Chapter 115: Thank Titan It's Frieday
Art by Crash X Fusion: Well, there goes the weekend.
It's Frieday night and while Donna hijacks Nina's date, King shows Laura around and the Brookes deal with some killer company.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Accidental Pun: Made by Cross while stating his greatest desire to Elio.Cross: I want to someday rebuild the connections [between witches and dragons], get back to my roots...um, no pun intended.
- Adaptation Expansion: Eda and Raine's first date is said to have taken place in a pizza place.
- Affectionate Nickname: Ever since she started checking up on Emily with Cross, Zee's taken to calling her "Mily".
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Try that and the whole rest of the family. The entire Drakescale clan fusses over Cross when prepping him for his date with Donna; Clair combing his hair, Damien giving him a corsage to give to Donna, Drayden saying their family tends to be quite the lookers, and Zee confessing that she totally manipulated Donna into asking her brother out.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Skara's final statement to Donna during her talking down of her is this:Skara: There was a time when Nina needed you! Where were you when she learned she was infertile? Where were you when she learned her parents didn't even want her? You weren't there for her then. But here you are now, trying to distract her during her date with Lambi. If you ask me, Nina's had enough toxic friends in her life!
- Bad Date: King and Laura are the only couple unscathed at the end of the triple date as Donna's attempts to win Nina back result in Nina storming out with Lambi and Skara taking her home while Cross is left feeling dejected.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Terra's plan to incapacitate Calypso so she doesn't become a threat to her plans ends with her gravely injured while Slasher is apparently framed for it.
- Batman Gambit: Zee turns out to have pulled one by subtly convincing Donna to go out with her brother.Cross: Zee, you're an evil mastermind, you know that? You manipulated that poor girl!
Zee: Hey, I suggested that you two should hang out more. She asked if I meant if you two should date, I shrugged "why not?" - Berserk Button: Nina could barely take Donna's attempts to arouse her, but the moment she brings up what she did to Cally, Nina storms out of the restaurant and meets up with Skara to take her home.
- Brick Joke: Eda tells Donna that after setting the restaurant she and Raine went to for their first date on fire, Lori the waiter was never the same after that night. Lori, who comes off as unhinged, ended up becoming the manager and her restaurant is the same one the triple date takes place in.
- The Bus Came Back: After almost 50 chapters, Rocky is finally seen again since "What is it Good For?", appearing in Luz's room acting like a lifeless household object.
- Call-Back:
- Belos only wants to deal with the Inner Demon so he can retrieve the portal key from the Forest of Fear, which he still believes is there after Luz told him she threw it in a lake in "The Reveal".
- Since Scal-Mart went down, Morton was able to keep his business open.
- The controversy surrounding Lilith is mentioned, namely being the reason she got fired from the Supernatural Museum of History.
- King brings up the Clawthorne family reunion to Cross, which causes him discomfort since he has yet to inform Luz's family about his connection to them.
- Slasher's encounter with Lupe, a past event first brought up in "That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles", is finally elaborated upon.
- The Cameo: Peter is one of the artists at the Mystic Arts Coven's art gallery, and Tito is seen at the event since Napoli and Mosquita brought him along.
- Cliffhanger: The chapter ends with Sonya and Lupe arriving at Nina's old home, and the latter lunging at the Fangs.
- Continuity Nod:
- Hettie mentions at the Coven head meeting that Arthur's in hot water over the incident at Blight Industries. Felicity needing hair products is also noted.
- The Drakescale siblings both bring up the insanity at the IFWOT.
- King keeps saying he and Laura are not a couple nor are they going on a date.
- The Thians family being incarcerated, Amity watching over Kay for them, and the Clawthornes doing so while Amity's in exile are lined out to Laura. Brucy also tells her Kay was just an egg when her family was locked up.
- It's noted that all the objects in the Owl House brought to life by Luz's animation glyphs are still acting stationary since the end of the Glandus War.
- Donna nearly being forced to marry Jackson after he kidnapped her is the main reason Diana, Gladys, and Auggie are on high alert upon meeting Cross.
- King's friendship with Morton and Tiny Nose is seen again when he introduces them to Laura.
- King finds the cross-eyed statue of Luz's 'cambion' form at the Bonesborough Museum.
