#and because I saw this in the ATLA fandom:

[allgremlinyaps]

also while I'm in a poking-the-beehive mood, I will at some point have to write a little meta blurb about the take that the creators of atla/tlok had a "fetishistic obsession" with "brutalizing" Korra. look. this is actually some very old 2010s discourse and while its a concern that I take seriously when people bring it up, I just dont think it holds much water. As someone for whom Korra is, like, THE character I'm protective about, I promise I'm super sensitive to any hint of mistreatment of her and... I think there really is a fundamental difference between how Korra and her struggles are treated in this show and how people like say COUGH Joss Whedon COUGH HACK treat female characters and their suffering... I dont have time to get into it tonight cus I need to go to bed so instead I'm just gonna let this fester here unaddressed like so many of my other possibly divisive posts LOL...

but like when I saw that discourse cropping up again in *2024* and VERBATIM to how it was said in 2013... . lol no... I'm not 11 anymore I can actually voice my opinions on this coherently now sdhshs (hopefully)

[somewhereincairparavel]

Can I just add that Zuko is much much more than his romantic relationships? Like forget Zutara, Maiko, Jinko, or even Zukka. They're all great ships, don't get me wrong, but the way Zuko picks himself up every time he falls and eventually ended up being close to azula's equal in the final Agni Kai, should be talked about more. You have to remember that he was considered a very dull kid compared to azula, his talents paled in comparision to her, he didn't shoot blue lightning like she did, yet he was able to sustain the fight for SO long that even azula began to feel inferior.

He was born as a "dull" kid with "no spark" according to ozai, he was a considerably slow learner compared to Azula, and had to work twice as hard as her to get to azula's "basic" level. He had to watch as his sister was being put in a pedestal and most likely had to listen to people badmouthing him as being "not worthy" enough to be a ruler.

Yet he never gave up?? It's easy to give up in his situation considering that he'd been belittled by his dad and sister his whole life, heck, he'd been PUBLICALLY humiliated by him. Yet he had the resilience to prove his worth.

He has a backbone of fucking steel that really inspires me tbh.

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

This has probably been said before but I really hate/get a laugh out of when people say shit along the lines of:

“Well yeah the Fire Nation was bad and all but they employed female soldiers so at least they weren’t sexist yk 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️”

Like,,,,, my brother in Christ,,,,,

I feel that I don’t even need to explain this but I will.

The Fire Nation from 1-100AG was an imperialist selfish conquest. They committed genocide over one nation, leaving a single survivor. They killed and tortured and traumatised millions of innocent citizens just at the notion that they were ‘spreading their glory’. It was a mass regime that took away culture and community from what was a beautiful and peaceful place to live. The Firelords from Sozin up until Zuko were cruel and autocratic and only wanted what their twisted view of love and fame was from the world. This all continued for one hundred motherfucking years and only came to a stop when the Avatar finally returned, only came to a stop when someone was brave enough, had nothing to lose, was so shamed and guilted by a genocide of their people that wasn’t even his fault. That’s what the Fire Nation was.

So to hear some people say shit like ‘well at least they weren’t sexist’….

Maybe they weren’t. Maybe they did employ female soldiers and treat them like people. But you know who they didn’t treat like people? The rest of the entire fucking world.

They dehumanised the airbenders, made them seem violent and warped their citizens views of them to make sure there was no empathy. They discriminated against the Water Tribes, thought them weak and inferior and didn’t even bother with the South after they’d wiped them out due to their own cockiness. They destroyed and damaged the Earth Kingdom, forever traumatising and devastating so many citizens to the point where some resorted to robbery and murder and crime.

So maybe the Fire Nation itself didn’t treat women unfairly, but they did to the rest of the world. It’s okay to make that as a general statement, but to use that as a justification for everything they did?

Completely fucking insane.

To bring some light to this, one of the responses I could’ve come up with when I saw shit like this was just:

[autisticallosaurus]

Also I really want to add: there is a lot of shows that I hold very dear to my heart and recently I‘d been wondering why those shows are all either at least ten years old or 90% comedy. But reading this made me realise it‘s because of filler episodes.

Like, let‘s take BBC Merlin as an example. I love that show so much but it can be downright heartbreaking at parts. If I‘m having a god awful day and I just need something, anything, that gives me love and comfort to calm me down I can always pop on one of Merlin‘s „filler“ episodes – because they‘ve got all the fun character dynamics I love so much and provide a familiar environment I can lose myself in without worry.

Now let‘s apply that to a more modern show: I loved Arcane a LOT but I would and could never turn it on if I was having a bad day. There‘s ALWAYS something stressful happening to the characters and you‘re always on edge because the plot is moving at light speed and you‘re constantly reminded of your favourite characters eventual fate (if you‘ve already watched it). It wouldn‘t calm me down, it‘d rile me up way more and make me even more upset. That‘s not to say it‘s bad, because I still really like it, it just stayed with me way shorter than shows that do have some breather episodes and casual points in their story, because even though it‘s exciting and fun it doesn‘t provide the same comfort, the same opportunity of escaping to a safe space that AtlA, or tng or Merlin can give you if you just know which episodes to watch.

