#day 10/??? of me posting pretty sokka

[juniperhillpatient]

thank you SO much @missjessefantastico for the tag <3 ALSO EVERYONE READ THIS SERIES ABOUT VAMP WILLOW, THE UNDERRATED HYENA KIDS, & MORE!!! It's so good btvs fans who love underexplored ideas & characters pspspsps

20 Questions For Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 19

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 3,027,073

3. What fandoms do you write for? It's been Avatar the Last Airbender for the past few years. I have an old & probably not-good Rick & Morty fic up. Before that, I had some IT fics. I've got an orphaned fic for scream & one for house of 1000 corpses.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

the benefits of getting a flat tire this is Zuko running away from home & running right into the gaang - also uncovering some family mysteries & reconciling with Azula. modern au. it's Zukka & aw I'm nostalgic for those early days of mine in the fandom

if this were a movie this is basically an ATLA Hollywood Au. Zukka & Azutara. Past Jetko. I was happy with some of the dramatic moments in this fic.

not another high school au lord help me lmao. I'm SO sorry if you are reading this & you happen to love this fic but it's not the thing I'm most proud of. this is basically just me dipping my toes into writing ATLA modern AUs & in that sense I guess it's nostalgic? this is the fic I wrote as a newbie to the fandom just trying it out & I still do lovingly appreciate everyone who was kind & welcoming in those early days!

six feet under ATLA TVD AU MY BELOVED OMG. this is a vampire diaries au. there are no 1:1 translations but azula is damon, katara is a mix of jeremy & elena & so is sokka, zuko is stefan & YEAH. also aang is bonnie & iirc I probably even gave toph something fun to do. ozai is Katherine which is forever hilarious to me. yeah, this was a fun fic.

5. in search of glorious happenings of happenstance this fic is about nothing & everything at the same time. atla/modern world fusion with the four nations existing but also it's modern. all the atla teens/kids are going to college at ember island university & the fic takes place across a year. it's slice of life, comedy, drama, & chaos. lots of ships but I think azutara & jet/zuko/jin are probably, at the end of the day, the romances that are at the heart of this story although platonic relationships are also pretty important in this fic, IMO as much as romances. it's probably my magnum opus or something.

Do you respond to comments? yes <3 I am sometimes slow & I am not perfect but I TREASURE comments & do attempt to let people know as much. I write for myself, I post for the connections I make along the way.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? the devil you know for sure. this is my atla/scream modern au. I talk about it constantly because I'm so insanely proud of it but if you don't know it's exactly what it sounds like. it's horror & tragedy that I feel really proud of & I do think those elements are at the heart of my writing passion despite me usually being a bit nervous about using them. so. I'm proud of this fic. & it has a very bittersweet ending but the tragedy is...there's a lot of tragedy. no more spoilers because I want people to read this!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? most of my fics have decently happy endings despite me claiming to prefer tragedy lol. I seem to recall the things we leave behind (mailee youtuber au with jetko & auztara. & they were roommates!) having a tooth rottingly fluffy ending lol

8. Do you get hate on fics? not really. it's happened before but it's not a big thing.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? sometimes I write the smutty scenes from my fics then save it only for myself. no you can't see. it's probably terrible. there's some shitty zucest smut of mine out there somewhere but I'm not sure it's any good & couldn't tell you where to find it lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I think the AUs I write are called "fusion" because it's more "inserting characters into another world & the characters of that world aren't a thing." but my fic the balance of things was actually a crossover with characters from both wizards of waverly place & atla interacting. also I wrote THIS one-shot that's a crossover between the game the coffin of andy & leyley & the show wizards of waverly place. I didn't post it on ao3 but I'm just saying.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?  I don't think so?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have vague memories of doing this with this girl I was online friends with back in my fanfic.net days, years ago. I think it was Destiel.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? to write? I don't have one right now. I think maybe I got kinda burnt out on everything having to be about one ship or whatever rather than just telling the story & maybe that's a small part of why I'm taking a temporary break from fic writing & focusing on an original story so I'm not staying within fandom approved in parameters & I can just do whatever feels right ya know? I like Cisne's answer about any willow ship tho. me with my faves tbh hehe

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? can't think of one but I can think of fanfic ideas I'd like to return to & fully realize after I get back in the mood

16. What are your writing strengths? I like to think I'm okay at characterization although moving away from fanfic & working on something original has me questioning myself constantly!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I'm very lazy & often neglect research. sometimes if I don't know how to explain something I just change the whole scene so i don't have to bother.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? could be neat in the right context!

19. First fandom you wrote for? probably family guy lmao

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? maybe 'in search of glorious happenings of happenstance.' I think 'the devil you know' is objectively the strongest. but happenstance is just such a specific version of the characters that's fun to me? it's one of those two that's my favorite, depending on my mood

this is very long so these tags have even less pressure than usual:

@reythespacebae @theowritesfiction @imaslowlearner-butilearn @chasingfictions @hello-nichya-here @matchamarshmallow @akiizayoi4869 @dont-leafmealone @peony-pearl @lunaintheskyforever

also, anyone who wants to do this just say I tagged you!

[gh99st]

Alix what's your thoughts about Avatar and his characters.

I'm gonna go with the cartoon

Aang: love him

The no kill thing then fucking off randomly does get annoying but I undersnd why

Sokka: cool dude, not really got anything against him apart from the fact he's funnier then I am (joking lmao)

Katara: as per my prev post not my favourite but still a good character

Toph: legend, she invented metal bending what is there not to love, someone I can relate to personality wise

Bald zuko: sassy child

Post ponytail zuko: love him, I love the ba sing se era and how he got with mai, they're my favourite couple in the show

Iroh: everyone's universal uncle, reminds me of someone I know (not u guys)

The movie, didn't really watch it past the 10 minute mark, it's a bit shit but I haven't seen enough to say any more

The netflix series: I really like it despite the changes that were made, dallas liu did an excellent job as zuko, fav character

I'll day a bit about legend of Korra,(spoilers incoming) I've gotten to the point where korra declares tenzing won't teach her airbending, probably won't watch any more for a while BUT

I can say, mako and bolin are pretty great as well as the ferret panda

The korra dating bloody Everyone thing is a bit wierd, even though I haven't got to where she dates asami yet

Korra just switching it up on everyone alot ticks me off but that's just me

My fav character is pabu the ferret panda lmao

[tmnt-obsessed-ace]

Its 10:45pm time to yap about ANOTHER au (because I cannot be stopped)

So remember that untitled atla x tmnt 2012 au I came up with thats inspired by A Tale Of Spirits?

Well...it has a title now :)

"Before The Summer's End." (Look A Tale Of Spirits is already a really good title but I can't USE it because its already claimed and I've been wanting to yap about this au for so long and couldn't come up with an idea so SUE ME)

So basic premise, the turtles (including my own tmnt 2012 versions of Venus and Jennika because they are my beloveds and its my au I can do whatever I want, plus those two are not in fics often) all get transported to the alta world and separated from each other. (Again like A Tale Of Spirits but that fic has rooted itself into my brain and this au isnt gonna be a carbon copy so its cool)

So key differences from A Tale Of Spirits

Its tmnt 2012 (my beloveds) post season 4 (the turtles are all 20)

It includes Venus and Jennika

It begins at the end of season 1 episode 3 "The Southern Air Temple" unlike A Tale Of Spirits which starts at the beginning of season 2

So already pretty different

And for once Leo ISNT gonna be the main victim of my angst hammer. Its gonna be DONNIE (I have plans for him >:3)

So who exactly ends up with who?

Venus will be the first turtle introduced, landing in the Southern Air Temple and will meet Aang, Katara and Sokka straight away (Venus and Jennika will definitely get the most screentime since I am basically inserting characters that were never in tmnt 2012 and making them fit in with my favorite turtles because the two girlies definitely SHOULD'VE been there Im just saying)

Jennika will land on Kyoshi Island and will join the Gaang soon after they meet. (Girlie gonna have a field day)

Leo meanwhile will land in the ocean close to Prince Zuko's ship, close enough to warrant investigation. (Ok I know that Raph, Jennika, maybe even Mikey would've been better fits for Zuko but I didnt want to take the obvious route plus Zuko becomes "The Blue Spirit" wielding twin swords and later on calls himself "Lee" the joke was right there and I had to take it)

Raph lands in an Earth Kingdom town, very close to the estate of the Beifong family. (Yeah I loved the Raph Toph dynamic in A Tale Of Spirits, bite me)

Donnie ends up in the Northern Air Temple (he aint gonna STAY there because...I have plans for him. He's gonna learn the lesson Leo has already learned. Being the author's favorite is NOT a good thing :3. Donnie's gonna go through it that's all I'll say)

And Mikey is gonna land right in front of Princess Azula, in the heart of Fire Nation territory. (Purely because I am very tired of Mikey being treated as a "fragile weak innocent baby" by fanon. NO MIKEY CAN BE JUST AS DANGEROUS AS AZULA. Especially if he gets angry)

Its gonna be very fun, especially on multiple occasions that the kids need adult the turtles will realize that THEY are the adults

Hehehehe

("We need an adult...I am the adult")

Almost forgot to post the age order of the turtles oh my god I am tired

Ok so the age order from oldest to youngest is

Leo, Raph, Venus, Donnie, Jennika, Mikey

[andrea-lyn]

@kaydeefalls is the loveliest ever for tagging me in this meme, bc it's an absolute fave, so ty ty!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

494, which definitely excludes some early career stuff I do not share. Yes, it's a lot, but hey, that's hyperfixation for you!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

3,646,862, which means 4mil is the next big target, and knowing me, I'll get there.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, my WIP folder touches the following fandoms: The Old Guard, Avatar the Last Airbender, XMFC, Interview with the Vampire, Roswell New Mexico (I very much want to write more Roy/Jamie, but just kicking around ideas rn).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ready for my close up, mr. dameron (Poe/Finn), aka @swingsetindecember baited me with gogurt and I wrote a fic, and the gogurt is unique, but the baiting is not (see: my entire Mag7 oeuvre)

how to fall in love with a fairytale  (Poe/Finn), aka, I got into the Star Wars fandom at the right time

what a tale my thoughts could tell (Joe/Nicky), aka, I got into the Old Guard fandom at the right time and mind-reading does well

Your Hand In Mine (Poe/Finn), aka, see above

hallelujah, you're still mine (Joe/Nicky), also above

The next couple are still Old Guard/Star Wars, but this year a few newbies have crept into the top page, including Ted Lasso and IWTV, which is very exciting to me!