- Cross' habit of eating charcoal is shown since his first appearance.
- Donna makes the mistake of bringing up Nina mauling Cally. When Skara is chewing Donna out, she brings up her rejecting Nina, the werecat's infertility, and her fallout with her parents.
- Covered in Gunge: Part of Lupe's tactics to break Slasher was to continuously dump mud and crap on him while he was trapped in a pit.
- Dark and Troubled Past: When Slasher encountered Lupe so many years ago, the Big Bad Wolf kidnapped him, crushed his palisman, and tried to make him give into his lycan side by feeding him beasts and grinded-up scouts while keeping him in a pit he kept filling with mud and actual shit.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- The A-plot is focuses on Donna and Cross as they each prepare for their date, with Donna asking Eda for a dress and planning out her date with Felicia while Cross checks up on Emily at the Shystream farm.
- In a B-plot continuing from "A Long Overdue Reunion", King shows Laura around the Isles before they go to dinner.
- Calypso and Slasher also receive their own plot via the Flashback B-Plot.
- Death Glare: The Masterskulls and Auggie give Cross several of these when they meet him and warn him to not hurt Donna or bring her home late.
- Distant Prologue: Things begin many years ago when Calypso AKA the Red Hood Huntress hunted down and killed a lycan before the transition to Calypso at a meeting between the coven heads and Belos.
- Doting Parent: The way they prep Cross for his date and do their best to give him advice on how he should present himself to the Masterskulls puts Clair, Damien, and even Drayden in this category.
- Downer Ending: Donna worsens things between herself and Nina, Calypso is severely injured by a vampire thanks to Terra, Slasher is taken down just for using his lycan form in public to come to her aid, and Sonya and Lupe ambush the Fangs tribe.
- Drowning My Sorrows: At the art gallery, Vanessa finds Adrian heavily drinking out of grief over Emily and leads him away from the bar.
- "Eureka!" Moment: As Terra and Arthur talk during Calypso's talk with Belos, Terra notes that Calypso will go unpunished for figuring out her brainwashing attempt since Belos can't afford to replace any more Coven Heads before the Day of Unity. This leads to her taking out Calypso so that'll happen.
- Everyone Can See It: Emily outright tells Cross she can see how into Lindsay he is while asking for his permission to date the cyclops and Zee, already aware of Lindsay having feelings for Cross, comes to find that she's also crushing on Emily.
- Expy:
- All of the original nine coven heads take inspiration from several people and characters.
- The first Illusion Head Witch, Judy Goreland, is an Affectionate Parody of Judy Garland.
- Dr. Naga Venomstrike of Potions is a mixture of Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Orochimaru.
- Karlos Green is a direct one of Carl Greer from G.I. Joe.
- Prague the Crafter is heavily inspired by Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the rabbi who created the Golem of Prague.
- Zoltar the Magnificent is a homage to Zoltar the fortune teller machine and Zoltan, the deleted character from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
- Scarmadeus Keys is one to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
- Patrick, Terra's latest coven aide, is based off of Kronk and The Tick (both of whom were portrayed by Patrick Warburton.)
- Mosquita, Napoli's wife and Leshawna parody, officially appears for the first time.
- Vincent Van Pierce, Vanessa's nephew, is one of Van Gogh from Clone High.
- All of the original nine coven heads take inspiration from several people and characters.
- Familiar:
- Cross receives his palisman, a red and orange phoenix named Elio, from Damien, who bonds with him after seeing his protective nature.
- Slasher once had a flea palisman named Fleabag, who was viciously destroyed by Lupe back when Slasher was kidnapped by him.
- Flashback B-Plot: Throughout the chapter, we see Calypso's time as the Red Hood Huntress before she encountered Slasher after he had endured weeks of torture at Lupe's hands in an attempt to make him go savage.
- Foreshadowing:
- During the Coven Head meeting, Terra is dismissive about the Forest of Fear's mist spreading.
- Todd's one night stand with Felicity is a clue for a later reveal.
- Frame-Up: Knowing Belos won't teach Calypso a lesson after learning she wasn't brainwashed by her tea, Terra arranges for Calypso to be attacked by a vampire at the art gallery she and Slasher attends. And while it wasn't part of her plan, this leads to Slasher killing the vampire in his wolf form and being arrested for allegedly attacking his own wife.
