#avatar country era

[allgremlinart]

The Most Underrated Line In All Of ATLA/TLOK And Its Many Worldbuilding Implications - A Ramble

In S2E7 of TLOK we get this dialogue from Wan and The Aye-Aye Spirit: "There are other Lion Turtles?" "Of course there are - dozens of them!" [timestamp 3:38 in this video]

It's such a quick line it's easy to miss, but there's one thing about it that made a LOT of things click into place for me about the Avatar universe's worldbuilding; the fact that there are (or were) dozens of Lion Turtles. NOT four, with one for each element, like you would assume. Dozens.

What does this mean in terms of the Four Nations? What connections might this have with other previously established lore? Well uhm follow me on this journey. I guess.

Pre-Unifications - A Global Warring States Era?

A warring states era on a wouldn't be nearly as compelling if there were only four Lion Turtles. If this were the case, everything would be perfectly balanced; why would there be disarray, violence, cultural disparity and struggles for power within each elemental group if the world was already perfectly divided into four solid groups? Why would a national identity be in question at all?

But the fact that there are more than one Lion Turtle per element... that means different groups of people being isolated from one another for long periods of time. This means different bodies of identity, regardless of element. Different city states, regional Kings, Queens, fiefdoms, dynastic power struggle, etc etc, before any sort of inherent loyalty the ones element as a national and cultural identity was established.

We know the Avatar world was not always divided into Four Nations. In Chapter 21 of The Rise Of Kyoshi we learn that Guru Laghima - a name you'll recognize from TLOK S3 - was from an era when the Four Nations had not yet been formed. We also know from Zaheer that he lived about 4,000 years before the events of TLOK (for context, thats about 6,000 years after Wan became the first Avatar).

There's further confirmation of this in Smoke And Shadow, where we learn about the first Firelord and the Fire Nation's unification wars.

However there's implications of this even in the original series; it's not some sloppy ret-con from the books and comics, it fits. Think Omashu:

In S2E2 of ATLA we get the story of Oma and Shu - and we learn that they come from "warring villages." Now why exactly would their villages be warring if The Earth Kingdom already existed? Why the need for a power struggle? Why is it not presented as a civil insurrection or civil war, but as a conflict between two distinct groups of people? The answer is that the "Earth Kingdom" as we conceptualize it did not exist. I'd go further and say that we can assume that after Omashu was established it became a powerful regional kingdom, and created strong sphere of cultural influence. Think about it - Bumi is King Of Omashu. King. NOT the Earth King, King Of The Earth Kingdom, but still King Of Omashu.

[Now there's some debate about where Omashu's founding sits on the timeline but to me it HAS to be post-Wan, probably very nearly immediately post-Wan. The line that calls them the "first earthbenders" and that they "learned earthbending from the badger moles" has caused some to question if they fit in with the "Lion Turtles bestowed bending" lore, but to me it fits pretty easily. The Lion Turtles may have bestowed the power but the actual technique was learned from the badger moles and dragons and blah blah blah.]

I also find this line from Jianzhu in The Rise Of Kyoshi very illuminating:

VINDICATION !! And Jianzhu's moaning over the cultural diversity within his country brings me to the second part of this post...

FC Yee And Gene Luen Yang Accidentally (?) Make Avatar's Cultural Mish Mash Make More Sense

Avatar's cultural gumbo of visuals has always been a little hard to parse. If you follow @atlaculture then you know it'd be kind of fruitless to try and apply any one single ethnicity/culture to one nation. A common, and very valid, criticism of Avatar is the pan-asian approach it takes to worldbuilding. I'm not here to defend that lol. I think people who dislike Avatar on that basis are well within their rights to do so, and I also think it's important to enjoy things critically.

HOWEVER, from a worldbuilding perspective, the mish mash becomes easier to swallow when you think of it in terms of multiple groups of people being unified into different nation states over a very long period of time and slowly intertwining their cultures into a single(ish) identity.

Take the Fire Nation for example: in FC Yee's The Shadow Of Kyoshi we learn that the government was much more decentralized and the country was controlled by different clans, like the Saowon and Keosho, who had individual spheres of influence and strong senses of identity. It makes me think about Mai and Ty Lee

They're both Fire Nation nobles and they both live in the Fire Nation capital - but their styles/clothes are completely different. Now, obviously that can be boiled down to personality-based character design but. There's a wide discrepancy between Mai's Edo Japan inspired hair and Ty Lee's Thai inspired performance outfit, and a little retroactive canon about them being part of different but powerful clans .. ? Yeah. That'd be fun, at the very least.

I could go on about this... was there a Water Lion Turtle at the north AND the south? How did the airbenders transition from relatively sedentary life on a Lion Turtle to nomadism? etc etc etc BUT in conclusion: TLOK and the comics have some very fun worldbuilding implications snuck in there !! Which makes up for a lot in my opinion. Personally I'd KILL for an Avatar series set in the warring states/unification period... I think that could be insanely cool...idk. The End. For Now.

[fishyupmywishy]

Zuko being Fire Lord has to be the funniest thing on earth because absolutely no one knows who he is in the Fire Nation.

Think about it: A 13 year old boy has been banished and had been gone for three years. As far as the Fire Nation is concerned, he no longer exists there.

When Zuko became Fire Lord (ignoring the comics because they’re just wrong) I’d like to imagine that there was a lot of pushback and there was definitely some sort of uprising that might have happened, or at least thought about among the people. The Fire Nation had just been freed from a terrible and cruel monarch, they don’t want or need another. So when this sixteen year old boy comes out of nowhere, despite being the prince, no one knows anything about him. He hadn’t done much of anything to prove that he would have been a good Fire Lord in any sense.

All he had was the Avatar to back him up but even then, Aang is just a 12 year old boy. A 12 year old boy that had been trapped for a hundred years. So he doesn’t know anything about politics or ruling a country, especially in that era.

Zuko becoming Fire Lord was also straight up terrible for the Nation because he most likely didn’t keep up with Fire Nation politics either due to being so focused on capturing Aang.

Realistically, the Fire Nation would have been in shambles because there’s no way a 16 year old with no knowledge of politics or on how to lead would have ever managed to keep an entire country together.

