawberrymilk · 1 year

Text

Yknow I’m really disappointed we didn’t get more on Perry Porter because from what we do see of him, he seems like such a cool character and I’m really disappointed we didn’t get even a single proper scene with him.

Like!! Just the facts we have about him are seemingly so random - he’s in the Oracle Coven, he used to be friends with Eda and her gang but was, interestingly, shown to be pulling away about the same time Darius and Alador - both implied to have chosen status or power of their friends - did. He seems to be Gus’s only parent given his mom is literally never mentioned, yet he’s also a high profile (given he was the only shown person reporting on Eda’s Petrification) reporter. He’s clearly willing to turn his morals and feelings off when needed given how little emotion he shows while one of his old friends - however old he must have some feelings about it - is basically about to be executed, yet he raised an incredibly kind kid who sticks to his morals no matter what.

Like how did he feel when on the Day of Unity, his twelve year old son was unable to be found - hell, we know he reports on high profile events like this, could he have been so busy he didn’t even realize Gus had snuck out until after the Collector stopped the Day of Unity and he had to realize no one knew where he was? How come we never see him interact with any of his old friends, even when Alador and Darius are eventually pulled back with them? I can understand why Odalia wasn’t reconnected with them but it does seem like if nothing else Perry was a decent parent, so why is he never shown interacting with the others?

It also seems like he puts quite a bit of pressure on Gus at least - I don’t think he’s like Odalia ofc, but Gus does say that his dad wants him to be a Master Illusionist (though that’s not what Gus wants), so it’s clear he does expect a lot from him. Did Gus being a prodigy from a young age impact this? Did he encourage Gus to move up two grades or was he against it? Given what we know of him - high profile Coven job, seems to have drifted away from his friends for status like Darius and Alador, wants his kid to be a Master Illusionist - I’m inclined to think he encouraged it and at least didn’t think much about the social implications. What did he think about Gus’s loneliness and lack of friends - did he even notice? I’m saying this as a former gifted kid who’s parents are, still to this day, surprised when I mention how bad my peers and teachers treated me in elementary/middle school - even caring parents can be unaware of just how bad things are in school. Was Perry like that? Or did he notice but feel helpless to do anything?

What about Gus’s illusion maze thing? How long has he been able to do that - since he was a kid? What was it like to raise a kid who could do something like that? Did Perry try and each Gus some tricks to get rid of it - given Willow was the one to teach him the breathing technique and that’s what he uses, it doesn’t seem like he did. Why? Did he just not know what to do? Did the Emperor’s Coven ever seem interested in Gus, who was clearly a whole lot more than just a gifted kid (this kid took down the Illusion Coven Head and a whole bunch of scouts at age 12 and he wasn’t even trying)? How did he respond to that?

Idk, I really want to see more about who Perry Porter is and Gus’s childhood. It’s so interesting to think about.

I have my own image of him as a somewhat neglectful parent who, while he does care about his son a lot, treats him as a lot older than he is sometimes. Like Gus is a very mature kid but he’s still a kid and I think Perry could follow the rest of the world in forgetting that a lot. Maybe talk to him about things he’s not old enough to understand, put responsibilities and pressure on him he might find hard even being a prodigy and get angry when he can’t do it, etc. I don’t think he’s abusive or anything but I definitely want to see how he is because as a former gifted kid absolutely all of these have happened to me and I’m betting you Perry also does this to Gus. And that’s not even getting into Perry’s morality and character, how that impacts Gus, and Perry’s backstory.

#toh #the owl house #perry porter #gus porter #eda clawthorne #darius deamonne #alador blight #odalia blight #raine whispers #lilith clawthorne #emperor's coven

114 notes · View notes

kraviolis · 1 year

Text

often times i scare my reflection

(The Owl House)

Rating: Teen Relationships: Hunter & Luz, Hunter & Camila, Hunter & Gus, Background Lumity Words: 4.6k Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Alter!Golden Guard, Set During Thanks to Them Timeskip, Injured Luz, Protective Golden Guard, Bullying, Fighting & Violence, Implied/Reference Child Abuse Chapters: 2/3 Summary:

The primary target stomps his heel right into the side of her head, the force pushing her onto her back. Her head drops instantly, her body going limp.

The Golden Guard is slamming his fist into the primary target’s face not even a second later.

AO3 LINK | First Chapter

____________

“Hello?”

“Hunter? Wh– where’s Mom?”

Hunter hears the panicked voice of Vee, but he’s gone before he can even process the words she says.

It’s the Golden Guard who answers her. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Luz– she’s in trouble!” Vee cries, obviously doing her best to swallow her tears. “I don’t know what to do!”

“Where? How?” The guard drops the towel and runs to the front door, pausing only long enough to slide his shoes on.

“I– I saw her get grabbed by some guys and dragged away behind the school! I- I- I can’t fight, I- I don’t know how to! Should I–”

“Do not engage.” He orders her. “I will be there in five minutes.”

He tosses Mrs. Noceda’s scroll-thing into her hands just as she steps forward. “Hunter! What’s happening?”

“Luz is in trouble, Vee will give more info.” He says, summoning Flapjack to his hand. “I can get there faster.”

Mrs. Noceda doesn’t argue, just nods and starts talking to Vee. The Guard takes two steps out the door before he swings his leg over the palisman staff and takes off.

He reaches the old shack in only seconds, and all the young witches are gathered out front. They all whip their heads to look at him, all of them suddenly at the ready. Good.

“Luz is in danger,” The Guard doesn’t even have to explain more than that before they’re all in the air with him, following in close formation. Gus rides with him so he can focus on providing them all cover from being spotted by any humans while speeding through the air.

(They might not know it themselves, or they might not want to even hear it said aloud, but the Guard knows all of them would have gone far in the Emperor’s Coven.)

(Half the scouts in the Coven couldn’t match up to them. Best and brightest, indeed.)

It takes three minutes to reach the school and another thirty seconds for someone to shout, “There!” before they all go into a nosedive.

Vee is crying and trembling, speaking rapidly in Spanish into a phone. When Gus drops the illusion, she squeaks in fear and has to quickly soothe her mother on the other end of the phone.

“Vee, what’s going on?” Amity asks her. “Where’s Luz?”

“They– they took her over there,” She points them around the corner she’s hiding behind, across a fenced-in blacktop and behind a cluster of smaller buildings far from the primary one. “It was three of them– they looked like seniors, and th-they were laughing–”

The Guard has heard enough. He takes off sprinting, ignoring the cry of “Hunter, wait !” behind him.

(Hunter might have waited, but Hunter isn’t here. He’s blissfully tucked away in the back of their mind, unaware of the shattering of his peace- and the Golden Guard will do anything to protect that peace.)

