It is funny to me how Harry Potter is literally the main character, yet people tend to go like he didn't suffer that much or he wasn't "abused"; Like, how can one misunderstand the literal main character of the damn franchise?

He wasn't abused; yes okay. He absolutely did not grow up inside a cupboard; the tiny place that is mostly reserved for brooms or cleaning supply. He absolutely was not treated inferior to the other child who lived in the same house. He was totally was not treated like a "freak" or a "stain" that his family was ashamed off. He grew up inside a cupboard while there was a literal unused bed in the same house. And you want to know what that screamed to a child, a baby — who slept inside a cupboard while there being a perfectly usable room right there? You are worth nothing and we don't love you and we are ashamed of what you are.

He wasn't starved, or at least he was fed; Yeah, no. We see it from the first book. How Vernon was no food for you and in the cupboard you go — and by the looks of it, that was like his most common punishment. And then, in the second book — you practically see it happen. He was locked, inside a room with only a can of soup that he shared with Hedwig. Now, tell me what it would do to a child — to be given food through a cat flap, and fun fact? Harry got to eat less than people on war rations; in short? He was starved, yes.

He wasn't abused physically so it's not abuse; As for people's thinks abuse isn't abuse until it's physical (which is inherently wrong because abuse isn't only physically, fyi); Harry has learned to dodge Vernon and he states that, very proudly when his uncle tries to grab him. He dodges a flying pan and states that fact, again very proudly as if it is the norm; do you know how heavy pans are? And do you know what would happen when one hits you? If you want an even clearer proof; Vernon Dursley strangles Harry in Ootp. There you go. Also, in the first book, we clearly see Vernon encouraging Dudley to hit Harry. Read between the lines and actually try to understand what that signifies.

And favourite part; When he wasn't treated like a prisoner, or a freak— he was their servant. And that is very much canonical. Tending Petunia's garden during summers and drinking from the water hose in the garden because of how hot it was? Having to wake up early so he can tend the kitchen and when he wasn't doing all that he is locked away. And it is all canon.

In conclusion, Harry— not only grew up to think that he was inhumane, undeserving of love, a freak that didn't even get to have his own bed because someone like him didn't deserve it, physically harmed enough times that he dodges them out of reflex and also the Dursleys' glorified servant; that is not even taking into account what Harry went through in Hogwarts. And after all that if someone tells me; this child, right here — didn't go through much then well, maybe read the books again?

I swear to god if I see one more tiktok complaining about how rushed and underwhelming part 1 was I may actually loose it. It’s like I watched a completely different version of the show than these people.

While I will always want more Colin and Penelope moments together as a Polin shipper, I do not think they had too little time together on screen, nor did do find the subplots distracting from their story. We’ve had two other seasons worth of build up with amazing moments from each season between the two already. So it wasn’t upsetting to see the ensemble get some plot points as well.

I feel like so many people misunderstand Colin and his feelings for Penelope. I’ve seen so many people say that Polin was completely one sided up until the kiss and then suddenly he was obsessed. Like they didn’t notice how he always finds her in the room even when he’s not thinking, even as far back as season 1. How they joke and laugh together so easily and how he genuinely cares about her and her feelings and seeks out her company.

Yes he made a few miss-steps with Maria and later with the infamous “Never dream of Courting Penelope Featherington” line and ended up hurting Pen. But I feel like nobody takes the time to see it from his perspective.

Maybe I’m too biased as a Colin defender but i don’t think he would’ve said what he did at the Featherington’s ball if he wasn’t trying to impress those men in a way to help out Mondrich. While no that doesn’t absolve the fact that what he said was still wrong, I don’t think it warrants Colin needing to grovel non stop to earn Pen’s forgiveness, and honestly the fandoms insistence on it always confused me. I thought his apology in the show was beautiful and well done.

I know people are entitled to their opinions, but it’s so disheartening to see so much criticism and disappointment for a season that 1. I’ve been looking forward to for so long and 2. isn’t even finished yet.

throws up my hands in mock resignation but also a hint of frustration Okay Valentino is a cool villain I guess

He's like. Genuinely unsettling. Wish the show struck a better balance with his character sometimes (like sometimes when he's onscreen I have to skip over because I feel queasy and sometimes he's so unsubtle he feels more like a prop than a guy who's going to be a Huge Deal in s2)

“Oh Sanji likes violating women, he’s a rap*st.”

SHUT UP! SHUT TF UP!!

Are we all reading the same manga?? Sanji literally advocates for women, he defends and protects them with every chance he gets. Sanji has never, not once, even touched a woman inappropriately, let alone without consent. He CHOOSES to be gentle and compassionate with them, even with those who are the complete opposite of that towards him.

