#Also like real people of colour still exist in this world. I don't know I also just think it's weird that dbh says the androids are just

[starscreamingg]

Okay to respond to most of the replies on this post- I do get where you're coming from, androids are treated poorly in the game because they're an analogy for people of colour, the androids themselves don't deserve poor treatment just because they were put in a position of having to take a job that could've gone to a human.

I actually do think it could've been a decent way to get people who don't get involved with overt political discussion thinking about underprivileged people and the ways in which society has and continues to harm them. Like give the people something to latch onto (personable robots) and then go "hey you know who ELSE has been historically treated like this—"

Like that's. That's fine.

My point is that. Uh. I don't think making the androids an analogy for people of colour is a particularly good idea.

Okay let me get incomprehensible- within the real world the replacement of human workers with automated labour can and does fuck over actual people (some quick corroboration)

So we're shown in the game that androids are functionally automated labour built and inserted into industries for the explicit purpose of replacing human beings, which is an actual thing that actually happens.

And the game showcases that nothing has been done to stop employers (or cyberlife itself) from implementing them EVERYWHERE, which causes dbh's unemployment epidemic.And therein lies my problem.

The narrative comparing androids to people of colour (especially black people during the civil rights movement) and villainizing the unemployed humans by making them hyper-violent zealots (see- Markus' opening section for some of the most overt examples) is SUPER WEIRD TO ME because unlike actual people of colour the androids ARE functionally replacing jobs. They're being inserted into the workforce by corporations who have allowed the United States unemployment rate to rise to 37.4% but the game VERY ADAMANTLY STATES that the problem here is the unemployed who are violent. To the androids.

You see what I'm saying here? Like why did they write it like that? Like in real life labour being automated to this degree would be a PROBLEM. Wanting the androids universally decommissioned irl is such a reasonable point if you look at them as robots replacing the workforce without any limitations, which. They are.

And like, the game could've been sympathetic to the androids AND people fucked over by their implementation but it REFUSES to reckon with the actual problems (the corporations allowing this to happen, the lack of regulations on androids) in favour of going "humans bad for treating androids unfairly because the androids are equivalent to black people fighting for their rights."Like that's WEIRD, right???

Detroit Become Human and why does this game decide that the problem in society is individual people treating androids poorly because those androids are choking them out of the workforce and NOT the corporations and governments who deliberately designed the androids to do this

[orshii]

Take Me Away

★ Author: orshii ★ Pairing: Choi San x female reader ★ Warnings: cursing, alcohol use, suggestive ★ Word count: 3,5 k

★ Summary: Needing to escape the pressures of school, you decide to hit a club with your friends for a night of fun and freedom. There, you meet a stranger who looks like a God, and as the night unfolds, the club's vibrant atmosphere and intense connection with this captivating figure lead to an unforgettable night.

★ A/N: Well...I don't know what is this tbh *cries and hides in a bush*, it's just randomly popped out of my mind and I needed to write it...and had to include San with a BIKE, pls...that is the hottest thing. So enjoy ig and stream Work!! Byee! (divider)

Sometimes, when studying gets tough and you want to run away from the pressure that the most educated university expects of you, the perfect idea is to go straight to a party where you can escape the chaos in your head and the pressure the world puts on you.

There are a few rules that night. The first is that university doesn't exist, that there are no exams coming up. And last but not least, we have to get drunk and have fun as if it were our last day on earth.

As soon as we arrived at the party with the girls, we decided that we wanted to escape reality today and went to this club and we called it a "girls' night out', where EDM music was playing, making our hearts beat to the same rhythm as the music. The club was already full of strange people, with some faces I already knew from university. The club was a colourful mess, with red being the main colour. Smoke clouded the dancing bodies, making it look like they were one body. The coloured lights illuminated the smoke when we finally found our reserved table.

I had to get a little drunk before I threw myself into the mix of sweaty and strange bodies. While we grabbed a few drinks at the bar, which was lit up with red lights under the counter, the bartender was a cute smiling guy with a lip piercing. As the bartender handed me my drink and I waited for my friends, my eyes lingered on a guy whose eyes were already on mine. As soon as I locked eyes with him, he smiled at me and drank from his glass. I couldn't see his face clearly because he was far away from the bar, but very close to our table.

When we returned to our table, I immediately noticed the stranger's eyes again. Their table was next to ours, and it seemed they were also having their own 'guys' night out'. As I sat down in my chair and sipped my drink, our eyes never left the other. When I looked at him, a little closer now, I was kind of speechless. It was still dark, a few red lights illuminated his face now and then, but God, he looked like a sculpture, like a real god, and I couldn't even see him clearly. I wonder what he looks like up close. What I saw was that he had very sharp eyes and high cheekbones, his hair was black and blended in with the background, and maybe I'm hallucinating it because of the lights, but I saw some red highlights in his hair, I'm not sure. Also, he was wearing some kind of leather vest, but I couldn't see exactly how it looked on him.

And throughout the night we kept staring at each other, once he even smiled at me while one of his friends whispered something in his ear. We clearly wanted something from each other, I'm not going to lie, he looked hot, I don't think I've ever seen anyone like him, he was a very unique person.

Once I finally felt dizzy from the shots and cocktails we were drinking, I was ready to dance. But when I looked into the crowd, there was something going on. People were standing in a circle, and there was clearly something going on in the middle of the circle.

"Is there a fight going on?" One of my friends asked, her eyes sparkling as she heard the drama.

We quickly stood up to see the drama, but as soon as we walked into the crowd and tiptoed into the circle, we saw two dancing bodies going along to every little beat of the EDM music. Now it was my eyes that were glistening with excitement. I've always been passionate when it comes to dancing.

"Uh, they're dancing yes, boring." My best friend said to me and they quickly went back to sit at our table and continue drinking.

I looked at them in disbelief because they had left me there alone, but I wanted to watch this dance duel. Unfortunately, I couldn't see everything because I was a little girl and the crowd was too big to see everything, but as I tiptoed around I could see some bodies dancing.

I pouted to myself as I gave up trying to see anything. I was about to turn around and go back to the table, but then I felt two big hands on my waist from behind and I froze. I slowly turned around to see who those big hands belonged to. And I almost gasped when I saw the strange guy looking down at me, towering over me with his huge shoulders that looked like a mountain that was hard to climb. He was wearing a black vest, but nothing was visible underneath, his waist was visible because a pair of black jeans hugged his legs, with a black belt that made his waist even narrower. And his face? I'd never seen a face like that before, the gods above must have blessed or cursed him, because his appearance was more than normal. And I was right about his hair, because I saw some red streaks between his jet-black hair, highlighted even more by the red lights around us.

"Let me help you." He said in a low voice and leaned down to my ear so I could understand what he was saying.

I just looked at him with round eyes, not understanding what was happening until he pushed me forward into the crowd by my waist, mumbling 'sorry". And suddenly I found myself in front of the crowd, where I could clearly see the people dancing in a circle. My heart wanted to jump out of my chest just because of that little gesture. I had the feeling that he was still standing behind my back, as if he was my personal bodyguard, hiding me from the crowd.

Slowly, I turned to face him and looked into his sharp eyes that were glaring at me.

"Thanks!" I said with a sincere smile. He smiled back and nodded, and that's when I saw his dimples, which suited him so perfectly. He looked like a god and I wanted to be his slave.

Time passed as we watched people dance, moving as if they were one with the music that moved them. I've always admired people who could become one with the music as if it were their other half.

I've always wondered where my other half is. I never really had the opportunity to find my soulmate because school was always the main purpose of my life and I didn't want to be led astray by anyone. I had a few flings over the years, but it was never more than a one-night stand. That's why after some hard knocks in life that knocked me down, I got up and never wanted to involve feelings in anything again, I was better for it.

As we watched people dance, there were times when they made cool looking moves and I turned excitedly to the stranger behind my back who was still standing stock-still, his hands still on my waist. For some reason it wasn't uncomfortable, instead he made me feel safe, his arms were around my waist like chains, but it didn't hurt, it tied me to the ground to keep me sane.

"Wow, did you see that? So cool." I turned to the stranger in awe as I saw a guy in the centre of the circle doing a back flip, my eyes lit up with passion as I looked up at the stranger.

He looked down at me, his eyes barely visible as if they were the shape of a crescent moon as he smiled and nodded, agreeing with me.

We had formed some kind of invisible bond and didn't even know it.

After it was over, we parted and went back to our table to talk to our friends and have a drink, our eyes still somehow finding each other. It was strange, it was like our eyes were attracting each other without us knowing it.

I wanted to dance when I had finally drunk enough to feel well. As I stood up, my eyes met with the stranger again, and I somehow tried to let him know that I was going to dance, and that he could join me.

 So we went deep into the crowd with the girls and just enjoyed the beats of the EDM music, dancing around each other and feeling the music creep into our blood so it could steer us through the night.

Suddenly the world slowed down, the dancing bodies around me jumped up and down in slow motion, the lights slowly changed — red, blue, green— - then red again. The beats of the music slowed with the bodies and the colored lights illuminated his face in the crowd, he stood out from the crowd and all I could see were his god-like features as he slowly walked towards me.

As he got close to me and finally fought his way through the crowd, which was still moving in slow motion, he held out his hand to me. But I refused to take it and just danced around him, to the beat of the music, with a smile on my face as he tried to catch me, but I wouldn't let him.

"Gotcha!" He whispered in my ear as he finally managed to grab me by the waist as my back bumped against his pumped up chest. I almost disappeared between his hands, he made me feel so small in this big world, but I wasn't scared because I felt safe in his arms.

The dancing bodies around us finally returned to normal, time was no longer in slow motion, life simply went on. And so we danced on, his face in my neck as he embraced me from behind, and I grabbed his hair with my hands, ran my fingers through his black and red hair and just closed my eyes to feel the music, our bodies melting into one as we swayed to the rhythm.

I couldn't tell how many minutes or hours had passed, but when the music slowed down a little, I slowly turned in his arms, tying myself to him, and wrapped my arms around his neck to look at him up close like never before. Our lips were so close that we inhaled each other's breath.

"I want a name before I kiss you, pretty." He leaned down to my ears, just to whisper it in a low tone that sent shivers down my body.

"Y/N," I leaned in close to his ear, my lips brushing over his ears. "And yours?" I asked in a teasing voice, biting his earlobe.

"Mhmm…" He groaned in response. "San." He whispered, barely audible.

I broke away from him a little and looked into his eyes, which were so dark and full of desire. "Nice to meet you, San!" I said to him with a smile, my lips close to his.

"It's my pleasure, Y/N!" And those were the last words he spoke before he pressed his lips to mine with desire. My body was instantly on fire, the music not finding its way into my ears as all I could hear was his moans as I parted my mouth to give him access so he could suck on my tongue, his hands on my waist pulling me impossibly close to his large chest, my fingers running through the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him even closer to me as I let out a soft moan. When he pressed his lips to mine, I felt like this was the kiss of my life. I had never been kissed so passionately in my entire life, and he was a stranger I had only just met, but it seemed like we had been together for at least a decade with the same fiery passion. I felt like I couldn't breathe as he sucked all the oxygen out of me, I was already feeling dizzy when he broke away from my lips and leaned against my forehead.