The scene behind the smaller buildings is exactly how Vee had described. Three targets and one objective. The Guard scouts first, looking for the best way to handle this as he peeks behind a wall.

Luz is curled up in the dirt, using her arms to protect her face as one single teenager kicks her while she’s down. There isn’t a good angle to see what her injuries are– he’ll have to check after. The other two are going through her bag, throwing out her notebooks and scattering her drawings of the Owl Lady and the bird-dog all over the muddy grass.

“What a fucking weirdo,” One laughs. “Look at this stupid wooden egg she has in here.”

“NO!” Luz cries, quickly scrambling to her hands and knees and reaching out for the egg. “Don’t touch it–!”

The primary target stomps his heel right into the side of her head, the force pushing her onto her back. Her head drops instantly, her body going limp.

The Golden Guard is slamming his fist into the primary target’s face not even a second later. He doesn’t see it coming, not when the Guard comes at him right from his blind spot. The punch knocks him backwards onto his ass, sending him sprawling in the dirt a few feet away.

The secondary and tertiary targets both freeze. The primary groans on the ground, rolling onto his side as he cradles his face.

“Oh, are you still conscious?” The Guard comments, standing over him. He flexes his hand, his knuckles complaining from the lack of wrapping and gloves already. “Your skull must be really thick.”

The rest of his squad catches up finally, all of them pausing for a split-second to process the scene in front of them before they all make a b-line straight to the girl laying on the ground.

“Luz!” Amity cries, throwing herself onto her knees next to the girl and cupping her face in her hands. Gus and Vee are right there with her in a second, kneeling on Luz’s other side. “Oh Titan, please, talk to me.”

“‘mity…?” Luz slurs, and something in the Guard’s chest loosens when he hears her aware and talking already. That means she was only out for a few seconds, giving little chance towards any brain damage.

“You scar-faced little fucker!” The secondary target shouts as he shoves the egg into the hands of the idiot next to him. “I’m gonna end you!”

The Guard shifts his footing to face the brute head-on. He doesn’t even raise his fists, just rolls his shoulders back and stares the older teen down.

“Go on, then.” He bares his teeth. “Better make it quick.”

The secondary idiot goes for a poorly-executed roundhouse kick, which is blocked easily with a forearm. He nearly loses his footing but doesn’t give the Guard a chance to get a hit in first before he’s throwing a punch from the opposite side the kick came from. The Guard ducks easily and punches the idiot in the gut, making him stumble backwards.

“Argh, little shit!” He spits, taking a few more steps back to keep distance while he recovers. He’s already out of breath but the Golden Guard hasn’t even broken a sweat.

“Aw,” The Guard coos condescendingly. “Big guy too tuckered out to fight back?”

It’s almost too easy baiting this guy. Instantly, the moron comes barreling at him shoulder-first with a yell, and the Guard side steps him easily. The idiot stumbles and nearly trips to avoid running over his friend, who was still moaning on the ground. The Guard takes the opportunity to grab him by his greasy ponytail and forcefully pull him down towards the ground while driving his knee up into his solar plexus.

It leaves him shaking like a leaf on his hands and knees and dry retching into the dirt. Tears stream down face as he desperately tries to get air back into his lungs. The Guard barely gives him time to recover before he squats down in front of him and yanks his head back with the ponytail again.

“I’m sor-sorry!” The idiot flinches before he begins to sob. “Y-you win! I gi-give up!”

“Then run .” He orders, roughly letting the ponytail go. He stands to watch stooge two scramble to his feet and take off across the grass and right into the treeline a few meters back.

“Fugging abbhole– broge my damn nobse,” Mutters the one who hasn’t yet learned his lesson, apparently. He’s trying to crawl away slowly, as if he doesn’t even have the strength to get to his feet after a single punch. The Guard ignores him, not willing to expend more energy on him than is necessary.

Then, he looks at stooge three, who visibly flinches when he meets their eyes. “Well?” He prompts, tilting his head. They glance away for a second but stay in place. “Sorry, are you actually too stupid to figure out what you should be doing here?”

They slowly nod. The Guard sighs in annoyance as he approaches them slowly and carefully takes Luz’s palisman and her bag from their hands. Once he secures the egg under one arm he reaches up and pats them on the shoulder gently. Then, he digs his fingers into the meat of their shoulder near the collarbone as hard as he can.

“Leave, and don’t ever come near her again.” He commands, and like a good little idiot they obey, running in the same direction as their buddy.

“Wow,” Vee mutters quietly. “I am so glad he’s on our side now.”

He’s gentle with the palisman egg, tucking them back inside the inner pocket of Luz’s bag with their blanket to keep them warm. He didn’t get the chance to get a good look himself before idiot two was coming at him, but he trusts the others to make sure Luz is okay while he gathers up what he can salvage of her other belongings.

When he stands again, notebooks in his head, he notices Willow isn’t with the rest of their squad tending to Luz. The Captain stays standing, her body tense and her palisman gripped tight in her hands. She acts as their bulwark, but also watches the Guard with discernment as he picks up books and pencils from the ground. He doesn’t meet her eyes.

Instead, he picks up Luz’s wallet from the ground and checks for the paper snails. They hadn’t even bothered to take her money– were they actually just doing this for fun ?

“How’s your head?” He hears Amity ask Luz quietly as she begins to rouse, her confusion fading.

“Hurts,” She grunts, trying to sit up. “Is– Hunter, the egg– did they…?”

The Guard moves to hand her the bag, not looking at her face. It feels… wrong to be without his mask for so long. He’s paranoid that if he meets any of their eyes, they’re just going to know .

(“Hunter– ah, wait a moment… Oh, I see. How was your mission, Golden Guard?”)

“Here.” He says, trying to mimic Hunter’s cadence but not quite getting there. His tone is too dull, too flat. “Your palisman is safe.”

“Th- thank y– Ah!” Luz falls backwards again with a pained cry. “My… my wrist, it’s– it might be broken…”

The Guard turns his head to get a look at it, a shot of cold worry shooting through his chest, and then his thoughts go blank.

The second he sees Luz’s dirt and tear-stained cheeks, his jaw clenches hard enough to make his teeth creak. When he sees blood dripping off her chin and the already-forming bruise around her eye, it’s like the world goes white-hot with rage. For a moment he thinks he might split apart.

Instead, he drops the bag in Luz’s lap and turns around. The primary target still hasn’t found the sense to run, still trying to crawl away in the mud. For once, The Guard is thankful for his stupidity, because that means he gets to kneel down over his chest and grab the idiot by the shirt collar.

“Looks like I'm not done with you.” The Guard all but growls the words, raising a fist.

“Dom’t! I gib up, bl-bleadse!” The scum cries. “I wom’t toubch her again! No, no–! ”

The Golden Guard hits him, cracking his fist across his cheekbone. The idiot begs more, but the Guard just does it again. And again.

