#points at hunter and willow. can you believe they're both trans and autistic???

[welcometogrouchland]

Not to be deranged on main abt huntlow again but I think there's a little something in how Willow and Hunter both have character arcs of self-determination, specifically centered around the idea that other people tell them what and who to be.

Like it's most obvious with Hunter. Belos wants him to be Caleb 2.0 (no treachery patch update), and forces him into a position where he can't be any of the things he actually wants to be (happy, free, a normal teen, etc). All Hunter can do is repress those desires.

Everybody in the EC sees Hunter as Someone Else: he's their superior, he's competition for Belos' favour, to Darius he's a mockery of what his mentor stood for (Darius gets over this, woo good for him), and y'know. Belos. Self explanatory.

His desire in Hunting Palismen, the life goal that bonds him to flapjack is literally just him wanting to decide his own future. And now in s3 he's changed his hair (presumably to move away from Caleb). This boys whole deal revolves around the idea that people want him to be someone/something that he doesn't want to be.

But there's an element of other people trying to define who Willow is in her arc too, it's just more subtle.

The show starts off with her in a track she doesn't want to be in cause it's what her parents think is best for her, and that episode starts with Amity calling her "half a witch", and then her calling herself that in a moment of panic, before Luz reassures her.

THAT'S THE THING to me too is that Willow viewing herself as "half a witch" was imposed on her by the outside forces of her bullying. She doesn't seem especially bothered by her lack of magic in the flashbacks in Understanding Willow, except when it gets her and Amity in trouble...until Amity says that she's too weak to be her friend. Baby Willow is DEVASTATED. Then in episodes like hootys moving hastle and any sport in a storm, she feels she has to prove herself to the people who doubt her (Amity and Hermonculous), because again- the way other people view Willow has defined her all her life.

The resolution of Understanding Willow only happens because Amity admits that she didn't mean it when she said Willow was weak. And then in labyrinth runners when Amity thinks Willow needs protecting, Willow straight up says "I want you to see who I really am!". Willows character arc isnt about her gaining confidence because she got better at magic- she did get better, but she was always good (except as a baby but. Y'know. She was a baby. What do you want from her). It's just that nobody wanted to acknowledge that, and that affected her self image to the point where she didn't see it.

And that's why I think the motif of Hunter and Willow seeing each other how they wish others saw them (hunter's just a normal kid to Willow and Willow's strong and capable to Hunter), and how they have these accurate understandings of each other for people who haven't known each other that long...blaggh. they're so cute I'm gonna vomit

#ramblings of a lunatic #the owl house #hunter toh #willow park #huntlow #again. I'm so sorry. i will stop torturing you all with my huntlow content #but i need you guys to know that they make me wanna punch walls and throw up and scream #also ngl but this is part of why i like to headcanon willow as autistic/Neurodivergent #her character speaks to me in the sense that she's actually very competent but only in specific fields/under certain conditions #and her self esteem issues are imposed from the outset and reinforced by societal prejudice #plus her whole out of sight out of mind thing in understanding willow just makes me think of masking lol #is it a hc with the most evidence? no. am i allowed to do whatever i want? yeah actually #points at hunter and willow. can you believe they're both trans and autistic???