"We should…" He said as he took my lips between his teeth and sucked on them while I let out a soft moan. My body burned with desire and when our eyes met, I knew immediately what he wanted. And I wanted the same thing.

"We should," I whispered against his lips and kissed them again, it felt like he was the water and I was thirsty as hell, I couldn't get enough of him.

With that, San led me through the dancing bodies, carefully pushing the corpses out of the way like a bulldozer. I just followed him as if I had no other choice. He led us to the checkroom where our jackets were. I didn't know where he was taking me, I might not be that trusting of a stranger, but I guess you only live once.

As we stepped out of the club, my ears began to whistle from the sudden silence in the dark, cool night. San put on his leather jacket, which looked so hot on him that I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. As I put my jacket on as well, he took my hand and led me to a huge, black motorcycle with sharp features and as dark as the night. Another thing about him that made me gasp. There's no way he's riding a motorcycle too, I'm going crazy. He smiled at me when he saw the look on my face.

"You like it, pretty?" He tilted his head and looked down at me, still holding my hand.

"That would be an understatement," I said to him, admiring the bike and running my fingers over its sharp features.

San followed my fingers with his eyes as they scanned the bike, and he groaned. "Okay, here we go. Do you know how to ride?" He moved closer to me and wedged me between the bike and him.

"Mhmm." I nodded as his lips slid over mine. Slowly, he ran his hands down my tights to lift me onto the leather seat of the motorcycle and step between my legs. Then he grabbed my face and his lips were on mine in seconds. His moans were louder now because it was quiet, the city was asleep, and only the people partying kept the city alive at night.

 His lips moved on mine, his hands gently caressed my cheeks, I pulled him closer to me by his waist where my fingers moved under his leather vest and I felt his skin burn under my touch. Our kiss lasted just long enough for me to almost fall off the bike, which wasn't exactly the most stable surface.

We giggled about it as we parted, and San sat me properly on the bike and helped me put on the red helmet he'd given me, giving me a light kiss first. Then he put on a black helmet too, -as if he knew he was going to ride with someone on the back— of it- but no matter, he was good for a one-night stand. Even though my heart tightened at the thought that I might not see him again, which was strange because I'd never felt that way with anyone before.

He sat on the bike and started the engine, kicking the kickstand and balancing us on his legs. Then he reached behind him, searched for my hands, pulled me closer to his back and clasped my hands in front of his stomach.

"Hold on tight!" He muttered under his helmet. "Ready?" He asked, looking to the side as I put my head on his shoulder and moved as close to him as I could.

"Ready!" I said with excitement in my voice.

And with that, San drove off into the passion-lit city. We drove through it like a ghost you can barely see, everything around us a blur as we drove past the huge buildings on the highway, past the rare cars that appeared in the middle of the night, who knows where they were going. I hugged him from behind with all my strength as he leaned forward a little to show how fast he was.

I was really enjoying it, the sudden adrenaline creeping into me made me brave and I straightened up from San to hold onto his shoulder with my left hand and I raised my right hand into the cool air to shout a "woo-hoo". At that moment, I couldn't help but smile.

There are moments in life when you're at a concert or with friends and a sudden feeling comes over you. It's like a sudden wave of happiness that doesn't last long, but at that moment you can say, 'I feel happy', and then when it's over you're still smiling about it, but the feeling is long gone. That's how I felt at that moment as San drove us through the city.

When we stopped, I got off the bike and smiled as I took off my helmet. San looked at me as he also took off his helmet, his hair was messy as he ran his fingers through his red and black hair, and his cheekbones were a little flushed because of the cool night.

He chuckled when he saw my reaction. "Did you like it?" He took the helmet on the seat of the bike.

"Very well. Thank you." I gave him a friendly smile as I put my helmet on the seat too.

"Mhmm." He grumbled as he came closer to me and grabbed my waist. "Maybe we can do it again?" His voice sounded soft as his lips slid over mine.

I hummed. "Maybe," I said, smiling teasingly at him.

And that look in his eyes was something I could not describe. He did not even know me as a person, but he looked at me like he was in love with me. I saw love in his eyes, or maybe it was just me, and desire was already taking over my brain so I could not tell the difference between the two. Because it's easy to feel confused as to whether it's love or desire that you see in the other person's eyes.

Then he kissed me again, and I realized I could never get enough of his kisses. I felt addicted, I wanted to kiss him every second of the time we had available.

Then suddenly we were in his apartment, I didn't even have time to look around, because as soon as I entered, he pressed me against the door and pressed his lips to mine, but it was hasty and rough, as if he wanted to devour me alive. Then his lips travelled over my jaw, leaving kisses all the way down to my neck, biting and sucking on my skin, which burned even more passionately after the kisses and the red marks he had left on my neck.

"You look so cute when you smile." He murmured into my neck as I tilted my head to give him more access. "I want to fuck that out of you." His lips travelled over my ears as he whispered it in a low voice, and he bit down hard on my earlobe as I let out a loud moan. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would stop. My body felt like a volcano and his body pressed against mine, pushing me all the way against the door.

"Do it then, handsome," I whispered as he finished with a groan, he was still attacking my neck, I could feel a long red line on my neck, that wasn't going to look good tomorrow, but I couldn't care.

"Fuck." He said as he straightened up to look me in the eye, his voice sounded like honey, sweet and rough, and then his lips were on mine again as my hands slowly reached under his leather vest, just for me to run my hands along his narrow waist that faded into a broad shoulder. I felt shivers run through his body and he moaned into our kiss. Then I seized the opportunity and slipped my tongue into his mouth, our tongues moving together as if they belonged to each other, sucking on each other's lips. While my hands ran up and down his back, leaving thin red lines. San bit his lower lip roughly and moaned as his hands explored my body, going under my shirt and running his big hands along my back, which disappeared under his big hands.

The next thing I knew, I was laying in his bed, him on top of me, looking down at me with the same gaze as before. His hands were running through every part of my body, as if he wanted to mark every inch of me with his lips, to leave little red marks and make me his. He whispered sweet promises in my ear that he would make me feel good. And as the night wore on, all I could see was him above me, looking down on me, taking care of me with all the kinds of pleasures that took me to heaven and back.

[fozmeadows]

As someone who hasn't read the works of radical feminists like Simone de Beauvoir, could you explain what's wrong and what bothers you about biological essentialism? I'm curious about your opinion after reading your post on radfems (and I'd like a perspective that isn't so based on biological gender essentialism, which I honestly have a hard time moving away from because I don't understand other perspectives well). 👀

The problem with biological essentialism is that purports to answer the eternally unanswered question of nature vs nurture in a wholly one-dimensional way - ie, with biological sex as The Single Most Important Aspect Of Personhood, regardless of any other considerations - while simultaneously ignoring the fact that biological sex is not, in fact, a binary proposition. We've learned in recent decades, for instance, that intersex conditions are much more common and wide-ranging than previously thought, not because scientists have arbitrarily changed the definitions of what counts as an intersex condition, but because our understanding of hormones, chromosomes, karyotpying and other physical permutations has expanded sufficiently to merit the shift. So right away, the idea that humanity is composed of Biological Men and Biological Women with absolutely no ambiguities, overlap or middle ground simply isn't true. Inevitably, though, if you mention this, people with a vested interest in biological essentialism become immediately defensive. They'll start saying things like, oh, but that's only a tiny minority of the population, they're outliers, they don't count, as though their argument doesn't derive its claim to authority from a presumed universality. To use a well-worn example, redheads are also a tiny minority of the population, but that doesn't mean we exclude them when talking about the range of natural human hair colours. But the fact is, even if humans lacked chromosomal diversity beyond XX/XY; even if there were no cases of cis men with internal ovaries or cis women with internal testes or people with ambiguous genitalia - and let's be clear: all of these things exist - the fact is, our individual hormones are in flux throughout our lives.

There are standard ranges for estrogen and testosterone in men and women (which, again, vary according to age and some other factors), but two cis men of the same age and background could still have completely different T-counts, for instance - meaning, even the supposed universal gender factor isn't universal at all. More, while our hormones certainly play a major role in our moods and cognition, so do a ton of other genetic and bodily factors that have nothing to do with the sex we're assigned at birth - and on top of that, there's nurture: the cultural contexts in which we're raised, plus our more individual experiences of living in the world. One of the most common, everyday (and yet completely bullshit) permutations of biological essentialism comes when parents or would-be parents talk about their reasons for wanting a son or a daughter. Very often, there's a strong play to stereotypical assumptions about shared interests and personalities: I want a son to play football with me, for instance, or: I want a daughter to be my shopping buddy. But even within the most mainstream channels of cishet culture, it's understood that these hopes are not, in fact, grounded in any sort of biological certainty. The dad who wants a sporty son might be just as likely to end up with a bookworm, while the mother who wants a little princess might find herself with a tomboy. We know this, and our stories know this! For the entirety of human history - for as long as we've been writing about ourselves - we have records of parental disappointment in the failure of this child or that to embody what's expected of them, gender-wise. More than that: if biological essentialism was real - if men were only and ever One Type Of Man, and women were only and ever One Type Of Woman, with recent progressive moments the sole anonymous blip in an otherwise uniform historical standard - then why is there so much disparity and disagreement throughout human history as to what those roles are? The general conception of women espoused in medieval France is thoroughly different to that espoused in pre-colonial Malawi, for instance, and yet we're meant to believe that there's some innate Gender Template guiding all human beings to behave in accordance with a set, immutable biological binary? And that's before you factor in the broad and fascinating history of trans and nonbinary people throughout history - because despite what TERFs and conservative alarmists have to say on the matter, our records of trans people, and of societies in which various trans and nonbinary identities were widely understood (if not always accepted), are ancient. We know about trans priestesses from thousands of years before Christ; the Talmud has terms describing eight different genders, and those are just two examples. All over the world, all throughout history, different cultures have developed radically different concepts of femininity and masculinity, to say nothing of designations outside of, overlapping with or in between those categories - socially, legally, behaviourally, sexually - and yet we're meant to believe that biology is at all times nudging us towards a set, ideal gender template? There's a lot more I could say, but ultimately, the point is this: people are different. While some aspects of our personhood are inevitably influenced by genetics, hormones, chromosomes and other biological factors, we're also creatures of culture and change and interpersonal experience. The idea that men and women are fundamentally different, even diametrically opposed, at a biological level - that the major separator in terms of our personalities and interests isn't culture, upbringing and personal taste, but what's between our legs - is just... so reductive, and so inaccurate.

We can absolutely have common experiences on the basis of a shared gender, but gender is not the only possible axis of commonality between two people, let alone the most salient one at all times, and the idea that we're all born on one side of an immutable biological equation that cannot possibly be transcended makes me feel insane. According to modern biological essentialism, intersex, trans and nonbinary people are either monstrous, mistakes or imaginary; all men are fundamentally predisposed to violence, all women are designed for motherhood, and we're meant to just hew to our designated places - which, conveniently, tend to echo a very specific form of Christian ideology, but which in any case manifestly fail to account for how variedly gender has been presented throughout history. It's nuts.

[oneatlatime]

The Guru

Happy 2024 everyone and welcome to the first time I managed to type 2024 without first typing 2023! Oh and also a write up of The Guru. That too.

Me too Iroh. Me too.

