#atla is FULL of complex and well written characters

[queen-morgana91]

"Zuko is the only complex character" in avatar is the most boring and stupid take in this fandom

Seems people can't recognize complex/good characters if they don't have a redemption arc

[jaydenix]

20 years on, Sokka is still one of the best male role models in all of media

We need more young men written like him

What's there not to love about Sokka? As ATLA's resident comic relief guy, crazy shit that happens to him is always a good laugh. He's full of himself and overconfident which combined with a stellar voice acting performance by Jack DeSena makes for a very fun character. But one of the most intriguing things about him is his relationship with manhood.

Sokka begins the show very close-minded on the subject of gender, he believes he's just innately better than woman (especially Katara) because he is a man. At this point he thinks he's on top of the world and he knows everything. After all, he has been put in a great position of power in protecting his tribe after the men left to fight. For what his world currently is his quite on top of things, but his world is about to expand 100 times over.

Once Aang arrives he's tasked with coming along with him and and his sister to head to the North Pole, but early on they arrive on Kyoshi Island and meet the Kyoshi Warriors, this is what begins to break down his superiority complex where he challenges his later girlfriend Suki to a fight and she fucks up his shit. This causes him to unravel what he believes about gender, that he is better than women because he is a man. But his adventure with becoming a man has only just begun.

Throughout the rest of the show, we uncover more about Sokka having to be left behind by his father, he was just barely not old enough to go away to fight and that hurt him real bad, he feels his ability to fight made him a man, but this robbed right out from under him due to his age. Though having spent 2 years stuck without seeing his father and having spent several months out flying around on a bison taking on the Fire Nation, of course he becomes way stronger and way smarter perhaps not dissimilar to how he would've done if he was able to go off and fight 2 years prior. Eitherway, when he finally sees his father and the men of the Southern Water Tribe again at the end of book 2, he's understandably incredibly nervous because he's unsure of how they'll respond. He's left wondering whether they will see him as a man? And of course, they all do, they shake his hand and one of them is comparing heights as he's gotten a lot bigger, he's now an equal to them. They left him a boy, but they reunited with a man. And the classic moment where Hakoda says to him "aren't you listening? I said the rest of you men get ready for battle" like FUCK yeah man Hakoda doesn't even give a second thought here to his son's manhood he just knows his boy is all grown up I love him.

Now, you all know this, so why am I talking about it? Well, Sokka is such an incredibly positive representation of masculinity: his journey to manhood doesn't involve being better or putting down women or anyone for that matter. It even challenges him on this when he thinks thats what it involves. Being a man to him is knowing where you're needed the most, and he fulfils that by trying to bring about peace in the world and helping his friends and others. This is what masculinity should be.

It seems right now a lot of young men are being radicalised into far-right red-pill ideologies which promote masculinity as mistreatment of others. How on earth do we solve this issue to prevent men diving head first into the brazen misogyny of people like Andrew Tate? I don't know, but a lot of people are increasingly frustrated with hardships in this modern world and look for some kind of scapegoat. Now, don't get me wrong, it's really easy to not be a flaming misogynist, and the grievances that the MRA/manosphere lobby enjoy highlighting like idk men being more lonely supposedly? Or not being able to find "ideal" partners because of the woke anti-men feminism mob or whatever? Whereas feminists point to you know things like rape? And abortion restriction? And domestic violence? Real actual issues that affect millions of women all over the world every single day? Undoubtedly I think a lot of men need to do a bit more critical thinking. But perhaps a small part of solving this problem might just be more shows and movies and media portraying young men like Sokka who learn to embrace a non-toxic and healthy form of masculinity. Maybe this will help even just a few young boys not be pulled into these dangerous ideas as they have their own independent idea of how to be a man that was guided through well written and interesting characters. Though of course there's a lot more to it as well, this is just one thing I've thought of.

"One is not born, but becomes a woman" is a common quote thrown around in feminism, and to me Sokka is the perfect example of someone who wasn't born, but became a man through his own good actions.

👏 More 👏 Young 👏 Men 👏 Like 👏 Sokka 👏 Please 👏

[jyndor]

oh my god

a show written by white us americans for us american kids, while often spot on with its anti-imperialism, is not actually the end all be all for how occupied and marginalized peoples can respond to their oppression and genocide. weirdo.

full disclosure I have my problems with the portrayals of jet and hama for this exact reason that i have previously written about here. because ultimately the gaang represent "good" resistance - mostly defensive/nonviolent. jet represents "bad" resistance, namely violent property damage that would have caused civilian casualties if sokka hadn't warned them. and hama, who thanking this op didn't bring up, is supposed to show how trauma can make a person do terrible things but really it just feels like a racist, misogynistic way to both sides colonialism and imperialism.

now unless I'm misremembering the story (I am not) that episode took place in the earth kingdom. why were those innocent fire nation civilians so close to the valley that jet was trying to protect? why was he worried about them encroaching on that valley enough to destroy the dam?

because they were settlers. the fire nation was trying to defeat and occupy the entire world, of course their settlers weren't just innocent civilians, they played a role like all settlers do in all conflicts. and jet and his freedom fighters were all displaced by the fire nation. they were refugees.

in the end, the gaang may have their problems with jet's tactics but they still mourn him and understand that he is RESISTING oppression, and not that he is the same as his oppressor.

katara is UNIQUELY empathetic and decent at times. during the painted lady, she makes it clear that she wants the liberation of ALL - including her oppressors who are also victimized by fire nation imperialism (and capitalism lbr). she sees the class dynamics in the fire nation, sees how they harm the villagers of jang hui. how the military industrial complex poisons fire nation citizens - literally. the problem is that they are happy to take her help when they think she is one of them, but when she reveals herself to be a waterbender, they turn away from her in their racist, xenophobic disgust.

the truth is that katara's form of universal liberatory politics is just one form of resistance against oppression. sometimes atla veers into making it seem like the only acceptable form of resistance, which is quite convenient for the white us americans who wrote the show.

one of atla's main ideas is that imperialism harms everyone, including the beneficiaries of imperialism. it was also written in the early to mid 2000s during the so-called war on terrorism, and with a us american audience in mind. so no I am not surprised that jet isn't seen in a totally positive light, nor am I surprised that the fire nation is occasionally presented in a "not all fire nation" way. it still posits that those innocent civilians are racist/colonizers and frankly complicit in many ways for what the fire nation is doing abroad.

this is why jet isn't a villain, he's just a complicated character. why he is made a martyr. why katara mourns him even if she's angry with him.

as for whether or not katara would condemn hamas... I'm not sure it matters. movements regularly have infighting and disagreements on tactics. even so, atla is a TV show. palestine is a real place with real people who have tried all kinds of forms of resistance. nothing is ever good enough for supporters of the settler colonial project of israel because the point is never, ever to live together in peace. two state solution? where do you see that in atla? if ANYTHING the show calls for pluralism and freedom of movement for all. for an end to nation states and nationalism, as well as preservation of all cultures. liberation for all.

I can't speak to the mess of the comics or lok because I don't care about those but if we're just talking about atla... come on. it's free palestine.

also nice false equivalency between the free palestine movement as a whole and hamas, which is just one part of the movement. racist dipshit genocide apologist.

[kitttttchaos]

I’d like to explore the idea of this new generation of stories. A lot of people are bringing up the fact that stories nowadays don’t feel like they used to, in the sense that so many are not well developed, especially with the influence of social media. So what does this mean for the next generation of readers, writers, and filmmakers?

I’ve noticed that a lot of the new things coming out are written as if for children, but executed as if for adults. Mean Girls 2024 is like the Gen Alpha remix. The dialogue and the costuming is catered as if towards middle school girls, but it seems like writers are forgetting just how young middle schoolers are. I’m willing to bet that high schoolers would find the new mean girls very cringe, but middle schoolers wouldn’t. But the trailer makes it seem so sexual that it can’t possibly be written for an audience of twelve-year-olds. The same goes for the live action Avatar remake. The plot and dialogue is written like it’s for kids who can’t fully comprehend personal growth, but there’s so much violence that it can’t possibly be for kids. (To be fair, I haven’t watched either of these for myself, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the people who have would agree; also no hate to the people involved in either production) But then you remember that some twelve year olds are full blown media influencers, who dress and speak about things inappropriate for their age, and in turn encourage their young viewers to do the same (ie. Sephora kids)

Eight graders are like armies for the media. Think about how One Direction exploded due to its audience. How the Sephora kids thing has been started by social media influencers. So, are filmmakers and writers trying to cater to the next generation of oddly mature consumers? If so, it seems like they’ve hit the mark. It’s a little too early to see how examples like Avatar will do in terms of money, but Mean Girls has grossed over $100mil in comparison with a $36mil budget, and if more things written like it do similarly in the box office, I can’t say I’d be surprised.

But even if art imitates life, life will also imitate art. The newer books and movies of today (when I say books I mean the mish mosh of tropes that get pushed around on TikTok, but that’s a whole other thing. Even so, they cater to a generation of readers who doesn’t seem to have grown up on reading) get the idea of kids that are so immature, even though they discuss and dress like they aren’t. But what those movies don’t get, in their haste to mirror Gen Alpha, is that kids are also complex human beings. The original Avatar got that, and so did the original Mean Girls. The reason I keep bringing up books is bc I was thinking about the Spirit Animals series, which is criminally underrated for its brilliant portrayal of character growth and redemption arcs, that I read when I was a kid. As Gen Z, do we want the next generation to grow up with horribly flat, oversexualized stories? We critique Gen Alpha’s inappropriate maturity, but we’re also the ones who are going to be writing for Gen Alpha in the future.