And I think that‘s a damn shame. There‘s many good and fun shows out there that I liked watching, but ironically the thing keeping them from being great and becoming part of my all-time favourites is the lack of light-heartedness, the lack of seeing the characters relaxed for once, the lack of getting to see the character‘s true personalities, the lack of what back then was used as critique – the lack of fillers.

genuinely one of the worst things that’s happened to television in the last few years (exacerbated by streaming services) is death of Filler. going from 20 episodes to 8 because “we didn’t really need that episode where the main characters went to the beach right? it had no long lasting effect” but we DID!!! we needed to see how they act without the Big Bad Plot and to establish the dynamics between the characters and lay in the sun (do they forget sunscreen? how do they react to a thieving seagull? do they get buried in the sand or do they do the burying?). the plot isn’t everything. the action doesn’t hit as hard without the quiet moments. give us character development and our little scenes back

[rightwheretheyleftme]

I’m watching Korra book 2 and I have so many emotions about Aang’s neglect of his kids

After watching ATLA earlier this year, I started following a bunch of fan accounts and saw the same discourse regurgitated over and over again; One of the main points of discourse is whether Aang was bad father.

The discussions that I saw would always play out the same way. Aang’s detractors would say: “Aang didn’t take 2/3 of his kids on vacations. That’s neglect” and Aang’s defenders would reply “Aang is not a bad father! The places that he took Tenzin to were built for airbenders so Kya and Bumi wouldn’t have anything to do there!” And you know what? When I was reading those arguments, I thought that both sides had valid points and that this was a complex discussion.

Oh boy.

Now that I’m watching the episode, I realized that the people in this fandom are lying through their teeth. Aang only taking 1 out of his 3 kids on vacations is true, but the claim that that happened because Aang only visited places made for airbenders is completely false. Let’s recap the places that Aang and Tenzin went to:

- Kyoshi Island; to ride the elephant koi

- Ember Island; to build sandcastles on the beach

Now explain to me, why on earth does the majority of the fandom say that Aang went to airbender-only places? Kyoshi and Ember islands have 0 historical significance to the airbenders. These are just fun vacation spots, we know this because we saw the Gaang vacation at these places multiple times.

Moreover, according to Bumi, Aang was busy due to his job as the Avatar but he made time for Tenzin, only Tenzin. Kya agrees with this.

I’m so disgusted by this information. There is no way that a grown man in his 40s wouldn’t realize that taking only 1 of your kids on fun vacations and leaving the others behind is hurtful, the only possible conclusion that you can reach here is that Aang was intentionally trying to hurt his kids’ feelings.

And that breaks my heart.

This is not the Aang that I know and love. Aang is a fun, caring, accepting, and loving person. The behavior that I’ve described above is not only emotional neglect, it borders on abuse.

At first, I thought that maybe this storyline was meant to deconstrue the “The hero can do no wrong” cliché. Except that it ends with Kya and Bumi looking at a family picture and reminiscing about how happy they were. So no, there is no deconstruction; Aang is portrayed as a flawed but otherwise good father. Apparently, not loving 2/3 of your children enough to want to spend leisure time with them is a common flaw and not parental neglect, according to TLOK.

I feel so betrayed not only by the writers and the story that I love, but also by the fandom who silences victims of parental abuse when they are rightfully pissed off by Aang’s actions. I never wanted for Aang to be a neglectful father, but he is. Harassing people who are mad about his actions and calling them bitter Zutaras is a disgusting way to try to silence conversations about parental abuse.

Side note: Where tf was Katara while this was happening? Did she not take offense that her husband was neglecting 2/3 of her kids? Why didn’t Aang respect Katara enough to not play favorites with the kids she gave him?

[zuko-always-lies]

Who would be a threat to Azula, post-canon?

I'm writing this because the ATLA fandom has created a set of tropes about who would want Azula controlled, imprisoned, or even killed after canon, a set of tropes which I find questionable.

Let's work our way down the list of possible suspects:

(1) The Gaang in general: A lot of people think they would absolutely hate or at the least strongly dislike Azula, and other people think that they would be strongly sympathetic to her. I think both takes are wrong. They simply don't know much about her and don't have strong reasons to hate her or care about her. She's just another enemy to them; sure, she was a particularly dangerous enemy, but there isn't anything personal in it. Plenty of people have tried to defeat the Gaang; Azula is far from alone there. Why should they focus on her at all? Azula's existence has dynastic implications, but the Gaang are mostly from non-dynastic societies, so they're unlikely to pay close attention to those. The Gaang as a whole is unlikely to pressure Zuko to treat Azula harshly or to treat her with compassion. It's simply none of their business.

The one potential exception is Katara, since she both saw Azula break down and saw Azula shoot Aang.

(2) Mai and Ty Lee: it's hard for me to imagine these two bearing much fear of Azula or regarding Azula as a personal threat. The reality is that at Boiling Rock, after their betrayal, Azula had them in her absolute power and could have taken any revenge she wanted, and she didn't. After that, I think they wouldn't expect Azula to ever take personal revenge on themselves. Perhaps Mai might be worried about that threat that Azula poses to Zuko, but I can't imagine Ty Lee caring much about that possibility. Azula's relationship with those two was complicated at best, and it's even worse and more complicated after Boiling Rock, but I don't think her friends would be among those clamoring for harsh treatment for her.

(3) The Fire Nation elite: simply put, we're told that Azula was deeply admired among this class of people. They thought she was an ideal royal. Although she's probably made some enemies in her life in the court, as a group they generally like her, way better than they liked Zuko, even before Zuko allied with the Fire Nation's hereditary enemies and usurped the throne. These people are not going to be hating on Azula.

(4) Ordinary Fire Nation people: Again, we see little sign in canon that Azula had any particular negative relationship with ordinary Fire Nation people in general, or at the very least a relationship worse than other royals did. As a commander, she won two massive victories with limited to no casualties, which is noticeably different than the massive casualties (and failures) connected to the initiatives of Iroh, Zhao, and Ozai. Ordinary people might be aware of this. Moreover, within official propaganda, we know Azula is portrayed highly positively. Ordinary people have little reason to hate her or demand her punishment.

