#I wish Disney would have just let the owl house go on how it was supposed to

[winterfireice]

It somehow didn’t click that the owl house is ending in 7 days

[somenerdfromwhatever]

I haven’t seen The Owl House but can we just talk about how Disney did this show dirty?

Let me preface this by saying that, as of the time of me writing this, I have NOT seen The Owl House in its entirety l yet. I could be in the progress of it after posting, but honestly as an outsider looking in given the entire Season 3 fiasco, Disney did this show dirty.

Like three specials only? Nothing more nothing less? With that happening due to outcry because originally it was going to get canned after the release of Season 2?

I don’t think it was a fair deal to end with three specials. Season 3 should’ve gotten the fanfare it deserved even with the outcry. Like, it is the weakest compromise possible even with mass support.

I’m going to paraphrase some bits of what I addressed to people on discord and additional information I learnt.

I’m surprised there wasn’t more of an active effort to fight back against the cancellation since it first blew up upon announcement. Like “doesn’t fit the branding?” Didn’t Gravity Falls face something similar? By that logic, this doesn’t make sense at all. I feel like Disney’s “brand theming” excuse is really dodgy, and it seems like there was some foul play involved. But I didn’t see the fandom actively pushing back, even the creator, who did speak out about it. (Note: I haven’t been on Twitter for over a year and a half, so I might not be fully aware of everything.) If I watch it and it’s as amazing as people say… given how I am passionate about things in this world, I won’t let Disney live this down. It’s like treating art as a joke just to fill their pockets and the corruption the industry has over artists. We saw this last year with the strikes and given the current state with the companies running the industry nowadays (the streaming bubble, and that the whole cartoon mass purge thanks to Max)... artists are now having their creativity die out because of industry folk like Disney.

If there was pushback, I’m glad there was at least some effort to score these three specials. But if this is how far it went, it feels like an unfair compromise. Three specials aren’t enough, honestly. Even if they’re good, it doesn’t negotiate anything at all as it still feels like Disney did this show dirty. Let me be clear here as well: I am NOT beating down anyone who has taken the effort to get this. Why the hell would I do that? I'm happy you guys managed to get your voice out there and left and impact. Those three specials were hard fought, I just wish there was more because honestly, it isn't enough. And if the resentment I'm seeing is anything to go by a year later, I say keep fighting. I am also not beating down Dana, the showrunner. Dana is an amazing creator, and the fact that she stood her ground at all with her cast and crew is incredible. My problem is with the corporation, with Disney, and how they put her in a position where that fight couldn’t be won in the way it should have been. I understand the fight it takes to get your foot in the door of the industry. If I were to turn around and beat down someone like Dana, who fought for her vision just like I’m fighting for mine? I would never live that down. It would stain me for life. Considering the industry itself is small and how I am going into it in post-production, sometime down the line, I will be faced with working with her. The last thing I want is burning a bridge inadvertently. I can understand why she acted the way that she did with her crew, it's just with a lot more vocality and support, things might've been different.

Like I don’t get Disney’s thought process here. You have a big, popular show, and then you “old yeller” it, giving it this slow death and then dragging it out with this… in my honest opinion; weak compromise. That is scummy and why us artists and creatives need a reform to the entertainment industry where we drive the vision and what Disney and others do come second.

At best, it did what it was supposed to do. At worst… it’s not enough.

With everything that the fanbase done including the cast, crew, and even Dana, while I'm happy they managed to end it, I feel like there should have been more active effort. I do notice there is still a lot of resentment and I mean A LOT OF RESENTMENT. I noticed a lot of the fandom got a hashtag trending, some fanart mailed into Disney itself, but I'm surprised there isn't like a full on physical protest. Online can only do so much. Like imagine a D23 but everyone is in their cosplay of the show with signs having references to whatever the show has going on. I mean, sure, it is unheard of, but consider the compromise, how it was censored in other countries, maybe even how mistreated it got during the making of Season 3. Go to the heart of where decisions are made. If you feel strongly about the compromise, take that energy and turn it into real action. As an outsider who is about to come on, I feel you so much. I hope the show is really good when I watch it, but in case if I don't, you guys really deserve better. Honest. I could be wrong in all this there's more to the story then I realize, so please go easy with this. Thank you.

[oh-shtars]

I saw your post, so I definitely have a few questions! 😁

What Disney films inspired "Reach For the Stars"?

How does Sueño feel about the other Starboys in the Wishverse? (I've only read a little a bit of info of this AU so far, but I'll catch up soon! 😅)

Does Asha help Suñeo realize that not all humans want the star power?

And lastly, its a funny one: I saw this one post you made about Valentino not liking Suñeo and its hilarious. Because I wrote something similar as a draft for Wish Granted after Star comes down:

WishGranted!Valentino can't stand Star in the beginning and keeps biting Star on the leg when he gets too close to Asha! 😂 WE HAVE THE SAME IDEA! Here's a draft of the interaction:

Star: *gets closer to Asha* Wow, my first human up close! *he grabs both of her hands and smiles as he looks at them* and I got lucky enough to get a beautiful one too! Hehe!

Asha: *eyes widened* W-wait, are you talking about....me?

(Star looks up, but before he can answer, an angry loud bleat interrupts)

"BAAAA! BAAAA! BAAAAA!"

(Both of them look down and see Valentino headbutting Star's leg a few times to make him go away. When that doesn't work, he starts growling as he biting on the star's leg)

Asha: VALENTINO! STOP THAT, RIGHT NOW! You don't where he's been!

Star:...Aw! He's giving me love bites! 😁

Valentino:

This was actually fun to share and ask, so I hope I came up with good stuff! And PLEASE, Take your time answering! I really enjoy reading your stuff! 🙏

RFTS!AU AskBox #2

Hello Rascal!! It’s a pleasure to read and get to know the stuff you come up with too! 💖💖 Thx so much for the asks and I hope you’re satisfied with the information I’m able to give :))

1. What Disney films inspired “Reach for the Stars?”

There’s Tangled, Princess and the Frog, Encanto, Beauty and the Beast, a little of Frozen, and The Owl House. (Ik the last one is not a film but shhhhhhh)

But for Non-Disney inspirations, there’s HTTYD, a bit of the movie Guardians of Ga’hoole, a book series called ‘Wings of Fire,’ and some Rise of the Guardians.

Mostly though, I take what I can get from the Wish Artbook and twist it into my own idea for it. Plus, some songs that I listen to. There might be other movies that inspired me, but these are the ones I could think of for now.

……….

2. How does Sueño feel about the other Starboys in the Wishverse?

Sueño considers Cielo as one of his closest friends and sees KOW!Aster as that very warm and reliable family member. These two are his main pals, since he warmed up to them first. Wish Granted!Star is a handful buuuut, he’s sweet. He reminds Sueño of his younger self and a bit of home. He misses the Astral Realm a lot :(

Haedus is a bit of a stranger to him for now but he's drawn to him. He'd like to open up and get to know him more. Bonding over some shared trust issues maybe? I think they'd make really good comfort buddies. :))

For Antares, Altan, TGATS!Aster, WRTS!Aster and Castor, Sueño hasn’t interacted with them much but he thinks they’re okay acquaintances he’d be fine interacting with. Just no sudden advances please. He gets all flinchy 😅

……..

3. Does Asha help Sueño realise that not all humans want his star power?

It’s one of his arcs to learn how not everyone is out to get him. There are some terrible people out there, sure, but don’t let them prevent you from seeing the kindness and light that exists in others :)

…………

4. Valentino and Starboy’s relationship.

I can see that RFTS! and Wish Granted!Valentino would agree on the same thing then. Headbutt that dumb star >:((

✨✨✨✨✨✨

@chillwildwave

I’m planning to keep the way Magnifico grants wishes that look animated by hand. Similar to how he granted that woman’s wish of being a dressmaker and the admittedly cool-looking scissors and fabric animation.

I’m also taking some inspiration from the song sequence “Almost There” from Princess and the Frog. Basically to explore the concept between dreams and reality. Similar to Tiana, I imagine it that whenever Asha daydreams of what could be, whether it be her own or other people’s desires, it’s in a 2D style animation. The wishes inside the bubbles are also in the 2D style, since it’s more of an abstract and “on-paper’ idea.

Meanwhile, when snapping back to what’s solid and real, it reverts back to 3D animation.

Just something neat that I think would’ve been cool that as more people act on making their dreams a reality by themselves, 3D sequences would become a lot more frequent than 2D ones.

Sueño’s stardust that he uses to make pictures and communicate would look 2D as well while the drawings in Asha’s book would have some small sketches and mini-page-flipping animations of references to past Disney movies. (Especially a reference to the famous ball bouncing practice animation. The basics~ ✨)

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@dangerousflowerpanda

Just to name one for each, it would be these. There’s plenty more but I don’t want to make the answer too long.

Asha:

Sueño:

Magnifico:

Amaya:

(The following questions under this also belong to @dangerousflowerpanda btw)

…………

2. What is the relationship between Magnifico and Amaya? Are they the typical passionate/evil couple or are they the more typical rich/empty couple?

I kind of don’t understand what you’re trying to ask here, sorry. But to answer it anyway, Amaya and Magnifico genuinely do love each other and find comfort in knowing that they’re not alone in how the world has left them bitter with their own crushed dreams.

However, while Amaya is more self-controlled and calmer, Magnifico is emotionally driven and tends to get carried away when it comes to vengeance. Such so that there are times where the couple don’t always see eye-to-eye and Amaya feeling like there’s a distance growing ever larger between them.

Think of Charity and PT Barnum from “The Greatest Showman” basically, but eviler.

…………

3. Does Sueño’s powers have any limits because of his younger age?

No, not really. It’s really more on how to control those powers and not have any accidental emotional outbursts. (I guess you can say, a bit similar to Elsa)

He also can’t permanently grant wishes but that’s more of a general star thing. Only Alpha Stars have the granted ability to do that when they earn it.

…………

4. What is your favorite food? And how would Sueño react when eating it for the first time?

I LOVE a Filipino cuisine that we call ‘Adobo.’ It’s marinated chicken in soy sauce :))

However, Sueño would probably freak at the thought of eating a poor animal. He’d go vegetarian. I think he would just settle for a nice scoop of ‘Cookies and Cream’ ice-cream from me instead. 😅

…………

5. We know that Sueño doesn’t like closed places and we know how he behaves in those situations. Would Magnifico use Sueño’s fear to manipulate him in some way or would he use another alternative?

Sounds like a very in-character thing for Magnifico to do sooooo, I approve this theory. But you know, if the star is too stubborn and refuses to cooperate even with this method, he could always just threaten the safety of a certain girl to force him to. :)

(Somebody save these poor people from Mag and from me-)

……..,

All of you are so creative with your questions, I can’t thank you guys enough 💖💖🥺

[ordinaryschmuck]

Quick Thoughts on Nimona

Based on the graphic novel by the creator of that She-Ra reboot no one likes anymore, Nimona is a movie that is well-worth the wait.

For those who don’t know, this WAS originally a Blue Sky Studios produced movie intended to be in theaters. They got about...80-90% done before Disney shut down the studio and forced Nimona to be indefinitely shelved until someone wanted it.