This idea is a little thrown together, and probably someone else has said it, but I think that we need to stop writing what sells. Stop the consumerist take on reading, of buying thousands of trashy romance novels to never pick up again. Stop writing cash grabs like Wish. Stop trying to mirror something about a generation that is not fully developed. I want Gen Alpha to have the feeling of being completely immersed in a story as a kid, and then growing up and thinking it was a story just for kids, but reading/watching it again and realizing just how good it was. But they won’t have that with this fast take on stories. What kid is going to enjoy the hell out of Wish, come back at 22, and think, “Wow, this is brilliant.”? But people do that all the time with the original ATLA.

I kinda hate myself writing this, but does anybody get what I mean? Why are stories getting so bad? Why are the things that make the most money absolute trash???

Anyway lol. Grain of salt, just my thoughts, yada yada yada. Lmk if u agree.

[valeriianz]

10 fandoms / 10 characters / 10 tags

tagged by @virgo-dream and @seiya-starsniper, thank you! this took me a while... the way my hyperfixations work is, i'll completely devote myself to a piece of media for a time... then once i find something else i move on almost entirely lol. i of course still have a very soft spot for the shows/video games listed here (as well as my blorbos, such as they are) but the only fandom im currently active in is, of course, Sandman.

1: Levi Ackerman - Attack on Titan

I am in a love/hate relationship with AoT lmao (and some day i WILL finish the final season) but nothing, not even fandom war, will ever change my love for Levi. I'm obsessed with his backstory, how he came into the Survey Corps, and how it all sheds light on the decisions he makes and the tragedies he suffered through. I was fascinated by him since S1 and after the No Regrets manga came out, I was done for. He has been through so much and despite how cruel and unforgiving he seems, he actually has the biggest heart and-- guh I just love him. He deserves the world ;^;

2: Zuko - Avatar the Last Airbender

Truly was torn between Zuko or Katara... but I have always had mad respect for Zuko's redemption arc and how brilliantly it was written. I love how it takes a full season and a half for him to have this war within himself, that he makes the right decision but then regresses... before literally becoming sick with indecision and change. And then he finally proves his worth and becomes the most loyal friend and a perfect leader to rebuild a broken society. I'm a sucker for good character stories, and Zuko's arc in ATLA is my hands down favorite ever.

3: Roxas - Kingdom Hearts

God I just love tragic male characters, huh? lmao. This one is a no brainer to me. Roxas is the OG blorbo. I fell in love with him at the tender age of 17 and have never looked back. He is kind and loyal but also a feral gremlin. He is so goofy but sad and god dammit, I love his voice and his baby blue eyes. Also this line, "This could have been the other way around." *shakes fist* MY BOY!

4: Faye Valentine - Cowboy Bebop

We love complex characters in this house! Faye has all the traits of a character I usually wouldn't vibe with: she's arrogant (without much to back it up lol), lazy, and is susceptible to addictions. But oooh do I love a character who uses negative traits to hide how emotionally vulnerable they are. Faye appears strong, mean, and confident to a fault, but inside she craves companionship and is incredibly lonely (despite her lone wolf tendencies). Rewatching the show as an adult, I found Faye and I have a lot in common lol. She needs a hug.

5: Hob Gadling - The Sandman

Do I really need to say anything? lol I love that Hob is the fandom's plaything; molding and shaping him and writing him in all sorts of different ways... but I do adore his canon character. He is brash, stubborn, at times cruel and violent... but then immeasurably kind, loyal, and forgiving. He takes on immortality in unexpected ways. he thrives, he suffers, he works, he regresses, he makes mistakes, he learns from them, he changes... he is THE human experience.

6: Daenerys Targaryen - Game of Thrones

Robbed. Robbed. Absolutely robbed. The writers did Daenerys so dirty, I refuse to accept the final 3 seasons of GOT as canon lmao. (and here's another thing: I would totally accept her spiral into "madness" if it had been handled seriously. If the writers didn't just pull this out of their ass and instead thoughtfully worked in justifiable reasoning for her to go crazy). I'm 100% a stan and there's actually nothing you can say that will change my mind :)

7: Cal Kestis - Star Wars, Jedi: Fallen Order

My SON. My BOY! I have the adoption papers ready.

8: Tifa Lockhart - Final Fantasy VII

Another OG blorbo lmao. She's been with me since I was a teenager (also I always shipped her with Cloud, not Aerith. I do however ship Aerith and Zack... the latter whom almost made this list. Anyway-). Tifa is the badass motherfucker with a heart of gold. She is insanely loyal and truly the wisest of the bunch.

9: Mickey Milkovich - Shameless

ANOTHER BROKEN CHARACTER WHO GOES THROUGH EXTREME DEVELOPMENT? Can anyone sense a pattern?? This motherfuckerrrr *shakes Mikey and slaps him in the face and sobs* God I love it when a seemingly irredeemable character goes THROUGH IT and comes out shining a new, yet somehow the same old, sarcastic bitch.

(Also please note that Lip Gallagher almost made this list. Another shining example of the writers doing his character the WORST injustice just to keep him on the show. He should have stayed in college. He almost GOT OUT. He almost broke the chain. What he did was not in line with his character and I will stay mad about it).

10: Cesare Borgia - The Borgias

THIS. GUY! AURGH!! Arrogant, violent, sexy bastard. You piece of shit. Cesare actually did everything wrong, he doesn't want to be redeemed. But he is so fucking charismatic and I love that he uses it to his advantage. He's so fucking smart and quick on his feet. He's SUCH an asset on the battlefield. And he LOVES his family! He will kill a bitch with his bare hands if they dare insult his mother or sister. I love that he grumbles when given advice from literally anyone that isn't his most trusted friend, bodyguard, and assassin, Micheletto. Doesn't even flinch when he discovers Micheletto is gay, actually teases him for being a momma's boy, and genuinely grieves for his loss when he flees. He says out loud how he misses him and actually begins to doubt himself without Micheletto there to counsel him. Cesare is everything to me, actually.

tagging, no pressure!: @rainy-days-and-nights @the-cloudy-dreamer @kemurai6-dominion-of-dust @ferelden-loser @teejaystumbles @tj-dragonblade @hardly-an-escape @sutoribenda @quillingwords @mathomhouse-e

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Oh boy, that's a difficult question given how many favourites I have but I'll do my best to answer!

(Under the cut though because I'm physically incapable of being brief about media I'm passionate about)

In no particular order:

James Flint (Black Sails) - a complex and almost poetic show with an equally complex and occasionally ruthless lead. He's a pirate captain on a revenge quest against England for taking his previous life and loved one away from him- I did not expect a show set in the 18th century to have a queer lead, much less one treated with so much respect and written as this multifaced and hard to judge morally. Just a warning though, the show gets dark and comes with a pretty extensive list of trigger warnings, so please take that into account if you're interested in watching!

Astrid Nielsen (Astrid et Raphaelle/Bright Minds/Astrid and Raphaelle [depending on translation]) - not a big crime drama guy, but she's one of a kind protagonist of a one of a kind show. A brilliant archivist and assistant investigator played by an equally great actress (Sara Mortensen). One of the only autistic leads out there and treated with such respect and attention to detail I cried several times watching just from how relatable Astrid is- I've never seen any representation like this before and certainly not for a female lead character. She's a genius but not emotionless (quite the opposite, in fact), never infantilised and her friendship with Raphaelle is beautifully written and takes into account their differences as a young ND woman new at her job and a neurotypical experienced detective. Astrid needs Raphaelle's perspective and help just as much as she needs hers, it's wonderful. This series does admittedly get queerbaity at times (imo) and Astrid faces occasional ableism, though it's always called out.

Kenzo Tenma (Monster manga/anime series) - hands down my favourite thriller out there and Dr. Tenma is a deeply honorable, determined and exceptionally kind man even despite his entire life falling apart, even towards the main villain who's a literal serial killer. I'd compare him to Aang (ATLA) in terms of how dedicated he is towards helping people and staying true to his morals. Incredible protagonist of an incredible story.

Donna Noble (Doctor Who) - she's so fun! The show was right to call her the most important woman in the history of creation, she's everything to me. Funny, lovable, strong, sarcastic, deeply human, I'm so glad she'll be back soon even if it seems like a brief guest starring type of deal.

Jolyne Cujoh (Jojo's bizzare adventure: Stone Ocean) - when I say I want complex female leads, not just strong ones, Jolyne is a good example of how they should be written. She's allowed to swear and be angry and imperfect, makes mistakes and deals with the consequences- all while being a great friend, caring daughter (despite daddy issues, her dad did admittedly kinda suck) and a smart fighter in the face of likely the most powerful villain in the series this far. There are uh... several problems the author has in terms of his writing of women, but Jolyne was so good.

Raine Whispers (The Owl House) - my beloved bard! They were such a good addition to the show both as Eda's ex (who she's still in love with) and a rebel witch! I loved their determination, they were smart as well (totally see why Eda fell for them so hard, same). Disney sucks for cutting the show short, I know they would have gotten more importance had the crew been allowed to make a full third season instead of several eps to wrap up the story :(

Xie Lian (Heaven Official's Blessing) - he gives me so many emotions... So deeply sad and yet so loving, one of the most compelling and complex protagonists I've seen- can't say too much without spoilers, but his backstory made me weep. Season 2 of the animated show just started, he's now a priority blorbo & both the animation studio and his actor do such a great job! Please do be warned, just like with Black Sails the trigger warning list for this series is LONG. Truly puts the 'dark' in dark fantasy.

Lee Dongsik (Beyond Evil) - a show that will emotionally punch you in the gut and kick you when you're down. He's a detective labeled as an insane weirdo and a potential murder suspect, but most of that is due to intense trauma and a (bad) coping mechanism. The show can and will make you question your view on every character and has so many twists, if you're a fan of crime dramas it's a must watch & Lee Dongsik is a super complex and fun to watch lead.

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) - this show entered my head years ago and refuses to leave, and this boy is so well-written and such a good example of how to make an engaging and likeable action/fantasy lead! Even before I got into anime my best friend kept recommending me FMA as a series for everyone, she was right- it's universal and Ed is a big part of that, I love him so much.

