Chapter 44: Blindsided
Art by Crash X Fusion: Never mess with her crush or her friends: she will not take it lying down.
When Nicole gets Luz and her friends expelled, Skara works to get them back into Hexside.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Grave circumstances aside, Calypso gets a laugh in hearing Nicole be called "barf lady".
- Affectionate Nickname: Slasher uses "Cauliflower" for Calypso, apparently.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: All the parents who were blackmailed by Nicole over the years celebrate once she no longer has any dirt on them.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Even though Simon is still upset with Boscha over the stunt she pulled, he refuses to just shun her like everyone else and assures her he hasn't given up on her, something she appreciates.
- Big Damn Reunion: Once Luz and Amity come back to school, Amelia, Cat, Edric, Emira, Willow, Skara and the multi-trackers welcome them back with open arms. The first six actually do welcome back like this, i.e. group hugs.
- Big "WHAT?!": Nicole lets one out after Mary announces Eda brought the girls back to school.
- Blackmail: Nicole threatens to expose Slasher's inner demons unless he and Calypso aid her in her plan to get the kids expelled. Athena later reveals Nicole's got dirt on several other parents, which she burns.
- Call-Back:
- Boscha's stunt in "Everything's Gone Wrong" is brought up.
- Nicole nominating Luz for Grom Queen in "Grom: The Musical (Part 1)" is one of the reasons used against Nicole when she's kicked off the PCA.
- Athena turns out to have taken Odalia's words to her in "The Forest of Fear" to heart.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Skara confronts her parents to lambast them for siding with Nicole until she learns why they had no say on the matter.
- The Cameo:
- Among the people who sign the petition are Professor Snope, the Shadowy Secret Expozers, Prof. Redback the Beastkeeping teacher, Jane, Dusty Bringems, Selene, and Tyler.
- Those who don't sign the petition are Dolly (after tricking everyone into thinking she'd sign), Elliot, Horace and Puffer.
- Tom makes one near the end of the chapter when Boscha tells him about her day.
- Tibbles serves as the model for the Abomiton demonstration.
- Continuity Nod:
- Luz refers to Nicole as the "barf lady", the label she got after the video of King throwing up on her went viral.
- Eda's past prank on Nicole is chalked up to being the reason she keeps messing with Luz.
- Eda also mentions all the effort she put in to cleaning her messes to ensure Luz could attend school.
- To get people to sign the petition, Skara brings up Luz and Amity fighting Grom to protect them. It doesn't work.
- Luz getting the house elves in the library higher wages comes into play in getting the elves to sign.
- Crush Blush: Skara when Willow hugs her after the petition succeeds.
- A Day in the Limelight: For the first time ever, Skara's the one who takes center stage.
- Determinator: Skara rallies all of her friends together to get 300 signatures so Luz, Amity, Willow and Gus will be allowed back into Hexside.
- Didn't See That Coming:
- Everyone gathered in Principal Bump's office is left speechless when Luz summons her claws and effortlessly incapacitates the school guards by lifting them.
- No one, especially Nicole, expected Boscha to sign the petition.
- Bo and the Construction trackers (which include Simon and Horace) are completely stunned at seeing how Mattholomule's mother acts.
- Disappointed in You: Skara is displeased that her parents would help Nicole get her friends expelled until she learns why.
- The Dog Bites Back: All the parents who've suffered under Nicole's influence, along with her own wife and daughter, help in getting her thrown out of the Parent Creature Association.
- Dramatic Irony: Nicole outright tells Luz that the name "Clawthorne" is a disgrace to the Boiling Isles. Now imagine what would happen if she learned about Philip Clawthorne, AKA Emperor Belos.
- Easily Forgiven: Once the Parks see Amity still feels guilty for hurting Willow, Gilbert and Sully tell her they already know why they stopped being friends and have forgiven her.
- Establishing Character Moment: Sandra, Mattholomule's mother, displays herself as protective of her son and eager to flay anyone who allow people to mess with him.
- Everyone Can See It: Odalia admits she knows about Skara's crush on Willow, calling it an "obvious infatuation".