So Zuko is riding high on that post-crisis 'time to get my life together' buzz that, similar to 3 am life plans, should absolutely not be listened to. Wonder how long before he crashes and burns? There's literally 2 episodes left, so I'm guessing one and a half?

Poor Sokka. My boy's got anxiety.

I don't know if it's a monk thing, an airbender thing, an Avatar thing, or an Aang thing, but I envy his complete lack of nerves.

How is Appa ok with them splitting up for a week after JUST getting them back?

I paused in a funny place. Have bonk-eyed Appa.

I love them comparing heights. What do you want to bet that that guy on the right was one of the youngest allowed to go fight, and Sokka made a big deal about how they're almost the same age and surely that means he can go too, right?

A lot of these Southern Water Tribe people have dreads or braids. That's neat.

Bato's arm is still messed up. That's some good continuity.

I've found the source of Katara's cheek bones. I guess Sokka takes after his mum.

Ok I know this is a really emotional moment (and it is! Sokka's spent two seasons earning this!) but my brain fixated on the furs and briefly thought they were sky bison pelts.

"It's been a difficult week for me." This guy thinks the Kyoshi Warriors are there to provide him therapy. Someone please just crown the bear instead.

He just gave away literally every relevant plot point AND outlined how to make sure all these plot points don't succeed. Crown. The. Bear.

Maybe if these generals spent less time playing with their giant model Earth Kingdom and more time general-ing, the war wouldn't suck so much?

Pretty.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the designs, the colour palette, the music, the sound design of this air temple. I love everything about it. If I had the chance to live anywhere in the Avatar universe, it would be here. Even in its ruined state it's such a refreshing contrast to the claustrophobia of Ba Sing Se. I can feel the freshness of the breeze through the screen.

"A spiritual brother of your people" an adult perspective on a near extinct culture! What a resource!

"and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso" an old as balls perspective. He's got to be at least 130.

Anthropology cul de sac time: this guy is so valuable as a resource on the Air Nomads. There's probably parts of Air Nomad culture that Aang can't ever accurately talk about, because he was a kid when he left, and there was almost certainly stuff that the adults kept to themselves, or only shared with the older Air Nomads. This Guru doesn't seem to be an Air Nomad himself, but there's a good chance that there is knowledge that he has, that Aang doesn't. Aang should be nerding out more about this. I'll do the nerding out for him.

Aang just breezes right by that Gyatso name drop like it's nothing. Huh.

Oh hey Toph. I'd forgotten she was in a box. Tweedle dum and Tweedle dumber really are quite the pair. What's their plan for keeping her fed and watered? Actually, these guys apparently don't know that maps exist, so it's probably never occurred to them that humans need sustenance. They'll rock up to the Bei Fong estate with corpse Toph and wonder why they aren't getting the reward money.

Mai gets called out in-universe for shopping at Hot Topic.

Ty Lee's buttering up of Azula is getting less and less subtle as the season progresses. It's a testament to Azula's lack of awareness that she's hasn't noticed that, and that Ty Lee can get away with it.

Azula's right that it's an extraordinary opportunity. The King gave them quite literally every piece of info required to overthrow his kingdom in a 25 second conversation. I can't blame her for taking advantage of such an easy win.

That's a very effective unimpressed face. And a very impressive beard.

It's funny to see a spiritual concept from the real world pop up in a show that includes things like bending and giant fish possession. The mention of Chakras kind of sticks out. They couldn't invent a Avatar universe version?

"Once you begin this process, you cannot stop until all seven are open." Well that doesn't feel like foreshadowing at all.

This episode should be called "Aang's self-care Journey." It's about time the kid had a me day that wasn't avoidance-based.

Fear: Losing Katara - makes sense. Losing control of his powers via fish possession - makes sense. The Fire Lord - makes sense. But the Blue Spirit? He helped. Doesn't make sense.

Guilt: Running away - makes sense, although I thought he'd worked through that with Katara in the storm. Nuking that idiot General's base - makes sense, but boy did he quite literally ask for it.

This guru is saying some wonderfully accurate, and realistic, things. I love that he's not taking the Katara route of denying anything is wrong. He's going for the acknowledge, then heal route. And yes, it's unfair of me to compare the emotional maturity of Katara to a century+ old spiritual expert.

I'm going to ruin the immersion here and point out that Sokka's dad's voice actor voiced a bunch of characters in season 1. He's doing an excellent job, but couldn't they get a unique voice for a character that's so important (albeit offscreen) to Sokka?

That's an incredibly roundabout way of avoiding pointing out that the Southern Water Tribe are active participants in a bloody war. Sure, we can show multiple characters with visible scarring from horrific burns, but heaven forbid we imply that the Southern Water Tribe sinks ships. The parameters for what is and isn't appropriate on this show sometimes make no sense.

"Aren't you listening? I said the rest of you men get ready for battle." He hasn't seen his boy in two years, but fifteen minutes in his company and he knows exactly what needs to be said and how. That's some top tier parenting. Dad of the year. Dad of the century. Only decent Dad in this show that isn't technically an uncle.

"Follow your passion Zuko, and life will reward you." Great advice for your eight year old audience. Also a great way to end up unemployed.

Positive Sokka creeped me out a few episodes ago. Now positive Zuko is freaking me out too.

Pretty.

Back to Chakras! Shame: Burning Katara - makes sense. But that's it? To have the inner peace of mind of a twelve year old who's somehow only ever done one thing that he's ashamed of.

Is there anyone in the earth kingdom who isn't stupid? Once again wondering at the network's standards. Visible burn injuries are fine, but Mai can't say 'Shut up." It's got to be Shush up. Although I do seem to recall of brief time in the early 2000s when Shut Up was treated as a curse on par with Shit or Fuck. Maybe that was just at my school.

Chakras again! Even for a show that often has an A, B, and C plot, this narrative is ping ponging around a bit much.

Grief: nothing major, just a whole nation. Makes a horrific amount of sense. but I don't buy that he can get over grieving the whole world as he knew it by thinking about his crush. That's way too high a pedestal for Katara to be placed on.

Lies: Not accepting he's the Avatar. Interesting that not accepting that he's the Avatar and not accepting that he's a firebender are two different problems.

I see you reusing the opening credits footage. Your blue filters can't fool me.

PRETTY

Illusion: So we're relearning what we learned in The Swamp. Aang's probably the person currently alive least likely to believe in the rigid separation of the nations anyway. This doesn't feel like an illusion he's subject to?

The way this episode dances between its narrative threads is so great. It's all woven in so beautifully. And this makes perfect sense! Toph's spent her life secretly doing things excellently that everyone says are completely beyond her capabilities. Life has taught her that the statement "you are not able to" doesn't apply. Of course immutable laws of bending physics are treated with the same respect as an adult telling the champion of the Earth Rumble that she's can't earthbend beyond breathing exercises. If you told her that humans can't fly, she'd figure out how within the week.

Plot collision incoming.

Interesting that Katara initially recognises Zuko by his voice rather than his scar.

I'm pretty sure that Zuko and Iroh don't know about the whole brainwashing thing, but wouldn't it be hilarious if Zuko introduced himself to Katara as Joo Dee, and his uncle Joo Dee, welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, can I take your order? That would throw Katara into one hell of a moral quandary.

Katara being framed as the solution for Chakra number four comes back to bite Aang, as she's the problem in Chakra number seven. I knew that pedestal was too high.

I've changed my mind. This episode should actually be called "Half a dozen reasons why everyone should just learn to keep their goddamn mouths shut already."

So is anyone going to let Zuko and Iroh know that they're now in immediate danger and need to leave, like, yesterday?

I think the Guru is going for the whole 'if you love them, let them go, and they'll come back to you' thing. Don't cling, in other words. But for the sake of the plot he's suddenly lost his ability to explain Chakras in a way that makes them seem like the logical thing to do. The only clunky bit of this episode so far.

May I introduce you to our Lord and Saviour Toph?

"I am the greatest earthbender in the world." Yes. Yep. Yeah. That's now a quantifiable fact, and it's correct. Look on ye mighty and despair. She's even got Bumi beat.

Earth Tongue Running is a bit wonky looking but it covers a crazy amount of distance.

What's the range on Toph's earth sense? Can she sense what direction Ba Sing Se is?

I hope those two idiots' horse bird is ok.

"You don't know how much this means to me dad." He does. Very much so.

Every word out of this guy's mouth is precision engineered to make Sokka feel like a million bucks and I for one think it's about time someone built him up. Also, seeing this makes me realise how few good parents there are in this show. It's a trope of kids' adventure shows that the parents fundamentally can't be there, but I also think it's a commentary on yet another thing that this war has messed up.

Hey look! Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and right now that's in Ba Sing Se, protecting your sister! I love narratives that tie their themes up with a pretty bow on top.

This is Azula laying a trap, right? Which means that Katara squealed to someone about the exact location of Iroh and Zuko's tea shop. Don't like the implications of that.

Photos taken seconds before disaster.

Final Thoughts

This episode was a lot! I mean that in a good way! But I felt a bit like the Maxell Blown Away Guy, the way I kept getting assaulted by yet another plot thread. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism. I think the switching between plot threads and the amount of info in this episode worked 99% of the time. But I'm kind of in awe at the balancing act the writers pulled off and I'm sort of sitting here blinking a bit trying to fit all this stuff in my head. I'm probably going to forget half the stuff I wanted to talk about in this write up, so here goes nothing.

Given the Azula reveal in at the end of last episode, I thought that this would be the episode where the shit hits the fan. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong. An episode of set up is required and is nice breathing room, even an episode as busy as this. And I got to leave Ba Sing Se! But this does mean that next episode is going to be calamity after calamity.

Aang and his Chakras: I'm fascinated by this guru. I hope he comes back. That brings the total number of people who were alive before the war started up to three: Aang, Bumi, Guru Patik.

I'm impressed that the run through of the Chakras rarely felt like an info dump. The onion and banana juice thing didn't work for me, but I'm sure it worked for people in the target age bracket. Kids love burp jokes.

So many shows sprinkle in tragic backstories for flavour and then never have them influence the character in the present. It was a nice contrast to see a show take a whole episode to tell Aang "yeah all that sucked. It's ok to feel down about it. Here's how you move forward."

Sokka and his dad: Love it. Love it so much. I love seeing Sokka built up, and he definitely deserves it, but I wonder if this is the reward for a character arc well done, or the set up for a character arc that's about to start? Is his dad's praise his prize for crossing the finish line, or is it so he's built up with farther to fall?

I loved seeing more of the Southern Water Tribe. I loved the fashion. There's a lot of variety in accessories and variations on a few basic elements like those knee guard things. I loved their hairstyles. I loved how cozy and communal that command tent felt. I loved their ships. I wonder how often these guys work out, that they can make loading ramps that are presumably deployed and stashed out of the way frequently, out of whole logs rather than planks. I have a bone to pick with the child-friendly sea mine. But it provides a good set up for a dad joke, so I'll let it slide.

Zuko and Iroh: Of course the one time Zuko is allowed to be in a good place, it's so that he and Iroh both have farther to fall when the inevitable happens. Poor guy just can't catch a break. I'd be mad at Azula for the party crashing that I'm assuming she'll do next episode, but it's been established that Zuko has all nice things taken away from him as soon as he gets them, and I can't blame Azula for being a tool of the universe.

