#and don’t talk to me about korra and it’s arcs

[zaddyazula]

i’m a pretty hardcore zuko redemption arc stan, but my time on tumblr and rewatching the show has really shown me a lot of problems with it.

i know this is a pretty big topic on atla tumblr, so i thought why don’t i shove my opinion in everyone else’s face :).

first of all, my belief of a redemption arc is when somebody redeems themself by changing their actions and ideologies. zuko does a lot for the whole actions part of it, but ultimately nothing to challenge the xenophobic, imperialistic ideology that he has been brought up to believe, as well as the belief that the fire nation royals are better than anyone else.

sure, zuko says he lost himself a lot, but he never mentions anything about his previous beliefs, which can be seen regularly through the first two seasons, particularly season 1. constantly calling katara a peasant; calling others filth: the list goes on and on for all the occasions he has displayed some sort of belief of superiority towards others.

yes, he freed appa; yes, he went to rescue hakoda and suki; yes, he went with katara to get revenge on yon rha - it doesn’t mean anything if nothing has changed in his mind.

he can help them all he wants, but if he still has the ideology of a racist, xenophobic and classist prince, what is the difference between banished zuko and fire lord zuko?

[side note: obviously, by the end of the show, zuko doesn’t share the beliefs that his father and sister held, but you can see him demonstrate them very clearly in some of his flashbacks and a majority of season 1.]

take this horrific analogy: if someone you hate (and i mean absolutely fucking despise) goes out of their way to help you and try to reconcile with you, and you do so but still hate them with your entire fucking soul and nothing you thought about them has changed - then what is even the point of reconciling? if your ideologies have not changed, in my book, it doesn’t matter what you do, if you save their life, whatever other bullshit you could do for them, then you can’t redeem yourself.

imagine being in some sick blood feud, but you guys decide not to fight anymore, what fucking progression is there if one of you then goes: “by the way, i really fucking hate you. i also killed your entire family. :)” there’s none. nothing changes except for the fact one person’s entire family is dead.

an example of a good redemption arc (it’s literally in the name of the game) is one of my all time favourite character’s from one of my all time favourite pieces of fiction: (high honour) arthur morgan from red dead redemption 2.

to summarise (minor spoilers): arthur is in a (cowboy!!!) gang in 1899, who are constantly running from the law. arthur ends up contracting tuberculosis from a man he kills, which leads him onto his path of redemption. he (if the player chooses to go high honour) begins to help people and reflects on his actions. not only does arthur change his actions, but he actually changes ideologies. he stops believing that he can throw his life away, and that there is no point in trying to do anything good when he’s already done so many bad things. arthur goes through a complete (!!!) metamorphosis, actually feeling compassion for people and wanting to save them from mr. i have a plan (the leader of the gang).

arthur is an absolutely incredible example of a redemption arc: it’s literally the point of the game (unless you’re a low honour player. i don’t know how you can do that. you’re superhumans). he changes his actions, his relationships and his ideologies with the help of people he meets along the way.

the same can mostly be said for zuko, and i’m not saying zuko hadn’t changed his ideology by the series finale, my issue is more the fact that it’s never addressed. once. not even a single time (i finished watching the show again today, may have bawled my eyes out) is anything about what he was taught to believe mentioned, let alone worked on.

the belief that the fire nation royals are superior is shown through azula pretty much any time we see her, and ozai a majority of his onscreen appearances.

hell, even the belief that the fire nation is superior to the other nations is shown in the s3 episode where aang goes to the fire nation school. throughout the show, we are constantly shown that the fire nation believe they are better than everyone else, but not once is zuko challenged for it, even by little miss zuko hater, katara. not once is anyone challenged for it, except for if you count the whole “the air nomads never had an army” from aang, but for me, that doesn’t really count.

don’t get me wrong, zuko is my favourite character in the show, if not one of my favourite characters ever, but this whole ‘the best ever redemption arc’ bullshit needs to stop. yes, it’s a good redemption arc, but it lacks the awareness that comes with realising that you need to repent for not only your actions, but your beliefs. redemption arcs like arthur morgan’s show the progression of the character; obviously there’s a difference between being the main character of an 100gb game and being one of the main characters in a kid’s show, but they still managed to get a redemption arc in for him. what they didn’t manage, however, was challenging zuko’s past beliefs.

you cannot become a better person by ignoring the ideals that shaped you to be that horrible person.

you must challenge them. you must face them.

so, in my opinion, despite how much i love it, despite how much i want to crown it the best redemption arc of all time, i just can’t. until zuko challenges his ideals ON SCREEN (which’ll be never), then i can’t give it the honour (i’m so funny).

don’t even get me started on the redemption arc azula should’ve had, because that’s even more bullshit to deal with.

damn this took ages to write.

[dreamchasernina]

Am I the only one worried about adult gaang movie? I know Bryke are the ones working on it, but honestly…I don’t have much faith in them.

Look, Avatar is like this sacred prefect thing to me, and I cannot handle a thought of something ruining this perfect story and characters. It ended so perfectly, but to be able to write another story with these characters they’re gonna have to create problems, right?

Like for instance, how are they going to create a villain that will be an actual threat to Aang (especially Aang in the avatar state), without breaking the rules of the world they built? They broke those rules over and over again in Korra to one up a previous villain.

Another conern is, are they going to ruin the relationships? Writers don’t like seeing the characters in happy relationships, case and point, Korra and Mako. I don’t really care about them, I just found it wierd spending the whole first season building up their relationship just to break them up in the second season. It’s a problem with a lot of writers, they’d rather break a couple up and get them back together again by the end, than let them be in a happy and healthy relationships. Same said for the friendships. I’m scared to discover the movie starts with “I haven’t talked to Zuko in years because A B C happened”.

Another thing, is there going to be an arc for every single character? If so, how are they going to accomplish that in 2 hours? I love love love how every single character in ATLA gets an amazing personal arc, and well, if they’re going to to the same in the movie, how will that work? Or will some of the characters get a backseat and become not as significant. Again, I have to bring up an example from LoK. You can’t say Mako and Bolin’s parts in the last seasons were as important as the rest of the characters’. Again, I personally don’t care about those characters, so I don’t have a problem with it, but the balance between the characters in ATLA is what makes it superior to LoK, so I’m sure if they decide to make Sokka’s (for example) journey less significant than others’, it would make a lot of people angry.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. Of course I want to see more content from the Avatar universe, especially the gaang, but I’m just scarred from LoK and not sure I can handle them ruining characters even more.

Can we just have 2 hours of the gaang on vacation on ember island just getting in all kinds of shenanigans?

[thatguythatdrawsalot]

Blake - Menagerie Design Critique.

Hiatus is over and I fricking missed making posts about RWBY’s outfits along with redesigning them so let’s hop to it! We’re coming back to talk about Blake this time around which is good since the last post about her had no redesign at all which was odd even for me, it was one of the worst outfits and I completely chose to talk bad about it than to try redesigning it.

Don’t worry I don’t like Blake’s Menagerie outfit either and there’s a redesign that I hope will suffice.

RWBY Archives

In my last post about Blake I did briefly talk about her Menagerie design as it was the basis of her Atlas design which was the topic at the time. I still stand by what I said, it was clever for the designer to hide Blake’s signature color of black with other secondary colors to represent her hiding herself. It’s not uncommon for characters who desire to not be recognized do everything in their power to hide the things that make them iconic and recognizable. 

We had Violet from Arcane in season 2 drenched in black than her signature colors of red/violet because she doesn’t want to be recognized, there was also Korra from LoK where she cuts her hair very short and wears Earthbending clothes when on the run in Book 4 to not be recognized as the Avatar. I appreciate them wanting to do something like that with Blake but the way they did it was goofy. A huge white coat on a tropical island would make anyone raise an eyebrow at her, make the excuse that aura regulates body temperatures all you want, it still looks silly. It’s not as silly as a giant purple fur coat like Ghira’s but a white jacket with large coattails is close. 

We had more background characters and actual named characters that look way more appropriate for the island than Blake did.

Hair

The switch to Maya was a change I didn’t mind, I’m aware of the animation software doing phenomenal work, it improved background sets and some of the character models for RWBY… some of the characters. 