“Hunter?”

(He imagines the human underneath him isn’t his own age, but centuries old. Instead of blood, he sees droplets of mud spraying onto his skin and shirt.)

(If he starts hitting even harder with that image in his head, who can blame him, really?)

“Is he actually trying to…?”

Alternating fists, the Guard beats the sorry excuse for a person hard enough for the skin on his bare knuckles to split. At first, the scum cries as he does it– pleading with him, and then he goes quiet, only whimpering at each blow.

“Hey, Hunter, you can stop now!”

Someone wraps their arms around his raised fist, stopping him from throwing another punch. He fights against them, trying to wriggle from their grasp up until a second pair of arms and someone’s hand grabbing onto the neck of his shirt manage to successfully pull him off of the bastard.

“Let me go .” He grunts, but they just hold on tighter.

“No way, dude! You gotta stop!”

“He’s had enough!”

“He’s only had enough when I’ve said so ,” The Guard snarls out, struggling against the witches holding him back. The idiot on the ground is sobbing while trying to curl himself up into a ball, and the Guard wants nothing more than to stomp his ribs until they crack under his heel. Let him see exactly how fun it is to get kicked while he’s down.

“Hunter, you need to stop.” The Captain pleads with him, pulling him further away from the sniveling coward. He tries to wrest his way out of her grip, his pulse drumming inside his ears. Something begins tugging on random locks of his hair and out of pure rage-driven instinct, he summons his palisman to his hand instead–

“ Hunter !”

He stops struggling, and turns to look at Luz. Amity is holding her half in her lap, but both of them are staring at him wide-eyed.

“I’m okay,” Luz tells him, voice shaky and eyes struggling to stay open. “Let ‘im go. He’s been… been punished enough.”

The Guard frowns, furrowing his brow as he studies her face. She gives an encouraging nod, and he relaxes against his restraints. Cautiously, they let him go, and he stands. Flapjack animates again, the staff disappearing as he releases it from his grip. The bird chirps loudly at him, but the Golden Guard doesn’t understand it.

Taking a second to brush himself off, he goes over to kneel next to Luz. She smiles pitifully at him, wincing when it aggravates her wounded lip. He frowns at her chidingly, and the smile falls.

“Blight, can you carry her?” He asks, then internally smacks himself. Hunter doesn’t call her that anymore– he hasn’t in weeks – but no one reacts to the slip outwardly.

“I… don’t think so,” Amity admits, looking away.

The Guard just nods. “It’s fine. I can.”

“I don’t need to be–” Luz’s complaint is cut off as he slips a hand under her legs and behind her back, lifting her into his arms with ease. She instinctively grabs at his shoulders, but frowns at him as he adjusts her weight. “I can walk .”

“Don’t be stupid.” He scoffs at her. “You have a head injury. If you fall, it’ll only make it worse.”

Luz scowls, glaring daggers at him even though she knows he’s right. “Can we just go home now?”

“Mom said she would park on the road closest to the back of the schoolyard.” Vee tells them. The basilisk’s eyes are still watery but her face is dry. Willow slides an arm over her shoulders.

The Guard nods curtly and follows behind Vee as she leads them. He keeps his pace even and his steps firm, watching the path ahead of him for any debris to minimize chances of tripping. Gus is walking behind him, holding their six, but he can feel the illusionist’s eyes on his back.

They haven’t figured it out. There’s no way they would put the pieces together before even Hunter did. It’s just… them worrying about their friend. Hunter doesn’t act like this anymore, but the Guard doesn’t know how else to be .

He’s been what Hunter’s needed most– someone strong and confident, someone who can take on the shittiest parts this world has to offer so that he can still smile and laugh and not be burdened by the weight of his very existence. The Golden Guard is the whole reason Hunter hasn’t just… shattered .

(You can’t have a breakdown over how much you suffered during your childhood if you can’t remember it.)

(But The Guard can remember. He knows how bad it got. When they sleep, it’s his nightmares that plague them. It’s his screams dying in their throat when they wake.)

(Hunter doesn’t remember the nightmares when he wakes up. He remembers the fear, but nothing else, and he’s written them off as bad dreams. It’s for the best.)

“Luz!” Mrs. Noceda’s gasp brings the Golden Guard pause, drawing him out of his darker thoughts.

Her car is parked on the road still ahead of them, but the human is rushing to them the very second they enter her view. She’s on them in only seconds, going right to Luz in the Guard’s arms.

“Oh, baby,” She cups her daughter’s face gently, taking special care not to press on the darkening bruise or her swelling eye. “¿Qué te pasó ? ¿Quién te lastimó?”

“Está bien, Mamá. Fue algunos idiotas de la escuela.” Luz tells her. Whatever she’s said doesn’t soothe Mrs. Noceda, who purses her lips and mutters something he doesn’t catch.

When they reach the car, he takes extreme care to settle Luz in the backseat. There’s not enough room for everyone, so Gus and Willow volunteer to fly back. The Guard almost volunteered himself but as much as he trusted that Luz would be fine with the others, he needed to stay with her. It was like a compulsion, almost.

(Always escort the package back to base to prevent complications during travel and ensure a success.)

On the way home, he rides in the front seat, letting Luz be squished in between her sister and girlfriend. Amity spins two spell circles in the air, keeping them in her palms as she holds them close to Luz’s head.

“I’m sorry,” He hears Amity murmur quietly. “I– I don’t think I’ll be able to do much. I didn’t get a chance to learn more from Em before...”

“Feel better already.” Luz tells her, leaning into her with a sigh. “So nice. Thanks, sweet p’tato.”

The Guard catches Amity’s pink face in the mirror before averting his eyes.

He sits rigid in his seat, feet flat and hands folded in his lap. He scans their surroundings, bracing himself every time another car gets too close to them on the road. Mrs. Noceda keeps the vehicle steady with a lifetime of practice, but his stomach drops every time she puts her foot on the brakes.

(...Maybe sitting in the front was a mistake.)

They arrive home quickly, and Luz insists on walking back inside the house on her own. The Guard huffs in frustration but doesn’t fight her, instead keeping close as he can so he can catch her if she falls. Her steps are wobbly, and the longer she’s standing the more her eyes seem to lose focus. She makes it to the steps of the house just fine, but by the second step she’s already looking like she’s about to either fall over or lose her lunch.

“ Luz ,” Amity groans, reaching a hand out but not touching her. She bites her lip as Luz waves her away, and looks as if she’s trying to decide between respecting her girlfriend’s boundaries and making sure she doesn’t fall and crack her skull open.

Luckily, the Golden Guard is willing to do whatever it takes to complete his mission.

“Come here.” He instructs, moving her good arm around his shoulders and leaning over so she can use him to steady herself.

