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my-castles-crumbling · 5 months

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Merry Christmas! Chapter 12- Clandestine

Merry Christmas, to all those who celebrate! What better on this lovely holiday than lots of toxicity and angst? WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS PRETTY HEAVY SO PLEASE READ WARNINGS! CW: deadnaming, transphobia, lots of dysphoria, mentions of physical abuse, abuse by parents through magic, just like...really shitty people, a hint of people sexualizing minors (but not in a way that results in anything), use of the imperius curse, but not in a sexual way, just...Walburga and Orion being horrible.

The euphoria of having two supportive roommates was short-lived, as an owl arrived for Regulus as December started that made his skin crawl:

Regina, This serves as a reminder that we expect both you and your brother here and on your best behavior during the holidays. We have many important extended family members coming to our hour for Christmas, and it is important that you are here to represent the Black family. We will pick you up at King’s Cross at eleven. Mother

When classes ended for the holidays, Regulus found himself laying in his dorm room, Pandora laying on Barty’s bed while Barty lay with Evan, all of them staring up at the ceiling.

“Is anyone actually excited about going home?” Barty asked vaguely, kicking gently at Evan’s knee.

The room was quiet.

“Don’t suppose Cas can fit all four of us at her house?” Evan joked humorlessly, kicking back at Barty.

“She could barely fit me,” Regulus murmured, stomach turning at the thought of going home.

More silence.

“Well. We could all stay here?” Pandora spoke now.

“My parents would rather birth a dragon before allow me to stay here again,” Regulus snorted, thinking of the letter he’d received last week.

Barty sat up and laughed a bit. “I’d pay money to see that.”

“Same.”

Sometimes, Regulus wondered if anyone really enjoyed the holidays. He tried to remember a time when they didn’t mean some sort of discomfort. Some amount of dread.

Even as a child, the holidays weren’t magical, like in the stories. Because it wasn’t magical to be stuffed into horrid outfits and paraded about to others. It wasn’t fun to sit in hard-backed chairs and pressured to behave perfectly so company didn’t ‘judge the entire family.’ It wasn’t joyous. It wasn’t a celebration.

He wondered if some families got together simply to see each other and enjoy being with one another. Because really, days with his extended family weren’t enjoyable. It felt more like a competition- Walburga reminding both him and Sirius to be the most well-behaved. To not embarrass her. The adults bragging about their children to each other while said children were expected to sit and eat what they were given. Like living dolls.

This year was obviously expected to be no different.

“You’re getting older, Regina,” his mother said one night at dinner, shortly after they’d arrived back from Hogwarts.

He winced, trying not to stab too violently at his steak. “Regulus,” he murmured.

“That’s exactly it,” his mother continued, looking over her nose at him. “Your father and I have been talking and we’ve given you enough chances. We’ve tried mind healers. We’ve tried giving you time. We’ve tried punishment. You’re far too old for this nonsense, and I’ll be having it no longer. From either of you,” she said pointedly, looking to Sirius.

Sirius just rolled his eyes and ate quietly.

“You’re to drop it. All of it. Or your father and I will have to find a stricter consequence,” Walburga said in a threatening voice.

Regulus’s stomach turned at that, and he felt a bit ill. He grabbed at the rock in his pocket, squeezing it tightly. Stricter than partial starvation, isolation, and pain?

He looked at Sirius, who looked back at him with an equally-nervous expression. “Yes, mother,” he murmured, deciding he could try his best to keep his mouth shut for the next two weeks.

“Just leave it, Sirius,” he told his brother late that night, even as his stomach churned at the thought. “Don’t- don’t correct them anymore. Don’t say anything anymore. I don’t want…I don’t want anything bad to happen.”

He reflected on all the things their parents had done to both of them without batting an eye. The bigoted ideals they spewed so blatantly as if they made all the sense in the world. The way they supported hurting and even killing people they disliked, people who were different from them.

It was scary to think about, but Walburga and Orion could be dangerous. And apparently, they didn’t possess a soft bone in their bodies. Even for their kids.

Sirius stared at him for a moment, the moon reflecting in his eyes, making them sparkle like stars. “Reg….someday we’ll find a place where we won’t have to worry about it.”

“We have that place. Hogwarts,” Regulus shrugged. And Hogwarts was that place. Especially now, with Barty and Evan knowing about him and accepting him. He truly felt like himself there. Like he wasn’t fighting against anyone or anything just to exist.

But Sirius looked at him with pain in his eyes. “No, like...a home.”

Regulus thought about that. Had he ever really had a home? “Sounds nice,” he murmured.

Sounds impossible.

Keeping his mouth shut worked for a while. He responded to his parents, even when they said “Regina” or “she” or “her,” even though it made his skin crawl. He wore baggy shirts to hide his binder. He and Sirius both stopped correcting their parents.

He tried instead to stay away from everyone. He hid in his room during the day- reading, completing his homework, turning his rock over and over again in his hand and daydreaming about being back at Hogwarts. Being Regulus again.

If he was honest, he hated it, but he knew at this point that fighting against Walburga and Orion was risky. The entire Black family favored more traditional forms of magic, and Regulus wouldn’t put it past them to do something particularly cruel or painful. Or even to keep them both from Hogwarts completely.

So, he sucked it up for a bit, sneaking into Sirius’s room like he used to, sharing his bed with him and whispering to him about the goosebumps he felt on the back of his neck when Mother called him ‘Regina’ and the way he wanted to cry when Father called him his daughter. And together they counted down the days until they would go back to Hogwarts.

“It’s not forever, Reggie,” Sirius whispered to him as they shared a blanket, Sirius’s warmth the only comforting thing Regulus could find.

“Absolutely not,” Regulus muttered to himself when he woke up on Christmas Day, the nausea making his knees wobble.

It sat there, innocent and unmoving, shiny and pristine: a dress.

But it wasn’t just a dress. It was the most dressy dress he’d ever seen.

Baby pink with matching satin bows, tulle in layers to make an obnoxious three-tiered skirt, poufy sleeves and a corset-type bodice with a v-neck that would make even his small chest look pronounced.

And a clear message: He was to wear it.

He was not going to. Fuck Walburga’s threats.

As if summoned by his thoughts, his mother walked to his door and murmured dangerously, “I had this custom-made for you, Regina.”

He glared at her feet and didn’t say a word. Absolutely not.

“You’ll wear it. You’ll thank me.”

He still didn’t say a word, still resolutely clamping his mouth shut and looking away.

In the corner of his eye, his mother waved her wand. And then-

His brain cleared. It was the oddest feeling. Suddenly, he didn’t feel. Everything felt empty. It was almost nice, except he didn’t have a choice at all when he felt himself saying, “Thank you, mother.”

And then the feeling was gone. He almost missed it.

Except, of course, now he was furious. And he felt completely violated. Like he needed to scrub his brain out with a wire sponge.

“Good,” his mother said calmly, walking away.

And then he ran to throw up in the bathroom, clutching at his own head.

“I have no choice, Sirius,” he muttered to his brother an hour later, as they both stared at the dress.

Neither had said much to each other about the curse his mother had used. It felt like an elephant in the room. Neither wanted to be the one to bring it up; how horrible and terrifying it was. That they could just be controlled like that. What, exactly, had she done? What else could she make them do?

Sirius nodded, looking pale. “Alright. Alright, so you wear it.”

Regulus gagged a bit at the thought, but nodded as well.

“She’s not going to keep doing that. She- we just have to get through the holiday,” Sirius murmured unconvincingly.

“Right. And then the summer?” Regulus asked, eyes twinging only a little.

“We- we cross that bridge when we come to it,” Sirius said firmly.

Regulus nodded again, slowly peeling off his clothing. He didn’t even care that Sirius was there to see. It wasn’t like it mattered much, anyway.

After the first ten minutes of dinner, Regulus decided he hated Christmas.

He’d gotten so many reactions on his outfit.

Bella and Narcissa both complemented the pink and bows, giggling and smirking.

Aunt Druella had simply drooled over it, commenting on how Regulus had ‘finally turned into a proper lady!’

Uncle Cygnus had looked at him in a way that made his skin crawl, the old man’s eyes raking over his chest appraisingly.

He’d been to the bathroom twice already, having to take such a long time to calm his sobs, squeezing his rock in his hand and gagging over the toilet, that Kreacher had been sent to check on him the second time and make sure he was quite well.

He was not.

He saw Sirius sneaking worried looks at him, but tried not to react, or even meet his eye.

He felt like a sideshow. An animal on display. And the tortured, furious, worried look in Sirius’s eyes just made it worse.

“Go downstairs, Sirius,” Regulus moaned through shivers as he tried, for the third time, to collect himself in the bathroom.

A friend of his fathers had complimented him on just how “shapely” his body looked in his dress.

“This is ridiculous, Reggie!” Sirius hissed through the door. “I- we have to do something! She’s basically torturing you!”

“I can get through one day!” Regulus spat back, sniffing and avoiding looking down at his body as he wiped his eyes in the mirror.

“I can’t just stand by and let them treat you like this!” Sirius retorted.

Regulus opened the door to look his brother in the eye and tell him that, yes, he absolutely could.

But he was gone.