They changed Blake’s hair a lot, she no longer has black hair, it's just completely dark gray, her hair also seems a lot more… brushed? I don’t know how to describe it but it just looks smoother than wild wisps like in her Volume 1 version. I also do not like how Blake’s cat ears are animated, I preferred if they just slapped Kali’s ears onto Blake as it looks way more realistic. 

The hair was really the first sign of Blake ditching black and being swallowed up in purple’s.

Primary Color - Black?

Blake fails in representing her color of Black simply because she’s not wearing any black at all. I extracted the colors of Blake’s model in completely flat lighting and it is solely “not dark-enough Indigo” on her. I can’t vibe with the concept anymore of Blake wearing white and purples to hide her signature color which in turn means hiding her true self anymore because she’s not wearing her true color to begin with! She doesn’t even wear her true color at all in the next volume when her running and hiding arc is over!

As she fails to represent black she also fails in honoring Yang’s color, the gold of the look is just so miniscule and it doesn’t help that it’s surrounded by purple rather than black, I felt as though it would have made the color pop. In my recolor version I don’t think I did it justice, the outfit is just that bad that not even color placement could fix it, but I am a little happy that yellow is more visible as it can look good when standing next to Sun or Yang.

Positives?

Yeah, here’s a positive, Blake without a giant stupid coat on her is chef’s kiss. The giant coat gets in her way of combat, I’m sorry but that coat is bad, not as bad as Blake’s Atlas coat but still BAD. When it’s finally gone the ‘not dark-enough Indigo” that looks like black truly pushes the concept of her no longer hiding herself. I cheered when it was gone because this was such good symbolism to show through her outfit, I just wished it was actually black than “not dark-enough Indigo” because it truly could’ve been a good outfit with that very small tweak!

Redesign

When I do my redesigns you guys know I try not to rewrite them, all I want to do is give a character a new outfit, not a complete rewrite of their story. I get Blake is on the run but there was no way for me to think of anything that can hide Blake’s true colors on a tropical island. Not to mention she does a bad job at hiding her true self as she's quick to go to her family’s mansion and right away expose her cat ears and herself to Corsac and Fennec. So, screw it, ditch the concept and let Blake wear black again. It’s not exactly combat ready, but practical enough to fight in if she either wanted a comfortable life in Menagerie to not look for trouble or to do a quick battle against a Grimm or something.

The ponytail is something I always wanted for Blake, I think it would’ve been a neat detail in paralleling her and Yang if they both wore ponytails through their Volume 4-5 journey. You can probably tell the tank top and shorts along with long boots were really meant for Blake taking inspiration from Yang as she misses her and whatnot. 

Do I think it’s too much black? Yeah, I do, I think more yellow/gold or white can help Blake not be a black blob as I don’t want her to fall into the same trap Cinder’s Atlas outfit does. I’m also reluctant if purple should have been added… I do love Blake’s color palette when it’s solely black, white, and gold but maybe I should have experimented more on color placement for this. I might do it in the future-

Conclusion

Blake’s outfit literally feels like an itch that needs to be scratched, I’ve praised the coatless version of the look when she got to Argus but the with-coat version when on the island and in Mistral looks ridiculous. I think it really could have worked if there was the slightest bit of tweaks to it. If the coat was perhaps sleeveless with no huge coattails along with actually having black than a “not dark-enough Indigo” I may have actually loved it or at the very least not mind it.

As it stands it’s just an outfit that has no black at all, isn’t practical for combat, and just a good example of what not to wear on a trip to Hawaii.

But of course it’s just my opinion. If you love this design or hate the design, please share your opinion. I’d love to hear it! :D

[survivalove]

Sorry i know you don't like getting asks about this topic but it's related to your last post responding to that dumbass zk but it's funny how they keep pushing this false narrative that aang is bryke's self insert, they're clearly projecting cos that's more evident with zuko. like bryan konietzko is on record for saying zuko is his fav character and he's similar to him. dante basco refers to himself as zuko all the time while pandering to those desperate zk shippers and even said in an interview one of the reasons he ships zk is cos he was "into" mae whitman (mind you, she was only 16 and he was 30 when atla began airing)

UGH! don’t get me started on the freak that is dante basco. very nasty that he’s the only cast member that is continuously employed by the creators after the way he’s spoken about teen girls, fictional (mai) and real (mae). lol no pun intended. also lines up with the zuko favoritism you’re talking about ;)

the atla fandom has a very serious problem with logic if you haven’t noticed. the show is allegedly sooooo deep yet all their takes are beyond superficial. exhibit a:

1. aang is a mike self-insert because he’s bald

besides the fact that bryan is the one who can draw and talks about aang’s appearance the most, they cling to this narrative because it’s the easiest to sell to people that don’t know any better. just show people a picture of mike and aang and BOOM! narrative set.

meanwhile, as you said, zuko is the actual character favored by one of the creators out of his own mouth. mike has even gone on to say he used his experiences to write korra alone just like how bryan says he puts himself in zuko’s shoes when he writes episodes.

bryan is the one who joked about mike and aang having two bald heads just to state that aang’s inspiration is based on (tibetan) buddhist monks

bryan is the one who compares aang to mike while comparing himself to zuko. mike has never compared himself to aang unprompted

because the truth is, aang is a survivor of colonialism and genocide, raised outside of western ideals of masculinity. bryke clearly did their research on all the different cultures as creators and that’s commendable and all but ppl acting like that means that erases their caucasian-american perspective is bonkers.

aang can never be a self-insert to them because they are closer to the oppressors than the oppressed and that’s just a fact

zuko, on the other hand, the boy raised in colonial ideals who had to unlearn his wrongs, who is given chance after chance by the narrative despite his direct and indirect participation in colonialism, who is redeemed at the expense of voices of the colonized that he hurt repeatedly on his path to goodness, who is still allowed to have an empire at the end because he saw the error in his ways???

that is the most american you can get on this show and it just shows how most americans that fail to see this never saw themselves as colonizers to begin with. they just want the rest of us to skip to their redemption arc. kinda like how zuko’s arc is discussed by his superglazers lol

but i honestly can’t even just blame americans because a lot of non-american poc in this fandom i see try to push this propaganda as well. like how most of this fandom actually thinks his racist colonizer jokes are funny… or how many fans have been unironically repeating the fire nation’s supremacy logic for DECADES

the second superficial take of course is the “if i was a fourteen year old girl i wouldn’t have even looked aang’s way” thing but that has already been discussed in tandem so i’ll stop typing now

[rightwheretheyleftme]

I just finished watching book 4 of The Legend of Korra. Here’s my top 5 things I hated the most about it:

Part 1 and Part 2

5. Korra spends half of the FINAL season away from the rest of Team Avatar.

This season has 12 proper episodes and Korra spends the first 6 in almost complete isolation. She reunites with Mako and Asami in episode 7 but the full team doesn’t get together until episode 11 out of 13. In the final episode, we get only one shot of the 4 of them together and that’s it. We never see them fight as a team not once this season. This is the final season of your show and your big hero team only has 1 scene where they work in tandem? Why? A total narrative disaster.

4. Monarchy bad!

This season wastes your time making you watch Prince Wu go through a stupid character arc about learning to be a good leader only for him to abdicate at the end. Remember kids, monarchy is bad! Unless we are talking about our beloved hero Zuko, or the firm but caring Fire Lord Izumi, or Suyin’s surveillance state, or the newly redeemed Desna and Eska’s sovereignty. The whole message of “democracy good always!” falls flat when one of the heroes of your show is an autocrat, Bryke.

3. The comic relief buffons are protagonists now. Deal with it.

Varrick, Meelo and Prince Wu get an ungodly amount of screentime this season. Every episode includes one of these court jesters making unfunny jokes and acting insufferable. Let’s deviate from Korra’s recovery arc so we can watch Meelo fart again, because that’s what Bryke think comedy is

2. Earthbending Hitler is redeemable! Yay!

Kuvira, a character who runs concentration camps and enslaves people en masse, being portrayed as a person who had good intentions but “went too far” is disgusting. That whole speech that Korra delivered in the finale about how her and Kuvira are soooo alike made me nauseous. This achieves nothing other than to justify fascism to an audience of children.

1. Abuse is cool! It helps you grow and makes you smarter!

The fact that Zaheer was the one who healed Korra is so fucking asinine that I don’t even have the words to describe it. It’s like the writers thought “Let’s make her abuser also be her savior! That would be soooo edgy!” and called it a day. And the final line of the show where she justifies her abuse because it made her humbler? Ugh. To borrow someone else’s words: “…......and then the "compassion line" happened.

