#Azula was going to do it anyway

[the-genius-az]

Blind Azula.

Mai allowed Azula to touch her face after begging and pleading. While Ty Lee had to beg for Azula to do it when she found out.

[ash-and-starlight]

I see the fandom’s “Ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe” Sokka and raise y’all “Emerging Technologies Advisor, Sokka of the Water Tribe.” Working with all the nations as a emissary for scientists and engineers, introducing these new techs to world leaders and brainstorming ways to integrate them helpfully into society — really, he just gets to travel a lot and mess around with machines and I think these are two things that Sokka would excel so so very much at

thiiiisss this so much this his ass would Not settle in the fire nation permanently!!! he travels all over the world!! he sees and learns all the things he couldn’t experience while ending the war!! he fixes things everywhere he goes as easy as breathing. he’s the one behind the southern water tribe cultural center in republic city and behind this huge ass ‘fuck you zuko try to destroy this now’ watchtower/lighthouse in the swt capital.

he has a traveling food critic column and a published haiku collection and fifteen new inventions patents and is just as fundamental for bringing on an age of peace and prosperity as anyone else. so yeah emerging technologies advisor, poet, swordsman, inventor, councilor, storyteller, warrior, artist, white lotus member, food blogger, pai sho champion, trendsetter sokka of the southern water tribe ftw forever amen

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #39: Gladiator's ELEVENTH Anniversary! (+ BONUS: Fic-to-Art #36...)

And here we are! March 26th arrived and I did not forget about it, but I paid for my ambitious madness with my wrist and forearm. Somehow, I finished my intended pieces on time, but I do not advise that you ever try to make 9 artworks in 3 days. No, sir. Bad life decisions, that's what that was... but this fic, as anyone knows, moves me to do things I never thought possible, starting with writing the fic itself!

It's really crazy every time it hits me that I've been doing this for as long as I have. It's been a complicated, chaotic journey, with its many ups and downs, but ultimately, it has been our journey. For some people, this is just one more fic in the pile: for me, it's been the best adventure of my life so far. Everyone who has ever been touched by Gladiator, who has ever cherished this story, who's looking forward to the big conclusion, who wants to see how the chaotic war is going to end... you're all part of this crazy adventure along with me, and I can only thank you for joining me.

This year, I had no time to make as big a project as I usually go for. Thus, I did a sort of free-for-all edition of Fic-to-Art over at Patreon and challenged myself to draw as many scenes as I could, out of their suggestions. I even sprinkled in a few scenes I impulsively wanted to draw because I loved writing them or because I look forward to writing them... and this is the result!

In order, the scenes are as follow:

Sokka combing Azula's hair, a common occurrence throughout the story.

Azula watching over a convalescing Sokka in the Chase of Jeong Jeong arc.

The outcome of Sokka's final battle in the Superior Gladiator League, namely a moment where Sokka and Azula more or less gave away their relationship's true nature to the public by raising their hands towards each other...

And now, spoiler territory! Some were by my choice, some by Patreon requests:

An important moment shortly after Sokka and Azula reunite.

Azula confronting her father, with a LOT of backup.

Xin Long's long-awaited freedom.

The aftermath of the final battle.

The full-blown confirmation of their relationship to the general Fire Nation populace.

Sokka, Azula and Hotaru's first night together

And the big final one is ACTUALLY Fic-to-Art #36 but hahaha woops I didn't post it here on time because it was super hard to finish since I had a LOT of things going on... but here it is now! :'D it's a glimpse VERY far into the future of this fic's timeline!

Alright, that should be enough talking and explaining. Some things are vague, some things aren't, but ultimately I really hope you guys will be looking forward to the scenes you haven't seen yet, and to Gladiator's eventual outcome.

So now... with all this being said and done, I'm gonna go take a trip down memory lane and watch my Tenth Anniversary video once more! Feel free to do the same thing if you'd like to commemorate the fic, I think it's a good way to experience Gladiator all over again, hahaha.

Thank you if you read all this, and if you read all THAT: 5 million word landmark, here we come! Thanks for hanging out with me across ELEVEN years of Gladiator!

[pumpkinrootbeer]

i do think it is legitimately very funny whenever someone tries to make the claim that lavabending is inherently a very slow subbending and therefore not good in a fight. specifically when using that argument against Bolin's skill as a bender.

Sure, I feel like in very specific instances with Ghazan that could be a fair argument to make. It takes him a moment to destabilize the Ba Sing Se wall and for him to kick up enough lava to destroy the airbending temple. (to the point I would argue that if Bolin had been versed in lavabending like he was in s4 he would have swept the ground with Ghazan), but in moments where he's actually in a fight his lava is incredibly quick.