They were called to dinner at that moment and Regulus reluctantly went down the stairs, hoping Sirius would follow suit.

Everyone sat, placing napkins on their laps and folding their hands politely, complimenting Walburga’s ‘spectacular table setting’ or whatever, when someone exclaimed, “Oh! Where has Sirius gone?”

Walburga looked to Sirius’s assigned seat (next to Regulus) and turned a bit pink, clearly horrified that Sirius would dare embarrass her by being absent from dinner and bringing negative attention to her by association.

But then they heard Sirius’s voice down the hall, “No need to worry, dear family! I’m here!”

Regulus turned to see Sirius, and his mouth dropped open.

Because Sirius was dressed in the most obnoxiously frilly dress he’d ever seen.

If he’d been anywhere else, he’d probably have burst out laughing. It was a comedic scene, after all. Sirius’s dress was even worse than Regulus’s. It was pink as well, but mostly a floral pattern, with multiple layers of ruffles and curly pink bows at his waist. Though it was short in the front, the back was long enough to have a train, even though he wore platform bubblegum-pink high heels. Magenta roses lay at each hip and a pink ribbon was tied corset-style up his stomach, and he’d even stuffed apples in the top to give himself a chest. He had another rose tied around his neck and two horrifically giant floral bows tied in his dark hair, which was in pigtails.

The entire table stared, mouths agape.

“I figured, since we’re forcing boys to wear dresses now, I would wear one as well,” Sirius said, and while his eyes held a challenging glint, he spoke so simply it was as if he was stating the evening’s menu.

And Regulus had to snort at that. He was terrified of his parents’ reaction, but he felt the biggest sense of relief wash over him, the sick feeling he’d been fighting against all day suddenly fading away. He was no longer alone, being stared at by his family.

Instead, he and Sirius were together, two boys in ridiculous dresses.

He felt powerful.

Until Orion stood, breaking the silence, his wand in hand.

“Bedrooms. Both of you.”

Regulus looked to Sirius, who looked a bit nervous.

The calm feeling washed over him.

“Now.”

He walked away from the table, quite without his own permission. Sirius followed mutely alongside him.

Bitches be like, "this is my comfort character" and then put said comfort character through all of The Horrors. Sorry, guys. I warned you. But...you should click below to read the full WIP and leave comments and kudos!

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try02line · 6 months

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The Owl House: Charis!AU

Context: the Wittebane brothers get tragically separated in their youth. One is thrown abruptly in the future, while the other remains stuck in the past, how will this change their story?

I am very happy to officially welcome you in my own personal AU of the show TOH, which I am creating in collaboration with @magpieddd (literally, none of this would have been possible without this amazing person-).

I will not spoil too much in this post, as I plan to gradually release the information thru blogs and building a small wiki as well so everything is much more organized! Just know that if you enjoy TOH and heavy Wittebro angst this is the place for you! Do not let the bright colors trick you, things will get dark pretty fast.

I want to dedicate this post to talk about my personal design of Young Philip Wittebane, because there are some details I am very proud of!

- The 9-years old design is very straightforward. Like hunter’s, it is simply a personal interpretation of his canon outfit. In this case, I wanted to remark the dire situation the two brothers were living in, with the clothes being clearly old and ill fitted for the small boy, and of course, i couldn’t not include his precious stag wooden mask.

- Now, for the second design, we get into interesting territory. For the hair, he decided to let it grow so that he would be able to tie it up, as a silent small tribute to his older brother.

- As it can clearly be seen by the first image, Philip is much smaller both in height and body type when compared to Hunter. This is due 3 factors: age, diet and lifestyle. In my au, Philip is around 12 years old, while Hunter is around 17. Hunter trains intensely to be the best of the best, a soldier and a perfect golden guard, even more than in canon as he is held to much higher and stricter standards, so he is of course more buff. And finally, the boiling isles offer a rather poor diet for a small human child.

- Philip has a belt with a bag attached to it, in which he carries his precious notebook

- the embroidery at the center of his outfit is meant to resemble a stag, but from the distance it may appear a demon as well

- AND FOR MY FAVORITE DETAIL: THE CLEARER SPOTS ON HIS CLOTHES. Okay, this has actually a double meaning! First and foremost, his outfit is meant to represent fire. This element can have many interpretations, something warm, but dangerous, that can give life and death in equal measure- but I personally mainly wanted to make a subtle nod to the witch hunting tradition of his home town, having him represent a pire on fire on which the people accused of being witches would be burnt alive. On the other side tho- the spots represent something much more innocent! When stags are still baby deers, bambis, they tend to have their back covered in white spots, which disappear as they grow up. This is to symbolize that even if he wears the mask of a stag, Philip in this AU is still very much a small child who has a lot to grow up to do, and no mask can change that as he wears barely disguised the signs of his naivety.

These are all my favorite details! I am so proud of this and I really hope you will enjoy it as well. More content will be soon posted in which I will go into more details about this AU.

PS: Charis is the fake name Philip uses in the Boiling Isles :3

#philip wittebane #fanart #caleb wittebane #hunter wittebane #wittebane brothers #wittebros #kid belos #kid philip #the owl house #the owl house au #try02art #Charis!AU #toh hunter #toh belos #my very first au #i am so proud #fan design

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unagidevi · 3 months

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WHIMSICAL DREAMSWAP FACTS REVISED (whs ds for short) + long post

-Nightmare goes by Nightmare, Man of the Moon, Man IN the moon and Akli. He doesn’t care what you call him as long as it’s something along the stars and moon.

-Nightmare helps people, or well, better should say- monsters like Blue to escape the JR and to have safety.

-Nightmare is based on a crow, despite looking like an elf he has wings that hide under his cloak for the most part so usually he can get away with being in villages if the wanted posters aren’t plastered around.

-Nightmare and Error work together to help others and their emotions to be a little better after the JR attack, like now they are working with Blue.

-Nightmare loves spicy foods, but he also likes savory food. He also tends to test the limits of his cooking and has Cross eat it for him as the test subject.

(Cross does not mind, and actually enjoys it even if it’s really bad)

-Nightmare can play the ukulele and the violin, he tried to learn bass but he wasn’t very good at it and he didn’t have any space to keep the one he rented for a little while.

-Nightmares' pet raven, Kevin, has many different names that are all joking. Kevin doesn’t mind, besides, at least he’s being called michael myers for stalking them outside the house.

-Sometimes Kevin escapes the house, not like Nightmare minds, but Kevin ALWAYS comes back in the end.

-His cloak is usually draped over his shoulders but sometimes he uses it to catch his balance or mock one of his friends in a joking manner. (He also has a spare cloak that has slits for his wings to be free so he can fly around, which isn’t often.)

-Nightmare is NOT a careful person physically, he is emotionally but he is always getting hurt here, there, everywhere.

-If you asked Nightmares favorite food he’d probably say Salad mostly because of the tomatoes and how much dressing he puts on it.

-Nightmare doesn’t really exercise his wings much because if he’s in the sky he can easily be found by the JR, instead he walks like a normal person.

-Nightmare and Cross are best friends, they helped each other through the littlest stuff and are easy to talk to.

-Nightmare does his best to keep the monsters alive he’s met past and present, he doesn’t wish a horrible fate upon the JR either. He just wishes they could fix what they have done to the creatures.

-The apple incident was more of a, ‘i don’t wanna be friends with you anymore so i’m gonna be petty and turn everyone against you’ type thing. Kinda like elementary playground dramas, but thats like how unhinged i’d put it cuz it’s really childish (lmao)

-Nightmare likes playing chess and card games, the video gamer is Cross. Nightmare has a small limited edition glass chess board that he hides and puts up so it doesn’t break

—-

-not keeping the stupid harpich idea where they were harpies sooo… Dream is now an Horned Barn Owl! I thought it worked better since the old idea was some shitty harpy concept that didn’t go very well.

-Dream is very formal, but there are times when the act breaks and he just talks out-of-character.

-Dream is usually very warm, he doesn’t need many layers but he wears it anyways in the JR. He does have some casual, normal outfits but he just wears the checkered one in the JR.

-Dream has a really poor sense of fashion, so sometimes Ink chooses outfits for him (even if Dream doesn’t like it very much.)

-Dreams Justice Reigns is actually called Valor Affiliation, so it’s VA instead but for this I’ll refer to it as both.

-Dream is aware of Ani here, but Ani is just a traveling trader with a giant turtle friend. (in the works still!)

-Dream still adores kids, monsters or elves, doesn’t matter- he thinks they are all equal.

-Dream doesn’t mean to harm the monsters around him as he is a monster himself, but he does it anyway by accident.

-Dream plays a little bit of the harp, but he did it in the past and isn’t very good at it now.

-Dream does his best to treat VA like human beings instead of co-workers or servants because oh my god the amount of DS Dream ‘i’m a bad guy’ i see is going to make me go feral- excuse me.

-Dream has a ton of trust in Ink even if Ink is a little bit suspicious and mischievous. (ink does not care, he likes the power.)

-Dreams favorite foods vary every other week, so he just decided what he likes that week.

—-

-Cross is an albino raccoon, and genuinely a sweetheart.

-Cross cannot draw for shit, so when asked to draw his feelings out it’s mindless scribbles or things/stories he’s heard from others to put on paper.