[melu-lis]

anyone who simplifies the popularity of zuko to people liking "dark bad boys" is showing a sign of low media literacy. even before i watched atla, my friends recommended that i watched it solely bc of zuko. and after i watched it, i understood why. in the first episodes, most of the audience perceives him as this hot-headed jerk who's obsessed with capturing a 12 year old boy. but then we get to the episode "the storm" and we learn that the reason zuko wants to capture aang is because he was banished by his father; it doesn't excuse his actions but it is a reason. and then in the 2-parter of "the siege of the north, we learn that he has a sister and that their father often pitted them against each other, making him more sympathetic to the audience. from book 1, it is established that zuko will be more than just a villain. we don't see much of a change in zuko's character until book 2 after him and uncle iroh are branded as fugitives by the fire nation. throughout the season, we see him have an identity crisis and grappling with who he is. by the end of book 2, zuko seems to be content with his life in the earth kingdom and figuring out who he is by himself. that's why in tcod, the audience expects him to join the avatar especially after bonding with katara and confronting his uncle about teaming up with aang. but the show defies our expectations by having zuko join azula in her takeover of ba sing se. some people have a problem with this since he showed a lot of growth in book 2 and thought his betrayal was made to not make zutara a possibility but i think it make sense because zuko was more content being a neutral bystander and joining the avatar would be more risky especially he still wasn't on friendly terms with aang. when we see him return to the fire nation, we see that he's gotten everything that he ever wanted, he has father's approval and is hailed a hero by his country, but he isn't happy. this is why his confrontation with ozai is so satisfying, he realizes that not only the way his father treated him was inhumane and his approval is meaningless, but that his nation's century-long war was never a noble pursuit. when he joins the gaang, he tries his best to atone his past mistakes and demonstrate his sincerity of wanting to end the war and ends his arc by becoming the new fire lord ushered in an era of peace and kindness with the help of his ally and friend, aang. i think this why zuko is more popular compared to aang, the protagonist of the show. while aang and zuko are constantly portrayed as narrative foils to each other, aang doesn't have this constant inner turmoil that zuko does. this is why a lot of fans and casual viewers have an issue with gaang's confrontation with ozai. aang talks about how he struggles with killing ozai since it goes against the principles of his culture, a culture that is basically extinct, but this is never brought up until the series finale! it's not like there aren't any episodes where aang struggles with fulfilling his duties as the avatar, there are plenty and it does make him a sympathetic character. it's even more frustrating when you learn that aang not killing ozai was the plan since the production of book 1. there were countless opportunities where aang's struggle between wanting to maintain his identity and be a full-fledged avatar could've been addressed! i think this what aang stans who are resentful of zuko's popularity don't understand, aang's character arc is a lot more disoriented compared to zuko's.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I found it. The worst Katara take.

https://www.tumblr.com/illycanary/748146862907867136/kataras-entire-arc-was-about-her-becoming-someone?source=share

Her entire arc was about becoming someone who could lead the Fire Nation!? The nation that GENOCIDED her people!?

Please… please I need to hear your take on this. It hurts my soul. Give me peace.

Zutarians: It's so disgusting how Kataang completely reduces Katara to just "The Avatar's girl."

Also zutarians: Katara's entire arc, trauma and struggles are not actually about herself, but about her Totally Real romance with Zuko and how she'll be great for his nation.

And she used to hate said nation because it was an elusive concept to project her insecurities onto. It was totally not because said nation had in place a socio-political AND military system that was hostile to her, her loved ones, and her culture by design.

It wasn't Zuko and the Fire Nation that had to understand that everyone else in the world was as human as they were, oh no. It was actually Katara and the rest of the world that had to understand that the Fire Nation ain't as bad as they thought - even though they WERE doing all the horrible things they thought they were doing, and ruining their lives by taking away everything and everyone they loved.

#UnhingedZutariansShutTheFuckUpChallenge

Also, can the fandom as a whole stop it with the bullshit "Characters like Jet and Hama existed to teach Katara and Sokka not to be racist against the Fire Nation"?

They were NEVER okay with killing, or even mistreating, someone just because they happened to be born in the Fire Nation or were under their control. Everyone they hated had done something to earn said hate: killed someone they loved, attacked their tribe, chased them around the world, held people prisoner and forced them into slave labor, etc.

You might think it was wrong of Katara and Sokka to do something like try to convince Aang to leave Zuko to die in the North Pole (and the show was very clearly saying that was the case) but you cannot act like that was based on some unearned hostility to anyone vaguely associated with a nation they "didn't understand" and not on, like Sokka said, not giving the guy that was trying to kill them a chance to try again and maybe succeed - hell, Katara gave Zuko a chance in Ba Sing Se, and look what fucking happened. Her best friend died right in front of her because Zuko jsut had to go help Azula take control of the city, and then he sent an assassin after them.

No one is fully good or evil - but people CHOOSE to do bad things, even if they have sympathetic reasons, and a political system CAN be inherently cruel, unfair and EVIL. And the Fire Nation under Sozin, Azulon and Ozai's rule very much was. And since Zuko went out of his way to keep that political system in place, he was doing something evil, and thus the people that were being victimized by him had every right to hate his guts for it.

Once again, let's hear it from Zuko himself:

"Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

The Fire Nation screwed up. Zuko screwed up. They need to get their shit together (and Zuko did), and the responsibility to do so is on THEM, not on the people that are quite literally fighting for their lives because the Fire Nation gave them no choice.

It's not Katara's job to make Zuko, and an entire country, see reason. And her arc was about HER journey, HER struggles, HER accomplishments, HER life, HER culture, and HER loved ones - just because Zuko would eventually be part of the last category, that doesn't mean that it secretly all about him the whole time.

And Zuko knows all this. That's why his arc, and his friendship with Katara, works. The show already gave you the perfect scenario to turn that friendship into a romance in fanfics and headcanons, you don't need to pretend the Fire Nation wasn't the obvious bad guy in the war THEY chose to start.

You can respect the beautiful arcs both Katara and Zuko went through, or you can make excuses for the Fire Nation's choice to commit genocide by saying "Well, EVERYONE had something to learn from it." You cannot possibly do both, because their arcs are all about showing this "both sides" thing is NOT TRUE.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Kirima vs Gyatso: The tale of the Hot(wo)man

As cute and as much as I like Gyatso making up Flameo Hotman and it looping back to ATLA (cause hey! makes sense!):

Kirima technically did it first. TT0TT (the hotman/woman part at least).

So it begs the question........... Was Hotman/woman a term before? (and just fell out of fashion 200 years later?) Was it just another annoying nickname that Kirima chose? (most likely) or BOTH? (aka it IS a term, it means "ma'am/miss/madam" but she's using it a mocking tone/not using it right).

We don't get to see Rangi's reaction so hard to say if she's as annoyed by it than the hair related ones.

Anyway. While it COULD just be another nickname, because they called Rangi "Hairpin" before they seemed to settle on "Topknot". They only use this (once), and it's AFTER they've established Topknot for a good bit. So it's a big weird (not really but eh) for them to fling out a new possible nickname when they finally established one, AND it's one they know they can get a rise out of Rangi with (literally just happened).....

So like....what if it's NOT a nickname, but she's just insulting Rangi with a word from her country and using it in a mocking manner. Like what if it translates to:

Kirima: You're not setting a very good example for the baby Avatar, Topknot. Too much rage will stunt her growth. Rangi: Stop calling me that! Kirima, bows: As you wish, madam.

Which, if read like that would make sense. But it'd mean it's not a nickname made up by Kirima with the sole purpose to piss off Rangi. It means that there is a cultural/linguistical significance to Rangi and her Nation. Which means it's a word that DID exist.

BUT....then again.... "Hotwoman" is capitalized like how Rangi's other nicknames are.....so maybe it IS a nickname? Or maybe it's just a writing stylization choice that differs between Yee and RR?