“I’m fine ,” She insists with a dazed glare, but puts almost all of her weight onto him anyway. “You’re being ov’rprotective.”

Her words are slurring as she’s being half-carried up five steps, so The Guard doesn’t dignify that with a response. Instead he focuses on leading her up and into the house, letting Amity take her jacket and bag from her.

Everyone else went inside ahead of them. Mrs. Noceda already has an extensively stocked first-aid kit laid out on the coffee table. He helps her sit on the couch and takes a seat next to her.

“How bad is it, baby?” Mrs. Noceda asks, pulling on blue gloves and kneeling in front of Luz.

“Not that bad,” She tries to say, but the Guard is swift to correct her.

“Contusions on spine, shoulders, and ribs. There was a direct kick to the head that caused loss of consciousness for several seconds.” He informs her, going down the list while ignoring Luz’s look of betrayal. “Based on the symptoms as presented, grade two concussion is most likely. Right wrist is likely to be injured, as well.”

Mrs. Noceda absorbs it all with a plain nod, soaking a gauze pad in some kind of fluid from a bottle. She begins to dab at Luz’s lip, wiping away the blood gently with one hand while holding her chin firmly with the other.

While Luz is subdued by her mother, he takes the opportunity to examine Luz’s arm. The bruising is particularly bad, but with his careful prodding and gentle twisting, he determines it’s not bad enough to need setting. He cleans off her skin with disinfectant and wraps it firmly with a bandage roll from the pack.

“You know, there should be an old wrist brace somewhere in the basement.” Mrs. Noceda says, glancing at his handiwork. “Will you go fetch it? It will help her not to move it too much as she heals.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He stands and makes his way down into the basement. Flapjack, who has been resting on his shoulder the whole time, follows behind him.

It takes a few minutes of searching, but he finds it in a box of assorted wires and other miscellaneous items. At least, he’s fairly certain it’s what Mrs. Noceda was talking about. When he tries it on himself it holds his wrist steady, which is exactly what Luz needs.

When he turns to complete the retrieval, Gus is standing at the base of the stairs.

“Excuse me.” He says, waiting for him to step aside. When he does, the Guard takes the steps two at a time, but pauses at the top.

“Hunter,” Gus calls after him, and the Guard turns his attention to the witch. “Are you… good?”

“I’m retrieving the wrist brace as requested.” There must be something wrong with what he says, because Gus appears to be discontented by that answer.

“That’s great, but I asked if you were okay .” He presses, raising a single brow.

Admittedly, it catches him off guard, but he quickly recovers. “I’m fine.”

Gus’s expression doesn’t smooth, and the younger boy crosses his arms. What does he want to hear? He is worried about Hunter, but isn’t accepting of the correct answer.

When Gus doesn’t say anything else, the Guard takes that as permission to leave the conversation. The illusionist follows him back into the living room.

He hands the brace over to the matriarch wordlessly. She smiles at him as she takes it.

“Perfect, thank you.” Mrs. Noceda praises before slipping it onto Luz’s wrist.

Amity has taken over his station, using the same healing spell while Luz rests her forehead on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Her eyes are closed, and her breathing is evening out as she’s soothed by the hum of the magic.

“I– I think it’s working .” Amity murmurs in near-disbelief, brow pinching in concentration. “I can feel the pressure lessening.”

“You’re healing her concussion?” His eyes widen.

“With that spell?” Willow clarifies, leaning on the back of the couch.

“Is– is that a problem?” Mrs. Noceda looks between everyone and Amity rapidly.

“Not at all.” The Guard assures her. “The spell is for first aid purposes and has little room for error, but using it to heal major injuries takes high amounts of both focus and raw magical power.”

Mrs. Noceda squints at him. “So, basically, she’s using neosporin to heal a concussion, and it’s working ?”

“Heck yeah, Amity!” Gus cheers. Amity shoots him a weak grin but quickly refocuses.

“My girlfriend is so cool ,” Luz whispers with a little smile, but doesn’t move a centimeter.

After Mrs. Noceda is assured that Luz will be just fine and– thanks to the healing magic– will only need time and rest, she then turns her sights onto the other children in and surrounding the living room sofa.

The first one she sets her eyes on is Vee, who is promptly soothed and assured of her bravery and quick thinking, and that her human sister is safe and sound all because she was there to get her help in time. After some tears, Vee is asked to go to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. Gus and Willow are also asked to go with her, to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble. The three of them easily agree.

The Guard recognizes the chore for the kindness it is, giving them all an easy task just so they can have something to focus on instead of listlessly circling around the home as they come down from the adrenaline and stress. Personally, he’s content to remain standing against the wall behind the couch with his arms folded behind his back as Amity slowly drains herself healing Luz’s concussion.

But soon enough, Luz feels well enough to walk without dizziness and Mrs. Noceda sends her to be escorted upstairs with Amity to help her clean up and change into clothes not covered in dirt.

“¡Y no enrolles juntos!” Mrs. Noceda says as the two girls slowly make their way up the stairs. “No hasta que cumplas dieciocho, jovencita.”

“Mama!” Luz groans loudly, hiding her face as she leans against Amity.

“What did she say?” Amity’s soft voice travels down the stairs, followed by another groan.

“¡Y mucho menos con una muñeca lastimada!”

“MOM! ” Luz wails in horror. Her mother laughs at her reaction unsympathetically.

When the bathroom door upstairs closes behind them, Mrs. Noceda turns to the Golden Guard and he tenses. Wordlessly, she approaches him and holds her hands out expectantly. He obeys the command and places his hands in hers.

She turns them over, looking at the mottling of swollen purple bruises across his knuckles with a deep sigh. “I thought so. Eres realmente su hermano mayor, ¿hm?”

He has no idea what she's just said. He’s also certain she didn’t intend for him to understand either, so he remains silent.

She smooths her thumb over a scar on the back of his wrist. “Come here, mijo .”

Guiding him to the kitchen sink, the human woman turns the tap on and puts his hands under the flow. She uses a kitchen towel to wipe around the split in his skin, washing away the dried blood but taking care not to disturb the scab. The cool water running across his hands eases the dull throb under his skin, which he’s grateful for, but the way Mrs. Noceda holds them is… almost unnerving. He’s never been handled with such conscious care.

But Hunter has. Hunter has gotten used to this kind of thing, this casual compassion. He’s leaned heavily into the easy affection that Flapjack, his friends, and Mrs. Noceda just give and give and give yet never seem to run out of.

Hunter even calls Mrs. Noceda by her first name . Even if the Golden Guard is masquerading as Hunter right now, he still doesn’t know if he could ever show such blatant disrespect to her like that. Not when she’s effectively given Hunter his first, real home.

The Guard swallows the lump forming in his throat as his hands are patted dry with a soft towel. It feels wrong .