(5) The rest of the world: hot take, but I don't think Azula would be particularly signaled out for hate. The Northern Water Tribe and the Southern Water Tribe have little reason to care about her in particular; she has little to no connection to the campaigns against them. Even for the Earth Kingdom, Azula only participated in the last six months or so of a 100 Years long war. Her only notable action in this time regarding the Earth Kingdom was conquering Ba Sing Se. It's a big deal, no doubt, although the real story of what happened is so embarrassing that it might be something that the Ba Sing Se elite would prefer suppressed. More to the point, Azula actually lied about what exactly went down, and very few people would know the real story. In the story she gives, and in the story Fire Nation propaganda would have been sure to spread (until Zuko's defection, at least), she and Zuko played, with the help of their friends, an equal role in the conquest of the city. The EK leadership has little reason to single Azula out as the font of all evil while ignoring Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee.

Some people think that the EK would hate Azula for her (limited) role in Ozai's plan to burn down the Earth Kingdom. I'm not so sure. Even ignoring the question of how the EK leadership could actually find out the particulars of the planning for Sozin's Comet, Azula's role was actually far less than that of many other people. Equally important, I'm not sure that anyone would particularly care about Ozai's plan. No one (aside from some Fire Nation soldiers) ended up dying, and all he managed to do was burn a couple acres of forest. Compared to the century of brutal Fire Nation warfare complete with endless atrocities in which many people actually died, I'm not sure that anyone would fixate strongly on an attempted atrocity that proved so ineffectual.

Also, it's notably that Azula was only outside the Fire Nation for a few months and did little to make enemies, while Zuko spent three years (violently?) searching for the Avatar. If anyone has made a lot of personal enemies out there, it would be him. He was even indirectly involved in Princess Yue's death!

All of that being said, the NWT and the EK might find Azula's claim to the Fire Nation throne interesting. Given their likely lack of trust for Zuko and his new regime(since the Fire Nation just spent the last 100 years attacking them), it's possible that one or both of them might want Azula as a "hostage," but really so that they control someone with a claim to the throne they can use as a pretender should their relationship with Zuko collapse.

(6) Ozai and any supporters he has: These people may or may not distrust Azula after the war, but they're unlikely to hate her anywhere as much as they hate Zuko.

(7) Iroh: Iroh evidently strongly dislikes and even hates Azula, and has little, if any, compassion for her. Azula's very existence is a threat to the rule of Iroh's golden "child" Zuko, so it's understandable that some people think Iroh would push for the harsh treatment Azula after the war. It's a trope that I've seen used in a few fanfics.

On the other hand, Iroh is quite lazy and irresponsible, and ends up abandoning Zuko at the end of the series to pursue hedonism. Screwing over Azula and being actively malicious to her sounds like work and effort, and this is the dude who couldn't even be bothered to show up at Zuko coronation. If he was actually going to involve himself with Zuko's government after the war, you'd think he would actually bother living in the Fire Nation. Thus, I think the odds of Iroh having much direct effect on Azula's treatment are minimal.

(8) Zuko: Due to the way that Zuko and Azula were raised, Zuko has been in conflict with Azula for a long time. He has had a very negative relationship with her. Moreover, Firelord Zuko post-canon is in a shaky position post-canon. He usurped the throne after allying with the hereditary enemies of the Fire Nation. There are likely to be many, many people who are unhappy with that, and who view Zuko as an illegitimate ruler. Azula, with her claim to the throne and her popularity, is a massive threat to Zuko and his regime. Even ignoring the strong negative feelings Zuko has for Azula, treating her poorly is quite rational for him. Unfortunately for her, the person most likely to treat her poorly, and the person most interested in doing so, is the person in direct power over her.

A lot of fics play with the idea of having Azula be controlled, imprisoned, abused, threatened with execution, etc. post-canon, but want to have their cake and eat it, too. They want terrible things to happen to Azula, but they want it to not be Zuko's fault. The reality is that Zuko is the one with the motive to treat Azula poorly and with the opportunity to treat her poorly, far more than any other character.

[returnerfop]

I really love aus and things where characters are more an amalgam of all their iterations than a static single thing. Where the characters become like people not just because of how much depth they have but based on how much and what part of someone or some work you’ve engaged with. That’s part of why I love fandom as an extension of this mindset because now the internal differences in perception of a work or character becomes tangible when a fan creates fan work with their own interpretation. While all fandom has this tendency to branch and web, the fact that multiverse stories give an internal logic that justifies noncanon stories being equally true allows so much more creativity to flourish without a reason to hold up canon above all other interpretations

I love you fandoms with several continuations. I love you fandoms with conflicting canons. I love you fandoms with incomplete lore, I love you fandoms with inconsistant lore, I love you fandoms with too much lore to make sense. I love you fandoms with bad or weak worldbuilding. I love you fandoms that don't think of The Implications. I love you fandoms of reboots and remakes, I love you fandoms of video games, I love you fandoms with so many versions you cannot possibly tell what came first. I love you naturally accuring multiverses, and fandoms where the AU is an inherent part of the franchise. I love you character that have had countless looks and personalities and stories but stay the same at their core. I love you fandoms that force the fans to pick and choose. I love you fandoms that have a million slightly different canons by design.

[xwonderlandresidentx]

I feel like I've been seeing a lot more posts about how both the Kat//ng and Zutara fandoms should stop fighting and tolerate each other more, and while I understand, and to an extent, agree with the sentiment, it bothers me a little because these posts tend to make it out like both fandoms are equally as toxic, when in my experience, that simply isn't true.

