#based entirely on how deranged she is for a 14 year old

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

So I'm currently noodling about with an ATLA/Naruto fic that I don't know if I'll ever fully write out, that involves Naruto and Sasuke getting forcefully immigrated to the ATLA dimension by the Sage a couple years after the war. Which results in a few changes to how things end.

Because the Sage can feel other Otsutsuki poking around their home dimension, and figured the only reason and way Kaguya was able to break out the first time was by using his (the Sage's) own decedents. So by just moving them somewhere no Otsutsuki would dare go he'd be able to solve this issue pretty handily.

Basically the Sage's plan was employing bigger fish strategy, he could keep the Otsutsuki from using his bloodline to stir up trouble in his birth dimension.

Which meant sending his surviving decedents to a dimension no Otsutsuki would dare step foot into, for fear of getting eaten by the Spirits that call that world their territory.

The Avatar's dimension.

Anyways Sasuke and Naruto (and Kurama, he was given a choice of being separated from Naruto and someday reforming in his birth dimension or going with Naruto, he chose to go with Naruto) get dumped a bit before Zuko gets banished.

They eventually end up living in the Southern Air Temple, and are there when Zuko shows up there to search for the Avatar during his banishment.

They don't meet at that time because they're using the abilities Kurama gets in the ATLA dimension of only being able to be seen by humans if he wants to in order to avoid Zuko and the Wani crew. Though Sasuke is convinced "that old guy" (Iroh) can actually see Kurama, and knows they're there, he just isn't telling the shouty burned child that they're there.

Naruto wants to kidnap the shouty burned child and undo the brainwashing he's so clearly under. Considering he's horrifically injured, like 12, but also in charge of a military ship for some reason. While also being confusidly convinced that this very obviously peaceful civilization of pacifistic monks his country historically wiped out had an army of some kind.

Naruto think he could fix the burned boy, as long as the old guy (who's maybe the boy's actual uncle, maybe symbolically his uncle) went along with it.

After all, he helped reform Sasuke and Sai from the crazy brainwashing they were under, and both of them were far more deranged than this burn boy was acting.

Hell, Sai's engaged to Ino, and Ino's clan's whole thing is mental health and stability. He's a functional member of society who pays his taxes and everything.

Sure, Sasuke's a functional hobo ninja who only sends letters like once a month, and refused to step foot in Konoha itself again until the day Naruto was instated as Hokage (which will be never now). But he wasn't trying to burn down nations and topple governments anymore, so Naruto counted him reformed if not an entirely functional member of society.

Sasuke argues that he wasn't brainwashed, or deranged, he was just focused on his goal of revenge and restoring his family honor.

And Zuko and the Wani leave the island before Naruto can convince Sasuke to help him kidnap the boy for his own good, and of Sasuke's own brainwashed teenage derangement. Much to Naruto's disappointment and irritation.

Anyways Naruto and Sasuke live in the Southern Air Temple up until Aang arrives, trying to wait out the war, because Naruto doesn't look a thing like anyone in this world from what little they've seen of it and he's the only wind/air wielder on the entire planet apparently. And with the vast majority of their other abilities nerfed or just completely unusable in this world, they aren't the two person army they used to be.

Naruto insists they help Aang out on his stop the war mission, because Naruto would like to be able to go out and see the world without covering his hair and smudging charcoal into his eyebrows to darken them please and thank you.

Which Sasuke goes along with because he's just sick of hearing Naruto complain about it after the past 3 years. And he would also like to be able to travel freely without being concerned about people seeing him firebend, and then being assumed to be on the side of the genocidal assholes called Fire Nation.

So that's how the GAang gets (young) adult supervision, in the form of early 20s Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto does indeed infect Aang with the philosophy that sometimes in order to make friends you gotta kick a person's ass a bit first to make them open to the idea.

Aang is doubtful of the truth to this advice up until meeting Toph (who gleefully agrees with said philosophy), and finally managing to get Zuko on their side, after kicking his ass decidedly for a few months on end.