- Evil Is Petty: Amity and Willow put it best when they say Nicole's reasons for getting the girls and Gus expelled was just an excuse to get rid of them. Lilith also notes how infamous the Hieron family is for holding grudges. Heck, the only reason she told Skara about the petition was to give her false hope and "teach her a lesson" for abandoning Boscha.
- Failed a Spot Check: No one noticed that the petition had one spot left blank, the spot Dolly intentionally left unsigned. It nearly caused the petition to fail.
- Flipping the Bird: Amity does it to Nicole for all her recent actions along with mocking her family.
- The Ghost: Scabrina and Anu Bist.
- Hated by All: Boscha has officially become this after what she did last week, with everyone looking at her in disdain when she walks through Hexside's halls.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Nicole really thought she had won after getting the kids expelled, believing Skara wouldn't get enough signatures for the petition and that she was never going to get her comeuppance. That all comes crashing down the moment her family sides against her and Odalia rallies together enough support to get her kicked off the Parent Creature Association.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: It's not said, but Nicole hints she considers Amity to be this after her actions at the petrification ceremony.
- Hypocritical Humor: Luz scolds Eda for showing up at the Parks' window, to which Willow mentally snarks that she does the same thing.
- In Spite of a Nail: The Clawthorne sisters begin learning glyph magic on schedule, Gus has gone through witch puberty, a member of the PCA gets Luz, Willow and Gus expelled with someone trying to get them back in which succeeds with help from said member's daughter, Odalia and Alador unveil the Abomiton soldier and the Golden Guard purchases all of them for the Emperor's Coven.
- Internal Reveal:
- Luz learns Kitsuni's subbing for Anu Bist and that he's going to be okay, if off the clock for a while.
- Luz learns about Geist and how Willow's dads were friends with him.
- It's All My Fault: After getting expelled, Luz blames herself for letting Amity, Willow and Gus suffer the same fate as her, given that she expected to be kicked out of school for all her past actions.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Odalia reminds Luz that while she protected Amity several times, she's ultimately the reason why Amity did what she did at the petrification ceremony.
- Lilith was right when she told Odalia the Emperor's Coven will see the Abomiton line as a way of mass-producing a private army. The Golden Guard approaches Odalia and Alador and tells them this when he hires them to make more on the Emperor's orders.
- Karma Houdini: Dolly isn't outed for not signing the petition, so she gets off scot-free for trying to keep the girls and Gus expelled.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Nicole gets another dose after years of inflicting punishment.
- First, Boscha signs the last open spot on the petition to let Luz, Willow, Gus and Amity back into Hexside as payback for the previous week's events:
- Then Odalia gathers all the students' parents together and with some Loophole Abuse and evidence to prove it, gets Nicole removed from the PCA:
- Then Athena stands up to her by burning all her blackmail material:
- Then Ms. Traveler provides the money Hexside needs so they don't have to rely on Nicole's donations anymore:
- And finally, she's banned from ever setting foot on school grounds again and suffers a cringe curse mentally reminding her of her Noodle Incident and is taken away by Athena screaming in agony.
- Once Nicole's taken care of, Zebra, Swan, Mary and Harlan find themselves in for one loooong talk from Ms. Traveler about how they've treated their daughters.
- Horace is seen scrubbing off graffiti he and his goons left on Luz's locker.
- Nicole gets another dose after years of inflicting punishment.
- Like a Daughter to Me: Nicole tries to pull this on Skara by calling her a second daughter; it rubs the bard the wrong way.
- Loophole Abuse:
- To get the girls and Gus readmitted to Hexside, Skara agrees to gather 300 signatures from students and faculty wanting them to stay.
- Cat and Amelia were forbidden from hanging out with Amity, but not Skara.
- As it turns out, all parents of Hexside's students are technically members of the PCA, so they all get a say in voting on something. This is the key to Nicole's downfall.
- Luminescent Blush: Amity has one after Luz compliments the jacket she's wearing.
- Mama Bear: Eda and Odalia don't take Nicole getting their daughters expelled lying down and work together to put her in her place. However, this pales in comparison to Sandra, Mattholomule's mom, strangling Nicole and threatening to either shave her bald or do something to her eyes for letting Boscha mess with her son.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Eda's Potty Failure prank on Nicole works both ways as Nicole refused to let it go and has been trying to get back at Eda for it by messing with Luz. Once Nicole receives justice, the cringe curse forcibly reminds her of it, leaving her screaming.