-Finders keepers man, fuck off.

-The fridge is always stocked because of him (error buys groceries from monster shops), he’s always getting into food but he always asks permission beforehand.

-His nails can come out sharp, or dull, it’s a personal thing that comes with his species and a sign of protection.

-Cross is always washing the food so Error and him can cook together. They do the best work together, but if one is cooking (cross is not allowed to cook alone because where’s all the ingredients going to go?) It's probably just Error.

-Cross has minor anger issues, sometimes they get in the way of his friendship with the trio but other than that he’s able to manage it!

-Cross (sometimes) digs in the trash if he’s looking for something he lost, mostly because he has a tendency to throw stuff away that shouldn’t be thrown away.

-Cross used to ‘collect’ (he stole it) jewelry and set them on a stand in his bedroom, however Night found out and he had to return most of it. He kept a few cherry picked.

(he doesn’t even wear jewelry…)

-Cross uses make-up to put the circles in his design on his face, as most of his markings are under his outfit instead of somewhere on his face.

-He plays an alto flute, and usually it attracts raccoons in the area who sit and watch. Sometimes he has leftovers to give to them to share!

-Instead of multiplayer games (he’s really bad at that), he plays singleplayer games. His favorites are something like stardew valley and the sims 3.

—-

-Error is in the insect category with Blue, he’s based on a yellow garden spider.

-Errors very insecure of his fangs, which aren’t poisonous but can do major damage. He has problems with them, and worries people will hate him.

(Cross and Nightmare always stick around to cheer him up!)

-Spiders are more afraid of you than you are of them.

-Error cannot stand smoke, it makes him cough really bad. He’s extremely sensitive to it and it tends to make it hard to breathe for quite awhile.

-Error still has haphephobia.

-Error likes coffee still, but he’s very particular about it and what it’s in it. (two sugar, one cream)

-Error can hypnotize other people, but he really doesn’t use that power because he doesn’t want to harm anyone or anything.

-Error loves the little spiders that appear in the winter in the Meme Squads base, it makes him feel welcome.

-Error can speak to other spiders through chittering (he doesn’t do this often, he usually just speaks normally to them)

-Error can play a little bit of the ukulele and a little bit of the kazoo, he has more experience with the ukulele though thanks to Nightmare.

-Error has a problem with overthinking, but his friends always reassure him that everything will be okay.

-Error is usually really helpful when it comes to helping monsters attacked by the JR as he was attacked by the JR previously, and saved by Nightmare (not blue).

—--

-Blue is a moth creature, again, insect category. He’s genuinely skittish after what happened with Ink.

-Blue is extremely flexible, the only problem he has is his wings when doing such things because they help him balance.

-Blue still does yoga, instead he does private classes so that he can help them. That and it’s mostly monsters he helps, but sometimes elves come in.

(He doesn’t want any conflict.)

-Upon first meeting Cross and Error, they were like ‘wtf why’d you bring this person home they don’t seem very injured’ but they soon realized what happened, and where he was damaged at so they welcomed him into their home (they would’ve anyway, but, yknow)

-Blue doesn’t really do weapons, or fighting. After what happened with Ink he kinda gave up fighting and meeting people, kind of shutting himself off from the world. The meme squad is helping him open up though!

-By what happened with Ink is that Ink ‘befriended’ Blue, and when Blue got most comfortable and vulnerable he pulled out a small dagger he carries around and sliced part of his wings and damaged his eye. Now he is unable to fly and his eye is blinded with a nasty scar in the place.

-Blue is a very skittish being, he is very afraid and is always trying to listen in to whats going on around him so he knows what is going on and not to fear.

-Most of Blues trust is in Nightmare, but luckily there is some in Error and Cross

(Error is a little more than Cross, but that doesn’t really matter.)

-Blue is a very non-picky eater, there's just specific stuff he doesn’t like: doesn’t mean he won’t eat it.

“He asked for no pickles”

“It’s okay-”

-As mentioned before, Blue never saved Error: it was Nightmare who had done so: they don’t have any previous bonds before said meeting present-time.

-Sometimes he wears cloaks, but most of the time he just wears his citizen design because he now lives in a monster-only town ran by Nightmare.

—-

-Inks nickname is Swindler, or The Man with a Sharp Tongue

-Inks not a stupid hybrid elf thingy. He’s a Western Rat Snake, I did my best to incorporate that into his design but we’ll see how you guys like it instead.

-His civilian design is usually used outside of the JR that way he isn’t painted as a citizen inside his workplace.

-Ink is not a good guy in Whimsical Dreamswap, he has alternative motives that Dream does. He actually means to harm.

-Ink genuinely does not care what you think of him, just what your actions are.

-Ink likes to nitpick workers every now and again just to irritate them and get on their nerves. Finch is so used to this it isn’t so surprising to him so he jokes around about it.

-Ink likes to do leatherworking and crafting as a hobby, nothing much more than that but he genuinely likes creating things out of work.

(work kinda bums him out)

-His weapon is usually a tiny dagger that he keeps in a boot or on his belt, used to hurt or collect: either or.

-Ink has little trust in Dream and just wants the power place, he’s power hungry but he doesn’t make it obvious.

-He considers Dream a friend though, so he won’t force his way to the top.

-Inks not very sensitive to hearing, but it is enhanced. Same thing with smell.

-Probably the only OTHER creature besides Dream in the JR.

—-

-Finches name is different in this AU, it’s Lorcan Ruth or just Ruth works (Lori works as well, he doesn’t care.)

-Finch is a forest elf, and is very loyal to his job.

-Finch was previously saved by Ink, but instead Dream took the role of taking care of him as Ink didn’t do a very good job.

-Finch is the same age as Ink, there’s no doubt about that.

-Finch likes the quiet, he does his best work when it’s quiet and no one else is focused on what he’s doing.

-He’s not very close with Dream, but more close with Ink in a playful/teasing manner. Sometimes they throw joking insults at each other, but they do appreciate both of their presences in the same room.

-Captain uniform is different from Officer, Chef and Janitor.

-Finch made the coat, which isn’t part of the VA uniform, with Ink because they needed a bonding lesson and Dream offered to give them an idea.

-Finch is loyal no matter what, even if he knows what the JR is doing is very wrong, he just does his best to do things differently than everyone else would.

-Finch sometimes smokes a pipe, mostly because it’s stressful to do the job he’s doing but Ink knows and sometimes smokes with him so he’s not alone.

(sometimes other guards join in.)

-Finch is very respectful and respects boundaries, he doesn’t see the monsters as threats.

-He’s very good at communication, sometimes he uses that speciality to get the guards to lay off attacking the Monsters for a little bit. It works most of the time.

—-

-Randy is a female, and a mom in this instead! I will be referring to Randy as Rana, this way it’s easier to understand.

-Rana is a coyote, for the most part she's very helpful and adoring.

-Her oldest designs she was created by a stupid wheel challenge because I didn’t know what to do, now she is fully developed.

-She usually wears rags, that way she can’t be pointed out very easily.

-Rana has a southern accent, sometimes it influences Bobby and Hacker.

-Rana cares more about the people around her than herself, hence the outfits Bobby and Hacker have and then you have hers.

-Rana has two outfits I draw her in! A Dress and one more cloak like.

-Ranas cooking is one of the best, she works as a cook in a monster restaurant in a separate town.

-Rana has very bad paranoia, but she doesn’t let it control her.

-Rana once had a lover, that lover is unknown and long gone. By long gone, I mean dead.

—-

-Hacker is both male, female, and non-binary. She’s all of it.

-Hacker is a night elf, they were taken in by Rana for safety, and because her parents abandoned her in a forest near Ranas old home.

-Hacker has a very close relationship with their mom and is happy to say has a good relationship with Rana.

-Hackers relationship is very healthy with Bobby too, her little brother might be a pain in the ass sometimes but they don’t mind very much.

-Hacker will buy any game for Bobby as long as it’s okay with Rana. Hacker also sometimes plays with Bobby if he’s okay with it.

-Hacker and Cross don’t exactly get along, in fact, they aren’t really friends either when Hacker and Bobby went to a meet up. They have trouble getting along– probably due to Cross's hate for elves.

-Hacker is really good at make-up and prosthetics for make-up. They wish to be a make-up artist but for now they just do it in her freetime.

—-

-Bobbys literally a squirrel in this. I have no other words, he’s a squirrel and that’s final.

-Bobbys natural hair color is Brown instead of Black, give it a different pop.

-Bobbys a streamer and has a pretty good audience doing so, his audience wides from humans, elves and monsters. (humans are in like, another world. They just think it’s a vtuber or something)

-Bobby is on very good terms with Cross, they sometimes stream together that way they grow both of eachothers audiences.

-Sometimes he uses Hacker as a junglegym, and other times he uses trees.

-He loves piggyback rides, no questions asked.

-Bobbys very affectionate, it just depends on the person.

-The type of person to be quiet when you first meet them, then loud and happily talkative the more you know them.