Sasuke ends up taking the fire siblings well in hand over the course of the journey. Kicking both of their asses literally one handed, and often with little to no bending being used on his part.

By the end of things, Zuko is crowned Fire Lord as in canon, but Azula is remanded to Sasuke's primary custody for care and rehabilitation. As he started chipping through her layers of indoctrination over the course of their encounters during the war.

The two of them even spend some time with the Sun Warriors away from anything that would be familiar to Azula at all.

Azula spends the next few years under Sasuke's tutelage and supervision, and by the time she reaches adulthood she's been properly deprogrammed from the propaganda she was raised with, and now function in the world as a normal human being.

Though she ends up eventually choosing to just settle among the Sun Warriors, the rest of the world is full of too many negative memories and associations with the war for her to ever feel fully like she could be just Azula there.

She eventually found her spouse among the Sun Warriors, and spent the rest of her life there, hardly ever leaving, and only getting visits from Zuko, and eventually Ursa and Kiyi later on. And that's really how she preferred it.

Azula never really ends up patching things up with Mai, by she and Ty Lee end up building a new friendship a couple years after Azula really settles in to being a Sun Warrior. The friendship she eventually builds with Toph is a surprise to no one after it was thought about for more than a few minutes.

She never builds anything like a positive or close relationship with either of the water tribe siblings, or with Aang. Though dose eventually develop the ability to not be openly hostile with them when they showed up along side Zuko on his visits for some reason or another.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Why overemphasizing Azula's mental health is a bad thing

Azula and the subject of mental health has been the topic of debate for years in the fandom. There have been COUNTLESS attempts to diagnose her with some mental disorder or genetic condition, she's been labeled "deranged" or "crazy" over and over again, and it's gotten to the point that her breakdown and Sozin's Comet state has overridden her entire character for both the fandom and canon.

Now there have been essays about the moral implications of diagnosing a cartoon character so I'm not gonna go back into that territory. What I am going to focus on...is how supposedly genetics or her mental illness is emphasized to the detriment of everything else. Let's forgive for a moment (but we'll get back to that) about blaming her condition on her ancestry or some inherent mental disorder (even though there's little evidence of that). Some people will contend that genetics or a mental illness doesn't make a person who they are (which is true) and that it doesn't negate the shitty upbringing she was raised in.

Except...by focusing solely on Azula's "madness", they forget everything else that made her who she was. The immense pressure by her father to be perfect. The toxic environment of the warmongering Fire Nation. That belief that her worth is only based on how well she serves the Fire Lord. How her father conditioned her to be a weapon. These are often left to the wayside in favor of her condition. Some people will contend these factors "exacerbated" her mental illness, even though these factors would screw her up regardless if she had a condition. What's worse, by playing up her breakdown, they're essentially taking the blame off of Ozai by contributing her downfall solely to her genetics. Like people don't already give the abusive father an easy pass off already. Instead, the blame is put on Azula, his 14-year-old victim.

Finally, what really gets me is what people are going to latch on to when you bring in genetics or mental instability in a discussion on a character's mental framework. Even if it's well intentioned (which it can be), what are people going to latch on to? A toxic environment with an abusive father and a neglectful mother and relative that emphasizes violence and intimidation? Or mental illness, something that has historically stigmatized for centuries and is ingrained in our society?

Does this mean Azula shouldn't be portrayed as mentally ill or having a problem in the psyche? No. Not at all. But it shouldn't be dragged to the forefront that everything else in her environment becomes muted or dulled.

[contrivedcoincidences6]

Goodbye Kiss

This continues my series of missed moments from the Star Wars comics that you can find here for this story I recommend reading the others first because now I’m starting to get into a bit of a running storyline. 

@otterandterrier​ continues to be a great beta and source of support and inspiration ❤️

After Vader Down which is Darth Vader (2015) #13-15 and Star Wars (2015) #13-14. The gist of the story is that Vader crash lands near a rebel base. Luke is lost in the area. Han is going after Luke and is frustrated that Leia cares so much more about killing Vader than she does about saving Luke. They apprehend Dr. Aphra (a dangerous associate of Vaders) and take her prisoner. 