- Friendship Moment: Emily asks Cross for permission to date Lindsay, clarifying she isn't taking advantage of his going out with Donna by saying she respects him. Touched by her honesty and knowing she won't harm Lindsay, Cross gives her the go-ahead.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: King calls Gus "Augustus" as a warning to the second time he teases him about his date with Laura.
- The Gadfly: Gus repeatedly calls King and Laura spending time together a date just to get King's goat.
- The Ghost:
- Luz doesn't show up since she's spending the day on Earth, but Eda brings her up when giving Donna dating advice and Rocky does the same when voicing her appreciation of music.
- Alador doesn't attend the Coven Head meeting, resulting in Arthur showing up in his place.
- King brings up Amity when explaining to Laura how she took Kay in, and he and Brucy bring up Levi and Goonla being imprisoned.
- Given Name Reveal: Calypso's ferret palisman is stated to be known as Tavi.
- Goal in Life: Cross desires to re-establish peace between witches and dragons and keep his generation from developing the hatred of dragons from past generations. Deep down, he wishes to protect his loved ones and make friends who'll accept him for who and what he is. All of this gets Elio to bond with him.
- Hair Reboot: Felicity is trying to invoke this after Luz and Cat shaved her head and tail, sending Todd to pick up hair growth potions as part of her grocery shopping.
- Hidden Depths: Back when Zee was coming out as pansexual, she consulted with her friends and family to help her figure things out. After dating for so long and all the embarrassment that came from trying to find that special someone, she shows herself to be capable of giving other people advice on the subject.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Cross' Goal in Life. He wants to have friends who will have his back like he'll have theirs.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: After what happened with Jackson, Diana, Gladys, and Auggie take no chances with Cross and give him one of these with one warning in mind: don't hurt Donna. Gladys even tells Cross that if Donna comes home from their date so much as missing a shoe, she'll shrink him and seal him in a toy box, which he takes seriously. Ironically, Donna ended up hurting him which makes this a mute point.
- Insecure Love Interest: It becomes clear that despite having a mutual attraction, both Cross and Lindsay fear the other not feeling the same way; Cross had thought Lindsay was taken and Lindsay has feelings for both him and Emily, but is unsure of how to figure things out.
- Internal Reveal:
- Zee informs Lindsay and Emily about Cross' date with Donna and guesses that Lindsay has conflicting feelings for Cross and Emily.
- Emily confesses to Cross that she stabbed Nina and made her infertile.
- Laura visits the Boiling Isles for the first time, meets Skara, Haley, Hooty, Kay, Brucy, Rocky, Morton, Tiny Nose, Donna, Nina, Cross and Lambi while officially meeting Willow and Gus, and is given a rundown about Kay's family being imprisoned and the Coven system.
- Cross meets Diana, Gladys, and Auggie for the first time and is given the footnotes of Jackson kidnapping and attempting to force Donna to marry him.
- Todd meets Kitsuni for the first time.
- Karma Houdini: Terra's plan to get Calypso out of the way and delay the Day of Unity goes off without a hitch, and she faces no punishment for injuring Calypso or getting Slasher outed as a werewolf.
- Lampshade Hanging: When Donna asks Cross if Elio bursts into flames, Cross realizes he isn't sure and assumes it's only when he uses his magic. Just to be on the safe side, Donna suggests Whirlwind give them a ride to the restaurant.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Cross narrowly does this when King is about to bring up Emily during the triple date.King: I've been meaning to ask you; how did you and Lindsay deal with the whole Em- [Cross covers his mouth.] Weh!
Cross: Embezzler problem? Yeah, we took care of that embezzler! [Laughs nervously] Yup, nothing that we couldn't handle. - Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Brucy points out to Rocky that they don't get any screen time anymore.
- Little Black Dress: When going through Eda's dresses for formalwear, Donna spots a black dress and picks it with Eda saying it'd definitely catch Cross' eyes. Little does Eda know Donna also intends to catch Nina's with it.
- Longing Look: Lindsay gives one to Cross and Emily while seeing them talk after Zee offers her advice.