And it turns out that Netflix wanted it. And boy...Blue Sky REALLY dodged a bullet with this one.

Oh, not because the movie is bad. Again, it is VERY well-worth the wait.

The animation is stellar, having a unique style that sets it apart from other animated movies, as well as having fluent movements and bombastic facial expressions. The most it shines are in the action sequences, which are fun to watch even if there’s not many of them (really wish there were, though).

And the characters are also pretty decent. Ballister has a very tragic beginning to his story, as well as a character arc that’s pretty endearing.

His boyfriend Ambrosius is also endearing, having a decent conflict that makes you understand his side and why he’s always willing to go back and forth on what to do.

And the main antagonist, who is a surprise that’s cleverly revealed halfway, is a great villain representing the flaws of authority and why the people who make the laws actually have zero value on human life. It IS easy to tell they’re the twist villain, and their motivations are a little lacking, but you can let that stuff go if its thematically appropriate, which it is.

But then there’s the real star of the film: Nimona. At first, I found it a little weird how she’s top billing with how much of the story’s conflict is based on Ballister, but the film really picks up with Nimona, who is the heart of the movie. She’s definitely that character who some are going to love while others are going to hate, but I find her wild and violent tendencies entertaining and her chemistry with Ballister to be on point. Plus, her backstory and attitude towards how people see her really helps to endear her.

Seriously, I wasn’t expecting too much drama from Nimona, but BOY does it deliver with a few heart-clenching scenes that almost got to me a few times.

Not to mention that the themes of...I guess anti-police is the best way to put it. It’s made pretty obvious that the knights and their director are to represent the police system, and the movie does well to illustrate the flaws of it. Not EVERYTHING is perfect, but it’s...good enough.

Any real complaints I have towards the movie is the pacing and the jokes. The movie knows when to slow down for when it’s important, but there are some scenes that fly by, particularly some bonding moments between Ballister and Nimona and the development of their relationship. And the jokes can be hit or miss. When it hits, it’s REALLY funny. When it doesn’t, it’s REALLY awkward.

But that’s about it...So, WHY do I say that Blue Sky dodged a bullet with this one?

Because this is a movie that’s very against police and VERY supportive of the LGBTQA+ community. Nimona makes it clear that the bad guys are the ones who kill what society deems as monsters, even though some of these monsters got that name because all they did was exist.

If Disney didn’t kill Blue Sky, the amount of homophobic and conservative parents demanding that Nimona got pulled from theaters WOULD.

People already aren’t alright with the gay and mind-changing stuff that’s on TV nowadays. Hell, I saw on Twitter that a guy destroyed his sons Funko pop collection AND TV just because the kid was watching THE OWL HOUSE. There are VERY bad parents out there who would do anything to “protect the children,” and Blue Sky would have undoubtedly went down for a VERY brave stand to take.

Which is a shame because Nimona really is that good. It’s a solid 7/10 film that left me entertained throughout and should be seen by everyone. Bit of a warning, there’s a bit of an attempt to self-harm/suicide near the end...but thankfully it was only an attempt.

Still, check out Nimona. It’s fun, it has heart, and it’s pleasant on the eyes. You won’t be disappointed by this one.

[lovejapan55]

Sometimes I still wish there was hope for that Varian spin-off other times I’m scared I can’t be satisfied by it due to how awful Varian was treated in the series I know that the spin-off is by people who care about him so he be treated Better but I want catharsis for that horrid and toxic writing.

i don’t understand I thought it stopped bothering me with how satisfying the owl house series was especially the ending but every time I see someone praise tangled series in the owl house fandom I’m reminded of how much I hate tangled and Rapunzel and Cassandra and Fred and Chris sonerburg. Varian was not the Disney villain Chris wants you to think him as.

I want Rapunzel and king Fred and everyone who wronged him to be held accountable I don’t want any half assed apology either like the one from Rapunzel no biased narative either trying to paint Varian as the only one in the wrong.

I want it to be said how bad it was for him how she abandoned him for months . How he was more the victim then Rapunzel was, and I want him to resent Cassandra for what she did to his dad and how easier she was forgiven then him. I hate how it went I want it to be said he was alone for months with no emotional and mental support desperat to save his dad ,how he begged for corona to help but no one would cause they thought he attacked the princess during the storm. I want that talked more in the spin-off.

I want the spin off to mention how biased people were to forgive Cassandra more then him how toxic Cassandra was. I don’t want him to like her at all anymore and what she put him through was not karma for him that he didn’t deserve it.

I want it talked of how Rapunzel did give up on him no matter what Varian was written to say she did give up on him, it was not convincing when they had Varian say that she didn’t.

And I saw fanart portraying Fred as kind and taking pity on Varian letting Him out of prison for sun no I don’t want that. That would never be convincing , he left Varian to rot if he didn’t Varian wouldn’t have joined the saporians . I want Fred portrayed for what he really is a horrible king and father and that he never cared about Varian. I still don’t believe Rapunzel cared about him either I just want catharsis from what that show put him through. I want to be sane again I can’t believe after all these years I can’t let it go I just want to be free from it but I’m still angry and bitter over Chris terrible writing and how he sabotaged his show cause of his obsession with Cassandra who’s a toxic person. I still don’t get people who are fine with her writing and can’t see her for horrible person she really is.

Season 3 sucked ok season two was a complete waste as well.I just want to be free from this but I can’t too much I went through in this fandom and series, and DONT come at me saying it’s not real . Varian was very real and relatable too me and he was treated too horrible for me to forgive.

I want the spin off for Varian and the seven kingdoms I want the story Kait and Anne made. I want the new characters in there and for them to be real friends to him and for varigo to be canon and real too.But Varian trauma shouldn’t be over cause be very afraid didn’t satisfy me with that I don’t him over it like that and forgiving Rapunzel the way he did was not satisfying at all Cassandra didn’t deserve to be redeemed at all either I just can’t do this I hated that show so much I can’t forget it or forgive it.

[zelda-cooper]

Thoughts, Headcanons and Comments on Bushroot (My AU).

This here is more of a commentary blog and maybe a rant, it can also be considered as a headcanon blog and also for Bushroot fans. For those who want to, they can read it as they wish, but I'm already advancing that it's LONG and will have some low-level words (I'll censor it, but it's still worth it). Feel free to leave comments about your opinions...

So... These days I was looking at the Darkwing Duck wiki, more specifically the Bushroot one, until I got to the curiosities... And I came across this...

Then the thought came to me: "Wait wait wait... IS THE BUSHROOT A WORSE KILLER THAN NEGADUCK?!?!?! 0-0"

"WHAT THE F-"

Okay... Sorry... But actually it wasn't like that... I already knew a little bit about it because of Annie that Bushroot was in a way kind of... A bloodthirsty killer... But then a question came to me: How much was that on purpose and how much was accidental? See, I know Bushroot is a villain and is basically insane, but... Considering his personality... Do you really think he kills KILLS on purpose most of the time?

Obviously Disney wouldn't even dream of putting it in a children's series, but... Darkwing Duck tackles death a couple of times like it's nothing! Bushroot itself has "died" a few times and people speak verbally! I don't want to get into how much Disney is very childish to the extreme and how this makes current productions a little worse, but that's not my point... The point is... I don't believe that Bushroot did the murders knowingly or WANTING. And here I get an idea from another cartoon, this time a current one: The Owl House. More specifically... Willow and Gus.

I'm not going to go into the merits of how I love TOH and blah blah blah... But one thing that I found interesting about this series is this characteristic of when the character is having a breakdown or is out of control, the powers apparently get stronger and the eyes of the staff are shining. I particularly like the way Willow looks, basically it's Bushroot. Here comes my Headcanon...

When Bushroot ends up with some extremely strong negative emotion, the most common being anger or fear, he ends up losing control of his powers and this makes him completely lose reason and attack everything in front of him. Be it allies, enemies and even innocent people... And here comes a very heavy question... He may be a murderer, but he's not a sociopath or a psychopath.

Let's face it... Bushroot only killed his Bullies because they harassed him ALL DAY. This one he had a taste for killing them first! The DWD is obvious, the hero was always interfering with his plans (which I honestly think he stopped caring, because Darkwing is not one of the most competent heroes...). But it's JUST THESE people we know he wanted to kill... What about the other victims? Did he mean to kill them or was it an accident?

For me, I think that most of the victims were accidental and, after he got out of that frenzy, if he found out... I think he would go into despair with so much blood. Here is also the question of his remorse and guilt, he would probably cry in despair and Liquidator would be comforting him (although he is not the most emotional person... Then more Liquidator headcanons) or any of the other Fearsome, except for Negaduck, who shouldn't even have feelings anyway.

To wrap up this whole thread... Let's go to Bushroot's weakness... I know everyone knows that this plant zombie is basically immortal in the series, but here I thought of a good weakness for him... Fire.

Reasons? Zombie in most movies is defeated with fire. Plants are easily burned by fire. There are forests that are burned. I think you get the point... It would also serve as something for Negaduck to use as a triumph for him against Bush and could threaten him. This is something from Negaduck, but not giving too much spoiler... Basically the Fearsome Four didn't betray him before in our AU because they were constantly threatened by Negaduck, everything for the negative duck was a matter of having control of everything. He knew the weakness of the four and always used threats and intimidation to get what he wanted. And let's face it... Bushroot didn't have much attitude, so he was easily manipulated by ND. Otherwise...

Yeah, you get the idea... Anyway, I want to thank Annie for the arts and I also want to thank you for reading everything... That's it... Bye!

Arts for @anniesilveratl2

(Tea for the poor guy to relax...)

[taki118]

Soooooo Wish is a story about IP right?

Like i saw a clip for Disney's new movie and I was like "They arent seriously doing this are they?" and then I read the wikipedia page and was "Oh yeah that is def what they are doing."

In the clip MC Asha is talking to the King in the room he keeps the unanswered wishes, his vault if you will. He says these wishes won't be good for the city but Asha argues that now they can't even fulfill the wishes on their own and the king is like well they wouldnt even have the resources to do it I'm doing them a favor and like you get what i'm saying right?

Replace Wishes with movie/show ideas and kingdom with company and you got a pretty 1:1 allegory for content creation with a large company.

And like on paper this makes sense for the company's big 100th anniversary movie as the tag line to disney has been about making dreams come true but.......its insanely hypocritical when you know like ANYTHING about Disney's IP hoarding tendencies.

Like this movie can only end one of two ways either they're like "You know the king is kinda right not all wishes should be granted" or "We've freed the wishes now You can fulfill them on your own!" Which is what's more likely to happen and we stick with the allegory this would be a pro indie production/public domain movie wouldn't it? for a company that hoards IPs that their creators want just cause they'd rather let it rot than let it possible make money somewhere else.

Its like hey Disney why don't you follow your movie and

Let Dana Terrace have the Owl House back so she can contiue the story

Give Daron Nefcy Star Vs so she can do it without studio interference

Let Sting release the music he did for Kingdom of the Sun that you nearly drove him insane over

Why don't you let Pixar go since you don't seem to really care

Why don't you let the literal 100s of pitches you picked up dropped go so their creators and pitch it elsewhere

And this is just my passive notes but i know theres more of this nonsense they've done, I think the only studio that would be hypocritical were they to produce this would be WB and that says a lot.