Azula & Long Feng: Azula's acting in Long Feng's prison cell was miles ahead of what Long Feng was doing in front of the Earth King, so I'm wondering if Long Feng has bitten off more than he can chew. Also: conspiring with the enemy to bring down your own city just so you can reinstall yourself as the power behind the throne that will presumably cease to exist as soon as the Fire Nation takes control? That is both treasonous beyond description and an incredible case of shooting yourself in the foot. What's Long Feng's plan here?

Toph and the Dunderheads: it says something about the consistency of Toph's characterisation from her introduction onwards that she breaks the universe this episode and my reaction was "that's neat." It's obviously a huge moment, but of course Toph can do that. Toph can do anything. More importantly, Toph knows that Toph can do anything, so Toph routinely does do anything, especially things she shouldn't be able to do. If you had asked me a few episodes back which character would be most likely to fundamentally redefine bending, I would have said Toph, since she's already fundamentally redefined bending with her earth sense sonar vision.

Also Toph just breaks stuff. Things that come into contact with her cease to function as intended and instead function as Toph requires. Look at the two idiots: both successful business owners, one also a successful hoodwinker of the richest family around. But they come into contact with Toph and their brains take an extended vacation.

Katara & the Generals: this plot was more like an extension of Azula's plot than its own standalone thing. You can't blame her for spilling the news about Zuko and Iroh to someone she honestly thought was Suki. Not much else to say about it, although it's cute that she asks for a table for two at the tea shop. Momo gets a chair!

I like that there's a theme this episode of things going wrong despite the best intentions. No one's acting maliciously here apart from the Antagonists. The Earth King is having an honest chat with people he thought were friends. Sokka vouched for people he honestly thought were the Kyoshi Warriors. Katara shares information about a presumed threat with people she honestly thought were her allies. You can quibble with the wisdom of some of these decisions, but there were all done with good intentions. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry and all that. It brings to mind that Star Trek quote about how you can do everything right and still lose. And this set up is going to hit harder when whatever goes wrong next episode happens. And something will go wrong. A few months ago I figured that the Season 2 finale would be a triumph, but all signs are pointing towards a tragedy instead.

This episode was visually stunning, the soundtrack in the Air Temple sections especially was very evocative, and I applaud the minds that could juggle that many plot threads at once without dropping any. This one is definitely going on my rewatch list.

[rosewoodroad]

Rant/Critique/Brain Vomit on the SoTO story updates

I've seen some people expressing their thoughts on the latest SoTO update(s) and it gave me some courage to discuss my own. Overall, my sentiments are the same- I've been getting progressively dissatisfied with how the story is being executed, and I'm not ashamed to say it's because the Commander stopped mattering.

And I'm not referring to the disrespect we got in the main SoTO expansion- because that is the exact opposite of what I'm criticising. I'm referring to the sheer lack of interaction the Commander has had with the world and story since. The immersion is just not there anymore.

To be frank, the Commander is far from the usual MMO player avatar. They actually have a base personality in their own right. What's more, they have a canonical history that we actually played through and saw progress in real time. They are the protagonist character of GW2 and not just a window for us to peer into Tyria through.

This is why I thought SoTO's main expac story was actually pretty fun. The Commander's existing history coloured most of our interactions in the world.

The wizards either hated or loved us- but we got to work on making them fear us less. Some demon lady invades our brain because we died and undied once, and we had to figure out if she was an ally or not. Her big brother kidnaps us twice because being a Dragon Champion smells good or something. Zojja is back and showers us in her friendship angst- all because of this history, which was all great!! It showed that we were actually a part of their world, somebody they could talk to or yell at, we had and continue to have impact!!

We weren't the driving narrative force, but we were at least interacting with and nudging the story forward as a protagonist.

Aaand all of this was totally missing in the dribbling updates that followed.

Let's recap- we joined Peitha in Inner Nayos and started punching out demons. And we're still punching out demons. I mean, yeah, that's why we're there in the first place, but what else is there? We find Arina, but she's totally unbothered by us messing up her initial plans and getting quite a few of her men killed. We meet Ramses, but he's 100% chill with us, nice to meet you Wayfinder, let's go kill Heitor. Eparch, the guy who found us 'entertaining' enough to whisper a warning to at the end of SoTO, doesn't even acknowledge us. Nephus, who sounds like their world's version of the Commander, talks to us like... twice. Peitha, the big mysterious sexy demon lady we had fun back-and-forths with, stopped chatting with us entirely (and we also immediately trust her despite the lack of communication).

It's all so... apathetic. You could argue that they just don't know or care about who the Commander is, but then what is the point of us being there when some Other Guy could've taken our place? The protagonist isn't protagonisting anymore and has been relegated to being a transparent sheet of plastic for us to just watch the story unfold by itself, totally hands-off. It's hard to care about a story when it doesn't care about us.

I'm still invested in the story (and Peitha) enough to play through the remaining update, because I love me a good revolution, but I cannot deny that I am officially bored with it too.

[peacheesex]

♠️♥️ Lyney x Reader♥️♠️

Synopsis: Reader has some serious escapist tendencies, no friends anymore, and lives in a shell they are too afraid to crawl out of because they perceive reality as disgusting and mundane nowadays. What happens when a certain magician shows them that reality can still be beautiful as a way to thank them for the freedom they inadvertently granted him with?

!!SPOILERS FOR THE ARCHON QUEST!!

This is kinda long! I also made it at 1 AM so if there are any errors it's cuz of that ('□`) I personally have been going through some things and have been finding a lot of comfort in this goofy ol'magician. So sorry if this has some darkers tones than my usual stuff! I tried to keep reader as gender neutral as I could by not name dropping anyone and only referring to them as "You" variations. If there is a slip up please tell me!

You're hardwired to be an extrovert, but you exist in an environment and place that shuns you and forces you into a shell.

You've had your voice ripped from your throat one too many times and you've been silenced for nothing more than a mere giggle.

You were raised in an isolated world, away from humanity and it's harsh reality.

You didn't have any friends growing up except for the occasional child of a parent's friend who would visit.

Your siblings would hide away and your father would yell all the time. Your mother was always at work. Your friends were in your worlds of fiction and your books. The drawings you began to make to see these adventures you had with them.

You don't know how real people act or how to speak with them, treating everything like dialogue in a book.

Friends you had made at one point eventually coined you as toxic because of your inability to speak with any of them properly. Perhaps you should've tried harder. No, you definitely should have tried harder.

Perhaps they would still be here if you had made more drawings for them. Maybe if you had kept your opinions to yourself. Maybe if you had just smiled and nodded. Maybe they would still be here.

You became a shell. Hiding yourself away from any possible relationships. Keeping yourself away from anyone else you could possibly hurt with your ignorance. You had friends, it's not like you were lonely. The characters you read about and drew all the time were your friends.

Yet, they began to feel empty. You began to feel empty. Focusing all your time on honing your talent and living in a world of fiction reality became bland. Disgusting even. This only drove you to hide away from it even more.

You were lonely, craving friends and love you knew you couldn't let yourself have. It was like an addiction. You had it once and now you want it more. But nothing else ever hits like that first high does, right?

For the sake of everyone else around you, you cut them all off. You were stung once. Being shelter your whole life you didn't know how to handle it. You gave up on everything and everyone.

You felt hollow.

You met him after one of his shows.

The magician was so insistent you see his next one.

You supposed it couldn't hurt.

So you arrived at his next one.

And then the next.

And the next.

Until you began to see every show of his.

He would speak to you after each one, ask you how your day was. He would tell you about his.

Even after he was ousted as a member of the fatui you still saw his shows. You still spoke with him. It was as if you didn't even care.

Something about him and his magic, the reality bending of it all was beautiful. The most beautiful thing you had seen in ages.

It didn't feel real, yet it was. It was magnificent. He was magnificent.

Nothing could change that. Especially not something as silly as a title or affiliations.

As far as you were concerned, he was wonderful.

Even after he began to show you his true colours.

He had shown you something beautiful, and for that you could only appreciate every side of him.

Everything about him was addictive, every single part and side. Every nook and cranny. Both sides of the beautiful coin.

That's when you realised you became too attached.

You didn't want to ruin something so beautiful with your thorns, so you stopped attending his shows.

Stopped seeing him all together.

You couldn't tarnish something so glorious by hurting the person responsible for it. You couldn't hurt the majesty of it all. The majesty he showed you.

He noticed you stopped attending his shows immediately.

He sought after you for ages. Since you hardly leave you house only for food he didn't find you for a while.

However, once he did he wouldn't leave.

He followed you around, asking all about where you had been.

You wouldn't respond.

All though he wouldn't speak of it, you in a way provided him with a sense of comfort.

You didn't even question him once after he was revealed to be of the House of Hearth.

All though you loved him for being able to break reality, you weren't a monster. You never forced him to keep up his acts. You knew even someone as talented as he needs breaks.

So when he approached you, his hair unstyled and in plain wear with nothing more than a mere request of comforting silence or idle chatter not regarding his work you obliged.

He felt as if he could show both sides of himself to you, both sides of that coin. He could be as flashy or as monotonous as he wished. You granted him a sort of freedom.

He became very quickly attached to you.

When you stopped showing up to his performances he panicked.

Perhaps you were tired of his antics?

It took a long time, but you eventually did open up about why you stopped showing up.

He felt a side of him ache.

You were just about as alone in this world as he was, yet not at the same time.

He had his siblings to talk to, the blonde traveller to talk to. You seemed to have no one.

To learn his shows were a break from the world you viewed of rancid initially and how it brought you to love every part of him.

How ethereal he was to you.

And how you were afraid you would grow obsessive and toxic and how you didn't want that for him.

How he had been the closest thing you've had to a friend in years and how attached you had become.

How worried you were for him, how you adored him so much you were willing to cut yourself away if it meant keeping him safe from something potentially toxic. Even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness.

He wouldn't let you feel this way, no, he couldn't let you feel this way anymore.

He assured you that he would never run away, no matter what sides of yourself you were to show him. After all, you did the same for him.

He would understand and help you learn how to make friends, how to properly interact with others. Yet, he would want you to be the same around him.

In a way, he wanted to help you build a mask to wear like he does but still provide you with people you can be yourself around.

He thinks you are wonderful and misunderstood, yet he understands not all can see that. He wants to protect you like he does his siblings.

It's the only way he knows how to help, and you don't seem to mind either. He can't change everyone or anyone's opinion of you. Those are to each their own. But you can. And he can help you find a way to do that.

He doesn't want you to change who you are, but but doesn't want you to feel isolated and alone anymore either.

So a removable mask seems as if it's the best answer, no?

He also introduces you to his siblings and a blonde traveller along with their adventuring party. You meet a large amount of kind people including a young man who visually strikes quite a similar appearance to your friendly magician with a platinum blonde ponytail and bright crimson eyes and a young woman with a long, pink ponytail that fades to a blue and eyes that seem to have seen things beyond the scope of what a woman her age normally would have.

If you begin to feel nervous making so many new friends and with things changing so quickly, he doesn't hesitate to take things slower. He isn't afraid to make any adjustments for you.

He isn't afraid to return the feeling of freedom you blessed him with, so let him crack that shell of yours and help you spread your wings to soar out of that black abyss of isolation you've been drowning yourself in.