“There you go.” She releases his hands. He takes a half-step back, resisting the urge to scratch at the skin on the back of them. “Do you want an ice pack for them?”

“No, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”

She pauses, glancing at his neck before ushering him out of the kitchen. “Perhaps you should get cleaned up. Or change your shirt, at least.”

He follows her gaze and sees the droplets of blood splatter on the collar of his shirt. “Oh. Right away, ma’am.”

62 notes · View notes

lollytea · 1 year

Note

well lolly , since theres only six days left can we get some super wrong or super right predictions from you?

I'm a little late (4 days now!!) Anyways I'm not good at predictions. Here's some silly little wishes instead. I know I'm not getting any of this but I can dream. (Most of these copy n pasted directly from discord.)

- Gus casting a huge terrifying illusion around everything as he gives Belos one long "reason you need to repent for your sins" speech. He walks towards him, shifting into all the people he's hurt over the centuries. Then he turns into Evelyn, then Caleb. I want Gus to be Belos' worst nightmare basically.

- I've seen takes that Gus being the key against Belos and all the grimwalker lore wouldn't fit and has nothing to do with his arc and it shouldn't be his responsibility. But like

Gus has spent his whole life being deceived for being trusting and gullible. Gus going up against a man who has built his life on lies and deception. Oh it would fuck. And all the similarities between Gus and the Collector. Like this part of the story is practically tailored for Gus to slip into. If you know how to write it. And I just hope they know how to write it

Ohhhhh I know Gus already loathes Belos as much as anybody but ohhhhh. He learns the Collector lore and then turns to Belos, eyes glowing like "You lied to him. You said you were his friend but you lied to him."

- I'm not an Amity Blight expert so I'm probably far off. But I've been thinking about it. I'm wondering if maybe her puppetification is JUST her, rather than it being all of the kids. And maybe Odalia is directly responsible.

And considering Amity is overdue for her ✨️Moment✨️ I'm wondering if this might be it. There's a running theme in the owl house when it comes to puppets and puppet masters, and this is directly linked to the characters who suffered abuse and manipulation at the hands of their parental figures.

Hunter got his puppet moment in TTT. Maybe Amity gets something similar in WAD. I know she's HAD her big important moment of establishing her autonomy in EE and then again in COTH. But maybe its one final nod to it. I also find it interesting that in spite of being puppetfied her hand is moving. Like to symbolise this defiance and stubbornness to comply with what Odalia has demanded of her ever since EE

- I've been mostly thinking about the potential scenario of Belos!Luz and GG!Hunter from Luz's POV. Cuz idek if we're getting the actual Hunter or a dream version of Hunter.

But like. It's FUCKED. Because Belos was Hunter's blood relation. He was his family. A terrible twisted version of a family but the only kind Hunter knew.

And then came Luz, who reinvented the meaning of family for him. She confided in him, she trusted him, she loved him. She made that boy her family because she adored him.

So THIS is deranged. Its warping the relationship they've built together into this depraved disturbing thing. The merger of these two family dynamics into one sickening thing. Like Luz was his shelter. But now she's become the exact thing he was running from.

Having Hunter look at her with blatant fear, shrinking himself so he stands beneath her, the horrible emotions that must make her feel. Oh I HATE THIS!!!

And even getting this miniscule comfort of Hunter ripped away from her. Like he was her PERSON. The only one who was aware of the horrible things she's done and she doesn't feel judged by, for several months. Like if all else failed, at least Hunter didn't hate her.

And now THIS scenario which is like "maybe....maybe he should be the one to hate you the most."

- Want a scene where Willow and Hunter gotta split up and there's some kind of antagonist pursuing them. They've only got a moment of peace before it reaches them. And Willow's like "You go ahead. I'll hold them off." (Like she did in LR) and Hunter doesn't want to leave her. But the circumstances are dire and he knows he has to and he KNOWS she'll keep herself alive. But he still worries. So they promise each other that they'll stay safe and Willow turns her back to him after that, preparing herself for a fight and expecting him to hurry off now. But he doesn't. He lingers there for an extra moment, wanting to tell her something but unable to put it into words. Then he zaps himself to her side, hastily smooches her cheek and zaps away before she can recover from her shock.

And then Willow is just. Left there. Stunned. Staring blankly at the space where he once was. And then a smile cracks her mouth wide open. Whatever she's fighting catches up to her and Willow can only cackle giddily, her engine all revved up, and she's all like LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

Willow gets one teeny tiny little smooch by Hunter and it makes her go all "I AM POWERFUL AND I WILL NEVER DIE!!!!!!!"

- Actually overall I believe in a Willow and Hunter comic relief. I think Gus and Amity are both having special spotlight in this episode. And Luz will finally reunite with Eda and King. And idk WHERE the fuck Camila is (smooching puppet Darius or smth). But ya Willow and Hunter are gonn be so cringe.

- Evelyn Clawthorne voice reveal and Irish accent.

- Belos dies an excruciatingly painful death

- Hunter Noceda

- If there is not a big dramatic scene dedicated to Willow and Gus reuniting with their dads I am fucking killing somebody.

68 notes · View notes

jasontoddssuper · 9 months

Text

All the lore for my Toh self-insert so far

Tagged canon characters for my own personal organization so i can come back and read this post later,sorry if that causes annoyance!! /gen

@leo-thecactus @peachyblkdemonslayer @user1046 @moonage-gaydream @cottoncandyteeth @cottoncandyspikes @insomniac-jay @julieemarine @theultimatesagavan @catboymoments @rosy-tickles

His name is Verano Azul and he's black/white mixed dominican-Not the Demon Realm equivalent like Willow being korean but as in one of his parent's is from Earth and dominican.The parent in question is named Esta and is something of a dark parallel to Luz,a human who ended up on The Boiling Isles and is instead a magic hater who sides with Belos in that way.His other parent is named Invierno and he has an older brother named Otoño who goes by Oto

Esta and Invierno are abusive to him because of generational trauma from their latino heritage and encourage Oto to bully him and uphold him as the 'sibling they raised right'.Verano had severe self-eestem issues because of this and it was only added on to by being bullied at Hexside for his shyness and obvious hybrid status(see him having non-pointed ears)

He's the same age as Luz and was a trio with Gus and Willow until she came along and made them a quartet.He met his first ever two friends the same day they met eachother when they saw him getting bullied by Boscha and Gus caused a distraction with his illusions so Willow could sneak him away to a hiding spot and Gus hid too to avoid Boscha's wrath.Once school let out,Verano nervously approached them to thank them and hung out with them the next day which turned into every day after that

He's in the healing track/coven and got shit from his family for it because they wanted him to take a 'more useful' one and his palisman is a pink dragon named Fresa