You think a man that doesn’t raise a hand to a woman even when it comes to defending himself, when he’s pushed to limits, been betrayed, hurt, almost killed, you think he would as much touch a string of hair on their head in such disgusting and disrespectful ways?

people need to stop putting his character down with those kind of statements, it’s so ugly to see.

“oh but he’s just a character..”

Yeah and it pisses me even more that some of yall can’t differentiate real abuse and even when you categorise him as an abuser, you still degenerate him because of how highly he thinks of women? Make it make sense y’all are like snakes eating your own tail.

if you wanna hate at least hate so with valid reasons.

Some worldbuilding stuff I enjoy playing with:

The highest honor a man can have in Hyrule besides royalty or the hero is to be knighted. There are soldiers but they are simply soldiers. Knights on the other hand are blessed by the queen herself, and are knighted typically because they match the qualities of a hero: strong spirit, unwavering courage, and so on. The knights of Hyrule are the strongest fighters and defend the castle if it’s attacked.

The highest honor a woman can have in Hyrule is the status of a maiden. Maidens are blessed by the queen as well and typically match the qualities of the princess with the goddess’s bloods in her veins: wise and powerful with divine magic. Though their magic is not as strong as the princess/Queen’s, together, they are significantly powerful and can help in defense of the castle.

setting off for a long journey

Too tired to draw, what is this curse. I wanna draw so badly but can't even focus on the screen, augh

me desperately trying to outrun my writer’s block for the fiftieth time this week

february mb

Junicrane/Starstruck Ramble

I will not be brief, all under the cut

To clear some things right off the bat:

No corpse, no proof with Juniper. Obligatory this is set in a canon where he's alive and adjacent to the agency in some way.

Reggie & Juniper are just gay to me, but I don't mind any interpretation of their sexuality

The games are set in 1967/68 to me (based on a couple bits in game) which is before it was legal to be gay in America at least (1971), which is relevant to how I interpret canon as being somewhat grounded in reality, despite unrealistic elements.

This is just an insane amount of headcanons/elements of and AU all culminated into one post. I will talk about some headcanons like they're just facts because they are established in my head, and it saves me over explaining literally everything, however I will explain some parts a little bit for clarity.

Alright. Actual beginning of the ramble:

Juniper is a character to me who had gotten so lost in his job as an actor and a social presence that in the end his whole life revolved around that 'role'. Because of this, by the time he's put into the situation where he's around the Agency, he basically knows nothing about himself, though he doesn't realise at first. Furthermore, what little identity he had has changed in so many ways. He's no longer a beloved famous actor in the prominence of public light, he's legally dead and he tarnished his career just before he was supposed to die, with the bonus of that making him lose the majority of his estate. From that, he also has horrific facial scarring from the electrical burns from literally having his face fried. I believe a friend of mine made a post about this a while ago (I also think they were the first to think it up also), but, to me, Juniper has a permanent trimmer in his right arm (aka his dominant hand) from the electrical current and it is messing with his nervous system.

All in all, he's not doing great, but he's too proud to admit that he's not doing great, because if anything, what's left of his ego is all he has as a defense since he's deep in unfamiliar water.

Before ending up around the agency (I have multiple interpretations of this, so I'm just going to bring it up generally), he'd never actually seen Reggie, and his only impression of him is a single voicemail, which was his only reference he had to later impersonate him. Juniper probably has very little feelings other than the ones he projects onto him because of Phoenix and that, at the very least, he's physically attracted to Reggie to some degree (that's like the beginning of how everything else would tumble into place in this sort of interpretation at least).

And on Crane's side? His feelings towards Juniper are probably very intense and muddled. On the one hand, he adores musical theatre, and that's his now ex-favourite actor. The thought of just casually being around him blows the bit of fanboy in him away at first because THAT'S the GUY, plus the inklings of a celebrity crush which still poke at him. And then there's the rational side of him, which knows Juniper has committed absolute atrocities on the side of Zoraxis, and hates him for that. Then there's how much Juniper comes off as an asshole at first because he refuses to cooperate with anything the Agency tried to put in place. He finds Juniper endlessly frustrating, and yet he's stuck working with him since, afterall, he's the one who knows the Agency's history with Juniper the best. I imagine him acting a lot like how he does IEYTD 1 around Juniper.

At this point, I'm just describing the pitch for a romcom.