.......and then Bryke decided to invalidate not only how Korra's recovery arc had been portrayed up to that point, but also her growth throughout the show AND the lessons imparted to viewers in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

They decided that showing Korra internalizing her trauma and growing from it only through the perspective of "well I deserved it, because I needed to be taught a lesson" (something women IRL often do, by the way) was preferable to "sometimes bad things happen to you because of the cruelty of others. You don't deserve it and you are more than what happened to you." And they just...put that message out there in the last five minutes of the entire show, uncritiqued and un-remarked upon. It's sickening.” Indeed it is. (source)

Underwhelming final season. 4/10

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

IG this might be the wrong blog to ask (do you have a main?) but what are some things you hate about the show/fandom that don’t relate to Zutara? Is “The Great Divide” really that bad? The comics? The Legend of Korra?

Okay, let's split these in categories

What I dislike about the original show

How we never really see much about the cultures of the Air Nomads and Water Tribes, and that the planned episode about Aang's parents was scrapped.

How Ty Lee basically has no arc and just went from "Hates being part of a matched set" to "Happily part of a matched set."

How Toph didn't really get any resolution with her parents, be it a reconciliation or a decision to cut contact like Zuko did with Ozai.

How the Lion Turtle wasnot introduced much earlier and instead used a Deux Ex Machina. We all know Aang won't kill Ozai, guys, you don't have to pretent, just let us know there's something Aang can to do avoid it and go revealing stuff about energybending little by little, then give us the final piece of the puzzle in the finale.

How the White Lotus was clearly a retcon that stopped making any sense after season two and that they're actually pretty fucking useless when you think about it.

How the show basically forgot that Iroh was very much a villain in season one, and for most of his life, therefore he has no right to call Azula crazy and dismiss her as a lost cause.

How Iroh says it wouldn't be right for him to kill Ozai, even if he could, because history would just see it as just a brother killing another brother for power, then IMMEDIATELY sending his 16-year-old nephew to a battle to the death with his 14-year-old niece - all while the White Lotus FINALLY decides to do SOMETHING and frees Ba Sing Se...

...Which looks horrible for Iroh when we think "Oh shit, last time he tried to capture it because he thought it was his destiny, his son died, and now he sent his nephew to a battle in which nearly dies and gets another scar while he's off trying to free that same city because of destiny again." (Seriously, when it comes to Ba Sing Se, don't let Iroh do ANYTHING other run a tea-shop in it. Somehow it always shows the ugly side of his personality).

How "Sokka's Master" is really an episode that did not need to exist at all because while Sokka had always wanted to be a warrior, he never really expressed any insecurity about being a non-bender and was only ever teased about it once. It just felt like an obligatory "The dude with no powers is important too!" episode and not a natural stepping stone of the narrative.

As for "The Great Divide" it is a pretty boring episode... but it's not as bad as people say. I don't think the original Avatar had any episodes in which nothing is important or at least creative and/or cool. I like the music in it, the world-building is kind of neat, the theme of helping refugees is pretty coherent with a show about war, and the animation changes when we are told the versions of the story on what these people hate each other was pretty cool.

What I dislike about the novelizations of the show

While some of the attempts of exploring how characters felt in some scenes really works and provides some interesting interpretations, others just fall completely flat and feel a bit OOC.

What I dislike about The Lost Adventures comics

That ridiculous story with Katara being way too pushy with Aang's training for no reason and refusing to communicate with him when he wants to talk about the kiss on the day of the invasion. She would never treat him like this.

What I dislike about the Azula In The Spirit Temple comic

The bits that remind me "Oh yeah, that's supposed to be set in the same universe of the Yang comics." Other than that, it is a pretty good stand-alone story and it allowed Azula to be turned into a deeply offensive stereotype about the mentally ill.

What I dislike about (most of) the comics and Korra

Nearly everything. Seriously, I don't know how the reception to these were mostly mixed instead of on the same level of hatred the fandom has to the Shyaman movie. The character assassination and lack of understanding of what made the original story good is EXACTLY the same, yet because it had Bryke's approval/involvement people expect me to take it as canon and it's NOT gonna happen.

What I dislike about the Netflix version

It exists. I'm sick of all the bullshit, souless remakes/reboots that are clearly just crash-grabs for companies that completely forgot they can make money AND art at the same time. I especially hate the trend of beautiful 2D animation being replaced with cheap cosplays, ugly CGI and poor lighting to pretend it is the "dark, mature version of the story"

What I dislike about the fandom itself

To make a really, really, REALLY long list very short and not really rank them 'cause it'd take forever:

1 - The blatant ableism towards Toph and Azula.

2 - The constant delusion about Avatar being "just like Game Of Thrones" and "not a kid's show."

3 - The people still insisting that the Netflix version, Korra, and the comics are good or "not that bad."

4 - The weird way some people act like Zuko was the first character to ever get a redemption arc and that everyone who does it now is taking inspiration from it.

5 - The refusal to accept that uncle Iroh was never perfect, both due to oversight of the writers AND deliberate narrative choices.

6 - The people that act like the show was trash just because of a few bad choices.

7 - The people that act like the show is perfect.

8 - The people that act like Bryke's interpretations are the only ones that matter.

9 - The inability to not harrass others for not agreeing with them.

10 - The weird, stupid people that act like Sozin and Azulon were not that bad and not just as power-hungry, racist and cruel as Ozai.

11 - The people that don't understand how Aang killing Ozai would be character assassination AND a deep betrayal of the themes and morals of the story.

12 - The people that keep losing their shit if you want a character like Azula to have a redemption arc because it'd "make Zuko's less especial" (it wouldn't, and I know that because HE WASN'T THE ONLY CHARACTER TO GET REDEEMED IN THE STORY, hell, he wasn't even the first).

13 - The downright offensive and disgusting need the fandom feels of sweeping Zuko's mistakes under the rug, no matter how bad they are, because they think he needs to be perfect otherwise he was not truly a victim of abuse.

14 - The way people just full on make shit up to support their headcanons, ships and theories.

15 - The blatant racism.

[kitkat13001]

all about 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢 🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

📞 .ᐟ “𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓷, 𝓶𝓪𝓳𝓸𝓻 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰!”

hobbies: drawing, painting, writing, rollerskating, watching anime/tv, reading, swimming, playing d&d

music: wallows, tv girl, lana del rey, taylor swift, arctic monkeys, olivia rodrigo, paramore, bleachers, fleetwood mac / stevie nicks, of monsters and men, coldplay, marina & the diamonds, gwen stefani / no doubt

movies: the perks of being a wallflower, ferris bueller’s day off, coraline, the hunger games series, couples’ retreat, sleepless in seattle, ponyo, howl’s moving castle, x-men series

books: hunger games, maze runner, the darkest minds, joy luck club, percy jackson + heroes of olympus etc.

kins: satoru gojo, tooru oikawa, denki kaminari, nana/hachi komatsu, mitsuri kanroji, lorelai gilmore, adrien agreste, reki kyan, armin arlert, maki zenin, eijirou kirishima, izuku midoriya, nobara kugisaki

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚ 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢’𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

completed: attack on titan, death note, miraculous ladybug, the dragon prince, avatar: the last airbender, the legend of korra, gilmore girls, friends, sk8 the infinity, saiki k, dexter

in progress: nana, arcane, my hero academia, demon slayer, teen wolf, haikyuu, bungou stray dogs (on pause)

>> please refrain from spoiling these!

abandoned: jujutsu kaisen

>> i chose peace and stopped before the shibuya arc :/

⊹₊⟡⋆ 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢’𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚜

kittys.navi - navigation/masterlists etc

kitty.core - personal/general/ some reblogs

kitty.writes! - original pieces by me!

kitty.hotline! - asks answered :)

kitty.draws - occasional drawings by me :p

. ☎︎₊˚✧ ﾟ𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢’𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎

feel free to drop in my asks to chat! i love silly random q’s and convos and talking about my favs and such 😽 dm’s are also open to mutuals ! 🫶

✮⋆˙ 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢’𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

i write mostly ‘x reader’s for various animes ➙ (check out my masterlists for more details) but if you’re curious about my other works head over to @fleetwood-kat where i’m working on self-insert content!

i try to keep my readers as ambiguous as possible (no pronouns, names, physical descriptions, etc) unless otherwise stated at the beginning of the work. however, i am female, latina, short, and bisexual so my writing may sometimes speak to my own experience/identity.

unfortunately, i don’t take requests (except for my recurring follower milestone event, see here for more details/availbility). it’s just hard to meet specific requirements for what everyone wants to read. i do welcome suggestions submitted to my inbox, though, as those are usually more vague and easier to write if they inspire me :)

please keep in mind that i do this simply for fun. i’m not a professional writer so my stuff won’t always be accurate or top quality. i just like to do this for me :) and hope someone else might get some enjoyment out of my little musings.

i don’t have any big rules for this blog, just exercise human decency and don’t be weird? i’m still new at this. no hate will be tolerated, this blog is my safe space to express myself creatively and freely.