I am a multishipper, and even though I mostly just participate in the fandoms for my absolute favorites, I still enjoy lots of different ships, including ships that "contradict" each other.

In AtLA, even though Zutara is my favorite now, I also used to ship Kat//ng. Kat//ng used to be my favorite, and only ship for the series that I actively engaged with. I saw the appeal of Zutara (and others), but for a long time my opinion on it was "it's not canon, so why bother?" and I mostly just ignored it.

But one of the biggest reason I stopped enjoying interacting with the KA side of the fandom was because I saw a vastly disproportionate amount of other KA shippers going out of their way to harass Zutara shippers. And I don't mean simply talking badly about the ship itself, or the characters involved, but personal attacks against the real life people who ship Zutara.

Have I seen Zutara shippers harass Kat//ngers? Yes, of course. But not nearly as much as the other way around. Literally not even half as much. And not just here on Tumblr, but Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Deviantart. All across the internet, I saw KA shippers constantly badmouthing Zutara and Zutara shippers, even in the comments of Kat//ng art and fics, completely unprompted.

It bummed me out, and while it isn't the reason I stopped liking the ship itself, it did make me feel uncomfortable interacting with it's fandom. Kat//ng shippers are, ironically, a big part of the reason I started actively shipping Zutara. Because after seeing the way they went on about it and it's fandom, I thought "Surely, Zutara and the people who like it can't be that bad." So I took a deeper look at the ship and it's fandom, and.... I was right. They weren't as bad as other Kat//ngers had told me they were. Not even close.

[justzutara]

I recently saw a post that said Katara and Aang needed to kiss at the end of ATLA to solidify Ka/taang because their dynamic didn't change throughout the show and without that kiss, their fate as a couple would have been ambiguous. It reminded me of a post I made the day after the finale originally aired saying that I wished instead of the kiss, Katara and Aang had been joined on the balcony by the rest of the gaang so they could all look out over the world they'd saved together. At the time, I was speaking as a Zutara shipper looking for peace in the fandom. Now, I realize that my proposed ending would have worked perfectly from a narrative perspective for exactly the above reason.

[feralnightwing]

the only show where i am okay with fanon completely overshadowing (lol) canon is danny phantom. like we took this at best pg-13 cartoon about a ghost boy and his adventures and turned it into a horrifying story of tragedy and pain.

the portal accident? let's expand on that: he was electrocuted to death and had a portal to another dimension open on him. the agony he felt as he died is something horrific and unforgettable.

his parents are ghost hunters that hunt his ghost half haha! no. his parents are ghost hunters that are hunting their dead-is-he-dead-is-he-alive? child. they want to capture him for study. danny is constantly living in fear of parents because they want to "tear him apart, molecule by molecule." he is afraid of his parents discovering his secret: would it be better if they didn't know he was their son as they vivisect him? or knowing and doing it anyway?

14 year old superhero! boom pow he punches bad ghosts! so fun! wrong. he is a 14 year old atlas, stuck underneath the weight of protecting his home and the people in it. there are people who hate him, but it's okay because... because. he fends off anyone and anything that tries to harm those under his protection at the cost of himself. it hurts and he hurts but what else can he do? he gives up on his dreams of seeing the stars as phantom takes him away from school, so can continue fighting and keep people (except himself) unharmed.

the giw are so funny because they're so incompetent. but what if they weren't? what if they managed to catch him? what if fenton goes missing and phantom is never seen again? stuck in a tiny cell; he's not human. he is lesser and thus it's okay to tear him apart and put him back together over and over again. he is a shell of himself, truly dead despite being alive.

i could go on and on and on. my point stands: this fandom has developed something so intricate from a cartoon that would've otherwise been lost to time. we saw ideas and concepts that could be fleshed out into a truly engaging and gruesome story and did it! that's crazy!

this show by itself wouldn't be anything great, but fanon just made it so much better (by A Lot). danny phantom fanon is better than canon, and that's the truth

[lace-tf]

So much art sphere discourse always makes me scratch my head like “Why are we policing what independent hobbyists—many of whom are young, working-class (or impoverished) queer folk, let alone QPOC—do for free in their own time?” Some people seem to unironically want to bring back Eating Your Veggies or throw around allegations of unconscious bigotry based on confirmation bias instead of just like… Seeking out the content / people they enjoy without having to put others down to do it.

I have strong preferences and principles myself, and I’ll avoid people whose vibes I dislike, or whose values I disagree with. But I’m not better, wiser, or more worldly than other people for doing this 😭 A hot topic in the OC community right now is “if you don’t regularly draw ‘female’ characters, you should examine your internalised misogyny problem!” and it’s so, like… Maybe consider why many transmasc or non-binary creators might connect more to non-woman characters? Consider that implying—unless they force themselves to represent femininity and womanhood in their creations, possibly triggering dysphoria—they’re bigoted is very unkind?

(Also, how are we even defining ‘female’? I recently saw someone say that if your whole cast is “men and male-aligned” they don’t think you’re worth interacting with. Where does that place GNC or masc women? Butches who don’t use she / her or don’t identify as women? What about genderfluid and non-binary men or mascs who use she / her or present femininely?)

Obviously you guys don’t see it here on my fandom blog, but I love my femme OCs and draw / post them regularly. Yet, this wasn’t the case when I was younger—as a transmasc* person, I wholly gravitated towards writing and drawing men / mascs. I liked when my peers liked the guys I created using my own experiences and feelings about masculinity, especially when IRL was so hostile towards my identity.