I think the start of their relationship with one another largely started with Juniper trying to wind Crane up. It was a way of getting his attention, and I don't think Juniper knows why he's so dead set on that at first, because I don't think he realises he has a crush on 'this grump' at first. (I think that's actually the fun part about these two, because it's almost like a role reversal of the celebrity crush dynamic. This ex-big name actor has a TERRIBLE crush on an average joe and it is KILLING HIM.) But of course the Agency keeps them together because Juniper is at least conversing with Crane, so it's a start.

Through one way or another, they actually get talking casually, at least mildly at first. It takes Juniper a long time to fully deconstruct the wall he's built, and the thing is, Crane isn't the one trying to deconstruct it, at least at first, because yeah, Juniper realises if he wants Reggie to actually like him in any way, he can't keep winding him up. So they talk. Small talk at first, something rhythmic and almost easy to keep to a script. And over time that turns into actual conversations. Genuine ones in which Reggie rips out the occasional one of his jokes which Juniper is endlessly endeared about. The way he smiles just before he makes them, like he wants to chuckle at what he's about to say before he says it. That's probably when Juniper realised that he does have some vague crush on him, and that it wasn't going away.

This is what kickstarts John I can't-buy-you-things-to-impress-you-so-acts-of-service-it-is Juniper to do little things for him. It mostly starts off as him trying to make Reggie his tea how he likes it. However, the nerve damage in his arm makes that hard, as the weight of the kettle and trying to pour is hard all of a sudden. And he refuses to accept that, so he tries for a very long while. Long enough that Crane would go to investigate what was going on. And when he does see Juniper leaning over a cup with the kettle as he uneasily tries to pour it, and when Crane asks Juniper responds so matter-of-fact that his intention is nothing but genuine. And it catches Reggie off guard because Juniper hadn't done anything like that up to that point, and his very apparent vulnerability is so clearly on show.

It shifts something between them.

From that point on, conversations are longer, more familiar. Both of their attitudes soften, and Reggie makes more jokes. Juniper learns how to better use his left hand while strengthening his right back to a point where it could be used again. Slowly, they're both spending time with one another not because they have to, but just because they can. Little bits at first, not too far outside what they already were doing, but those little bits turned into long bits to a point where the other person's company was genuinely desirable.

As time passes, Juniper probably realises that he doesn't genuinely know much about himself or what hobbies he's into, because he never really had the time when he got big, and his home life in his youth wasn't bad, but it wasn't picturesque. I think Reggie would pick up on it, and absolutely try to introduce him to some things he's into. Some things stick, other things don't (corn husking very much stays Reggie's passion, and John will go with him sometimes because it's him, but it's not something he strongly cares for). Crane introduces him to a lot of music, and it's something that becomes a staple between them, with tracks they listen to more than others (tragically, I know relatively little about 60s music so I couldn't really say what). Occasionally they dance, never anything intense, think slow dancing, but the closeness is nice.

Through all of it, Juniper is battling the worst crush of his life, and he can't stand it, because I think he struggles to read people since he doesn't have anything like a script or a director to refer back to, so he has no idea if Reggie likes him back or if he's just desperate for that to be true. I think because of that any sort of confession between them would be incredibly raw, not only because of the time they live in making it hard for them to be truthful about how they love, but because it's a complete show of Juniper who's worked to be this better person. I don't exactly know how that would go, mainly because I don't have one set version of their dynamic, this post is just a generalisation of main consistent points.

Reggie does like him back, because he's gotten used to Juniper being just this guy, not a figure in the public eye, not a Zoraxis lackey, and not any sort of Agency operative (despite being under their care to some degree). He's someone he genuinely cares for, because they've given one another the time of day to learn one another, and I think because Reggie was a field agent, he was a lot better at reading Juniper than Juniper was at reading him. Eventually Juniper's company becomes something he could see around him for the rest of his life, and I think he accepts that he likes Juniper a lot more gracefully.

I think any affection directed at Juniper would at first be met with him feeling a little muddled. Reggie was a very physically affectionate person when he could be, and sure the initial flirting with one another came with the occasional little touches, but everything now was so deeply intentional. I also don't think Juniper would almost ever get over the novelty of being able to kiss him, or many other gestures, because it made the fact that they were together so very real, and it was great. I do think it comes easier to Reggie, and it's a big way of showing how much he cares, so it's important for Juniper to try and show it back because he knows how much it means to the other.

I like the idea of them eventually living with one another, too. I think Juniper would have always had a quiet little daydream of sorts where he does just live a domestic quiet life, and he can with Reggie (well, as close as they can get between the Agency and Zoraxis always being at odds), and he loves that, and he loves him, and it's immense.

I think they cook for one another a lot, it helps Juniper work on his dexterity in a controlled environment, which means a lot because it's a huge point of insecurity (that and his scars). He does improve, and Crane is proud of that and shows it and it's great. I also think they'd probably cook together too, because they can deal with being in the kitchen together and they work well with one another. It's probably a good way for them to unwind because over time they can do it in relative silence.