Korra (Avatar: The legend of Korra) - this list couldn't be complete without one of my favourite animated series leads! Great character development, strong and determined, realistic, very cool overall! I had such a crush on her in high school. Can't not mention her relationship with Asami, they paved the way for more openly queer characters in animation and will forever be famous <3

[mitskiesques]

as an eldest sibling yourself, do you prefer jinx or azula and why

short answer: jinx > azula. long answer well here it goes.

my first instinct is to say jinx no question. it's clearly an emotional response so where do we go from here??: relatability.

they both have very real struggles and problems going on so it comes down to what you personally see yourself more in. golden child vs underdog, rich ppl problems vs poor ppl problems, physical discipline vs creative intellect, sibling dynamic of competitiveness and rivalry vs sibling dynamic of protection and pseudo-parenting, aiming for perfection/fear of imperfection vs aiming for strength/fear of weakness (each that come from what their respective environments value btw), and so on.

since u asked me personally allow me to say this. the years have passed since atla came out and still i have to find a single thing about azula that i relate to on a personal level. not that azula isn’t relatable At All bc you take one look at her deranged superfans and you can tell there’s some projection going on there so she clearly IS relatable, she’s just not relatable To Me bc i have different problems different perspectives different personalities different experiences with siblinghood etc etc.

jinx though i see a lot of myself in her despite the fact that half her personality is also delusional little sister and the fact that half my personality revolves around my eldest sibling status and behavior. and that IS because jinx is poor and oppressed thus anything she does is a bit more justified not in my eyes but in my heart. i love azula and her dyke drama but she’s simply too much of a privileged colonizer princess (tm) to me and my personal sense of empathy and though she is an abused child in mental distress and obviously i feel for azula on a humane level there’s a taint to it that i don’t feel with jinx.

and it’s not about violence either bc jinx is literally a terrorist. but mostly i think it’s because her crimes and general Evil Deeds come from In General her status as a victim to the actions of people like azula. azula feels righteous in her murdering bc of imperialism, jinx feels righteous in her murdering bc she has been screwed over by these people since birth. there’s a political statement that i relate to within jinx’s character that goes beyond what caters to me on a personal level wrt my experiences in life i guess. i can’t really help how i feel about it my apologies to all irl delusional little sister princesses i guess.

from a more objective and actually analytical point of view: they’re both great tragic characters masterfully done and they manage to pull off most of the things they are each meant to achieve and still i do think jinx is slightly superior because jinx is more or less one of the most complex interesting and layered characters written perhaps... ever???? it's definitely not the right post to elaborate too much but where azula is clearly defined as a villainous antagonistic character, jinx has literally a double narrative as hero and villain At The Same Time. where azula is a straight up masterfully written tragedy, even in jinx’s full on corruption and revenge there’s a sense of triumph over her oppressors. it's not that azula is bad as a character it’s that azula is Very Good Very Solid character but jinx is just. mindblowing.

anyway. it’s a fair if a little obvious comparison to make. they are similar in some ways but the differences are just so relevant to their characters and so interesting to talk about as well even moreso than how they are alike so i felt like this mess of text and text and text was worth writing if anything to at least get it out of my brain lmao.

[light-lanterne]

4, 19, 29 ? for the ask game! also i hope you feel better soon ♡♡

hello! i first want to apologise for taking so long to reply x.x got busy with other stuff and forgot :S

- - - - - - - - - - - ♡ - - - - - - - - - - - ....................ask game - - - - - - - - - - - ♡ - - - - - - - - - - -

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

i actually do know why i haven't written it. when i was in another fandom i did a lot of worldbuilding for a vampire au. i wrote maybe 200k worth of lore. when it came to writing the story, however, i faltered and hesitated for months and then i left the fandom so i never got the chance to write that story. so now i carry that idea with me and i really want to write it (for whatever fandom, doesn't matter which), but i'm not sure i'll get to write it because i don't know if i'm able to match the serious tone of the universe i made up x.x (tl;dr, it's about character a being turned into a "faulty vampire" and having one lunar year to live, and character b, a normal vampire, trying to find ways to make their lives better and maybe, hopefully, finding a way to defy fate. it's full of (twisted for my own means) biblical concepts and nonsense and it was going to be very angsty and serious)

19. what are some books or authors that influenced your style the most?

i honestly have no idea. i grew up with fantasy books but i never really paid much attention to the author's styles. if i had to push myself, i'd say the following book series have inspired me the most: ★ "the hobbit" / "the lord of the rings" by j. r. r. tolkien these taught me to talk about tenderness, emotions and human connection even in (particularly in) the darkest of times ☆ "the kingkiller chronicle" by patrick rothfuss these ones are stellar at showcasing the effects of trauma in characters and groups of people (which i guess is the focus of many of my stories) ★ "a game of thrones" by george r. r. martin this was the first time i properly paid attention to worldbuilding so now i try to consider a lot of the aspects this man seamlessly weaved into the story ☆ "the idhun chronicles" by laura gallego garcía these are very good at worldbuilding too. more than anything, one of the three main characters is the bad guy for most of the story and his redemption arc is as complex as zuko's in atla (which i watched like ten years later x.x) so yeah, it taught me about complex characters (i also read a lot of gothic and classical literature but we'll be here all day if i start talking about that + those came later in my life) all this said, i think my main inspirations have always been videogames (way too many to even mention, but i shall give special mention to the "to the moon" series; i like the non-linear way you learn the story), as well as movies ("the crow" from 1994 is my favourite film ever) and tv shows (i lean towards self-contained stories, so i prefer shows like "hannibal" and "zankyou no terror" / "death parade" over series that go on for so long they become bad x.x). i guess i like the visual aspect of them. last, my actual one defined inspiration: dani filth, singer and songwriter of the band cradle of filth. the man's usage of language and his storytelling have always had a huge impact in the stories i like to tell, and his combination of fantasy, gothic elements, roman satire and shakespearean flare is just outstanding. cradle of filth is an extreme metal band, so probably not everyone's taste; that said, they are a good introduction to that type of music so give them a shot if you want. be careful though; as the name suggest, they usually talk about the darkness of humanity and they are not shy to mention the most harrowing and disturbing topics, so massive trigger warning for just about any icky topic you can think of.

29. give us a spoiler for one of your stories

right, i'm going to give one for each of my main wip's... i guess it's only fair that i start with the darkest eyes, seeing as i haven't updated in a while. so, mike's substance use will continue to get worse and during chapter 11, we will see him at his worst. this triggers some memories, so this chapter is hopper's recollection of the events that transpired two years earlier: their arduous fight against vecna, the state of the party back then and, more importantly, the various incidents that involved mike, from the demogorgon attack, to his time at the hospital (including an incident that's been hinted at, but only max knows about), to his state after the final battle. also, the harold storyline comes back around that time because that asshole killed more than one kid (<- - - - there, an actual spoiler lol) now, about the trees are growing restless,,, mike's not the only one who's stuck in the loop. there's someone else, someone i've already mentioned so you can probably figure out who it is quite easily. anyway, this person at one point suggest that maybe they can get help from owens and his friends, a suggestion that carries many issues because they don't really have a way to contact him. they eventually manage, but for four days mike goes through literal hell and this one is not bad because of the mind flayer or vecna, but because of the various human enemies we've met. also, mike's not in a vecna trance (or is he?). the time loop is decently real and the root is a little someone you know quite well. last, about sin deep, my darling angel (just because i love this story and might start it soon): mike's a demon. it's going to be a tag so that won't be much of a spoiler but i left it ambiguous in the summary i posted

thanks for the good wishes~ hope this answered the questions adequately :]

[elderemorune]

A Diatribe

I'm fucking tired.

Just wiped.

I haven't written in days and my brain is a mess. I don't know how to process some of it, so I've just been mainlining the MSQ in FF14. I love the game, but I'm worried I've been doing escapism too much lately.

I have an Atlas complex. Hero complex, whatever you wanna call it, I'm the guy who's right there, ready to help every goddamn time. I am the tank, the one who takes the hits and backs up the party by making sure they can do their Jobs well.

My whole life, I've been told that my value is tied directly to helping others. I've always made it my goal to help people. It's not where I derive all of my value these days, but I find it telling that my preferred form of entertainment/relaxation is still doing that job.

I am a good tank. Not a great one, but a good one. I know my Job well, and take it seriously when I'm in game. It matters to me that I do well in the dungeons and during raids. I'm not even to HW yet, and I still can't wait to try Dark Knight, because swords are cool. Gunbreaker is also high on my list, almost entirely because Slicks will look way too cool with a Gunblade.

I have another character too. His name is Rassjan Starlight, he's married to Persephone Starlight, and is the toon I wear when I play with my wife. Where Slicks is a Warrior, Rassjan is a Paladin, a Job I identify more with, likely due to my incredibly strong sense of justice, a sense that was honed in my ten years being together with my wife.

And I've been thinking about how that happened. I've always cared about others, not what they think mind you, but in general. I don't want people to get hurt or to die, and generally believe that people are good. This has always been where my morality comes from, even when I got sucked into the alt-right pipeline. For a long time, all I could see was other people getting hurt, but I didn't see how they were hurting others.

I'm fairly certain that I'm the tank because I'd rather be the one getting hurt. I can take it, I know I can. Shit, I've lived through enough at this point to know that short of murderous violence, I can take it. I've seen 'mothers' decry their children as selfish solely because they want to live differently. I've been beaten, stepped on, elbowed punched, you name it. I've borne witness to the transformations of friends, the loss of enemies, and the shifting of cultural tides.

And I can take it. It's a lot, but I can.

It's not even a saviour thing. If I can buy my allies just a few seconds, just a scant moment, so that they can escape or deal the killing blow, I'm there. But I didn't save anyone, I've only enabled them to save themselves.

