Fanfic / Found in the Boiling Isles: Luz's Unusual Upbringing

Found in the Boiling Isles: Luz's Unusual Upbringing is a The Owl House fanfic written by Shadowsnake89 and Shape_Shifter_00002.

When Luz was a baby, her family was caught up in a car crash. While she survived, her parents didn't, but thankfully, she was taken in by a resident of the Boiling Isles. No, not that one. Instead, she's taken in by Larry and Daphne, the parents of Hexside's future Jerk Jock, Boscha.

Found in the Boiling Isles: Luz's Unusual Upbringing contains examples of:

• Adaptational Badass:
  • This version of Luz becomes more knowledgeable with potion magic after years of research, and can use other kinds of magic thanks to her L-Pills.
  • Outside of an interest in fortune telling, Masha never used any magic in canon, but in this fic, she managed to discover several glyphs on the Boiling Isles.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Boscha, Amity, Willow, Derwin, Bria, Adrian, Vitimir, Darius, Angmar, Hettie, and Kikimora all appear earlier than they did in canon.
• Adaptational Gender Identity: Masha was non-binary in canon, but in this fic, she uses female pronouns.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Luz is a genius who has made all kinds of unique magical creations to make up for her lack of a bile sac.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Luz is much more bitter to the people she doesn’t like to the point where her mindscape has an entire subsection dedicated to all the people who “cause her stress and anger”.
• Adaptational Job Change: Kikimora lost her job at the Emperor’s Coven prior to the events of the fic, so she became Hexside’s janitor. After saving Luz from one of Gene’s schemes, Daphne gives her a job as her personal secretary.
• Adaptational Name Change: While Luz still has the same name as in canon, her full name is now Lusina.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • While still somewhat arrogant, Boscha is nowhere near as egotistical or vicious as she was in canon.
  • Adrian Graye was a Bad Boss and one of the least sympathetic Coven Heads in the show, but here, he gets more depth and tries to be a better teacher to his apprentice.
  • Kikimora is much less power-hungry than she was in canon.
• Adaptational Personality Change: While still arrogant and boastful like in canon, Boscha isn’t nearly as much of a bully.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • In canon, Boscha was constantly dismissive of Luz for being human, but thanks to being sisters, the two are very loyal to each other and only bicker occasionally.
  • Boscha and Angmar never interacted in canon, but here, they're in a Secret Relationship.
  • Luz becomes friends with Willow, Gus, and Amity much earlier than in canon.
  • On a related note, Willow and Amity never truly end their friendship thanks to Luz.
  • Because she was raised in the Boiling Isles, Luz never met Eda, King, or Hooty. Instead, Masha becomes Eda’s apprentice.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: Instead of the glyphs, Luz utilizes one of her inventions, the L-Pills, which give her all kinds of magical abilities in spite of lacking a bile sac.
• Adaptational Wimp: Because she lost her job at the Emperor’s Coven, Kikimora has to wear an anklet that restricts the use of her magic.
• Always Someone Better: Boscha secretly sees Amity and Willow as this when it comes to grudgby.
• Appearance Angst:
  • Skara is part of a race of demons who grow tails at a certain age, but rather than a fluffy fox tail like her mother, she gets a thin rat tail, causing her all sorts of grief.
  • Bonnie has similar issues with her ears she inherited from her abusive sea nymph father, which is how she helps connect with Skara's issues with her tail.
• Ascended Extra: Boscha, Vitimir, Adrian, Kikimora, and Masha all get more focus in this fic.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Luz has shades of this. Word of God says it’s because of how much bitter bean blood she drinks coupled with her time in the Potions Coven giving her the impression that she always has to be working on something.
• Berserk Button:
  • Being a vegetarian, Boscha is heavily opposed to any form of meat, but because she became a vegetarian thanks to Angmar showing her fairies were living things too, seeing fairy meat upsets her the most.
  Boscha: One ice tomato sandwich.
  Food Stand Owner: (hands over the sandwich) There you are. And here is a free fairy muffin to go along with that.
  Boscha: (her eye starts twitching at the sight of it) No. Thank you.
  Food Stand Owner: But it's free.
  Boscha: If that muffin touches my food, I will murder you!
  • Luz hates being called a human, due to how she sees it as a synonym to being weak and defenseless, something a lot of people have called her in the past.
• Boomerang Bigot: Luz believes humans are inferior to witches, unaware that she's a human herself.
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Coffee is referred to as “bitter bean blood” in this fic.
• Cassandra Truth: Gene believes that Luz is a human, but nobody else thinks he’s right.