As I said before, I also think music is a staple in their household, and that Reggie listens to things on vinyl almost all of the time because he likes the background noise. Sometimes Juniper will catch him chuntering along to the music which he finds endlessly endearing. I wouldn't put it past his dramatic ass to also join in to fluster Reggie, but I also don't think Reggie would mind that terribly because Juniper has listened to the music enough to know the lyrics, and that's huge to him.

I don't think they are without rough patches, no relationship is, but I think the good part about them is that they're willing to talk about it (... eventually). They're used to long conversations, and while they're often less fun conversations, they're needed and they know that, and it works out.

Alright. I think I'm done for now. I haven't mentioned everything, but this definitely got the worst of it out of my system. If you ever want to hear any specific thoughts my ask box is open but other than that, behold my general dynamic for these two which has been festering in my head for years. I think they're great

Fire Lord Zuko and Iroh

One thing that will never sit well with me in regard to the post-war Avatar: The Last Airbender world, especially as presented in the comics series, is the fact that Iroh gets so easily out of the mess of reforming Fire Nation and have relative happy ending, while 17 years old Fire Lord Zuko is left to deal with all the political shitty nightmare on his own. 

And look, I get the storytelling goal of the new generation stepping in and “repairing” the world the previous generation fucked up and all. But Zuko is not just forced to undo damage done by his father’s six years of regime or Sozin and Azulon, but by Iroh as well, because Iroh was part of the Fire Nation set to conquer other people. It was Iroh that besiege a Ba Sing Sai for 600 days - it was him who joked about burning the city to ashes in his letter to beloved family - and who didn’t finish the task only because his son died, with little regard to how many of Fire Nation soldiers or Earth Kingdom soldiers and civilians was killed through the almost two years because he had once a vision he will take the Ba Sing Sai. 

Zuko’s formal education ended at the age of 13,  when his father burned his face and banished to chase Avatar that no one saw for hundred years already. Sure, the animation series showed that Iroh was teaching his nephew both firebending and what makes one a good leader but what Zuko experienced and learned during his banishment is not exactly the equivalent of political knowledge he will need as Fire Lord who must find a way to rehabilitate Fire Nation in the eyes of the world but also figure out how to reform an imperialistic and military country into peaceful society with stable economy. A country that saw him as disgrace and traitor not so long ago, mind you.

And as much I see a merit in Iroh’s decision to pass the throne to Zuko - the Avatar’s friend and firebending master, him choosing tea shop over Zuko is just so fucking wrong to me. Iroh literally admitted Zuko was like a son to him in the first season and spent the next one trying to keep his nephew safe from their horrible family and other dangers and I’m supposed to believe when Zuko officially became Fire Lord with not only political nightmare to solve peacefully but also his abusive father to keep an eye on* and younger sister with mental breakdown, Iroh just… washed his hands from those problems so he could enjoy tea and Pai Sho game in peace? In Ba Sing Sai of all possible places with no consequence? Like, seriously?  

Legend of Korra strongly implies Zuko did a good job and had a healthy relationship with his family, as both Fire Lord Izumi and General Iroh II seem to be fine people on their own. Which is great and nice! But does Zuko really need to deal with problems created by his predecessors all by himself where there is alive Iroh, the actually fully trained, educated Crown Prince to help him get a grip of the political matters at least in the first few years of Zuko’s rule? I really want to know what Iroh was thinking? Give a throne to Zuko and hope the boy will survive all the assassination attempts and magically figure out how to deal with the consequences of war that lasted for 100 years?

I like Iroh but I’m not blind to his flaws and him being part of White Lotus should not be a free pass from the problems he helped create in the first place.

*Aang finding a way to stop Ozai without killing him is great for him and I’m happy he managed to do so while staying true to his own culture but he is not the one that is left to deal with Ozai for upcoming years. Taking Ozai’s bending doesn’t magically erase his abuse toward Zuko and Azula and the man still has political supporters that made Zuko’s life much harder and more dangerous than the kid deserves.

Macaque: "No that's you! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power or more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while we were ahead!"

In a moment of "I'm getting really sad about Macaque and MK parallels", I just keep thinking about how all MK's wanted to do was quit while they were ahead, but he hasn't been able too. He's been pushed and pushed and pushed at every turn. His journey "is just beginning", and "forever's a long time"—there's been no choice for things to stay the same. I wonder if truly Wukong had a choice either. "You ever wish things will just stay like this, like they are right now?" "Psshhhkkk where's the fun in that?"