His parents also never truly let him be feminine as a kid and called him an ungrateful brat for asking for things like children's makeup kits and dolls so as part of her redemption arc,Amity teaches him how to be femme and buys him the stuff they refused to and a particularly special item that he's always wearing because it was the first one she bought him is a plain pink choker

His fashion sense is pastel and mostly girly but has some masc hints here and there since he's bigender and it makes him happy with himself.He's short with light brown skin,full lips,a big nose and waist length black hair that's natural thick and curly but he relaxes it and dyes a baby pink streak in it in season 3 as a bonding activity with Willow and Amity until the epilogue where we see he's switched to twists and several streaks and gone from regular pastel to pastel punk

He also has a job making video games since Luz introduced him to them and he learned how to make them as he loved them enough for it to become a special interest

Has a genderfluid pride pin on his dress in Thanks to them

Eda becomes a mother figure to him through his frequent visits to The Owl House to see Luz and adopts him mid-season 1 after finding out he's being abused thanks to him accidentally revealing it during one of their conversations.She went to the Azul house and tricked his parents into giving her custody via adoption papers and easily beat them when they tried to fight her.Oto wasn't around to witness it but is still scared shitless of her and avoids Verano from then on(He does apologize in For the future and Verano says he accepts but dosen't wanna be around him anymore and he respects that).Raine is also his parent due to his and Eda's marriage and there's not a day without both chaos and wholesomeness with them

Considers Camila his official parent too(and she sees him as her son and daughter)and is eternally grateful to her for teaching him about blackness unlike Invierno.Perry,who was never told about Verano's abuse until after Eda came along,did teach him a few things but sadly couldn't get to many because of him still living with his racist parents

And his final parent is Darius.This one has funny reasons because the context is that the two of them got so close thanks to Verano being best friends with Hunter that Darius kept dropping hints to Eda that he wanted shared custody and she teased him into admitting it outright and laughed at his embarrased anger before agreeing to it.Verano was overjoyed when they told him and pulled them into a group hug after giving each of them a platonic cheek kiss,squealing about how much he loves them and what they were going to do as a family

His full name is technically Verano Azul Clawthorne Whispers Noceda Deammone but for the sake of shortness he just uses his first name when introducing himself

When he started unmasking,he turned into a very bubbly and optimistic weirdgirl who slowly became a Team Mom as his friend circle grew.His favorite stims are repeating words and running around,he's good at handling meltdowns,his special interests are dragons cats video games and pink and his safe foods are booding and McDonalds(post/during season 3)

Like the rest of the Hexside Squad,he had an episode dedicated their first meeting with Hunter and his was called 'Little Pink Flying Hood and the Hunter'.It took place post Eclipse Lake but pre Hollow mind and had them bumping forehead first into eachother due to his broom going out of control and getting lost in the forest and trying to find their way back home.They became friends by the end as they bonded deeply,including Verano telling him he dosen't have to be perfect and Hunter responding that they don't need to feel like a freak either.They don't reveal his secret identity in ASIAS but there's a running gag that he thinks they will and at one point they snark that if he keeps at it they'll spill the beans

Verano,Willow,Gus and Hunter are called 'The Four Emeralds' and their group chat that that they created after Darius gave Hunter his phone is titled that and it's extremely chaotic but sweet

His Flapjack tatto is on his right palm

He's Gus and Mat's wingman and finds Mat's cringe to be super cool

Edit:I came up with one more point!!His halloween costume was a pink and white catdragon onesie with blue cat face paint :]

27 notes · View notes

childlikegoblinqueen · 4 months

Text

SCOM Writing Notes: Adrian, Severine, and other stuff.

I know a few people had once commented that Hunter's shove of Adrian in Labyrinth Runners seemed somewhat personal.

Also that Hunter must have a very strong will to go into the memory illusion without completely losing it.

Some spoilers below from last chapter. It's been a while since I've done one of these. Also a nod to @secretly-of-course who (along with another AO3 user) inspired a ship in this chapter.

So its definitely hinted in canon that Adrian is one of the cruelest Coven Heads. In Labyrinth Runners, its on full display.

He is not only eager to capture Hunter and turn him in, but he seems to be aware that conjuring an image of Belos would frighten him, leading to the likely conclusion that Adrian was aware that Hunter was being abused and just didn't care.

Hunter on the other hand was quick to intercept Adrian from Gus at great risk to himself. Even if he was cloaked, he could have easily taken that opportunity to run -- but he didn't and yeah, he shoved Graye pretty hard. Maybe there is some history there?

Anyway, in the past chapter you get a bit more of what happened the first time Hunter met both Adrian and Severine. There's a longer standing grudge for both, and as previously suggested, the truth of Hunter's species was kept an open secret. Adrian would have made a deal for Belos to give him Hunter's eyes upon his inevitable demise (not that Belos would have made good on this, but it was a good way to keep him loyal). Little did Adrian know, the spyglass itself was made of a grimwalker's retina.

Back in a previous chapter, it was mentioned that the spyglass belonged to Prospero, the Coven Head before Adrian, who Adrian had exposed as having a secret family, which led to Prospero's "dismissal" *cough*death*cough*.

Because we see Graye on full awful display in Labyrinth Runners, I thought it would be natural to have Hunter's background with the Illusion Coven Head coincide with meeting Severine.

Hunter and Severine actually have a lot in common. Both are trying to prove something to their families, and the way Severine saw it back then, Hunter had everything and cost her everything by giving up the team to be captured by Adrian in the drill -- completely unaware that Adrian had tortured him with the spyglass into giving it up.

If Adrian cared that Hunter was being hurt by Belos and went to expose him, he probably would have met the same fate as the healing witch who had been petrified, but he didn't instead, he used Hunter's shame against him.

So yes, Hunter had a very strong will to withstand the effects of the memory magic-- but I thought it would be fun if the suggestion was that this was due to the fact that he'd felt its magic before.

As mentioned, the Severine/Morton ship was inspired by a few fics I read and thought were super sweet. The blackmail plot has been running in the background for a bit now! It was fun to finally get it out.

And of course the fact that the strain of Miki Ultra used by the Keepers and the manufacturer of the Palisman Restraints having a common parent company has also been there.

#toh fanfic #sweet child o mine #the owl house fanfiction

10 notes · View notes

polyhexian · 8 months

Note

Thought for the 'Jasper stays; worst ending' timeline: Jasper tracks Hunter to Hexside and shows up during the whole Mega Illusion thing. Gus mindcrushes Jasper. So now Gus knows Jasper's motives … but they are in a situation where that information is not actually helpful.