“Are you gonna tell us where these coordinates lead or is this another fun surprise?” Han asked Leia as they entered hyperspace. 

“Just going to meet up with the fleet, Han. I need to talk to Sana about another mission, she should be cleared or nearly cleared by the time we get back.”

“Sana?!” Han swiveled to look at her but she wouldn’t meet his eyes. It had been like that for a couple weeks, ever since their short but very passionate kiss aboard the Falcon. At first Leia had avoided him like the plague and he’d let her get away with it for the first few days, but it had become tiring. He wanted to see her, even if it meant fighting. 

And they did fight then, a lot. In just a couple weeks, people knew enough to turn tail if the two of them were seen in deep conversation because they knew an explosion was coming. 

“I’m going to have her help me transport Aphra to prison.” 

Luke got up from his seat slowly, not wanting to become a target in the coming argument, and took the armless Threepio with him. 

“Why would you want Sana for that? Or even trust her for that? I’ll take you.” Han pronounced the last part as if he was giving an order and Leia’s head snapped up. 

“I am giving Sana this job for your sake, Han. To pay off your debt. If I didn’t hire her for—” 

“My debt?! Are you kidding me! Sana has stolen from me plenty of times, over the years it’s evened out. She’ll get over it.”

“I also think she could be useful to the cause.”

Han snorted and gently hit a silent Chewie on the shoulder as if to say, Isn’t she crazy?, Chewie, refusing to be dragged in, remained silent in his work. 

“Listen, sweetheart, Sana is not going to be helpful to the cause. She doesn’t believe in anything or care for anyone.”

“Just like you, right? These are the kind of speeches I’m used to hearing you spout off about yourself, but now it sounds like you're worried.”

Han stood up sharply to refute her but she spoke first. “It’s nice to know you care, Han, but I think I can handle myself.”

“I never said I cared, just don’t come cryin’ to me when she stabs you in the back!”

“Fine, I won’t.”

“Good.” 

“Yes.” Leia stomped out of the cabin before Han could think of another last word. 

He slumped down in the pilots’ seat and shook his head. 

”The two of you should talk about what’s really going on.” 

“Oh well, if it’s that easy…” Han didn’t have enough energy to throw the sarcasm behind that comment like he wanted to and instead, he sighed. 

“She’s right, kissing her was a mistake.”

Chewbacca shrugged. “Do you really believe that, Cub?”

Han just covered his eyes and slumped into his seat. She’d be the death of him. 

***

Han and Luke, both in a mood, sat in the mess hall next to the other Rogues who chatted on, despite their companions' dour demeanor. Luke was still struggling with leaving Vrogas Vas, and any potential info about the old Jedi Order, behind. Meanwhile Han was still irritated at Leia for her perceived apathy toward Luke and the rest of the troops in favor of catching Vader, as well as her insistence on having Sana escort her to the Sunspot prison. 

“Why are you so mad at Leia today?” Luke asked and all the pilots turned to hear the answer. 

Han, startled out of his thoughts, glowered at them, “Who says I’m mad at Her Adoredness? In fact, she’s the one who seems mad at me!” 

Luke rolled his eyes. “Whatever Han.”

“No! You know what? She left us all alone out there on Vrogas Vas so she could go all commando on her own little private mission to kill Vader. She cared more about trying to take him out than saving your ass and didn’t give a kriff how many soldiers died along the way!”

Luke’s expression turned sour in a way no one was used to seeing on him. 

“Don’t talk about Leia that way! You think she doesn’t know the name and rank of every person who died trying to get Vader? I made it out fine, and in the end she did save our asses! I don’t know what the hell has gotten into the two of you lately but stop trying to drag everyone else into it!” 

With that, Luke stood up and stalked away, presumably toward his bunk. 

Wedge looked after him, concerned, and Han waved his hand as if it was no big deal. 

“He had to leave a bunch of Jedi stuff on Vrogas Vas.”