Me after finding out my friend was getting harassed over their opinion over the new s5 animation:

Okay, but seriously. (TW FOR D3ATH THREATS)

They’ve said multiple times that they’re NOT TRYING to disrespect the animators or the people working on the season. They just don’t like the animation and are disappointed with the result, AND THAT’S OKAY!!! You don’t need to like this new animation! You’re ALLOWED to be disappointed!! You’re ALLOWED to have a freaking opinion!!! And the fact that they got fucking DEATH THREATS is just crossing so many fucking lines. It doesn’t matter what kind of opinions someone has over this. If you’re out here harassing people and sending death threats just because they don’t agree with you, you’re the fucking problem and you need to grow the fuck up.

I would like to formally apologize to anyone else who experienced something similar to this during this controversy over the LMK S5 trailer. The animation isn’t a work of art compared to former seasons, I get it. You don’t need to praise it, you don’t even need to like it! You can be disappointed by this even! And if you DO like this animation or just don’t care about it, that’s fine too!

But when harassment and telling people to LITERALLY KILL THEMSELVES is your solution to interacting with people with a different opinion as you, you’re now the problem.

I just hope the people who were targeted realize that, no matter what people say, they can have all the opinions they want! It’s not hurting anybody!

Edit: I am now also aware of the fact that people have been sending death threats to the animators. This is also very much unacceptable. In case no one knows (and thank you so much to @verity-moon for bringing this to my attention), the animators only had ONE WEEK to figure out the style and animate it the best they could. They did what they could, and how are they being rewarded? With messages telling them to kill themselves. I am disgusted and repulsed by these people who think they have a right to send these messages to the people who are kind enough to be giving us a new season of LMK despite the difficulties and the awful deadlines.

We do not know what is going on behind the scenes. We don’t know the pressure and expectations that are placed on those animators. The VERY LEAST you could do is just appreciate that. To the people who have sent the death threats, you are disgusting, vile, and need a serious reality check.

I'll never be able to take the theory that Vincent is Sephiroth's real father seriously cuz I cannot stress enough how important I think it is to the plot that Vincent wanted to fuck Lucrecia and did not get to.

one of my fav tropes in Star Trek fics is the “away mission went wrong and now we’re stranded on this planet and must learn to get along to survive” and i want more klance fics like that SO BAD!! It suits them so well. Give them to me. I want like a long one….a slow burn….is this gonna have to be a fine I’ll do it myself moment bc don’t tempt me. I’ll consider it.

Hate to rant about this every once in a while but words can't explain how much I hate the 90s anime worshippers of Sailor Moon that gets an incredible amount of joy while shitting on manga and Crystal with no stop and how I couldn't find a single one of them that actually made sense till today. I am serious, i would have agreed with them if 90s anime wasn't a mess with no character growth or depth to be found anywhere even though it was supposed to give them to characters because of more screen time. If anything, that makes anime much more less than manga, since you give characters more screen time only for them to stay the exact same for 200 episodes straight and then develop some villains or filler characters instead which feels like a joke. No need to even mention stuff that made up by anime team and didn't make any sense in the end because they couldn't wait for manga arcs to get completed (yes I'm looking at you Sailor Stars, the worst adaptation in the whole franchise) I am also genuinely sick of the way people praise Ikuhara like he saved Sailor Moon from drowning in the depths of ocean because honestly it is more like him and other directors that wanted to lead an anime as if it is original and owns to them even though it had a source material that sold incredibly well despite being a shoujo manga, completely messed up the main plot and turned it into something purposeless. 90s anime is good for those that wants a character driven story with no actual character growth nor depth and manga might not focus on every single character separately since it is story driven (which a lot of popular mahou shoujo like Madoka, Sakura does much worse than Sailor Moon) but it KNOWS what it is doing and doesn't create a mess of non-sense stuff nor a cast that stays the same from beginning to end. I am sorry but it sounds hilarious when people say that an anime that couldn't give even it's MAIN character a real development is better written than manga. Usagi stayed the same for 200 episodes straight and some of you out there still talking like "anime fleshed out this filler character that only appeared for 1 episode 🥰 manga sucks though because it lacks characterization, why none of the villains are redeemed?!?"

I love 90s anime since it is Sailor Moon at the end of the day but the way people constantly trying to trash down the manga just because it is not FOR them is so dumb. Like your anime, hate the manga that is the reason why that anime exists in first place but at least be real lol...just because something isn't for you doesn't mean it is bad.

Honestly Sailor Moon manga is a very unique work even in this era of manga and the top reason is because never have i seen a manga that is hated by it's own fans AND this much LMAO