oh wonderful author of house of gold..... please may i ask if you know of any other good fics like it with hunter?
oh so many. so. so. so many.
Multi-Chapter:
To Hell With The Titan's Plans | 32,113 Words | 20/? Chapters | Summary: In the words of the author "hunter's life kinda goes to shit, oops." Fair bit of gore and injury descriptions, but nothing too graphic. Super great dialogue and internal conflict scenes.
Amity Blight Visits the Castle | 19.444 Words | 6/6 Chapters | Summary: The Blights visit Emperor Belos and wlw/mlm teenage hostility occurs. Incredibly well-written Amity and Hunter interactions.
Do You Want the Knife You Left In My Back, or Can I Keep It? | 13,406 Words | 6/6 Chapters | Summary: Hurt/Comfort recovery fic. An injured Hunter finds Luz at school.
i should not care but i don't know how | 12,260 Words | 3/3 Chapters | Summary: Memory loss recovery fic. Hunter wakes up at the Owl House injured, sore, and with one hell of a complex.
The Wilds Are Golden | 24,602 Words | 6/? Chapters | Luz and Hunter friendship arc. Now with angst.
One-Shots:
someone else's shoes | 1814 Words | Summary: Sweet little character study about Hunter and Lilith post-redemption.
to be better | 2129 Words | Summary: Stream of consciousness Hunter character study. hurt/no comfort.
when she loved me | 2441 Words | Summary: Lilith's POV, but about her interacting with younger!Hunter. This can and will rip your heart out.
A Thing On Strings | 2446 Words | Summary: Luz realizes the Golden Guard is a teenager.
room for one more troubled soul | 3538 Words | Summary: Hunter meets Luz while looking for a portal piece. They have a heart-to-heart. Oh my god, I am obsessed with this writing and dialogue.
I'll See Them Off Tomorrow | 12,736 Words | Summary: Hunter continuously tries to distance himself from Lil Rascal. The keyword is "tries."
the clawthornes are carvers, and tying back into hunter/wittebro being a clawthorne, we have the cain and able "revenge" ending that satisfies everyone's bloodlust, while also managing to replant the palistrom forests belos destroyed in his reign. something along the lines of being consumed by what you're consuming, or the predator becoming prey ect ect...
the palistrom seed is planted in belos, we have a twisted turn-into-fucked-up-tree grom esque scene, belos replenishes the forests he sought to destroy AND the clawthornes get revenge by simply being able to continue the carving legacy. it's literally a win win win win, everybody gets something out of it, and we don't have to let kids commit murder and get THAT trauma (because as great as it would be for hunter to get a death blow, I don't think a sixteen year old has the capacity to kill their last living family member, even if said family member is a sack of shit)
just... the imagery of belos' old castle being consumed by wild magic, the forest growing back and reclaiming the emperors coven
Do you know any good hunter fics? I read house of gold and it was so good and now I want to see more of the boy
i know i joke about it a lot but i need everyone to know i have a whole google doc filled with my favorite fics and why i like them
Multi-Chapter
Hunter is Accidentally Kidnapped: by Ash_yeet | 16867 Words | 8/8 Chapters | Summary: Exactly what's on the tin! Found family with a pinch of hurt/comfort. Hunter refuses to let himself recover.
just a boy: by hereforthehurts | 4139 Words | 2/2 Chapters | Summary: Hunter keeps showing up at the Owl House. He's almost always injured.
a fever you can't sweat out by hereforthehurts | 3499 Words | 2/2 Chapters | Summary: Listen, man, I just really like this author. Hunter gets injured and needs help. Medical malpractice galore.
By Any Means Necessary by CrystalPancakeBear | 18099 Words | 3/5 Chapters | Summary: While technically apart of a series, works as a fantastic stand-alone fic. Hunter runs away after a brutal encounter with Belos. Lots of PTSD talk and trauma work-through.
Deep in the Scalene Jungle by GargoyleVenus | 12784 Words | 5/? Chapters | Summary: Hunter is given a mission. He isn't sure he can go through with it. This fic is so underrated and it's a literal crime. The descriptions are so gorgeous, and I'm in love with the scene-setting.
One-Shots
Coming Home: by Drabbles_Of_Writing | 9976 Words | Summary: Post-Canon and post a possible ending to the series. Hunter misses Luz after she leaves for the Human Realm. Lots of really good Hunter & Luz interactions (im obsessed with this writers characterization. it is always SO good.)
