—so as you see, Gus learning necromancy would tie in so well with his conflict of feeling insecure about illusions, because that wasn’t actually resolved in TtLGR! Plus, it would tie in perfectly with all of his references to death, as well as the fact that he hangs out in a literal graveyard! And— *gestures to this picture*

[Screenshot of Gus from the episode Understanding Willow. He is reaching towards a book titled Raising the Dead. The picture has no captions, but in the show he was saying "Must I turn to forbidden sources?"]

—may I remind you, we’ve already seen him tempted to turn to necromancy when he had trouble with something once before, so everything is clearly set up!

Not only has this grounds in foreshadowing, it also fits with what his character wants! *slams a pointing finger on a list of character traits, where the phrase “wants to help the unrepresented” is highlighted*

I mean, this kid literally wants to go be an ambassador! And go bring back some exiled group without a voice! Of course he’d be a perfect medium between the spirit realm and that of the living!

AND!!!! IT WOULD BE FUCKING COOL!!! *slams down folder of @bakedbeanchan’s necromancer Gus art*

Hey, I finally got around to writing something for my Necromancer Gus AU! Shoutout to @bakedbeanchan and their incredible art for this AU that gave me the motivation to write this!

~~~

The roof of the owl house had such a nice view, Gus thought idly. Especially on a morning like this, when mist swirled lazily through the treeline like some kind of ghostly sea. It wasn’t the only ghostly thing out there though. Between the trees, fain shapes flitted to and fro— ghosts that, though dead, still wandered the isles. Some were crisp and clear as the day they died. Others were nothing but wisps.

His eyes flitted between them, following their movements in an almost meditative trance. They were beautiful, in a way. Still, none of them were the one he wanted to see— the one he’d nearly died to see.

Almost unconsciously, he curled his left hand into a fist. Bone clacked gently against bone. He shuddered at the sensation. It was like the touch was being whispered into the back of his brain rather than being actually felt. On some level he knew he should practice touching things so he could get used to the feel, but it’d been almost a week since the arm had been skeletonized and he still couldn’t get himself to do it. Glaring at the hand, he stretched his fingers far apart. There would be no more touching if he had anything to say about it.

“Hey Gus.”

Gus jolted his gaze up as Luz sat down next to him. “Oh, hey Luz! I didn’t hear you come up!” He laughed awkwardly, then trailed off into silence.

“Are you okay man? You’ve been up here a while just staring off into space,” Luz said.

Gus let his eyes drift back from Luz to the trees. How to answer that? After all that’d happened in the past week, could he really say anything to reassure Luz that wouldn’t be a lie? …Should he just lie?

“Ugh, Luz no, that’s a horrible question!” Luz muttered next to him. “Of course he’s not okay, he just lost his dad and most of his arm!”

Gus smiled slightly. He felt a bit bad being comforted by her beating herself up, but he couldn’t help it. She’d tried so hard over the last week to help him out with whatever he needed, whether it was helping him put on his shirt while he was getting used to his new arm, sewing him a new tunic when the feel of his sleeve on his arm had driven him to tears, or even just frequently giving him big hugs. It was almost like he’d imagined having a big sister would be like.

“It’s fine Luz. I was just doing some ghost watching.”

“Really? What do they look like?”

Gus grinned. “Why don’t I show you?”

He puckered his lips and let out a low whistle, pushing a little magic through the circle of his lips. On the edge of the forest one of the ghosts — a wispy cat — perked up its ears and came running over. It jumped into the outstretched palm of his skeletal left hand, its soul gathering around the bones like some sort of spectral flame.

Luz gasped. “Woah, que lindo!”

“You can see it?” Gus asked.

“If you’re talking about the blue flames that just appeared on your hand then yup! Definitely seeing that.”

Well that was very cool. He’d have to experiment more with grabbing spirits later, since if Luz could see the soul while he was holding it, it might be able to affect more than just the spirit world. For now though, he already knew what he wanted to do with it.

“Watch this.” Gus drew a spell circle in midair, focusing on how the cat had looked before. Time to see if he could pull this off again. He held his hand up in front of the circle and gently blew the soul through it. As it went, the illusion magic shaped it — making it look the same as it had before he’d grabbed it, but a little more solid and more visible to people that hadn’t gone through forbidden necromantic rituals.

“Woah,” Luz said again. The cat shook itself and started to frolic about the roof. “Is that what all ghosts look like?”

“Eh, not necessarily.” Gus smiled as the cat pounced on a ladybug, leaving behind a thin trail of mist. “Some are a little more shaped than others, you know?”

“Not really, no. Hey, can I pet it?”

Oh you know he went “seeing into the void beyond life and death? Learning necromancy? It’s goth time!”

Ah, thank you for the reminder!

So, Necromancer Gus AU. I have a couple variations on this, but the version I've actually written for goes as follows:

Perry slips up and says something that could be taken as going against the emperor's coven during one of his segments. Because of that, he is killed. In order to try and get him back, Gus turns to necromancy. The ritual goes wrong though. Instead of bringing his father back, one of his arms is infused with necrotic energy, turning it into a skeletal version of itself and granting him necromancy magic.

What follows is Gus seeking to gain a better awareness of his powers, as well as trying to find another way to get his father back. His friends help when they can, but often the best they can do is offer moral support.

The one fic I've written so far for this is Arm Bones and Misty Ghosts, which takes place during Gus' recovery after the ritual, as Luz tries to comfort him and help him adjust to his new arm.

I do have another idea for a one-shot in this AU, but I've been a bit too busy to actually go back and finish it lol. Still, it's fun to think about!

~~~

The graveyard is quiet. Mist slowly drifts between the worn stones, muffling the noise of the forest around. A figure steps out of the treeline — the young necromancer Gus. He steps to the center of the graveyard. Takes a deep breath. Lets it out. With another breath in he starts to whistle — a single note, low and melodious, carrying magic with it through the mist.

A faint blue light starts to shine from one of the gravestones. Slowly, a wisp rises out of the ground.

Gus raises his skeletal left hand and the wisp floats over, gently alighting on his palm. It expands, engulfing his hand in a spectral flame which blows in some nonexistent wind. He stops whistling. A smile and the flickering blue flame light up his face, contrasting with his dark makeup.

His hand closes, and an instrument appears in it — a lyre of bone and sinew. “It’s showtime,” he whispers.

Y-you don’t know that Right now, my main idea has to do with the “Looking Glass Ruins”. So in this au, the ruins are back from deep in the age of wild magic, long before Belos.

While Gus is exploring the ruins with the kids, he gets separated and falls down to a much lower level. There’s a mirror there, except it’s more like a window. Essentially, the ruins are infused with a powerful magic that, in relation to the coven system, is some mix of Oracle and Illusion.

The mirror is the focus of that magic. It grants him a vision beyond the veil of life and death, and he reaches into the mirror, drawn in by its power. Unfortunately, it’s too much for him. It strips the flesh from his bones with ease, consuming his entire arm before he can pull it out.

However, that necrotic magic flowing through him and his deep gaze beyond the veil gives him insight into necromancy — the art of calling on powers from beyond this realm of existence and giving them form — and he’s able to cast a spell to put his arm bones back in place, though the flesh is gone forever.