At the time I thought—and do still think, even though things have gotten much better—that it was also just kind of hard to find compelling female characters in mainstream media. I had plenty of them I liked (Xion from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Midna from Twilight Princess, GLaDOS from Portal, Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, Azula from ATLA, and The Other Mother from the Coraline film among them), but they were few and far between unless you went out of your way to find them. This was both because many big creators or corporations neglected developing the female characters in their properties, and because… There weren’t many female characters in most IPs to begin with.

And this makes me think a bit about the original culture of fujoshi in Japan, where women* fixated on M / M relationships due to 1) the freedom men were allowed in Japanese (and largely Asian) society, and 2) the distance between those fictional men and the female creator’s lived experiences and desires (which may feel too painful or shameful to delve into directly). Fujoshi used male characters as a vessel to explore their identities, emotions, sexuality, etc…

So like. I dunno. There are plenty of reasons for people to prefer playing with masculine dolls that have nothing to do with “hating women.” And I think if you want to celebrate femme characters more, and surround yourself with creators who feel the same way, you should just do that instead of being weird towards people who love masc ones.

At the end of the day, independent small artists who post their little guys FOR FREE do not owe you anything but common courtesy. They aren’t being paid to be a bastion of representation; they aren’t a corporation that profits off proliferating mass media and therefore has the responsibility to use its reach to spread tolerance. They’re literally just randos online.

[championofthefade]

Warning!! This post may contain spoilers for those who haven't played Veilguard yet! This turned out a lot longer than I thought, but I'm discussing the theory that Rook is a spirit.

I know that there are issues with the writing and any theory is not created to make those issues get swept under the rug. This theory is meant to be fun, and I would like to talk about it.

I'm thinking about the "Rook is a spirit" theory I saw on twitter/x. This theory often rotates in my head often, and I think that it's so interesting.

Like, listen. I understand that narratively it would be complicated to insert into what we know is Dragon Age Veilguard. Someone brought up the fact that it would be a strange thing because wouldn't Emmrich know that Rook is a spirit the way that he knows Lucanis has Spite?

But the theory that cadhalash paints for us is the fact that Varric was for Rook what the Rook is for the companions.

"Help them with their personal problems and talk to them about their feelings, but never ask Rook how they're doing. Or if they need anything. In codex memos we learn the companions have potlucks and book clubs but Rook is not invited. We learn at the end that Varric wasn't really there... What if Rook wasn't either? There's tons of chat about this idea now with other examples of Rook being compared to a spirit in the game. Very interesting and fun!" -cadhalash

There could be the very huge chance that Emmrich would recognize Rook as a spirit, but what about a spirit made flesh?

Think about Cole's banter with Blackwall, for example:

Blackwall: How does a spirit become flesh anyway?

Cole: I don't know. How does a Warden become Grey?

It may seem like a reach, but to me, it makes sense. Cole chose to become human because that was the shape that would help, which he says in a banter with Varric.

Varric: So, Kid, why human?

Cole: It was the shape that would help.

Varric: Huh. Most people don't pick a shape. I guess I was hoping for something deeper with that question.

Cole: It had to be him. But harmless. The him he wanted that wouldn't hurt.

Varric: Well that's... deeper. I think.

You may be thinking, "Hey, Atlas. That might be a little reaching, don't you think?"

Well, yes. Applauding the people that caught onto Solas in the Dragon Age Fandom years and years ago now because you all were on the nose about him being a worm (spirit). But considering what we know from Dragon Age as a whole, it could be possible that Rook is too a spirit of a different kind.

We know that Emmrich can sense Spite. We know that Emmrich can talk directly to Spite. But what if Rook was more like Cole? Would Emmrich's ability to speak to spirits or sense them so close apply?

I would say, that depends on the type of Spirit that Rook would be, right? This has a lot of wiggle room for what you think your Rook would be as a spirit?

From the Wiki:

Spirits lack imagination and creativity; everything they make is based off something made by mortals. Whether benevolent or malevolent, most spirits cannot help but mine a Fade visitor's mind for their thoughts and memories. They then mimic the pieces of life they see by shaping the Fade into various realms that cater to the unconscious desires of the living, providing experiences to the sleeping that become their "dreams."

And the Spirits listed:

Command, Compassion (Cole), Courage, Curiosity (Manfred), Duty, Faith (Wynne), Honor, Hope, Justice(Anders), Learning, Love, Perseverance, Purpose, Valor, Wisdom (Solas).

(We know from Veilguard that Spite is referred to as a spirit of Determination/ mentioned in a data mine, Passion.)

For the sake of the theory, let's say that Emmrich would get an inkling. A prickling feeling even that he knows that there's a spirit near by and would chalk it up to being Manfred because he would know that, right? But then there's Spite. How big of an energy read does Emmrich get from Lucanis to immediately go, 'Yeah, you've got a tag along and I'm sorry it wasn't a willing possession'.

So, how would it get unnoticed by Emmrich, the resident Fade Expert?

Well... Reading further down said wiki page, we find this:

As Rhys puts it in a dialogue with Cole, "being important makes you real". (Asundered reference, I believe?)

Being important makes you real. Rook becomes the 'leader' when Varric gets hurt at the beginning of the game. For the entirety of the game, as Rook, you have to build a team to fight ancient elvhen gods. Rook has to be what Varric was, pulling people that Solas didn't know into trying to save the world from going to shit.

Rook was given a purpose. To save the world.

Regardless of how Rook is perceived, they are in charge. They are in a position that they didn't want, probably was expecting to go home after dealing with this Dread Wolf that they were recruited to stop, and now... They're given a role that would make them important. And as before being important makes you real.

Could Rook be something akin to Cole rather something like Spite or other spirits that we know in Veilguard?