Rain: by Kairi_Ruka | 1394 Words | Summary: Rain on the human realm. My emotional support fic.
Inconvienence: by CallMeMaybee & Peridaniel | 1825 Words | Summary: Hunter!Sick fics my beloved... Great Eda & Hunter dynamic.
Masks: by Grimbeak | 3067 Words | Summary: Lilith finds the Golden Guard crashed in her front yard.
under pressure precious things can break: by Anonymous | 3834 Words | Summary: One of my favorite stories on this list. Hunter needs explicit instructions. He needs to be told what to do.
i just read house of gold and absolutely loved it!! are there any other TOH fics you like that you'd recommend?
oh i ABSOLUTELY do
(before i go on a tangent i will preface this by saying these are mostly gonna be hunter/golden guard centric)
Long Fics/Series
A Little Kindness by @drabbles-of-writing (and honestly any toh fic they've written is SO good) Words: 23402, Chapters: 5/? A parent Raine AU where they've helped Hunter through the years. Naturally, when they're captured for the Day of Unity, a rescue mission is in order.
Monsoon by stegoeggos Words: 17883, Chapters: 2/4. Very well-written fan-made backstory for Hunter starting with his parents' death. SUPER detailed and great characterization, plus, toddler Hunter.
The Mom Eda Series by hereforthehurts. A series of very good one-shots about Eda adopting every kid she comes into contact with. Lots of Eda whump, lots of hurt/comfort.
The Adventures of Luz and her Traumatized Witch Brother by MsDizzyDahlia. So far, this series is only two stories, but they're both really fun! Lots of well-written Luz and Hunter being dumb teenagers scenes.
i should not care but I don't know how by Anonymous. Words: 12260, Chapters: 3/3. An excellent hurt/comfort fic about Hunter waking up in the Owl House with memory issues. Every scene with Luz and Eda is absolute perfection, and the descriptions are gorgeous.
The Gold-Painted Child by @lizluvscupcakes. Words: 28285 Chapters: 11/?. The Golden Guard does an oopsie. There are very severe consequences (he is roped into the found family). I have seen this on so many toh fic rec lists and Rightfully So. Heavy with the gore, so be wary.
Downpour by peterparkerpanic. Words: 75898, Chapters: 22/?. I'm actually still reading this one! Amity runs away AU. Excellent descriptions and really tender lumity moments.
A Valeween Night To Remember by QosmicQuartz. Words: 166956, Chapters: 20/20. Ohhhh this fic is a long con but fuck if it isn't worth it. Boiling Isles variation on Halloween AU. Lumity pining and slow-burn. Comes with fanart! Every chapter is so gorgeously written, the lore is SO unique and intriguing, overall feels like a wholeass novel.
One-Shots
The Ghost in the Emperor's Castle by Jc27. Words:1763. A story from Lilith's perspective about a ghost lurking around the castle. (I've seen maybe two fics use this prompt and I WISH there were more it's so sick and creative)
A Thing on Strings by Ayngondaia. Words: 2446. Luz bonds with a late-night guest.
Crash! by Shirathedisaster. Words:1393. A fun and silly little story about Hunter falling into the Owl House. Alternating POV's and many shenanigans.
Do u know any TOH fics where it focuses on human culture/Luz being different? I can't find any :(
i've got two! but then this prompt took me by the hands and i ended up writing my own little drabble.
from ao3:
crossing paths by Vikingfangirl23 | 2991 Words | One-Shot | Summary: Luz deals with bullies, Owlbert's been following her longer than she realizes.
It's Just Hair by foolish_snail | 1889 Words | One-Shot | Summary: Luz is tired of getting bullied for her hair. May as well do something about it.
from me (under read more):
Willow and Gus were avoiding her. It was frustrating; all day they’d been skirting around her questions and attempts to confront them about their unusually skittish behavior. They told each other everything—why was this time different? Luz had briefly worried she’d done something to upset Willow, who tended to still be sore about how much time she was spending with Amity.
Luz understood where the witch was coming from, she’d be upset if her best friend started dating her ex-bully too. But, if that was the case, why was Gus avoiding her? Gus was brutally honest about his feelings; he wore his heart on his sleeve. Willow was more closed off, but Gus was always willing to play middleman if a miscommunication occurred. Even worse, when she’d asked them about wanting to sit together at lunch, the two came up with some on-the-spot excuse about having detention. Luz loved her friends, but they were terrible liars.