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, always, I am a slut for positive reinforcement and I want to give thanks for that.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Every once in a while I like to write something that guts me to write and makes me cry. Anyway, The Time Traveling Pilot technically has a bittersweet and happy ending, except it's also super angsty? Love the ouroboros of it all!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

....take your pick. With minimal exceptions, I'm a happy ending girlie by trade.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I had a run in Roswell New Mexico where I had to turn off guests because I was getting some really random, but vicious comments and I knew why, but it was still exhausting.

9. Do you write smut?

I've noticed as I get older, I've stopped as much, mostly because the tone doesn't seem to match what I'm doing. Don't get me wrong, I'll still include it, but it's usually more in passing than focused.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Hell yes, and I miss them, I need to write more.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, and my biggest piece of advice for any writer is to have an open policy for transformative works on your AO3, because that's how you get awesome translations and podfics!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes, and I love this too, and would love to do more of it. Honestly, sometimes I think that's the only way I'll ever finish the original novel ideas I have.

14. What is your all time favorite ship?

I feel like I don't have all-time faves, but I will say that there are some ships that stick with me even after years and I'll go back to them. Right now, I'd say those two that have longevity are Ronan/Adam, and Kirk/McCoy. Obviously then there are current obsessions like Armand/Daniel and Sokka/Zuko, but those first two just stick.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's only one. Literally, only ONE. I will probably never finish even though there's only a chapter left. It's a modern day Pride & Prejudice AU. It is literally the only fic I've ever abandoned after I started posting (pretty sure it's still on ff.net) and honestly, the only reason I'm not going back to it is because my style has changed too much.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Engaging plot, or so I like to think. I feel like I tend to have fun unique takes on things.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Not describing shit enough. I do a lot of vague things on purpose sometimes because it fits the mood, and sometimes because I'm just too lazy about my prose.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language during a fic?

So I used to. And then I realized that it's too much work to scroll or highlight, so now I'll just write in italics and denote the language in the prose after.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog or Charmed - I can't remember which came first, but my username comes from the Mary Sues I wrote in both of those fandoms, bc I decided that I might as well own it. And here we are.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It's always a flip-flop between my Webgott (Love Like The Sea) and this one, Baby, I'm Howling For You (my McDanno supernatural big bang). The latter is probably winning right now because I re-read it the other day and I miss world-building like that, so I'm dying to get back to it.

TAGGING TIME! I'm hitting up @myrmidryad @inell @atthelamppost @graygiantess and anyone else who wants to ramble about fics!

[grimgoregrimoire]

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both? 

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time? 

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? 

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told?

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? 

🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing

🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises?

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Hi hi thank you so much for all the emojis!! 🥰

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

Pffftt well, I've been "editing" my book for the past two years, so..... Joking aside, I would probably give it a solid 8. Nothing is as good as seeing all the hard work you've put in and then just giving it that extra little cherry on top!

Now, if you're asking me about spelling and grammar editing.... Don't.

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

🧛‍♂️🗡📓👻🏳️‍🌈

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both? 

I've never written a reader insert but now yall got me thinking 😅

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

I have this weird thing where everyone thinks I look like someone else, and it's caused some pretty hilarious phenomenons. One time at the airport, a kid started screaming and crying because I waved at them. I still, to this day, have absolutely no idea who they thought I was ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time? 

So I have this fun little thing called ADHD...... But yeah, honestly, I'm incredibly chaotic, and while trying to keep up with the real-life stuff and all the distracting stuff and all the projects I got going...... Yeah, that's why I'm typically up until 2 am writing lol

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Yay another one!!!

Zukka (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Anytime Hakoda takes Sokka for some father-son bonding time, Sokka relentlessly insists Zuko come along. Zuko and Hakoda think he's just being a clingy boyfriend, but he just wants to show Zuko that he is deserving of love from a father figure and that Iroh isn't just doing it out of guilt.

(In turn, Iroh tags along from time to time, and their trips quickly go from family bonding to a dad joke battle)

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

Literally just come say hi!! I swear, contrary to popular lore, I don't bite!

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

I'm very lucky. Everyone in my family is doing great. Having this great opportunity to finish and publish my book. And I have great, supporting and loving friends 🖤

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? 

"He was just one of this like shitty guitar players in a shitty band."

"And?"

"And he was in a punk band, and I did graffiti. Can I make it more obvious?"

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

I never finished Stranger Things' first season, I don't know that I even got through the first five episodes. I was so bored the whole time.

Bonus hot take; I had the exact opposite problem with The Walking Dead. Around season five, I got really bored.

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Guys, go Google New England Vampire Panic. Very interesting to read about, and also a good band name if you're from New England!

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

Even if you absolutely suck at it, if it's something you love, do it with all the confidence in the world, and you'll find your place.

+ Nobody's as confident as they claim. It's all a production. Fake it 'til you make it, but don't sell your soul over it.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

So I've recently gotten into Baldur's Gate, and I just really fucking need Gale and Astarion on like a buddy cop mission where it's just absolute clown to clown communication. Gale being his waxing poetic self, and Astarion is far too emo and far too gay for this shit.

I don't know! I'm willing to bully all my friends until one of them picks it up or I just do it myself lol

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Don't force it. If it's not coming to you take a break don't chase it! You'll only wear yourself out and hate what you did write.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but it sure burnt down in one. Remember that.

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 

Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Very specifically, "You're evil"

Muahahahahaha 😈

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

Oh man, I don't think there's absolutely anything redeemable about that woman.

1.) Uhh, when she shuts up, she's cute ig.

2.) She's fun to write because I don't get to be pure evil a lot.

3.)................... She's kinda the gateway to one of my favorite characters?? 👀

🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told?

Here's a fun little fact about me, I'm brutally honest sometimes to the point of offense 😅 and I don't ever really have a need to lie.

That being said, I love randomly lying to strangers for literally no reason. Just recently, someone was being rude and interrupted my dinner with my family, so when they asked what I did for a living, I gave them a very detailed description of how I work in a morgue. I've never worked in a morgue a day in my life lol but it got them to leave me alone.

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

Man, this might be too deep for tumblr, but it's that time of year again when I can't stop thinking about death and all that good stuff. I'll spare you guys the gritty details, though.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

"Look, when I moved out here, I got a mess in Oakland waiting for me, okay? My friend got all this shit and fucked this guy over and this crazy motherfucker showed up ate half my burger and killed a fucking guy. When the boss showed up, told me to get his wife outta there, I did and I ain't never been back. I got know idea what's waiting there for me."

"Hm, that's unfortunate," I crossed my arms, "Especially 'cause I watched it happen in Pulp Fiction with you last night!"

"Goddamn it."

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

So I answered the username part over here, so I'm going to answer about my pen name now!

I actually changed my pen name fairly recently to Gabryél Grimm-Goretz. Gabryél is actually part of my legal name 😅 and so I thought it would be cool to use it because i never get to use it day to day. I went with Grimm-Goretz to kinda represent my family and heritage in a way while also leaning into how my writing is typically grim and gory.

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

Whelp, we've got a nice handful of followers over here now, and unfortunately, I can't tag everyone. BUT I want to tell you all that you are appreciated. You are talented, and you are loved! Never let anyone tell you you're not good enough 'cause they're no better 🖤

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

Right here! uwu

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

I'm gonna be a little bit of a punk ass and tag myself here lol Link link link

I did this piece last year in celebration of one of my favorite band's new albums, and yeah! I just love it. It came out so good.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

When a narrator is like, "She smiled tit-ly, so deeply that her large pendulum breasts heaved, then jiggled tightly into her pink, completely see-through lace bra. Her breasts were no doubt expressing their own excitement." 🙄

For you 😌💞

[lovelyelbowleech]

Hiiii I loved the new chapter so so much! I was recently thinking of going back to fic writing and I wanted to ask: what's your writing process like? do u always have 1 chapter ahead done for like a buffing period or do you just write each chapter in between posting? What's your editing process like? Do you plan out everything that's gonna happen or is it by whichever way the plot takes you? how long until zukka's first kiss? do you have an estimate on how many chapters a fic will be? how do u make your plot so convulted but still follow along? How did u make your characters to dimensional and full despite the fact that we've seen some of them for only bits at a time? what's your personal favourite scene in the upcoming chapters? did u realize im trying to ask about all's fair without asking about all's fair directly while also asking for writing advice? Have u ever written a real book? I love you thank you bye have a nice day!!! looking obsessively desperately forward to the next chapter!!!