>> dividers by @/saradika-graphics and @/anitalenia, pics from pinterest

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

Now, I can sit here all day and talk about my issues with Steven Universe and Star vs The Forces of Evil, but I don’t think it’s fair to claim that they’re the best examples of wasted potential.

To me, the best example of wasted potential has to be The Legend of Korra. Now sure, one could argue that it was never going to be as great as The Last Airbender, but it was such a let down that it almost ruined the entire Avatar franchise for me.

Steven Universe was a show that constantly struggled with its identity, it didn’t know if it wanted to be a wacky slice of life show, or a lore heavy show. While SVTFOE sacrificed everything in favor of a romantic relationship.

But LoK is still the biggest disappointment, mostly because it had everything going for it, but it just kept floundering every step of the way.

Every single character arc was a mess, the retcons to the established lore were awful, and it was a slog of a series to sit through.

[calx77]

OKAY, I make my return to tumblr and if you cannot tell by my reblogs I have recently rewatched Atla, watched Lok, and read the Kyoshi novels. And I. Am. Insane. I love this franchise so much and there is a frick ton of stuff I will ramble about tomorrow or something but TONIGHT. 

Korra. (Spoilers Ahead ) 

Easily one of my favorite Avatars, I like her more than Aang and as much as Kyoshi. Don’t get me wrong ! Aang is an amazing Avatar and super cool character, but Korra is just so GOOD.

I know a lot of people dislike her because of her attitude in the early season and because of her losing connection to her past selves. And I totally get it she annoyed the fuck out of me in the first two seasons because she was brash and loud and maybe a little too invested in dating Mako. But at the same time I couldn’t help but adore her, she was so very human. She made mistakes, she acted like a hot headed 17 year old (which she was !) and that made her so appealing to me. Its also what made her character arc so amazing.

Her arc is super similar to Zuko’s (minus the redemption) she goes from a loud, rambunctious, kind of irritating teenager to someone who was very wise. She learnt from her mistakes and grew past her trauma, and in doing so she became an amazing Avatar. With her newfound and very impressive spiritual connection and trying to choose peace over fighting Kuvira ( which isn’t something her younger self would have done ), season four just really shows how much growth she has had as a person.  Which would not have been so incredible if she hadn’t been so childish and dislikable at first. ( not too dislikable though she always had her charm )

On another note, her restarting the Avatar cycle is a terrible thing. Not her fault of course, she couldn’t do anything to prepare for a powerful spirit like Vaatu. But it makes me sad that she will never be able to connect and talk with her past selves. She is completely and utterly alone. As terrible and sad as this is though, I think it helps her grow as an Avatar, she is forced to do things on her own, unable to seek advice from Aang, Roku, Kyoshi, anyone. She is forced to carve her own path as the Avatar with no guidance. But she does it ! She becomes amazing and she brings the Air nomads back. The physical and spirit worlds are joined together again for the first time in a thousand years. She started a new era without the counsel of her past selves and I think it has turned out amazing. Now I wish there was some way for her to reconnect, for her sake and because I want Aang to see that his people are back. But sadly I don’t think that can ever happen. Even if it can’t, I like to believe that the past incarnations of the Avatar are still watching over her somehow.

My thoughts are super frazzled now and I hope thats all legible but my main point is Korra is super cool and doesn’t deserve all the hate she gets just because she isn’t Aang or Kyoshi or Yangchen 

[seeyouafter]

SYA Extended Notes Ch. 5

Excerpt from "See You After" Chapter 5: June 2: Todoroki to Bakugou

There was a little girl there. I think she’s about Eri’s age. Her parents were at work so a nurse was looking after her. They were feeding the koi and asked if I wanted to join them[...] She seems really smart. Kind of reminded me of you, but I think that’s mostly because she said my hair was funny and called me a peppermint.

References in this chapter:

Koi

Image from Unsplash | source for koi facts in this chapter

I don't remember what inspired this bit originally. I think I just wanted to give Shouto a quiet moment that he could write to Katsuki about and while I was writing the draft the little girl and the koi fish just showed up on the page. (I think Shouto awkwardly but lovingly interacting with kids is super cute and we need more of it.)

藤谷病院 (Fujitani Hospital)

Obviously, I'm inventing my own facts about the hospital for the sake of this story but I didn't want to invent a whole new hospital and I like the idea of Shouto being able to spend time with his mom while he's recovering. There are other things that went into the thought process but those are the main reasons.

Legend of Korra reference

I'm not sure how this scene from Legend of Korra popped into my head while I was writing this fic because it's been years since I last watched it but the sentiment of this particular scene really fit what I was going for in Shouto's letters in the beginning of this arc.

Shouto's current struggle with his quirk is somewhat similar to Korra's inability to enter the Avatar State and in both cases they isolate themselves from their friends but eventually reach out to one person who will end up becoming their romantic partner.

This is what it turned into in "See You After"

Please don’t tell the others. I’m pretty sure Aizawa Sensei told them I’m okay but I’m not really in the mood for visitors and I don’t want to hurt their feelings if they find out I’ve only been writing to you and not them.  -Shouto to Katsuki

The reality is, when you're hurting so badly, it's hard to reach out to people even if you know that they care. But sometimes, if you're lucky, there will be one person you feel like you can talk to.

(That doesn't mean the responsibility is all on that one person, of course.)

BNHA Canon references

Writing fanfic for a piece of media while said media is ongoing and is in the middle of an exciting time is a Journey™.

(For context, I'm posting this right after Ch. 404 was released. Further thoughts with spoilers below the cut)

I think I said this before but nothing in the plot of "See You After" has actually changed based on the recent manga chapters.

The only edit to this letter that I made after chapter 404 came out was that one sentence about Katsuki saving All Might. The previous draft had a vague thing about him saving Izuku and continuing to fight because I was trying to hedge my bets since I'm still trying to keep things as close to canon as possible.

I was originally on the fence about giving explicit spoilers but then THAT happened and I couldn't not include it because they definitely would have talked about it.

I also wanted to reference, Shouto's scene in Ch. 390 where he finally makes it to Touya and realizes that the whole family is there.

His words were fitting for his character and yet so heartbreaking because even after everything he did, after the burden that was placed on his shoulders, he still makes a point of saying that he couldn't have done it alone.

Also, it sounds an awful lot like Touya's words back in Ch. 351 when he accused Shouto of depending on everyone else (as if that's a weakness rather than a strength)

[lostshitpirate]

Legend of Korra S4 Thoughts

It’s almost 2 AM but I’m jotting down my tired thoughts about s4

Spoilers ahead

-

-

-

-

Overall I thought it was a pretty good season. Some aspects are a little shaky but overall it was a pretty strong season

I think kuvira was a good antagonist. Her stepping up to take power after korra left is a really good follow up to s3. I think the way she contrasts zaheer in the ways they think the world should be without an avatar was interesting. With zaheer wanting chaos and kuvira being on the other end of the spectrum with full control with her straight up being a fascist.

I think the way she will sacrifice everyone and everything to reach her goal made her more intimidating too. She contrasts to zaheer who did you force to reach his goal but mostly carefully planned his steps and did it with a smaller team with less casualties and damage. Kuvira does a lot with force. She does plan but most of her plans involve showing the power she has in numbers and technology or just her own strength.

I don’t like how they tried to sorta make you sympathize with her (sympathize? idk if this is the right word. understand her?). She straight up had labor camps and “re-education” camps. She captured non earth kingdom citizens and put them there. I think the parallels to her and a fascist regime aren’t subtle so it’s a bit weird to be at the end like “oh she did this because she was scared and wanted control”

I feel like hama or jet are more sympathetic in their need for control after experiencing trauma and that leading to them hurting others. I think because of the scale and damage of what kuvira did made me just not feel sympathetic to her. I think also bcuz she also had a family in the beifongs too where as jet and hama lost everything.