- Luminescent Blush:
- Eda does this in the flashback to her first date on account of accidentally getting ranch dressing on Raine's shirt.
- Cross has three of these throughout the chapter. The first comes from Zee wanting him to admit he thinks Donna's pretty, the second during the Shovel Talk Donna's mothers and Auggie give him by asking if he plans to marry Donna, and the third is a small case when Donna admits he makes eating charcoal look cool.
- Donna blushes when Whirlwind tells her she messed up the line Eda supplied her to use on Cross, amplifying her embarrassment.
- Meg and Le'Belle each have one during their talk at the art gallery.
- Nina does this when Donna adjusts her top, forcing her to look away.
- Mentor in Queerness: Zee serves as one for Lindsay, helping her out with her feelings for both Cross and Emily and encouraging her to discover her orientation at her own pace.
- Metaphorically True: Zee admits to Cross that while she tricked Donna into going out with him, Donna herself decided to make that choice; Zee merely suggested they hang out.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- After Skara calls Donna a Toxic Friend Influence to Nina, Donna looks at her reflection in a window and realizes she made things between her and Nina worse.
- Le'Belle is implied to have a small moment when she knocks out Slasher for "resisting arrest".
- Noodle Incident: Eda flashes back to her first date with Raine where she repeatedly suffered misfortune. By the end of the night, she accidentally set the restaurant on fire.
- Once More, with Clarity:
- The first half of the chapter shows Donna and Cross prepping for their date and King showing Laura around Bonesborough before they arrive at the restaurant where Nina and Lambi will have their date.
- The Flashback B-Plot explains how Slasher first encountered Lupe and the beginning of his relationship with Calypso.
- Operation: Jealousy: Donna enacts her plan to make Nina jealous using Cross. Felicia gets her reservations at the same restaurant Nina and Lambi are going to, Donna gets a dress from Eda that'll draw the eye, and she plays up her appeal even further by adjusting her dress all night. Her plan ultimately fails since she goes too far and brings up the wrong subject, driving Nina away.
- Out of Focus: Because of this chapter taking place at the same time as "A Long Overdue Reunion", Luz is currently in the Human Realm and doesn't appear at all.
- The Phoenix: Elio, a Long-Lived palisman who's been a companion to the Drakescale clan for the last four generations, now five when he becomes bonded to Cross.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Eda brings up John Hughes when giving dating advice to Donna, who naturally doesn't know who she's talking about.
- Queer Establishing Moment: Zee admits to Lindsay she's pansexual and would be happy dating anyone regardless of their gender.
- The Reveal:
- The mists of the Forest of Fear are spreading further.
- Tavi kept Calypso's mind clear when she still had a drinking problem, explaining how she's immune to Terra's tea.
- Felicia supplied Donna with the location of Nina and Lambi's date and reservations for her and Cross.
- Zee knows about Emily and has previously checked up on her with Cross earlier in the week.
- The only reason Cross didn't ask Lindsay out before is because he wasn't sure if she was already seeing someone else.
- Up until now, Cross didn't have a palisman. Damien passes down his phoenix palisman to him, Elio having been handed down through the Drakescale family ever since he was carved and Drayden's grandfather wielded him.
- Todd reveals two things to Kitsuni; Felicity's real surname is Fauxworm, and they had a one-night stand.
- Terra has been head of the Plant Coven since the beginning of the Coven System, and she's so far the only living member of the original nine.
- The rest of the original nine consist of Judy Goreland, Scourge the Witch Viking, Dr. Naga Venomstrike, Karlos Green, Prague the Crafter, Zoltar the Magnificent, Scarmadeus Keys, and Matt & Steve's great-grandfather, Brad Tholomule.
- King mentions that Beocrow, Dell, and Gwendolyn have told him about a few relatives of the extended Clawthorne family, Gwendolyn mentioning some distant cousins that Cross fears is his family.
- Brolin is Dell's brother, the richest member of the Clawthorne clan, and the owner of his own griffin ranch in Palm Stings.
- Lupe kidnapped Slasher in the past and destroyed his flea palisman Fleabag in an effort to make him embrace his wolf side. After weeks of torture, Slasher escaped and Calypso saved him from Lupe.