"Ok what's the post about then?" Other than demanding we give Kirima her due😤 And reminding people they already made this joke before Roku's novel 😤

Ok ok, but for real, here are my theories:

Theory 1:

It was a nickname made by Kirima just to piss Rangi off. Maybe Kirima got reincarnated as an Air Nomad named Gyatso (that'd be so fucking funny) and decided to bring that oldie but a goodie back to annoy Roku with. OR, maybe Gyatso read a diary of Kirima's and that's how he got the hotman/hotwoman idea. And made the flameo thing up himself.

Theory 2:

Hotman/woman WAS a normal word back in Kyoshi's era, but had since fallen out of use by Roku's (maybe Rangi/Kyoshi had a hand in that? jfkdlasjfd). So far out of use, Roku is just ????? confused???? (that or the Flameo part is what's confusing him, not the hotman/woman). Gyatso found some old scrolls/history books that mention the hotman/woman part and decided to bring it back (with his own spin).

Theory 3:

Either part of Theory 1/2 are right (it's either made up, or just such old slang). BUT....Gyatso didn't know about it, and thought he was inventing the wheel. Great minds think alike kinda mentality going on here.

(of course maybe they do still say hotman/woman, or even flameo hotman/woman......but they don't say it as a greeting fjksldjf)

I dunno I had some thoughts on the matter and the implications. Maybe RR and the ATLA team forgot Yee already made the joke. Maybe they remembered and didn't care/have a reasoning behind it that I don't know about jfklsajfdl I just thought it was an interesting thing to chew on.

[very-grownup]

Hikaru no Go DRAMA TIME LET'S GO

WHAT IS IT?

Hikaru no Go was a Weekly Shounen Jump manga written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi "Death Note" Obata that ran from 1998 to 2003, totaling 23 volumes. It had a 75 episode anime adaptation from 2001 to 2003. The story of Hikaru, a young boy who finds himself haunted by Sai, the ghost of a go player from Heian era Japan and acts as an avatar for the ghost to continue pursuing his passion. Hikaru becomes more interested in learning go and playing for himself, eventually setting his sights on becoming a professional under the mentorship and friendship of Sai. It follows the same formula and plot beats as tournament battle or sports manga for the same demographic and is one of my top five sports series.

In 2020, there was a Chinese drama adaptation that you should watch, whether you're a fan of the manga or not. It's more of a coming-of-age series than a sports series, but the heart and soul of the series remains intact.

LET'S MEET OUR FRIENDS (AND ENEMIES)!

There are a number of characters who also play a significant part in the drama with source material characters who were only relevant in a chapter or two and I could not find manga panels searching online. Dedication to format does not permit me to use screenshots from the anime and also, let's be honest, early '00s Jump adaptations did not have the highest quality of animation, especially compared to where Obata's art was by the later volumes of the manga (which I have almost all of in Japanese, but can't currently access [it's under my bed]).

After the first few episodes, there's a time-skip that brings the main characters into their teens. That's probably one of the reasons for certain characters being more fleshed out and some

PLOT ADDITIONS & ABSENCES

There's now a summer training camp arc!

There are fewer sub-arcs making up the journey from ignorant baby to professional.

There's a moving away from home young man arc!

There isn't an entire arc dedicated to a supporting character traveling to another country to find himself.

AND OF COURSE YOU MIGHT ASK

The Chinese adaptation of a Weekly Shounen Jump manga from 20 years ago ends up being queerer than some adaptations of explicitly queer source material.

(To those familiar with the source material: Yes, That Part happens. Yes, it made me cry in drama form. Embrace being wrecked.)

Watch it. You'll love it.

[aufi-creative-mind]

Do you think the Twilight Crystal is still in Ordon? You know, the thing that let Twilight Link transform back & forth between Hylian & Wolf.

By present-day, no. The Twilight Crystal no longer exists in this version of Ordon. BUT it had played a big role in shaping the Ordon peninsula's history and faith.

-

The Twilight Crystal was originally the headpiece of the legendary Twili Empress, Midna's crown. She was the last Twili Empress who lived about 5000 years prior to the present-day and was considered as the figure who broke the curse of "eternal Twilight" that was inflicted on the Ordon peninsula by the Interlopers - aka her ancestors - and brought the four Light Spirit Guardians into the physical realm to help in Ordon's healing from her ancestor's twisted magic.

Midna has since acheived "ascension" and is considered as the "Patron Saint of Twilight" in the Ordonian faith.

The Crystal was similar to the Secret Stone in TotK, and was a kind of amplifer for Midna's powerful magic. After her passing, the Twilight Crystal became a sought-after treasure by thieves and treasure hunters.

One such treasure hunter used it to "recreate" the power of then extinct Twili people's legendary magic. And ended up causing the "Era of Great Darkness" where the peninsula was consumed by a shroud of darkness that twisted any unfortunate mortal's spirit into unspeakable monsters. This led to the rise of the Light Spirits and their Avatar vassals to vanquish the Darkness.

The Twilight Crystal was then destroyed by the Ordonian Avatar, Oron the Shepherd (aka this Ordon's version of Link, the Hero of Twilight) with the assistance of his Light Spirit, Ordonia.

This occurred about 3000 years prior to present-day.

Oron's descendants would go on to establish the united Kingdom of Ordon, the predecessor to the present-day country of Ordon.

[kavaeric]

Run of "Yinmai Cinematic" commissions from 2022. Commentary on each piece (yes, each) below.

I learned that I really, really liked comms where I was tasked to tell a story in a single still composition. The Yinmai series of commissions was an experiment in limiting/directing the prompts to suit this desire: the composition is inherently limited with the anamorphic-esque crop, which means having a typical character-on-white-background comm isn't really possible. The space around a character becomes exaggerated and emphasised, and so by nature this comm style forces you to engage in visual storytelling.

Luckily, I seem to have really good clients who know how to rise to the occasion. I actually had a contingency tier for Yinmai, where I would accept avatar/portrait comms for those not interested in the whole cinematic affair—no one took me up on it.

In order of appearance:

AstroVernox

She commissioned me years ago, before she came out as trans. I think her initial prompt was actually a more mundane scene of being in a cupola, but to work with the drama of yinmai we agreed to adjust it, as well as making a bit of a reference to her transition.

Noir

A fun experiment in quads composition, where the negative space around the subject is further exaggerated and creates a strong sense of empathy. Good for a bit of horror.

Flake (Light Era diagetic)

Ditto as above. One of the two trial comms before I opened publicly. The character of theirs is Trellis, and they included a Dropbox folder of inspiration images; one of them was of the hydroponics scene from the film Sunshine. I incorporated that into this.

Fosh (Light Era diagetic)

She wanted a piece about being out in the field in the Olympic forests. I had a lot of fun with the trees and the colour in the sky makes it really stand out amongst this set.