OH THAT IS SO MUCH BETTER... Poor Gus trying to figure out how to break it to Hunter that guy trying to drag him back to his abuser who wants to kill him is his dad who in a fucked up way is STILL trying to protect him

15 notes · View notes

rfswitchart · 11 months

Text

Sometimes, when I’m thinking about The Owl House, I think about all the scars the characters have. Not necessarily the emotional ones, but the physical ones they have accumulated through the series. Like, what was Willow’s reaction the first time she saw Hunter shirtless? Was she horrified seeing in full all the damage he had endured? Was she angry at Belos for hurting the sweet boy standing before her? Did she ignore them and see his beauty, his attractiveness? Did she touch his scars? Trace the lines to comfort him, to tell him everything is alright? And what about Luz? Does the scar over her eye haunt her? The trauma she endured from trusting too easily? Is she ashamed of herself even after graduating because she let her guard down? Does she see the scar as a badge, a reminder that she’s grown into a better, more sensible person? Or does she see it as weakness, a cold reminder that she has failed before and can do so again? What if Amity has scars? Left there by an abusive woman who manipulated and controlled ever part of her life. Is she afraid of them? Fearing that her friends would think less of her for having them? That Luz wouldn’t love her if she showed the full extent of the abuse she was dealt? Does she wear less revealing clothes to hide away the pain? Do they cause her to forge a bond with Hunter, both empathizing with each other’s trauma? Does Willow have scars? Did she get them from the bullying Boscha’s gang did? Did she acquire them from working herself to the bone to get stronger? Does Gus have scars? Did he get them from trusting people too much? Does he use illusions to hide them when people are looking too close? See, I have scars too. Lots of them. Some from accidents, from burns in the kitchen, from injuries I had when I was a kid. Some from battle, from people trying to bully me, attack me, kill me. And I wonder what people think of them. I wonder what people think of me when they see those scars. Sometimes I think about Owl House and the scars the characters have, because sometimes I wonder how much I relate to them and the pain they’ve endured.

#the owl house #toh hunter #willow toh #luz noceda #toh amity #gus porter #the owl post #trauma #ptsd #scars #empathy #I've gone thought a lot honestly #huntlow #lumity

25 notes · View notes

let-us-cultivate-our-garden · 1 year

Note

I love Hunter dearly but now that I think about it, he really did become Caleb, and that’s kinda fucked. Bro had a crisis about being a Grimwalker and in the end he wound up exactly like the guy he was a clone of, and he didn’t even get to kill his abuser. I mean I love torturing my faves as much as the next girl but it really feels like he was only there to suffer in s3

Agreed anon. Although I don't think it would have benefitted Hunter if he killed Belos, that would cause more trauma and he's been through more than enough. He should have at least been present during the final battle and his near-identical physical resemblance to Caleb could have been a trigger for Belos that would have been taken advantage by the kids to take him out for good. Or Gus could have used his illusion powers to stop Belos, remember when he glimpsed inside Belos' mind in KT and basically saw the whole thing between Philip and Caleb and yet this is never brought up again? Good times.

The show writers also admit to torturing Hunter because it's easy. Now, admittedly, this is a rather tongue-in-cheek answer but the fact remains that the show puts Hunter through the wringer and barely addresses his trauma. Which is just bad writing and it makes me uncomfortable to see a character go through so much and for the show to only offer crumbs of acknowledgement.

#asks #toh critical #toh criticism #the owl house #toh hunter

45 notes · View notes

the-owl-house-takes · 8 months

Note

A lot of the people criticizing TOH are using recycled arguments from the SU crits and for that reason alone I know they're not good arguments. Something can be serialized AND episodic. This mixed model is present in many shows, INCLUDING ATLA. Something can have horror and romance and comedy, look at WTNV! "The Collector had more characterization than Gus" that is patently false. I am a Collector fan and Gus definitely got more focus. He had multiple episodes fleshing out his relationships with other characters, outside the main cast, we know his weaknesses, in that he can be blind to other people using him (a parallel with the Collector) AND he can only really do illusions. We know about his insecurities, we know his strengths, we know his interests and hobbies. People are complaining to complain. It's not lost on me that this intense nit-picking of problems that barely exist is the exact same thing that happened to SU. AND DON'T EVER LET IT BE LOST ON *YOU* THAT THIS MOSTLY HAPPENS TO SHOWS WITH QUEER REP, A DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS, SHALLOW OBSERVATIONS OF PROBLEMS THAT DON'T REALLY EXIST ***AND THEN!!!*** CALLING THE CREATOR A BAD PERSON OR A RACIST OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, AS IF THE SHOW SPRUNG FULLY FORMED FROM THEIR HEAD. (mod can you not post any asks in the future that call Dana or anyone else on the team a racist or anything like that?) "Oh the ending was rushed! It's bad writing, I don't care that they had a runtime equivalent to six episodes to conclude what they originally planned and paced for TWENTY!" Okay then pal, if you're so fucking smart and talented, then why don't *YOU* make a script that wraps up everything perfectly but the catch is YOU NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE RUN TIME (this is an argument about what we have being rushed so you cannot change the conclusions, because the "it was rushed" argument implies that "it would work if it wasn't paced poorly"). Yeah. Develop the Collector more and show us their change of heart in more depth? At the expense of what? Rewrite Huntlow so it isn't abrupt and is further away from both of their mental breakdowns? At the expense of WHAT? Include the hexsquad in the final Fight since everyone wants the deeply traumatized child to watch his abuser die (this is not something every abused person wants or needs btw)? I'd like to see you juggling (Luz, King, Eda, Hunter, Amity, Willow, Gus, Camila, The Collector, Belos, Raine) ELEVEN CHARACTERS. Not to mention so many of these complaints REEK of media illiteracy. "The ending should have been more like amphibia's" That wouldn't have worked with the Themes of the show. Not to mention the ones I pointed out at the top of this rant. It really feels like people have walked into a subway and are complaining at the lack of chicken nuggets. "I'm allowed to say my complaints about the show I like!" I think if you call the creator of this show a racist or insult anyone on the team because you wished this cartoon for children didn't end the way you wanted it to, then maybe you shouldn't be allowed to criticize anything, ever. Critique NEVER should include insults at the creator. Would you look at the work of a painter and say "Wow what horrible skill, what a lack of talent, this artist must be a real loser" and it turns out you're mad about the art being abstract when you prefer romanticism, or post modernist when you want neo-classical.

There's things that could have been improved about the show, there's criticisms to be had, but Critique IS NOT insulting the creator. And your criticism can be criticized too, especially when it is over-inflated or based on objective flaws in reasoning (like people wanting the ending to be like amphibia's, which, despite all similarities, WAS TELLING A DIFFERENT STORY THEMATICALLY).