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starrywangxian · 1 year

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an open letter to all media companies

dear media companies,

i know you won't stop cancelling good tv shows and media with, let's not beat around the brush, predominately lgbt+ characters (lesbian characters to be more specific), so i won't ask you to. however, what i do ask of you is that you, at least, give a chance for the fans to say goodbye to their characters and for the story to be at least somewhat done.

i'm writing this after sobbing over the last episode of the owl house and boy, that was emotional. but there was one thought that mainly went through my head after watching the last episode (apart from "i need more") which was: at least they got to say goodbye (literally). because so many tv shows have been cancelled without a chance to finish their stories, without a chance to say goodbye. for example, i was very angry, annoyed, and unsatisfied when dead end: paranormal park was cancelled by netflix but, unlike the owl house, it was cancelled on a cliffhanger without any means to finish the story or say goodbye to the characters, and my anger was overpowered by the sadness i felt. the owl house, though, got a chance. and i guess what i'm saying is that you media companies will never listen to queer people when we tell you how important representation is especially in children's media, so i'll just save my breath but please, give it one more episode or at least a clip or something. because you may just see a price tag or angry emails from homophobic parents but we see ourselves in those characters, so they will always be more than just kids' tv show characters, and it hurts to just leave them without having any closure.

but i'll be accommodating, if you don't want to give the series one last episode, then at least tell the producers of the show before you cancel it so they can prepare, so they can give a massive fuck you to you one last time in the form of excessive PDA or pride flags galore for one last hurrah.

you can cancel the tv shows that actually matter and ignore the communities you hurt but we'll never back down. animators, storytellers, producers, directors etc. will still push for change, equality, representation, and awareness no matter when you decide to cancel our stories.

yours faithfully,

⣞⢽⢪⢣⢣⢣⢫⡺⡵⣝⡮⣗⢷⢽⢽⢽⣮⡷⡽⣜⣜⢮⢺⣜⢷⢽⢝⡽⣝ ⠸⡸⠜⠕⠕⠁⢁⢇⢏⢽⢺⣪⡳⡝⣎⣏⢯⢞⡿⣟⣷⣳⢯⡷⣽⢽⢯⣳⣫⠇ ⠀⠀⢀⢀⢄⢬⢪⡪⡎⣆⡈⠚⠜⠕⠇⠗⠝⢕⢯⢫⣞⣯⣿⣻⡽⣏⢗⣗⠏⠀ ⠀⠪⡪⡪⣪⢪⢺⢸⢢⢓⢆⢤⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢊⢞⡾⣿⡯⣏⢮⠷⠁⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠈⠊⠆⡃⠕⢕⢇⢇⢇⢇⢇⢏⢎⢎⢆⢄⠀⢑⣽⣿⢝⠲⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡿⠂⠠⠀⡇⢇⠕⢈⣀⠀⠁⠡⠣⡣⡫⣂⣿⠯⢪⠰⠂⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⡦⡙⡂⢀⢤⢣⠣⡈⣾⡃⠠⠄⠀⡄⢱⣌⣶⢏⢊⠂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⢝⡲⣜⡮⡏⢎⢌⢂⠙⠢⠐⢀⢘⢵⣽⣿⡿⠁⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠨⣺⡺⡕⡕⡱⡑⡆⡕⡅⡕⡜⡼⢽⡻⠏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⣳⣫⣾⣵⣗⡵⡱⡡⢣⢑⢕⢜⢕⡝⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⣴⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⡿⡽⡑⢌⠪⡢⡣⣣⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⡟⡾⣿⢿⢿⢵⣽⣾⣼⣘⢸⢸⣞⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠁⠇⠡⠩⡫⢿⣝⡻⡮⣒⢽⠋⠀⠀⠀

#i got a little too emotional and silly #but i won't apologise bc i already miss luz and her silly little friends and family #the owl house #dead end: paranormal park #starrywangxian #fuck netflix #fuck disney #fuck all those media companies who cancel good quality shows honestly #and watch the owl house watching and dreaming #watching and dreaming

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astriiformes · 2 years

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Keep thinking about the Owl House panel I was on last Friday night where I mentioned how Raine is really special to me, because most other non-binary rep I've come across, while great for other folks, has always felt like it leaned too far into either the "feels a little too girl-lite" or "androgyny is equal parts masculinity and femininity" zones to really represent me, personally, whereas Raine has this very subtle but nonetheless noticable/explicit vaguely-transmasc thing going on (which can still be interpreted a plethora of ways, to be clear, but at least one of them actually feels close to my gender)

And I'm always a little shy saying that because I don't want to act like trans/nb identities that wander in different directions are any less worth putting in stories, it's just that there's so many genders out there, but then someone specifically came up to me after the panel to be like "I relate to that thing you said about feeling like other rep you've come across is for other people but Raine feels different so much!" and I melted a little bit

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burningtacozombie · 11 months

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random mayans thoughts, 5x07 edition:

but before we start: Alexa, play Bonnie Prince Billy - Death To Everyone, to set the mood.

- this week's "previously on" alone was more interesting than last week's entire episode, but that's just me

- Letty got picked up by the Broken Saints, we were right about that. but it didn't look like she wanted to be there. surely her snooping around will stir up some shit for them and the Mayans. did EZ recognize her when she was sitting there after his conversation with Johnny Panic? he must have, right? she looked right at him.

- Guero and Bottles bantering over who that woman looked at, lol. comedy relief in an episode that brutal is a good thing. and you're both nice to look at, let me tell you that.

- Angel became a single dad the exact moment Mav is sick, to him that must seem like an awfully convenient timing for Luisa to disappear... for now Felipe is there to help out, but my heart already breaks for all 3 of them when they find out. they're going to be devastated.

- fuck, Luisa's death was so shocking, I didn't see this coming at all. let alone the way it happened. I'm all over the place on this one. but then again, Luisa raised Mini to be who she is. she made her the new Adelita. she taught her. and now the pupil has become the master and put the cause over personal feelings. if that's what her death was I can in a way get behind it but, depending on the next episode, if Luisa's death was only a plot device to move Angel's arc forward I'm going to hate it in hindsight. because I fucking hate it when they kill women only to further a man's story. I've seen it on so many shows and been through it so many times, it's making me sick. but also, what Carla said in the interviews with EW and Deadline made sense and maybe helps understand why it happened the way it did. like I said, all over the place.

- Emily, what the fuck. the first time she killed with her own two hands. maybe not the last time?! and the first time she didn’t call EZ for help. I still wonder, what proof mama city hall clerk was talking about. I didn't even think that whole thing actually happened until she and Luis had to clean up the mess, it seemed like a dream sequence or a fantasy.

- Miguel looking for mister Owl, aww. we got Miguel's annual shirtless scene, and what a fucking gorgeous sight it was!!! Emily coming home and instigating sex wasn't on my bingo card either. and that was definitely not a reunion or an effort to salvage their marriage in any way. this was exactly the same thing Miguel did when he had that affair with Palomo. Emily was in shock and she needed something to pull her back. just to feel something. anything, really. for Miguel after his mother's death it was the grief that overshadowed everything, for Emily it was the shock over her own actions. I stand by what I've always said, this marriage is over. Miguel, my love, I beg you, don't misinterpret this. don't get your hopes up. this most likely changes nothing between the two of you. if anything, more than ever I'm starting to think that Emily might try to kill Miguel after all, now that she knows what it would feel like.

- Guero finally got his revenge for his father!! Diaz must have known who Guero is the minute he walked into that clubhouse but both looked equally surprised to see the other there. after the conversation in the templo he never even saw him coming, my man walked up to his target from behind and blew that motherfucker's brains out. it was so cold I might have shrieked. I want to congratulate him and give him a kiss on the forehead but Marcus was expecting Diaz at his house and in the new trailer he’s pulling a gun on someone, asking who pulled the trigger so now I'm more worried for his safety. not to mention what the aftermath as a whole will be. but hey, Bishop stepped up and didn't leave the other guy as a witness, for that he's earned back a few brownie points after he fucked up with that trash bartender.

- Creeper. this one hurts. yes, it was predictable but still, I'm devastated. we all know EZ set this up to save his own ass. with Jess outed as a rat and Creeper gone, he can feel safe. for the moment anyway. hopefully Kody and/or the guy in prison who gave Creeper the second confirmation will have something to say about that. also, didn’t Hank say they have a rat working for the feds when they first heard about it, how does it matter in that context that Jess was working for the SOA? Creeper was the most loyal to the club of them all, and the most tragic, and the most injured. he deserved so much better. for that alone I hope EZ burns in the 9 circles of hell. and I hope EZ's death will be slow and excruciating. in the same Deadline interview I linked for Carla is an Interview with Joseph as well. heartbreaking stuff.

- Nestor playing Jess was at first kinda cute in an awkward way but turns out it was an act. he knew the entire time and it had to be done, good for him. the way he seemed genuinely sad afterwards? come on, fuck that bitch. they said Nestor did a solid job though, so does he get his full patch early now? how long until they vote? at first I was reluctant to see Nestor in the club because of his history with Miguel but if I’m honest with myself, he fits in quite well and I’d like to see him as a full patch. however, I’m still waiting for Miguel and Nestor to have a conversation.

- generally, I want to say I loved the episode and that it was a great one but it doesn’t exactly feel like that’s the right wording. it was a rollercoaster. and that rollercoaster was inside a haunted house inside an escape room. good luck, if you haven’t watched yet.