But hey maybe i'm wrong....I don't think i am but maybe we'll see how this ages.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Wish we could’ve gone more into depth of Belos’s religious beliefs; like most we know is that he was either Catholic or Puritan but even those religions have subsects and branches not to mention Gravesfield could’ve had its own version of religion. How does Belos see God? Does Belos believe the Boiling Isles is literally Hell™ or just one of many Satan’s creations? Is anything even associated with it tainted (including the Collector and the Grimwalkers) or just witches/demons? Idk for religion being a, if not the primary motivator for Belos’s actions we learn very little of his beliefs. And I understand he has to pretend to be messenger for the Titan but I’m sure there could’ve been a couple seems spared for this or at least some more implications/hints.

OMG same! However, since The Owl House is a Disney channel TV show aimed at 7-10 year olds, they really can't get too in-depth on religion for fear of making the executives upset. It's great to explore in fan creations though!

Given where he's from, it's highly unlikely that Philip is Catholic; Gravesfield is patterned off of English colonial towns which were pretty much Puritan dominant. However, since the Wittebanes are not originally from Gravesfield, then his family could have been originally Catholic which would have added another layer of irony to Philip's obsessive need to be a witch-hunter by fitting into the Puritan culture.

Personally, I do think that Philip does see the Demon Realm as Hell-adjacent since Puritans believed that witchcraft was only possible if one entered into a covenant with Satan. However, I think his biggest motivation is not religion but rather more personal: his brother.

Philip dove headfirst to save Caleb from witches, to save his eternal soul (we finally got confirmation of this in For the Future) but Caleb is killed and there's a popular fan theory that Philip did not intend to kill Caleb but Evelyn, so Caleb's death was accidental, and it is one that Philip has been trying to erase since then.

Since Philip cannot accept the fact that he killed his brother, he blames the witches and seeks to eradicate them for what "they" did. The funny thing is, along the way, Philip does A LOT of things that would mark him as a devil in the eyes of his fellow Puritans. Here's a post that goes into this.

The biggest indicator that his main motivator is his brother is the very existence of the grimwalkers; logically, he does not need to make clones of Caleb. But Philip is so emotionally dependent on Caleb and broken up over his death that he can't simply let go.

Ultimately, I think religion provides the basic framework for Philip's worldview and it's what he uses to justify his actions, but the emotional core of it is trying to get his brother back and going back to the way things were before.

[confuzzled-crow77]

For 👏🏼 The 👏🏼 Future

Okay, first of all, a good friend of mine recommended (and by that I mean bugged me until I caved) to watch the Owl House, and I half wished that they hadn’t. I now have a constant feeling of frustration and hatred toward Disney for canceling the show. Anyway…

Well, I’m here so might as well make the best of it. Random voice-acting bits that I ADORED: At the very beginning when King said, “goodbye” after the door exploded, and right after that when the Collector said, “I’m free, I’m free! I haven’t felt this good in forever and ever! It’s like the whole world is singing!” It’s just *chef’s kiss*

Also when Camila screamed after sitting down on the ground-eyeballs. It sounded so authentic and throat-ripping! (Should I be happy about that?)

Obviously there’s a lot more than that but I don’t feel like typing it out. Okay, but one more thing: I first watched it when I had by earbuds in, and I almost threw up when I heard Belos slooching and slawching around. It was disgusting and amazing.

I didn’t know that Huntlow was kind of a love-or-hate kind of thing in the fandom. I personally…llliiiiikkkeeeeee it. I get that Willow was one of the first people to show Hunter kindness and I love both of their characters but I just can’t get into it. Of course all characters and relationships are going to be rushed but at least Lumity had some semblance of development. Ugh, not their fault.

Eda and Lilith’s new hairstyles = yes. Raine’s new mullet = yes even though Belos is now currently eating away at their flesh.

I would feel bad that Odalia is a servant to the Collector but…it’s Odalia. Come now, let’s be real here.

Okay, I’ve seen numerous fanarts of how Flapjack’s powers could manifest in Hunter, and I love his teleportation ability but…red wings. RED WINGS PEOPLE!! *cough* anyway

Let’s address the elephant in the room. No, not Liz’s palisman. No, not Willow’s emotional scenes. No, not the Collector being a lonely, abandoned little guy. *deep intake of breath* MATT THOLOMULE PEOPLE WHAT THE SHI-

I will never spell it “Mat Tholomule.” Never. Steve is one of my favorite characters (he’s like my…sixth favorite), and I really want some scenes with him and Matty since they’re half-brothers and we were robbed of their backstory but it’s probably not important enough to include in the last episode. Steve Tholomule…

I adore Luz’s palisman, though I like the egg’s color scheme more. Hey, I’m not complaining though. I just have one problem…Stringbean brings up bad memories of expired baked beans that had been left in the sun too long. No hate, duh. Her lil’ kitten ears are so cute!

Boscha is a simp for Amity…

Kikimora isn’t dead…

My predictions for the last episode (*distant sobbing*): Raine is going to die, but the Collector is going to revive them. The dude has Belos eating away at them, and they doesn’t have a Flapjack. (…is that grammar?)

Owlbert, Lilith’s palisman, and the Bat Queen are going to fight for the Boiling Isles!! They’re nowhere to be seen, and they’re way too important to leave out.

The Collector and King are going to team up against Belos in a fight of Gods!! And the only way for the good guys to prevail will be the Owl Crew!

Caleb will talk and his voice will be Hunter’s. Maybe if/when Belos dies all the Golden Guards of the past and Caleb will come to thank Hunter or Caleb talks to Belos as he’s dying.

Belos will go berserk against Eda since with her new hairstyle, she’s the spitting image of Evelyn.

There will be a lot of crying involved, both for the characters and the audience.

My hopes and dreams:

Steve and Matt scene! (Highly unlikely)

Stringbean being OP as crap and using her snakeshifting ability in battle by stinging as a scorpion, blowing flames as a dragon, and flying as a bat. (Pretty likely)

A “some years in the future” scene/ a flash forward scene. (Dear GOD I HOPE SO)

okay thats it *owl house voice* byeeeeeeeeeeee

[wafflesinthe504]

Bringing in the New Year

@flufftober

Fluff Monthly prompt: January

Rating: T

Warnings: there is a bar fight between two random npc

Fandom: Leverage

______________________________________________________________

“3…2…1! Happy New Year!” Harry yells along with the rest of the crew and French Quarter. Fireworks ring out and light up the night sky in an array of colors. A bittersweet smile blooms over Harry’s face as catches he Hardison and Parker along with many other couples kiss to bring in the New Year. He can’t help but think about how just a year ago he would have spent this moment with his wife, cherishing a kiss.

Harry is knocked out of his reverie as he stares at the firework show when Sophie nudges  his side offering him a beer, one of many from tonight.

“Thanks,” Harry says as he accepts the beer. “ I thought I list you there for a moment.”

Even though the team had all gone out together for New Year’s Eve to help support one of Eliot’s friends arcade bar they ended up breaking into groups as the night went on with a plan to meet up at the car around two am. Eliot had gone to help his friend deal with customers while Parker and Hardison had gone to the back of the bar to play the arcade games that were lined up. For a while Breanna had gone over to the arcade as well but the last time Harry saw her, she was sitting at the bar watching the numerous New Year’s Eve celebrations happening around the world.

 Harry was almost roped into helping out behind the bar as well but Sophie had stolen him away to join her in listening to the jazz band playing outside the bar.

“I ran into Breanna, who by the way is pretty hammered. She started talking about all the things she already wants to do this year and then she went on some side tangent about CES and Comic-Con and whatever else she could think of.”

“Sounds like it was quite the conversation.” Harry says amused.

“Oh, trust me it was. The only reason why I’m here now is because Breanna got distracted by a pretty woman who overheard her talking about some Disney cartoon and they ended up chatting away like I wasn’t even there.”

“I think the show must have been Owl House. She’s talked to me about it quite a bit recently. My daughter has talked to me about in- depth. Something tells me they might get along very well if they ever got the chance to meet.”

“How is your daughter by the way? Have you wished her a Happy New Year yet?”

“She’s doing good. Doing the best she can school wise and even managed to score an internship. Her and her mom decided to go visit New York for New Years so I called them both about an hour ago. They’re both doing well and seemed to be having fun so I tried not to keep them too long.”

“And how are you doing Harry? Are you having fun?”

“Y’know what I actually am having fun. Certainly, more than I thought I was going to have tonight. I won’t lie though it’s a little bit weird spending tonight with my family. But what about you Sophie are you having a good time?”

“As you know this isn’t usually my type of scene, but I am having an excellent time. Breanna was right great food and music along with a firework show does make for a great party.” Sophie pauses, taking a swig of her drink before continuing on. “If I’m being honest after Nate died I didn’t think the holidays would hold the same magic but, I’m glad that I’m wrong. I miss and I always will but being surrounded by family helps.”

A loud crash followed by yelling comes from inside the bar.

“Well, most of the time that is. Come on.” Sophie sighs.

Harry lets himself be pulled along by Sophie until they are inside the bar. Once they get inside the bar the yelling begins to intensify. A quick survey of the room brings in to focus the large crowd gathered in the center of the room. Harry catches a few glimpses of people in the center of drunkenly fighting. He winces and steps back when a chair is thrown across the room.

“Well, I guess that’s one wat to start the New Year.” Harry chuckles.

Harry and Sophie make their way towards the crowd, shoving their way into the inner circle. Inside the circle Harry is able to clearly see Eliot in-between the two drunken patrons who are still brawling. Eliot is trying to pull the guys off of each other, butt Harry can see that he’s struggling. Harry figures its because he doesn’t want to risk hurting either of the guys or the other nearby patrons. He’s about to go help Eliot when he sees Hardison manage his way to the center and help him by grabbing the other brawler and hauling him into a nearby seat. Even though Hardison’s guy goes pretty easily Eliot’s guy tries to wriggle his way out of Eliot’s grasp. Eliot ends up wrapping his arms around the drunken fighter’s arms and waist to keep him from flailing around.

“Alright, that’s it party’s over everyone. You ain’t got to go home but you can’t stay here.” Eliot yells as he continues to struggle with his guy.

Harry flinches when Parker pops up between him and Sophie.

“You guys might want to get out of here asap. Hardison set the sprinkler system to go off in a few minutes as a contingency if the fight continued or another fight broke out. Which means everything’s about to get wet and not the fun kind.” Parker says.

“But they were able to get it under control. It’s done.” Harry says.

“Yeah, and so is Hardison’s phone. It got knocked of his pocket and stepped on when he went to help Eliot.” Parker holds up Hardison’s phone showcasing a completely cracked screen. “As you can se its not really taking input right now. So we should really get going unless you two want to get drenched by the very expensive fire system Eliot had installed in this place.”

Harry follows Sophie and Parker out of the building when Sophies stops abruptly in front of him.