I think the use of spirit powers was also kinda meh. This is a problem to the whole of korra but turning spirits and spiritual powers into raw power was not a good move. Spirits and spirituality in alta was more about personal growth and connecting with nature. It had basis in an actual philosophy. They kinda had that with korra reconnecting with herself but really pushed it more into spirit energy is raw power.

I’m a little conflicted though bcuz I think the spirit laser thing is sorta a good idea. It introduces nukes and nuclear energy into the avatar universe and I think that’s an interesting idea but I think it falls flat bcuz it uses spirit energy to do that so idk.

I liked korra in this season. The way they continue her arc that started in season one and fleshed her out and matured her more is good. The way they dive into the trauma she’s endured in the past seasons. I think it’s able to give those scenes more weight. I think it also shows how korra has gone through so much in such a short time and gives her and the audience time to process it a bit more.

Idk how I feel about the message of korra needing to go through trauma to grow. I can see what they were going for. Using your experience even bad ones to grow is good. Getting stuck and learning nothing will leave you stuck. I like that it’s both talked about and shown with how korra just leaves and is unable to fully heal for a good while.

I don’t think she needed to experience trauma for that though. I don’t really think anyone should go through trauma. I feel like if they expressed it more like “I hate what happened to me. It really sucks and hurt me in a way that changed me, but I’m glad I was able to overcome it and grow from it. I changed for the better rather than the worst” or something along those lines. Idk

I do like that scene with zaheer. It was interesting to see him especially since he actually decides to help korra. Zaheer was always interesting bcuz of that the way he actually sits and talks with ppl and does things in a peaceful way despite how ruthless he is. I kinda wish we had a bit more time with him especially with him as a teacher for korra.

I think the characters and their arcs are pretty interesting this season. I’m glad we got to see varrick and zhu li again. They’re both great and seeing more of them is always good. I actually liked mako this season. He felt more like a side character with his arc with wu but it was good to see him.

Also side tangent wu and mako had more chemistry for me than korra and mako despite how much the writers really tried to push them in s1 and s2 lol

Anyways. Some of the characters did fall a bit flat. I love asami but she also sorta felt like a side character. I might write more about asami in another post since I have thoughts but I’m tired lol. I also like bolín but he’s always great

That clip show episode was kinda meh. The best part was varrick and bolin since that phone scene with all the antagonists was really funny. But honestly I wish they could have cut it but it was probably there for budget reason so cest la vie

I might have more thoughts but that’s for tmrw lol. Overall I’d rate s4 an 7.5/10

[mimzynimh]

Loving these posts so much and thankyou for making them and putting in the time.

Making my rosegarden heart scream ❤️😍

Realistically I don’t expect them to be canon because I honestly don’t want to have my hopes up to have it crushed (cough* other fandoms *cough*)But I see so many parallels and scenes that just make them seem so good together I would scream if it did become canon.

If it did become canon I can see it being something like;

I don’t expect them to have a whole romance arc due to the time left of the show and there already being 2 atm being ren n nora, Blake and Yang (that I know of mind you), but I hope when this is all over at the end it has a confirmation like say the big conflict has been defeated and with that burden being off rubys shoulders she can finally give in to the little things like simply falling in love,

I can imagine her and oscar (finally) hugging, followed by them basically having a moment where it confirms that after the show is ended that’s who she’s going to end up with.

Kind of like korra and Asami from TLOK (don’t hate me I haven’t seen the whole show but I know that in the end it’s them confirming the relationship by holding each others hand and walking into the portal thing)

Honestly I’m happy as long as they don’t kill of Oscar tbh. But if it did become canon I would be so happy and be talking about it for ages after. Fingers crossed 🤞

I think we can possibly get rg crumbs with Neo teasing Ruby as Oscar even more🙏 let's pray for the crumbs 🙏 it's been 84 years 🥹

I literally JUST wrote an analysis of this and threw it on twitter like 2 days ago. I had been meaning to put it on my personal blog but you, dear anono, have given me incentive to put it here instead.

The Interesting Pattern of People Using Oscar Against Ruby

This kicks off primarily in v7, which makes sense since Oscar and Ruby are thrown into conflict as early as episode 2. The conflict is a result of Ruby lying to Ironwood in an attempt to protect him and the rest of their team... But it's clear from the start not everyone agrees with that decision.

Of those that don't agree, the loudest seem to be Oscar and Yang. The latter of which - who is our first example - chooses to bring it up with Ruby in front of their whole team when they're on their first mission with the Ace Ops. Except Yang doesn't just voice her own thoughts or feelings, she makes a point to to ask Ruby how Oscar feels about it. Which was not the fairest way to go about it if you ask me. Especially seeing how Ruby reacted. It's also VERY INTERESTING how that scene directly parallels what it transitions into: Oscar posing those same concerns to her. Except unlike Yang, he found Ruby when she was alone so they didn't have an audience to witness their conflict.

From there, we have a slightly more subtle example: Ironwood. And by 'subtle' i just mean he doesn't say it as directly with his words or actions as the other examples we're discussing here. We do know that their conflict for this volume is centered on their disagreement of what to do with Ironwood... and the show reminds us of that by constantly framing the two separated by him.

Whether it was Ironwood's intention or not, he did manage to drive a wedge between the two of them. And while this conflict does keep them apart for a while... it doesn't work as well as it could have. The first example of this is in episode 7 where Oscar and Ironwood are having their talk near the winter vault.

Ironwood: Do you believe in me? Oscar: I do believe in you. But not only you.

It is very clear Oscar is talking about the other leader in this situation: Ruby. Showing that despite their disagreement, he still does stand by and respect Ruby's decision. Even in this photo, while they are still separated by Ironwood, they are agreeing with each other about what to do:

That scene is then directly followed by the infamous "Schnee Manor Fumble" where the the two finally agree to tell Ironwood the truth and regain some trust in each other.

And as much as I would love to analyze this scene in even more depth, it will have to wait for another post.

For now the next example: Cinder

In V8 when she sabotages their portal plan, it's literally the first thing she says and I still don't know why. Cinder saw the vision of them making this plan, but it was a group endeavor. And the only things we saw Oscar say were the technicalities of how Atlas would fall when using the staff... So what exactly was she referring to? and why did she mention his name specifically?

And then last, but certainly not least: Neo.

We saw this back when the v9 teaser clip first dropped however long ago and it was a topic of BIG DEBATE. Many argued there was no significance behind why she chose Oscar of all people to turn into... but I have to disagree.

In tandem with all these other examples, there is a narrative pattern formed of people specifically using Oscar as a way to twist the knife at Ruby. Yang, Cinder, and - depending on if you view his contribution as intentional or not - Ironwood. Which makes Neo the 3rd or 4th person to do this.

Neo has a vendetta against Ruby. We know this. We know that Yang was an easy choice to hurt her because they're sisters. We know Penny is a good choice because they're close friends and Ruby already lost her once. But Oscar? Why Oscar?

Why did she pick him first? And why did she specifically use a mirage of him when he's covered in bruises and burn marks when she has seen him cleaned up multiple times? To that I have two answers.

The first: because she was there at the Schnee manor and saw them interact in the entryway.

And what she saw convinced her that the two of them were close. Close enough that using Oscar's face against Ruby - especially one battered and bruised - would be an easy way to hurt her.

I'm not trying to use this argument to say that Ruby has feelings for Oscar. I think in canon she is largely too preoccupied with the weight of the world on her shoulders to think about that right now. But we DO know that Oscar feels some type of way about her.

And that even if it's not established in canon as romantic yet, Ruby and Oscar are close. That they do have a relationship built on mutual trust, respect, and understanding for being in similar situations. As clearly displayed in show as well as backed up by Miles in this cameo.

But at the end of the day, there is a very strong emphasis on her connection to Oscar since his debut, which characters within the narrative are noticing! (just look at Nora's face here)

But that brings me to my 2nd point as to why Neo chose the characters she did: Because the writers wanted us to see that.