Like my wife. She says all the time that I saved her from a miserable life, but that's not true. She saved herself, I just extended the hand. I took the fights she couldn't so that she could get strong enough to take them on later.

Five years ago, if I'd proposed that I never want to speak to her mother again, this would have posed a problem. But now she's on board. Three years ago, I never would have envisioned my father trying to apologize for being a bad dad, but because I took the fight and enabled him to grow and heal, he did.

And the thing is, I've never done this alone. I used to say I raised myself, which is only half right. While my mom has always been distant, and my dad wasn't the best growing up, I still had people around me. Family friends who wanted to see me succeed. They took the fights I couldn't. My wife does it too now, sometimes. She encourages me to step back from dealing with my father when I'm drained. To take time for me from time to time, even with me caring for her full time on top of my job.

(Side note, is that why I'm always so goddamn tired?)

I think it feels similar in FF for me. The story is fun, but the meat of my love for the game is in exploring the world and seeing the incredible setting and in diving headfirst into dungeons across the land, fighting monsters and buying my party the time they need to dispatch our foes.

Real life, like FF, cares about our party composition. A tank to buy time for the DPS to take care of threats, and a healer to put them out when they all inevitably catch fire. A poorly constructed party may clear a dungeon, but it's harder. A poorly constructed friend group may be helpful sometimes, but it's still harder.

I dunno.

I think I've lost the plot, and don't recall what I wanted to say anymore. I tend to bullfrog anyway, you know? Talk just to hear my own voice or whatever.

Eh screw it.

[litandroses]

Book recommendations that deserve the spotlight

Compiling these as an underrated book lover myself!

The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee

Book one actually has a lot of ratings than the others in this list but I don’t see it talked about a lot.

It’s adult urban fantasy, Mafia-esque and intergenerational.

It has kung-fu, magic, politics, great morally grey characters, family dynamics, and worldbuilding. Also, GIRLBOSS! (no, not just one).

VERY INTENSE.

Author of color! Characters of color!

Robbergirl by S.T. Gibson

Stand-alone YA Fantasy. Snow Queen retelling.

Has less than 250 ratings on Goodreads.

Has SAPPHIC YEARNING.

QUEEN OF THIEVES “STEALS” A WITCH HOME WITH HER BECAUSE SHE WAS LONELY AND WANTED A FRIEND. SHE WAS SMITTEN WITH HER THE FIRST TIME SHE SAW HER.

ThE WRITING. THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL *CHEF’S KISS*

There’s a reindeer, a tame crow. ANIMAL COMPANIONS.

Dare I say slow-burn?

Masters of Death by @olivieblake

You may know her by her other book, The Atlas Six! (dark academia, sexy complex characters yup yup).

This one has less than 200 ratings on Goodreads.

Masters of Death is a whole other vibe.

Large cast of characters that work together so well (their banger was so funny too please).

This is quite difficult to describe, but basically it’s kind of like a mash-up of different fantasy elements. There are Greek gods, there are angels, a reaper, an aswang (one of the best things I like about this was the Philippine mythology, we don’t get a lot of those!), a poltergeist, and a lot more.

Also, personification of Death! And he’s called Papa? And whenever he curses he needs to snap a band over his wrist as a reminder not to do it again? (or at least do it less frequently 😂). Damn right it’s here.

There is a game. The only rule is: Don’t lose.

Beautiful writing, sexy characters. Diverse.

Author of Color!

The Burning by Evan Winter

Full of rage. Revenge story.

Non-European fantasy. Written by an Author of Color.

Epic battle scenes.

Look at that cover.

A lowly commoner driven by hatred and the want to prove himself (and those of his social class) no lesser than the upper class.

Women in positions of power. Only WOMEN can call dragons in this book.

INTENSE.

STRESSFUL.

WHERE WE FIGHT, THE WORLD BURNS.

Have I said dragons? I’m saying it again.

I haven’t seen a single edit of this yet. Help?

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda

YA fantasy.

Characters may be young but they’re mature. No pettiness here.

First book based on the “Just City” in Plato’s Republic. Second book’s reference is Virgil’s Aeneid.

Very political.

Explores how a generation would react to a regime shift.

DRAGONS. DRAGON BATTLES. DRAGON RIDERS.

Has Angst. Yearning.

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso

Based on Philippine Culture and Mythology (again, we do not get a lot of those).

Iconic first line.

Main character called the Bitch Queen 🔥.

Bad-ass heroine.

Action-packed. Twisty.

Non-European fantasy.

Author of Color!

Burning Roses by S.L Huang

Novella.

Set in the East.

Older characters (old women in fantasy!).

Retelling of Red Riding Hood, Hou Yi, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Beauty and the Beast.

Latina and Chinese main characters.

Sapphic (yes, they have children).

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

Military fantasy.

Japanese-inspired.

Elemental magic.

Dare I say milf? And also one of the best protagonists, like ever.

Heartbreaking, but also hopeful.

No dull moment.

Chapter 27, read to find out.

We Belong by Cookie Hiponia Everman

Less than 200 ratings.

Told in verse.

Middle grade (don’t restrict yourself).

Full of love.

Filipino author. Philippine history (Marcos era) woven with mythology.

Immigrant story. Made me shed tears.

Won’t take you more than an hour to read.

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

Another Olivie Blake, of course.

Contemporary

A love story, but not a conventional one.

Intimate, painful, and also hopeful.

Philosophical.

Beautifully written (I mean it).

Great portrayal of mental illness.

What is it like to love someone who sees your ugly parts but still thinks you’re worth the fight? Read this.

[jasminedragonart]

Ok all this Azula talk has made me intrigued so let me rant away with my thoughts on this! I don’t know if you’ll publish this but heh, here I go anyways.

Azula most likely has feminine pieces of clothing for sure and I agree, they’re most likely few in between.

She does make herself seem older with makeup which honestly screams like a trauma effect on her rather than anything else if we’re going to delve into that mess. Azula being perceived as older than she is tends to be a very prevalent theme of her story and small details like this help support this common misconception about her age which is the point (still a mistake on the writers though).

The headpieces she wears as well just seem to be a Royal Family tradition thing. Though when she was younger in the flashbacks, her headpiece is most similar to Ursa’s but that changes quickly with her 14 year-old self. That screams a lot but it’s mostly just Azula moving up the ranks into the position of heir to the throne since she wears the same headpiece we see on Lu Ten’s portrait.

Even in the show, her more feminine clothing (Book 2) is different compared to someone like Ursa’s and Michi’s given that Azula seems to wear pants. In Book 3, she embraces a more masculine approach to clothing with the exception being the Beach episode (a setting where Azula is out of her comfort zone) and when she’s in casual robes when getting prepped up for the day or when she’s sleeping. Other than that, she’s wearing full on men’s clothing which is just really interesting given that she’s back in the FN where she’s most comfortable which implies Azula has a preference for masculine clothing…

I know you’ve probably gotten many messages similar to this but dissecting Azula’s character is just interesting especially when we’re on about topics like masculinity and femininity since Azula seems to exist somewhere in the middle or outside the binary line when it comes down to it. Azula was written in a very gender-queer way if you want to look at ATLA through a queer lens and that’s worth talking about.

Hope this helps or gives you more insight into this mess of a kid because she’s filled with complexity.

I think what we need to remember about Azula is that she's basically on a mission most of the time we see her. She's Zuko book 1. Meaning the armour she's wearing is because of a) her status, because she's a princess but she's also the next head of a military state meaning she dresses in military attire because it's expected of her. Also b) it's practical and she's expecting to encounter trouble while she's looking for her brother and the Avatar.

With this in mind, I think assuming she wears masculine clothes more than feminine is just a guess on our part. We do see her in relaxed feminine clothes, and while they might not be the same as Mai, Ty Lee and Ursa, we have to remember also that Azula is, again, a princess, and again, her own person with her own personal style.

I think it's very interesting that she dresses older as she is but also in armour. I think everything about her is interesting and I enjoy that people have different interpretations of her character.

[phoenixlionme]

Why We Love ATLA

1. Character development is both frequent, gradual, and well written.

2. How different relationship grow. Either they blossom or get destroyed.

3. Zuko was most likely the first GOOD example of a well written redemption arc: He starts of as an antagonist, who shows noble qualities and a tragic backstory, that make him complex. However, he does bad things throughout the show and is rightfully called out by others, even after he becomes full good. And, he doesn’t take the first step to being good in the second season finale. He gets what he wants but realizes it’s not right. So, he CHOOSES to go to the good side because he finally KNOWS it’s wrong, and not because someone told him to. However, when he first joins the Gaang, they all (but Toph) are understandably reluctant - which is good, are you really going to just trust someone who has attacked and betrayed you? But he WORKS to gain their trust and friendship.

4. Excellent worldbuilding that isn’t info dumps.

5. Actual strong female characters. Whether they fight or don’t, ATLA gave amazing and diverse female characters with their own agency, flaws, strengths, and vulnerability. And they could be girly, masculine, or somewhere in between. And no matter where they fell, it didn’t mean they were good or evil.

6. They showed how to write disabled characters in Toph Beifong. She is shown with a disability that she learned to work with and didn’t “overcome” or get “cured”. She turns her disability into a strength. And despite being a strength, the show isn’t afraid to show that her ability did have some drawbacks, and while she managed to work around some of them, she couldn’t with all of them. And they didn’t just make her entire character about her disability, but gave her a character.

7. Azula, Jet, and Zuko were great examples of complex villains. Although, in my opinion, TLOK did a better job of it, these three were some early example of not typical villains.

8. The show was NEVER afraid to show heavy moments and they handled said scenes with care.

9. Great action scenes. That is all.

10. Aang as a male protagonist. He was feminine, not afraid to cry, and was an all-loving type but NONE of these traits were shown as weakness. It’s what made him lovable.