Taky (no social media) (Light Era diagetic)

They requested them as a Wintertide Adept, which got me a bit hesitant since I never liked to romanticise the military aspect of Light Era too much, but I read their prompt further and they requested a more sombre mood of anticipation, maybe dread. A great example of a client understanding the assignment, if you will. I thought about showing the feeling of isolation by strategically placing the window frame to separate him and the rest of the group in the background.

Forth & Hydrophagist

The other trial comm of this series. The dramatic nature of Yinmai means it's predisposed to show character at a moment of weakness or emotional vulnerability. It makes me more comfortable portraying military themes as it moves it away from ideas of dominance or strength.

Ashii (Light Era diagetic)

Much the same as above, but taken to a larger scale—a little more chaotic, a little more frantic. Playing with depth was very fun. This one is the most popular piece of the series, apparently.

Panzica

Prompt was making a call under the feeling of uncertainty, if I recall correctly. I sneakily referenced a police interrogation room for the environment. The worm's eye view works for the idea, but I feel like I could have executed the anatomy better.

Phenokage

The prompt was of their character, Trouble, whose backstory is a lot of them learning how to deal with being turned into a macro; feelings of being out of place and learning to cope felt resonant as someone of Asian descent living in a foreign country. I felt like I could evoke this feeling by trapping her between a building and the cage-like railings of an expressway headed in the wrong direction.

[ghuletteintraining]

Hi, it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the Avatar fandom and I was trying to get my friend into them! I remembered you being one of my fav blogs since you wrote Chiaroscuro. Long story short— has there ever been some kind of lore masterposts for Avatar? I can find bajillions of Ghost lore posts but I’m having trouble finding anything for Avatar or at the very least for the Avatar Country era. Thank you for basically being a pillar in the fandom for so many years!

Hi, welcome back to Avatar Country!

First of all ... a pillar in the fandom?!?!? I am SHOOK with the honor, thank YOU for those kind words!!! I am but a humble servant to our king and his royal circle, I live to serve. (And by serve, I mean reblog everything Avatar-related so that my obsession can be everyone's problem...)

As for your question ... I'm thinking the reason you aren't finding anything is because there isn't anything out there. Unlike Ghost, Avatar isn't really a lore-based or lore-focused band. Avatar Country was the closest they've ever come to having official lore, and really that was only for that specific era. Even Feathers and Flesh wasn't lore about the band -- it was a fable brought to life with music. At this point, they bring out the royal costuming when they perform AC songs at shows, but it's usually only for one (sometimes two) songs.

The only thing I can come up with to offer as "lore" would be Legend of Avatar Country: A Metal Odyssey, the movie (featuring the three videos that they also put out for the album's singles) that the boys made with the help of a Kickstarter campaign, and it's so much fun! (There are a few elements in the videos that inspired @girlwiththepapatattoo and I as we developed our vision of the Chiaroscuro version of Avatar Country, but since the movie came out after most of our beast was written, it almost felt like WE inspired THEM.) It's available on Youtube and I'm pretty sure it's also available on avatarcountry.com. Speaking of avatarcountry.com, that's a great place to check out the boys' behind-the-scenes stuff, the play-throughs with Tim and Kungen, and little clips of them being the ridiculous dorks I love and adore. It's not lore in the traditional sense, but the history of the band and how Avatar has evolved over the years is just as fantastically rich as anything they could have invented. If you aren't already a part of it, you can join in at any time (I THINK you can set up a free account by filling out a "tourist visa" that lets you check out everything on the site, but don't quote me on that. Otherwise, becoming a citizen costs about $30.)

OH, almost forgot! There is The Making of Avatar Country, the book that they wrote/published through the Kickstarter campaign, available to purchase on avatarcountry.com. It. Is. FABULOUS. The photography alone makes it worth the cost. Again, not lore in the traditional sense, but seeing how Avatar Country was brought to life is *chef's kiss*. 10000/10 highly recommend.

And (shameless plug alert), you know, you can always re-read the beast in all its many parts ... lore abounds there. =)

Hey, look at that, I babbled once again and wrote a small novel instead of a normal-size response. *ahem* Hope this helped, and thanks so much for the ask! Always here for more asks if you have them ... as you can see, I love talking about my favorite Swedes!

[mariacallous]

Sherwood Eddy was a prominent American missionary as well as that now rare thing, a Christian socialist. In the 1920s and ’30s, he made more than a dozen trips to the Soviet Union. He was not blind to the problems of the U.S.S.R., but he also found much to like. In place of squabbling, corrupt democratic politicians, he wrote in one of his books on the country, “Stalin rules … by his sagacity, his honesty, his rugged courage, his indomitable will and titanic energy.” Instead of the greed he found so pervasive in America, Russians seemed to him to be working for the joy of working.

Above all, though, he thought he had found in Russia something that his own individualistic society lacked: a “unified philosophy of life.” In Russia, he wrote, “all life is focused in a central purpose. It is directed to a single high end and energized by such powerful and glowing motivation that life seems to have supreme significance.”

Eddy was wrong about much of what he saw. Joseph Stalin was a liar and a mass murderer; Russians worked because they were hungry and afraid. The “unified philosophy of life” was a chimera, and the reality was a totalitarian state that used terror and propaganda to maintain that unity. But Eddy, like others in his era, was predisposed to admire the Soviet Union precisely because he was so critical of the economics and politics of his own country, Depression-era America. In this, he was not alone.

In his landmark 1981 book, Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba, Paul Hollander wrote of the hospitality showered on sympathetic Western visitors to the Communist world: the banquets in Moscow thrown for George Bernard Shaw, the feasts laid out for Mary McCarthy and Susan Sontag in North Vietnam. But his conclusion was that these performances were not the key to explaining why some Western intellectuals became enamored of communism. Far more important was their estrangement and alienation from their own cultures: “Intellectuals critical of their own society proved highly susceptible to the claims put forward by the leaders and spokesmen of the societies they inspected in the course of these travels.”

Hollander was writing about left-wing intellectuals in the 20th century, and many such people are still around, paying court to left-wing dictators in Venezuela or Bolivia who dislike America. There are also, in our society as in most others, quite a few people who are paid to help America’s enemies, or to spread their propaganda. There always have been.

But in the 21st century, we must also contend with a new phenomenon: right-wing intellectuals, now deeply critical of their own societies, who have begun paying court to right-wing dictators who dislike America. And their motives are curiously familiar. All around them, they see degeneracy, racial mixing, demographic change, “political correctness,” same-sex marriage, religious decline. The America that they actually inhabit no longer matches the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant America that they remember, or think they remember. And so they have begun to look abroad, seeking to find the spiritually unified, ethnically pure nations that, they imagine, are morally stronger than their own. Nations, for example, such as Russia.

The pioneer of this search was Patrick Buchanan, the godfather of the modern so-called alt-right, whose feelings about foreign authoritarians shifted right about the time he started writing books with titles such as The Death of the West and Suicide of a Superpower. His columns pour scorn on modern America, a place he once described, with disgust, as a “multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, multilingual ‘universal nation’ whose avatar is Barack Obama.” Buchanan’s America is in demographic decline, has been swamped by beige and brown people, and has lost its virtue. The West, he has written, has succumbed to “a sexual revolution of easy divorce, rampant promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, assisted suicide—the displacement of Christian values by Hollywood values.”