• Cerebus Retcon: The lab accident that caused the color of Luz's skin to change was Played for Laughs early in the fic, but "Moonlight Mayhem" goes further into what happened afterwards. After being rushed to the healers, Luz was considered clinically dead on the operating table five times, and months of healing and therapy did nothing to fix her skin. In addition, the accident didn't just turn Luz's skin gray either. Luz compares the pain to having needles pushing into her skin whenever she touches or grabs something, which is why she wears baggy clothing to cover the padding designed to alleviate the pain. In addition, while the accident was caused by Luz's grandmother trying to reorganize Luz's lab equipment, it seemed like Luz was holding a grudge against her, the fact that the accident caused this much pain led to Larry and Daphne choosing to cut off all ties with her afterwards.
• Cynical Mentor: Adrian Graye is this, though it’s Played With in that he is aware that he’s a terrible mentor, and one who didn’t even want to take on an apprentice at that. After being called out for his attitude by Darius, Adrian decides to start teaching Bonnie, his apprentice, in a way that plays to his strengths as a director with a flare for the dramatic instead of acting as a traditional teacher.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Boscha and Angmar are in a Secret Relationship due to the latter being from Glandus, a school Daphne hates very much.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • "Hands on Finance" has Kikimora take Luz along to the bank while she has to deposit a check, only for Luz to get on her (and Darius') nerves.
  • "Misunderstanding Luz" has Gene accidentally damage Luz's memories, so he's forced to accompany Boscha into her mind to fix them.
  • "Interlude" focuses on a small scene set in The Owl House, revealing that Eda took on Masha as an apprentice.
  • "The Anniversary" shows how Larry won over Daphne's heart while he tries to make up for missing their anniversary.
  • "The Doll House" tests the friendship between Bonnie and Mary when it is threatened by a cursed doll.
  • "Moonlight Mayhem" gives more focus to Celine and her relationship with her aunt, Hettie Cutburn.
  • "A Birthday Tail" focuses on Skara's birthday party.
  • "Lady's Fight" centers around Daphne having a little girls night with Uda, Marcella, and Odalia, the mothers of Mary, Bonnie, and Amity respectively.
  • "Interlude: Part 2" fleshes out Amity's relationship with Lilith while a hungover Odalia contemplates how good of a mother she's been to her children.
  • "A Quiet Day at Glandus" focuses on Mary's relationship with her little sister Fleecy and her twin brother Asaph.
• Death by Adaptation: Camila is killed in a car crash prior to the events of this fic.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Ever since they were kids, Skara has been interested in touching Luz’s ears. When Boscha takes Skara to her house, it turns out that even after the gala where Luz finally let Skara touch her ears, Luz forgot to deactivate the security system that conjured up dozens of kunai as a defense in the event that Skara goes near Luz’s room.
  Skara: (tearing up) You were going to skewer me... Just for touching your ears?
  Luz: (shrugs) I mean... only if you didn’t stop.
• Expy: Luz' use of potions, her purple skin (as a result of said potions), and Comedic Sociopathy all make her the splitting image of Sucy Manbavaran.
• Flashback B-Plot: “The Anniversary” has one of these, focusing on how Daphne met Larry.
• Forgotten Anniversary: Chapter 10, aptly titled “The Anniversary”, focuses on Larry forgetting his and Daphne’s anniversary.
• Furry Reminder: Because her family are ram demons, Mary mentions having to help round up her siblings for "Sheering Day", while her younger sister Fleecy only speaks in bleating sounds, and is even seen chewing on a tin can in one chapter.
• The Ghost:
  • For the first seven chapters, Eda and Hooty are nowhere to be seen, outside of the occasional mention.
  • Despite being Luz and Willow’s friend, Gus has yet to make a physical appearance.
• Good Is Not Nice:
  • While Vitimir is an excellent mentor who cares for Luz, he is still a stern Coven Head who isn't afraid to sentence someone to petrification when requested to oversee her punishment by Luz herself.
  • Hettie Cutburn is a strict, but loving guardian to her niece, but when she learns one of her nurses helped Celine go out to a moonlight conjuring, she threatens to cut out her only eye if she disobeys her again.
• Hero of Another Story: Masha has gone on several adventures as Eda’s apprentice, even tangling with the Golden Guard a few times.
• Hidden Depths: Boscha has an interest in ratworm racing.
• Hour of Power: Luz’s L-Pills only last a minute when taken, and thanks to lacking a bile sac, the excess magic affects her body afterwards.
• Humans Through Alien Eyes: When Larry saves the baby Luz from the burning remains of a car crash, he assumes that the car in question is some kind of metal creature.
• Impossibly Delicious Food: The apple pie Larry makes on occassion is so delicious, it's enough for his daughters to fight over.
  The two pulled the pan back and forth as Larry looked a bit nervously. Why did he make these pies so good.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Willow and Boscha still don’t see eye to eye like in canon.