11. Just the unique animals that are in this world

12. The intricate symbolism.

13. Back in the 2000s, cartoons would usually show abusive parents in a comical manner. But ATLA? Ozai was portrayed in a serious, realistic light as an abusive parent and was rightfully called out on by Zuko. It was also notable how a male victim of abuse held his male abuser accountable for his actions,

14. While TLOK sequel series could’ve been handled better, it’s still a proper and great sequel series.

15. How the show destroys toxic masculinity in both Sokka and Zuko. Sokka went from a sexist, wannabe fighter to an actual warrior with respect for women; Zuko went from an angry jerk who believed dominating was the way to earn respect to a proper Fire Lord and hero who now understands that the only the world can survive is through love and kindness.

16.The show managed to handle several heavy topics with show much class when others shows (live-action included) barely could do one: Sexism, colonialism/imperialism, attempted genocide, grief, war, child abuse, trauma, healing from pain, the pains of growing up, etc.

[the-crimson]

With Dream’s new lore video I hope people will stop trying to excuse c!Dream’s actions or calling him “morally gray”. This boi is evil. Full stop. And you know what I LOVE THAT for him. This is a post I’d been considering making for a while and the new lore drop gave me the motivation.

All discussion about the character not the content creator.

The Dream SMP is a story filled to the brim with morally gray protagonists and antagonists who are the heroes of their own stories. That is awesome and gives for a lot of really in depth discussions between the fans and interesting conflicts between the characters. However, when creating a narrative like this with so many morally gray characters, there is one plot device that is necessary to highlight just how grey these characters are: A Pure Evil Villain. Which is the role that Dream has grown to fulfill after Shlatt hit the bucket.

Now, I’m going to say this here. Watching Dream be evil and run around the server causing chaos is my favorite thing. It’s the same reason why people watch Death Note or enjoy classical Disney Villains. Sometimes... watching fictional characters do unapologetic evil... is fun.

What gets unfun is when people try to justify his actions or call him “morally grey”. No. He isn’t. He is my evil little meow meow who enjoys committing war crimes. You are allowed to enjoy watching fictional villains do their villainy. A lot of villains are written specifically so that the audience is enthralled by them and enjoy watching them reap chaos- but you are not supposed to root for them or justify their actions (unless the heroes are really insufferable lol)

In my mind, Dream is equivalent to a classical Disney renaissance villain. He certainly has the villainous pinash, charisma, and queer coding for it. These villains are extremely enjoyable and have a wonderful stage presence but in the end, you can’t wait for them to hit that third act breakdown and fall apart.

All the apologists trying to justify his actions are missing the point of Dream as a character. He, a pure evil villain, is meant to highlight how morally gray everyone else is. Every single person on the server has committed war crimes and hurt other people so how do you determine who is good and who is bad? Well, you put them up against someone who consistently and unapologetically abuses, manipulates, tortures, and straight up murders people for his own goals with no tragic backstory or sympathetic motivation in sight.

That is why you have duos like Azula and Ozai in ATLA or Hordak and Hord Prime in SPOP. You have an extremely complicated and morally gray villain working right next to a pure evil villain to highlight just how complex one is, and how evil the other is. In the case of the dsmp, that duo has changed over time but right now it seems to be Punz and Dream. Punz, a morally gray character who we have seen waver but remains loyal to Dream and his goals.

In the end, Dream is my favorite* character because he is a pure evil villain and that is incredibly FUN to watch. Stop worrying about morality and sit back to enjoy the ride.

*I love many of the characters equally but evil Dream squeaks ahead by a sliver because he is just so fun to watch and I can’t wait to see what fucked up evil thing he does next.

[saby-chan]

Why the ATLA comics fail when it comes to Zuko and his family

To whom ever took their time to actually stop and read this post, thank you in advance for not skipping my post and willing to stay and read my humble opinion! I hope I won’t disappoint you!

As a relatively newcomer to the ATLA fanbase since 2020, I’ve come across a lot of interesting debates, comments and rants about the show, characters and fandom in general, but nothing has captivated me as much as the dumpster-on-fire that are the ATLA comics, more specifically: The Promise and The Search. 

On one hand we have the hardcore fans who want them to be animated or serialized into the Netflix live action, praising the comics for the new views and subject matters they’ve brought into the show’s lore, while on the other hand we have the furious Azula fandom who is really angry for the fact that best girl didn’t get the redemption arc she rightfully deserved so much after the painful event that was the Last Agni Kai and the even more angry fans of the Urzai ship (yeah, the people who actually ship Zuko’s parents unironically) who hated the retconning of the show’s cannon since the comics basically took a huge fat dump on what was previously established as official cannon, when the Search entered the scene, but between these two sides, who has the more valid point? In the end, are the comics good cannon or bad written fanfiction?

Well... Here are my two cents on this matter since I myself happen to be an Azula and Zuko fan and had huge expectations from these comics (since I wanted more from my fave hot-headed fiery siblings duo) but ended up disappointed: the comics are indeed a huge mess and actually bad written fanfiction when it comes to Zuko and his family! Don’t click off yet, because I actually documented the reasons why exactly the comics fail in this area:

1. The author of these comics is not part of the BryKe duo

Yes, I would like to start with the fact that if you actually take a second to look up who in the heck took the time to write these two books, you won’t find Bryan, nor Mike, but a fellow man named Gene Yang. This is important because while the wiki of both The Promise and The Search state BryKe as the creators, that doesn’t mean that they were the actual minds behind these comics, but rather because ATLA is their “baby” and these comics involve their characters, over which they have copyright. Mr. Yang here is the actual brain behind the plot, as the main writer, which explains why we find huuuuge inconsistencies between the show lore and the comics, especially Zuko wise.

My main issue with Mr. Yang isn’t that he isn’t BryKe specifically, but because he did an unforgivable mistake in his writing process: He projected himself into Zuko’s character, based on the relationship Zuko had with his father. This is a documented fact from an interview in which he explains that he sees himself and his dad’s relationship into Zuko and Ozai and used that when writing their interactions and built Zuko’s character in the comics. And this is wrong because when you have an already very developed and complex character such as Zuko, you can’t just come in and be like “Oh, I was an angsty teen just like him in my teenage years, fighting with my dad and whatnot, so he must have the same thought process as me!”. NO! This is bad fanfiction writer behavior! Zuko has his own personality and philosophy, which he developed over the course of 3 seasons and is not defined by only 1 unfortunate aspect of his past, so you can’t just base his whole mindset and actions off of your own personal experience just because you had the same daddy issues he had!

2. The whole “Promise that you will kill me if I turn out like my dad!” nonsense in The Promise

Reason number 2 why these comics fail and go under the category of “bad fanfiction” is because they fail to convey the core essence of the source material. The whole point of Zuko’s redemption was that he realized the wrongdoings of his ancestors and his own mistakes. He outgrew his desire of gaining his father’s acknowledgement in favor of choosing his own destiny. Having him worry that he’ll turn into his father is utter nonsense and feels like poor angsty drama material for the sake of angst. At this point in time, Zuko has overcame that obstacle in his life a long time ago and should be at the level where he himself is the “Uncle Iroh” for other people and in no way someone concerned of becoming their own worst enemy!

Not only that, but the whole point of Aang’s journey and the story of the show as a whole was to teach us, the viewers, the importance of forgiveness, empathy and love in life. Aang didn’t spare Ozai, aka “the ultimate evil” just to flex in front of his pals or because he is a “ 12 y/o vegan pacifist monk kid”, but because he knew that killing someone, no matter of what they did or wanted to do, wouldn’t restore balance into the Universe, on the contrary, him killing the villain would have meant perpetuating the “endless cycle of hate” that plagued the world. So having Aang promise to kill his best friend in case “they turned into an evil maniac like their dad” contradicts Aang’s whole character and it’s a nonsense that throws into the trash what we’ve learnt throughout the entire TV series.

3. Azula deserved (and was supposed) to have a redemption ark

This might still be pure speculation, but I count it as a documented reason because I’ve heard quite a few people saying that there should’ve been a book 4 in the show, aka “Book 4: Air”, and no, it wasn’t The Search, but actually Zuko and Azula’s journey as Zuko helps his younger sister heal her broken mind by being her very own “Uncle Iroh”. Sure, they prolly were going to end up looking for Ursa, but the journey should’ve ended with them actually being happy and a family again and not the bs we got in The Search where a still very unstable Azula runs away and becomes the “Next Joker”! The only problem is that M. Night had to pop up and curse the world with his movie, which forced BryKe to delay the project (and eventually abandoned it in favor of Korra).

All in all, either if BryKe had this preplanned or not, it made sense for Azula to get a redemption ark, she deserved it because she was just a broken 14 y/o child! If Katara’s mom’s murderer deserved to be forgiven, so did this poor child who had no fault for what happened to her since she had a dysfunctional family! What Gene Yang did in his poorly written fanfiction was to just antagonize a broken child, turning her into a monster for the sake of friggin angst!

4. The Search is the worst of the two, being flat af character wise

And finally, getting to the point that I personally find the most annoying about these comics: The Search. This one... This one is a mess on a hella lot many levels, and just to list a few: characters are flat as fudge, being either black as vanta black (like Ozai and Azula) or pure white like Gene’s Gary Stue OC, Mr Ikem (or how I like to call him, IKEA man) and his ‘victim’ rendition of Ursa, Azula gets to suffer more for no reason (see reason number 3 to why I find this as a no no), Ursa’s whole character sucks ass (man, I could write a whole thesis on why Yang’s version of her is terrible and doesn’t match the strong woman we got in the show) and Zuko does morally wrong stuff (my man literally used his unstable sister to bribe their dad into spitting info about Ursa... Show Zuko would never do that!;-;)

Oh boy, as a person who’s seen a ton of anime and other media and read many books, I can’t begin on how much I despise this type of writing: flat characters are the worst!