Dubious, Wedge looked at Han and shook his head. “Maybe, but he’s got a point. You and Princess Leia are difficult to be around these days, it’s unpleasant for everyone. Some time apart will be good for you guys.”

He looked back at the exit to the mess hall and got up. “I’m gonna check on him.”

Wedge took a few steps before turning around. 

“And Han, take it easy on Leia. She has enough guilt without you adding this on top of it.”

Han just waved the pilot away and grumbled into his drink. She’d be leaving in a couple hours and the thought of it caused a strange squeeze in his chest. Maybe he could try to make it right before she left. 

***

“I hear you two are shipping off.” Leia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Han’s voice. He leaned against the door to the Volt Cobra’s secondary hold, looking at her like she was the entire galaxy. His posture was casually practiced, and even though she wanted to be mad at him for startling her and for the way he was looking at her, he looked good enough to make her heart—and other places—flutter. 

When her gaze reached his grinning lips, she felt her face go warm. Damn Han Solo and his gorgeous lips. 

“What can I do for you, Han?” Leia asked, trying to sound cold. 

“Nothing, Your Highness, I just wanted to see you before you left.”

The way he said ‘I just wanted to see you’ sent a shiver up her spine but she kept on a mask of indifference. 

“Well, now you’ve seen me. You can either help us load up supplies or you can leave,” Leia said as she pretended to remember what she’d been doing before he arrived. 

“I wanted to talk to you, Leia.” 

She turned around to look at him to find he’d moved closer, looking sincere. 

“About what?” Leia felt proud of herself for keeping the tremor from her voice. He was close enough that she could smell the engine grease on him and feel the heat from his body. 

“You know exactly what about.” He moved in closer but she refused to back away, maybe didn’t want to, “That kiss.”

“I’d rather forget about that.” 

“Really? You scared?” His grin mocked her and she scowled at him.

“Of course not.”

“Then kiss me again—kiss goodbye, considering you’re going away with a treacherous smuggler to drop off a deranged prisoner at a secret prison filled with the most dangerous criminals the Alliance has to offer.”

“In your dreams.”

“Yeah, every night for two weeks.” He said it so fast and with so much sincerity, it caught Leia off guard.

Slowly, he moved his hand up to stroke her cheek. “Just be careful Princess.”

Leia nodded and neither of them moved. 

Finally, after an eternity Leia—against her better judgement—leaned forward and kissed him gently. It set her insides on fire and she grabbed hold of his vest just to stay up. His hands held her elbows, supporting her, but she could feel the same tremble running through him.

She’d lied to Han; she was scared—terrified. 

The kiss was shorter than the last and much more tame, yet somehow it touched Leia just as much. 

“See, nothing to be afraid of,” Han whispered, sounding frightened himself. 

When Leia started to open her mouth, he shook his head, “We’ll talk about it when you get back. Have a good trip, Your Highness.”

He gave her a lingering peck and corrected himself, “Leia.”

[poipoi1912]

Carisi-centric thoughts on Ep 19x05

(a tiny bit late, because I’m already working on my new Barisi episode tag and I got distracted)

:D

Overall Thoughts

A half-decent episode, a strong vibe of “been there, done that,” and some very solid acting by regulars and guest actors alike. Not a complete snoozefest (though it did get progressively worse, somehow), but too predictable to be truly entertaining. I am sensing a bit of a slump, but right now we’re at a comfortably mediocre level I could live with, lol. Still, I’m hoping the show will bounce back with episodes that are a little more creative.

Case-Related Thoughts

Uh. Yikes? They see what is effectively a stick figure-like age progression sketch and immediately they’re all “IT’S HER!!!” and then they see footage of her taking the subway and immediately they’re all “WE’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE!!!” and then the brother’s story is a little off and they’re all “HE’S THE KILLER”.

Like, maybe show some restraint? Y’all are cops?

All of the drama could have been avoided, which is just poor writing. I mean, I laughed my ass off at “there are no orange groves in Pennsylvania”. That was their other big clue? Not the fact the girl refused to give a DNA sample but SVU released her into the custody of some random family regardless?