#danny pino #miguel galindo #andrew jacobs #guero #gino vento #nestor oceteva #clayton cardenas #angel reyes #mayans mc #mayans fx

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xflippinfrogx · 6 months

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1, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 22, 33, 40, 50, 56, 57, 58, 67, 68, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 81, 82, 96, 97, 100, 101, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 127, 128, 133, 134, 135, 137, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? My best friend because we’re both clingy 🤭

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Honestly it was probably you ash, I haven’t gotten too deep irl recently. 12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? 1. Stick season~ Noah Kahan 2. New Year’s Day~ Taylor swift 3. Kiss me~ Sixpence none the richer 4. The end~ Phoebe Bridgers 5. Bags~ Clairo

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? People don’t normally play with mine I’m usually the hair player bUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH AGHHHH

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? Hmmm not sure about miracles but luck sure! I myself have pretty awful luck so we can only hope miracles do exist so it stops😂

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? I’m sure there probably is somewhere in the universe. It might not be exactly like us but cmon there has to be SOMETHING out there?!

22. Where would you like to travel? YOUR HOUSE👹 33. Spell your name with your chin.

woaj hsa DUDE I WASNT EVEN CLOSE

40. What do you want to do after high school? I want to go to college maybe start a band or something like that. Honestly I don’t really know I just can’t wait to move out and have my own little apartment somewhere or something. 50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? Uhhhhh does it count if I’m wearing it right now? Because it’s grey. 56. Favourite colour? Light green and dark red like cherries

57. Favourite food? I love chicken rolls more than life itself🤤 58. Last thing you ate? Funny enough it was a chicken roll- 67. Facebook or Twitter? I don’t actually have twitter so Facebook? I hardly use it though 68. Twitter or Tumblr? TUMBLR 100% I spend half my life on here

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? UH DUH

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? TOO MANY BUT I LOVE THEM ALL EQUALLY AND THEYRE ALL ON MY BED BECAUSE NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND

75. Favourite animal? CATS AND PIDGEONS 77. Chocolate or Vanilla? I love both but for different things

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? Cookies and cream 81. Favourite tv show? I watch so many but maybe the owl house 82. Favourite movie? Juno 96. Favourite actress? Maya Hawke but mainly because I have a big fat crush on her x 97. Favourite actor? hmmmm maybe Matthew Perry 100. How are you feeling? Im actually really hungry but it’s like 2am so I can’t just go get food rn 101. Do you type fast? If you know me at all you’ll know I absolutely do and my fingers move too fast for my brain sometimes and I tend to misspell things lmao 113. What was your childhood nickname? My mum use to call me Lany but she doesn’t anymore 114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? *County and yes I have loads of times 117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? I LIVE LAUGH LOVE CHICKEN SO YESSS 118. Do you like Chinese food? Yeah it’s alright, tbh the Chinese takeaway here isn’t amazing but I like the wontons 119. Favourite book? Cemetery Boys 120. Are you afraid of the dark? No I find it really peaceful. 127. What makes you happy? Seeing my friends happy<3 128. Would you change your name? I don’t think I would now but I didn’t like it when I was younger. 133. Favourite lyrics right now? Will you still want me when I’m nothing new?- Nothing new Taylor swift & Phoebe Bridgers 134. Can you count to one million? Let’s see shall we 1, 2, 3, 4….. (five million hours later) ONE MILLION I DID IT 135. Dumbest lie you ever told? i use to pretend I was a fairy and I told my friends I was friends with the tooth fairy or something 😭 137. How tall are you? Like 5’2? I could be wrong but yeah

142. Favourite month? OCTOBER OMG I LOVE AUTUMN AND HALLOWEEN AND MY BIRTHDAYS IN OCTOBER ITS JUST OERFECT 145. Tea or Coffee? Iced coffee and hot tea💕 146. Was today a good day? Today was kinda boring but yeah it was pretty good 148. What’s your favourite quote? This is one from my music teacher “If you’re only feeling 60% then give 100% of your 60%!” Another one from him, “GUYS THE CARBON IS ALL OUT OF WHACK” 149. Do you believe in ghosts? Id love if they were real because that would be so cool!!! 150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? All my books are in bags rn because of the renovations so I can’t do this one😭

#lana talks #asks

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lampmanliveblogs · 2 years

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…I was not ready for this tonight.

That is pretty cool though that we finally got to know what the deal was with that thing on his head. It was actually his palisman, and it helps him see!

His hair… is so long and shiny…

Hey, I was sorta right. There’s the Bat Queen. And she’s brought with her a bunch of the abandoned palismen from her forest to be adopted.

Willow got her own palisman named Clover. It t’s a bumblbee, because you know, flowers. Also, Willow’s deepest wish is to be strong to protect her friends and family and beat up evil dudes. So she’s a shonen anime protagonist. Heck, people just stating their greatest dream is something straight out like One Piece. Lemme guess, Luz wanna be the King of the Pirates?

This is interesting. The Bat Queen rejected Luz’ wish of becoming becoming a witch because she couldn’t sense any conviction within her. Luz is of course baffled by this. She’s Luz and Luz is full of conviction!

Hmm… I think I have an idea what might be going on here. If this were season one, it might’ve worked because Luz’ main goal that season was to become a witch. But that goal changed. Now, her greatest wish, as we saw last episode, is to go home and see her mother again.

As per usual, had I just let the scene continue playing, they’d go on to just say what I was typing.

Luz wants to become a powerful witch so she can figure out a way home. But as Gus points out.. once she gets back there, what will she do then? Is she still gonna train to be a witch? And as Boscha points out… Luz can’t use her glyphs in the Human Realm.

Suppose that she figures out a way back home, but it’s a one-way trip and she is the only one that can go. She would then have to leave behind so many new friends and loved ones. That would be almost equally as tragic as her never seeing her mother again.

The ideal ending for Luz would be a scenario where she could go back home and see her mom, but still visit the Demon Realm whenever she wants to, see her friends (and girlfriend) and go on adventures. Heck, she even suggested showing Amity around some parts of the Human Realm last episode.

In a sense, merging the two Realms together would benefit Luz…

As we cut back to The Owl House at night, I think we’re gonna have to leave it off for the night. See you all later!

(Edit: I just realized this is my 300th post. Woo-hoo!)

#the owl house #liveblog #the owl house liveblog #hunting palismen #toh s2e6

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originalwinnercheesecake · 1 year

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Anne, Sasha, and Marcy as Pokemon Trainers

So apparently my new favorite thing is to take story based family cartoons and turn all the characters into Pokemon trainers. I have already done 2 posts for The Owl House, Gravity falls has a post saved in my drafts, and I have plans for multiple other cartoons. The Owl house just ended, and that has sme poeple talking about Amphibia to again (I know the endings were different, I am not gonna say which ending was better. One show was about the hardships of growing up, one show was about the importance of finding a supportive community). But I figured now was as god as any time to do my Amphibia trio as trainers post. I am only making Anne, Sasha, and Marcy pokemon trainers. The amphibious characters I am using as inspirations for their teams.

ANNE BOONCHUY”S TEAM:

Froakie: It’s a tough little Frog pokemon, and I picked it to represent Anne’s bonds with the Planters and the Frog citizens of Amphibia.

Torracat: Anne loves her cat Domino more than almost anything in the world. When she first tells Sprig and Polly about Domino she states “You would like her. She has fire”. So I had to give her a fire-type cat pokemon. I chose the second evolution of Litten’s line because Anne has a;ready invested so much time into raising and training Domino, that I feel like she would have already evolved the first time.

A western Gastrodon: I picked this one for a couple reasons. 1.) I really wanted to give Anne a sea based water-type because she mentions that loves the aquarium in her home town and goes there whenever she feels sad. Also while I know a sea slug and a garden snail are not the same thing, Gastrodon still reminded me a bit of Bessie. I went with its Western apparence because it is blue, Anne’s calamity color

Ambipom: Since Tennis is Anne’s sport I tired to find a tennis based pokemon that she could train/play with. There is not any pokemon that are tennis based. So after looking and finding nothing I decided to instead give Anne an Ambipom. She could teach one to play tennis with her. It stands upright and has two gloved hands on its twin tails for holding and swinging a racket.

Honedge and Bronzo: Honedge is a single bade which is the weapon Anne learns to wield during her time on Amphibia. Bronzo is a shield and representative of Anne’s protective nature for towards her friends and her willingness to leap to the defense of those in need

Anne’s team: Froakie, Torracat, Western Gastrodon, Ambipom, Honedge, Bronzo

SASHA WAYBRIGHT”S TEAM

Crogunk: its a fighting toad, and represents Sasha’s bond with Grime and the Toad citizens of Amphibia.

Doublade: Sasha learns to wield dual blades during her time in Amphibia

Pom-Pom style Oricorio: Surprise, surprise there actually is a cheer leading based pokemon. Well actually its 1 pokemon with 4 different styles based on what color flower nectar it is fed. Cheer leading Pom-Pom style is flying and electric, and is maintained by giving it nectar from yellow flowers. I imagine that is what Sasha would feed hers.