[lumina-crash]

Introductions and Information

Greetings. I am a researcher specializing in psychic abilities, and the history of both psychic pokemon and individuals. A decision was made to create several social media accounts on various sites in order to better observe the differences between discussions about psychics and the behavior of psychic individuals in real life and on the internet. Rotomblr was initially to be glossed over, but after discovering it's supposed multiversal properties, I have made the decision to include it in my study.

Of course, I am aware that people are less likely to give information if they do not trust the individual to whom they are speaking to, less so if I am just an anonymous face online. I can encourage you to give real answers and not just give responses that you think I want to hear all I'd like, but it will not change the fact that trust takes time to build. For this purpose, I will also be using this blog for slightly more personal purposes on top of it's primary objective of gathering research. There will of course be a layer of professionalism and privacy, but I am an independent researcher and am still unsure how much data I will gather will even be usable, so I don't see too much harm so long as I disclose this fact beforehand.

You may refer to me as "Nova" on this account. My favourite colour is gold, my favourite pokemon is espathra, and a fun fact about me is that I am a psychic and have had my abilities since birth. I use it/they/she pronouns, in that order of preferance.

Tag List: #Idle Chatter -> Random thoughts and musings. Idle Chatter, as the tag suggests. These are more personal thoughts, and usually will not be related to my research. I may also reblog posts I deem amusing under this tag, but I am unsure. #My World -> Information I have given about my own reality. #Question and Answer -> Questions I am asked, and my answers, either through reblogs or the "Ask" feature. A self explanatory tag. #Interviews -> Questions I ask others, especially in regards to my research. Gathering info about other psychics and other universes. #External Sources -> Reblogs of posts I consider useful to my research. Information about psychics and psychic types I see out in the wild rather than gathered from Interviews or Surveys. #Polls and Surveys -> Another self explanatory tag. Polls will be posted on this blog fairly regularly to gather information, and this tag will contain the polls themself as well as posts explaining and commentating on them after they finish.

OOC:

Pelipper Mail and all variants are OFF

IC anon hate is on within moderation. I reserve the right to change this at any time if I feel overwhelmed by the amount or it starts to boarder on OOC.

All blogs may interact in theory, but I will block blogs that make me uncomfortable for any reason. If I block you, I will not give a reason.

Please communicate with me OOC. If I have crossed a line, tell me. I will probably figure it out on my own.

If I don't respond right away it does not mean I am ignoring you completely. I have a life outside of this blog, am a single alter within a larger system (so I am not always fronting) and sometimes just don't know how to respond to replies or don't see them.

This blog thrives on asks and reblogs, especially from psychic characters and characters with psychic type pokemon/an interest with psychic type pokemon. Do not be afraid to reach out with an ask from your character talking about themself, their experiences, or someone they know. Do not be afraid to make up random characters that exist only as a single anon to tell a story. Do not be afraid to ask for certain bits of lore and worldbuilding from Nova. This is very much a place to talk about your characters (within reason) and potentially come up with new ones through sending asks! I will likely follow most of the psychic blogs that interact!

Incase you need to address the mun specifically for OOC reasons, you may call me Andromeda, and I use they/them

[not-poignant]

Omg please drop some of your fave 00s Midwestern emo

Absolutely!

So first thing I should say is that I love a lot of emo, not just 00s Midwest. And most of the musicians I loved then, I still follow to some capacity now (it's also how I found musicians like Manchester Orchestra long before they went viral.

For specifically Midwest era, it'd have to be:

The Get Up Kids (I would die for Matt Pryor, his prolificness and songwriting is incredible. He's also The New Amsterdams, and writes as Matt Pryor, he also did children's albums as The Terrible Twos and now has a punk band I always forget the name of). For people new to TGUK, would highly recommend Red Letter Day, and I'll Catch You

There's also Jets To Brazil, mewithoutYou, Sunny Day Real Estate, Spanish Love Songs (folks who listen to my playlists might recognise the song Brave Faces Everyone, which I'm also using as an upcoming chapter title). I've seen The Shins listed as Midwest emo and I enjoy them but I don't think they fit the genre, lol. There's also Mineral, Rainer Maria, Modest Mouse etc.

In terms of more broadly, the emo artists I've love/d are like Brand New (controversial these days, I know), Taking Back Sunday, Acceptance, The Academy Is..., Panic! at the Disco (they've strayed from their roots but I still like em), Say Anything, Matchbook Romance, Dashboard Confessional, The Early November, All Time Low (do an amazing cover of Umbrella), Fall Out Boy, The Format (not really emo but they were in this crowd), Jimmy Eat World, JamisonParker, Death Cab for Cutie, Alexisonfire! (Screamo), Anberlin, Hellogoodbye, and probably a bunch of others I'm missing!

I've been to see Dashboard Confessional and Brand New live (the latter was the first band I ever flew to another state to see, because they weren't going to come to Perth), and I've intended to see Taking Back Sunday twice but both times was too sick to go.

I live with a music journalist, and we're both very interested in all kinds of music, usually with different projects going on at the same time. Currently he's trying to get through all the top albums by year since albums existed (he's now in the early 90s), curating a playlist of '100 top songs per year' series of playlists. I'm doing my Colourways project this year, which is creating playlists of 30 unique songs each that match some of the top selected colours of the year. (I'm currently listening to Kenepuru Sound in that collection).

Last year were both actively tried to listen outside of our music spaces, so Glen targeted a lot of foreign countries, and I specifically lasered in on Indonesia, because that suited some worldbuilding I was doing. Consequently made a giant Indonesian-songs playlist, and fell in love with Padi. Everyone should. (Go listen to Semua Tak Sama, especially if you love Radiohead). I also focused on listening to a lot of Indigenous Australian music, which led me to Alf the Great, who made the song Running that I added to a few playlists. He's Kalkadungu/Bidjara.

The year before that I was followed on playlist curation, etc. We're both a bit neurodivergent about our music habits, except that Glen can't listen to the same song over and over again, and I can to his dismay, so I have to be careful how I do it (and normally not when he's home).

[vashtijoy]

1/9: not the old reality, but the next one in line...

I want to talk about how mindboggling Maruki's attitude to life and death is. He's bringing people back from the dead wholesale—Akechi, Wakaba, Okumura, Sae and Makoto's dad, Kotaro the dog—so why doesn't Kasumi get a free pass from the afterlife?

Well, Maruki doesn't give a shit about Kasumi. He cares about Sumire. She wasn't the first patient whose cognition he altered—but she was the first he made such a grave alteration to.

And what's Sumire's wish? It's not to have her sister back. It's to be her sister—her slightly older sister, who always overshadowed her, who was more confident than she was, better than she was, who died to save Sumire when Sumire thinks she just wasn't worth it. Who belongs in the world, who brought life and light and colour to the world, and pride to their parents, when shy, drab Sumire does not.

So that's exactly what she gets. Bringing Kasumi back for her own sake, or for the sake of her parents who have still lost a child either way, is never on the table.

This is also what happens with Okumura and Wakaba. They are not cognitions; they're the same people they always were. Reality has been altered so that they never died. They seem different, sure—but that's because they're subject to the same Maruki fuckery as everyone else. They get to be happy and superficial just like everyone else.

But even despite that—despite the fact that they are actually real people, who were dead and are alive again—their whole existence is still contingent on Haru and Futaba's wishes. They don't poof out of existence when Haru and Futaba "wake up" because they somehow weren't real. They vanish because reality has been rewritten again—as it is now constantly being rewritten, down in Mementos. Because their deaths are no longer undone.

Read that again: they cease to exist because they're no longer wanted around. Because they were only ever brought back to make Haru and Futaba happy. And so, when their presence no longer makes Haru and Futaba happy? Off they pop.

It's not entirely dissimilar to how the PTs vanish on 12/24, when they no longer exist in people's cognition. The PTs were real, beyond a shadow of doubt. They still vanished.

This, obviously, is all incredibly fucked up.

[more on Sojiro and Futaba beneath the cut]

sojiro doesn't remember, redux

You can confirm this by looking at what Sojiro tells Futaba, when you get back to Leblanc on 1/9:

Futaba: Hey, Sojiro... Futaba: Is Mom... Sojiro: Mom...? You mean Wakaba? Sojiro: Well... What about her? Futaba: Uhh... nah! It's nothing! Futaba: It's just, I happened to remember something about her, that's all! Sojiro: I see... Okay then. Sojiro: Y'know, I caught myself thinking about her earlier too. Odd coincidence, huh? Futaba: ......

Futaba: Mom really is gone again... Sojiro sees it that way too now.

That last line is more like "that's Sojiro's cognition now, too"—soujirou mo... sou ninchi shiteta. I talked a bit yesterday about how Sojiro forgets Akechi in the third semester, and I don't think he's fine here. It's just that, like everyone else who's not awake, his cognition has been rewritten to share the new reality, where Wakaba died—somehow, because Akechi didn't do it—two years ago.

She was never in Leblanc on 1/2. They never had that New Year party. They never went to the shops with Futaba. Those things just never happened. Only Futaba remembers them.

Note that Sojiro didn't get a wish here. There's no sign anything has changed for him—because hey, maybe he would have wanted Wakaba back, who knows? Maybe Wakaba's wish would have been to be alive with her daughter, and not ash in a grave.

Sojiro just gets manipulated as a side-effect of Futaba's wish, presumably along with everyone else who ever knew Wakaba. That one event in the past changes, and like the butterfly flapping its wings, all of reality changes along with it....

futaba's apology

Often when this is brought up, people make objections like "are you saying Futaba wished to kill her mom again". And the answer is both yes and no.

Everything Futaba does in the third semester grows out of the vow she makes to herself when she awakens in her Palace:

Futaba: Mom is gone. No matter how much I wish for her to be with me, it'll never come true. Futaba: That's why I'll live in the real world, even if she's not there with me anymore! Futaba: And I'm gonna live my life as free and happy as I can!

And, possibly even more importantly:

So when Futaba later makes the painful choice to embrace reality, rather than to accept a bribe of her mother with the world at stake... Futaba is being true to herself. She's implementing the hard lessons she learned back in the summer—lessons she would never have learned under Maruki's control. Lessons, achievements, accomplishments that Futaba sweated blood for, but that he can't even understand. Because he could never face his pain like she did. And like she continues to do.

Futaba: So like... Dr. Maruki's reality isn't totally one hundred percent illusion, right? Joker: Right. Futaba: So... that means I really did get to see my mom again.

Futaba: So let's go take back our own reality. Futaba: The reality where we can beat anything the world throws at us, as long as we have each other. Futaba: The reality my mom gave me.

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Questionzzzz!!!

By 🌙,

Questionz:

1. What about the characters that aren't named and the background characters in bsd? Like: the other port mafia members or the other detectives in the ada, The orphanage headmaster, The head police chief (the one Ranpo was with I think in vol 2 of bsd or ep 2 in bsd), the police officers, and the mafia members . Did they become self aware too?

2. Can the bsd cast and GL go back into the phone willingly and get out? Like can they go back to the bsd Yokohama and get out?

3. Oooh! Another question came up in my mind while I was typing question 2!! So if they can do that, could they like yk put stuff in there and time won't affect it? Like Lucy's ability!

4. About their names, you mentioned in the jobs that Beast Kunikidas name will be on paper and all, so their name is basically the same name they had and wont change it? Won't people be suspicious? Also what about sigmas name?

