fjsamfkdsmdskfsd hunter has a nightmare and Luz happens to drop by just in time to catch his break down.
I was busy making other stuff over break but the announcement of season 2b and cheeselos kinda spurred me to make this. Technically a part 1 but I highly doubt I’ll finish it any time soon, we’re goin back to regular class schedule soon so I’ll be swamped again.
There’s a possibility that this is just supposed to represent his voice getting corrupted as he’s taken over more and more by wild magic; that him having a different VA as pure Philip was to keep us from having his identity confirmed by the VA. That’s possible.
But with the “The Emperor is looking forward to meeting you”, and his eyes sometimes being blue and sometimes being green, I’m genuinely starting to wonder if there are two people inside Belos. If he and his brother are… combined, somehow. Some magical accident? Is that why he built a new body– not to put himself into, but to separate out his brother?
INTERESTING!
That would explain how Hunter seems to be a replica of Phillip’s brother in every way but this:
Is identical to Phillip himself…
Either that or Phillip had to use bits of himself to complete the spell??
I still feel like so much more is pointing towards Hunter being some-sort of sacrifice, but this theory is going to be nagging at me for a long ass time
EVERYBODY STOP WHAT THEIR DOING AND TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT HUNTERS USERNAME
RULERS REACH AS IN THE BOOK KING AND LUZ WROTE??
LOL
DOES HE EVEN REALIZE THEY WROTE THAT
imagining Hunter trashing the Azura series and Luz being like “what do u even know about good literature” and Hunter starts gushing about how much better Rulers Reach is and Luz juST- LOSING HER SHIT SGDdg
At worst, Darius seems to be a villain with principles; Which compared to the genocidal Belos and his constant gaslighting and manipulations, is too much even for him! And again that’s at worst. So it stands to reason that the previous Golden Guard (whom we’ll refer to as such, while Hunter is simply Hunter) was along those lines, given how Darius fondly remembers him, and judges Hunter by the standards of his predecessor. And what alleviates Darius’ disapproval is Hunter learning to think for himself, even at the apparent cost of the coven; Something Darius believes would make the Golden Guard proud.
And as others have pointed out, Darius doesn’t necessarily know of Hunter’s abuse, or at least doesn’t know he goes through more than that of the typical covenscout. And Hunter being the Emperor’s nephew might be a VERY recent reveal in-universe, or not; Lilith didn’t know, but with what we know of Philip, it makes even more sense for Belos to keep her in the dark about a lot of things as just a figurehead who has a ‘destiny’ to fulfill. Regardless, it makes sense for the Coven Heads to know more than your typical covenscout, but after Hunting Palismen, Hunter seems to have revealed his face to prevent another situation like that.
So from Darius’ perspective, he grows up in a coven system that believes in order but is still reasonable and has SOME principles, because Belos hasn’t tightened his control yet. It helps that his Golden Guard is actually a principled dude by comparison, and seems to have actual magic to an extent. But after Darius becomes Coven Head and the Golden Guard is put out of commission for unknown circumstances, Belos starts to tighten his grip on the isles. More and more witches are forcibly bound, and nobody’s speaking out against him.
Darius isn’t actively spreading the coven at this point, but he will do his job of at least defending it against direct traitors and the like. Then this freaking teenager shows up, the barest minimum age to even join a coven; And he’s higher-ranked than everyone else?! He doesn’t even have magic, and seems to be a pitiful yes-man to the Emperor, who is his uncle... Ah. That explains why he keeps being given the time of day. If Darius doesn’t know of Hunter’s abuse, then he has more reason to be critical of the kid as an unthinking brat who has literally nothing to deserve this title except his uncle’s nepotism.
Also because it’s quick it might be hard to see/read, so uh, here’s my ID, tell me if something about it is fucked tho cuz I’ve never written one before
[Image Description
Panel 1, Hunter is on his scroll and flapjack sits on his shoulder. Hunter says “Flapjack! I think I’ve finally mastered teen slang, look!”
Panel 2, close up on Hunters scroll, he’s in a group chat and has texted “The emperor’s coven is Lit AF.” Three people have responded. One sends laughing emojis, one texts “LMAO” and one sends crying emojis
Panel 3, Hunter says “Although, Gus appears to be crying. Should I comfort him? What do I say??” ]
SCREAMING SOBBING hunter has a PHONE NOW AUGHGHHGHGH
Darius is SO GENDER and he’s also a lot nicer than I thought he’d be :’)))) I LOVE HIMMmMGMGmgg and what about the fuckinn??? predecessors??? previous golden guards??? what happened to them???