“Wait where’s Breanna?” Sophie asks.

“Oh, I made sure she got out once the fire started. She’s in the truck. I’ll be surprised if she isn’t passed out already. She cannot hold her alcohol, but she didn’t look pukey so I’ll take that as a win.”

When Harry, Sophie and Parker make it back to the truck Parker gets in the driver seat with Sophie climbing into the passenger seat and Harry going to the back. As soon as he opens the entrance to the back  he’s greeted by Breanna passed out in her seat. Harry chuckles and shakes his head. He grabs a blanket and drapes it over her before slipping into a seat of his own.

For a few moments the truck is quiet save the ambient noises that leak in from outside.

Harry is beginning to drift asleep when Sophie pokes her head into the back.

“Hey, we’re going to head back to HQ without Eliot and Hardison. They said they were going to help Eliot’s friend clean up and close up for the night. We’ll probably see them in the morning.”

“Alright, thanks for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome. Get some rest. Looks like the traffic is pretty bad might take us a while to get back.”

As it turns out Sophie isn’t wrong about the traffic. By the time they get back to HQ its nearly three am.

Harry drags himself out of the truck still bleary eyed from the nap he took. He can tell the others are just as exhausted as him as they stumble over their feet and barely miss hitting the door as they walk in.

Harry says good night to Parker and Breanna as they make their way to the respective bedrooms. For a spilt second Harry considers calling a lyft to take him home, but decides against it when all of the words on his phone looks like a blurry mess and the amount of traffic still on the road. Instead he grabs a spare blanket from the closet before heading to the couch when he sees Sophie has already beat him to it. Harry laughs to himself as he plops down on the armchair kicking his legs up on an ottoman.

As Harry fell asleep he felt an appreciation for the past year and excited anticipation for the year ahead. 

[juliettedunn]

Eda and Her Fear of Bonding

I really wish Disney had allowed TOH to explore Eda having brief romantic relationships with toxic people where she quickly uses them for something and then dips. I think it l would have added to her l arc. Eda has a really avoidant attachment style instated in her from her childhood.

She had a very close relationship with her sister and father, and both ended up in tragedy. With her father in particular, she learned that she was capable of hurting her loved ones at any moment, that she was dangerous to them.

And Gwen enforced this idea, telling her she was broken. Eda was isolated and singled out by Gwen and her peers because of the curse, repeatedly told something was wrong with her, so of course she wanted to hide that. Raine wants to support her, but Eda has been taught she's a burden and hurts those who want to care for her, so she pushes them away.

She lives a lonely life in The Owl House until she adopts King, who she originally brought home as a pet. After it became clear King was sapient, Eda didn't want to admit she had essentially adopted a child.

She introduces King as her "roommate" to Luz. She even is weirded out by hugging, expressing distaste for it even though we see her rush to hug her dad. She acts very emotionally immature in Season 1. She mocks Luz, she acts standoffish to her, she makes petty challenges with King and gloats over winning them, when King is about 8 years old. She often acts like a child herself, despite caring for two kids. She never learned that responsibility or maturity, because she isolated herself after Raine.

Her speech in Agony of a Witch shows how much she changes over Season 1. She starts to learn real responsibility, and actually admit affection. She always felt parental affection for Luz and King, but she repeatedly denied it, because admitting so is terrifying. It implies a kind of interdependence. And she has not learned how to be interdependent.

She doesn't know how to openly care for others, and she doesn't know how to let others care for her. Yet she shows so much love and empathy. Even toward Lilith, who is trying to get her captured. She cares so much. And through meeting Luz and being responsible for her, she starts to mature.

In Eda's Requiem, we see her again denying her parental relationship with Luz and King. She has matured a lot and is acting a lot more motherly. Then she thinks King says he is leaving, and she is so distraught over this fact, because she had just been easing into her role of mother to him. She is being left, again. She is not enough, she was only a temporary caretaker to King and Luz, before they go to their real parents.

She is prepared to die in this episode, she literally says this and goes to do it. She wants to go out a dramatic rebel against Belos, she thinks that's all she is good for. And she is a very good rebel, but she thinks that can be her only purpose, to go out fast in a "blaze of glory," she is the one that should be sacrificed, because she has no attachments, no bonds, so she can die.

She would have done so had Raine not stopped her. And then she returns, and King has taken it on himself to make him officially her son. And her role as his mom is cemented.

So we see her go on to accept the owl beast as part of her, to come to terms with the curse, to even talk to her dad. That incident that did so much damage to her, and he reassures her and has an incredibly healing conversation. She ran and hid for all those years.

Eda is always running and hiding. She hides in the Owl House, she runs from the owl beast in her mind, she runs from her mom and her dad and all those romantic relationships we didn't get to see but King says were always with toxic people and very short-lived.

She runs and hides until she is forced to stay. Because she has kids, and they need her. She's all they have.

EVEN in For the Future, she wants to deny her role in Luz's life. She says she's "with her real family now." But King has matured now, and he knows Eda has that tendency. He immediately calls her out and says "You know you don't mean that." Because she doesn't.

But she's so scared, of being unwanted and rejected again. If she doesn't have a permanent attachment, how can she be hurt?

I think she will meet Camila and Camila will make it clear that Eda's parental relationship with Luz can co exist with Camila being Luz's mom. Both can be true. And I think Camila will thank her for caring for Luz. And she will have this bond affirmed.

It's also interesting she found Luz. As I pointed out in my talk about the parallels between Lumity and Raeda, Luz also has a tendency to avoid her issues. She doesn't avoid having deep relationships with people like Eda in Season 1, but as the show goes on we actually see this tendency increase in her as well. She hides stuff from Amity and Eda, and then in Thanks to Them she hides everything from her friends. Luz doesn't have it as bad as Eda, but it could become that way.

Luz was also told she was broken by the world, and a burden. She also, through actions basically outside of her control, hurt people she loved. So she also is trying to isolate and break off her deep bonds with her friends because 1) she doesn't think she deserves to have them and 2) she thinks by doing so she is continuing to hurt them. Just like Eda.

And both her and Eda conceal a lot of their inner pain by making jokes and engaging in reckless "hijinks” behavior, laughing stuff off and moving at a rapid pace, always running, whether metaphorically or literally, from the issue at hand.

I think Eda was able to do a lot of self reflection from parenting Luz and helping Luz to undo some of that toxic mindset. She was able to see how it was wrong in Luz even if she couldn't in herself.

I joke and say "Eda really saw an ADHD bisexual with a tendency to hide all her emotional issues under humor, wacky hijinks, and self isolation and said 'Yep, that's my kid"" but it's not just a joke, it's 100% true.

I think if the "dreamscape" theory is correct, Eda will have her own. And there is heavy suggestion it involves the conformatorium, the place society told her she ought to be locked up because she doesn't belong. I hope her dreamscape will explore these issues she has. I really want to see the conclusion of this arc, it's wonderfully done and we've seen so much emotional growth in her.

She grew and matured right alongside her kids. They were so good for her; they forced her to finally grapple with truths she didn't want to face. They were a bond that she couldn't run from, because they are kids, entirely dependent on her. It was perfect for her to finally start to confront her own trauma. I love Eda's arc so much..

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

How did you feel when you heard that The Owl House got cancelled?

I was deeply depressed because that cartoon saved my life in some ways because just like you, I went through depression and a victim of SA, and had suicidal thoughts and family issues too and I joined the fandom after the series was over, and finished binge watching all episodes, but I'm glad TOH is really big and active, so what can I say fsyjyscbdd more contents

I really hope we get a comic book series and a movie too. If ATLA/LOK can do it, so can TOH.

Oh honey I wish I could hug you,

To be honest I may seem like a long time fan but I only sadly got into it after the series finale, I had a previous fandom I was deeply into that took up a majority of my hyperfixate space.

But I actually was sad as well as I caught up on the series. As an Author and Creative myself I could tell Dana and the crew had so much they wanted to tell, and I hope they get to someday, I know I heard she is going on a break, which I do not blame her for that. Fighting with the mouse is not something I would want to have to do, let alone for 3 years,

But this ambiguous, so many loose ends ending, felt like she left it to the fandom. With the Series Finale, it felt like we were the Collector going off exploring new AUs and ideas different worlds,

Like Dana handed the Azura book to us and said

Now it's your turn to write the story

And that is so unbelievably special and what I think will keep this fandom going for years and years to come, she not only handed the Younger selves but the future selves as well to us for us to play with in her sandbox.

Will not lie, it also felt like Dana's final fuck you to Disney I could just picture her picking up the series glaring as she dropped it into our laps before flipping them off and walking off Haha

[moonrose-mortem]

I don't usually post stuff like this, but I feel it's necessary to support something that connects to "The Owl House."

The show is under enough pressure between season 3 almost getting completely cancelled and Disney treating Dana Terrace and her crew like absolute crap when they have created a masterpiece of a cartoon that I would have loved to see as a kid, and I have a niece who LOVES it. She came out as demi/lesbian to her parents, my husband and me (her cool aunt, a title I feel honored to be.) I told her about "The Owl House" because she likes witchy stuff, weird cartoons and is into nerdy things as well. She binged the first season and it became something we could bond/talk over. Let me tell you, when Lumity became canon in season 2 she was so happy! Why? Because she felt SEEN.

I loved Lumity when it happened as well because it was history making and the cutest ship I've seen in a while.

But they weren't the characters I was interested in most. The character that really pulled me into TOH fandom was Willow Park.

Why? Because I saw myself in her the most.

Chubby. Glasses. Loved plants, nature and animals. Had a sweet and shy personality but was insecure and held a little darkness inside from wanting to be angry but couldn't. Didn't have many friends and was dropped by her childhood friend (s) because she was different. Was bullied and had her own name used as a tool for her tormentors to pick on her to the point where she lost so much confidence in herself.

That was exactly me growing up! But like Willow I eventually found my people who loved me for who I was and I'm so protective and caring for them. Watching this character confront her bullies, showing she's capable as a witch, happier, thriving and going after she wants is something I wish I could have done more as a kid. Seeing this show as a nerdy, plant loving, plus size girl I feel seen in this fictional character.

I can also see why many love her because she wasn't forced to have a romantic interest like so many female protagonists that Disney and other cartoons that liked to force this down our throats. Seeing this trend decline in recent years is very refreshing indeed.

But when it comes to TOH, I noticed Dana likes to surprise us with the unexpected.

So about the recent episode with Hunter...the division and arguments coming from this ship war surprised me.

Twelve year old me had so many crushes on fictional characters from anime, movies, and not going to lie I had a thing for Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender. But deep down, I was disappointed because I never saw any girl that looked like me or Willow get shipped with any character, male or female. So much media likes to show the cute, nerdy, fat friend as just a side character/friend of the hero and nothing more. No love interest. No positive messages of "guys can like chubby girls too." Nothing.

So when this episode dropped and all of the hype over Winter/Huntlow came out, I was happy. Happy because of how far things have come and knowing other girls who like Willow for the same reasons I do are happy too.