 ATLA characters in the show are nothing close to being flat! What I mean by that is that none of them fall perfectly into pure white (aka goodest of good characters with no imperfections) or vanta black (aka lowest and darkest twisted monsters out there), each of them are various shades of grey (like Aang who is a very light grey because despite being a very kind and nice character, he still isn’t a “perfect hero” since he ran away from his duties, practiced tax fraud with Toph, had insecurities and even threatened to kill people on ocassions like with the sand benders who took Appa) and this is a good choice because that prevents them from becoming what’s globally known as Mary Sues and Gary Stues (aka those either “perfect” characters with no flaws and/or unlimited power, or the twisted monsters full of flaws).

And the other reason why many other people hate The Search: it literally negates previously established cannon. And here comes my short essay on why this comic fails Zuko’s family (since we’ve already talked enough about Zuko himself).

In cannon and even interviews with BryKe, it was clearly stated that Zuko’s family was “once happy”. Where is this “once happy” family in The Search? All I see is pain, deception, lies and betrayal, nothing close to anything that resembles happiness. Okay, some of you might come in and say that “It’s because it was never the case! It was only lies and Zuko trying to convince himself that he didn’t live in hell forever!” and here is WHERE YOU WERE ALL WRONG! And why? Because, my dear fella, where were depicted the flashbacks of Zuko’s “happy family” in The Beach? Ember Island. And what do we know and had been even quoted in the show?  "Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you." (direct quote from the show). Exactly, no matter who you are or how hard you try, you can’t hide your true self when you are on the Ember Island, best example being Azula, who’s impenetrable though shell cracked and revealed the true vulnerable child that was underneath. If Azula couldn’t resist the “spell of the island”, no one can. So this means that Zuko’s family was indeed happy once and yes, Ozai wasn’t always the douchebag we got to know in Season 3 (I have a whole nother essay on my theories regarding what could be his real past story and why he’s actually the “Zuko” of his generation, based on stuff I gathered from old wiki entries and character analyses I made, but that’s for another time, lemme know if ya’ll are interested).

And what I guess is the biggest proof why The Search did this family’s past trash is comics Ursa herself. My dude, if this woman were indeed the victim of years of endless abuse and never loved her husband, I guarantee you that she would’ve been closer to what we saw in Todoroki’s mom from BNHA and Zuko would’ve gotten that scar or even worse long before the Agni Kai, not from his “daddy dearest”, but from “mommy dearest” herself, because no sane woman would be soo affectionate and attached to a child that’s the perfect copy of their abuser, sepecially appearance wise (again see Todoroki’s mom’s case from BNHA because the stories are really similar) and in no way would’ve she been willing to sacrifice her life for said child’s sake. With this ocassion, I remind ya’ll folks that according to the ancient ATLA cannon wikis on Nick’s site, Ozai was designed with Zuko’s appearance in mind, being meant to be like a “grown up scarless version” of Zuko. So yeah, remember this with a grain of salt that whenever you simp over grown up Zuko, you involuntary simp for Ozai too.

So yeah, I guess this kinda concludes my “not so short” rant about why the comics fail and are bad fanfiction. Lemme hear your thoughts in the comments and if you agree, feel free to leave a like and even reblog.

Bye bye and remember that Momo is the true strongest character of the show!

 Saby out.

[dangermousie]

2020 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2020; if I had to make a post about all the cdramas I watched this year, I would still be doing it in three months...

Overall it’s been a fairly decent cdrama year (certainly better than the very lacklustre kdrama year.) It’s no miracle that 2019 was (so many excellent dramas!) but overall pretty solid.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

44 The Legend of Jing Yan - the worst cdrama I have seen this year, and possibly the worst drama of 2020, period. The hero and heroine were both uncharismatic, incapable of acting and saddled with such shrilly moronic characters, the only suspense was how they haven’t both perished long since from forgetting to breathe. Nor was anyone in the rest of the cast much better; the screenplay was written by a lower mammal and the cinematography was the best a third-rate wedding cinematographer could offer. Stay the HELL away from this one.

43 Unicorn Girl - the only unicorn about this bland yet irritating piece of pap was the fact that I was supposed to believe the leads are hockey players.

42 Autumn Cicada - I like spy stories, Allen Ren, and Republican Era settings. I can tune out Communist propaganda with the best of them. Yet, the propaganda ate the story to such a degree that there was nothing left; pre magic change Pinocchio was less wooden then this narrative.

41 You Complete Me - no you do not.

40 Skate into Love - the only positive thing I can say about this is that at least it’s better than Unicorn Girl, if for no other reason that only one of them is supposed to be a hockey player.

39 Irreplaceable Love - how do you make a story about fake siblings with a mad mother falling for each other boring? I don’t know, ask the makers of this.

38 Eternal Love Rain - I hate to rain on their parade, but these two actors cannot act, have about as much chemistry as a piece of bread, and are trapped in a story perfect for entertaining the mental abilities of the leads of Jin Yan.

37 For Married Doctoress - ummmm, you could do worse I guess. It only made me break out in mild hives. The sadistic ending did make me laugh though.

36 Dance of the Sky Empire - why you get Xu Kai and waste him in this insipid mess of a story is beyond me.

35 Love Designer - it’s inoffensive except to my sense of entertainment. There is nothing wrong with it but oh God is it bland.

34 Love a Lifetime - It felt like a lifetime watching this, but I didn’t love it. The story is incoherent, the actors have no chemistry and it’s all an epic waste of time.

33 Love is Sweet - so sweet it gave me diabetes. I like Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, but there is literally no plot. I don’t need to sink into a plotless morass to watch pretty people engage in PG-rated make-outs. I am an adult with access to stronger stuff if I am thus inclined, though to be fair they could get x-rated and I still wouldn’t be able to sit through so many episodes of plotlessness for that.

32 Fake Princess - I love Zhao Yi Qin, but the guy needs to pick better projects. The female lead in this one has the voice and personality that can strip paint but the story is also doing nobody any favors.

31 The Changan Youth - I lost my brain checking this out. I had to go and read a dense treatise on medieval coinage or Mayan farming to try to recover it.

30 My Dear Destiny - kinda cheesy fun. It honestly shouldn’t be as low except it really feels like community theater.

29 Handsome Siblings - why is the Nic Tse version so good and this one so bad? True mystery for the ages. Chen Zhe Yuan is the sole reason this isn’t lower, because that kid tries SO HARD to make this drama bearable and almost succeeds. I can’t wait to see him in Sha Po Lang which actually will give him something to do.

28 In a Class of Her Own - see my comment on The Changan Youth. But at least Song Weilong is gorgeous to look at.

27 General’s Lady - inoffensive, pretty and so utterly pointless.

26 The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion - those two leading actors are a no go to me but at least they considerately acted with each other instead of ruining two dramas for me. It’s very pretty though.

25 Jiu Liu Overlord - it’s a mess and I bailed, but I placed it this high merely due to the fact that Lai Yi finally gets a leading role and he’s sexy as fuck and I am shallow. Whoever styled Bai Lu should never work again except at a circus, however.

24 Cross Fire - not my genre and Luhan will always look too much like my cousin for comfort, but it’s a surprisingly gripping and dark drama. I liked it!

23 God of Lost Fantasy - if you want to watch a mediocre wuxia/xianxia, this is not a bad choice. Probably better than Legend of Fei actually, because at least it doesn’t have an A-list cast to waste and gives us Sheng Yilun himbo and shirtless.

22 Renascence - the insane cuts (it went from 70 eps to 36!!!) made a fairly cheesy story into a total mess. But I had a good time until I finally bailed mainly because of the male lead (Chen Zhe Yuan yet again carrying a not-good 2020 drama on his shoulders; the guy should be nicknamed Atlas) and the insane but in a fun way story. The female lead (both the character and the actress) were not up to par but oh well.

21 Legend of Fei - only this high because objectively there is nothing I disliked it. But there is nothing I liked either. The most uninspired drama on the list. If you could eat cardboard, this is what it would taste like.

20 Ever Night 2 - compared to EN1, it’s a waste of film. On its own merits, it’s not very good (the cast replacements are uniformly inferior and Dylan Wang is so wrong for Ning Que I cannot even put it into words; the script is useless.) But it had some parts I loved so very VERY much (all the shippy stuff was perfection) so I don’t feel too bitter.

19 Castle in the Sky 2 - a lovely if not too complex fairy tale. It is inferior to its prequel because it doesn’t have Zhang Ruo Yun who elevated it, but it’s still a solid bit of fun.

18 The Great Ruler - it’s very high fantasy, very pretty, and surprisingly involving.

17 (tie) Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos - the secondary couple steals the show but the rest is not too bad if not too involving.

17 Legend of Awakening - a solid bit of fun with a seriously BDSM streak (theme this year apparently - but come on, the lead’s powers only activate when he’s in extreme pain!) It’s a bit generic and the costuming is done by a blind person, not to mention the OTP is a NOTP, but the rest of relationships (romantic and platonic) are wonderful (I live for the found siblings story in this one) and I like most of the characters.

16 Consummation - a rare modern cdrama I liked; a sweet coming of age story (and love story) even if wrapped in a pretty weird virtual reality concept.

15 Oops the King is in Love - this is how you do a low budget, sweet, silly piece of fluff. Our heroine pretends to be a eunuch and crosses paths with a powerless young king and they are adorable, even more so than the drama.

14 Song of Glory - pretty solid, though draggy and I didn’t love the toothpaste filter. But A+ cast, excellent leading couple chemistry, Li Qin being a BAMF and a leading man (Qin Hao) who is actually an adult.

13 And the Winner is love - objectively kind of a mess (and the heroine has the brainpower of a gnat), but the OTP chemistry is excellent and Luo Yunxi fighting and flirting with a fan as finally a leading man is worth the price of admission.

12 Miss S - snazzy and snappy and stylish and whatever else starts with S.

11 Eternal Love of Dream - I don’t know if it would work for you as well if you weren’t a hardcore shipper for this OTP in Three Lives but I was and this was such a darling, wonderful, shippy delight; plus I love this type of high fantasy.