Thank you for the great ask! Sorry it's taken a while to answer, life is being a bit complicated at the moment😅

Answers below:

what's your writing process like? do u always have 1 chapter ahead done for like a buffing period or do you just write each chapter in between posting? 

I start the next chapter as soon as I finish the previous, so I sometimes start a week before I post if I send to my beta reader during the week, or if she can't get it done over the weekend, but generally there is no buffer, I just post when I'm done and start the next one.

What's your editing process like? 

Chaotic. I write a rough guide for the chapter, with lots of place holders, then go through and add detail, dialogue, and fill in all the easier bits. Then I go through again and fill in all the placeholder bits, as the chapter takes shape, then again to add punctuation and correct all the underlined in red words, of which there are many. (If I worry about those things when I write, it would take me all year to get anything done.)

Then I tidy it up again, do a final reread, transfer to google docs, correct anything it suggests (lots of the writing a wrong word that's correctly spelled - like through and  though, my nemesis) Send to my lovely beta reader, then follow her suggestions, and all the additional corrections, then post. Takes a while 😂

Do you plan out everything that's gonna happen or is it by whichever way the plot takes you?  

A bit of both. I have a rough plan to the end of the fic, but there is a lot of wiggle room. At the moment I have the next 8 chapters planned pretty thoroughly - but even so,  as I write, sometimes I change things around to make it work better or because stuff just becomes different when I actually write it. 

how long until zukka's first kiss? 

I see you slipping this one into the questions 😂 I'm not going to tell you, obviously, but I will say that Sokka might get a clue within the next stretch of chapters (before BSS)

What that means is open to interpretation though 😬

do you have an estimate on how many chapters a fic will be? 

I did for the first one, bec the scope was smaller, now not so much. I plan about 10 chapters ahead in detail, and the rest is planned out by just the major events that need to happen at certain times. It gives me plenty of space for things changing as I write. 

how do u make your plot so convulted but still follow along? 

Timelines so I know where everyone is at that point, even if they are not in a chapter. So when I need them to be in a place to do a thing, they are lined up. I also have a lot of notes, and use scrivener to organise them and my chapters (although I don't actually write in it, because it does not understand my dyslexic spelling at all.) Everything else is just wiggling around in my brain and sort of pulls together without much thought 😬 

 How did u make your characters to dimensional and full despite the fact that we've seen some of them for only bits at a time? 

Canon characters come with ready made backstories and goals that make them seem fully realised people. But as things move forward in the fic and motivations and feelings change, I guess I try to mesh those things together to make them still feel rounded

For the OC's I find if I make them full backstories, personality quirks and realistic struggles and motivations it helps me write them as full well rounded people, even if the details of what makes them who they are are not 'on screen'. It helps me write them and fit them into the canon world and mix with the canon characters. Of course this also means they ended up getting more tangled in the plot than I really meant them to. They were originally intended to just be outsider POV for canon characters, but a bunch of them sort of developed their own agency, and I found it fitted into certain plot points I was planning a bit too well to ignore. 

what's your personal favourite scene in the upcoming chapters? 

There is one that is mostly planned out that I have been looking forward to writing, although the details are still shifting. It's been in my head since War Crimes 😬

did u realize im trying to ask about all's fair without asking about all's fair directly while also asking for writing advice? 

I did notice that, yes, 😂 

Have u ever written a real book? 

No, I have only ever written fic - I planned a book, way back when but never actually wrote it. 

Thanks again for the ask, sorry the answers are a bit rambley. I hope you are having a good week!

[everythingloveandanimated]

I posted 251 times in 2022

That's 9 more posts than 2021!

23 posts created (9%)

228 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

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@whaleiumsharkspeare

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I tagged 192 of my posts in 2022

Only 24% of my posts had no tags

#loid forger - 59 posts

#spy x family - 51 posts

#yor forger - 35 posts

#anya forger - 29 posts

#twiyor - 16 posts

#spyxfamily - 12 posts

#sxf twilight - 11 posts

#jason todd - 10 posts

#zutara - 10 posts

#phineas and ferb - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#any time bruce and jason disagree jasons like 'excuse me which one of us is the college drop out and which of us is a practicing attorney?'

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Once Camilo gets more comfortable around Bruno, they decide to team prank the family. They do pretty good until Isabela and Mirabel team up to retaliate (and/or compete).

Camilo and Bruno use Bruno’s visions for ideas and to see where opportune prank moments will be (?). Of course they use Camilo’s shapeshifting. Maybe objects the Bruno keeps in his room. Maybe they swap sugar for salt?

Isa and Mirabel use plants and casita for ammo. They Also use various everyday items.

Thought maybe this could be taken out to the town, but that would get them in trouble with Abuela and others in the town. Or the teams could prank each other while they’re out.

There would be a point where they are told to knock it off.

At the end, the four of them are lying in Isa’s room or on the lawn thinking and talking about the day. Bruno’s soaks in the moment with his nephew and nieces.

46 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

#4

I was remembering the scene where Katara yells at Sokka for being sexist. "Ever since Mom died, I've done all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!"

Sokka isn't playing soldier in the form of playing pretend or even entertaining delusions of grandeur.

Ever since their mom died, Sokka probably took his role as a tribal warrior more seriously, and much sooner than if there hadn't been a war.

During the raid that took their mom from them, Sokka made a choice to stay with the warriors. He watched the fight happen from behind a snow wall until he gathered up his courage to join. He thought his place was with the warriors to defend from the front with the homes, women, and children behind.

BUt when he finds out his mother was killed, he may have internalized it and wondered if he made the right choice.

"It's not a day I like to remember."

"I was so relieved when it was over... but I didn't realize that we had lost our mom."

Sokka is a warrior who is supposed to protect his family...and he failed to do that. As a son, he failed to protect his mother. As a warrior he failed to protect the sanctity and safety of his household. As a warrior, he failed to protect his chief's wife. Admitting that failure to himself hurts. It may make him doubt his ability to be the warrior and leader he is meant or called to be. If he can't protect the people he loves, he own family, the people most precious to him, who will trust him to protect their loved ones?

Which could be why Yue's death hits him so hard. He failed to protect his mother, and now the Northern Chief is entrusting the life and safety of his precious daughter to him. Even though Chief Arnook knew that his daughter could become the moon spirit, it's still another person that Sokka took into the deeper parts of his heart.

He failed to protect his mother, and now he's failed to protect someone he had deep feelings for. This is one of the reasons he tears up when he sees Yue's ascension in the Ember Island Players. It reminds him of his loss, but it also strikes like a lance at his insecurity and biggest regrets.

This has been said (I don't have the link for the post right now), that Suki telling Sokka that she "came to make sure [he] got through the serpent's pass safely" was a relief for Sokka to hear. He doesn't need to protect Suki the way he thought he had to, and he finally has someone looking out for him! His father and older warriors are away at war, so he's on his own. Even though Katara will defend her brother in battle, in Sokka's mind, she is his responsibility. Suki is in a similar position that Sokka is. A leader and warrior tasked with the duty to protect her village and the people she loves. She is a capable warrior who can protect herself but also those around her.

Sokka will protect Suki, come hell or high water, come Fire Nation soldiers or malignant spirits, but now, he has someone watching his back. Someone, an equal, who can help him protect the people he loves.

46 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

#3

Got this idea while at work today. When the Steambabies are little, they go to the Southern Water Tribe with their parents and see the Otter-penguins. They imitate the way the penguins walk while on the ice. When they learn how the mommy and daddy penguins carry their babies it starts a phase of the kids grabbing on to their parents and calling them “Mama Penguin!” or “Papa Penguin!”. Meaning they want their parents to waddle a short distance while they hang onto their legs, or while they stand on their parent’s feet and hold onto their hands. The latter provides opportunities for Zuko and Katara to have a waddle race to see which team wins.

60 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

#2

Is it just me or does Twilight/Loid look younger when his hair isn't combed back?

62 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Post Reveal:

Twilight will sometimes come home exhausted and still insist that he’s fine. Anya and Yor eventually come up with Operation Pillow Fort and Operation Couch. (formerly Operation Knock Out)

Operation Pillow Fort is guide tired target to bed. Agent Anya guides target by the hand to bedroom while Agent Mama guides target from behind by his shoulders. Once target is on bed, Agent Anya plants herself on the mattress to watch the target. Maybe she has drawing supplies or a school book. Yor makes some calming tea and brings it in. Head rubs maybe needed for extra relaxation. Mission complete when target is relaxed, comfortable, and not insisting that he be busy.

Operation Couch is for when target is being stubborn. If pushing from behind and pulling forward doesn’t work, Agent Mama carries target to couch. Either over the shoulder or bridal style. Agent Mama sets target on couch, then Agent Anya places thin pillow on Target’s lower legs and sits on them. Agent Anya is is serious mode. Target tries to bribe her to get off. When cartoons and outings don’t work, he tries peanuts. Agent Mama hears bribery and reminds Agent Anya that a good sentry never leaves her post, no matter what treats she’s promised. Banter might ensue between target and Agent Anya until Agent Mama comes over with tea. Mission is considered complete when target relents to rest.