But she didn’t push. Luz let them go.
The human poked her PB&J, sighing. She didn’t like being ignored.
Fridays were usually her favorite day of the week. She loved Hexside—don’t get her wrong—more than she’d ever loved school, but on Fridays, as soon as school let out, Willow and Gus would follow her back to the Owl House. There, they’d begin their usual ritual of eating far too much junk food and watching crappy Boiling Isles reality TV. It was fun, it was their chance to put aside all their worries, about school, about magic, about getting home, and let loose.
Their distance made Luz think her friends weren’t willing to hang out that night.
A plastic tray gently found a place next to her, and Luz let her eyes wander upward to land on the face of her girlfriend. She smiled, worries abandoned, and focus turned toward Amity, who nervously pulled a string of lavender hair from her face, a pale blush creeping over her nose and tinging her face.
“Are Willow and Gus joining us?” She spoke formally, a trait the witch often defaulted to when trying to hide how flustered she was.
The question made Luz frown, and she let her head fall against the lunch table. “They’ve got better things to do.”
Amity nodded, taking Luz’s hand under the table, and hesitantly letting their fingers intertwine. “I guess they would be busy, what, with the party, they’re planning and all.”
“…Party?”
The purple-haired witch made a small face, “You didn’t know? Gus has been talking my ear off all day about it.” She conjured her scroll to show her girlfriend, gesturing to the dozens of unread penstagram messages she’d likely chosen to ignore.
“The two of them have been insufferable today, how am I supposed to know the difference between Pep Ph.D. and Dr Fizz? And what in Titan’s name is a clown.” She threw up her hands, irritated, before resigning to letting them sit crossed over her chest.
Luz shrugged, still staring at the number of messages, “Pep tastes kinda like barbecue sauce if it was carbonated, Dr Fizz is sweeter, bubblier, and by far the better soda. And clowns are a staple of every good party.”
Amity looked slightly baffled, like she wasn’t expecting Luz to have an opinion either, then gently took her scroll back to rapidly text a message to Gus.
“…What’s the party for?” The words came out muffled, and slightly anxious. She wanted to help, she was a great party planner—Willow knew that, Gus knew that, why were they leaving her out?
“Oh,” Amity was stilly texting, “I think Gus’s birthday is coming up.”
“WHAT?” Luz slammed her hands on the cafeteria table, startling Amity and bringing the attention of the rest of the lunchroom to both of them, various Hexside students glaring or staring, judgingly.
Amity gently brought her hands to Luz’s shoulders, pulling the human back into her seat and nervously laughing. Said human leaned in, close, raising a hand to her mouth to whisper.
“What do you mean Gus’s birthday is coming up?” She was his friend; she should be an expert in these kinds of things! No wonder he and Willow had been avoiding her, they probably didn’t want to break the news to her that she had forgotten one of her best friends’ birthday.
“The party is this weekend,” Amity supplied, mimicking her girlfriend’s hushed tone. “They’ve been sending out invitations on penstagram all day.”
She turned her scroll toward Luz again, this time, a fun-looking, brightly colored invitation with a doodle drawing of Gus throwing confetti, sprawled across her penstagram dashboard. The specific details were cut out, but she could see that Amity was right—the party was this Saturday.
A small knot formed in Luz’s stomach. She couldn’t get a scroll—they were too intertwined with witch magic, and without a bile sack, it was hard to get one. Normally, if she really wanted to see what was going on, she’d ask Eda to borrow hers, but she didn’t have one of her own. Gus knew that, so did Willow. Did they not want her there? Why wouldn’t they give out invitations in person? Why were they hiding this from her?
She slumped onto the table, burying her face in her arms.
“I guess, well—” Amity faltered, catching up on her girlfriend’s sudden deflation, “It is his thirteenth birthday.”
Luz cringed.
“No, no,” Her girlfriend continued, “It’s his thirteenth birthday, Luz.”
She stared, blankly. “I don’t get what you mean. Why are you saying ‘thirteenth’ like that?”
“Oh shoot,” Amity face-palmed, a pointed ear twitching, “Of course you wouldn’t have the thirteenth, I forget how fragile humans are.”