10 (tie) Maiden Holmes - solid and sweet and a wonderful OTP. Proves that functional doesn’t have to mean boring. If you watch one cross-dressing drama this year make it this one.

10 Qin Dynasty Epic - srs bsns history epic. I am not far into it but it’s so good and smart and visually stunning (if you love battles, this one is for you.)

9 Love Lasts Two Minds - I adored this so much more than I should objectively have, but it’s so beautiful (and no I am not just referring to Alan Yu’s face) and the OTP has wonderful chemistry and the story is solid, and the whole trope of her memory being wiped but falling for him all over again while he’s constantly and utterly devoted is a fave; plus he’s in pain and semi-dyng for most of it so sluuuurp (happy ending, don’t worry)

8 To Love - yes, a modern drama is this high! But it involves intensity, tragedy, genuine adults and sexiness that is Lin Gengxin. And there is an actual plot and darkness OMG!

7 Legend of Xiao Chuo - so beautiful, so fun, so full of gorgeousness of Shawn Dou. Plus, Liao is a rare setting for a cdrama and there are a lot of characters and stories I liked a LOT. Less ship content than I wanted but more than I expected.

6 The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so so delightful. I was literally laughing out loud. I have no idea if it will work as well if one isn’t a seasoned watcher of period cdrama/reader of web novels, with bonus for watching/reading Goodbye My Princess, but it was a complete delight for me (and yes, I shipped for real, as well. Best of both worlds.)

5 Twisted Fate of Love - Jin Han gets a leading period drama role! And he’s enjoying it to the hilt, excellent as a smart, twisty bastard who is also charming and so madly in love with heroine. Sun Yi is beautiful and tough and her chemistry with JH is on fire, the story never drags, and it’s so twisty and fun and just awesome.

4 Love In Between - the most underrated drama on this list. It has no big names or big budget, but it’s wuxia that’s clever, driven, tragic, hopeful and so beautifully shot. Three separate (amazing) OTPs, a leading man who is so not typical (a doctor who cannot fight and who never acquires this ability) and who is intense and smart and damaged, a heroine who puts her quest ahead of her emotions, an unhealthy degree of involvement by yours truly. This is a drama Fei should have been.

3 Love and Redemption - such a lovely, addictive, utterly romantic fairy tale. I was obsessed with it for a reason. All the tropes you love and some you didn’t know you did, a star-crossed OTP to the nth power (and a secondary OTP I hardcore love), a twisty yet coherent plot, some insane chemistry and so much whump and hurt/comfort they must have bought blood packets in bulk.

2 Go Ahead - yes, I can’t believe it either. A contemporary slice of life cdrama made it this high on my list. But the way it feels so real, the found family perfection, the characters I love and loathe, the perfect cherry of a wonderful OTP that hits my narrative kinks on top, and just a perfect storm of loveliness all around with this one.

1 The Wolf - is that any surprise to anyone who’s checked out this tumblr for the last couple of months? Tragic, intense and gorgeous; so romantic and angsty and passionate it made me lose my mind (though some of it was gone the moment the camera panned to Darren Wang) - all my favorite tropes and then some; this is a drama that may not be perfect but it is 100% and then beyond perfect for ME.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Wolf - I have seen objectively better cdramas; even this year. But it has been literal years since I have been this hardcore obsessed, this utterly pleased, this emotionally catered to and devastated at once. A beautiful dark fairy tale that manages to own me despite the storytelling gaps due to censorship, it took me for one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my drama watching career. Visually gorgeous, poetic, intense, and so romantic it took my breath away, this is not just my favorite cdrama of 2020, it’s my favorite drama this year period, and the one cdrama this year to make it into my permanent Top 10 cdramas list.

WORST DRAMA

Legend of Jin Yan - see my write up for it for why as I refuse to waste more time on this stupid mess.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Wolfie, The Wolf - he is such a haunted, tormented, complex, dark mess; loving and violent, severely damaged and with a hidden yearning softness, longing and aloof. And the amount of charisma and sheer masculine sex appeal Darren Wang brings to the role is insane and not something I see much of in a cdrama. Plus, that character arc with its rapid fall and slow painful redemption is A++++

Runner Up:  Sifeng, Love and Redemption - has a male lead ever loved more utterly and selflessly, suffered more thoroughly and beautifully, and managed to have such chemistry with both his leading lady and his leading man (that his leading lady temporarily turned into) at once? The answer is no.

Almost made the cut - Feng Xi, Twisted Fate of Love, Han Shuo, The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Qing Ci, Love in Between.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Qian, The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so funny, so much the reason this drama was such a delight. I adore her beyond words.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Murder Daddy, The Wolf - I am sad the censors robbed us of seeing him die on screen. He was fully human but nonetheless managed to be the worst monster in a drama full of literal ones.

Ling Xiao’s Mom, Go Ahead - I hate her so much I don’t want to look up her name. She abused the kid, the disappeared and came back to abuse him some more. I mean she literally gave her child mental health issues. She is the WORST.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xing’er x Wolfie, The Wolf - are you kidding me? Who else could it ever be for me? They destroyed each other and saved each other, sworn enemies and childhood lovers, soulmates and epic messes, they couldn’t live with or without each other. The longing, the passion, the intensity, the angst, the epicness. LIKE THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Si Yuan, Shen Manqing, Love in Between - I loved them as much and often more than the main OTP. So much angst and passion and a happy ending! She is a seeming sect darling (except the sect is horrible and also sexist so her only worth is as a marriage candidate) and he’s an information broker who is actually one of the members of a destroyed sect that’s blamed for the massacre of her family. That chemistry and yearning is insane. The scene where she touches his face when he’s unconscious was in serious running for my favorite scene of 2020.

NOTP

Legend of Awakening - I have never seen a couple that didn’t just have no chemistry but exhibited actual revulsion towards each other before watching Chen Feiyu and Cheng Xiao try to act as lovers in this one. It was almost entertaining to be honest.

FAVORITE SCENE

It’s a tie and both are from The Wolf. One is a sequence where Wolfie marches to the walls alone, seeking death at Xing’er’s hands and the whole sequence with the battle and rescue follows. The other is the intercut between Xing’er going to her wedding and Wolfie going to his execution, and the auto-da-fe being intercut with her wedding.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Wolfie, The Wolf - Ummm have you seen this tumblr lately, it’s basically a drool shrine to the man.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yelü Yansage, The Legend of Xiao Chuo - I have loved this actor since The Myth and he continued to competently steal every scene he was in.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

To Love - come out of the coma, dammit!!!!!!!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

The Wolf - duh. It started out as 59 eps and got cut to 49. I reaiize some stuff is never gonna get put in due to censorship, but some of the stuff that got cut got for time reasons because they were deluded and hoping to get a TV broadcast so ep count had to be under 50. I mean I doubt the censors would care if they kept scenes of Wolfie building her a swing or whatever. I really really want a director’s cut the way Goodbye My Princess did even if like with GMP it’s only three extra eps. Hell, I will take extra three minutes, as long as those three minutes are Darren Wang shirtless or with a sword. Ahem.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

The Song of Glory - it’s a fairly solid drama but honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was and kind of got draggy and I got lost interest. (I could have gotten snarky and said all the dramas I didn’t like needed scissors taken to them in their entirety but decided to play nice.)

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

There are a number of dramas I could complain about with regard to this (hi there, darling The Wolf!) but this award goes to Renascence - poor Renascence was never going to be a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a bit of good cheesy fun until it had its run time cut by more than half and became an incoherent piece of insanity.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Dumb shrill innocent heroine who can’t tie her shoes - see basically all the cdramas I didn’t like this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Male lead torture - I mean it’s always open season on that in cdramas, but between Love and Redemption, The Wolf, Love Lasts Two Minds, Love in Between and so on, it was a banner year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Legend of Fei - what a waste of that cast; what a waste of our finite time on this Earth. What a waste of my intelligence to hope for something better and stick with it for a dozen eps. I have had stale wonderbread that had more personality than this drama.There is absolutely nothing that stands out about this drama in any way,  from half-dimensional characters, to actors who are sleepwalking, to a plot that moves at the speed of an arthritic snail, to uninspired cinematography and direction, to lack of any chemistry between anyone in the cast. If paint-by-numbers was done by a group of particularly linear robots, it might come across the same way as this drama.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The Wolf - honestly, I did not expect it to come out AT ALL EVER let alone to become my favorite drama of 2020. I was not familiar with the leading man (hahah), I liked Li Qin but wasn’t yet obsessed with her, and Xiao Zhan was excellent in The Untamed but I was hardly going to follow him from drama to drama (and I don’t do SLS any way.) And the trailer was enjoyable but unlike seemingly everyone, I didn’t think it was going to be some epic masterpiece. And then it came out and while it wasn’t objectively an epic masterpiece, it pulled out all the favorite tropes, shippy and narrative kinks from the deepest darkest recesses of my id. And I fell harder than I have in years. 

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

Novoland Eagle Flag and Joy of Life - they are in my Top 10 dramas from anywhere now. They are quite different except being smart and giving me protagonists to obsess over.

ETA: Also The Untamed because @idlewilds3 pointed out I actually watched it in 2020 even though I didn’t think so because this hellyear has lasted about three decades.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

I am gonna limit it to dozen and leaving out ones that aren’t necesarily supposed to air next year (Joy of Life 2, Love in Flames of War, Novoland Princess from Plateau.)

Monarch Industry, Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Silk Washing Stream, Dream of Changan, Sword Snow Stride, Wu Xing Shi Jia, Ancient Love Poetry, Immortality, The Long Ballad, Mirror Twin Cities, The Imperial Age, Fall In Love

[aspoonofsugar]

Hello, I would like to know what you think about the discussion that Cinder and Watts had.