Hitmontop and Braixen: So when Sasha creates a introduction title for herself, after hearing General Yuana’s many times, she recounts that she is “Captian of the cheer squad, top scorer on the arcades dance game, and 1st lieutenant of Grimes Army”. She seems equally as proud of her dance skills as she is of her fighting skills, so I gave her two fighting type pokemon that also have moves when it comes to dance

Houndour: okay Sasha is really protective of her loved ones too, but unlike Anne she is a lot more forceful and alpha type. So instead of a shield she gets an alpha guard dog... I also wanted to give her a dog because she cannonly struggles with going back and forth between her parents houses, and according to Matt was just starting to realize her bisexuality during the shows original run and that realization was scaring her. the girl is going through a lot and I feel she needs something furry to pet/hug.

Sasha’s team: Crogunk, Doublade, Pom-pom style Oricorio, Hitmontop, Braixen, Houndour

MARCY WU’S TEAM

Marcy was actually the hardest of the three girls to chose a team for, and I had to change and eliminate some pokemon I had originally picked out for her, but I eventually buit a team that I am satisfied properly represents Marcy’s character

Treeko: It’s a Newt and reprasentative of Marcy’s bonds with Yuana, and lady Olivia and the Newt citizens of Amphibia

Decidueye: I looked for a bow and arrow or crossbow pokemon but no. Deidueye as the only archer pokemon I could find. it’s high level but since Marcy is both the most strategic and researched of the group, as well as an experianced battler I could see her being able to level it up fast. Still after giving her Decidueye I had to take pigeot (Joe Sparrow) off her list.

Ledyba: Marcy has a notable interest in bugs in the show (ants, spiders, ladybugs, and beetles). I looked at the pokemon counterparts and I picked Ledyba because it looked liked the one that was the least likely to injury her while training.

Lampent: she is good a architecture and public lighting.

Rotom: closest thing I could find to an electrical/ computer based pokemon

Klefki: she wants to go to new and unknown areas to adventure. I did not want to give her an unknown, because I have already given it to a couple other nerd characters and they’re supposed to be rare. So instead I am giving her klefki to unlock new doorways to hidden adventure. plus its a fairy type which appeals to Macy being a fantasy nerd.

Marcy’s team: treekco, Deidueye, Ledyba, Lampen, Rotom, and Klefki.

#Amphibia #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #Marcy Wu #the owl house #Matt braly #Disney #pokemon #Marcy would be a pokemon breeder r resercher #I would want either Anne or Sasha to be a gymbattler #and the other to be a cordinator #but I am not sure which would be which

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generalchelseamayhem · 2 years

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Liberalism

*chorus of boos, some pelted fruit*

Yeah yeah, okay. I see a lot of hatred from both the hard left and the hard right for liberals. Taking the absolute worst examples of both sets of discourses, the right would seem to consider liberals agents of the communist agenda, where the left would consider liberals fascists-in-waiting.

I expect that from the right, but I've been baffled to see it coming through so strongly on the left.

I'm sure I've said this before, but it bears repeating. Political alignment isn't just measured by which positions you take on issues, but also by how principled you are on those issues.I was similarly baffled in Pride Month this year by posts which were like "Actually corporate pride celebrations are good because even if they're just in it for the money, we finally have their support to be out and proud in public!" And I just think of what happened around that exact same time when it came out that Disney was backing homophobic laws in Florida, the backlash from the creator of The Owl House who had to basically distance herself from her own brand- it's not principled support of LGBT people! They don't have your back, they don't care about LGBT people even within their own organisation. You were the ones who provided your own protection. You were the ones who made it easier for yourselves to be out and proud in public. Now you're too large a demographic for corporations to ignore, and they want your money, so they pretend to care even when they don't. If they can get more money at the same time in other areas from homophobes, so much the better.

There are so many times I see people, whose political motivations are clearly that they're just selfish and unprincipled, get called "liberals" by the hard left as if it's written into liberalism as a belief system to stop short of enacting any meaningful change and start, idk, worshipping the military-industrial complex. It's kinda exactly like how "centrist" became a catch-all term for disagreement which roughly translated to "we need to compromise with these genocidal maniacs to achieve consensus on equal rights, which, duh, means we only have to do a little bit of genocide!"

Listen, I can't account for the folly of human selfishness, but on the left, actual liberals are your allies. You gain nothing from making enemies out of them just because some people on Twitter misrepresent their position because it makes them seem friendlier! That's not liberalism, that's just lying! If I had to define liberalism - and I do - I'd have to go to Wikipedia, which talks about things like "the rights of the individual", "consent of the governed", "equality before the law" "freedom of speech/press/religion". And if you asked me to apply that concept to some guy on Twitter who said Racism is Bad, Defund The Police, Equal Treatment Under The Law, but now can only say "At least it's not Trump" as Biden's administration massively increases the police budget... well, I just wouldn't be able to do it.

If we don't get better at making friends soon, liberalism will collapse under the weight of the unprincipled selfishness pressing in from all sides, that says "Freedom of Speech for me, but not for anyone else" or "equal treatment under the law unless you're poor or disabled" or "the governed aren't allowed to protest anymore because it upsets people".

I propose that we start by agreeing to work together, with the caveat that the whole "rule of law" thing needs a shake up, because some laws are inherently unjust and law enforcement has too much power. And the caveat that revolutionary communist utopia is off the table, since one of the conventional wisdoms that informs many of liberalism's core beliefs is that other people have to live in this society, too.

#politics #rant

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moonstone27ls · 2 years

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Holy shoot that Owl House Finale

Spoiler warning....

Warning you.....

Okay soooo whoa a lot to unpack there. First of all Dana Terrace if you read this kudos to you and your team. Every scene was just something, even watching the Coven heads fight with Darius and Eberwolf, made me wish we had more time (seasons) to learn and see everything in the Owl House world. Feel there’s so much we don’t get to see anymore because of Disney... yes still pissed at you Disney.

In fact here’s a finger

Thats for taking the BEST show and look no disrespect to the other shows but if Big City Greens gets longer eps and another season I’m calling bullshit on this STUPID company. I love Owl House and I love the other shows, but Disney borders from a great tool to a Saturday morning villain or that boss that sucks your soul the more you work for them. It just UTTERLY pisses me off that this show has so much potential so many stories that we wanna explore and we won’t get to see them cause Disney’s an asshole.

Yet come pride month they will capitalize on this to say “we’re woke”. Butt ahhhh vent aside. Yes thats how good it was the characters, the littler interactions.

Lets see the baddies... loved the Collector’s design. What do I think of him... he’s a lot to absorb. He’s either their Bill Cipher or basically kid Zeus. A god with NO conscious or real morals other than pinkie promise. The revelation with King explained a lot. The pendant and those Titan Hunters, the Collector had that cult because he was SUPER pissed King’s father sealed him away. Just again a lot to absorb and worry this kid is a living god and has no boundaries...

Considering Dana Terrace is put on a bit of a crunchtime because of Disney... I dunno whats in store. At most I guess, King and the others are gonna be at the Collector’s mercy for a while. Seeing that King might be the only one who can at least .... be close to equal. He will either have to faceoff against him or find some form of reasoning with ... him. What I only hope is IF thats the case, hope the Collector is apparently strong enough to remove Eda/Lilith’s curse and those sigils. But again we have to wait....

Then we have Belos/Philip... not entirely shocked how he pretty much walked over EVERY loyal subject to him. Neither am I shocked the Coven heads fought to keep their “paradise”. Though somewhat surprised that not ONE of them to to ask “wait a minute... why are we fighting?” But thats a cult for you. Did find it funny (not haha) that when Philip had his confrontation with Luz, it is her calling him a hypocrite that makes him mad. Its the insult about his old clothing. Pft sensitive much Phil. Though again clothes comment aside not shocked with their little talk.

Again Philip came from the colonial years, and welll.... those years were a mess. So its honestly believable dummy thinks he’s actually doing the right thing. Felt extremely sorry for Hunter cause literally that whole scene and then watching the godlike Collector was obviously a LOT for him(probably all of them). What gets me is when he eyes Flapjack and goes full rabid on Hunter.

Still convinces me that he murdered his brother (and his clones) for the obvious reason. His brother not only loved the witches(maybe oneee yes I heard fan theories) but he embraced the culture and became a witch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Flapjack was his brother’s (or one of the grimwalkers) original owner and he just realized that once again he couldn’t “reform” his brother.

Am still genuinely worried for King and the rest though. That departure was tough to watch because King loves Luz so much. But again... they’re at the Collectors mercy... we have no clue what will happen to King, Eda, the Covens, school, the Blight twins, the Bat Queen or the entire world.... its no wonder Gus cried, I’m surprised the others didn’t join. Though lets be honest they all are probably traumatized now @_@

Season 3 holds a lot just wish Dana Terrace had more time to show us what she and her team could do. Stupid Disney. Clearly although Camila will embrace the group she will either have a lot to absorb or argue with Luz about going back to save Eda and the others.I do hope Dana Terrace has time to give Vee some attention I feel like that part with the tarot girl was done on purpose. Vee has an important part to play in this journey... just not sure what. I know she’s like reverse Luz, while Luz wanted a magical adventure... Vee just wanted a normal, quiet life. Only diff... Vee doesn’t have a cute King to cuddle like Luz did.