5. What about the other bsd hair colours like Bram, Atsushi, Sigma, Yosano, Kunikida, Jōno, Kyouka, Q, Nikolai etc. also what about the others eye colour? Yk the ones that aren't natural?

Questionzz 4 ya:

1. How are you??? Have ya eaten? Have you drank any water lately? Have you taken yourself mentally n physically?

2. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW CHAPTER?? ITS WILDDDD!!!

3. Random but do you have a fav character?

4. Why don't you make an like about me page?

5. This ain't a question but- did you know it's almost a year since I started reading your blog?

Anywayzz!! That's it!!

Bye!

Hello again, 🌙 Anon!

To your questions:

1. Such characters won't become self-aware without taking some steps first.

For them to become self-aware, already self-aware character should:

1. Create 5 cards of unnamed character (R, SR, SSR, UR and EX)

2. Add all card to the app.

3. Guiding Light/Reader should get all cards and maxed their levels and skills.

4. Only after that unnamed character will become self-aware.

However, there is a catch. While creating a card, BSD Characters could add very limited information. They could only add name and age, and that's it. If Kafka or Harukawa didn't think about any ideas about the unnamed character's past, likes, dislikes, family members, at the end, characters will be like a black canvas. And BSD Cast already knew, how terrible it feels to have no idea about themselves, how devastating it is not to feel yourself to be a person with character and individuality.

The difference - BSD Cast have at least some basic information about themselves. They can believe, that they are real people.

So, before making an unnamed character, BSD Cast should be prepared to be a huge support for newcomers.

2. Yes, they can go back and forth as much as they want.

3. They can use BSD World as a storage, yes, because the concept of time in BSD World are almost non-existent. It's very slow. Like, in real world milk go stale in seven days. In BSD World, even after twenty real world years, milk will be still fresh, or "yesterday's" at max.

4. OG! Kunikida already use pseudonym, so people won't be suspicios. Same with BEAST! Kunikida. All from OG Cast and BEAST! Cast have pseudonyms. (However, most of them only change surnames. Example: Lucy Maud Montgomery is a writer; Lucy Maud Shirley is a daughter of someone, who has a sense of humour (or a strange sense of humour). /Side note! I still haven't thought about exact pseudonyms, so, this one can change in the future and just used as an example/.

Sigma does have a more Official Sounding Name. He choose (with some help from Fyodor and Nikolai): Stepan Ivanovich Syromyatnikov.

Stepan from Gogol's "The Gamblers".

Ivanovich from Dostoevsky's "The Gambler".

Syromyatnikov from his possible real-life counterpart.

5. People just assume, that their hair is dyed, and they wear eye contacts. People might scoff and call them weird, but it won't bother BSD Cast that much.

______

1. I am fine! Have been eating plenty and drinking enough water. Thinking about finally finishing painting "Colour by Number" I have.

2. New chapter... Well... There are few things I can said:

- Is Kafka planning to raise stakes, or it his traditional "cliffhangers", and everyone will be alright?

- Thank you for giving me ideas about angsty Bram fic about him and his daughter, Kafka.

- The choice between adding in "Anime Convention" a scene, where Asagiri learns, that BSD Cast are real, and not doing it and simply have a chapter with BSD Cast trolling Kafka during his QnA on Anime Expo became even harder.

3. I have. I like most of the BSD Characters. As for my absolute favourites: Fyodor, Nikolai, Dazai, Sigma, Chuuya, Fukuzawa, Atsushi, Ranpo, Poe, Oda and Mori... Let's say, easier said what characters I don't like (Ace and Kyogoku).

4. You mean with some info about me? I don't think people will be that interested in me... If I find a good "Ask about me. Fandom edition" about BSD (or Genshin), I might share some of my options, if people will want this.

5. I have a feeling, that I missed One-Year anniversary of my blog. You have one job, emails from Tumblr!

Still, thank for your support 🙂

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Yeah the Plow drama was WEIRD. Dozens of PSAs about how staff is racist, all based on a white TOH fan's unsourced viral post. The SPOP guy who announced his best friend's podcast canceled because he said the word "dykes" which is in the title. I even had mutuals saying that ND had the DUTY to step up and interrupt him. The constant videos about how ND is TRANSPHOBIC because Double Trouble is "sexualized" and "evil". Queer people are nuts.

So a couple of things here:

The Sow* stuff was real. The crew actually apologised for it and said that they didn't mean anything by it, but that nobody should excuse them for it. I appreciate this response. It was a whole thing. Also it all happened before The Owl House even started airing... (EDIT: Incorrect comment because TOH started airing seven months beforehand) but I don't want to pretend the Sow stuff was a big hubbaloo over nothing. It meant a lot to people and I think it demonstrated a lack of self awareness within the crew. There are other moments like this. The Entrapta leash gag was brought up a lot at the same time as another example of insensitivity, and I absolutely agree, but I do respect that the crew responded to the backlash the best way they could - by admitting their wrongdoing and saying theyll work on having a better perspective. I do think there are other areas they could've done better as well, like Mara turning "blonde", and all the characters having magical multicoloured hair instead of natural black hair, or even dark hair that was dyed a different colour. Some of those are handovers from dreamworks shera but it still sucks. *Sow, not Plow. We both forgot.

I don't know anything about the podcast. Never heard of it. However, if that is true, that's really unfortunate - Everyone has turned hard against "dirtier" terms like Dyke, despite how much work has gone into reclaiming them. Also, whether "queer" is a socially acceptable self-descriptor seems to vary on a year by year basis. People need to recognise other queer people are not slandering them by using these terms.

Double Trouble being an "evil nonbinary shapeshifter" right? Well, Nimona is also an evil nonbinary shapeshifter. Nimona being nonbinary is a new aspect of her presented in the movie too, not the original comics. And it's fucking awesome!!!! I think what people have been starting to realise is that evil nonbinary shapeshifters are the ultimate genderfluid power fantasy. I think it's fair and valid to want more visualisations of nonbinary people who can exist in a real world, who didn't "start off" with magical genderless abilities, but I also think there will always be a place for the nonbinary shapeshifter.

Your comments reminded me of some people's takes on Entrapta as autistic rep, and how she is seen as bad because she's the autistic savant. And yes, the autistic savant is a stereotype, but I feel that Entrapta subverts it aggressively. She's a genius but she's rather dense, she's VERY friendly unlike most "autistic savant" characters and her social problems are highly relatable. She isn't hyper competent, but autism IS a "strength" of hers, not so much because of her genius, but because it allows her to ignore or question social standards that exist to hold people back. She doesn't give a shit how important Hordak is, or what a Horde soldier or Rebellion princess is supposed to be like. She's free, and very much a power fantasy in the same way Double Trouble is. Hell even in aforementioned "leashing scenes" that I have problems with, she breaks free as soon as it starts to be annoying. I love her.

[piastrinorris]

come along, one and all, to the hawkins fair! a special event held in honor of two thousand of you fine people being here. why not have a look around? we’ve got two wonderful parks for you to peruse, writer’s world and gifset grounds, so take your time, pick an attraction or two and be sure to check out the fireworks show at the end!

●・○・●・○・●

-ˏˋ Writer’s World ˊˎ-

🪞 hall of mirrors: you’re here, you’re there, you’re everywhere! which is the real you? who are these doppelgangers? – send me a description of yourself and i’ll write you a short blurb about what i think your role would be within the stranger things timeline! (+ add a 💕 if you also want to be shipped with someone)

💜 tunnel of love: they can’t stay still. your breath is shallow. awkward laughter as you catch each other’s eye, crammed in a boat with a strangely ominously glowing void ahead of you. – send a character or ship (please specify if the ship is standalone or an x reader polycule! i’ll assume all ships are standalone unless stated otherwise) and i’ll write a romantic blurb. (+ add a 🔥if you want smut)

🎠 carousel: the music fills your ears, the cool metal pole pressing against your warm, flushed cheek as you see your best friend next to you, having the time of their life. – send a character or platonic ship (please specify if standalone or x reader) and i'll write a friendship blurb. *this is the only option where i will also accept members of the party as options, but not directly interactive with the reader UNLESS as a side character/sibling of reader. (e.g. i won't accept dustin x reader but i would include dustin (+ other kids) in a henderson!reader x older teen scenario, or dustin with other canon characters)

🎪 big top: sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! this one’s all about celebrating you, dear audience, so we’ll need volunteers! volunteer yourselves, your friends, your idols. everyone deserves a spotlight! – send a fic you’re proud of! send a fic you love! this totally isn’t a thinly-veiled attempt at me trying to farm fic recs since i’ve slipped so much! it could be a reader insert or a ship. i don't mind any ship (as long as it doesn't include b*lly or j*son), especially rarepairs!

🌀 a portal?!: uh-oh, looks like HNL’s been at it, again. this time, it seems as though they’ve opened a portal through the entire multiverse! people are appearing that look strangely like existing hawkins residents. – send another character that a stranger things actor plays and i’ll write a romantic or platonic blurb for them, too! (+ add a 🔥if you want smut)

●・○・●・○・●

-ˏˋ Gifset Grounds ˊˎ-

🤹 the juggler: that’s right, i’m the juggler, baby! i can juggle almost anything you want, anything at all! i might even toss one your way, get ready for it! – make me choose between any number of things! people, ships, scenes, locations, seasons, etc.

🎈 balloon stall: get your balloons here! we got all the colours here, you want one? two? all?! you got it, kid. – send a character/ship and as many colours as you want to be featured.

🐤 hook a duck: feeling lucky, duck? why not take a chance on one of these rubbery fellas? anything could be under it, anything at all. you won't know unless you try! – send this and i'll have a randomiser decide who i make a gifset for.

🎡 ferris wheel: far above the shrieks of an excitable crowd, the blaring lights, the aromatic mix of sickly sweets, sweat and smoke; a moment of peace. just you, the world beneath you, and a simple song to guide you. – name a character and either choose a song/artist yourself or leave that up to me, and i'll make a lyric gifset for them!

👻 ghost train: what is dead may never die. what lurks within the dark depths of the unknown? truly anything can happen, if you dare to take the leap and open yourself to possibility. – give me an au (literally anything non-canon-compliant) and i'll try and make a gifset about it!

●・○・●・○・●

🎆 fireworks! 🎆

i just wanted to take a moment to thank every one of you. it's been insane how i can once again fall in love with writing, be this close to finishing a majorly hefty writing project, and learn a new skillset that i actually enjoy right from the get-go. being a part of fandom again has me getting out of the house again, going to conventions again, making new friends wherever i go, making plans to go to places i've never been before with those people. i thought that part of my life was behind me. i've never been more proud to be wrong.

all of you have encouraged me in ways i couldn't begin to explain, but the mutuals i'm tagging inspire me with their support and creativity every dang day. i'm so lucky to have these people in my life in any capacity, whether we talk every day or we've never spoken (though if the latter's the case, i'd love to fix that!) 💜

@denim-mixtapes @fanatictypist @keerysquinn @userquinn @hellfirehoe @reysorigins @eddieandbird @heroeddiemunson @roykentt @iero @hellfireclubs @corroded-hellfire @munson-blurbs @lunatictardis @loveshotzz @quinnsbower @newlips @wroteclassicaly @usedtobecooler @corrodedbisexual @dindjarins @stargyles @mulderfcx @enidsnclr @elizabethgillies @sebuckyverse @wordscomehither @eddiemunsons-missingnipple @hearsegrrl @mcbeanzontoast @pitifulbaby

[lexsang]

Could you recommend sources about sanguinarian vampirism? I tried to look for it but most recommend books seem to be published by sketchy/charlatan authors and it makes doubtful if they are genuine or not (besides some of them have very prejudiced views towards sang).