Yet, here you guys are making up excuses as to why they can't happen. Yes, he's a little older than her. Yes, he's got to go through some serious mental health work. Yes, he's got issues. Yes, he might be a freaking clone doll Grimwalker and he might go through an existential crisis.

But the point is, Willow is a good influence on him and he has shared parallels to her that she understands. Plus she should be allowed have anyone she wants if she goes for it! And if you look at the symbolism between Flapjack being a cardinal, a bird of change and finding your own path, and Willow's name being a tree of healing, hope, safety and FREEDOM, then the signs are pretty clear of the two biggest influences on his redemption arc.

I can see them as a best friends first then romance later. At the same time, I am a hopeless romantic and think they'd be cute together.

But if it is Dana's will to make them endgame canon ship you guys should start praising and less hating. Let people ship them peacefully, please.

[ramblesanddragons]

There’s a Problem in Animation

So putting aside the theories and hype for a minute the fact that they cut Season 3 of The Owl House from 10-20 episodes down to 3 is frustrating.

Now Disney isn’t the only one guilty of this. (I’m looking at you HBO) Lately things with their TV animation has been crazy. Between whatever happened with Ducktales and we all know the Amphibia issue this shouldn’t come as a shock. Alex Hirsch ended Gravity Falls after two seasons but that was because he was finished telling the story. It was his choice. Apparently Disney took that as “Hey things can be wildly popular and we don’t even have to give the show more than two seasons!” There’s no hate on Alex btw this is all Disney’s doing.

Luckily we have a chance to engage with the higher ups than we ever have before. Between Twitter (for all it’s faults it’s direct) and other social media we can let how we feel be known. And I’m thankful we can engage with creators too. I don’t think anyone outside of “the industry” knew what was going on with their favorite shows back in ye olden days. Now we can get insights.

My favorite example of “the industry” being dumb is Critical Role. They wanted to make an animated episode and pitched it around. Everyone said no. So they went to Kickstarter and broke all the records. We care about creators not the producers who are so afraid of new content and bold they don’t take many chances and on the ones they do they throttle them to fit whatever they deem the standards are. I wish we could just kick start all the good things but I know that doesn’t always work and making stuff costs money.  Although if Dana did do that for her next project I would toss all the money at it.

My point...we need to let Disney and other producers know we’re paying attention. Dana mentioned writing a letter so by God I wrote one. Basically asking “WTF is your problem” but politely...ish.If you too want to write a letter the best place I’ve found it here: https://disneynow.com/feedback

Pick TV program Related or General Feedback. It didn’t seem to have a word limit so go forth and let them know how much you love The Owl House and other shows. Maybe it’s gotten to the point where we have to start bugging the hell out of the big wigs.

TLDR: You can go to this link here (https://disneynow.com/feedback) to tell Disney that The Owl House should have a full season 3 or let them know how you feel about how they’re treating their other shows on top of using twitter.

[sunsents]

Empty - F.W (1/2)

Gah daym this was a JOURNEY to write. I swore to myself to never write angst because, well I suck at it. But here we are, I swear this has a good ending because my heart can't bear that. I could've written this much better, so I promise to bring my A GAME for chapter 2. Enjoy, also Lee in this is a hate crime. This is very story telling-esk so I hope it flows well.

I wouldn't have written this chapter without the help of my good friend @mochiixjimin she helped me edit and spice up this whole thing so thank you so much to her! She's an amazing writer, go check out her work and show her some big love right now or else!! her wattpad

Chapter 1 out of 2 (Backstory)

Summary —> Life has always been a cruel joke to you, yet you simply play along. Overshadowed by Eva Burke your whole life, watching from the sidelines while everyone flooded each other with love, it would always feel like a joke.

Pairing: fredweasley x fem!reader

Word count: 6.1k

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST (with a fluffy ending in the second part) / One mature scene (18+) and then it's angst again <3 / Some slander / Offensive language

Rating: 18+

DON’T REPOST MY WORK

You were a bright child.

Beaming bright enough to keep a tight lipped smile during flu-shots, and enough to put on a happy façade when your dad threw away the drawing you had done of your family dog, rather than hang it up on the fridge.

Children have foolish dreams, and that was yours. Your friends in preschool boasted about their pictures being hung like trophies on fridges, with decorative magnets and even bigger pink bow ties.

The fridge in the Y/L/N manor was empty. Always empty, just how Ms. Y/L/N liked it. Empty marble floors with empty rug designs, and empty rooms with even emptier people living in it. They were both empty people. Hollow and void of any emotion, at least towards you.

You were different though. You were filled to the brim with ambition and hope and so many positive emotions that your parents never seemed to reflect on you. You were like those Disney princesses. The princesses always had hope, and when you have hope good things happen.

Right?

Your dad never meant to give you false hope. He just wished you’d keep your mouth shut as he worked until late hours. Using big words and having big aspirations, you shouldn’t have.

Mr and Mrs Y/L/N weren't bad people per say, just busy. They didn't know how to raise a child, this was obvious, because the purpose of even having a child was to fix their marriage. But a temporary fix wouldn't do it, it never did. There was always that hole on the roof, leaking rain of despair into their falsely built home that no bucket big enough could hold back. Because it always found a way to overflow.

They didn't know how to show their love, so they did it with money, clothes, toys and crayons that you would later use to draw pictures of your family, only to have them end up in the dumpster once again.

They spoiled you rotten, bought you gifts you never even dreamed of asking. You just shut up and enjoyed it, what else could you do? Whine and demand attention? Risk losing their favor? There was no favor to lose.

You got yourself a fat A plus on your third grade math test. Star stickers on your chest, you entered through the glass double doors of your house with a crooked smile - two front teeth missing of course - making your joy all the more endearing. Your backpack strapped tightly over your narrow shoulders, hanging low with all the crammed books you pushed before leaving school because you were just so excited to show your parents.

You received a big sloppy kiss from your Nanny, who practically was like a second mom to you, and dashed right into your fathers office to show him your new accomplishment.

"Good job, I'm proud of you."

You froze. You found a way to actually get their attention. The attention you so craved, the recognition you would die for. This was revolutionary. Basically a new era for you.

Nanny made you a star shaped cake that night, and sat with you while gently stroking your hair and listening to you blabber about how easy the math questions were. It felt warm, motherly love. Even if it was false, it would never compare to the love of your own mother, a love you would never get.

You spent all your night studying, your eyes burning under the harsh light of your lamp in the early mornings and your pencil, ebbing away over sheets and sheets of blank paper. Writing away your little hands off until they ached, just to snatch another A and get a good job.

This was good, it worked out very well. You became that student who looked forward to class, just to get a good grade and have the validation of your parents. The sight of your father’s lips quirk up even in the slightest, and how your mother’s eyes shone briefly in appreciation of your hard work, even if it was for a quick second, it was worth it.

Until the new neighbors moved in.

Mr. Burke was a round, cheerful man with an even rounder belly, and a big fat pipe that always hung on his lips. Mrs Burke looked and acted like those fairy godmothers you adored. You couldn’t believe such people existed. Mr Y/L/N invited them over for dinner, for courtesy. He was not happy about said courtesy.

He ended up liking the couple, they had a little daughter called Eva, who was small and adorable with round red cheeks and big doe eyes. Not only Mr and Mrs Burke, but the Y/L/N’s adored Eva as well. She was happy, always smiling, and her teeth weren't nearly as crooked as yours, not to mention she had pretty long hair like a princess.

You liked her a lot, took her to pick flowers, showed her the drawings you had prepared for the empty fridge; in case Mr Y/L/N ever had a change of heart and hung them up, you had been trying for three years and weren't giving up any sooner.

Eva was nice, kind enough to share her M&M's and very used to compliments unlike you. She seemed to get a lot from her parents and yours. The adults were so kind to her, always smothering her with love and kisses. You were happy for Eva, happy that Eva somehow managed to gain the favor of your parents before you did.

Little girls tended to be jealous, you weren’t. You were just glad to have a friend so cool, she didn't blush and stutter under praise and apparently her drawings were pretty enough to go on a fridge.

It was a Thursday afternoon when your mom smiled at you for the first time since your last exam grade. "Look, Eva drew us a picture, isn't it pretty?"

The crayola stash under your bed was no longer needed, they appeared clumsily dumped in the neighborhood trash the next day, most of them stomped under the pressure of your little sneakers. And the bundle of drawings you hid under your pillow, wishing on fairy godmother that one day they would be hung up too, were ripped; clearly a struggle given. You had paper cuts on your hands, and your Nanny thankfully applied ointment before Ms and Mr Y/L/N noticed, or rather, stopped to care.

Though you knew that even if you paraded herself with bloody fingers dripping to your elbows, they wouldn't care.

Nanny did, she was there. There when you were haunted with nightmares when the moon was particularly dark, cooing at you and letting you sleep next to her in that small bed of hers. There when you tripped and fell, small scratch resulting in a screaming tantrum. She was gentle, sweet, paid well.

You decided to go and pick flowers with Eva, and make a pretty flower crown for yourself, months after your drawing incident. Of course, you didn't have such silly dreams anymore. You didn’t wish to have your pictures hung, to have your mother wear the flower crowns you made and frankly you didn’t care for the sight of the sparkle in your parents eyes. Nanny’s was enough.

Eva agreed, dressed in a pink tutu Mrs Y/L/N gifted. You didn't comment, though deep down you gazed at the skirt in sparkling envy. Your mother never bothered to get you such pretty things. The two of you gathered saturated petals and nice ribbons while giggling amongst yourselves. Until, you accidentally caused Eva’s flowers to levitate.

Eva ran home, crying and calling you a witch. Mr and Mrs Y/L/N’s dirty looks made her feel shameful, and even dirtier when a letter addressed to her was dropped by a pretty owl you insisted on petting. It was from a school called Hogwarts, in the faraway land of London, and it seemed, not only you but Eva got the same letter the next day.

Though the Y/L/N’s and Burke’s were proud of Eva’s letter. They weren’t with yours.

— — — —

The ride to Hogwarts was interesting to say the least. You had so many questions unanswered, were you a fairy godmother too? Was that your destiny? Was that the reason you never got any attention, because you were destined to give instead of receive?

Eva was cheerful as always, making fast friends in newly bought uniforms and holding a pretty, long and thin wand, with designs flowing across the premise. Your wand was...functional. You were sad you couldn't choose, and that the wand chose the owner. It didn't make sense, what if you didn't want this wand? What if you wanted something charming like Eva’s? It should have been mutual.

It was while trying to find your way to the bathroom that you met the Weasley twins. Quite handsome, a year older and absolute fucktards. A word you learned from the two. Though you always found yourself laughing more at Fred’s jokes, you liked them both equally.

“Hey George! Look.” Fred had exclaimed, clinging onto his brothers shoulder and dragging him across. “Who's that girl?”

You introduced yourself, happy façade on, gentle words slipping out of your mouth like nectar. They had to like you, you told yourself. Just this once, more than Eva.

When sorted into Gryffindor, Eva, you and the twins became inseparable. Your group grew in second year, when Katie, Lee and Alicia Spinnet joined the bunch. You would make fun of the ghastly Potions Professor Snape, and imitate Dumbledore in the hallways to mess with the older students.