Speaking of, why on earth did they allow that girl to move in the family home literally 5 minutes after she was found? Was she even stable enough? And the continued refusal to give a DNA sample was certainly suspicious. Sure, the dad was covering up a crime, so his refusal to get the girl’s DNA tested rang true, but by that point it was already too late. They should have tested her DNA before they ever told the family. Why would they risk the emotional damage? To protect her, or respect her own privacy? Okay, but how about protecting the family as well? How about protecting the mother from the pain of losing her “daughter” twice? That’s the one parallel the episode failed to draw between the main case and Liv/Noah. Liv would never want to give that mother false hope.

Also, the son was acting way too creepy from the start. The dad did that a lot better (then again, Paul Schulze is always fantastic); his reaction was part creepy and part “maybe he’s being weird because he doesn’t believe that’s their daughter, but he doesn’t want to hurt his wife by saying that out loud”. Meanwhile, the son was practically all, “Yep. I did it. I don’t know who this random girl is, but she sure isn’t related to me. My actual sister is dead because I personally murdered her.”

Sonny and Continuity

Sonny crossing himself when finding dead bodies is a lovely touch, and I love that the show hasn’t forgotten his faith or his reverence for human life.

We got yet another random and unnecessary tidbit about Sonny's family life. All I’m gonna say is, I sure hope somebody in the writers’ room is keeping track of all this, because they're giving us 3 new tidbits every week and I feel like we're going to start getting conflicting info by episode 14. "So, when my pops was in the hospital for a month back in 2007, and I was in the waiting room, but also doing a student exchange program in Italy at the same time, and my oldest sister was pregnant with her first, but she also had a 3-year-old at home, and my mom was baking cookies for the nurses every Tuesday, but she had already been dead for 2 years, and...."

What is the point of all that? I appreciate the fact they’re trying to fill in some blanks, and Sonny has always been the type to overshare, so it does fit his personality, but it’s still kind of strange. Is Sonny stuck in the past, reminiscing literally at all times? Or do the writers want us to get to know him a little better? If so, why can’t he talk about his current life? Fill in those blanks? Or, even better, why not show us that current life? Lord knows we’re seeing enough of Liv’s life, but all the other characters have gotten nothing. Sonny and Barba especially had their one and only “personal” episode (one each) back in Season 16. It’s nice to hear about Sonny’s family, but it’d be nicer if we actually saw them :D

Sonny and Continuity Vol. II - Emotion

As I’ve said countless times, Sonny is always hit hard when the victims are younger, and I love the idea that a young-ish Sonny would have followed a missing child case even a decade ago (which would have made him how old? And was he a cop at the time? In college? In the Academy? A rookie? What year is it?) Especially since he was going through something emotionally traumatic, like having an ill parent. The ICU means his dad didn’t have it easy, so Sonny was probably worried and was trying to find an outlet for his stress (I’ve been there. Hell, I am there, that’s partly why I write these posts lol).

That said, I also loved seeing that Sonny’s sensitivity and attachment to children led him astray. It gave him false hope, and an overeagerness which is typical of him in general, but uncharacteristic of him as a cop; he usually has good instincts, but he’s also the cop who will triple-check every possible explanation before forming a working theory, so I liked seeing him get carried away. As sad as it was (because it was totally obvious he was wrong, since it was totally obvious the brother was guilty), I liked seeing him falter.

Not that he really faltered, or not that it was acknowledged.

I sincerely thought Sonny was going to get in trouble with a reporter (lol just kidding, of course that ended up being deleted) because he spoon-fed the girl various details she might not otherwise have known. There’s helpful questions and then there’s leading questions. Sonny was so excited about finding “little Em” that he let his emotions cloud his judgment. Again, that made sense, because he had a special attachment to this particular case, but I kept waiting for the payoff. I thought “Emma” would parrot the info Sonny fed her during her TV interview, or something. I kept expecting him to be reprimanded, later on. I wanted to see him acknowledge his mistake, and maybe even get punished for it. In a subtle way, maybe in a conversation with Liv, who would respect his guilt but would warmly yet sternly tell him not to get so easily excited in the future.