Animation is expensive and so much meticulous detail and intent goes into everything that we see. They wouldn't have just chosen those characters arbitrarily. They chose those three characters on purpose and I think it largely has to do with how those characters relate to Ruby's arc for Volume 9. So lets go down the list in more detail:

Yang

Once again, it is a bit self explanatory. Her and Ruby are sisters with unresolved conflict that has been building for a while now. Some of it from their upbringing, but a lot of the more recent struggles being Yang's habit of calling Ruby out or disagreeing with her in front of groups of people. It was mentioned at the start of this post, but there are two other examples that come to mind. The beginning of v8 and more recently, v9e3.

In the first, she is arguing with Ruby in front of a room full of people and they all get to see her leadership called into question. The second, we see Ruby's patience around this habit starting to wear thin. I'm not trying to say Yang is wrong to express these things, but the way she goes about them is often not very considerate of Ruby's feelings. Especially her feelings tied to leadership, which is a big theme for this volume.

As mentioned in the v9 trailer, someone says "You seem to be carrying a rather large burden". However, we can see very clearly Ruby's not carrying it well at all and that she is well on her way to breaking under that pressure. A pressure and insecurity that Yang has unfortunately contributed to even when she's trying her very best to be supportive.

Two brief side notes:

Blake and Qrow are also guilty of hurting Ruby in this way unintentionally, but I don't want to touch on them in this post so it will have to wait for another meta

VERY INTERESTING that right before this shot, Yang says "My plan for mantle didn't work out either... but we got Oscar back". Which is a very nice callback to the last time she brought him up to Ruby at the beginning of v7.

But back on track to the next illusion Neo uses:

Penny

We know this one is a big one. The two have always been very close and Ruby is quite protective of her in light of having already lost her once. We saw Ruby admit to this for the first (and pretty much only) time on screen when speaking with Oscar in the Dojo during v5. (yet another scene I would like to dissect more in detail in a later post)

Ruby: When Beacon fell, I lost two of my friends. Penny Polendina and Pyrrha Nikos. (...) Ruby: Pyrrha... Penny. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. That I didn't think about them every day since I lost them.

We also see Ruby passes out when she hears that Penny didn't survive the fall. Then later she gives a eulogy of sorts over the sword that she got from Jinxy. So this plot around Ruby's grief towards Penny is going to be very prevalent this volume.

And lastly:

Oscar

Why him when he didn't fall with them? Well, because we already had a parallel setup between him and Ruby in relation to "The Girl Who Fell Through The World".

Oscar: She brushed off her bumps and bruises, for nothing hurt worse than the loneliness in her chest. Oz: I recognize that. The Girl Who Fell Through the World. Oscar: I shouldn't be surprised you're so familiar with fairytales. Oz: I've lived through my share of them. How are you holding up? Oscar: I thought the idea of falling through Remnant into a new world was... exciting. I never understood why she was so sad when she finally made it back home. But now it makes more sense. Oz: She wasn't the same girl anymore.

Oscar relates because of how he was thrown into this adventure and how it's changed him... and the same can be said for Ruby. Except instead of the call to adventure choosing her, she chose the path herself and then fell into that fairytale first hand. Literally. Into an arc that seems to be telling her that in order for her to grow, survive, and to rise up from the fall she just had: she needs to change. Just like Alyx did. Just like Oscar did.

Unkown Voice: What if you could leave Ruby Rose behind? Shed like an old coat. What might happen... if you don't?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's all i've got rn. there are so many crumbs i have built myself a damn loaf of bread, my friends. and i have very few doubts that Neo won't try and use a mirage of Oscar against Ruby again. if you got to the end, thank you for reading and let me know if you'd like to see more of this stuff or if you'd prefer I keep it on my non-art blog @gatheringkeepsakes. Until then... RG CANON OKAY BYE.

[enbylesbianism]

How ‘IRON WIDOW’ by Xiran Jay Zhao changed my reading experience

I’ll be straightforward: I’m in love with ‘Iron Widow’ since *checks notes* May, when I read it, and it’s now my life’s purpose to make everyone else as in love with it as I am. 

First of all, I’d like to say that I don’t usually consume media with sci-fi aspects, action, mecha suits, that kind of thing. I was a follower of Xiran and watched their videos analysing Asian (and Asian-inspired) media, such as Mulan, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Netflix’s Over The Moon etc. I also happen to find Xiran’s voice very soothing, so there’s that. So, when they mentioned that they were writing a book, I was interested, especially putting that it was polyamory and a historical reimagining. When I got around to requesting the publishers (thank you so much, Penguin Teen Canada!) for an ARC and reading it... well, it was just game changing. 

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to read a book with a love triangle that doesn’t end up with all of them in love with each other again. Of course, as a polyamory person, I’d already considered that as an option and I’d already asked (more like begged, actually) for more media with this concept, but I hadn’t actually seen it until now (I am going to need Tracy Deonn to follow in Xiran’s footsteps and make BreeSelNick endgame, by the way). I had considered it an option before, but since I’d never seen it happen, I unconsciously made myself believe that such a thing wasn’t allowed. ‘Iron Widow’ was here to tell me that it doesn’t matter if it’s allowed, because you can take it. I exist, and seeing myself represented is something I can claim as mine.

Another thing this book delivered flawlessly was unhinged women. The internet keeps talking about people written by men or by women, but I’m here for something else: people written by Xiran Jay Zhao. Wu Zetian wields her rage fearlessly, she’s shady and ruthless. Her moral compass is messy. I’ve waited for a character like her my whole life, but hadn’t known it until she’d been given to me on a silver platter. No, it’s better than that: given to me on a document sent to my e-mail, then to my Kindle, like most delightful things are. 

Not only did Xiran give me Wu Zetian, though, but on my Kindle silver platter, there was also Gao Yizhi and Li Shimin, her outstanding love interests. While Li Shimin fits the tormented bad boy criteria (but better, because that’s just what Xiran does, makes good things better), Gao Yizhi would fit the rich good boy one (yes, eat-the-rich-romantically trope!). But while he is kind and nice, we’re led to believe that there is something dark in him, though maybe his morals aren’t as messy as Zetian’s. Their dynamic can probably be described as Bonnie, Clyde, and their househusband. Perfection, truly. 

The plot is also marvellous, including the oppression at the core of the system, how dirty the powerful people play to get what they want, as well as realistic plot twists. Something I liked, too, was the way Xiran Jay Zhao dealt with the action in the book: I’m usually not all for action-packed books, but the way Xiran did it pulled me in. It’s intense and involves a lot of emotion, something that usually lacks action scenes (one of the reasons why I don’t like them all that much). 

The way trauma is handled in ‘Iron Widow’ is spectacular, too. There are all sorts of these included, from family trauma to ones caused by alcoholism (I’d disclose more on that, but I’m not sure how spoilery that would be), and it doesn’t show only the “pretty” part of it: we get to see the anger that’s so often played in a way as to make the traumatised person feel guilty and the lashing out. 

Besides, ‘Iron Widow’ has everything: hate-to-love? Yup. Friends to lovers? Absolutely! Fake dating/arranged marriage? You bet! Overthrowing the government? 100% yes! That’s basically the plot of the book. Femme fatale trope where a character seduces, then kills a man? Again, that’s basically the (initial) plot. Forbidden/secret relationship? Lots of it. Morally gray characters? Basically all of them are. Fighting while injured and not 100% healthy yet? Mhm. Intense fights with giant, magic mecha suits inspired by mythology? I got you (Xiran does, actually)! Plot twists? YES! One party of the relationship finding a way to help/save their loved one from a dangerous situation that was almost impossible to do so? Yes!!!! 

If all my gushing wasn’t enough for you to pre-order this book or add it on your TBR, then... get help. But fear not! Becuase I’ll definitely post more about this book! (Maybe not here on Tumblr, but I have an account on Twitter 100% dedicated to it, so...) Because I’m obsessed with it! ‘Iron Widow’ releases in NINE DAYS, on September 21st, so make sure to check it out! Or else Wu Zetian won’t come for you! And believe me, you want her to.

[devildogdemon]

Makorra Week 2023: Day 5 – Buried Feelings

Hunger hurts, but starving works When it costs too much to love.

“I wanted — I hoped — I’d get another chance,” he admits.

“I know.”

“I still love her, Bo.”

“I know.”

“It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not.” Bolin releases him, but keeps a hand on his shoulder. “That’s the thing about you, bro — when you love someone, you devote everything to them. That doesn’t just go away when the other person moves on. It’s not stupid to still have feelings. Although…you do need to be better about expressing them.”