Here's another thing: Solas.

Yes, we are talking about the egg. I'll try to keep this as coherent as possible. We know that Solas didn't want to come from the Fade to be a human (another discussion for another time). We learn that Solas was a spirit of Wisdom, whose Wisdom was twisted into a weapon and forced to do things that stripped Solas of what he wanted to keep for himself. To remain as Wisdom.

This makes it interesting if we add to the fact that Rook could choose to outsmart Solas. Because at that pivotal moment, Solas was Pride. On his pride, it was always the sword he would fall on.

Say what you will about the trick ending, but this is something that shouldn't be glossed over. Being outsmarted by Rook, Solas says, "I am a fool... Who has met his match."

Met his match. This also might be another case of reaching, but it's interesting phrasing from someone who tells clever half-truths and never quite lies. Being tricked by Rook out of pure wits alone. Something that he thought he succeeded in.

What does this have to do with spirits?

Solas, who was brought out of the Fade to take a body to join the elves in a fight against the Titans. Solas, who crafted the lyrium dagger to sunder the Titans from their dreams in hopes of stopping the war. Solas, who created the blight from the Titans' severed dreams. Solas, who started a rebellion against the ancient elvhen gods who abused their power.

Rook, who was brought onto a job to stop the Dread Wolf. Rook, who disrupted the ritual in hopes of stopping Solas. Rook, who started a double blight from freeing these ancient elvhen gods. Rook, who has to build a team to stop these ancient elven gods.

I would say, in spirit, Rook is a mirror of Solas. I'm not saying Rook is wise like Solas or anything like that. But there is something about Rook being Solas' mirror that could fold into Rook being a Spirit of Reflection.

This is just something that comes to mind. Rooks helps Taash discover their identity, helps Emmrich deal with his fear of mortality, helps Neve protect Dock Town, helps Bellara with Cyrian, helps Harding with the Titans, helps Davrin with the griffons, and helps Lucanis with Spite. (Generalized, all choice dependent.) These are reflections of the companions. These are reflections of the people that Rook had brought together to save the world.

It could easily be written off because we're not entirely sure how many spirits there are, but I digress.

Of course, that too would beg the question of how it would apply to all Rooks from all backgrounds?

Let's take a look at the ones that make me think.

Shadow Dragon Rook

The foundling Rook was adopted into a military family and joined the Shadow Dragons to fight from the shadows for change in Minrathous.

We learn in a dialogue with Tarquin that a Shadow Dragon Rook was found on a battlefield by the Mercar family.

Now with this little bit of dialogue, it makes me (personally) think back to what Solas says about him walking the Fade and seeing ancient battlefields where spirits reenact wars from the other side of the Veil. There could have been spirits that were there during this battle where SD Rook was found. (It also kinda reminds me of Loki being found by Odin and raised in Asgard. Don't come for me, I've only watched the movies.)

For the sake of theory, say that a spirit that would have looked over a SD Rook before they were found by the Mercars. Thinking about it, it reminds me of how Cole (the mage) was watched over by Compassion and then Compassion took a shape that would help.

A spirit (in Spite's case) can be drawn to a person, yes? As Determination, we know that Spite was drawn to Lucanis' determination to live or something of the like. (I will live to spite you, essentially.)

Mourn Watch Rook

Discovered by undead inside a Grand Necropolis tomb as an infant, Rook was raised by Mourn Watch necromancers, eventually joining the order.

Relating back to the Muttering Undead that is in a coffin on the path from Emmrich's recruitment:

Stumbling… The steps. Skeletons saw… Oh no choice. Had to be brave… Had to be brave… Too late to cry��� Save the (girl, boy, baby) with the grave.

This is a little more open ended. We know nothing about Ingellvar beyond that. We don't know where they came from, only that they were found inside a tomb. It makes me scratch my head.

We know that it's a custom in Nevarra that a spirit could reanimate a skeleton, essentially, and bring some part of their consciousness from back across the Veil. We see that Manfred, when you choose to bring him back, is brought back from across the Veil and returns with magic.

Sure, it's not the same thing as building a body out of Titan's blood, but the idea that the spirits that became the Evanuris are the best of the physical and the Fade offers up to the idea that they were going to have magic anyway when they crossed the Veil. Only lyrium gave them more power than I think that they knew what to do with.

I make this point from the perspective that Mourn Watchers are typically necromancers. They are almost always close to places where the Veil is thin enough for a spirit to come across and possessing a body in a sense.

When it comes to the Muttering Undead, I don't know who that could have been or what they were doing in the Necropolis. But it's clear that they were determined to save Mourn Watch Rook, and they were the one that put Rook in the tomb.

This one makes me scratch my head because it's so broad and vague. For the theory that Rook is a spirit, this is the origin/background/faction that lends itself to the idea because in Nevarra they revere and respect their dead with the ability to raise the corpses to continue contributing to the Grand Necropolis. But we're talking about a wee baby Rook growing up in the Necropolis. Could it be possible that the saving of Rook is more spirit in a tomb?

The last things I would like to touch on.

Dialogue with Harding (her romance I believe?) :

Harding: I've seen spirits leave the Fade and become real people. (COLE!!!)

Rook: You think I could be a spirit in disguise?

Harding: It isn't malicous. They're just drawn to strong emotion. And then...one day, real people.

Rook: I think I'm really me, and I'm really here.

This is why I mentioned Cole earlier.

And the absence of Rook in the Veilguard mural is brought up in the theory as well. Rook's absence on the mural strikes me as odd. Because yes, the companions would be a main focus in the stories that would follow them. But what about Rook, the person who brought these vastly different people together and saved the world? Not there. Were they ever there?