You loved your time at Hogwarts, and the adventures that came every year. Especially when Harry Potter joined.

“Hey Fred.”

Fred, who was fiddling with his bracelet you had bought him hummed in response, not bothering to look up.

You sighed, “Do you think the flowers can feel it when we pluck them?”

Fred turned at that, his bracelet was now tightly secure after his struggles. “I hope not.” he smiled, a faraway look on his face whenever he gazed at you. “You know, some people like pain.” he winked.

You merely looked at him confused, clearly way too young for...whatever that is.

He started laughing loudly, slapping his knee and causing you to scoff and slap him on the shoulder.

Third year was when it bloomed. The slight girly attention you gave Fred grew. Fred was...Fred. A handsome ginger, beater for their house's Quidditch team, always charming and charismatic that somehow oozed out of him whenever he did anything really. It was not unusual, every girl in school had a crush on him. That wasn't the case, Fred was one of your best friends, and you refused to entertain the idea of a possible...relationship.

Yet sometimes, you'd find yourself thinking about hugging and kissing Fred like you’d seen couples in your favorite movies did and you’d fall asleep with reddened cheeks and a boy with even redder hair in your mind.

But feelings couldn’t be controlled, nor easily hidden. Eva found out in your fourth year after hearing you mumble his name in your dreams. Fred Weasley was getting more handsome as years passed, and you found it hard to contain your feelings. You were crushing, hard.

Eva was...Eva about it. Happy, but nothing changed. She didn't tease like George did when he found out, nor did she act any differently towards Fred.

“Hey ____!” Fred had sat next to you, shaking the entire couch because he grew that tall during summer. “Got a new girl after me.” he looked at you, almost expectantly, as if you wouldn’t react the way you always reacted.

“That’s great Fred.” you smiled, gulping whatever lump that was forming in your throat and struggling to come out as vulgar words you wished to yell.

“Yeah,” Fred sighed, “It’s...great.”

Fred Weasley was a ladies man, and he wasn't afraid to show it. It was okay, because you were happy enough to be one of his closest, and that was enough. He often boasted about getting girls, and how successful his jokes were, and you always loved snapping back to him cockily, even more cockily than him. Playful banter was easy, comforting between them and when he turned away you would love to shyly entertain the idea of being one of those girl’s Fred talked about.

Fifth year, you had a sudden growth spurt. That was also the year where you discovered Cosmopolitan, Vogue and of course Witch Weekly. Hair no longer in a ponytail, legs shaved and smooth, short skirts with no nylons, you were a new person. After getting your period in third year, your spurt came late, but sudden. Way too sudden in the time of three months. It was hard to handle the changes occurring to your body. It was all too much that you had to become a lady and the fact that you didn’t have your mother to help was a pain you hid deep within.

It was as if whichever god above decided to squeeze your entire life into a summer and call it a day, because it was simply too busy. How ironic. No one saw your growth except old Nanny Gladys. Not Eva, nor her parents considering they went on a getaway and the Burke's, who had gone to Brazil.

But you were over that, you discovered the great telephone, and the great Hermione Granger, package deal with Ginny Weasley. You guys would talk on the phone for hours upon hours, Ginny obscuring your personality and Hermione altering your view on your parents. And Hermione was right, they were assholes. You didn't give a flying fuck about empty praises anymore.

You had become almost too tall for your older clothes, and your breasts were way too big to fit in the training bra you bought not even a month ago. Your hips, now wide and swaying as you walk became graceful, were decorated with long gem bracelets.

You cursed like a sailor that summer, ran around fields with family - your family being your dog, Jambo - bare feet. You stomped on flowers you used to pick as a little girl, stomping on those silly fairytale dreams you used to nurse, and never felt freer. For the first time ever you felt that maybe being empty could be more freeing than having false hope weighing you down.

Returning to Hogwarts was a big deal to students. Who changed, who glowed up after what happened last year - nothing, it was all childish drama.

Before your parents could even see your new self, your escapade to the Granger household was successful. The Y/L/N's didn't care, nor did they write. You knew it should’ve hurt, but frankly, you didn’t think having the pain in your chest was worth it. Hermione was awestruck, of course, after laying her sights on you for the first time since May and insisted on walking into the Entrance Hall, arm in arm with her and Ginny to show you off like some sort of revelation.

It was a revelation all right, at least to the boys, and some girls. It seemed no one saw you as a girl before. George oogled, and Lee was so shocked to find out that you were actually a girl with a pretty figure and an even prettier smile that he stopped clapping you on the back like he always did. Not a girl, you have become a woman. It was far too sudden, new uniforms and a whole new wardrobe had to be bought.

"____? You were a girl?" Fred joked, ruffling your hair like nothing changed between you. And that's when you realized, no slutty skirt, how much pushup your bra, or no matter how pretty your hair looked, Fred would always see you as ____, the girl with crooked front teeth and who once ate a worm in second year. Your teeth weren't crooked at all anymore - thanks to a few years of braces - and finally clear of uncomfortable metals but you felt as if Fred would always see the ghost of them on your pearly whites when you smiled.

He had this view of you that blinded him, caused him to treat you as he treated Ginny while he flirted and played footsie with other girls, including Eva.

That did not stop Eva from giving you false hope, and you took the bait, naive like always. Hope, that's what ruined it all. "You're beautiful now, of course you have a chance!" she said, rubbing your shoulder reassuringly, as if she had warmth to begin with.

It was all false, yet you still believed. You always had. Like a fool.

Ginny didn't like Eva, and maybe that's why you gravitated towards her. She was the first person who had ever met Eva that wasn't charmed by her kind smile and attractive words. Eva was...displeased. She grew up having the attention of everyone around, so when Ginny Weasley told her straight to her face that she wasn't shit, Eva seethed. The attention of Ginny changed nothing though, because Eva was the main character. Everyone - except Ginny, and secretly Hermione (though she would never say it) - loved her, they followed her around like puppies and praised her on her wonky wand work.

The upcoming Yule Ball brought great upswing to Hogwarts.

You were far too busy with her classes to take interest in the tournament - even though the dragon race was the gnarliest sight you had ever seen. Your goal was set, become a badass Auror and move out as soon as possible, so you didn't have to face your parents (except Holidays, yuck.)

But the Yule Ball was your chance. A chance with Fred Weasley.

You could ask to go as friends and maybe, just maybe a little hope and the night would end much more romantic than you had anticipated.

Plucking up courage was the hardest part, you practiced with your bathroom mirror so long that Ginny had to blast through the door and drag you out of her dormitory.

Fred Weasley agreed, why wouldn't he? You, his closest friend, asking to go as a group and drink all night while gossiping? It was a win win. At least that's what you told herself.

That was a lie, it wasn't a win win.

You gave it your all getting ready, dress silk, makeup and expensive shoes. You took a long shower, scrubbing and shaving yourself to a smooth gliding porcelain, only for it all to be washed down with reddened eyes and a boy with even redder hair.

Fred greeted you the same, danced the same, and you chatted the same; you were reminded again, for the second time, that you stood no chance.

Fred told you that he was going to get drinks, a quick trip to the booth and mumbled I'll be back in a second. He was not back in a second. Several minutes passed, and your worries caused your feet to follow after Fred's footsteps.

You ran, trying to find him in the empty corridors of Hogwarts, tears welling in your eyes because he wouldn't. He wasn't that cruel, life wasn't that cruel.

But it was, and in a distant empty classroom you saw Fred Weasley, on his knees and between Eva's legs, groaning and praising her like a starved man. Worshipping her like everyone else had, burying himself in her and completely forgetting the drink he’d bring back in just a second. He’d left you thirsty and alone in the Great Hall and left you to drink from a cup he hadn’t known to be forbidden. Yet Eva did.

Eva's perfect dainty hands tangled in his ginger hair, thighs clamping shut while her high pitched moans flooded your mind and echoed around your head. They were so loud that she couldn’t even hear the loud echoes of your footsteps and the woeful cries that left your lips as you ran. It wouldn’t be the first time she had ignored your pain for her own selfish reasons.

Your heart shattered, and suddenly you were six again, watching your parents praise Eva, hang her drawing on the fridge. A soft breeze tickling your bare toes, dangling from the small cushioned seat you sat on while you watched Eva braid Mrs Y/L/N’s hair. Emotionless, silent, not asking for anything, knowing that you won't receive in return. Eva's small hands carefully placed the flower crown on Mrs Y/L/N’s pool of hair, and she smiled, heart warming and hopeful. Suddenly you remembered the feel of your own hands tangling in between your locks as you stood on your tiptoes, trying to imitate your mothers braid on yourself in the mirror you couldn't reach. You pretended, only for a moment before it twisted into knots.

What a cruel joke, you thought as you watched Eva receive the world from Fred, from your parents, from your friends and from every damn person you had met.

You cried on a big set of stairs that night, your wails echoing as you asked whoever, whatever what you had done. What you had done to deserve such treatment from the people around you. It was rather cliche - and maybe a bit too dramatic. It was an uncomfortable seat of course, and your body, as well as your heart, ached. Pain, misery, false hope and enough hair spray to melt the ozone.

The princesses always cried on big sets of stairs, uncomfortable stone floors causing them to shiver while they hid away their beautifully animated faces in their perfect hands. This was different, there was no fairy godmother to fix your makeup and clone a gentlemanly Fred Weasley, a perfect prince. You knew, because you cried, and prayed and cried and prayed until your throat was sore. There was no fairy godmother, it was all a lie. There was no happy ending. There would be none.

No one came to find you that night either, and you had to drag yourself back to the Gryffindor common room, feet bare, mascara, blush - anything else you put on in hopes of being able to become like Eva even only for one night - practically nonexistent from the way your tears washed them away.

You didn't sleep that night, and your head was unusually clear, pounding, but clear. You laid awake, eyes blood-shot and stinging while your dress shuffled uncomfortably between your sheets. You were too tired to change, and your dress was far too pretty to be worn so short.

Ginny's words replayed over and over again. "They're not worth it." her voice was so clear, and true. Mr and Mrs Burke weren't worth it. Your parents weren't worth it. Fred Weasley wasn't worth it. Eva wasn't worth it. The midnight chirping of bugs invited themselves in from your open window, and blue moonlight streaks beaming down in lines from the tulle curtain flowed with breeze, it was calming.

You felt calm, for the first time in sixteen years. You felt calm.

Fred and Eva started dating that week. Everyone acted like they expected it, and you realized just how blind you had been. Eva Burke and Fred Weasley, golden couple of Hogwarts.

You watched them, emotionless, as they embraced with love and so much passion that you felt embarrassed. Embarrassed at how you’d blushed and squeal over Fred in front of Eva and George and anyone who had found out because now you knew. Now you knew that their amused smiles were probably pitying grimaces because they knew that you two were never meant to be. It was always Fred and Eva.

Fred was an amazing boyfriend, making sure Eva was taken care of, lovingly staring at her whenever and wherever, arm looped around her waist at all times; you realized they were truly not worth it.

"You disgust me."