He winces, inadvertently reminded that he lost his chance to do so.

“I was going to tell Korra.”

Bolin blinks in surprise. “When?”

“At the wedding. We talked, she thanked me for taking down the Colossus, and I almost said it.” Dammit, I should’ve just said it.

Bolin’s expression turns sympathetic. “Why didn’t you?”

He groans in frustration. “I don’t know. I guess I thought it was too soon, and I didn’t want to rock the boat after everything we’d just been through. I thought there’d be a better time.”

“I’m not sure there ever is a right time for something like this.”

He laughs without humour. “Well, now is definitely not the right time. She’s happy with Asami. I’m not gonna ruin that by saying anything.

——

An absolutely FLOORING commission I am beyond honored to share, from the art MASTER, @alduade-art. Thank you so much for your devotion and deliverance of such a masterpiece! 

This scene and dialogue is from Chapter 3 of another one of my favorite Makorra fics: Moments in Lightning by Peonywinx. I cannot recommend this fic enough if you are a Mako stan and long for a story where he gets an arc worth his caliber. The whump is so, so overpowering in all the right ways. And this scene in particular...UGHHH my boy why must you be so noble to your own detriment!?! Thank you so much again, Alduade, for capturing and conveying all the heartache and pain in your one-of-a-kind style 🙇🙇🙇

@makorra-week-2023

[impostoradult]

I finally figured out why it feels like Supernatural murdered a unicorn (AKA why you need to STOP telling me to watch Black Sails)

I’ll start by saying, everything everyone else has been saying CERTAINLY bothers me: 

- the queer-baiting - the bury your queers - the undermining of Dean’s character arc  - the wasted opportunity for a certain kind of overall narrative closure - the flat out disrespect to Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles

 All of that bothers me tremendously. 

But there has been something else rather ineffable about this that has left a horrible taste in my mouth that I couldn’t quite pin down until last night. Bear with me, if you will, because this will require some set-up. 

*** This is not the first show to ever disappoint me in a spectacular fashion, nor will it be the last, I suspect. And one of the ways I’ve always coped with that disappointment was to remind myself that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right. (”It” being any number of things from just pure narrative emotional coherence to not burying your queers to not stringing along your queer audience and then yelling fuck you to them on the way out) 

But somehow that assurance -- that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right -- has rung particularly hollow in this instance, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why until yesterday. 

I kept asking myself, why do I still have this feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach, like something was lost here that can never be recovered? 

Because something was lost here that I am doubtful can ever be recovered, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else talking about this aspect of it at all. 

***

A few months ago, TV critic Maureen Ryan did a great interview piece with Mike Schur (of Parks & Rec/The Good Place) discussing the death of long-form TV in the streaming era. They explore how the longer seasons and longer runs of traditional broadcast/cable TV provided an opportunity to tell particular kinds of stories that you simply can’t when seasons are 8-10 episodes and series typically run 2-4 seasons (thanks Netflix).

One key thing we’ve all lost in this new era of highly condensed TV storytelling (and of prestige TV narrative styles)? The traditional (several season’s long) slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance. Not only is there simply no longer the time or space to write such romances, it has also come to be seen as hacky, manipulative, cheap, artistically impoverished, low-brow, a embarrassing vestige of the era before TV became art™. 

Everybody is trying to be Fleabag now. No one wants to be Frasier. (”It’s really more like a 10 hour movie” they all like to brag)

Obviously TV still has romances, even ‘drawn out’ romances. But ‘drawn out’ in 2020 is like 2-3 seasons, maybe. More commonly it’s like half a season. Take Schitt’s Creek. The number of episodes between when David and Patrick first meet and when they first kiss? Seven. Seven episodes. Half a season. If you watched it live, it took less than 2 months for them to move from introducing that dynamic to consummating it. And I’m not bagging on Schitt’s Creek; I think the David/Patrick’s story is very lovely and well-written. 

But Niles & Daphne (Fraiser) had to wait 7 years and over 150 episodes before they finally got there. Josh & Donna (The West Wing) had to wait 6+ years, and 145 episodes. Mulder & Scully (The X-Files) had to wait 7 seasons and 143 episodes. Booth & Bones had to wait...you see where I am going with this. 

And my point is (and I can’t believe I never realized this explicitly until now): there has NEVER been a queer slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance of that type on TV ever. EVER. 

I’m going to say that again, because I think it bares repeating:

There has never been a queer, slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance that fits the 100-150 episode paradigm of delayed gratification on TV. 

Not ever.  

I can’t think of ONE example  Not a single, solitary one. And I know queer TV pretty well. Arguably the closest we’ve ever come is Legend of Korra, and that ran 50 episodes, a THIRD of the length of old school will-they-won’t-theys like Booth & Bones or Josh & Donna. 

Queer people have had a fair number of canonical romances on TV by now, even fairly long running ones. But we never got a primary/front-and-center romance that you had to root for for 100+ episodes before you got any kind of canonical consummation.

That is a particular kind of TV experience that queer people and queer characters were just 100% shut out of until it was too late. And because of how the TV landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I don’t know that that opportunity will ever come back around in our lifetimes. 

***

Dean and Castiel are/were a legacy of an earlier era of TV, an era that still contained the possibility for a will-they-won’t-they of that particular mold. There were other shows that could have also filled this gap at one time - Rizzoli & Isles, OUAT, House MD, etc. But one by one all of them were killed off, their queer romances unrequited, until Supernatural was the only one of its’ generation left standing. 

And they should have acknowledged that they were a species about to become extinct. 

There are plenty of other valid and compelling reasons Supernatural should have gone full Destiel, don’t get me wrong.

A) It would have been the most emotionally satisfying ending to the series and to those characters (and that would have been reason enough). 

B) It would have stopped the manipulative queer-baiting of the (disproportionately queer) fanbase (and that would have been reason enough). 

C) It would have been queer representation of middle-aged men, of bi men, of queers who came to their queerness later in life (and any/all of those would have been reason enough). 

D) It could have been a glorious subversion of the bury your queers trope, considering how often they’ve died and been resurrected (and that would have been reason enough). 

But point E) on this list is the reason this one hurts in a singular way that no one even appears to be acknowledging. 

Almost all of the other wrongs and missed opportunities contained in this Supernatural debacle have the possibility of being rectified (at least to a degree) elsewhere. I can and I likely will get more bi male characters from TV as time goes on. I can and likely will get more middle-aged queer characters. I can and likely will get more queer characters coming to their queerness later in life, and starting queer romances later in life. I can and likely will get more queer characters who aren’t killed cheaply and prematurely. I can and likely will get more genre TV shows with sprawling myth arc plots that are resolved in a coherent, satisfying way. I can and likely will get Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles involved in other projects that value their work and their talents. 

All of those other things are at the very least POSSIBLE, and many are even likely. 

But a queer 100-150 episode slow-burn romance a la Mulder & Scully or Niles & Daphne or Booth & Bones? That is the one baton Supernatural dropped spectacularly that no one else even has the possibility of picking up again for the foreseeable future. (They don’t even write those types of romances for heterosexuals anymore!) 

Seriously. It was a TV unicorn. And rather than letting it run wild and free, they stabbed it with a rusty nail. 

***

Given the monumental shifts in the TV landscape that have occurred in the last decade, I don’t know that TV will ever go back to the slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance spanning 100-150 episodes. Today it is a miracle if you can get ANY show to last longer than 50 episodes in the first place. 

And that is the piece of this that makes it feel (to me) like they murdered a unicorn.  

Because queer people have gotten a lot of things from TV, and they will get a lot more as time goes on. But that one? That one could very well be a totally extinct species.

That is the larger missed opportunity here that has left this feeling especially hollow and destructive. That is the thing that makes me balk when people tell me to go watch Black Sails or Pose or whatever other prestige TV show is doing this representation ‘better.’ Because that’s not really the loss I am mourning here. I KNOW there is ‘better’ representation elsewhere.  

But the will-they-won’t-they/slow-burn romance is a qualitatively unique thing that queer people literally just never got. Ever. There is no substitute, no alternate, no other show I can turn to with that kind of build-up and pay-off for a queer couple, and there probably won’t be in my lifetime. Not unless the TV industry undergoes another monumental evolution similar to the streaming revolution that shifts the incentives back to telling those types of stories again. 

