Whimsy Mayhem

Specifically I’m thinking about how those three watched her grow up. Like we know Thor interacted with her and Sas and Isaac were there, even if she has no memories of them, but like…. 150 years go by, they find out that the little girl they watched grow up killed herself??

Spoilers below the cut for Good Omens S2. Also it's nearly 3 am so if this doesn't make sense that's why-

Aziraphale, after drinking the coffee: Okay let's talk, oh yes I'll go back to Heaven even though you've technically tried to destroy me twice now......

Crowley was Kokabiel

oh man that shit HURTED but

we're gonna just ignore that Aziraphale drank the coffee the Metatron offered him? Like a little sip but the Metatron didn't drink any of it.

First we have this one, after Belos tells Past Golden Guard to "put on a bigger show." This one would be so much better in gif format, unfortunately I do not have a gif on hand, but we see his expression change, going from

to

That is not a pleased expression. In fact that is a very displeased expression. This is the moment that Hunter realizes (but does not yet accept) that he has been lied to his entire life, and he isn't on the "good side" like he's always thought. He struggles to rationalize it later because he doesn't want to accept it, but I definitely think this is That Moment- after this scene, he doesn't smile again. He's stopped trying to get Luz on his side and he's trying to rationalize everything to himself, to try and convince himself that he's on the Right Side, that his entire life hasn't been a lie.

Look at this boy, he knows that wasn't right- no matter how it is spun. He just doesn't accept it yet.

His expression throughout Belos' speech to the people on the Knee is stoic, he isn't smiling and watches almost dispassionately, not awed or taken in like he was in the town square. His expression when he watches the witch dying on the ground, though... he can't rationalize this. Still, after this he sticks to denial, insisting it must be remembered wrong, that he was the one who was wrong about how mindscapes work, because- again- this is his entire life we're talking about. The only person he's ever allowed himself to love, the only life he's known, the entire purpose he's dedicated himself to.

Then of course we get to the scene with the Collector, throughout most of which we don't actually see his expression/reaction (we see Luz's instead), but afterwards we get;

He has accepted that Belos is not only bad and he has been lied to his whole life, but also that Belos has never cared about him... at all. Even once. His entire life has been a lie and now nothing will ever be the same again- mind you, he doesn't even realize how bad it'll be for him, this is before they find the hall of masks, but he knows his life as he knew it is over- not just because Belos knows he's in there, but because Hunter, just like his predecessors, cannot justify Belos' plans or his actions.

And then... this moment comes.

Knowing what he knows now, the realization that Kid Belos was actually Inner Belos is horrible, and the monster they were running from was Belos' victim and they inadvertently aided Belos in destroying it... He's afraid, unlike earlier when he thought the Palisman amalgamation was Inner Belos and he immediately bowed down to it.

When Belos forms into his current self and greets Hunter and Luz, Hunter is wearing this expression. It's openly almost hostile, an expression I don't remember seeing him wear around Belos before.

But then, and I don't think I've seen anyone mention this, Belos actually gives Hunter a chance to prove his loyalty.

Belos thanks Hunter for distracting the amalgamation of Palismen souls and gives him this seemingly-warm smile, praise and (faux) affection that Hunter would have eaten up just a few hours before- he gives Hunter a chance to prove he's still loyal, despite everything he's seen. Belos led Hunter through those horrible memories, showing him exactly who he was (just like Luz asked), and instead of deciding to kill Hunter on that fact alone, he gave Hunter a chance to stay by his side, to declare himself loyal and say that he understood why, that he was honored to help Belos.

Instead Hunter ignores the praise, ignores the fond/kind smile (because now he knows it's all lies, just a manipulation tactic) and asks him; "What did you do to the other guards? To our family?" He accuses Belos of doing what Belos always told him wild magic did- showing that this was something he couldn't forgive, that now he knew the truth that wild magic wasn't dangerous, that it was all lies, that Belos is the one to blame.

And it's then that Belos decides Hunter is like all the others- that if he is allowed to live, he will ultimately betray him.

"I have a way of finding out their sins and secrets, bringing them to their knees"

"The world owes me a debt and now I've come to collect, so don't get in my way"

"So I let the rumors turn me into a legend, 'cuz I'm only human but a good myth is hard to kill"

"Maybe I'm too obsessed with retribution, somebody has to pay. By the time you figure out the rules I broke, I've already won the game."

Are we gonna talk about how the Titan Trappers basically claim the Titans are evil, meanwhile they wear Titan CHILDREN skulls (and you know they're children b/c they're around the same size as King's, some bigger and some SMALLER) and skins likely to A) trick other Titan children into trusting/letting their guard down around them and B) luring in adult Titans who are probably worried about this teeny tiny baby out in the middle of nowhere, too small to walk through the water on their own?

Consider; the Collector manipulated/is manipulating the Titan Trappers, but is not manipulating Belos. The Collector possibly happened upon Bill one day and promised him immense power, but Belos actually went seeking them out. Bill & Co want to free the Collector in exchange for that power, directly tying their intentions together (and I doubt the Collector plans to keep their part of the deal).