This litany of horrors isn’t much different from what can be heard most nights on Fox News. Listen to Tucker Carlson. “The American dream is dying,” Carlson declared one recent evening, in a monologue that also referred to “the dark age that we are living through.” Carlson has also spent a lot of time on air reminiscing about how the United States “was a better country than it is now in a lot of ways,” back when it was “more cohesive.” And no wonder: Immigrants have “plundered” America, thanks to “decadent and narcissistic” politicians who refuse to “defend the nation.” You can read worse on the white-supremacist websites of the alt-right—do pick up a copy of Ann Coulter’s Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole—or hear more extreme sentiments in some evangelical churches. Franklin Graham has declared, for example, that America “is in deep trouble and on the verge of total moral and spiritual collapse.”

What a terrible place all of these people are describing. Who would want to live in a country like that? Or, to put it differently: Who wouldn’t sympathize with the enemies of a country like that? As it turns out, many do. Certainly Buchanan does. Russian cyberwarriors work with daily determination to undermine American utilities and electricity grids. Russian information warriors are trying to deform American political debate. Russian contract killers are murdering people on the streets of Western countries. Russian nuclear weapons are pointed at us and our allies.

Nevertheless, Buchanan has come to admire the Russian president because he is “standing up for traditional values against Western cultural elites.” Once again, he feels the shimmering lure of that elusive sense of “unity” and purpose that complicated, diverse, quarrelsome America always lacks. Impressed with the Russian president’s use of Orthodox pageantry at public events, Buchanan even believes that “Putin is trying to re-establish the Orthodox Church as the moral compass of the nation it had been for 1,000 years before Russia fell captive to the atheistic and pagan ideology of Marxism.”

He is not alone. The belief that Russia is on our side in the war against secularism and sexual decadence is shared by a host of American Christian leaders, as well as their colleagues on the European far right. Among them, for example, are the movers and shakers behind the World Congress of Families, an American evangelical and anti-gay-rights organization that Buchanan has explicitly praised. One of the WCF’s former leaders, Larry Jacobs, once declared that “the Russians might be the Christian saviors of the world.” The WCF even has a Russian branch, which is run by Alexey Komov, a man in turn linked to Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch who has hosted far-right meetings all across Europe. At the WCF’s most recent meeting, in Verona, senior Russian priests mingled with leaders of the Italian far right, the Austrian far right, and their comrades from the American heartland.

Carlson’s support for Russia, by contrast, takes the form of snarling sarcasm rather than open admiration. Much as Jane Fonda once posed, just for the provocative kick of it, with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, Carlson has started teasing his viewers and his critics with his amusingly contrarian views on Russia. “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia?” he asked recently. A couple of days later, he tried it again: “I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”

Ironically, during the Reagan administration, Carlson’s father ran Voice of America, the radio station that broadcast American values into the U.S.S.R. Or maybe this is not an irony, but rather an explanation. In his book, Hollander described the prestige that Albanian communism once enjoyed in Sweden and Norway. Few Scandinavians had ever been there, but that didn’t matter: “Albania is picked up simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one’s own society, one’s own traditions, one’s own parents.” Now Carlson is using Russia as a club with which to beat his own society and his own traditions.

Fortunately for all such critics, they don’t have to spend much time in the country they are “rooting” for, because there is no greater fantasy than the idea that Russia is a country of Christian values. In reality, Russia has one of the highest abortion rates in the world, nearly double that of the United States. It has an extremely low record of church attendance, though the numbers are difficult to measure, not least because any form of Christianity outside of the state-controlled Orthodox Church is liable to be considered a cult. A 2012 survey showed that religion plays an important role in the lives of only 15 percent of Russians. Only 5 percent have read the Bible.

If American Christians would find little to cheer for in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, American white nationalists would be disappointed too. Carlson has wondered aloud about America’s racial mix, asking, “How precisely is diversity our strength?” He would have a real dilemma in Russia. Nearly 20 percent of Russian citizens do not even identify as Russian, telling pollsters that they belong to different nationalities, ranging from Tartar and Azeri to Ukrainian and Moldovan; more than 6 percent of Russians are Muslims, as opposed to 1.1 percent of the U.S. population. And that might be a gross underestimate of the actual number of Russian Muslims, since in some parts of the country, Muslims are off-limits to census takers. Remember all those phony stories about Swedish and British neighborhoods that are supposedly no-go zones ruled by Sharia law? Russia has an actual province, Chechnya, that is officially ruled by Sharia law. The local regime tolerates polygamy, requires women to be veiled in public places, and tortures gay men. It is a no-go zone, right inside Russia.

As for Putin himself, there is no evidence that this former KGB officer has actually converted, but plenty of evidence that Putin’s recent public displays of Christianity are just as cynical as Stalin’s vaunted love for the working classes. Among other things, they are useful precisely because they can hoodwink naive foreigners. But you don’t need to listen to me say so. Listen, instead, to the words of a young Russian, Yegor Zhukov, who was put on trial for publishing videos critical of the regime. In an extraordinary courtroom speech, he addressed the loud support for “the institutions of the family” that Putin often offers in Russia, and contrasted it with reality:

An impenetrable barrier divides our society in two. All the money is concentrated at the top and no one up there is going to let it go. All that’s left at the bottom—and this is no exaggeration—is despair. Knowing that they have nothing to hope for, that no matter how hard they try, they cannot bring happiness to themselves or their families, Russian men take their aggression out on their wives, or drink themselves to death, or hang themselves. Russia has the world’s [second] highest rate of suicide among men. As a result, a third of all Russian families are single mothers with their kids. I would like to know: Is this how we are protecting the institution of the family?

The reality of Russia isn’t the point, just as the reality of Stalinism wasn’t the point, not for Sherwood Eddy and not for George Bernard Shaw. The American intellectuals who now find themselves alienated from the country that they inhabit aren’t interested in reality. They are interested in a fantasy nation, different and distinct from their own hateful country. America, with its complicated social and political as well as ethnic diversity, with its Constitution that ensures we will never, ever all be forced to feel as if “all life is focused in a central purpose”—this America no longer appeals to them at all.

Most of them know that this fantasy foreign nation they admire seeks to put an end to all of that. It seeks to undermine American democracy, beat back American influence, and curtail American power. But to those who dislike American democracy, despair of American influence, and are angered by American power? That, truly, is the point.

[4d-hypermoth]

As tired as it is to complain about the new Civilization game being different, let alone before it releases... damn do I think they fucked up bigtime.

There's a lot that looks very good (the map, navigable rivers), and a few things that look very bad (the UI, Augustus's model), but the fact that you change your civilization twice over the course of the game is just stupid. I can't be the Mongols in the modern era because they'll have turned into some "modern" country and gained their theming? Isn't that going against a huge part of Civ's appeal? If I pick the Inca, I want to play as the Inca for the whole game. Y'know, stand the test of time and all that?