Just the lava frisbee on its own is an incredibly quick move

But making that argument with Bolin in particular is absolutely batshit when outside of lavabending he is an incredibly quick fighter. I would say it is one of, if not the, most defining things about his fighting style. He moves very, very quickly and uncharacteristically agile for a earthbender. This is a known thing. Like

I am not the first person to say this but no other earthbender does backflips like he does. And THEN with lavabending he is just as quick if not more so

Bolin since season 1 has had an uncanny knack for bending incredibly fast, and his lavabending is no exception to that rule. It's honestly something that haunts my brain all the time because how quick he is with it low-key breaks the balancing? a little?? Like earthbending was always shown to be very strong but in turn it was slower than other types of bending, but with Bolin that doesn't really seem to be a hangup he has.

[thefunniestguy]

the biggest downside of new interests is the urge to cosplay. or buy merch in general. but especially cosplay bc i'm going to 2 cons and have cosplays planned for both of them i DON'T NEED TO DRESS UP AS DENJI.....

[lazyveran]

i am trying soo hard not to give the fire siblings more dragony traits. god

[ranger-kellyn]

it's like i want to get started on the next season of korra bc i'm excited since this is the season korra and asami start Noticeably Hanging Out A Lot More, but i think i have to just. go listen to music and think about asami instead dklsfhj

[luminousdryad]

Netflix Avatar writers if you're reading these here's some things you might want (need) to improve on in the next two seasons!

The dialogue. Please just use dialogue from the original show or improve on yours 'cause the audience does not need to be reminded of what the characters are going through with EVERY line they have, subtlety is key and some of the dialogue actually works! Some. Most of it does the characters a disservice

speaking of characters, you have the hang of Zuko and Iroh and Aang just needs to be more avoidant, but Sokka could benefit from allowing Ian to joke around and act like himself, Kiawentiio as Katara as well. Maybe direct them to be more expressive in their facials, contort their expressions more and move their eyebrows (I notice this is a thing in both Gordon and Dallas' acting styles and it's actually an effective way to translate facials from the cartoon)

Let Katara be both motherly and petty!!! soft introvert Katara is cute but like someone said, her anger is so central to her character and for the eventual Southern Raiders arc to work, she needs to BE angry and passionate! WRITE her that way!

Avoid another mishmash of storylines like the Omashu/Mechanist/Jet arc and the Hei Bai/Roku/Blue Spirit arc, it drags on too long. Unless it can be worked into a more coherent and well paced storyline, please, don't

fix your depiction of the spirit world please don't make it like Korra where everything is bright and vivid, Aang's Spirit World reflected the state of the world in the middle of war and that's why everything was under saturated and murky

Make Azula calmer and sneakier, not openly expressive. Again, this isn't the actor's fault, it's how she's written!

Less exposition more visuals

and that's about it unless people have things to add, thank you

[junotter]

sometimes researching for avatar redesigns has you 6 layers deep into the Japan's Meiji era allies wiki

[project-catgirlpillar]

Its been too Long since i Watched Avatar to have an educated opinion but i'll be honest azula being iredeemably evil seems Like a weird Take to me. Like she's fourteen

[phagodyke]

I will say while I've loved most of elden ring I'm really glad I'm down to just 2 more main boss fights (malenia + maliketh) before I start the endgame boss fights... whew 😮‍💨

[ljesaw]

IS IT YOUR OWN DESTINY? OR IS IT A DESTINY SOMEONE ELSE HAS TRIED TO FORCE ON YOU?

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #44: Zuko and Katara meet Hotaru

This time around, my Patrons chose these two scenes from the prompt I offered them... and that prompt was "Hotaru", our tiny firefly herself <3 drawing her continues to be a challenge pertaining how to ever make babies look cute, but I hope she looks alright this time!

These two moments take place not too far from the other, but it's worth noting that Katara and Zuko don't get to see Hotaru at the exact same time. Thus, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity... and draw Sokka and Azula introducing their little one to their respective siblings. This will be an emotional chapter (lots of those coming up), but I do hope that these moments of happiness will be a good way to soothe the pains caused by our very intense angst from the current chapters... to be specific, this is chapter 378, so we're not that far away!! Just gotta wait a bit longer!