It is interesting to note that what Watts tells Cinder is that her suffering doesn't make her strong or special or worthy of anything and by extension Watts tells Cinder that as much as she pretends that her suffering made her strong in reality she is still quite fragile and vulnerable because she hasn't been able to overcome her trauma and still wants to give meaning to her life and suffering.

Hello anons!

These two asks can be answered together.

First of all, I really liked that scene! It is probably my favourite moment of the episode together with the sequence in the underground.

I think there are two ways to see Watts and Cinder’s interaction in the episode.

1) Cinder

Cinder: You’re right. Without you I am nothing. But because of you, I am everything.

As I have written here:

Cinder’s way of thinking is very similar to Mercury’s. Not only have they both endured their parents’ violence, but they have tried to give this violence meaning. It is because of Madame that Cinder has become “everything” and it is because of Marcus that Mercury has become “strong”. They must believe that it was not all for nothing and that the pain they felt made them stronger instead of weaker.

This is why Cinder thinks that deep down her “hunger” is good. It is because it drives her, but she ignores that it blinds her too.

The idea that suffering made her stronger and more deserving than others is Cinder’s main coping mechanism.

She was treated as nothing, so she needs to believe she is secretly worthy of things others are negated. As I have stated here, she deep down wants to be chosen:

I would say that Cinder wants to be chosen. She wants to be special and to be given value. This is probably why she is serving Salem. It is because Salem has chosen her for an important role.

Well, Watts’s speech is about exactly this:

Watts: You think you’re entitled to everything because you’ve suffered, but suffering isn’t enough. You can’t just be strong, you have to be smart. You can’t just be deserving, you need to be worthy.

In a couple of phrases he deconstructs Cinder’s coping mechanism and this is why she is made to feel so vulnerable.

The whole point of Cinder is that she should stop reducing herself to her trauma and pain. By doing so, she both dehumanizes herself and dismisses others.

She dehumanizes herself because she tries to overcome her inferiority complex by looking for power and she does not realize that this is turning her into a monster:

Raven: Aura can’t protect your arm, it’s Grimm. You turned yourself into a monster just for power.

She dismisses others because she is so focused on her own pain that she can’t notice others’.

In short, she must stop pretending everything revolves around her and should start working on herself and her own issues. This is thematically what Watts’s speech is about. It also ties to the teaching of the Fall Maiden about choice. Destiny is not something that is given to you, but something you work towards:

Pyrrha: When I think of destiny, I don’t think of a predetermined fate you can’t escape. But rather… some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life.

Cinder is looking for worth outside herself. She wants Salem to recognize her and magical powers to be strong. She misses that self-worth is something only Cinder can grant herself.

However, things are not as simple in-universe because Watts is not referring to this in his speech. What he wants is not for Cinder to overcome her issues and to realize serving Salem is wrong. What Watts wants is for her to become better at her job.

Not only that, but in Watts’s speech there is hidden also this message that @luimnigh and @harostar have discussed here. Their posts are already clear, so I won’t spend much time on it.

The main idea is that Watts is worthy, while Cinder is not and how it goes back to their different upbringings and social status. In short, Watts is an Atlesian elite, while Cinder is a no-one, who was bought as a slave. Cinder keeps feeling this difference and can’t really break free from this kind of mentality.

That said, I think this last point gains more nuance when one looks at what this speech means for Watts himself.

2) Watts

Watts’s allusion is Watson and WoG says that he is Watson if he had connected with Moriarty instead of Sherlock. Personally, I think that as for now another good way to describe his allusion is that he is Watson if he were jealous of Sherlock instead of loyal to him.

As for now, Watts’s defining trait is his jealousy of Pietro Polendina and of his creation:

Watts: She’ll open the vault and she’ll destroy herself...And our little Penny problem would be...

It is not by chance that he wants to blow her up, even if that would not really be necessary. The Little Penny Problem he is talking about is really his problem and not Salem’s, who could not care less about Penny once she has the relic.

Watts wants to destroy Penny because he wants to be better than Pietro. Still, he misses why Pietro is better than him:

Watts: She’s on a set-path now...At least she should be...As much as I hate to admit it there seems to be some part of her capable of resisting...

As we know, the part of Penny who is capable of resisting is her humanity. Penny is a masterpiece not because she is a war machine, but because she is a real girl. This is the core of Pietro’s genius and this is what Watts can’t grasp:

Watts: Our tin soldier's heart has cost him his mind. We need to keep their attention on Mantle for as long as possible.

Watts, just like Ironwood, believes that feelings make you weak and stupid. Of course, this is the anti-thematic statement which has already been proven wrong over and over. Even when it comes to the situation above, Watts is actually being baited by Ironwood and him falling for it results in his arrest. The moment Ironwood is more open about his feelings is also the moment he is acting more logically.

In short, Watts is a brilliant scientist, who bought in Atlas’s ideology that you must pursue success at all costs. You must be strong/clever because only in this way you can be successful. If you let feelings cloud your determination/mind, you are a failure.

However, it is precisely this ideology taken to its extreme that is Watts’s own downfall.

He can’t understand Pietro’s ideal and is overshadowed by him. What is more, the idea of not being the first in his field drives him to disgrace.

His backstory makes so that Inside team WTCH Watts represents Salem’s entitlement.

This makes him similar to Cinder, as well. He is different from her for upbringing and status. Still, they both have the same flaw. They believe they are entitled to things.

Cinder does so because she has suffered. She was no-one, so now she must be the most important person in the world.

Watts does so because he was born an elite and he should stay an elite forever.

Watts is there not only to tell, but to show (both Cinder and the viewers) that the path Cinder is on leads nowhere. Watts had probably everything Cinder ever wanted. He was successful and rich. He did not have to worry about food or poverty. Still, that was not enough for him. He wanted more and this led him to betray his own country and to join a nihilistic witch.

In other words, Cinder will never find what she is looking for in power or success. Watts had both, but he is empty just like her. He is hungry just like her.

This is well conveyed symbolically by Watts being one of the very few characters that never unlocked his semblance. It means he never truly unlocked his full potential. He never truly understood who he wanted to be. He tried to be who his society wanted him to be, but he was not satisfied and decided to destroy it instead.

So, when Watts talks about the need to be smart and the difference between being deserving and worthy, he is actually talking about himself, probably without even realizing it. He is projecting his feelings of failure on Cinder. He was deserving, but not worthy. Pietro was the worthy one.

Other than these two, there is also another level to this confrontation that has been underlined by @misstrashchan​ here.

It is about the parallel between Cinder and Ironwood when it comes to their reactions to Watts spelling them the truth about themselves:

Ironwood: I will sacrifice... whatever it takes... to stop her.

Watts: Oh, I hope you do, James. I hope you do.

The difference, as the post above explains very well, is that Cinder is able to listen to Watts, while Ironwood ignores his words altogether.

This ties to how Ironwood’s inability to recognize his mistakes and to change his mind (literally what his semblance Mettle is about) is why he is the main villain in an arc where we are having the first redemption arc of one of our original trio of villains:

A redemption, which will probably be followed by other defections among the AceOps themselves.

In order to redeem one-self, a person must accept they were wrong and change their mind. Ironwood is unable to do so and this is why he is dangerous.

In conclusion, I love this confrontation because it is very complex, has many levels and is gray. In terms of complexity it reminds me of Tyrian’s interactions with Emerald and especially Mercury:

 Tyrian is seen tormenting the two kids whenever he gets the chance. That said, he ironically ends up spelling out for them truths the two must face:

Tyrian: Do what makes you happy children… please? I’m begging you…

Tyrian: Of course she is! You’re surprised? Salem is destruction incarnate! Our mistress wishes to see the end of it all! There is no ideal more beautiful.

Tyrian is a great evil mentor because he manages to spell out what Emerald and Mercury should do and to make sure through his body language that they are not able to. He tells them the truth and threathens them, so that they can’t pursue what they need.

Here, Watts tells Cinder the truth by lashing out about how she is so worthless, that a machine must do her job.

It is also interesting because both Emerald and Mercury are clearly set-up to have an evil mentor figure:

Emerald and Hazel’s foiling has already paid off, while Mercury and Tyrian’s will probably pay off in the future.

I am not sure if Cinder will have a similar foiling/relationship with Watts. Still, it is an interesting possibility. Especially because one thing I would really like to happen with the original villain trio is for the abuse and the manipulation they are subjected to backfire. I would like for them to break free (with others’ help obviously because they can’t free themselves alone) by taking all these thematic truths they are told, so they can be manipulated, and to change them in teachings they can use against their abusers.

In short, I want Cinder to say...”Yeah, I do not need to be deserving of power because I am already worthy on my own”. And I want Mercury to free himself and to tell Tyrian...”This is what makes me happy”.

I think that this has partly happened with Emerald in the sense that Salem’s tactic to weaken her loyalty to Cinder through fear backfired:

Salem: Emerald... I want you to tell me whose fault this was. Now

Emerald: Cinder! We failed because of Cinder...

Salem: That's right. I want you to understand that failure. I want you to understand why Cinder must be left to toil in her isolation until she redeems herself.

The whole point of this interaction was to make Emerald submissive. It is clear Emerald is there for Cinder and not for Salem, so Salem frightened her and forced her to symbolically “betray” Cinder.

Still, this did not work for two reasons.

a) Emerald needs to see Cinder for who she is, so that she can break free from her.

b) Fear is among the factors that motivated Emerald to leave:

Yang: You're gonna have to try and summarize it. Why should we trust you?

Ren: Because she's scared. Just like us.

Not only that, but in an inversion of what usually happens with fear in the series, it is specifically because Emerald and JOYR are all scared that they can overcome their conflict and work together (as @echo-from-the-void​. noticed). Fear has separated our protagonists from the AceOps, but has brought them Emerald.

These are my main thoughts on the scene, thank you for the asks!