And if it was just different it'd be one thing, but then you have issues like... what, are the Shawnee just supposed to turn into the United States?? Are the Celts going to become England??? We've seen Egypt's "historical" path (unlocked by default, although depending on your gamestate other options will be available), which goes Egypt -> Songhai -> Buganda. These have nothing in common except for the fact that they're all in Africa, which doesn't inspire confidence for the rest of the paths.

The only throughline for your civ will be the leader, although that leader can lead any country, meaning you can have Hatshepsut starting the game as the leader of Rome, for example. This opens the door for some very uncomfortable setups, like a US founding father leading a Native American tribe. And since the civ changes throughout the game, even if the AI leader will prefer to stick to their leader's real-life civilization, they'll only be the leader of that civ for one third of the game.

Oh, and another big complaint: while I don't think the leader models look as bad as a lot of people are saying, the fact that they don't face you, the player, and instead are facing the avatar of your civ leader in the diplomacy screen is waaaaay less engaging and fun. They face you in the leader select screen and in that context I'd say they look good.

I don't doubt that this will probably still be a fun game in spite of these complaints, but for $70 and a mountain of DLC on the way, I think I'm just going to wait however many years it takes to get the whole package for dirt cheap on sale.

(Though I will say Gwendoline Christie was a great pick for the narrator)

[shadowjinx626]

I want to talk about this page really quick.

I find it wonderful that King Kuei only wants to get rid of the colonies for the sake of his citizens. It showed how he deeply cares about his people.

Which sort makes a good foil for Zuko, who not only is ruling a nation that hates him, but also has to fix the damage his nation caused. Zuko is so focus on restoring the peace for the other nations that he doesn't see how it could negatively affect his own people.

Specifically the colonies.

This makes sense for him to do when you considered his journey.

In The Storm episode, Zuko was very vocal about what was right for the Fire Nation.

"If I'm going to rule this nation one day, don't you think I need to start learning as much as I can?"

"You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?"

"Please, Father. I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart. I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"

Since he was thirteen, Zuko cared for the Fire Nation. He wanted to do was best for them. But that attitude for his nation led him to an Agni Kai against Ozai. There he was punished for refusing to fight against his own father.

Despite this though, Zuko still cares deeply for his nation. After all he wouldn't say this in The Blue Spirit:

How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar. My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all.

But then his journey in season 2 happens and he gets a bigger picture of how the war truly is.

He meets Song. Who was burned by a firebender from the Fire Nation. He meets Lee and his family. Who had to deal with bullies taking advantage of the village, that needed protection from the Fire Nation, and whose family member fighting in the war against the Fire Nation. He meets Jet. Who seems alright at first, but hated Zuko so much once Jet finds out he was Fire Nation. He meets refugees. People who are in terrible situations thanks to a war against the Fire Nation started.

These people shows him how Fire Nation negatively affected them and how they view the very nation he cared for and taught was a great nation.

Which leads to Zuko's speech to Ozai in The Day of Black Sun Part 2:

"No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

This does not mean he hates his nation however, just that his views of his nation that he cared about is different now. And that's a good thing if he wants to right the wrongs, he, his family, and his nation did to the rest of the world.

So when Iroh says this to Zuko when it comes to ruling the Fire Nation:

"You restored your own honor, and only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation."

He of course takes it seriously. Despite his insecurities, Zuko made it his mission to bring back the honor his nation lost by doing what he did to right his own wrongs. Working with the other nations and the Avatar.

So if the Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and the Avatar want things to be separate, to be how it was before the war, then he'll do what is necessary. That's the trouble with this type of thinking though, things can't go back to the way they were. Especially not after 100 years culture built upon the war.

It also would make matters difficult when you remember one Zuko's flaws: he tends to be extreme with what he does. And sometimes that extreme attitude can cause others (and himself) to get hurt in the process. Even if it's not intentional.

On the contrary to Zuko, Aang was the one to acknowledges how this movement will cause disruption towards other people's lives. Though just like Zuko, who has flaws, Aang's also has flaws. He sometimes cannot see the full extent of how certain actions can hurt others.

In the show, we never see Zuko interacting with the citizens from the colonies, and Aang only went to one in the first season. So their views about the colonies is rather nonexistent or limited. It makes sense they be nonchalant about removing the colonies for the sake of peace and restoration.

[yuwumeniji]

Luxiem & A Trace Of Wonder

WARNING: Please remember that I am writing about Luxiem based on their characters online and not of the people behind their vtuber avatars, thank you!

EXTRA NOTES: wuwuywuwywuw did i finally start writing again??? yes . do i have a new fixation on a bl novel???also yes so now im mashing these two interests of mine together... just like how i started this blog

GENERAL

a luxiem au based on 해의 흔적 (a trace of wonder)

for the sake of this au, they are from the same jp guild - Luxiem (the guild from the original is an sk guild, so since anycolor is jp, luxiem will fall under jp.... plus en is a very broad area... bear with me LMAO)

Luxiem are considered the top JP Guild and one of the top guilds worldwide

the source material IS from a BL novel, but there will be no mentions of romance for this post

i went a little chuuni to name the abilities ok i dont think the novel had that - im just cringe like that

dear god i did not proofread this but something definitely possessed me in order to write this out instead of whatever college essay i got due soon

BRIEF ATOW UNIVERSE EXPLANATION

ok so think of it as like a modern era rpg game - the awakened class of people refers to those with supernatural abilities and dungeons are areas in the world where treasure and strong monsters spawn (sometimes these dungeons are based on parts of history as well)

the awakened class makes up about 10% of the population

those who are awakened have access to these dungeons in order to beat them within a certain time frame with Class S dungeons being the most deadly

those who are awakened also form guilds in order to enter such dungeons and have jurisdiction over ones that spawned with the guild's country - no other country is allowed to interfere with another

those who are awakened have two abilities - one main and one hidden ; the hidden ability also comes with a penalty and should be used with caution as the power may interfere with every day life outside of combat/cause hindrance when dungeon crawling

for the powerscalling in the universe, it is from Class E (lowest) to Class S (highest) ; this works for both the classification of awakened people and dungeon ranking

the main abilities that are at least mentioned here are restorers, hunters, mages and healers ; 2/4 classes are combative while the others are non-combative, but still useful when dungeon crawling

i hope my shitty explanation gets you to read the novel/manwha so that you can understand it better LMAO

MORE UNDER THE CUT

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

IKE EVELAND

CLASSIFICATION: Class A Healer

MAIN ABILITY: Priest's Waterfall

ike has the ability to heal using his staff without using too much mana. however, he is restricted to water - by using other elements, he runs the risk of depleting too much mana before entering the boss' room in a dungeon.

his staff has the appearance of a large quill. no one knows the reasoning behind it as most staffs on the guild markets are stick-like

HIDDEN ABILITY: Darkness of the Deep

ike has the hidden ability to summon a powerful tentacle-like creature of nightmares. with this, ike switches classes - from non-combative to combative. however, the tentacle-like creature is sentient and moves on its own, ike has no control over what it hits. the creature is also considered to be a glass canon ; while it is powerful, it can only withstand attacks for so long and is on a time limit.

ike can only use his hidden ability when threatened ; he and mysta are the only non-combative members of the guild and this is his only way of protecting them both if no one else could not help.