A part of me took joy in this specific prompt... the fandom has an abundance of "uncle Sokka" and "aunt Azula" content, be it with them together or not, while Zuko and Katara (also while together or not) happen to be the ones who become parents first. This often relegates their siblings to a secondary role, and too often there's either implications or outright accusations that these two just aren't fit for parenting. I don't really remember seeing much, if any, content where Zuko and Katara are the uncle and aunt instead... thus, I figured this would be a fun switch-up that, ultimately, doesn't mean any of these four aren't fit for parenting (Zuko's already a dad, Katara will be a mother someday in the future!)! It just means that Zuko and Katara get to bond with little Hotaru and be supportive siblings! And everyone's happy and wholesome in the process!

At any rate! I hope you guys like it, and as ever, if you'd like to be part of the creative process behind these pieces, a $1 pledge makes you eligible for suggesting art prompts and voting for the winner, as well as reading Gladiator snippets 6 days before the next chapter releases!

[reikunrei]

there is honestly sooo much evidence that Brenner used Henry to "breed" Eleven and all of the other kids at Hawkins Lab:

we never learn anything about who El’s biological father is. it's never even posed as a really tangible question. all we know about Terry's pregnancy was that it was a surprise, and they were all worried about it since she was in the middle of doing these supposed "drug experiments" at the lab, which was also used as a cover for taking away El, blaming a "miscarriage."

if Terry was under the influence, she likely would not have ever been aware that she had been artificially inseminated.

Henry is of the right age for Brenner to have collected sperm samples from him. quick math with some science thrown in: El was 8 in 1979 and Henry was 32 (per the fandom wiki). therefore, when El was conceived, Henry would have been 23/24. we don't know the ages of the other kids at the lab, but there don't seem to be many who are older than Eleven. some of the kids who assaulted her looked like they could have been 15-18 (though this also depends on how much we're aging down the actors like the main cast lol). regardless, even if we ballpark one of the older kids being 18, Henry would have been 13/14 at the time of conception. people who produce semen can start developing sperm as soon as puberty begins, which can start as early as 11 years old. as icky as it feels, i would not put it past Brenner to take samples from Henry the instant he was viable.

the fact that there are age gaps between all of the kids is evidence that Brenner didn't want to raise any red flags about the pregnancies in his test subjects. it seems like anywhere from 1-4 kids at the lab could be around the same age, so Brenner would have played it safe by inseminating just a few women at a time to not raise any alarms.

Brenner admitted that Henry was difficult to control, so that would lead him to try and get "fresh" minds that he could mold from infancy so the kids wouldn't try to fight against him and would do exactly what he asked. he needed to be sure they'd have powers to begin with, though, so of course he tried taking from the only source he had.

this is less evidence, but just something the scene after Henry helps El and he gets physically punished for it reminds me of. him being tasered reminds me of livestock being physically reprimanded into behaving a certain way (ie. taser = cattle prod). and, hey, if you want good cattle, you breed your best bull.

and now, less quantifiable stuff to point at, but more evidence by way of the storytelling of the series... i talked about it in depth in this post where i discussed my personal thoughts and hopes for how they elaborate on the relationship between El and Henry, but to sum it up:

throughout the entire show, but especially in s4, there's been the discussion of "good vs evil" or "monsters vs superheroes" and how things are not so black and white, as Brenner put it. even Henry says that, no, Brenner was not a monster, he was just a mediocre man who was searching for purpose vicariously through his experiments.

this, i feel, is obviously leading to an understanding on Eleven's end that she has both done monstrous things and is still a good person at heart. she strives to be good, she pushes against being the "monster," but she will have to admit that, sometimes, she behaves in monstrous ways. however, that does not make her a "monster."

this could very easily jump into her being blood-related to Henry, worrying that it makes her more of a monster, before realizing that evil is not genetic. like, it's not that far of a stretch to place this narrative over blood relations while the kids at Hawkins Lab already all view themselves as "siblings" due to their upbringing.

on the opposite side of the coin, this feeds into the discussion that Henry is not a pure-blooded monster. not only will Eleven have to realize that she is capable of being a monster, but Henry is capable of not being a monster. he is, just like Brenner, simply a man who happened to find himself in fantastic circumstances.

[sonknuxadow]

The tragic sibs tournament is like. So funny at this point

Like what's worse 2 twins who were inseparable and got separated because of a white boy with religious issues or a 15yo seeing his sister get shot

im unfamiliar with a lot of the characters that got in so im not gonna make big judgements on All of them (i dont even know which ones youre talking about) but i feel like one sibling dying to protect the other is inherently more tragic than siblings who are both still alive and were like. mad at eachother for a while or were separated for a while but everythings fine now. which is the case with a lot of the siblings that were put on there. stories like that can be sad yes and im not saying those characters never had any problems at all, but thats not comparable to one of them dying?? do the people who are voting against shadow and maria just not know anything about sonic?