Much to think about.

[myhyperfixationisiforgot]

The ATLA renaissance shifting the fandom from Zutara towards Zukka without actually changing the ship dynamic is so fucking funny because most of the time it functions pretty well. However today I saw another 'oh Sokka had this forbidden crush on Zuko from the beginning' and. Look. What happened there? Seriously, did we watch the same show? Fucking nobody likes Zuko from the get-go! He's an acquired taste at best. Jet notably falls for Zuko at first sight under explicitly false pretenses. Sokka has both a brain and a decent understanding of Zuko's early role in the Fire Nation. He would not say that.

[nono-bunny]

Losing my mind because it somehow took me literally until right now to realize that a Zuko and Katara encounter is a part of every season finale of ATLA, like, literally, what the fuck? And all of those are strong jumping off points for fics to boot, like???

"You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" is like. Such a big deal in the fandom, and while it tends to feature in all kinds of fics, it perfectly encapsulates the enemies phase in the enemies (to friends) to lovers of these two. An unreasonably sexually charged line too, wtf were they on about with that scene if not ship bait?

Fics diverging from the crystal catacombs are like. Such an obvious and natural evolution of that scene- it's the "something awful happens there, but what if it didn't?", I think. It was, in fact, the first fic I went out looking for- was rewatching the show and once again felt the accute disappointment of what could've been, and I wanted to read what could happen if it had. Ultimately I think the show made the right choice there, because Zuko getting what he always wanted and realizing it's all wrong is important, but it did rob us of him being a part of the gaang for longer, and that makes me sad.

Then there's the final agni kai.... Literally how can you watch that one without expecting them to kiss after? Genuinely don't get it, impossible. Peak Zutara. Possibly the single best fight of the show, and undoubtedly the best finale scene. A perfect resolution to the bond between those two- that gets completely thrown away to give Aang his woman shaped prize. Of course it's also a popular jumping off point for plot divergent fics!

Genuinely wild that they have THREE romantic coded finals, and yet they don't even end up together. Kataang and Maiko are barely even a factor in the first two season finals, too! Mai literally doesn't exist in the first, and in the second is very obviously representative of Zuko making a mistake. Literally cannot think of a Kataang scene in the first season finale (but I might just be forgetting? I obviously do not care for that one, lmk if there is one and I'll add it, but me being unable to think of one feels a bit telling given how much I hate those scenes), and the big thing for them in the second one is literally recreating a pose evoking a mother and son relationship, which is a big fat F on the shipping factor if I ever saw one.

"Kataang is baked into the show's DNA"- shut the fuck up, Bryke, and maybe have a look at what you ACTUALLY did with it. This isn't the kind of thing that you can just brush off... Especially because those are all scenes people associate with big emotional plot points of your show, and guess who's doing the heavy lifting there? It's definitely not Aang, that's for sure.

[deyisacherry]

Nexus died, he died as a villain and he died as if he was,,, nothing.

Nothing at all for anyone except Sun.

And I can't understand how after having given us a character who ALWAYS, ALWAYS was there for his family and was managing to meet the expectations of not only his family but the fandom, he was massacred in such a way that he went from mourning and depression FOR NOT FEELING GOOD ENOUGH to... what?

A joke. A villain with a rushed plot, cruel and butt of jokes.

Because it's fun, right? Haha, emo, haha, edgy teenager, haha, he only became evil because Solar died... of course.

The character who loved, protected and cared for his family and was WILLING TO GIVE HIS LIFE, deserves to be treated as a joke even after the pain he went through. That's totally logical.

And of course it was only because of Solar's death! Because he's a liar! Nobody had expectations about him! He wasn't a replacement! Nobody was forcing him to be better or equal to Old Moon! Nobody in the family stopped trying to interact with him because he wasn't Old Moon! Nobody made him feel like he couldn't achieve anything! Nobody told him that if necessary he should die again if it meant keeping his family safe!

And of course it's ridiculous that he spent so much time with Solar! Because Solar was by no means the only one besides Earth who knew him and accepted him for who he was AND NOT for who he used to be! It's ridiculous that he considered the only one who, despite his own traumas with his own Moon, was never afraid of him, rejected him, or judged him as part of the family!

He was not at all vilely betrayed by a guy who HAVING THE OPTION TO KILL HIM, decided to "help" him, "cure" him. He was not at all judged for not trusting him when he acted suspicious. And he definitely wasn't betrayed with the excuse that millions of people were being saved while he had to watch as the only person he could ever feel HIMSELF with disappeared in his arms.

After all, EVERYTHING he did and had to go through, after seeing him with the family for basically a year... was simply taken to fill the missing space of a villain for the plot, completely throwing away every thought, advancement and development he had gained over time. Turned without any logic to follow up into a cruel person who doesn't care about anything. Even with the brief moments of clarity he had, even with the small moments in which we saw how much pain he kept for never having felt enough for the family.

Even after all, he died as a villain. Because it's logical, right? It's logical that the only one who didn't have a chance for redemption among ALL the villains we've seen on this show, was Nexus.

And it was all "his own free will"

Because what a big lie to say that it was DARK SUN who manipulated everything. Surely he didn't start messing with New Moon after he GRABBED HIS ANKLE AND YANKED HIM TO HIS DIMENSION. Surely he wasn't the one who slowed down Eclipse so he wouldn't work on bringing Solar back faster. He definitely wasn't the one who took advantage of Nexus being in the worst mental and emotional state (even though he felt regret) and took him away, and showed him the dragon, and the negative star power.