Except Sonny was punished via carrying a dead child. And I don’t know if that was even intentional (as a punishment) or accidental (most likely).

Sonny’s Punishment

As strong of a scene as it was, and not to get gory on ya, I gotta say, carrying a corpse like that after all those years? Wouldn't that girl be, like, a pile of bones at that point? And, dare I say, wouldn’t it have been more jarring and tragic if we had seen Sonny carrying an actual lump of remains, instead of an identifiable human shape? I would have gotten chills. But then, they wouldn't have been able to do the dramatic "carrying the body of a child" shot which...

Thank God Peter is such a good actor, and such an understated actor, at that. He is always given these dramatic-ass moments, but he never overacts, so he is able to bring some truth and some honesty to these otherwise melodramatic scenes. His performance is what grounds Sonny. I love how he goes big when the moment is more comedic, but he always shuts down and gives us these small, numb and nauseated expressions when the moment is tragic. The writing is heavy-handed enough, so a “bigger” performance would hurt its emotional impact.

I swear, sometimes it’s like the writers are trying to turn Sonny into this tortured, “vulnerable” version of a Gary Stu, since he has been the de facto male lead for so long, and there’s no one else around to do that sort of stuff, but Peter is valiantly playing him as a three-dimensional human being, because he’s a character actor at heart. As a viewer, I appreciate that.

If I had written this episode (which I wouldn’t have), instead of that entire “finding the remains” scene, I would have had the mother talk to Sonny after the trial, not Liv. I would have had the mother coldly tell Sonny, “I wish you’d never found her,” which would have been a great juxtaposition to “I look at you and I see the angel who found my daughter.” That would have been a more subtle way of punishing him, but just as much of a gut punch, and I’m sure Peter would have given us a reaction which would have been equally heartbreaking.

(WAIT SHOULD I PUT THAT IN MY BARISI EPISODE TAG? WHICH I’VE ALREADY STARTED WRITING? HELL YEAH I WILL. I don’t only fix the lack of Barisi, I also fix the missed opportunities for closure :D)

Stray Thoughts

Sucks that Fin was off for two weeks in a ro... wait he was in this episode? Oh okay.

Barba was underused again, but his face (and his voice!) when he asked if Liv was okay made his entire appearance worth it not really though, he needs more to do.

What was the brother convicted of? Wasn’t he a small-ish child when he killed his sister?

Girl: “Don't touch me!”

(Sonny approaches her with the clear intention of touching her)

Girl: “I said don’t touch me!

(Sonny keeps moving in her direction with his hands literally outstretched)

Girl: I SAID DON’T TOUCH MEEEE!!!!

*DUN DUN*

Oh, SVU, will you never learn? A “dramatic” moment doesn’t work it if it’s based on total contrivance.

The Noah storyline is getting predictable. Liv is going to start grudgingly trusting Sheila, despite her original (and correct) instincts, and then Sheila is going to pull something intense; kidnapping (in time for February sweeps, perhaps), or maybe making her case (to somehow vacate the adoption, which, lol) more legitimate by gathering “evidence” Liv is unfit to be a mother. You know Liv is going to get into trouble eventually, with a perp or a long case, and Off-Screen Lucy will be conveniently busy for once, and Sheila will volunteer to babysit, etc etc. That said, I loved that first courtroom scene. It’s always nice to see Langan, and Brooke Shields is very good (in setting up the fact she’s possibly deranged and will go awf later in the season)

Continuity has been better this season, but apparently it doesn’t reach back to the Stabler years, just to SVU 2.0. So I guess it’s understandable that they virtually redid an entire episode from SVU 1.0 and no one had any memory of it happening.

Amanda: “Liv’s going to bring in a reunification specialist.” (cut to Liv doing the reunification her own damn self) I love this show and its unintentional hilarity :D

Sonny’s sweet face when the parents thought they recognized their daughter? Peter is so good. He really broke my heart last night.