All those shows you want me to displace Supernatural with? None of them can give me the one thing I uniquely wanted (and could have gotten) from Supernatural. THAT ALTERNATE SHOW DOESN’T EXIST. It doesn’t exist. And I have no reason to hope it will ever exist in my lifetime. 

So stop telling me to look somewhere else; you don’t understand what made this one a unicorn. 

***

Addendum: The only other possible show that could perhaps fill this gap is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (re: Mac/Dennis). But I’m hesitant to say it exactly meets that criteria, for a number of reasons:

1 - It’s far less serialized relative to Supernatural and (except for a handful of stand-alone episodes) very little of the story is grounded specifically in Dennis/Mac’s romantic dynamic (unlike SPN, where it is absolutely central to much of the narrative)

2 - IASIP is fundamentally satirically in nature/tone which makes it much harder to have genuine romantic pathos (not impossible, but harder) 

3 - All the characters on IASIP are fundamentally crummy people who you aren’t exactly supposed to root for. Which doesn’t mean a romance between two of them can’t have its value/charm/worth but it’s not the same as when it is between characters who unequivocally deserve nice things/happy endings

[lethaldefect]

Welcome back, everyone who’s been waiting! The fun is back on!

Sorry for the long break—we had a “family flu party,” and let me tell you, babies are insanely demanding when they’re sick (yes, I have a family and a life outside of Tumblr—I know, shocking XDD).

But here I am, ready to dive back in!

Yes! I totally agree! I love worldbuilding! Only 9 episodes per season was a crime for me from the beginning, even with 7 seasons (I'm generally not a fan of a lot of seasons with a small number of episodes - 12 episodes per season is the minimum for me). BUT - it's 63 episodes total. And it's quite a lot. And if you're a good writer, that's completely enough to show the world in a way that's satisfying for both the creators and the viewers. 63 episodes is more than some great anime series or other animated series have (for comparison Avatar: The Last Airbender has 61 episodes and The Legend of Korra has 52 and both felt complete to me). It seems that 7 seasons of 9 episodes is not enough, precisely because it's fragmented like that. And let’s not even talk about that nonsensical time skip between Arc 1 and Arc 2. A 2-year timeskip was way too much and it seriously disrupted the plot line. Arc 1 had much better pacing, narration, and information delivery overall (Arc 1 >>>> Arc 2 in every possible way. I’m the biggest Arc 2 hater out there).

For such small series, time is key. This is actually one of the biggest opponents for creators (right after the lack of interaction with the fandom - the silent on official Twitter since season 3 was a shot in the foot, and I don't mean sharing promotional materials, but interacting with the fandom, you know, replying to comments, birthday posts, memes...). The 3-year hiatus was a killer. I don’t care if it was due to the pandemic, Ehasz drama, or changes at Wonderstorm—3 years of vague “it’ll come soon, so stfu and stop asking” was just unacceptable. Especially since the first three seasons came out within a year. (I started this series when I was finishing high school, and now I’m 25 with a baby. Like… WTF.)

NOW, MOVING ON TO THE JUICY STUFF:

That whole „we all loved him, but suddenly it turned out that for thousands of years he was making some revolutions, so we locked him up." was a sarcastic paraphrase of what she says in S4. Anyway, Zubeia ends the story by saying that "every great crisis the world faced" was actually Aaravos' doing. She probably meant civil wars, but honestly, you could totally call them revolutions. The changes in Xadia that came about as a result of those wars were certainly revolutionary, especially for this continent and the laws it operates under. And we're told that he was imprisoned specifically for that. Zubeia presented it as conspiracies... but I’ve been around long enough and seen too much politics to to just believe that XD. Aaravos says he’s innocent, and while I take his words with a grain of salt, I’d still like to hear his side of the story. Aaravos seems to be very politically ambivalent. What the dragons and other rulers of Xadia considered conspiracies and crises, may not have been so for him and others.

At the same time - saying that he was punished for Aditi's disappearance is a mistake, because the series shows that for thousands of years no one knew what happened to her. Khessa was the first. So going by that, probably no one even suspected that he could have had anything to do with it.

I know that imprisoning him was the only option to control him, but it's still cruel. That’s not a critique of the story—just my empathy for him. 😭

The Orphan Queen plotline pisses me off every time. Seriously, the last thing I’d do is trust a teenage human girl with no evidence, and then let a human mage help imprison the most powerful being in the world. If they hate humans and especially human mages so much, then be consistent. Maybe try thinking things through? Because that could’ve easily been a human conspiracy against the elves and dragons.

This is interesting because according to the timeline presented at Comic Con in 2019, Sol Regem was the first Dragon King of Xadia. Wiki also mentions he became an Archdragon after mastering the Sun, which qualified him to be King. So either the timeline ignores earlier rulers, or the royal hierarchy of dragons does not only concern the line of eventual rulers of Xadia.

Why do I assume Aaravos had significant political influence? Let me explain. Obviously, this is just my theory. Startouch elves were the first elves of Xadia. Plus, there’s this constant narrative that, while they’re elves, they’re also something more - Some higher being. Like gods. Aaravos is one of the Great Ones, one of the first elves in Xadia. And they say he’s one of the last (whether that means the last Great One or the last Startouch elf in Xadia is unclear). Still, if he was beloved by humans, elves, and dragons, it seems clear he must’ve had some political role. If Startouch elves are seen as higher beings, their political opinions would carry immense weight. I’m not saying Startouch elves were the original rulers of Xadia, but I like to compare their role to that of the clergy in medieval European politics. They didn’t rule directly but were the most important advisors. Their opinions mattered most, right after the king’s. And even the rulers tried to please them first. So, assuming Aaravos had substantial influence over Xadia’s politics seems fair to me. His voice must’ve—or should’ve—mattered. Whether he stayed politically active while he had Leola is another question. Still, I think he would’ve had enough influence over Xadia’s ruling bodies to threaten Sol Regem.

Sure, I get your perspective. I’ll stick with my interpretation because it just makes a bit more sense to me. Personally, I think his tone toward her was different from the way he spoke to the other dragons. For me, the energy and dynamic felt different. Especially since he really wanted her to suffer. But again, that’s just my theory, and I like to imagine it adds depth to the story. I think Aaravos feeling particularly betrayed by Zubeia could stem from the idea that, as a woman, she should’ve been more empathetic to his perspective as a parent who lost a child tragically. It’s just a tasty little detail that adds perspective.

Aaron Ehasz confirmed that the Startouch elf in the S1E1 sequence is young Aaravos, before he became the Fallen.

I hope we get an Elarion arc in arc 3 (and that we don't have to wait 3 years for it...). I want it to expand on the story we already have. That’s basically all I’m expecting and waiting for right now.

When the creators talked about continuing the series, they always framed it as prequels and side stories (e.g., The Orphan Queen was pitched as a standalone series, book, or movie at Comic-Con 2019). Also, what we now call Arc 3 wasn’t supposed to exist until S6. Initial versions (during S4 promotion) assumed that the "Mystery of Aaravos" arc would end with S6, and S7 would be the final season (earlier there was also a narrative that S4 and S5 would be one arc, and S6 and S7 would be arc 3 - again Comic Con 2019, the period of S3 promotion). And sure, concepts change, but for me S7 will be the official end of the series until arc 3 is officially confirmed and promotion begins.

And sentimentally, the series ended for me with S3 anyway.

--------------

Honestly, I hoped that if they were going to kill him, they’d do it in some way tied to Leola. Like… this man has depression… there’s nothing left in the world he cares about (okay, except Claudia now, but Claudia will manage without him). At least let him die with dignity, for something he loves.

And seriously, Leola is such an important piece here. Even if she doesn’t come back to life, I think her story would deeply affect the decisions and choices of most of the characters… if they actually took the time to tell it properly.

---------------

BTW I'M IN LOVE, HE LOOKS SO PRETTY HERE 😭

wait a fucking minute...

We still don't know why and how Aaravos was imprisoned.

And what exactly his beef with Sol Reg and the other archdragons was about.

And what his relationship was with the Orphan Queen.

Oh yeah! And also his relationship with Ziard... and city of Elarion...

DID THEY JUST KILL HIM WITH ABSOLUTELY NO EXPLANATION?

I'M SO PISSED OFF