#the owl house #toh #long post

11 notes · View notes

misccy27 · 1 year

Text

They could have easily written Darius and Hunter’s relationship out of the show after ASIAS

I kept expecting them to. I thought they did at first. Maybe it played out differently for me because I first watched season 2 by binging it after it was over, but the continued existence of Darius and Hunter's relationship kept catching me off guard. Like. Here's how it played out for me:

Any Sport in a Storm ends with Darius being set up as a sort of mentor figure that will help set Hunter on the right path by undermining Belos’ teachings. But that role became (largely) unnecessary with Hollow Mind.

So I was watching Hollow Mind, watching the stakes change suddenly and drastically, and it ends with Hunter ripping off his cloak. And it's like, Hunter’s cloak is such a direct one-to-one analogy for Darius’ approval throughout the entirety of ASIAS. So when Hunter in his very next episode throws his cloak on the ground at the end of it, I absolutely read that as Hunter also rejecting his relationship with Darius.

And it was sad, but understandable. Hunter’s whole life has just been pulled out from under him. He can't go back to the castle. He thinks Darius is loyal to Belos. So his relationship with Darius becomes a genuinely good thing that he has to leave behind in order to escape his abusive environment. Just another tragedy at the end of a tragic episode. The show, as they say, must go on.

And it did. Labyrinth Runners happened and I was like, yup. Here it is. Hunter is now in a full-blown coming-of-age story. I know how this goes. He gets no parents now; only friendships born of trauma. It’s fine, it’s whatever. It's how the story goes.

So I was absolutely 1000% unprepared for Hunter to roll up on the Day of Unity on a mission from Darius. So casual too, like:

Hunter you are not here on a mission. You are here on a quest. Look at your snazzy little color-coordinated outfit. You look like you're here to deliver bread to grandma's house. It is the Day of Unity what is happening here? Like???

I genuinely cannot overstate just how much this floored me. Because the way the story plays out it's like: a week ago (in canon), Hunter learned that the man he trusted and adored more than anyone else in the world - the man that his entire life revolved around - has been sadistically manipulating him his whole life with just the most absolute worst intentions that anyone could have imagined. It is a complete nightmare scenario:

The next time we see Hunter after that, and the last time we see him before he shows up on the Day of Unity, coven head Adrian is the one traumatizing him. Adrian is taking up the mantle of psychological tormenting this kid, lying to him about reality, creating illusions of both friends and enemies alike:

So after LR there is approximately zero reason for Hunter to trust anyone outside of Gus and maybe some of the other Hexside kids. He definitely has no reason to trust any adult ever again tbh.

So yeah. I was not expecting Hunter to show up on the Day of Unity taking orders from Darius. We didn't get to see them interact at all between ASIAS and now. Last I checked, Hunter still had no clue that the rebellion even existed. Meanwhile, we see Darius preparing for the Day of Unity, apparently keeping his work life and home life entirely separate, good job ig. When did Darius even have time for this? The entire world is at stake and Hunter has run away from the castle and they somehow managed to get in touch with each other again anyways?

The implied off-screen interaction(s) here is A Lot, but I'm getting off-track. The point is, it didn't have to be included. The writers could have had Luz meet up with her friends in any way that they wanted. Like, this is a show stuffed full of plot contrivances. We still have no idea what Willow, Gus, and Hunter were doing between LR and the Day of Unity. The possibilities were endless. There were so many options with fewer contrivances than Hunter trusting Darius at this point.

But the writers chose to intertwine Darius and Hunter’s plots again anyway. They doubled down on a relationship that I had given up on. “Darius insisted” that Luz needed an escort. Darius ordered Hunter to do it. This was I guess just thrown in as a fun fact: yes there is indeed at least one adult still paying attention to this child's situation right now. That adult is sending Hunter away from the action, on the same mission that Eda gave Luz to keep her safe. The world is ending and everything has changed and yet Hunter is still on Darius' priority list. Okay. Cool. I can be chill about this I swear.

And then King’s Tide happens. And it is not enough for Hunter and Darius to just have any sort of relationship at all by this point. No, they have to make sure we know: Hunter is attached to Darius. Like, this?

Totally unnecessary. Did not need to happen. This serves zero purpose to the plot. Even in terms of emotional stakes and making Hunter suffer, it’s like. This happens in between Luz sacrificing herself for Hunter and Hunter seeing his Uncle brutally murdered in front of him. This was not at all necessary. Those kids did not have to stumble across Eda and the coven heads on their way to rescue Luz. It affected nothing. It was actually just put in the episode to attack me personally and I love it. Fantastic.

And then the season ends. And the setup for their relationship is so bad at this point, like? Darius is in some unknown terrible situation a realm away. Hunter just showed up on Camila's doorstep with his 4 best friends. This is a perfect opportunity to end the relationship. I was mentally prepared for it, going into Thanks to Them. Going along with the theme of grieving and letting go of childish fantasies and all.

Here's the setup: Hunter’s situation is changing drastically once again, but this time it's for the better. He is now spending months in the human realm, finally in a relatively safe and supportive environment. He's spending enough time there to gain context about the fact that authority figures can be not only good, but also nice. Hunter now has another adult that cares about his well-being and is helping him. It is a good situation for him to be in. I am genuinely happy for him.

So when Hunter’s sewing hobby first came up in TTT, I was prepared to disconnect that from where it started in ASIAS. When Hunter brought up the fact that Camila taught him how to use the sewing machine, I was ready for closure. I accepted it as “Yes. I see. Camila has displaced Darius both literally as Hunter’s sewing teacher and metaphorically in Hunter’s heart.” I was prepared for it. So this did, in fact, hit me hard:

Hunter. For all you know Darius has been dead for months. What are you doing? Why do you still care?? Just how familiar are you with Darius’ stitches anyway???

And it's again like. Literally none of these scenes were necessary. Everything we see about this relationship post-ASIAS could have been removed entirely without affecting any other relationships or the broader story at all. The fact that all of this was included means that we’re now at a point where it’s like:

Hunter got out of his abusive situation and he has a strong support network of people who love him now and also Darius just so happens to still matter to him anyway. This relationship still matters despite the plot pulling them in different directions every step of the way. This relationship has turned into a full-blown star-crossed found family scenario now. And how am I supposed to feel about that?

Because I really don't know what to expect. We get to see so little of Darius. He has had zero agency for the past however many months. The crumbs we got in Hollow Mind and with the Day of Unity mission show that Darius does care about Hunter. It's obvious that Hunter cares about Darius. I am all-in at this point tbh. So please just give me another crumb writers. All I need is just a halfway decent reunion, it can even be in the background, I can fill in the rest. Just. Let this end on a positive note for them please.

#toh hunter #darius deamonne #don't hate me but #I'm glad I binged s2 afterwards #speculating over each episode would have done me in #i'm glad my hope built up slowly with zero expectations #like i did not mean to care about this relationship #but it just kept showing up #now i am going to manifest the best possible ending for these two i s2g

36 notes · View notes