  • Amity still develops feelings for Luz first.
  • Eda still takes on a human apprentice.
• Kids Raiding the Wine Cabinet: During a gala the Hargreaves family goes to, Boscha keeps trying to sneak over to get some apple blood from the bar.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: When the Hargreves family arrives at a gala, they’re introduced as “Daphne Europa Hargreaves, her daughters Lusina Ariana & Boscha Calida and her husband… Larry.”
• Named by the Adaptation: Boscha never had a last name in canon, but here, it’s Hargreaves.
• Never Gets Drunk: Marcella is able to down some very powerful alcohol while Daphne, Uda, Odalia, and Amber (the latter passing out after a single drink) all fail to stay sober. Daphne thinks this explains why Bonnie, Marcella's daughter, is such a Big Eater
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The reason why Luz and Boscha's relationship was strained was because Masha (who had asked to swap bodies with Boscha for a day) called Luz a human, unaware of how sensitive the subject was to her.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, Luz stole some lucky charms from a group of leprechauns in the past.
• Oblivious Adoption: As far as Luz knows, she’s a witch just like her sister and parents. She just has round ears and lacks a bile sac. This is because Larry and Daphne decided to keep her true human identity a secret from everyone, even her.
  • According to Word of God, even though Luz looked nothing like the rest of her family prior to her accident, she was convinced that she took after a very distant relative.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Celine is a creature who can transform into a different form depending on the phase of the moon, which is why Hettie goes out of her way to make sure she doesn't see the moon at night.
• Power Stereotype Flip: Bonnie is a witch studying Illusion magic, though rather being a playful trickster, she's a Shrinking Violet with serious confidence issues that she and her mentor, Adrian, try to work on.
• Related in the Adaptation:
  • The main premise of the fic is that Luz is Boscha's adoptive sister.
  • One of the original nine Coven Heads/victims of the imperfect coven sigils was Mary's ancestor.
  • Hettie Cutburn is Celine's aunt and legal guardian in this fic.
• Running Gag:
  • Skara’s obsession with touching Luz’s ears.
  • Mary having to help out around the house during "Sheering Day".
• Secret Relationship: Boscha is in a relationship with Angmar, but doesn't want her mother to know because he goes to Glandus High.
• Serious Business: One of Luz’s many inventions is “bitter bean blood”, AKA coffee, which is very popular among the adults of the Boiling Isles, though the recipe is top secret. Gene’s main plan in the fic is to steal the recipe, make his own improvements, and become the top student at school.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Boscha has this attitude towards Willow.
  Luz: Sorry mom. She's having Willow troubles.
  Boscha: I am not having Willow trouble! That's not even a thing! I don't even like that smug, know it all, spotlight stealing, buff, amazonian jerk! I hate her!
• Spiritual Antithesis: To Luz Clawthorne. Both fics center around Luz being taken in by a resident of the Boiling Isles, but Luz turns out much differently than in Luz Clawthorne.
  • In Luz Clawthorne, Luz was aware that she was human, while the Luz in this fic believes she is a witch who happens to lack a bile sac.
  • As opposed to having the chaotic and rulebreaking Eda as a parental figure like she had in Luz Clawthorne, Luz's parents in this fic are much more professional, running their own succesful potion business as opposed to Eda's independent potion selling job.
  • In Luz Clawthorne, Luz was a Book Dumb academic failure who struggled to find a track she liked before settling on Bard and Beast Keeping. In this fic, Luz is an academic prodigy who has already joined the Potions Coven.
  • Boscha and Luz were once bitter enemies before they gradually became friends in Luz Clawthorne. In this fic, the two are sisters, and have a much healthier relationship.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Tinella is offering a doll to buy from her stand, she keeps saying that the doll isn't cursed. Unsurprisingly, it turns out to be cursed, though it was later revealed that Tinella was trying to get rid of those dolls, so she's happy when the Emperor's Coven confiscates and destroys them.
• Toy Disguise: Inverted. When they were kids, Bonnie first met Mary after mistaking her for a toy thanks to her unsheared hair making her look like one.
• Virtuous Vegetarianism: Boscha is a vegetarian, thanks to Angmar helping her realize that fairies were more than ingredients for pies.
• Wham Episode: Boscha learns that Luz is a human during “Misunderstanding Luz”.
• What If?: What if Luz was taken in by Boscha's family as a baby?
• The Worf Effect: In "The Doll House", Bonnie is cursed by a doll that gradually takes over her life and even alters reality as if she never existed, and when Adrian tries to fend her off, she easily manages to dispel his illusions.

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