- Saying Too Much: To keep King from revealing that he and Lindsay saved Emily and know where she is to Donna and Nina, Cross covers it up by saying he and Lindsay stopped an embezzler.
- Secret-Keeper:
- Zee is now in the loop about Emily staying with Lindsay's family.
- Emily swears Cross to secrecy about her staying with Lindsay (who she already got to agree to) because if Donna learns where she is, she's likely to come for her in vengeance over what she did to Nina.
- Sequel Hook:
- With Calypso injured and Slasher taking the fall, Terra's likely both delayed the Day of Unity and orphaned Skara and Scabrina.
- Now that Emily has Cross' okay, she'll be asking Lindsay out in the future.
- Did Cross figure out Donna was just using him and if so, how will he handle things?
- Is Adrian about to tell Vanessa that Emily's his daughter?
- Diana's been designing a new Wonder Witch outfit for Donna to use. What will it look like?
- The author's notes state that Zee meeting Emily and what Hunter's been up to all week will be fleshed out in the upcoming chapters.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Cross finds Donna gorgeous in her date dress, as does Nina. Subverted with Diana and downplayed for Gladys, who thinks it looks cute but wishes she took a jacket. On the opposite side, Donna thinks Cross looks handsome in his vest.
- Ship Tease: Todd ends up having a Meet Cute moment with Kitsuni and asks her to get a drink together, an offer she takes up immediately.
- Shout-Out:
- Cross' reaction to learning Zee set him and Donna up with each other is based on The Spectacular Spider-Man episode, "The Invisible Hand"note . Donna also botches up MJ's iconic line, coming from her debut in Amazing Spider-Man #42 (Vol 1) which was used as a Mythology Gag in the episode's ending.
- Meg's conversation with Le'Belle, Venoma, and Alburno alludes to the bad blood Gwen has with Courtney, Heather, and Alejandro. The latter two also bring up the former two having a former friendship and relationship with Judd, a nod to the infamous Courtney/Duncan/Gwen Love Triangle and its outcome.
- Suddenly Speaking: Whirlwind is heard giving Donna his opinion on her dress and telling her that she messed up the line Eda told her to say to Cross. Subverted for Elio and Fleabag as they're seen talking soon after being introduced.
- Synchronous Episodes: The first half of the chapter occurs simultaneously with "A Long Overdue Reunion".
- Tempting Fate: Lambi and Laura do this when they say nothing can go wrong with them, Nina, King, Cross, and Donna sharing a table. Donna, on the other hand, welcomes it.
- Tranquil Fury: Once Donna confirms she intentionally intruded on Nina and Lambi's date, Nina remains quiet for a moment...then her collar goes off, showing how frustrated she really feels.
- Troll: Venoma and Alburno attempt to stir up drama between Meg and Le'Belle at the art gallery by bringing up their former friendship and their failed relationships with Judd, who cheated on Le'Belle with Meg. Neither scout is amused by what they're doing.
- True Companions: Emily seems to have fallen into this with Cross, as she asks if he's cool with her making a move on Lindsay before she does so.
- Undignified Death: Zoltar the Magnificent, the first Oracle Coven head, died in a horribly, gruesome manner: his body was entirely crystallized.
- The Un-Reveal:
- How is the Forest of Fear's mist spreading?
- Does Gwendolyn know that Cross and Clair are members of the Clawthorne family?
- Adrian blames himself for Emily ending up in the Conformatorium, prompting Vanessa to question what he means by that.
- Unseen No More: Napoli's wife Mosquita, who was mentioned back in "The Grim Goblin Strikes", physically appears attending the art gallery with her husband.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Fleabag, who finally debuts in the LCU after a cameo in Buck's intro for The Wolf House, is only seen in a flashback before his unfortunate death.
- Wham Episode: Donna drives Nina further away by trying to steal her from Lambi and loses both Nina and Skara's respect, Emily plans on asking Lindsay out on a date, Terra has Calypso injured and Slasher gets blamed for it, and Sonya & Lupe attack the Fangs tribe.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Nina lays into Donna for intruding on her date with Lambi to try and win her back and after Lambi leads Nina away, Skara gives her a much more scathing lecture for rejecting Nina when she had hit rock bottom only to try and steal her from Lambi. Donna soon sees she screwed up big time.