(Sometimes Agent Bond is asked to fetch things around the room to bring to target. Book, remote, etc. although target does comment that asking agent bond to fetch things could damage objects being brought over. So this only happens a handful of times.)

75 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[heizerux]

This whole review is a C+ to me lol

Did we watch the same fucking Iroh? The entire time he’s watching over and guiding Zuko to his conclusions that this obsession with finding the avatar will not fucking fix his daddy issues. He’s not entirely being direct with it, sure, but he’s doing it in his own way. I mean is he wrong? Clearly he’s not.

Now on the Iroh doing THAT to Zhao. It’s like we forget who Iroh USED to be capable of before he lost his son. Yes it was a bold fucking move to add that in, but it’s pretty telling that Iroh would never allow harm to come to Zuko’s way. I just didn’t take too much issue with this. You say it’s bad because it took Zuko’s moment of compassion away, but he gets that in other moments where he talks to Aang about handwriting and what he did to get the 41st Division.

As for growth, WELL. You’re talking about 1 season written into 8 episodes based on 20 episodes from a cartoon that’s over 10 years old. Katara had a lot of growth within her bending. Sokka was trying to get over his insecurity of not being good enough because of his daddy but that’s not entirely an overnight thing to get over. I think the live action did well in portraying Aang as a literal kid that woke up thinking he just got lost in a storm to the reality his entire race had been cleared, he is indeed the avatar as in his pov he was o ly told just earlier that “day”, and the world is at war. I just don’t think it was unrealistic for him to not have this major growth arc right away in the live action as he was barely trying to understand what it means to be the avatar. They’re all litterally just fucking kids and in this version, they’re barely at step 1/20 at becoming a better version of themselves. Zuko too as we last see him reflect on his journey up to that point and what the entire point even was for him.

Look, how do I put this.

ANYTIME there is a LIVE ACTION of something coming out, especially with young characters involved, it will NEVER be a direct copy of the original because not everything can translate to live action.

For example some changes they made in the event of this gets renewed, they will have to do small time jumps to work with the aging actors. This also goes as to why some “character growth” seemed to lack in this first session, as it’s meant to happen over “several years”. Now sure, you can complain about this too and say how awful it is, but that’s the reality of working with real life kid actors and overall, translating a work like this into a “real life adaptation”.

Ppl complain a lot about the pacing and how it didn’t correlate to the original, but … you’re talking about 20 episodes worth of plot needing to be squeezed into 8… Like bffr right now.

Sure, the easiest thing would have been to not bother committing to even creating a live action because the task will never be easy. I bet you that’s probably also why the original creators left this project too as they realized they weren’t gonna be able to tell or show everything down to 8 fucking episodes and knowing how critical this fandom is, it wasn’t looking good. Then there’s the uncertainty that it will even be received well (as you can see here). In their stand point, it’s wise to move on and distant from this project. Instead I hear they are just making a movie where they are all young adults (but rumors are rumors at the moment).

The show is not that bad. It even had the support of the original voice actors to the new actors. If you watch it blindly with putting what you know about the original to the side, you’ll find yourself to actually enjoy it and interested in where it’s going. If you go in fully expecting a replica of an old cartoon, well… you’re gonna have a take like this post as well as the many others in these notes.

See it as a literal retelling and reimagining because that’s exactly what it is.

Once again, this is the first love vs new partner analogy all over again. They will never be the same no matter how badly you want it to be and a very hard pill to swallow for everyone.

So, uh, Netflix Avatar, huh? Yeah. I guess I'll make a really long post about it because ATLA brainrot has is a cornerstone of my personality at this point.

So.

It's okay. B, maybe a C+.

That's it.

Now for the spoilers:

The biggest issue with the Netflix version is the pacing. Scenes come out of nowhere and many of the episodes are disjointed. Example: Aang escaping from Zuko's ship. We see him getting the key and going "aha!", and in the next scene he's in Zuko's room. And then he just runs out, no fun acrobatics or fights, and immediately they go to the Southern Air Temple where he sees Gyatso's corpse, goes into the Avatar state, and then sees Gyatso being really cheesy, comes out of it, and resolves that conflict. Nothing seems to lead into anything. The characters don't get to breathe.

The show's worst mistake (aside from Iroh fucking murdering Zhao) is its' first one: they start in the past. Instead of immediately introducing us to our main characters and dropping us into a world where we have a perfect dynamic where Aang doesn't know the current state of the world and Katara and Sokka don't know about the past, thus allowing for seamless and organic worldbuilding and exposition, they just... tell us. "Hey, this is what happened, ok, time for Aang!" There's no mystery, no intrigue, just a stream of information being shoved down the audience's throats and then onto the next set piece.

The visuals are for the most part great, but like with most Netflix productions, they just don't have great art direction. It feels like a video game cinematic, where everything is meant to be Maximum Cool - and none of the environments get to breathe. It's like they have tight indoor sets (with some great set design) and then they have a bunch of trailer shots. It's oozing with a kind of very superficial love.

Netflix still doesn't know how to do lighting, and with how disjointed the scenes are, the locations end up feeling like a parade of sets rather than actual cities or forests or temples. As for the costumes, Netflix still doesn't know how to do costumes that look like they're meant to be actually worn, so many of the characters seem weirdly uncomfortable, like they're afraid of creasing their pristine costumes.

The acting is decent to good, for the most part. I can't tell if the weaker moments come down to the actors or the direction and editing, but if I had to guess, I'd say the latter. Iroh and Katara are the weakest, Sokka is the most consistent, Zuko hits the mark most of the time, and Aang is okay. I liked Suki (though... she was weirdly horny? Like?) but Yue just fell kind of flat.

The tight fight choreography of the original is replaced with a bunch of spinny moves and Marvel fighting, though there are some moments of good choreography, like the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko (there's a million things I could say about how bad it was thematically, but this post is overly long already.) There's an actually hilarious moment in the first episode when Zuko is shooting down Aang, and he does jazz hands to charge up his attack.

Then there's the characters. Everybody feels very static - Zuko especially gets to have very little agency. A great example of that is the scene in which Iroh tells Lieutenant Jee the story of Zuko's scar.

In the original, it's a very intimate affair, and he doesn't lead the crew into any conclusions. Here, Iroh straight up tells the crew "you are the 41st, he saved your lives" and then the crew shows Zuko some love. A nice moment, but it feels unearned, when contrasted with the perfection of The Storm. In The Storm, Zuko's words and actions directly contradict each other, and Iroh's story gives the crew (and the audience) context as to why, which makes Zuko a compelling character. We get to piece it out along with them. Here - Iroh just flat out says it. He just says it, multiple times, to hammer in the point that hey, Zuko is Good Actually.

And then there's Iroh. You remember the kindly but powerful man who you can see gently nudging Zuko to his own conclusions? No, he's a pretty insecure dude who just tells Zuko that his daddy doesn't love him a lot and then he kills Zhao. Yeah. Iroh just plain kills Zhao dead. Why?

Iroh's characterization also makes Zuko come off as dumb - not just clueless and deluded, no, actually stupid. He constantly gets told that Iroh loves him and his dad doesn't, and he doesn't have any good answers for that, so he just... keeps on keeping on, I guess? This version of Zuko isn't conflicted and willfully ignorant like the OG, he's just... kind of stupid. He's not very compelling.

In the original, Zuko is well aware of Azula's status as the golden child. It motivates him - he twists it around to mean that he, through constant struggle, can become even stronger than her, than anyone. Here, Zhao tells him that "no, ur dad likes her better tee hee" and it's presented as some kind of a revelation. And then Iroh kills Zhao. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up, but it's just such an unforgiveable thematic fuckup that I have to. In the original, Zhao falls victim to his hubris, and Zuko gets to demonstrate his underlying compassion and nobility when he offers his hand to Zhao. Then we get some ambiguity in Zhao: does he refuse Zuko's hand because of his pride, or is it his final honorable action to not drag Zuko down with him? A mix of both? It's a great ending to his character. Here, he tries to backstab Zuko and then Iroh, who just sort of stood off to the side for five minutes, goes "oh well, it's murderin' time :)"

They mess with the worldbuilding in ways that didn't really need to be messed with. The Ice Moon "brings the spirit world and the mortal world closer together"? Give me a break. That's something you made up, as opposed to the millenia of cultural relevance that the Solstice has. That's bad, guys. You replaced something real with something you just hastily made up. There's a lot of that. We DID NOT need any backstory for Koh, for one. And Katara and Sokka certainly didn't need to be captured by Koh. I could go on and on, but again, this post is already way too long.

It's, um, very disappointing. A lot of telling and not very much showing, and I feel like all of the characters just... sort of end up in the same place they started out in. I feel like we don't see any of the characters grow: they're just told over and over again how they need to grow and what they need to do.

To sum it up: Netflix Avatar is a mile wide, but an inch deep.

[chaos-and-garlic-bread]

I posted 4,343 times in 2022

That's 4,159 more posts than 2021!