PENALTY: everything he touches becomes an inky water

without mysta around, most solid objects around ike become an inky liquid that is as viscous as water if he touches it - it's strange, but definitely an inconvenience to his everyday life.

fortunately, his penalty does not harm humans

his strength lies in his durability and mana. he is also quite knowledgable of different types of potions and strengthening spells that help out with dungeon crawling

in fact, ike naturally houses the most mana within the guild followed by shu, mysta, vox and luca.

he originally came from a swedish guild overseas before his meeting with vox, who recruited ike with the promise of hatsune miku figures if he joined Luxiem (this is my attempt at humor)

ike is usually the one who gathers intel on their next dungeon - thanks to his quick reading speed and familiarity with mythos, ike predicts what would the location and boss of the dungeon with 99.99% accuracy

LUCA KANESHIRO

CLASSIFICATION: Class A Hunter

MAIN ABILITY: Heightened Strength

despite not wielding any kind of weapon, luca is proud of his brute strength - just one tap from him could reduce skyscrapers into dust clouds.

HIDDEN ABILITY: Shapeshifting

luca's hidden ability can only be activated if he has ingested a specific kind of gemstone - however with his hidden ability, he can only turn into a lion that possesses supernatural qualities for a short period of time

the lion is big btw ... just letting you know haha

PENALTY: Lion's Mane

with the penalty in place, luca essentially walks around with a huge lion's mane. he complains about how heavy it is and how the hair gets everywhere

unlike the other members, luca does not possess any magical strength - arguably he could just be a regular civilian who happens to possess superhuman strength; most of luxiem thought he was a civilian until they found out about his penalty

he also is proficient with long range weapons such as guns and arrows, but he is mainly the brawler of the group

while luca was originally scouted by vox to join, luca is actually the one who has the leadership role - the demon said that he prefers a more 'in the shadows' kind of role anyways and handed the position to luca; the guild members aren't sure if luca is actually aware of that, but they all appreciate the work and effort he gives towards the guild.

the guild luca was in has a partnership with luxiem and is currently being led by his older brother

MYSTA RIAS

CLASSIFICATION: Class A(?) Restorer

MAIN ABILITY: Restoration

after seeing a structure, mysta has the ability to 'restore' it to it's original state - for instance, if ike had turned a wardrobe into ink, mysta has the ability to restore the wardrobe's appearance and functionality before it was turned into ink.

mysta's true abilities is unknown - if anything, he has enough magical strength to bring life back

however, there are some ethical issues involving the restoration of life and is considered taboo for a restorer to interfere with the death of a living thing.

generally, mysta has the strength to restore even stadiums after an earthquake to its original form and functionality - it is possible that he may be a Class S, but no further assessment has been made yet

HIDDEN ABILITY: Medusa's Petrification.

this is the only ability mysta has that is allowed to be used on living creatures - he essentially turns things into stone rather than restoring them to its original state

the only way this ability is activated is when mysta experiences a very strong emotion such as fear or despair

he only has to look at the object or creature in front of him in order for it to turn into stone - fortunately, even with the hidden ability activated, he could still undo the process if he accidentally petrifies a guild member

PENALTY: Floating

for some odd reason, mysta's penalty is that he has no control over gravity - his body becomes weightless and therefore starts to float. he essentially becomes a balloon and many of the guild members just walk him around with a string attached to his belt so he doesn't fly off to who knows where before his penalty wanes off.

mysta was actually not part of a guild when he was scouted - in fact, he was working as an odd-jobs repair man who did small gigs in order to get by.

mysta also has the least amount of dungeon experience as he is of a non-combative class ; surprisingly enough, not many guilds seek restorers to join.

despite that, mysta is a highly sought out restorer due to his efficiency - buildings turned into rubble could be restored within a matter of seconds

he is also the only one in the guild who is responsible for the loot they earned and items each member brings into the dungeons

SHU YAMINO

CLASSIFICATION: Class S Mage

MAIN ABILITY: Summoner

as his main ability states, shu is a summoner who could gather up to Class A monsters to listen to him.

he also has the ability to call upon 'yokai'-classed monsters through the usage of shikigami ; this aspect of his ability is dependent on the amount of shikigamis he brings with him into dungeons.

HIDDEN ABILITY: God's Messenger

when activated, shu has the ability to call down one of japan's seven lucky gods to battle. this is randomized and he doesn't have the ability to choose which one will come help.

luckily for him, he doesn't have to worry about the gods not responding to him; no matter the call, they will answer.

depending on who is summoned, shu takes on the form of one of the seven lucky gods and uses their abilities in combat.

essentially, shu becomes possessed by the god he has summoned but does run the risk of being permanently possessed by them even though his combat ability is on a timer

the only problem with this ability is that this can only be activated if he senses that the danger is too high ; ideally in Class S dungeons where the survival rate is essentially 0%.

PENALTY: Inability to feel pain

this penalty could be proven fatal to shu as he would be numb to all kinds of pain - from the tiniest scratch to getting his heart ripped out ; it would be too late for shu to notice if anything bad happens to him.

this penalty is activated the minute he uses his hidden ability, thus putting his own life at an even higher risk of possession and even death

similarly to mysta, shu was not a part of a guild when he was scouted, in fact, he had been staying at his family's temple as one of the priests who carried out sacred rituals to protect his town from dungeons spawning nearby.

tragically, shu is one of the few guild members to experience loss through the dungeons.

when vox found him, he was surround by the rubble of what was originally his home town - the Class A dungeon wiped the town off the map. with no where else to go, shu decided to follow vox and the rest of luxiem.

shu often helps ike with intelligence and is often in charge of dungeons that originate in japanese mythos

he was the last member to be recruited - words of a powerful sorcerer had reached vox's ears, but he didn't expect to find him in that state.

despite the tragedy, shu is thankful for having met the boys of luxiem - he's glad to call them home

VOX AKUMA

CLASSIFICATION: Class S Hunter

MAIN ABILITY: Shadow Swordsman

vox is quite proficient with the sword, combined with the demon-like energy that festers within the shadows, he becomes an unstoppable killing machine

not only can he infuse the dark energy into whatever blade he is holding, he also has the ability to create a clone who wields the sword the same way he does

HIDDEN ABILITY: Divine Judgement

he has the ability to strike a mighty light into his opponents - it is a devastating ability that clashes with his already dark main ability

it can strike through the thickest material and destroy what is wicked ; often destroying the dungeon completely and automatically clearing it in order to avoid any more casualties.

it is another ability that can only be activated during dire situations, similarly to shu's hidden ability.