Videos, podcasts, articles, sites or books are all welcome recommendations and I would be very grateful if you had them.

Thank you very much!

(Sorry for how long it took for me to get back to you, the past few weeks have been hectic to say the least, but I've been thinkin about this ask since you sent it) My main issue with the vast majority of content on sanguinarian vampirism out there is that it is made by people who are just interested in vampires, and have no actual experience living through the things we live through. They often times come off as halloween-spooky, and inauthentic, with an emphasis on shock factor for an audience that doesn't understand that we really do actually exist.

Books are definitely not the place to look from my experience if you're interested in learning about sanguinarian vampirism. They are one of the best places if you're wanting to learn about psychic vampirism or vampiric witchcraft, but they're not for the blood drinkers.

Videos can be good learning material, but I haven't seen any on sanguinarianism that aren't just people talking about their experiences in the community, and it can get fairly full of unnecessary drama and zero useful info quick. I used to watch videos from the creator below, though I personally didn't get much out of them, but that may not be the case for you. Most of the videos are on psychic vampirism, but there are a few on sanguinarianism if I'm remembering correctly.

With Podcasts, I'm sure there are a number of one offs on paranormal podcasts if you look hard enough, but the time is most likely not worth it. The link below is one of the best I have seen, a series of great interviews with real vampires (I was lucky enough to be one of them, though that's not why I suggest this series), and the second is a youtube channel called Coffin Lounge (I would link, but youtube is being weird), which could be good, but I don't now yet. I have only listened to a little bit of the first episode, and it is more goth community centered than vamp, but there may be good stuff since since each episode is with a new guest.

Sites are the best bet so far, with forums being one of the best places to look imo.

Sanguinarius.org and their connected forum, VCMB.org were where I first realized I wasn't alone, and wasn't crazy. The biggest benefit of forums like this one, is that you are, without a doubt, listening to real people's experience, and seeing real vamps figure it out for themselves. There is so much information in the VCMB, even though it isn't very active anymore, the experiences are still there.

theredcellar.com has also been a personal favourite for ages. It is full of plenty of articles that focus on the medsang perspective, and it is home to some really down to earth vamps who are all wonderful. They also have a forum, as well as a discord that is linked on their site.

The absolute best teachers, however, are just regular old vampires. You will learn more in a few hours than you could hope to learn in months from articles and the sporadic info online by sending someone a message and asking if they have the capacity to answer your questions. Whether you are an awakening vamp looking for advice, or just interested in the real, visceral experience that vampires live through, most are kind and willing to share. Everyone's experience is different, and speaking to multiple people will help you realize just how colourful and varied the world of vampirism is.

And if you are a vampire, I know that this is cliché, but experience is a great teacher. So much of vampirism, from what I've seen and experienced myself, is about trying to run away from the vampiric experience, and be as human as possible. It has stopped being about that for me. Manage your health of course, and don't go without feeding for too long if you can help it. Take the substitutes you need to take to control the beast when you need to take them, but feeling those cravings instead of fleeing from them is a great way to become more familiar with vampirism. No one will be able to tell you more about your vampirism than yourself. Learn to meditate in those moments of hunger. You are a vampire, it's ok to allow yourself to be just that from time to time.

I hope this was helpful! Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions, I'm more than happy to help if you feel that I can :)

[pbaintthetb]

Lol watched Book of Mormon (and hoo boy possibly actually one of my faves I've watched on stage. Plot is average at best but the goddamn choreo and the lights- the act 1 finale? I digress) thoughts

You can never go home again, or more accurately, You can never go to Orlando again. Anyway Price probably needs a few years to resort his head and life before he can go to Orlando and appreciate it because currently I don't think he can seperate what he wants (needs) Orlando to be from what Orlando actually is...

Orlando and Salt Lake City are the same in the sense that neither of them actually exist and they're metaphors (ignoring the fact that they do, both exist). Both Nabalungi and Price songs about their favourite fictional (real) real (fictional) place are kinda tragic because it reveals the things they view about the world as fact. Hence why this place is so special. Yes comparing Price's pretty first world problems with Nabalung's concerns is a bit of a stretch but also it kind is the same thematically.

I do hope Nabalungi can get what she wants from Salt Lake City though, although not necessarily in Salt Lake city idc.

The vibe I had in the interval was that it was possible out of district 9 Price is the only one to have actually read the Book of Mormon, cover to cover. Cunningham explictly hasn't, the conversation about "latter days" made me wonder if the other mormons only kinda read it which-

leads onto my thinking that like Price's relationship with Mormonism is, in many ways, more academic/clinical. Like he's got that kind of obsession with religion that I personally associate with people who don't actually believe but either A. really want to or B. really want to disprove it. Price is firmly in A, but yeah like I feel like Price needs Mormonism to be real where he is in the plot (Orlando. If mormonism is real he can go back to Orlando. And it's worth it.) But he doesn't necessarily actually have that spark of genuine belief the other District 9 elders have ya get me? Like he knows it back to front he knows the logic, adn in the coffee scene talks about how a lot of it has always seemed nonsensical and incoherent to him. It's a set of rules and guidelines but idk if Price actually has like core real belief/faith.

When those extra rows of lights came down for Man Up near the end of act 1? Oh yeah you bet we were all in for a fantastic time then, you know good stuff is gonna happen

The lighting in Sal Tlay Ka Siti was beautiful, like I mean the actress's performance and voice were great too, but the lighting really sold the like kinda hopeful tragic nature of the song. She's so happy most of the time but that song, ugh, the tree branch gobos, the visible beams, the colour KSJDFJS:LKDF

Lol disco ball.

The set? It's so detailed? And they get it up so fast? LIke I know they drop blacks in "You and me (but Mostly me)" so it's more than the black out, but STILL?

Again, how do they get the waistcoats on so bloody fast in "Turn it off"??? (I do actually have theories about this but that's not the point, it's stilll so cool)

Maybe this is just the run i watched, but like the Mormons, other than being dressed the same are all roughly the same height (except Cunningham) so their numbers are so extra cool because they really do kinda blend and move as one unit and it's so cool to watch. Especially Hello and Two by Two where they all have black ties.

Did they just start a new cult at the end? Curious what most of the mormons are gonna do when they leave Uganda. Also curious if their parents got an angry phone call from the mission president and are just like.... why aren't they home yet???

BFN is an elder now? Okay... not gonna touch that and how that happened

Nabalungi's dad is fucking hilarious omg his delivery this guy

The only song I'd heard was "You and me (But mostly me)" but I had been told of the spooky mormon hell song. The latter slapped. Did not have Atilla the Hun playing flute on my bingo card that day.

^I loved the blacks coming in from all sides to trap Cunningham out of "You and Me (But mostly Me)" and leave Price as the star also like I knew the song but teh first "but mostly me" cracked me up

One of the incorrect names Cunningham called Nabalungi was "Nigel Farage" lol. Couldn't hear much of the dialogue after that.

About the incorrect name, Nabalungi has the patience of a saint for sure.

Oh during teh play i couldn't watch half of it because I was too busy watching the district 9 elders, but mostly Price reacting to it. It was hilarious. Price looked so fucking happy but like he was trying to hide it and was clapping Cunningham on the shoulder at one point.

As a musical, it's incredible, and it properly contextualises a few things people have said about it and how long it's been running. By "as a musical" I mean the general production of it n shit. The plot is pretty average, the songs have funny lyrics but a lot of the numbers probably won't hold up so well on sound track for me personally- but when you're watching it??? oh yeah. Oh yeahhh.

Oh, the pipes on the guy playing Cunningham, man. MAN.

You can never go to Orlando again.

[oneatlatime]

The Northern Air Temple

Some thoughts before we get into the episode:

-I feel like Sokka got more lines in the first half of the season. Don't know if that's true, but that's what it feels like.

-I feel like Katara and Zuko have evened out a bit compared to the first half of the season. Certainly Katara hasn't done anything too annoying in a few episodes, and Zuko at least makes (a very small amount of) sense now, thanks to The Storm.

-I need more Appa.

Episode Time!

Wait

This episode apparently has the option of commentary. I'll save that for a rewatch.

Now it's episode time

A surprisingly ominous musical sting for the opening title card. Kind of reminiscent of Jet's musical sting.

We must be getting pretty close to the north pole because the parkas are back.

Oh my god actual airbenders? Is this show's title a lie? Avatar: Upon Further Investigation, One of Several Airbenders.

Also did that storytelling guy just charge his own great-grandfather for listening to his own story told back to him? Who's the real cheapskate?

Sokka whittles! That's a nice touch. Gotta have something to occupy your time on long polar nights. I think it's a beaver with a hat? How does Sokka know what a beaver is? There are no trees at the south pole. Unless it's a chipmunk. But those don't exist at the south pole either.

optimist = liar is an underrated take. And very Sokka.

The southern Air Temple was much more colourful than this. Maybe sunsets suck up north? Also those are live people. Living breathing non-corpses. Doing airbendy things. I am confused.

ok paragliders! Not airbenders. You know Aang must have been crushed by that bait and switch. He copes with it better than I would.

They may not be airbenders but this is still some pretty fancy flying. Obviously these glider people have been at this for a while. Do you think, in the absence of airbenders, non-benders were like "welp, somebody's gotta do it"?

Nailed it. Meng's right. He does have big ears.

My god I hope this kid does regular maintenance on his brakes. He came in hot.

This kid (Tayo?) is really sweet actually. He's got that same sort of sincere joy that Aang does when he's happy. Like when he was laughing at Pipsqueak's name. An ersatz airbender having an airbender's joy is cleverly done.

You couldn't have moved that pipe six inches up? Tayo may call his dad a mastermind, but this reeks of sloppy planning and building on the fly. This is the kind of plumbing dead end I'd plumb myself into, because I don't know how to plumb. What's the plumbing equivalent of cable management? Because these people need it.

I get it. This episode is going to be a commentary on the world moving on during the last century.

There was a deliberate conscious choice made here. You couldn't accidentally decapitate the monks every time you installed a pipe. Even if there wasn't a conscious choice to be destructive, there had to have been a conscious choice to be callous. Poor Aang's day is just getting worse and worse.

How does piping hot air everywhere result in goop?

Now moved on to literally decapitating monks. Come on guys, I was being facetious.

"This whole place stinks!" Buddy I could not agree more.

Then again: "Who said you could be here?" Can't agree with this one. How could they have asked for permission to move in? The only airbender around was frozen. This conflict is going to have to find a middle ground. Obviously these new guys are taking it way too far, but Aang has no right to expect the world to have been left unchanged for a century. Honestly I'm surprised that no one had moved in to the Southern Air Temple. It didn't occur to me when I watched that episode, but we've seen enough war-torn villages since that I'm surprised the air temples haven't been claimed by refugees.