73 posts created (2%)

4,270 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@moths-are-pretty-cool

@im-a-sokka-for-you-ooh

@lostlovepunk

@spinaroos-47

@agaythatlikesfrogs

I tagged 641 of my posts in 2022

#toh - 174 posts

#queendeath - 34 posts

#unreality - 31 posts

#m - 29 posts

#goncharov - 27 posts

#save for later - 21 posts

#christmas - 15 posts

#long post - 8 posts

#hunter - 5 posts

#toh spoilers - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i yearn for someone to ask me for some advil and be able to hand them my shittiest creation ever and have them just look at it for a while

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Toast

7 notes - Posted January 7, 2022

#4

shout out to aromantic people this valentines day!

shout out to romance repulsed aros

shout out to romance favorable aros

shout out to aros who hate that there is a holiday dedicated to romantic relationships and don't want to participate

shout out to aros who love participating in the festivities and enjoy passing out valentines to their close friends and buying heart shaped candies

shout out to aro-spec people in relationships this valentines day

shout out to aromantic people who use this day to show appreciation for their queer platonic partner

shout out to aromantic people who experience all kinds of tertiary attraction who love the holiday, or don't

shout out to loveless aros who don't celebrate the holiday and treat it like another day

shout out to loveless aros who treat themselves to the candies and flowers

Shout out to aros in a romantic relationship

You are all valid and wonderful! Have a wonderful day.

9 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

#3

1 1/2 hours until all of the toh fandom goes insane

9 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

#2

Hey y'all look at this picrew i found!

i think its very cool

tagging @wild-gay-child @milo-is-a-chad @x-endangere-d-sys-x @im-a-sokka-for-you-ooh @agaythatlikesfrogs @orange-guice @queerrowantree and anyone else who wants to join!

27 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

102 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[madootles]

it’s always pretty boy sokka hours here

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[perfectlypanda]

2021 was not a good year for me. Possibly one of my worst ever actually. But among the better memories is how much fun I had making and sharing Zutara and AtLA art. I was just making things I had always wanted someone to make (like a scene where Katara actually talks about the EIP noncon kiss or an ending shot with the whole gaang looking at the sunset together), but it was a pleasant surprise to see how many other people also wanted those same things and liked what I was sharing. I still have a long way to go before my skill level is where I’d like it to be, and looking back at things I’ve made this year I see a lot of flaws, but I also see a lot of things I’m pretty proud of. 

So thank you. ♥ If you’ve ever said anything kind about anything I’ve posted, please know how much it means to me. And yes I do save nice comments/ hashtags/ etc. for rainy days (except instead of taking a photo it’s taking a screenshot and instead of a notebook it’s just a Google Doc). Thank you as well to all the Zutara artists and writers that share their work! I read an absurd amount of Zutara fanfic in 2021 and can’t wait to read more this year. Here’s to 2022!  ♥

(under the read more is my tumblr 2021 year in review, because it made this post really long, and also because I think this may be a time when something is more interesting to the person involved (me) then to anyone else).

I posted 892 times in 2021

113 posts created (13%)

779 posts reblogged (87%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 6.9 posts.

I added 826 tags in 2021

#zutara - 320 posts

#look i made a thing - 89 posts

#atla - 74 posts

#katara - 72 posts

#zuko/ katara - 64 posts

#zuko - 56 posts

#image manip - 48 posts

#zutara edit - 41 posts

#avatar - 32 posts

#avatar the last airbender - 30 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#almost all media written for children and young adults is written by an adult so if there's romance in it... it's a ship an adult created

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I’m sure it’s been done before, but I mentioned to a friend the idea of combining the “wake up sleepyhead” meme with Zutara, and we both thought it would be hilarious - so thanks for the encouragement A!

I've seen a lot of takes on the “over protective big brother” Sokka when he finds out about Zuko and Katara being romantically involved, but personally I don’t think that would be his reaction. I think he’d be a little shocked, possibly confused, but also thrilled. After all, Zuko is a good friend of theirs who proved he was committed to Katara even before they were in a romantic relationship (hello lightning), and like... if you think your sister deserves the best, you can’t do much better than scoring the Fire Lord. (Or alternatively, I could see it going kind of like that scene from Friends...)

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you!

1428 notes • Posted 2021-06-08 03:09:12 GMT

#4

1872 notes • Posted 2021-03-20 02:10:14 GMT

#3

Katara: I think our little princess might be a firebender.

Zuko: Oh, why?

Katara: She has your eyes.

Zuko: That doesn’t necessarily mean Kya’s a firebender-

Katara: And she sneezed sparks this afternoon and lit the drapes on fire.

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you!

2765 notes • Posted 2021-01-31 02:58:32 GMT

#2

AU where AtLA ended on a shot that captured the themes of friendship, found family, and the 4 nations coming together in peace... instead of a shoehorned kiss (and everyone wearing Earth Kingdom outfits..?).

I’ve been a diehard Zutara shipper since forever, but I maintain that the show should have ended without any canon ships except Sokka/ Suki. This “alternate ending” shot is one I’ve wanted to do basically since the finale first premiered, so I’m pleased to have finally drawn it (only 13 years late...).

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you! | Background from AtLA, but otherwise it’s mine. That’s right folks we have progressed from manips to original art like a pokemon evolving.

5066 notes • Posted 2021-05-16 04:28:55 GMT

#1

7794 notes • Posted 2021-01-03 05:01:34 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[sukifans]

aahhh I’m so excited I love your writing!!! your sokka “help me” fic is one of my favs ever I seriously think about it at least twice a week. in a similar vein, would you be able to combine prompts 10 & 12 for sokka x fem!reader? thank you!!! :)

SOKKA + “can i try that new chapstick? i wanna have a taste” + “i hadn’t noticed but my sweet, funny, goofy best friend is kind of hot, especially since they’ve been on this fitness kick”

⇦ 𝘔𝘈𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘓𝘐𝘚𝘛

“nastiest skank bitches” Group Message

loml: ladies, i need a girls night

loml: desperately

babygorl: god i’m down, this semester blows

fugly slut <3: i’m in!! always here for a girls night 🥰

loml: y/n??

you: gals. pals. as much as i would love to...

fugly slut <3: ughhhhhhhhh

babygorl: you better not be blowing us off for sokka again istg

you: 😅

loml: TRAITOR BITCH

fugly slut <3: HOES BEFORE BROS

babygorl: WHORE

you: bruh.mp3

you: he’s coming by after the gym to help me with my physics homework!!! I NEED THE HELP PLS I PROMISE ILL BE THERE NEXT TIME

babygorl: lying is a sin y/n

babygorl: sinner

loml: if sokka’s gonna b there maybe she’ll be sinning in........ other ways...... ahaha

loml: fuckboy_emoji.jpg

fugly slut <3: when you gonna tap that fr

you: NEVER LITERALLY NO EW

you: HE’S MY BEST FRIEND

you: UNLIKE YOU RATS

fugly slut <3: he do b kinda yummy tho liiiike 👀

you: STOP

loml: yeah he’s hot sorry queen

you: HE’S NOT HOT

babygorl: i almost hate to admit it but...

babygorl: his biceps 🥴

fugly slut <3 emphasized “his biceps 🥴”

loml loved “his biceps 🥴”

you: hey! i hate u guys! jsyk!

fugly slut <3 disliked “hey! i hate u guys! jsyk!”

babygorl disliked “hey! i hate u guys! jsyk!”

loml disliked “hey! i hate u guys! jsyk!”

babygorl: uh huh yeah sure

loml: yall hear sumn?

NEW MESSAGE from sokka :^)

“hey i’m omw up!”

you: whatever you guys suck

you: i gtg

fugly slut <3: AND YOU SWALLOW

babygorl: bye girly!! get that bestie dick!!

loml: save a car, ride an engineering major >:)

you: desgostang.jpg

You dropped your phone onto the bed next to you with a groan. Your friends really and truly could be such freaks about your relationship with Sokka—or lack thereof. They’d been especially adament ever since he started some stupid bet with Zuko about who could get the most “gains” by graduation, incited by Aang making the mistake of commenting on Zuko’s more pronounced muscle mass.

Idiots.

That’s what Sokka was. Your idiotic best friend, who was funny, and sweet, and intelligent. You loved him, of course, but not like that. And he was not hot.

Definitely not.

The pounding on your dorm door interrupted your musings before Sokka let himself in, dropping his gym bag on the floor and kicking off his slides. His hair was loose and still damp from his post-workout shower and he wore slim joggers with a loose muscle tee.

“Hey!” He smiled brightly when he spotted you sitting in your bed. “What’s up?”

“The usual.” You moved your legs out of the way so he could flop down onto your mattress. “How was the gym?”

Sokka groaned. “Cardio. I’m already sore.” He stretched his arms up to fold behind his head, pulling his muscles taut.

Hm. He does kind of have nice biceps...

You shook yourself internally. Thoughts like these had been creeping out of your subconscious for weeks now, no thanks to your rabid friends.

“My leg’s been killing me, though,” he continued, rubbing his opposite foot across the skin that covered that metal pins and plates holding his bones together after a nasty break in high school. The leg often still gave him problems, ranging from the dull ache he could ignore on the day-to-day, to throbbing pain that left him limping.

You frowned, looking away from his arms to meet his eyes. “You should probably rest up before you hurt yourself,” you said.

“I’ll be fine.” He shrugged and propped himself up on his elbows. “Gotta catch up to Zuko, y’know.”

“Why? You’re already taller than him.”

“So? I wanna be more yolked, too.”

You rolled your eyes. “Buncha dumbasses.”

Sokka quirked an eyebrow. “You want this dumbass to help with your physics homework or not?”

“Haha,” you chuckled nervously, “just kidding, buddy! I meant Zuko and Aang. You—definitely not a dumbass. Nope.”