PENALTY: Temporary Blindness

as the light he summons is from the almighty, it does temporarily blind vox for a little while as punishment for using god's ability for his quest to find out what causes dungeons to spawn

the first and last time vox had his penalty in place, shu was the one who helps guide him around with the usage of his shikigami - on the other hand, luca was the one to pull pranks on vox while he's blind (vox can tell it's luca because of his laugh)

vox has the most dungeon crawling experience out of all the members of luxiem and is the one who recruited all of them to join his guild - he's happy to find such like minded people he could call home.

while his physical or magical strength doesn't exceed all members of luxiem, he is the most proficient and stable in terms of combat ; he has used his hidden ability only once in his entire career as a hunter

luxiem's leader in the shadows, while he doesn't take a direct leadership role, vox usually is the one who approves of or disapproves of luca's wild antics.

ok a lot of the times, vox does approve of luca's antics because "he's just being silly your honour" - only when the situation is that dire will he take matters into his own hands.

he's usually the one calling strategy meetings before going into dungeons

[orangepanic]

any headcanons about zuko's relationship with iroh II ??

OH DO I EVER

So.

I think for the first part of Iroh's life their relationship is very strained. They're very different people. Zuko is a bit volatile but also warm and caring. He's a little goofy. He likes to feed the turtleducks. More than anything what we see with Zuko is what we get. He's very obvious and wears his feelings on his sleeve. And then Iroh is just BIG FEELINGS stuffed into a sack that's been stapled shut. He's always serious. He rarely smiles. He folds his socks. So already we have a grandfather who puts everything out there for all to see and a grandson who won't say anything unless he knows it's the exact right thing to say. Iroh feels at once under incredible pressure to perform and yet overshadowed before he's begun.

Then there's the relationship itself. On the one hand, little Iroh hero-worships Zuko. This is the man who befriended the Avatar and changed the course of the Fire Nation when he was only a teenager. On the other hand, that's an awful lot to live up to. Iroh, bright and ambitious and prone to over-thinking, has this unachievable standard that he holds himself to from a very young age. Yet he's also a child of the modern era born into peace. He's fascinated by other nations and cultures and is much less beholden to the traditions of the Fire Nation that Zuko grew up under. Zuko, for his part, has a lot of trouble understanding Iroh. He's worked hard for this peace and for the legacy of his country, and then here's his very serious grandson running off to join the United Forces as if everything Zuko has worked for means nothing to him. Why won't he rest on the fruits of their labor and settle down with a nice Fire Nation partner to help govern this country he's delivered from Ozai? What's he doing halfway around the world fighting pirates? And what in Agni's name has he done to his hair? Once a banished prince, all Zuko wanted was for his family to live comfortably at home and in peace, and here's Iroh doing everything in his power to get himself killed anyway. It's as baffling as it is terrifying. When Iroh joins the United Forces the fight that ensues can be heard across the palace.

Eventually though I like to think they come to an understanding and a place of mutual respect. Iroh, for all the weight of his name, isn't his grandfather any more than he is his namesake. He makes a name for himself on his own accord; one Zuko can openly acknowledge brings honor to the family. Zuko also accepts that Iroh doesn't have the same love of the Fire Nation that he does, or at least loves his country differently. What Iroh does in the United Forces does serve the Fire Nation. The time abroad is good for him. And Iroh comes to accept that his grandfather comes from another time, and that all his yelling about hair and honor come from a good place. They send regular letters to one another right up until Zuko passes away. Iroh inherits his collection of teas as well as his extensive notes.

[hils79]

Hils Watches The King's Avatar - Ep 1

When I'm watching dramas I try to rotate countries to keep things diverse and interesting. I'm due to watch another cdrama and I've been dithering for ages about which one I wanted to watch.

Finally settled on The King's Avatar. It's been on my to watch list pretty much since I first started watching cdramas back in 2020 so I'm about due.

I don't know a huge amount about it other than loads of my friends have recced it, it's about an esports team (I think?) and Yang Yang is in it. So, let's dive in and see what's up.

Oh, I wonder who the bad guys are

Oh no Team Excellent Era (these team names are not subtle) has a lone wolf in their midst who does not follow orders and may have just cost them the game

Love the slow motion mask removal with dramatic music. All that was missing was a hair toss. Does he wear a mask because he's Too Hot

I think this is actually only the second thing I've seen Yang Yang in apart from The Lost Tomb. He def looks better without the emo hair

Ooh he kicked the lone wolf off the team. So I reckon either they're going to end up needing him and Yang Yang will have to woo him back, or the lone wolf is going to defect to the evil team

Oh no is this going to be about the evils of capitalism and how the terrible bosses only care about making money not the love of playing the game

GASP! Yang Yang has been REPLACED! I'm not even joking I did legit gasp. This isn't what I was expecting at all.

And he's walking. Ooh is he going to set up a rival team of his own? I've seen Gank Your Heart :D

I'm really distracted by the fact that this team's logo looks like the Canadian flag

I don't know why but I always thought Yang Yang was tall. He's apparently 5'9

Oh no he's sad and Yearning

And now he's standing all alone in the snow. This is very dramatic

See, this is what I thought was going to happen. I thought his teammates would leave with him and they'd form a new team. But he's apparently not allowed to play for a year because he terminated his contract and he wants her to stay for all the work they put into the team together. This is quite angsty for an opening episode!

Oh he's starting over from scratch in the game, playing in an internet cafe. I kind of love this.

Ahhh the owner of the internet cafe loves the game as much as he does. I bet she ends up on his team.

Oh no I'm getting found family feels

Of course he wants to work in the internet cafe full of people who love the game as much as he does

Well, that was surprising in a lot of ways but kind of delightful. I'll probably watch another one after dinner

[reneeoka]

Avatar: New Red Dawn.

"ファイアロードのために!" "為了上帝和國王!" "自由還是死亡!" "和平與團結!" "忠誠，最重要." "For the Republic!"

Avatar: New Red Dawn is a joint project that explores a hypothetical scenario: “What if the world of ATLA/TLOK had guns?”. It does not aim to be realistic or clear, but rather to focus on the worldbuilding and military aspects of the four nations. The project will feature graphics like maps to show the new world.

The project diverges from the original timeline of Avatar: The Last Airbender at the era of Avatar Wan, the first avatar. It then jumps to 500 BG, when the first steam engine was invented and tested. By 402 BG, the first musket was developed and the industrial revolution began in 290 BG.

The project has the following goals:

Create a webcomic set in the AU. (similar to Legend of Genji, but without killing off Korra or making "unrealistic" changes.)

Build a detailed and complete world that is consistent with the original Avatar universe and the project’s scenario.

Avoid creating the next avatar until the official sequel is released.

Designing original military equipment with drawings, without using AI art.

Basing the project’s world on real Asian countries, cultures, and histories.

Quick FAQ -08/28/23​

PS. This project has been in the works since last year, but I got a surge of motivation when the legend of Genji was scrapped. That made me work harder on the project than ever before. Also, I’m looking for some artists who can help me bring the characters to life.