Anyway AU? Not much different from Canon, but where after every Golden Guard has betrayed Belos he decides to take a different approach with Hunter, who ofc wasn't one of the grimwalkers helping his rise to power/establish his authority but was instead the second grimwalker created after Belos became emperor (assuming Darius' mentor was the first (and longest lasting, old enough to be a mentor to a teen/young adult in his final years), created within the first 20 years of Belos' 50 year reign).

This approach he took with Hunter would have had Hunter being raised and taught as the prince, while the Golden Guard was a high ranking official who only went out by direct order of Belos and was rarely, if ever, seen in public outside of an important, highly classified mission. No one, not even the coven heads, would be aware that their prince and the Golden Guard are one in the same, and most thinking each one is spoiled in their own way (the prince being isolated and taught by tutors handpicked by the emperor, and in some cases the emperor himself, and seemingly always getting what he wants, while the Golden Guard is seen a having been handed his position without earning it). Of course Belos is still terrible and abusive and Hunter is still suffering, doubly so with a forced secret identity that keeps him in check with and without the mask, and unable to socialize in either identity because the Boiling Isles know his face as well as his mask.

.

Hunter took an instinctive step back as the emperor rose to his feet, as if Luz's spellbinding circle meant nothing to him. Maybe it didn't.

Belos chuckled darkly, staring down at the child he once called nephew. Under that withering gaze Hunter felt his chest tighten and fear claw its way up his throat, because- because-

How was he supposed to defeat the emperor? Luz's trap didn't work and now Hunter was all alone on the dais with him, the rebellion fighting against the emperor's loyalists and the eyes of innocent citizens, trapped in the arena around the dais, were squarely on them.

He took another step back as Belos stood to his full height, slowly advancing closer to him.

"I have defeated you dozens of times," Belos said, voice echoing despite never raising above its soft, controlled level. "I have killed you over and over and over again, and yet you truly thought you could defeat me?"

Hunter swallowed, clenching his fists. He was right- how could he ever think this would work? That he could defeat the emperor of all people? Human though he may have been, he rose to power for a reason.

He lowered his gaze away from Belos and-

Willow was there, fighting her way through the army, and Gus wasn't far behind. Luz and Eda were flying, shooting exploding potions and glyphs and no doubt trying to come up with a new plan. Amity and her father- Raine and Darius and Eberwolf- Lilith and even the Owl House itself- they were all fighting, stubborn and strong and determined and so confident while he was just there, shaking and head bowed and once more reduced to nothing more than the small child he had always been to Belos- reduced to just being the disobedient Golden Guard, the unloved nephew, the Grimwalker who had nothing.

Not even a life of his own.

Not even his own name.

"I created you," Belos continued, towering over Hunter and raising a hand. "Time and time again, I created you, I loved you, I made you the most important member of my coven- and time and time again you have betrayed me. And time and time again, you have failed."

Hunter could already see his skin morphing, it reshaping, and he closed his eyes and held his breath and he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe-

"Caleb!"

The voice- the name- cut through him like a blade and his eyes snapped open. Everything seemed to slow- he breathed in sharply and there was Flapjack on his shoulder, blood rushing through his ears and his once-uncle in front of him. Darius was there running to the dais, followed closely by Eberwolf and Viney, but they'd never make it in time. There was Luz turning to look at them with glyphs already clutched in her hand, and Willow- Willow just trying to keep Terra at bay, keep Terra from coming to Belos' aid, calling for him to move, run, do anything but stand there and die, please, we're all here for you please-

"No!" Hunter screamed, ripping himself from the panic and in a flash Flapjack was in his hands- and Hunter was two feet to the left and Belos' arm slammed into the ground, splashing muck and mud across the shattered surface of the dais.

"What?" Belos snarled, whipping around to face him but Hunter didn't give him a chance to recover, pulling glyphs of his own out of his tunic. Belos didn't even get a chance to move before Hunter teleported forward, slamming a fire glyph into the cloak hanging over Belos' chest, and teleported away as it ignited.

He appeared in the air, next to Belos' head and hit him with another- and another- and another-

Ice glyph, fire glyph, mixed glyphs, anything to get Belos down- to keep him down- and he dropped back to the dais, Flapjack in one hand and a fist full of glyphs in the other. Belos snarled, covered in burns and chunks of ice sliced into his skin, covered in goo and other things Hunter didn't even know how to describe.

"No!" Hunter repeated, voice raising above the cacophony of the battle. He lifted his staff and pointed at Belos with the glyphs.

"You may have killed dozens of Golden Guards! You may have killed all my predecessors and every Grimwalker you ever made," he said, advancing quickly as Belos cracked the ice rooting him to the stage. The glyphs in Hunter's hands lit up as, for the first time in his life, Hunter looked down at Belos.