Then there’s Hunter... another character I worry for mostly because Owl House can pull a lot of twists... I don’t want Hunter to suffer anymore BD;... butttt we all know Belos isn’t really dead. And we all saw that goop fall on Hunter... what could it mean? A few 1) Belos will possess/or control Hunter, 2) Belos will infect him , or 3) neither he’s alive just that goop thats at the house when they left. Although I don’t want Belos back... I would prefer the third cause Philip/Belos has abused this kid enough BD;... I just want him happy and safe.

Anything else. Did like that “easter egg” with Amphibia. Although I agree it would be crazy, at the same time would LOVE Amphibia to be a thing and I’ll even accept this as the closest thing to a crossover. Loved those sweet little moments like King getting comforted by the kids, Eda kissing Hooty on the head, the pailsman trying to cheer up everyone.

And its obvious anyone that follows me that I was FANGIRLING over Hunter/Willow’s interaction. Him blushing (ears and alllll) when she saved him. Just GAHHHHHH

I WANT THEM SO BADLY TO BE A COUPLE! I WANT THEM TO KISS and have a moment like Luz/Amity! I WANT THEM TO DOUBLE DATE WITH LUZ AND AMITY!!!! I want Gus to call him on the crush and see him comically spit his soda out and shyly deny it!

Thats about it, gotta wait till season 3!

#Dana Terrace #The Owl House

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weaselbeaselpants · 1 year

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Complaining abt tumblrsexymen being all the 'same'-ish conventionally attractive white/white coded character is a valid critique+nitpick if ever I saw one. It's still amazes me that Sans won the tumblreman hunger games considering he's both of skeleton decent and not a beanpole. Believe me, I love tumblr sexymen and that there are just WAY too many white and/or white coded guys in there. Diversity is important. Considering how many of them are also some scale of dangerous ppl which is then excused away by fans because of course it is, it is concerning how many Notzis get the "but he's complex"-treatment just because they're 'pretty. However, that's where my takes as a reallyreally white person end.

Yeah this is about Hunter in the Owl House.

As Belos is my actual fav (in a hate-fuck way) character, I'm gonna get it out of the way that yes ppl are 100% into Philbelos because he's a scary looming British blonde man and yeah his fans are way too apologetic of him because Mathew Rhys' voice and those designs are top-notch. Cynically, ppl are into Belos because they can't accept a passively nice white guy could be the same as a Trump supporter; realistically, a lot of us are also fascinated by how awful and why he is the way he is which is where are dumb headcanons come from.

With Hunter, I think half of the problem comes from the show prioritizing wrapping up the lore and backstory of the Wittebros as neatly as they could before it ends. Like it or not, Hunter is tied to the backstory of the villain and an important connection between the main kid cast and Belos directly thru him. Half of the discovers and unearthing of just how bad Belos is is done in relation to Hunter/Caleb/the grimwalkers. Like them or not (you don't have to, it's not law requiring you to enjoy the problematic blonde clone) Hunter is important to the story of the Owl House. I really don't think we'd have this problem if we'd have more time for the series to wrap up, or at least half the time Amphibia had for it's final season. While the story+lore is important, I think equally important to that is our main character and her friends. We do get that- mind you, but it isn't as focal to the story as the Wittebro shit even tho it's emotionally important. It's also why we focused more on King in the end of s2 - his story and how he befriends the Collector is integral to how the show's gonna end...and all of that comes at the cost of Luz and friends' having both angst and their own centric, full realized plotlines.

^^^All that I just said is only one half of a full conversation and that conversation is worth being had -- the one about how much (intentional or not) focus there are on the white guyyz who are straight vs the BIPOC cast of lesbians. The thing is I'd prefer to have that convo with a BIPOC TOH fan themselves, not through a white ally echoing that complaint to justify their own hatred of Hunter.

This is a thing some white allies do: they hear a complaint from a person of color abt wanting more diversity and rep, abt feeling like people only care because it's a white character - and, if that ally happens to have any unrelated beef with said diversity-lacking thing, they hammer down on this being the "ACTUAL PROBLEM" w the character. They use someone else's valid take or criticism and treat it like they're own. In the case of one particular anti-Hunter person, it also comes with the accusatory shit ppl do abt sexymen that's REALLY uncalled for and kinda fugged up:

"You only like him because he's a white kid and you're also a white kid You wouldn't care if that trauma happened to him if he were BIPOC"

No. I could care abt him if he were another race. Also BIPOC ppl are allowed identify w white characters as much as white ppl are allowed to identify w BIPOC characters.

"The trauma written for him is manipulative and people are projecting too much of their own trauma onto him"

yeah that kinda happens when you got abused characters- abused people will see themselves regardless of how alike they actually are....um....that's none of your business???

"He's not actually a good character he's just a sad character"

yeah again ppl like sad characters. I know what you mean, ppl are so into characters being 'sad and quiet' they forget that the character also has to be well written to earn everyone's unabashed love (see also: Evan Hansen) but...isn't that just a matter of opinion then? Like, what's the big deal if this emotional trauma arc got me and I personally really liked it. Prioritized or not, like I'm suggesting, it's important to the story and I and other people thought it was handled well.

"You only care abt him because he's a pretty boy."

ok well I don't think much would change abt him if he were, fe, a girl instead. Maybe I haven't spent enough time w the Hunterstans as much as I have the Belos stans but from what I've seen, a lot of the complaints abt wanting to see more of Gus and Willow and Luz at all stems from those same fans also liking those characters and wanting them to have the same attention given to them by the show as Hunter and Amity have. In other words- a lot of Hunter fans also want more for the rest of the cast....maybe it's not fair to treat them like they're ur enemy for daring to like the plot specific character?

---

All of this to say: if you aren't a BIPOC person with the genuine complaint that Owl House has become too Hunter-centric at the cost of it's characters of color....please stop using other ppl's experiences to justify your hatred. There's truth in there but that's not your argument to square in on just because you want amo to use against the blonde bisch getting in the way of the witch and lesbians you 'came here to see'. Just be real with how you came here to see that and be an actual ally and reblog the legit arguments to be made by BIPOC fans. That's the other half of the conversation, try not to talk over it-

k that's all.

#the owl house #white ally #hunter noceda #tumblr sexymen

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sunsents · 3 years

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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.

#angst #hp angst #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley #fred weasley x y/n #weasley twins #fred weasley angst #fred weasley smut #fred weasley series #reader insert #harry potter fluff #harry potter fic #fred weasley imagine

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the-lone-witch-and-secret-room · 3 years

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The Owl House and pacing, a perspective from a fanfic writer that works with a large cast

I’ve seen a bunch of complains about the way The Owl House is paced lately. People claiming that it’s bad writing, and rushed, and whatnot. But from how I see it, you’re complaining for all the wrong reasons, and to the wrong people.

TL;DR: this is an overlaying issue with Disney and the industry that doesn’t allow long shows anymore, essentially forcing writers to pick between good pacing and complex stories being told with large casts.

For context: the fandom I wrote for before I got into The Owl House had a pretty small main cast. There were a few reoccurring characters, but most of them only showed up like five total times over the course of four seasons or had little personality, so my main cast I was writing about always consisted of my main five characters, with occasional cameos here and there. All characters were living together and experienced the adventure from the same perspective. There was one overarching storyline and not multiple. The interpersonal relationships still varied, though, for obvious reasons.

Now think about how large The Owl House cast is, and why that’d send them running into issues. Or don’t, because I have a whole-ass in depth analysis under the cut because this got unreasonably long.

(Also I’d appreciate a reblog, I spent… an unreasonable amount of time on this, lol)

The Owl House is different. There’s the main characters: Luz, Eda, King, maybe Hooty, technically (someone recently pointed out that he’s technically the titular character of the show and I’m still processing that, lol).

But they also have a HUGE additional cast to work with. There’s Lilith, Eda’s sister, and the main antagonist of season one, who has a lot to her character and gets a ton of screen time. There’s Amity, and there’s Willow and Gus, Luz’s friends. They’re all very fleshed out characters, and got a bunch of screen time and development, despite “only” being reoccurring characters and not the main characters.

Then there’s characters that have played a fairly minor role so far. There’s Belos, the big bad villain, who we will likely learn a lot more about this season. There’s the Golden Guard, the new main antagonist our cast deals with personally, who we’re just starting to learn more about. There’s Camila, Luz’s mom, who, despite only showing up a couple of times in the show so far, is very relevant to Luz and how the plot will ultimately turn out. There’s Edric and Emira, Amity’s siblings, who despite only showing up a few times as well seem to have a very worked out personality and background and also have a story that is (at least to some extent) going to be told according to the AMA.

There is at least one more seemingly important character whose role in the bigger story is hard to tell at this point, Raine, but according to the description of the episode, they’re probably going to influence the story a bunch.

There’s Alador and Odalia, who are responsible for a lot of their children’s toxic behaviors, and seem to have bigger plans that will probably be relevant later on.

The characters that are only focused on for an episode or two (like Matt and the troublemaker kids) all have very worked out personalities and even short arcs.