“Hey,” Luz dragged out the word, scowling, “We’re not fragile, we’re just not meant to digest fairies or survive boiling water.”
Her girlfriend snickered, “Like I said, fragile. Anyways, when a witch turns thirteen, you have to go through some… trials.”
“I like trials,” Luz mumbled.
Amity smiled, fondly, then grimaced, “They’re not fun trials, Luz. A witch’s thirteenth birthday is said to be cursed; you have to spend the day with bad luck, and if you manage to survive, at the end of the day you can throw a party, celebrating your ability to wield magic and become a real witch. It’s a rite of passage.”
She ‘oohed’, “That sounds cool. Why wouldn’t Gus tell me about it?”
The purple-haired girl made a face, “I’m not sure. You’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, even if you are… squishy. I’m confident in your ability to survive the death threats of a thirteenth.”
Resting her chin in the palm of her hand, Luz grumbled. “Thank you.”
She moped the rest of the school day.
When her final class came, and the last bell screamed, Luz sulked, taking her time to put away her spell books and potions, slowly zipping her bag and slowly tucking away her pencils. She wasn’t looking forward to walking home alone.
Her feet felt heavy, footsteps echoing down the bustling hallway as other students excitedly talked about their weekend plans. She tried to ignore every whisper of ‘party’, flipping her cowl up to hide her face. Normally, Luz didn’t mind people staring. At home, she got enough of it already, but in the Boiling Isles being the only human made her feel… important.
She didn’t feel important right now.
Her hand gently pushed the front door of the school open, light momentarily blinding her as her eyes got adjusted to the outdoors.
“Luz!” An excited voice called her name, forcing her head to instinctively turn toward the offending noise.
Suddenly, two bodies were tackling her, and Luz found herself toppling to the ground.
“Ohmigosh, are you okay?” A very frantic Gus clambered from their pile of entangled limbs, pushing himself and Willow off of Luz.
“Wha—Gus? Willow? What are you guys doing here?” She blinked a few times, rubbing at the arm she had stupidly hit on the stone ground. Dumb human arms, always getting injured. “I thought you would’ve been getting ready for the party.”
They both cringed.
“Oh… you found out about that?” Willow fiddled with the hem of her skirt, looking away from the human’s face.
Luz felt her face get hot. She was not going to cry about this. Absolutely not. “Of course, I found out! What I wanna know is why my two best friends decided I’m not cool enough to go to their really scary thirteenth birthday party? I know Gus has to go through dangerous trials, and like, prove himself and whatever, but I’m tough! I can take it.”
Gus looked between her and Willow, as if debating whether he should say something. A beat of silence passed.
“Of course, I want you at my party,” the younger witch finally spoke, “actually, that’s what we were coming to talk to you about—”
He scratched the back of his neck, pausing briefly.
“Eda told us that humans don’t have bad luck rituals on their thirteenth birthday, so we—well—we may have—”
“It’s a double party!” Willow interrupted, face quickly turning bright pink. “Sorry, sorry! I’ve been dying of anticipation all day.”
She pulled a rolled-up parchment from her bag, unfurling it to show Luz an edited version of Gus’s party invitation. This one included a small doodle of Luz as well as Gus, both donning matching party hats and throwing confetti. At the bottom, the date and time were clearly listed.
Saturday, 9:00pm, The Owl House.
Luz’s eyes widened, a large grin forming on her face.
“You guys!” She d’awwed, pulling them into a group hug.
“We didn’t want you to miss out, and Eda said you’d be able to handle all the bad luck just fine, and King’s okay with it as long as we bubble-wrap you, and we didn’t want to miss your birthday in case you had to go home before we can celebrate—” Gus cut his own rambling off, taking a breath.
“We got a clown!” Willow laughed, excitedly clapping.
Gus nodded enthusiastically, repeating her, “We got a clown!”
“Is this why you were texting Amity all those weird questions?”
Her friends both gasped, Gus especially offended, “I wanted to be as accurate as possible, the party is human-themed after all. Amity wasn’t supposed to tell you about it! That’s the point of a surprise party.”
“Eda was setting up pre-birthday decorations at the Owl House for tonight’s sleepover.” Willow added.
“Sleepover?” Luz repeated, awestruck. “Oh, my Azura, you guys are the best.”
The three kids hugged again, laughing about their birthday schemes. Human or not, Luz should’ve known better than to think her best friends would exclude her like that.