“That’s what I thought.” He shot you a smug look as he pushed up to sit cross-legged across from you on the bed. He held his hand out with a dramatic, world-weary sigh. “Alright, give it here.”

You opened your laptop to pull up the website that hosted your homework practice problems. “You know I love you, right?”

“Mhm,” he hummed, grabbing a notebook and pen from your desk to work out the math as you handed over the computer. He paused before standing to retrieve his bag, plopping it on your desk chair so he could root through it and pull out his glasses case. You felt your cheeks warm a little when he set the frames on the bridge of his nose.

Fine—he was kinda cute. You could concede that without having to dig too deep into your somewhat jumbled feelings for your best friend.

But you would certainly not “tap that.”

Well...

No. You would not.

You watched his eyes flick over the screen as he tapped the pen against his chin, catching the cap between his teeth while he thought about the formulas he’d learned in a past semester. He nodded to himself and started scribbling out a diagram and the math to go with it. You found yourself a little mesmerized by the way he simply just knew what to do, confidently scratching away at the paper as easily as one might write the alphabet. Your eyes trailed from his long fingers and calloused hand sweeping over the page, up his toned arm (lingering on his bicep a little longer), and to his face. He chewed at the inside of his cheek in concentration, sometimes parting his lips to murmur the logic to himself.

For someone who often said a lot of stupid shit, he sure had a pretty mouth.

You considered what he might do if you snatched a fistful of his shirt and yanked him into a kiss. Would he shove you away and leave? Awkwardly but kindly reject you? Or, would he kiss you back—throw the work out of the way and grab your face to coax you in deeper? Maybe push you back onto the bed and—

“Okay, so basically—”

Jesus Christ, get a fucking grip.

“—from the problem and draw it out like this to apply the formula, yeah?”

Sokka looked to you expectantly and you blinked at him as your face burned. “Sorry, I zoned out. What did you say?”

“C’mon, I know you hate physics but you gotta at least pay attention to me if you wanna pass,” he teased, shifting close enough that the sides of your bodies pressed together. Was it getting warmer in your room, or was it just your best friend?

He launched into the explanation again and you nodded along while internally willing the blood to leave your cheeks. Even as your thoughts ricocheted around inside your skull he managed to break it down in a way that somewhat made sense. He sat back and watched as you slowly worked through the next problem. You glanced up when you heard a soft pop to see him applying chapstick.

“Is that a new flavor?” you asked.

“Yeah, chocolate orange or something.” He held the tube out to you. “Wanna try?”

Fuck it.

Before your rationality could catch up you pressed a hand to his cheek to turn his head and pulled him in for a kiss. Your lips only slotted together for a brief moment before you pulled back to stare wide-eyed at each other. You could feel the fire creeping from your cheeks down your neck, mirrored in the reddening of his tanned skin.

He blinked. You blinked.

The chapstick slipped from between his fingers. Rationality arrived late.

You bolted.

“Uh, see ya later!” you shouted as you threw the door open and rushed out of the room.

“Wait, (Y/N)—“

You didn’t stick around to hear the end of his desperate call. Even thought it was your dorm and you were barefoot you still raced down the hall, wincing at the sound of a door slamming behind you.

“(Y/N)!”

Damn that lanky bastard. You were booking it and he was already hot on your heels. You barreled into the door leading to the stairwell and almost made it down the first step when he grabbed you around the waist and yanked you back. Despite your struggles, the arm hooked across your middle was unyielding until he pushed you into the corner and crowded you against the wall, hands caging you in from either side. Your heart was racing and you weren’t sure if it was because of your escape attempt or that he was close enough you could smell his body wash and deodorant. It was almost enough to make your head spin.

“Sokka, I-I don’t know why—I’m sorry, please, I shouldn’t’ve—“

“(Y/N),” he said firmly and your mouth snapped shut. “Why did you run away?”

“Uh, I—well, um...” You shrunk down against the wall and swallowed hard. “I-I don’t know.”

“You didn’t even give me a chance to respond.”

“Look—“ You paused and stared at him once you processed what he said. “What?”

He laughed, dropping one of his hands to brush against your cheek before threading into your hair to cup the base of your skull. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

With that he surged forwards and kissed you enthusiastically, making you gasp into his mouth. You balled your hands into the front of his shirt to keep yourself steady as you melted into him. His free hand pressed into your lower back to bring you in closer. His tongue slipped out to tease at your bottom lip and he chuckled when you had to quickly grab his shoulders as your knees almost buckled.

“Get that,” he murmured against your lips, pressing his forehead to yours as the two of you gasped for air.

“Oh,” you breathed, “that.” You hummed happily when he kissed you again, his stubble scratching against your chin and under your palms when you cupped his face.

You both looked up when a stairwell door somewhere above you slammed open, followed by a group of jostling male voices. Sokka grinned when you glanced at him with wide eyes and shiny, swollen lips. You tried to hide behind him as the clamor bounded closer and closer. The group of guys rounded the next flight and gave shouts of recognition upon seeing you two standing against the wall.

“Sokka!”

“Hey, man!”

“Hey, guys,” Sokka said, holding his hand up in greeting.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, is that (Y/N)?”

“Nice, dude!”

“Ah, yeah...” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and you raised an eyebrow at his turned head. They all cheered and congratulated him, slapping his back as they passed and disappeared down the next set of stairs. When Sokka met your eyes again you cocked your head.

“Who were they?” you asked.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“Sokka.”

“My reputation precedes me, what can I say?”

“Mine doesn’t.”

“Well—“ he suddenly became very interested in the underside of the stairs above you “—my reputation may or may not involve talking about you. A lot, apparently.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t do it on purpose!” he interjected quickly, taking your hands in his. “It’s just—I dunno, I guess I think about you a lot, so...”

“Oh.”

“Fuck, okay, that sounded weird.” You laughed a little at his embarrassed floundering. “I just mean, like, things that remind me of you or, y’know, stories that involve you...” he trailed off, flushing at your amused smile. “Stop it!”

“Stop what?”

“Making fun of me!”

“I didn’t say anything,” you giggled, hooking your arms around his neck.

“You’re still laughing at me,” he whined, lips turning into a frown. His hands slipped back down to your waist.

“You’re cute.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Without preamble, he ducked down and hoisted you over his shoulder as you shrieked in protest. “Sokka! Put me down!”

“No can do, baby; we have unfinished business to attend to.” He said as he marched you back in the direction of your room.

“You’re gonna finish my physics homework?”

“Nope.”

Oh.

A/N: 2k words bc, again, i have no self control. thank you for the request!

ATLA TAGS: @hotgirlazula @octophopi @blazedbakugou @protect-remus @akiris @sunflowerazula @wooscottoncandyhair @chewymoustachio @ohno-caroline @sunflowerr-mami @1vitamin @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @u-4iia @nymeria-targaryen @tommy-braccoli @dizzy-miss-lizzieeeeee @a-sloppy-bitch @nomin-rights @siriuslyslyslytherin @starryncn

SOKKA TAGS: @fiantomartell @avatarayeaye @zvkta @sher-lockedmarvel @grandmascottlang @captainshazamerica @yuesallura

[itsclydebitches]

re: that ask you posted a couple days ago about the male and female representation in RWBY, part of what makes RWBY's whole 'girl power' thing ring exceptionally hollow to me is the fact that there are like... no women in positions of real power in remnant. like at all. except the big bad.

winter is second in command to james. glynda is second in command to ozpin. all of the headmasters are men (for no discernible reason, imo; why theodore and not dorothea?). the leader of the ace ops was a white man (and then winter seemed to take over clover's position instead of either of the women of color on the team, and she was still second to james). RWBY is an all girl team, but JNPR was led by a boy despite a girl arguably being far more qualified (pyrrha). the happy huntresses are all women, and robyn had no real power to speak of--she didn't even manage to win the election, because jacques rigged it, and then the council ceased to matter. there was one (1) woman on the council, but she was so inconsequential that i can't even remember her name. (i suppose we're lucky it was the guy and not her who james shot lol) jacques controls the SDC instead of willow, even though he's not even a schnee by blood and actually married into the family for power. (and we don't even know how he got it over his wife.)

and then there's the white fang, which ghira led and not kali--and it's ghira who leads menagerie itself, while kali seems to be a housewife. sienna had five minutes of screentime before being brutally killed and her position assumed by adam, a man. cordovin is basically a one off lackey we haven't even thought about before or since. neo was second to roman. you have cinder, sure, who is a second but to salem, a woman, and raven as the leader of the branwen tribe--but what does it really say about your 'girl power' narrative when the only women with genuine systemic power in your world are villains or antagonists with massive bodycounts??

atla has the same sort of problem--a couple great female characters, but all the leadership positions are men (except the kyoshi warriors, an all girls group, and even then the leader of their island is an old man) and the one female mentor figure also turns out to be evil--but it at least has some great writing to help overlook that fact, and it came out in the mid-00's and so has some sort of excuse of being a product of its time. but rwby didn't even start until 2013 and it's still going and still making these kinds of decisions well into 2021.

where is this supposed girl power, exactly? am i really supposed to overlook the very patriarchal worldbuilding just because the title characters are girls?

That's an excellent summary of the situation, anon, and as with so much in RWBY, it comes down to the full context. Any one of these examples isn't necessarily going to mean much on its own. It's when you look at the pattern that you can start making a case for those conclusions: Why is the show marketed on "girl power" set in a world where men hold the vast majority of that power? And, more importantly, why is that setup not the point? We could easily have a story where that lopsided gender dynamic is the problem that the girls are looking to fix, but... that story doesn't exist. Like the problems discussed with Jaune, the supposed point here exists only on the surface. Dig just the tinniest bit — the above — and you hit on a lot of structural problems with this "girl power" world.