And heck, even characters like Boscha, who is extremely minor and seems like a very one-dimensional bully for the most part, get their moments that hint at there being more to them. We know Boscha has a clingy mom, that apparently has a rivalry with Odalia and works with Amity’s parents. The scene at the beginning of Wing It Like Witches tells us a lot about her general mindset and how she’s embraced that winning at whatever cost is the only thing that matters.

This leaves us with: 3-4 main characters

3 friends with fleshed out stories

Lilith, who is probably the most relevant aside from the main cast

Belos, the main antagonist, and the Golden Guard, currently starting to become a lot more relevant

A whole handful of minor reoccurring characters that have the potential to become bigger characters at any point in time

A handful of minor reoccurring characters that mainly seem to be there to further the story, but still get to have distinctive personalities and motivations (looking p.e. at the troublemaker kids)

That is AT LEAST 9 pretty major, relevant characters whose stories have to be tackled in the same show, in addition to the people that joined in season two and a huge supporting cast of well-developed characters that clearly also have stories of their own, even if not all of them will get told.

On top of that, the Owl House lives from exploring different relationships and different storylines. There’s the overarching story of how flawed the system is that will likely end with them overthrowing Belos, but there’s so much more.

Eda and the curse. Eda becoming a better mentor for Luz. Eda coming to terms with the loss of her magic.

Luz learning to cast magic with glyphs. Making friends for the first time. Slowly falling in love with Amity. Fighting to be able to learn whatever kind of magic she wants to. Learning that she’s not a burden to people. Struggling with her relationship with her mom, and trying to restore the portal so she can get back to her. Figuring out her future and what she really wants.

Lilith trying to cure Eda, and now in season two coming to terms with the loss of her magic and fixing her relationship with her sister. Lilith learning to ask for help.

Willow switching tracks. Willow growing more confident.

Amity becoming a better person, fixing her relationship with Willow, standing up to her parents, falling in love with Luz. Starting to fix her relationship with her siblings.

King finding out where he came from.

Hints at Gus struggling with decision making and stressing himself out less. Gus learning to be more selfless. Struggling with his magic track and being the youngest in his grade.

The newly introduced plot point with the Golden Guard. The plot point about the rebellion that will get introduced next episode.

The mystery with the letters.

And I’m like 90% sure I’ve forgotten something.

That is… a lot of different plots and relationships that are in some way important to the story.

In comparison, as stated, the last show I wrote for focused mostly on the same five characters and their relationships with each other, and one overarching plotline aside from some minor interpersonal relationships with two people’s family members that weren’t even introduced for several seasons. The first season fully focused on establishing the bond within this found family with exactly 1 important reoccurring character, an antagonist that had little personality and got a total of one line of backstory before he died.

If you have 90% of a season to develop 5 characters who live together, that’s a lot easier to do than developing twice the amount of important characters + introducing reoccurring characters season one of The Owl House has—the majority of which have separate lives and do not live together and thus can’t be focused on at the same time.

I’ve seen a bunch of people complain recently that the pacing of The Owl House is off, that the writing is bad, that the show is rushed, etc. etc.

And I get those complains. Believe me, as a viewer and also as an author that takes a lot of time to develop each character and their issues individually, I 100% get it.

But as an author that’s currently learning how hard it is to tackle a cast of the size that The Owl House has, I’ve also come to a whole different understanding from the perspective of the writers on the show.

For context, Locked Out focuses on a couple of serious themes, in the same way that the show does. It has 4 main plotlines: Amity Camila and Luz, Edric and Emira, Eda and Lilith, Willow and the Grudgby Squad (as well as a Gus arc that ties into the last one while also being its own thing, we’re getting to that part). So far, it prominently features: Luz, Amity, Camila, Eda, Emira, Edric, Willow and Gus, and to a lesser extent King, Lilith and Boscha, Skara and Amelia in relation to the separate plots.

That’s eight main characters across five different households. And then there’s the reoccurring characters that will have a larger role later on that I’ve not even had the opportunity to bring into the story yet/feature in a more prominent way. The cast is still growing.

And heck, I have all the time in the world to write this thing, because I don’t have an episode limit, or a deadline, or a limited amount of money to produce it.

For Locked Out, it took me 120k to get through a single week of plot at a very high level of character development, with about as many important characters as TOH has in season 1, and with an equally high number of reoccurring characters, some minor, some major. I think you can compare it to the show pretty well. I’d say, if I were to split Locked Out into episodes, I’d set one episode at about 10k. That would be 12 episodes. 12 episodes to get through a single week. Heck, even if I said 20k words were to be one episode, which I’m pretty sure is too much realistically, that would still be 6 episodes for one week.

And TOH covers more than three months.

That would be at least 72 total episodes to get through the three months of summer camp. And we’re currently progressing past that point.

72 episodes.

Let that sit for a while o.o

Everything that’s happened in season one (which as we know now was about 2 months) would have happened in 48 episodes rather than 19. Pacing-wise, everything would happen at less than 0.5x the speed. The first four episodes of season two would’ve been 24 episodes, assuming we hadn’t skipped a week and a half and had instead shown the immediate aftermath of the petrification ceremony, too.

And I’d love if we could have that, and if we could actually develop the characters and their relationships that thoroughly.

But the sad fact is that shows like The Owl House do not get the amount of episodes that would be required to develop every single aspect of the show to its fullest potential. Disney rarely greenlits shows of 150 episodes anymore. They used to, once, (Phineas&Ferb for example had 130+ episodes—you could tell one hell of a story in that many episodes), but that’s not a thing anymore. And the writers know that going into a show. They know the chances their story will be told in that way are very low.

And thus, the writers, especially ones working with large casts, have to make a choice: cut characters they love, and plots that are important to them, because they know they won’t get the amount of episodes required to do everything perfectly, OR include most of what they want to do, but at the cost of the pacing being off and everything seemingly happening too fast.

The Owl House crew went with the second option. The biggest issue the show has isn’t bad writing. The show’s biggest issue is that its cast and the story the crew members want to tell are too big for the amount of episodes they’ve been given (especially now that Disney decided to cut season 3 down into just three 44 minute specials).

And that’s on Disney, and Disney alone.

The crew is making the most of the amount of episodes they have, and unfortunately the lack of time forces them to rush things, and to sometimes sideline characters to focus on others.

Lilith got a bunch of screen time in the first four episodes. I’m sad to see her go, but she’s basically guaranteed to be back by season 2B. And there’s other people that have gotten way less focus than her so far. We‘ve seen basically nothing of Willow and Gus for the first few episodes, and I’m super happy Gus finally got some focus! We haven’t been inside Hexside all season except to see Luz expelled! And episode seven is even going to introduce a new character. Sometimes there’s parts of the story that certain characters don’t have a place in. And it sucks if they’re characters you like. But Lilith has to go for a bit so other characters can get the same amount of spotlight she did. At the end of the day, Lilith is not part of the main cast. She’s a very important reoccurring character, yes, but so are Amity, Willow and Gus. The main characters are Eda, Luz and King, and they’re the only ones that will always be around. And heck, even Eda got sidelined for a bit in the last two episodes, because we needed to focus on other characters. If not even the main characters are always around because we need some spotlight time for other characters, you can’t expect any more minor reoccurring cast member to be.

God, I wish they’d be given more time and more episodes to bring every part of the plot to its full potential, but they don’t have those, so they sometimes have to take shortcuts that unfortunately cheapen the story here and there. It’s the only way they can hope to tell their story to the end at all. And that makes me hella sad because it’s so obvious that they have an incredible story to tell, and that there’s so much more to so many of the characters we just don’t have the time to focus on.

The thing is: I liked the episode with Gwendolyn. It sends an important message that will hopefully get some parents who watch with their children thinking, and I’ve seen a couple of people talk about how close to home it hit for them. I have also seen a couple of people complain about that being too fast—and also just in general about things in the show getting sorted out too fast. And I get it. At least with this particular episode, I 100% get it.

(I’ve also seen some people complain that “Amity stood up to her parents too fast in Escaping Expulsion”, but I vehemently disagree with that. We’ve been building towards that moment since season one, with her doing more and more things that were technically defying her parents. I don’t see how this was rushed.)

Just… please don’t blame the writers. Dana even said that Keeping Up A-Fearances is one of the episodes that hit very close to home for her in the recent stream iirc? So I highly doubt this was rushed on purpose, or because the whole thing is “bad writing” when the entire writing quality of the show says otherwise.

A lot of shows in general have the issue that they have to be written season by season rather than as a full story these days, because there’s always a chance that they won’t get a next season. How large scale the story they want to tell actually is doesn’t matter if there’s a solid chance they won’t get to do any of it.

From a viewer perspective, I get being frustrated at the pacing being off. But from a writer perspective, the chances are very high that this is a choice they had to make, rather than one they wanted to make. And I don’t think you can truly see this if you’ve never worked with a fleshed out cast that large—Locked Out was really eye-opening for me in that regard.

This isn’t simply a case of bad writing/bad pacing by choice. It’s forced. They’re forced to rush through their plots because otherwise they won’t get the chance to tell certain parts of the story at all. And the saddest thing about this is really that those 72+ episodes to flesh out these plot points further wouldn’t have been an impossible thing to get, at a time.

Go for Disney’s head. Yell at the industry for being what it is today, for constantly axing shows before even giving them a real chance. But this isn’t on the crew.

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