- One-Word Title: Nicole's actions against Luz and her friends definitely act as a blindside.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Gus always expects Luz to scheme her way out of trouble, but given her recent growth he's flabbergasted that she'd do nothing of the sort and decides to call Eda and tell her what happened.
- Pass the Popcorn: Eda brings Luz, Amity and Willow back to Hexside to "enjoy the show", bringing foldup chairs and pulling out a bag of popcorn to eat.
- Pet the Dog: Anyone who signs the petition is this.
- Point of Divergence: What's different from "Escaping Expulsion"? Amity gets expelled along with Luz, Willow and Gus by the rest of the Parent Creature Association instead of Odalia and Alador. Skara works to get them back in by having students and faculty sign a petition, which works. And while Odalia is okay with Willow still being friends with Amity, she tells Luz to consider ending their friendship for Amity's safety.
- Precision F-Strike:
- Upon entering the detention track and seeing Dolly, Boscha tells her to "stay the fuck away from her".
- At around the same time, Amity drops one on Nicole in Principal Bump's office along with flipping her off.You know what, Mrs. Hieron, I got one thing to say to you. (raises her hand to flip her her off) Go fuck yourself, you #$^%.
- Race Against the Clock: Skara's only given until the end of the school day, a good six hours, to get all the signatures needed to repeal her friends' expulsions. It comes close, but they succeed when Boscha adds her signature at the last minute.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Luz rightfully calls Nicole weak for always trying to mess with her and her friends, especially since they're kids.
Luz: (venomously) Shut your trap, weakling.
Nicole: What did you call me, you brat?
Luz: What you are, you old #%^$. If anything, you should be the one whose actions should be brought to light after that inappropriate stunt you helped Boscha pull on me and Amity last week. You must be the weakest link in the PCA, since you're cowardly enough to go after children.- While confronting Nicole, Skara tells off Zebra, Swan, Harlan and Mary for being her spineless followers and saying she understands why Amelia and Cat lost all respect for their parents. Once the petition is offered, she tells Nicole she'd be disgusted to have her for a mother.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: As Nicole brags about her plan succeeding, she asks Luz "who's the weakling now?" Luz answers it's still her.
- The Reveal:
- Nicole's the CEO of her own potions company.
- Professor Snope worked at Blight Industries at some point.
- Perry told Gus why his mother had to leave, which is the other reason for his recent anger.
- Gilbert and Sully let Amity know that Willow told them the truth about why Amity ended their friendship.
- Geist is Edric and Emira's godfather.
- Mattholomule's mother is named Sandra and she's in the Construction coven.
- Lilith's been getting shocked whenever she so much as touches electrical appliances.
- Sadistic Choice: Odalia tells Luz that once Amity's able to return home, she wants them to stop being friends due to her rescuing the Clawthornes putting her in a bad light. Odalia ends it by saying if Luz really does care about Amity, she'll think about what's best for her future.
- Secretly Wealthy: Ms. Traveler, as she gives Principal Bump a check that will provide Hexside with funding for supplies for the next 10 years. She attributes it to generosity from past employers and is more than happy to keep providing as she doesn't have much use for it.
- Shamed by a Mob: Downplayed. All the students at Hexside are disgusted by what Boscha had done the previous week, but they don't voice their disdain out loud.
- Shout-Out: Two names on the petition are "Dana Terrors" and "Alex Hurtz".
- Spanner in the Works: Dolly attempts to invoke this by not signing the petition. It fails thanks to Boscha, who actually serves as one.
- There Was a Door: Eda comes into the Park's kitchen window, which Luz calls her out on.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: For once, Tibbles doesn't get any sort of punishment and receives his pay without issue.
- Time Skip: One week has officially passed since "Recovering", so Luz, Amity and Boscha can return to Hexside.
- Wham Episode: Nicole is kicked out of the PCA, Odalia gives Luz the Sadistic Choice to cut ties Amity and the Golden Guard buys up the abomiton line, effectively forcing Odalia and Alador into working under the Emperor's Coven.