You didn't mean the words to escape so carelessly, but when you said them, you realized you didn't want to take them back. The growing pit in your stomach felt weightless. "Excuse me?" said Fred, stopping his nibbling on Eva's neck, who was just as shocked. You scoffed, Eva already had enough purple bruises to parade around so why did Fred have the need to add more?

"You heard me right," George, Lee, Ron, Harry, Katie and whoever sitting in their circle stared at you, wide-eyed, Ginny and Hermione, however, were grinning devilishly. Kind ____, wouldn't hurt a fly, quiet at times and didn't know how to stand up for herself. It was shocking, but you were done pretending. You didn't want to be like that anymore, you wanted to say whatever came to mind and not worry about the consequences. "You guys disgust me, I know I should be supportive but you don't match, at all."

You turned to George. "And you, no you can't talk about Katie like that." George went pink. "You're disgusting for sleeping around carelessly and telling girls you'd write, stop giving people false hope. Grow up. You’re nearly an adult and you can’t even treat a girl right."

"And you Lee," Lee went quiet. "What gives you the right to make fun of me like that. I'll wear whatever the fuck I want, just because you don't have the courage to wear a headband. If you can talk about my breasts, I'll talk about your shrimp."

"Ron, you take advantage of Hermione then lead her on. Open your eyes, asshole."

"Harry, you're not the main character. You're not always going to be the center of attention, nor do you have the right to yell at your friends."

"Alicia, god you're so stupid. I'm sorry, you're great but such an airhead. No, you can't ride a Thestral if you can't see them, and stop eating quill ink they're bad for you."

You stood up, grinning proudly, heart loud in your chest you feared someone might hear. "Frankly, I don't wanna be friends anymore. I'm done with this façade, except you two, 'Gin, Hermione. The rest of you are just so fake." she gestured to them. "Boys," she nodded again. "Don't talk to me anymore, and Lee, give me back the money, think it's about time don't you think? I've been paying for you since third year."

And with that, you left. You left Three Broomsticks, grin wide and chest heaving. Hermione and Ginny ran behind, whooping and cheering you on as they laughed.

The news of your outburst spread fast like wildfire caught in wind. That week was bliss, you no longer had to watch Fred and Eva, nor did you have to act sweet to anyone. You didn't have to laugh along Lee's sexist jokes and look away to wince, it was pure bliss. You realized that the feeling of being free didn’t have to be momentary.

Pansy Parkinson was surprisingly a good friend, she didn't have the same fakeness to her, the one Eva had where her smile was too kind. She spoke her mind, though every Slytherin did, and you liked that. Ginny wasn't happy with your new found friends, but she couldn't separate you. You made your own decisions from now on. It was refreshing.

You told your new friends everything, eager to get it off your chest and breathe, and they listened. For the first time, someone listened. You didn't have to get good grades, nor did you have to act like a sweet angel.

You teared up the first time Pansy said; "It's not your fault,". You knew it wasn't your fault, but hearing someone else say it with such genuine eyes made you believe. Actually believe.

It started off with you watching from the sidelines as Draco and Blaise pranked, insulted and shamed whatever your old friend group did. It wasn't unusual for Draco to act this way, but he got especially irritated after hearing what you told them. Blaise, someone usually quiet, had stepped up and decided to somehow release the pent up anger he had for the Gryffindor students.

The year ended, and you had started to sneak in an insult or two towards Fred and Eva. It felt nice, like finally, step by step you were clearing your years of hidden jealousy. But, there was no one to tell you that this simply wasn't the right way.

That summer, you stayed at the Burrow. Ginny had invited you and you were quick to say yes; obviously a fact forgotten. Fred, George and whoever you had insulted last year stayed in the same house. You simply didn't want to go home, and if this meant seeing Fred Weasley then you had to endure it.

Molly Weasley was the sweetest person you could ever meet, and it was genuine. It felt genuine, you feared your teeth might rot if the woman got another word in. Molly greeted you as if you were her own daughter she hadn't seen in years. You felt valued, seen.

Until Eva was there, Fred invited her. You had to watch the only person you were able to love, introduce the only person he was able to love to his mother. It wasn't you. It would never be you.

And you realized, even after everything, Eva had once again found a way to be more loved than you.

The grin Molly broke out was nothing short of beautiful, and you couldn't help but smile as well. The smile wasn't directed towards you of course, and you sat on that small kitchen chair, celebrating a relationship that caused your ruin.

Eva didn't care that your friendship was over, nothing budged in her life. She still got the same attention, still received the same love from Fred. The same affection, the same attention and the same everything. Or so it seemed.

Though unlike Eva, Fred merely watched you with sad eyes.

You stayed clear of the couple and the rest. You hung out with Ginny and Hermione only, ignoring the dirty looks Ron and Harry gave you. The secret, whispered insults Eva threw your way. George didn't say anything, but he didn't object either. This was enough to show how he felt. At this point you really didn't care. Why would you, when they didn’t either?

You held your head high just like Ginny and Hermione told you to, and you spoke in a loud and clear tone whenever asked something. Eva didn't, she stuttered when you spoke to her directly. Her words scrambled against each other when she tried to voice her insults in louder statements than a whisper. For the first time, you felt relief. You felt intimidating, protected by the barriers you had built around yourself.

Longest day of summer hit, and it boiled. Tanning became a distant dream, you would bake in this weather, and you were thankful to the big AC box you had brought from home. You couldn't sleep that night, sweat beads falling down your forehead that was already covered in a thin sheen. You had decided to get a cold glass of water, not sure how you ended up face to face with Fred Weasley. His wand tip shone with blue light, and his freckles were much darker because of the sun. It seemed the sun decided to be cruel to Fred Weasley back and wash Fred over with it's deathly heat. He was sunburnt, this was an understatement. He was burnt.

You couldn't help but start laughing when you met, ignoring the proximity, ignoring the sleeping house, dead silent and a big leap from the lively Burrow, ignoring Fred's soft breaths he let out every other second. You couldn't live off on false hope anymore.

Suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore, and your face quickly fell. You took a big step back and inhaled, ready to ignore him like you had been doing for the past year. But Fred Weasley was a persistent man, and he gripped your arm and looked at you with determined, doe-like eyes. "Tell me what I did wrong." he said, adamant on fixing this, whatever this was. You both didn't know.

You stood silent.

"Please flower,"

"Don't call me that." you said, stern and gaze sharp. Fred didn't react, he kept on insisting.

"Please, tell me how to fix this. I can fix it," he pleaded, a plethora of empty promises fell out of his lips like nothing. He lied like it was nothing, he was oblivious to everything he and everyone around them had put you through. It was infuriating.

You didn't say anything. You knew he would not fix anything but maybe staying silent would give him the false hope that spinned mockingly in your head for the past eighteen years.

"I'm sorry, just please. I can fix this, I promise, don't be like that." empty tears fell down from his eyes. He looked empty, tired. They lacked the charm they usually shined with and you wondered if it was only you that caused such dullness. Eye bags prominent that you never noticed before. It all felt like a lie, a cruel joke.

Fred Weasley was simply a cruel joke. His presence could only be compared to a shot of whiskey, especially when you down it like how Hagrid nurses a Firewhiskey filled pint glass. You never know how it will hit you. But in the end, you'd always find yourself curled next to the toilet, crying your eyes out because your headache was simply too much.

He was sobbing now, hanging onto your waist like you would simply vanish and you let him. The grip he had on was like steel vice - almost concerning - but you didn't touch him, didn't say anything. You just let him be, like he did to you. Allowed him to hopelessly hang off you before you would eventually leave him alone, like he did to you. "Where did I go wrong? How could we end up like this? What went wrong?"

‘You’, but your voice couldn’t be found.

Questions were useless when the answer was already right in front of his eyes. You didn’t let a single tear fall, you wouldn't forgive yourself if you cried in front of him.

You blinked, and that night was over. Summer continued on like nothing happened, like it didn't leave you heart broken and in such shame yet again. You continued on ignoring Fred as he looked at you with sorrowful eyes. Looked at you more, with more than he did his own girlfriend.

You blinked and the school year started again with another terror looming around the corner. There was simply no need to keep up anymore, because school was easy. You attended classes, got good grades, a few scar here and there from Umbridge's torture chamber, a woman who stood at a whopping five foot three yet still teriffied an entire school.

You blinked and you had already become a proud member of Draco's insult the Gryffindor's club. You didn't even feel bad, being horrible to the people you hated for years felt like a breath of fresh air. You didn't go as far as physically hurting any of your old friends, but coming up with damaging insults was such fun. A lot more fun than sitting around with a fake smile.

You blinked, and you were already moving out from your childhood house. Mr and Mrs Y/L/N were unusually happy, this was a given. They would have a new empty room and make another office, like they didn't have enough already. You feared they would start getting rid of bathrooms once too into their work, and they would have to do their business in bushes or buckets. Scratch that, you didn't fear that, it would be fucking hilarious.

You blinked, and when had time passed too quickly? Where did all those empty childhood years had gone? You were already graduating, on your way to become an Auror. You had lost contact with all your old friends now, regretfully Ginny and Hermione too.

The war had hit too quickly, luckily you survived, so did your friends. Unluckily, it left you with a nasty scar right across your left brow. It looked sick, but the hit wasn't worth it. It hurt like a bitch. You could see, it was a close call but vision wasn't an issue. The trauma though, god did Bellatrix's breath smell bad.

When it was all over, you had seen Fred hugging his family tightly. It seemed the Weasley's all survived, and you gave them each tight lipped smiles while holding a bunched up rag to your head to stop the blood gushing out. This wasn't the reunion you wanted to have with Ginny, but hey, you take what you can get after a revolutionary Wizarding war you barely made out alive.

Before a franticly running Fred could reach you though, you apparated to your flat in Diagon Alley, ignoring the thrumming of your heart, and how you practiced in front of a mirror to congratulate their successful joke shop that morning.

[percabethfeelsfandom]

Writing Prompt AU: Childhood Best Friends to Lovers

PART 6: Age 18 

“California is pretty far away,” Percy says softly into the night as Annabeth lays on the rooftop by his side. He hears her shift so that she can look at him, and he mirrors her, looking at his reflection in her pale eyes. 

“2914.9 miles,” she answers. 

“You really had to choose the farthest college from me didn’t you?”

Annabeth snorts and shakes her head. 

“Yes Percy, I chose it purely because it’s the furthest from you in particular.” He pouts and pushes himself up on an elbow so he can look down at her. 

“Why are you leaving me?”

“I’m not just leaving you Perce, I’m leaving everyone else as well. My Dad, my brothers, Thals, Grover...not just you.” Her face shifts and he sees sadness replace her joking smirk. 

“Yeah but I’m special...I’m your favourite.” Percy is half-joking but he wishes with all his heart that the first part of his sentence is true, that he is in fact special to Annabeth. Special in the same way that Annabeth is special to him. 

“Don’t let Thals hear that,” Annabeth says, rolling her eyes but Percy leans in closer, poking her repeatedly until she’s laughing. 

“You’re only saying that because it’s true.”

“Shut up.” Percy notices how she doesn’t deny it and it brings a smile to his face. 