To add just a few details to what you've already said:

Salem indeed has power, but she's never allowed to fully use it. Each volume the frustration with this grows as Salem accumulates more abilities and then just sits on them. From literally hiding out for a thousand years to worries that she won't use the Staff in Volumes 9-10, Salem really isn't allowed to be the threat she's presented as on the surface. And yes, this is absolutely due in part to the "She's too OP and the writers don't know how to let her be that powerful while still having the heroes win" issue, but again, context. That problem doesn't exclude others occurring simultaneously.

Same double explanation with Summer. Yes, dead moms are an incredibly common trauma to dump on a protagonist, but it still left Yang and Ruby with Tai as their primary influence. And Qrow. The uncle becomes the extended family influence while Raven is the absent one/eventual antagonist. It's personal power as opposed to political power, but Tai, Qrow, Ozpin, formerly James... most of the mentors are men. Maria, a key exception, has been ignored in that regard. The story announced that she was Qrow's inspiration, setup her being Ruby's new mentor, and then... nothing. Nothing has come of that. She disappeared for a volume and then went off to Amity and was literally forgotten by the story when evacuating everyone was the finale's whole point.

Like that Endgame moment I mentioned, the Happy Huntresses feel a little too forced to me. Yes, it's the same basic idea as in ATLA, but ATLA, as you say, has a lot more going for it. The Happy Huntresses feel... on the nose? Idk exactly how to explain it. Like, "Here they are! Another team of all women! Isn't this how progressive storytelling works? Just ignore how this is a one-off team of minor characters compared to the world building issues discussed above." And if you're not paying attention, you miss just how insignificant they are, with a side of Robyn being, well, Robyn. The Kyoshi Warriors, at least, are based off of Kyoshi. A woman avatar who is a significant part of their history. That is, presumably, why they're an all women warrior group (but who notably still teach Sokka). The Happy Huntresses are all huntresses because...? There's no reason except that meta "We want to look progressive" explanation. Just like having all the women superheroes team up for a hot second so people get excited and ignore the representation problems across, what? 21 films? Don't get me wrong, I love that May is among the Happy Huntresses. I think including her in the explicitly all-women group was one of the better things RWBY has done in a long time, but the rest is still a mess.

RWBY is arguably about these smaller groups as opposed to systematic power (despite the writers trying to work that in with things like the White Fang and the election. Not to mention the implication that everything in Atlas is fine now that evil Ironwood has died and taken the symbol of wealth (the city) with him. We saw a human holding hands with a faunus after all. Racism and corruption solved, I guess.) So yes, our group is dominated by women... but Whitley is the one saving Nora, helping to defeat the Hound (plus Willow), thinking of the airships, and providing the blueprints they need to escape. Salem is our Big Bad, except Ironwood is the one the volume focuses on. Ruby is our leader, but Jaune is the one leading the group into the whale and getting praised for how heroic he is. Ren does more to shake things up, even if he's painted as the one in the wrong. Oscar gets to confront Salem and destroys the whale threat. Ozpin provides the information they need to evacuate. Meanwhile, when the girls do things in Volume 8 it's almost always followed by a long-stint of passiveness. Nora opens the door so she can be unconscious for most of the volume. Penny keeps Amity up so she can also be unconscious for a good chunk of time. Ruby sends her message and then sits in a mansion. Blake fights so she can tearfully beg Ruby to save her. Weiss, as said, takes a backseat to Whitley (and Klein). They forward the plot, absolutely, but comparatively it doesn't feel like enough.

It's that pattern then, no one specific example. More and more the personal power, not just the systematic power already built into Remnant, seems to be coming from the men. Not all the time, but enough that scenes like the tea drinking moment feel like a part of a much larger problem. Pietro taking control, Watts hacking, and Ambrosius literally remaking her when Penny is supposed to already be in control of herself and her fate. Winter being presented as the active mentor to Weiss, only to turn around and claim that Ironwood was actually responsible for everything. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and May straight up commenting on how awful things are out there while Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Oscar lead the charge against Salem — with the latter three doing the most to forward that mission (no fear, semblance, cane). As others have only half-joked, Yang's supposedly badass moment was bringing up a mother she's ignored for six volumes and briefly blowing up the immortal woman for a couple of seconds (with Ironwood's bombs). Even Marrow is arguably the most significant Ace Op after Clover. Vine isn't actually a character, Elm slightly less so, Harriet is there to go crazy and try to drop a bomb (notably before admitting to never-before-existed feelings for Clover), but Marrow? He's the one who breaks out. Who is meant to heroically stand up against Ironwood. Who comments on how awful it is that teenagers are fighting and, regardless of how messed up the moral messages are, is supposedly pushing for active change while all the women in his group, including Winter, insist on maintaining the status quo. Look at all these choices as a whole, it makes throwaway worldbuilding choices like "All the Maidens are women" feel pretty hollow. Why does it matter if Amber is a Maiden if she dies in a flashback so Ozpin can struggle to pass on the power? If Pyrrha dies before becoming one so Jaune can angst about it? If Raven is one and then disappears from the story entirely? If Winter has enough power to break Ironwood's aura, but supposedly had no power throughout every other choice she made getting here? If Penny is one, but is continually controlled by men and then asks another man to help her die? It's just really unconvincing, once you look past the surface excitement of a woman looking cool with magic powers.

When you do consider the whole of the story — both in terms of our world building and who is forwarding the plot in the latter volumes, getting the emotional focus, being proactive, etc. — there are a lot of problems that undermine the presumed message RT wants to write. They say, "girl power" by marketing RWBY with these four women, but too many of the storytelling decisions thoroughly undermine that, revealing what's likely a deeply ingrained, subconscious bias.

[nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice]

Zutara. My otp since I first watched as a 10 year old in 2005. Hopefully you'll be kind to them 😉 I'm convinced they'll be cannon in the live action 😅

Alright... *starts digging grave*, I think Katara and Zuko have a wonderful platonic relationship and for them to have a romantic relationship would (1) undermine Zuko’s redemption arc and (2) undermine the found family aspect of their friendship. I don’t have an issue with anyone who ships Zutara and I do not engage in shipping drama, but I think their platonic relationship is too damn important to favor a romantic relationship I don't really think has chemistry. 

Personally, I have never gotten romantic vibes from them like... at all? I think the progression of their friendship was important in terms of the show’s themes of forgiving those who deserve it and finding support in people you least expect, but I just don’t get chemistry from them. I’ve always been a Kataang fan but how I feel about Zutara has nothing to do with that. Avatar is one of those shows where I would have been totally fine with it ending with no romantic pairings because the found family aspect of it is so much more powerful. 

If anyone has spent 5 seconds on my blog, you know that Zuko is my favorite character and I think he deserves nothing but love and support after all the shit he went through. But a big aspect of why I care about him as a character is that he put the work in to make amends. He didn’t just show up one day saying “I’ve seen the error of my ways, sorry for all the stuff I did, I’m good now” and that was that. He had to work for forgiveness and he did it because he realized the fire nation was wrong, his father was wrong, and he was wrong. His decision to switch sides had nothing to do with any connection with the gaang because he didn’t really know them. His decision to switch sides stemmed from 3 very important things: 

(1) He felt guilty not for betraying Aang and Katara in Ba Sing Se, but Iroh. He realized his uncle was the person who had given him unconditional love while Azula and Ozai’s “love” for him was entirely dependent on his ability to provide them results. From this guilt, he was able to realize that his uncle had made the right decision in siding with the Avatar and more importantly, that Ozai was wrong and that all the abuse he endured under him was undeserved. 

(2) His experiences in the Earth Kingdom as a refugee. This post explains it really well, but Zuko’s realization that everything he’s believed about the Fire Nation has been wrong is rooted in his moment of empathy with Song and her matching burn scar, his empathy with Lee who lost his brother like Zuko lost Lu Ten, his empathy with Jet who lost his way going to extremes for a cause, and, yes, his empathy with Katara who’s mother was taken from her by the Fire Nation like his was. The reason he switches sides is because after all of those experiences, he can no longer be callous or unfeeling towards the Earth Kingdom like his father or sister. The people of the Earth Kingdom either empathized with him for the pain he went through and appreciated him for his desire to help the helpless (Song, Lee, Jet) or feared and hated him for being part of a country that caused their suffering (Lee, Lee’s mom, Jet, Katara). Throughout season 2, Zuko realized the extent of what the war meant for the other side. 

(3) The realization of the extents his father would go to and the truth about Ozai’s amorality. This point is kind of just the culmination of everything in the last two points, but all that set up comes to fruition when Zuko attends the war meeting where Ozai decides to use Sozin’s Comet to commit genocide. By this point he’s racked with guilt over what he did to Iroh, he’s empathized with people who have suffered and is coming to terms with the fact that it’s not only the people of the earth kingdom that have unnecessarily suffered because of Ozai, but him as well. In that meeting, he expresses adoration for the Earth Kingdom being proud and strong and Ozai’s response is to burn it to the ground. It’s the same treatment he gave Zuko at the Agni Kai when he stuck to his morals and refused to fight and was met with abject cruelty. At that meeting, Zuko realizes that his father is wrong and that he was always wrong. He realizes that millions of people will suffer at the hands of this man who is so incredibly wrong and lacking in empathy. 