"We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here" would be a much more convincing justification if it wasn't being spouted by someone standing in a giant hole created by a wrecking ball. Although kudos to this guy for seeing an opportunity to help his son and his people. Heart's in the right place, but I'm kind of questioning the execution.

"Progress has a way of getting away from us" another underrated take!

Tayo's dad's mannerisms are strange. He's giving me Willy Wonka vibes (Gene Wilder, not Johnny Depp).

Four o'Candle. I won't lie, that's funny. Gotta wonder how the rest of the world tells the time, if this guy invented timekeeping.

I regret taking this screenshot.

That's sweet, showing Aang the one untouched room. This Tayo is quite empathetic and perceptive, unlike his father. Also a good point about the animals. They never left.

I'm sorry, but the Southern Air Temple is just so much prettier.

Interesting storage choice. Do you think that was an airbender thing or a later addition?

Aren't fireflies a warm weather thing? Maybe someone at the temple has a pet firefly colony?

A natural gas PSA. Was not expecting that. Huh.

Pretty neat that Tayo has intuitively figured out what airbenders need to fly, even if he doesn't have the vocabulary to express it. Once again Aang recovering from disappointments way faster than I could. He said he wouldn't open the door maybe three minutes ago? And now he will. Truly too pure for this world.

This episode is going all over the place but the bug jokes are good.

What do you want to bet that the airbending door opening is footage reused from the Southern Air Temple?

I'm enjoying Sokka having someone to vibe with intellectually (who respects him as an equal - yay!) but I also feel like I'm seeing thirty years into Sokka's future if for some reason Katara stops with the occasional smacks upside the head.

Do you think Tayo's dad is so loopy because his head's in the clouds?

Did not see that coming. Also how many times is poor Aang going to get kicked around this episode? The airbenders that weren't, the temple that was modified to high hell, now the temple sanctum as a fire nation weapons vault. Ouch.

It does track though. Imprisoned shows that the Fire Nation has no qualms about exploitation - in that case, prison labour to build their fleet, and earth kingdom coal to power it. Makes sense that they would strong arm the mechanically minded into helping them as soon as an opportunity presented. Is that how the Fire Nation has gotten so far, shamelessly using anything and anyone that can be exploited? How many Fire Nation innovations are originally someone else's? Hot take: the Fire Nation is Thomas Edison.

Aang can do Bitchslaps!!!! This is wonderful! I demand more of these in future.

"We control the sky. That's something the Fire Nation can't do." So that fire nation hot air balloon I saw in the sanctum was for exploring the sea floor?

Ever seen that thing where two incredibly smart people get together and somehow manage to completely cancel out each others' intellects?

Ever-vigilant to roasting opportunities, Katara lands a perfect burn.

I guess actual murder bombs don't fly in a kids' show. But why not? Flaming fire ball catapults, crack archery squads, and actual past genocide are ok, but bombs aren't?

Aang, squadrons aren't very pacifist of you.

All those guys Aang buried with the air scooter are dead. Also not very pacifist.

Winchable tanks. Very clever. Wanna bet they stole that idea too?

This made me laugh. I was expecting some sort of advanced flamethrower technology but it's actually the bending equivalent of leaning out a hole in the wall to throw rocks. This is Flintstones Technology.

Since when are Katara's pants white?

Winchable, self-righting tanks? That's far too cool for the bad guys to have.

Told you it wasn't Fire Nation tech. Although Tayo's pride in his dad's counterbalancing system is maybe a tad misplaced, saying as that system is being used to attack his home. Oops?

YEEESSS! GLORY TO THE BEAST!!!!!

Upon being informed that the tanks run on a water counterbalance system, Katara, instead of exploiting this, decides that now is the time to remember that she is a waterbender (something she forgot despite spending the last few days (?) surrounded by snow), and uses ice to take the wheels off, what - two tanks? - and then decides to retreat and wait for her brother to save the day. See, this is what happens when Sokka isn't there to do her thinking for her.

Isn't wearing the enemy' insignia a big nono? Then again, a century of war is a big nono too, so I doubt anyone's going to quibble it.

Why are they dropping slime on tanks? How does slime stop them?

In a rare moment of Katara-thought, Sokka loses his mind and throws the whole furnace out of the balloon, rather than just opening it and scooping out some burning fuel. Sokka is so used to doing Katara's thinking for her that he's out of practice at doing his own thinking.

And the temple is still standing, how? Sokka just killed like hundreds of fire nation guys.

Note to self: always pack a spare firebender when travelling by hot air balloon.

Sigh. Saw it coming. Do you think Tayo's dad got the inspiration for the balloon's shape from those guys' hats?

Final thoughts

This episode was a bit of a mess, wasn't it? How many plot threads are they trying to juggle here? -preservation v. innovation -the spirit of airbending living on in Tayo -collaborating with the enemy -the plight of refugees -Natural gas PSA -Sokka the genius -Disability opening up alternate abilities -Guess who now has the ability to meet Aang on his own playing field?

These are all worth talking about, but maybe over the course of two episodes, maybe even three. Cramming this all into one episode means at best that your characters are going to be doing 180s at record speed (Aang and the airbending door), at worst that your characters are going to be nonsensical pastiches that serve the plot rather than act as humans (Tayo's dad is disturbingly all over the place).

The ever-present tensions between the preservation of the past and the needs of the present - in other words - honouring the ancestors v. supporting the descendants, is a very real, very ongoing conflict inherent to humanity as a whole. It's a whole industry: Cultural Resource Management. It's definitely worth talking about. But this was so ham-fisted. Avatar doesn't usually do ham-fisted; they've set a high standard for themselves in other episodes and I will hold them to that. I think sticking this theme into an episode that included so much else was what caused the less-than-subtle handling. There simply wasn't time to do it justice.

I would have liked if Aang and the temple dwellers reached a compromise at the end, rather than Aang completely giving over. Keep Aang's dialogue about Hermit Crabs (why are they black and white?) but then add a couple of lines about how now that the fire nation are gone, the sanctum can be returned to how it ought to be, or promise to decapitate no more monks. Just a couple of lines. Ultimately the temple dwellers are right that they need a place to live, but you can be right in a wrong way. A wrecking ball way. And you can preserve while innovating. It's possible. Wouldn't it have been on-brand if the episode ended with a compromise - you know, balance?

That being said, there was a lot that was good this episode. Tayo is a sweetheart. I loved the fact that he's in a wheelchair and it's not even really mentioned. His wheelchair doesn't even figure in the plot - it's just part of his character design. It's given the same weight as a character wearing glasses would have. I would love it if all physical differences could be treated with the same level of 'I don't care' as a character having glasses. So often in fiction, disabled characters are written with a disability rather than a personality, so it's nice to see it done properly here.

The unwilling Fire Nation collaborator thing definitely feels like a situation that could happen, but I don't like that Tayo's dad was so intent on not being blamed for it. He's an adult, and sometimes being an adult means owning up to stuff. Obviously he's in a rock and a hard place situation, and it's not his fault that he's stuck there (not like he had a choice) but he seemed more intent on getting Tayo to absolve him of blame than to actually explain. His first line upon being confronted being "you don't understand!" rankled.

There's no way that every adult in the temple didn't know it was happening, right? But they agreed to keep it from the kids? We see that Tayo's dad works with a crew when he's wrecking stuff for a bathouse (!!!), and I sincerely doubt that the stuff he built in the air sanctum was the work of only one person. That would have been a cool angle to explore, not that this episode needed yet more angles: The lies we tell our children.

The natural gas PSA didn't bother me at all. It did feel ham-fisted, but if this episode taught even one kid to look out for the smell of rotten eggs, then it's a win. Natural gas is serious stuff and not to be messed with. Anything that teaches kids that is good, no matter how ham-fisted.

Regarding the natural gas, I guess it came from the slime? But I don't know where the slime came from? It could also be unrelated to the slime, in which case the original airbenders would have kept it under control by airbending it away? It's a shoehorned-in PSA, I'm probably giving it too much thought.

Sokka collaborating with an equally intellectual adult that actively seeks his input is lovely to see, although I personally found Tayo's dad to be off-putting. Must have been a confidence boost for Sokka though.

Sokka and Katara both having brainfarts this episode was some rare sibling solidarity.

Poor Aang this episode just kept getting stomped on. This has been a rough few episodes for Aang. He majorly goofs up in Bato of the Water Tribe, he majorly goofs up (this time with consequences) in the Deserter, and now he gets to see that there is truly nothing the fire nation hasn't gotten their grubby hands on - and if there is, others have ruined it anyway. Can this poor guy have a break next episode? Maybe ride some giant animals? Giant hybrid animals?

I do like Tayo as kind of the next generation of airbenders. Iroh and the Deserter (not spelling that guy's name) both give me the impression that bending is as much philosophy as it is physical thing. It's neat to see that, while airbending is gone, airbending philosophy can remain. Can in fact pretty much spontaneously regenerate under the right conditions. I wonder, after enough generations of nonbenders thinking like airbenders, could airbending reappear?

The word I keep coming back to is ham-fisted. We're nearing the end of the season; maybe the writers had a bunch of leftover ideas they really wanted to use that they couldn't fit elsewhere? I'll rewatch this one just to listen to the commentary, but otherwise I think it's pretty meh.

Appa unleashing beast mode on a couple of tanks may well be the highlight of this episode.

[weirdowithaquill]

Obsessed with your Extended Railway Series. I love it so much and sometimes I forget that the stories aren't canon and have to remind myself of that. I bingeread the entire series in three nights. My favourites probably have to be 'Politicians Versus Duke the Wise Engine', 'World Famous Engine', 'Arthur and the Two Zany Engines', and 'Bertram and the Phantom Engine'.

I also absolutely love Andrew and the way his character fits so perfectly into your stories, he really feels like he could be a canon character.

I love the sheer and perfectly fitting chaos that comes in some of the stories, balanced out with the slower or slightly darker or sadder themes in others. It's not all bright colours; there are real problems coming into play, and it's written perfectly in your stories. Imagination and realistic tones in a wonderful mix. A lot of the stories are lighthearted, yes, but then you also remind, sometimes in those lighthearted stories, that there's more than just 'sunshine and rainbows'. It's grounded while still being inventive and imaginative.

What I'm saying is, damn I love the Extended Railway Series.

Thank you so much!

Your comment means so much to me - you have no idea how much I appreciate hearing how much you enjoy the ERS. It's been a massive project for me over the last three and a half years - and to hear that you loved it so much really warms my heart.

(Your favourites just so happen to have been some of my favourites to write! I seem to have a preference for both wacky stories and darker tales.)

Andrew! Andrew has to have been one of the biggest risks I've ever made with my writing - I created a T&F OC and inserted him into my world and asked everyone to accept his existence. And it really feels good to know that people do like him, that people look at this OC I've made and agree that he's cool. He's also my first OC, and your first OC always does have a special place in your heart, don't they?

Chaos is probably one of the better words to describe this series! It's controlled chaos, but chaos nonetheless - and that's probably why I enjoy it so much. The original Railway Series handled a lot of very dark topics as well as some very lighthearted ones - and I feel like that's something I wanted to capture in the series.

I'm really rambling by this point - I've left this response and come back to it several times while attending Uni - so I think I should really round it off by saying thank you again. Comments and support really are the most incredible honours to an author, and I hope that everything that has yet to come with the ERS will entertain you just as much as the previous fics have!