What a lie to say that if it weren't for Dark Sun, Nexus would never have become this way. That if it weren't for him, this large percentage of "patterns" (denied by Atlas) wouldn't keep happening.

Because it's more logical to say that it was always his decision and fault.

Nexus became a villain because he wanted to and not because thousands of reasons forced him to hate himself and hate everything he knew.

Nexus was worse than any other villain, even though he was the one who caused the least damage among all the others. He's the only one who didn't deserve redemption.

That is, without a doubt, the only valid opinion.

/very sarcastic.

Whether Nexus will come back or not, at this point I don't care anymore. If they will bring him back as something worse I'd rather not see it. If this is his final death, it's my last sign to take a break from TSAMS and LAES.

I said it, I repeated it many times(?) I'm tired of it. The massacre of a character I really adored happened even before his death.

And this is not for debate. Nor is it hate to the writers/VA's. It's my point of view and reaction to what they did with Nexus.

Probably, I hope, the last post about it.

[crienselt]

So a few days ago I saw someone (elsewhere) questioning Zutara fans’ excitement about the scarf scene. It wasn't a mean comment, more general curiosity. And well, I didn't have time to get my thoughts out then. But they haven't gone away, so I'm getting them out here:

Here’s what everyone need to understand about Zutara shippers. We were baited baaaad during the initial run of the show–from the magazines to the shorts to the trailers and how they were cut. And Zuko and Katara’s relationship on the show certainly underwent a lot of development and featured objectively emotional–if not overtly romantic–moments between the two. We were well fed, and we had reason to hope. Right up to the end, we had reason to hope.

The shipping wars were the shipping wars, of course, with all the usual tensions; there are always going to be overzealous fans of each (and any) pairing willing to get toxic. Generally, I think Kataang fans were always jealous of Zutara’s popularity and Zutara fans, post finale, were jealous of Kataang’s, well, canon status. But really it operated much the same as any other large fandom’s shipping wars.

And then came Bryke and the panel where they showed and mocked Zutara fan art, some of which had been created by teens if not straight up children. Then came their, “Come on, kids! It was never going to work. Zutara is just dark and intriguing.”* And the pièce de résistance, their telling Zutara shippers (specifically girls/women) that they were doomed to have failed romantic relationships. Like, what? The thing with the art was arguably cruel, and the rest of it was oh, so condescending. Just all around not well done. 

The after effect was that Zutara went from being simply a fanon pairing to a wrong pairing. The ATLA fandom at large became a far more hostile place for Zutara fans, who were now more commonly deemed delusional and viewed as lesser fans. The vitriol only got worse when the show came to Netfilx and the next wave of antis rolled up with their co-opting of legitimate socio-political terms to paint Zutara not just as wrong but morally corrupt if not evil. It’s all very puritanical.**

So Zutara fans need to be reminded that we weren’t delusional, and we aren’t alone. It’s why it means so much to know that Dante Basco and Mae Whitman shipped their characters. And that so many other VAs came out as Zutara supporters too: Jack De Sena, Michaela Jill Murphy, Grey DeLisle, Janet Varney--even the cabbage man. For it to be revealed that it was discussed in the writers room; that the writers fought over it; that it WAS a canon possibility. (And that writers Joshua Hamilton and John O’Bryan are perfectly comfortable admitting their preference for Zutara.) To know that the Elizabeth Welch Ehasz described Zuko and Katara as an “Avatar-style Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” in the script for The Southern Raiders, and used the phrase “Zutara-feuling synchronicity and cooperation” to describe their action sequences. To see Giancarlo Volpe, a Kataanger, admit Zutara might been the better pairing in retrospect and choose a quiet scene between them (to see their “chemistry”) as what he’d most look forward to in the live action adaptation. It’s why we cling to the artwork done by Korean animation director. We aren’t delusional. We aren’t alone.

But try telling that to the general fandom, right? Most are ignorant of a lot of this, particularly Hamilton and O’Bryan’s revelations re: the writers room. A lot of Zutara fans don't even seem to know. But being baited by Netflix on their official accounts? Oh, people see that. And we are reminded in a big way that we aren't delusional and we aren't alone. And everyone else has to remember it too.

So, of course, we're having fun clowning over the scarf scene. And I think most Zutara fans know we are clowning. I don't think most expect to get canon Zutara in live action because of one little scene or the fact that their Netflix icons are facing each other. (I headcanon that that was totally the doing of Zutara shipper on staff, though, lol. Because there are a lot of us, and we are everywhere.)

And this is okay. Zutara has been doing just fine as a fanon ship. Meanwhile, NATLA might actually do Kataang justice. It always worked better as a future ship. (Really all the pairings do. But I especially don't ever need to see another 12 year old kissing let alone making out, in animation or live action, ever again.) There's a reason Padme and Anakin don't get together in Phantom Menace, after all. Also, there's always the chance they could give us Dante's or Mae's headcanon of them basically suppressing their feelings and choosing duty over love/right person-wrong time. And the odds of getting some more moments to clown over are high enough. 

Anyway, TLDR: Zutara has been made to feel like an out-of-nowhere crack ship and the live action crumbs remind us that it is not. And this is at least partially why we are enjoying it. (Because, also, it's just fun!)

*Side tangent: I’ve never gotten this dark and intriguing comment. Even during Season 1, the height of the capture fic era, Zutara was always a ship fundamentally about hope, predicated on Zuko's redemption. (Back in the day, there were also plenty of antis arguing that there was no way Zuko would ever be one of the gaang.) And they say “intriguing” like it’s a bad thing? Are we not supposed to be interested in the relationships of their characters???

**There have been some very good think pieces written lately on late stage capitalism and consumption as morality. Worth googling.