 “I’m going to miss you.” His heart gives an uncomfortable squeeze as his voice softens and his smile drops. Annabeth gives him a sad look and pokes his chest trying to get him to look at her properly. 

“Don’t get all sappy on me now Seaweed Brain, we’ve still got summer.”

“And then you leave and forget me, and find a cool Perry Johnson to be your new best friend.” He says and dramatically throws his head back, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead like he’s about to faint. 

Annabeth groans and pushes him away so he falls back on the blanket they’ve laid out. The other two aren’t due to arrive for another hour, but Percy has been spending so much time at Annabeth’s house already, that it made no sense to go back to his last night, so he stayed over and helped set up the apartment rooftop for their sleepover under the stars. 

He thinks they’ve done a pretty good job for the two of them, there’s an array of pillows, blankets and sheets all over the floor, and plenty of snacks to last them through the night. A couple of years ago, way back when they were younger, Mr Chase set up fairy lights along the edge of the roof, so they’re not in complete darkness, not that New York can ever be truly dark. The lights illuminate Annabeth’s features as Percy turns his head to her, she looks like a goddess and Percy swallows deeply when she returns his stare. 

“What are you looking at?”

Percy shrugs and sits up so he can rearrange snacks that don’t need rearranging to hide his blush at being caught. 

“Oh, I nearly forgot! Can you sign this, you never did?” Annabeth says changing the subject and tugs on his arm so he can come back and sit with her. 

He looks at her confused until she brings out her yearbook. Their school emblem shines on the front cover, and she places it in his lap, pressing herself to his side, so she can flip the pages, looking for an empty space to write. On the back, there’s an entire blank page and she smooths the paper down and hands him a marker. 

“All yours.” She says and watches him expectantly. 

“Are you going to watch me write in it?” He twirls the pen uneasily and rubs the back of his neck, slightly uncomfortable under her intense gaze. 

Annabeth huffs. “Do you want me to leave?” 

“Can you?” He asks half-jokingly. 

“You’re such an idiot. Fine. I’ll go check if there’s anything we forgot downstairs. Do you want anything?” He grins as she shakes her head, pretending to be annoyed. 

“Anything blue.”

“Of course,” she mutters and gets up, using his shoulder to steady herself. He leans into the touch and tries to ignore the way his body misses her warmth when she leaves.  

When she leaves Percy flips back to the front, reliving their senior year, one page at a time. He skips past the photos of the people in his grade and goes straight to the events. It starts with homecoming, and there’s a photo of Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Thalia all dressed in black suits. Percy smiles fondly at the close-up photo of Thalia and Annabeth posing together, in matching suits and corsets. Since Thalia broke up with Luke, she’s reintegrated back into the group with no issue, and it’s like she never left. 

He turns the page, skipping through the other homecoming photos, and pauses at the one of him and Annabeth. It’s a candid, and even though he’s already seen it, his heart still stutters, because in the photo she’s fixing his hair in the photo right before the official photos like she always does, and Percy can’t help but think about how much they look like a couple. 

He keeps turning through the pages, trying to find more photos of their group. They’re not a very social group, preferring to hang out with each other than go to school events, but they’re at all the major ones. 

There are small snippets of them at the football games, student fairs and pep rallies, it’s not till the end where there are photos that focus more on students not part of clubs that he sees more pictures of his friends. 

There’s one of them all laying on their back enjoying the sun looking up at clouds the way they used to when they were kids (completely unaware that someone is taking photos of them). There’s even a photo of Grover with Thalia on his shoulder as she tries to climb a tree with toilet paper in her hand from prank day. The next one is a blurry photo of Percy completely wrapped in toilet paper and chasing Annabeth. 

Moments from their senior year have been captured and immortalised in these pages, and Percy’s heart heaves at the thought of leaving this all behind or watching people leave. 

Tears start to prick at his eyes as he reaches the graduation and prom photos. There’s a huge shot of his entire grade, a choice of a few students throwing their caps up. In the corner on the page before the prom photos, there's a small snapshot of the four of them, their arms thrown around each other, heads pressed together. He remembers this moment vividly. All of their names are relatively close together in the roll, so as soon as they were announced, he had bolted straight to Grover, who had bolted to Thalia, who had bolted to Annabeth, and they had all ended up screaming and jumping into each other's arms. 

He’s going to miss this. 

He finally comes to the prom photos, and he’s not surprised when his breath catches in his throat when he sees Annabeth in her prom dress again. It’s a deep blue, the colour of the sky above his head, and it makes his stomach flutter each time he sees it. In the photo, she’s posing with Thalia again, but she’s mid-laugh and Percy would be lying if he said it wasn’t one of his favourite photos of her. He has copies of photos from the night on his computer, but the ones taken at the venue are better quality, it’s almost like he’s back there in the moment. 

Thalia had come with a date, once again wearing a tight-fitting suit, a girl on her arm and Grover had brought Juniper, his girlfriend. Percy and Annabeth had agreed to go together, just because it was easier. 

“Platonically,” he remembers telling Grover. He remembers Grover laughing and shaking his head. 

“There is nothing platonic about you two but okay. Have fun, Perce.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Grover had never explained what he meant and it still haunted Percy. 

There isn’t a photo of the two of them at prom together, at least not in the yearbook, but he asked for a favour from a friend in the yearbook committee and has the photos that didn’t make it on a USB drive back home. His favourite is his wallpaper, and it’s of him and Annabeth dancing their heads bent close together. It’s not obvious it’s them two but he can recognise her blonde hair anywhere. That’s another moment he holds close, them dancing and swaying to a song they don’t recognise, whispering to each other in the night. He’d almost told her that night. Told her everything, about what he felt, about how he would always feel, but when she let go, he realised that he didn’t want to risk losing what they had. It was too precious to him. 

Percy finally reaches the page that Annabeth initially brought him to and he uncaps the pen, tapping the back of it against the page a couple of times trying to think of a message. It’s not an accident that he didn’t write in Annabeth’s yearbook. When they were all doing it, Percy had purposefully avoided her because he knew that what he had to say to her couldn’t be said like this. 

He sighs as he begins a doodle instead. A little owl because he knows that they’re her favourite, and a dolphin because they’re his. His mind is still blank at what to write to her, but he knows she’s not going to let him get away with not doing it this time. 

He hears footsteps coming up the staircase and he writes the first thing that comes to his mind. The only thing that never leaves his mind when he’s around Annabeth. It’s not a long message so he’s finishing it just as Annabeth sits back down. He slams the book shut and chucks it behind him so that she can’t immediately read it. She notices and raises an eyebrow. 

“Read it later. It’s embarrassing,” he says sheepishly. She laughs and hands him a bag of sour blue candy stripes. He tears open the package and starts eating as he hears other footsteps. Grover and Thalia appear in the doorway, holding pillows and even more bags of snacks. 

“Let’s get this party started!” Thalia exclaims and drops her stuff unceremoniously on top of Percy, burying him under the wright. Everyone laughs at him as he sputters his way out. 

Thalia plugs in some music and Annabeth helps pull Percy to his feet, and they start the feast of snacks. Grover helps Percy set up a projector for their movie and it’s nearing midnight when they finally settle on Disney’s Hercules. 

As always Grover falls asleep halfway through the movie, murmuring about how his tummy hurts in his sleep. They take group selfies with him, and Percy grabs the marker next to Annabeth’s yearbook so that he can draw on Grover’s face. He’s holding back giggles with Thalia as they pose next to him and Annabeth takes a photo of them. 

He pulls both girls close to him when he falls back and squeezes their shoulders. 

“I can’t believe my favourite girls are leaving me to deal with this idiot,” he says and nods to Grover who has started snoring. Thalia scoffs and pushes his face so that he lets go of her. He gives in but doesn’t take his arm off Annabeth, and he swears that Annabeth cuddles just a bit closer to him. 

“We’re not dying, Percy, we’re just moving to the West Coast,” Thalia says as she opens a can of coke and Percy briefly remembers how he first met Annabeth and how she had protected him from Nancy. He exchanges a look with her and sees that she’s already smiling at him, knowing exactly what he’s thinking. 

“Betrayal. That’s what this is,” he says and squeezes Annabeth’s shoulder again. She threads their hands together and Percy tries not to react and turn to her again. 

Thalia catches his eye and smirks at their interlocked hands. 

She stands up and brushes her pants. 

“I need to go pee, do you two need anything from downstairs?” 

They both shake their heads and she nods before carefully stepping over a sleeping Grover and leaves the two of them. 

Percy and Annabeth stay like that, leaning on each other, hands interlocked and Percy wishes he could freeze this exact moment. 

“Did you write something?” Annabeth asks softly as she pulls away from him, but doesn’t let go of his hand. Percy nods tightly and she smiles as she reaches across from him and grabs the yearbook from their makeshift table. She skips straight to the back and opens to his page. She gave him an entire page to write on, but there’s only one sentence in the middle and two small doodles. She stares at it for a moment, rereading it before she looks up. 

“You’re my number one,” Annabeth reads, holding the yearbook open at his page, “What does that mean?”

Percy swallows, suddenly terrified. There’s no time like now to tell her, and he has no real doubts about loving her, but with her unflinching gaze on him like this, it’s hard not to be nervous. He tries not to overthink and takes a deep breath, speaking the truth that he’s kept under wraps for years. 

“There’s only one meaning, Wise Girl, what else could it mean?” He says with a shrug and reaches for her hand. She lets him take it. “My Mom once said that people who have a big heart have a lot of love in them to share, but they’ll always have their number one, and that’s you. That’s been you for years, my entire life probably.”

He takes another breath and waits for Annabeth to respond. When she doesn’t he continues, suddenly full of words. “You’re the one for me. The only one that I could ever want. The one I put before everything. You’re my-”

“Do you mean that?” Her face is full of doubt and Percy brings their joined hands up so he can press his lips to the back of her hand. 

“Of course,” he breathes, and pulls her closer. He’s barely breathing when she puts the yearbook down for a moment. They stay frozen like that, pressed against each other, foreheads touching and breath mingling.  

“I think I was made for loving you,” he whispers and carefully pushes her hair back. 

The smile she gives him is one to rival the sun that is going to rise in a few hours. 

“If that’s so, then I was made for loving you just as much.”

She kisses him, and he almost forgets his name. He brings his hands up to cup face and bring her closer and she smiles against his lips and-

“Seriously? You two couldn’t wait until after I was asleep. Jeez.” 

Annabeth jerks away from him and they both stare at Thalia who is giving them a tired look from the rooftop doorway. Percy can’t help it and starts laughing, shortly after Annabeth joins and falls onto his chest, laughing too hard to keep herself up. Eventually, Thalia sits back down and bites her lip trying not to laugh, but the more she tries to keep it in the funnier it gets. 

By then all three of them are laughing so hard their stomach hurts and Grover stirs awake. 

“What’s going on?”

“This,” Annabeth says and proudly holds up her hand that is still firmly clasped in Percy’s hand. 

Grover blinks sleepily at it and shrugs like it’s not a big deal. 

“About freaking time,” he says and lays back down. 

Percy and Annabeth look at each other again and he smiles at her before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to her mouth. 

“It was worth the wait.” 

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5