Amity's feelings for Luz by thekeeperofpromise a.k.a. tigerwu98
When Amity first saw Luz in the abominations track, she was open to the possibility that Luz was perhaps either a troublemaker, cheater, or some other person made of negative attributes akin to Boscha or her siblings, in addition to trying to steal her spot as top student likely valued by her parents, and was all too willing to be rid of her, hence her calling in Principal Bump.
Upon meeting her again in "Covention", Amity would have been taken aback by Luz's kind nature. Though she would doubt that Luz was being genuine, as her abrasive personality did not allow Willow to do such when she was forced to sever their friendship, and likely determined that Luz was a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing like her siblings and (if she had ever put on such a facade) Boscha. In addition, her initial casual treatment of magic would have caused Amity to think Luz was mocking the idea of magic. However, Luz's openness about how much magic meant to her at the end of the episode would cause Amity to realize that Luz did take magic seriously. Even then, Amity still would consider her potentially a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing after the cheating stunt.
It wouldn't be until the library incident where Amity would realize that Luz was never a bitch in sheep clothing, with Luz attempting to apologize AND save her life, risking her own in the process. Sharing her book and revealing nothing in her diary to anyone else also helped build such bridges. In addition, using herself as bait to save Amity's siblings would have helped clear any blame of deliberately ruining Amity's wand, chances of getting into the Emperor's Coven, status as the top student, and trying to read her diary, as the odds of a selfish person or bitch in sheep's clothing risking their life is minimal. By this time, Luz has not only shown Amity that she has a massive amount of courage, risking her life at least twice for others and encouraging her passion in the Good Witch Azura book series but is also unnaturally and truly kind and loyal, even if treated poorly, an attribute that appears to be a rare, if not borderline nonexistent, on the Boiling Isles, something which Amity would aspire to become, even as far back as the library incident.
Also, as Luz is one of the truly kindest people on the show, Amity would naturally feel most comfortable around her, with her parents being abusive, her "friends" being shallow, mean people, her siblings being troublemakers who seem nice, but treat her poorly, her friendship with Willow destroyed, and not really knowing Eda and having a bad encounter with King upon first meeting, leaving the only other exceptions being her mentor Lilith and possibly some of the Hexside teachers. The lattermost options, however, don't appear to be the best people she can be around, as Adults Are Useless shows in many episodes, and with the age gap.
This would lead to a strong attraction to Luz that would likely become romantic in nature, as there don't seem to be any boys her age Amity would like, such that by "The First Day", would cause her to angst about both her orientation and attraction to a human girl whom her parents likely would approve of less than Willow, as shown in the scene where Luz ends up spying on her. And Luz's friendly AND affectionate behavior (encouraging her to help fix the memories and hugging her, both of which lead to blushing) in "Understanding Willow" would end up exacerbating those feelings to the point that Amity would eventually try to ask her out. Of course, due to gayngst and fear of destroying the best friendship she's ever had (while her friendship with Willow is on it's way to healing, there are years of bitterness lingering), she would hold back. After all, asking someone to dance with them traditionally means you have strong feelings for them, which can draw someone towards you or drive them away, the latter especially if the person is of the same gender.
Also, the last time Amity performed an action heavily driven by her emotions (her friendship with Willow), ended up costing her a lot, which would cause her to fear two potential consequences of pursuing her feelings towards Luz: that Luz will reject her, out of either perhaps some VERY well hidden malice, or out of not feeling the same way, resulting in ANOTHER damaged friendship, or that her parents will find out and nix it, even possibly doing something worse than forcibly ending a friendship. And with that in mind, she knew that, if required to face Grom, her feelings for Luz risked being revealed for all to see. As such, she would have been quite willing to allow Luz to do it, as Luz had shown nothing but courage up to that point, aside from running for her life during their fight. Of course, once Luz started having a breakdown, she decided that to risk having to face her own fear and having her secret revealed was worth it over losing Luz and potentially any mutual feelings. And of course, she decided not to reveal her crush to Luz so as to preserve the mood of the moment.
The Owl Curse as an allegory for illness & the destigmatization of how disabilities are shown in animation. by Throneofsouls.
Throughout the first season and during the first half of season two, Eda's "curse" has on more then one occasion coded as more in the way of and illness or disability.
How Eda's affliction pops up at the worst possible moments, with stress worsening the effects, and how she has to take special elixirs to mediate its worst effects.Moreover, as the story progresses Eda has come to not only just to live with it, but also understand that her curse isn't actually something she ought to be ashamed of; it's just one aspect of who she is. Along the way though, it takes the support of Luz and king allow Eda to feel comfortable enough to tell them about her condition. Prior to those two discovering Eda's secret, The Owl Lady keep condition to herself, not wanting either to know (prior experiences with her well-meaning yet obstructive mother, who at one point wanted the curse "cut out" and that's not getting to her elder sister Lilith...).
Eda has found herself either ostracized by society for not just being unwilling to join a coven, but for her condition transforming her into the Owl beast. Or condescended to or infantilized by her mom and sister, who at different points thought that THEY knew how best to handle the curse. Naturally, they didn't. Yet throughout the whole story Eda rarely allows her curse to dominate her life or allows others to influence her decision at how to treat her issue. The narrative through the show regarding Eda's condition is that it's nothing to be ashamed about, that with the proper support network and medicine your affliction can not only be manageable, but you can be able to live a fulfilling life.
How does this destigmatize illness in animated shows ? By just being shown that the person who has an illness or disability is no better or worse than anyone else WITHOUT being preachy about it (every after school about disabilities I'm looking at you...)
Having Eda learn to live with her condition using the proper medications it sends a message that you aren't defined by it. And the same goes for Luz Noceda.
Wordof God states that Luz has ADHD and to have a person of color being neurodivergent, much less the protagonist of an animated series sends the message that, just like Eda Luz is more then just her condition and it doesn't stop her from progressing in her learning magic, gaining friends and later a girlfriend. Sure at first she had trouble and was friendless however, Luz through Eda and Kings support has gain confidence, better grasp on social cues, became much more responsible and that didn't have to come at the expense of losing her creativity.