SO, keeping all that in mind. His redemption arc doesn’t stop when he switches sides, it keeps going as he makes individual amends with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. It keeps going as he learns from the dragons, as he chooses what he believes in over his girlfriend, as he risks his life to protect the gaang from Azula, and as he tries to help Aang, Sokka, and Katara find emotional closure in different aspects. He helps Aang overcome his fear of firebending. He helps Sokka regain his honor. And he helps Katara address her grief regarding her mother’s death. These four episodes are some of the best in the series because it’s not just Zuko working to make amends because he wants them to trust him, but it’s him empathizing with their trauma, their guilt, and their fear of failure because he’s been there. 

Alright, that’s a whole essay regarding why Zuko’s redemption arc works, now what does this have to do with Zutara? Here’s the deal: if any aspect of Zuko’s decisions for his redemption were influenced by romantic attraction to Katara, it would undermine the meaning of his choices for him. He made the choices to be better because he empathized with a nation of people who needlessly suffered. He made the choices to be better because he learned to cut himself off from the need to please his abusive father and accept the unconditional love of his uncle. His choice to help Katara find her mother’s murderer stemmed from empathy and his desire to be better than the people who hurt him and hurt others. The reason Katara’s resentment towards him hurt him so much was because he was trying so hard to be better than the people that were feared and hated. Katara treated him like Lee’s mom and Jet did when they realized he was a firebender (that being said, Katara was justified since Zuko’s decision to side with Azula resulted in the fall of Ba Sing Se and nearly resulted in Aang’s death), and he didn’t want to be that person. He didn’t want to be hated or feared anymore and he was willing to do anything to move past being viewed like that. So Katara’s decision to finally forgive him? It’s the point where she realizes he’s able to empathize with her over his mother’s death where her mother’s killer could not. She realized that he was different and had changed because he put the work in. And that’s huge for his redemption, not for any kind of forming relationship because that’s not the point. 

Now, concerning the whole found-family aspect I love so much? Zutara as a romantic pairing would undermine the beauty of Zuko’s ability to find a loving, supportive group of people that he was missing his entire life. Katara does not work as a romantic partner for Zuko because she works as his replacement sister. The fact is that Zuko’s actual family experience was founded on fear and not love, but the idea of “usefulness”. Zuko and Azula were only valued by Ozai so much as they were useful to him, which is why he favored (not loved) Azula, she was useful to him and Zuko wasn’t until he “slayed the Avatar”. Iroh (and Ursa for a time) was the only person who showed him unconditional love and support, but that wasn’t enough to snap him out of the need to please Ozai. Zuko rooted his entire self worth in what his family thought of him and engaged in very self-destructive behavior throughout season 1 to prove himself because he “didn’t want [his] father to think [he was] worthless”. Even throughout season 3, he still thinks that his uncle’s love for him is conditional (”my uncle hates me I I know it”) until he’s proven otherwise because that’s what he’s been taught. So him joining the gaang, that’s the first time in his life he’s really met with the concept of people liking him for himself, not for his ability to be useful (his family, Jet) or because they think he’s someone he’s not (Song, Lee, Jin). He’s met with friendship: people making fun of him in a playful way instead of tearing down his insecurities and vulnerabilities (”mind if I watch you too jerks do your jerkbending?” “so all we need to do is make Zuko angry, that should be easy enough”, “look, it’s baby Zuko!”, “actually I think [the play portrayal] is pretty spot-on”), people trying to help him fix his problems (”you need to go back to the original source”) instead of making him feel weak for not being able to solve those problems in the first place, and showing him express appreciation and encouragement (”you’re pretty smart”, “to Zuko, who knew after all the times he tried to snuff us out, today he’d be our hero”, “I’m going with Zuko!”). And that’s so. Damn. Important for his ability to heal after how he was treated for his entire life. He’s introduced to the idea that people want him to be around and they want to include him in their circle for being him. Up until the finale, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to reconcile with Iroh or if Iroh will accept his forgiveness, but these people have given him a home in their group and he’s not afraid or insecure around a group of people for the first time in his life. 

And that’s why Katara has to be the one to defeat Azula: because Azula couldn’t be the sister Zuko had and Katara could be. It’s a tragedy that Zuko and Azula were driven apart by Ozai pitting them against each other, the corruption of firebending throughout the ages so it’s regarded for its power rather than its energy, and Azula’s own insecurities and fears of losing power because, like Zuko once did, she only considers herself to be worth anything so long as she’s better than him. The abuse he endured had an effect on her to because so long as she saw that Ozai’s “love” for Zuko was conditional, that meant that his “love” for her was conditional as well (”you can’t treat me like Zuko!”). Zuko and Azula could never support each other and they could never trust each other in the way that Sokka and Katara could. They wouldn’t sacrifice anything for each other because they were conditioned to survive, to leave behind the lesser sibling in order to get ahead. But at the Agni Kai, Zuko jumps in front of the lighting for Katara because unlike Azula, she has supported him since she forgave him and is there to back him up. She thinks he can be Firelord and she thought his uncle could forgive him in a way that Azula just never could. And that’s why Katara has to be the one to defeat Azula. Not because of any romantic attraction for Zuko, but because he’s protected Aang and Sokka and her and Toph and their little found family. It’s because he’s one of them. So in that moment where Azula is defeated, screaming and sobbing because she’s lost and that means that she’s the weaker sibling, she’s gone and it’s tragic. Zuko looks upon her and he wishes it didn’t have to be like this, but it is and it’s tragic. It didn’t have to be how it was but it did and it was awful and Azula is left broken, hating her brother with murderous fury. But he’s not alone.

He has a new sister who will protect him and fight for him when he’s lost his own. 

(addition: I want to make it clear that this does not mean I think Azula is irredeemable. Her actions and outlook are 100% a product of Ozai’s abuse, as I explained. I do not think that’s she’s beyond redemption, but by the finale she was still a villain and her goal was still to kill her brother so she could be Firelord. That’s not to say that she couldn’t have eventually healed and been able to reconcile with him, but by the final Agni Kai that’s not where their relationship was. The fact that she and Zuko had a toxic relationship was not her fault, but they still had a toxic relationship built on distrust and competition where Zuko and Katara’s friendship was built on support and protection. I am entirely sympathetic towards Azula, but just because she was redeemable doesn’t mean she was redeemed and just because there was potential for her and Zuko to eventually have a better relationship doesn’t mean that they did by the end of the series.) 

[bisexuallsokka]

Fic Writer Review

tagged by @zukkaoru thank u my beloved <3

1. how many works do you have on AO3? 

73!

2. what’s your total AO3 word count? 

285296

3. how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

only two on my current ao3 (les mis and atla/lok) but i also wrote harry potter and supernatural fanfic way back in the day

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

gone fishin’ 

emergency boyfriend

the one with the hot cashier

the strategy of harmony (sequel to gone fishin’)

to the moon

5. do you respond to comments, why or why not?

i try to!! i have been really bad at it recently and my inbox is overwhelmingly full rn but. i’ll get around to it. 

6. what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? 

hahahahaha. yours

7. do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written? 

nope

8. have you ever received hate on a fic? 

probably? i cant say for sure because i just focus on the sweet sweet comments from everyone

9. do you write smut? if so what kind? 

oh my god oh my god i forgot about this until this very moment but sometime this year i wrote one smut fic and posted it under a different account but i cant for the life of me remember the name of the account or the name of the fic soooo 

10. have you ever had a fic stolen? 

yes -_- i never said anything to anyone about it but. it was pretty clear.

11. have you ever had a fic translated? 

yes! el cajero atractivo is a translation of the one with the hot cashier. i speak fluent spanish so i was like pssh i got this but thank god i had help because i do not write well in spanish lmao

12. have you ever co-written a fic before? 

i sure have!! (this love is) a long time coming was co written w the lovely sonny <3

13. what’s your all time favorite ship?

stop reading if you don’t want to lose all respect for me. everyone out? okay great. yeah stevebucky til i die i will never be over them. honorable mentions to courferre and zukka ofc

14. what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? 

ugh i have this one that takes place in the swt after sokka and zuko have gone through a break up and they obvs are still in love and get back together and i have a few scenes written for it that just. i love so much. but unfortunately if i ever try to write something outside of those things it’s a load of shit so i dont think i will ever finish. which is a shame. just know the ending is really good.

15. what are your writing strengths? 

i have been told i am good at writing dialogue! people enjoy the conversations and banter i write between characters. i have also been complimented on my characterizations, which i work really hard on

16. what are your writing weaknesses?

uhhh everything else? lol for real i really struggle with describing things or having necessary paragraphs of exposition. i just feel like they suck and want to get back to dialogue 

17. what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? 

i think it’s fun, i like when authors include the translation in the same line or even in the author’s note

18. what was the first fandom you wrote for? 

h*rry p*tter </3

19. what’s your favorite fic you’ve written? 

ahhh i love the zukka tangled au, now that i see you, mainly because i love tangled so much and zukka so much and writing it got me through a hard time and i was just. really proud of it. (let me be) there for you and seven(teen) minutes in heaven also come to mind as others i love.

tagging @beachytablecloth @chitsangenthusiast @zukkababey @feng-xin

@verdanthoney and anyone else who wants to!