#everyone needs a beach episode

[acceleracers-baby]

Surfs Up!

Aka - The Teku’s beach episode.

———

It was a beautiful sunny day on the coast. The type of day that Vert had been waiting for ever since Nolo agreed to let him take them all out for a nice relaxing beach day. Only, relaxing to Vert had an astoundingly different meaning to him than it did to the rest of the Teku.

Where Karma’s perfect day at the beach consisted of lounging in the shade with the sound of the ocean to compliment whatever book she was currently enveloped in, Vert’s was catching every wave humanly possible from the moment they arrived, till the moment the sun decided to finally cower away below the horizon. It was honestly impressive. He could have been a fish in a past life, or as Shirako loved to joke about, a surfing cartoon penguin.

Whatever the reason, Vert’s very soul resonated with the ocean. So, unsurprisingly, when they pulled into the parking lot, Vert was chomping at the bit to get everyone in the water. It was early. Like…Sunrise early. He’d claimed that that was the best time to show up if they wanted to avoid the crowds, but really he was just in it for the tidal movements.

“We’re going to miss all the good waves!” Vert whined as the group took their time gathering up all the beach gear. They’d brought everything. Towels, chairs, umbrellas, coolers, and it wouldn’t be a Teku beach day without a couple of good speakers to get some tunes going. Not to mention every spare board that Vert had. He didn’t want anyone feeling left out on the sand.

“We couldn’t miss the waves if we tried. Calm down, surf rat.” Kurt groaned as he stretched out from the drive. “There’s barely any cars in this parking lot. I thought you said it would be crowded?” There was a fatigued annoyance that laced his tone as his eyes caught the surfers.

“That's why we’re here early,” Vert replied dubiously. He was going to busy himself with grabbing the rest of the chairs, but Karma beat him to it. That left him with the boards.

He gathered up as many as he could and left the rest to Shirako and Nolo. They knew to handle them with care.

Getting down to the beach and set up wasn’t a long process, but to Vert, it felt like forever. Obviously, he helped without complaint, dutifully setting up chairs and umbrellas alike, but by the time they finished, he could have sworn the ocean was calling his name.

After haphazardly slapping on some sunscreen, Vert picked up his board and quickly made his way to the water. It was definitely cold. Any lingering sleepiness faded away as he waded out up to his waist. He didn’t care though. In fact, the feeling was something he’d grown quite fond of.

Goosebumps pricked at his flesh as he switched to paddling and managed to catch his first wave. He couldn’t have been out there for more than ten minutes before Nolo joined him with a shivering smile.

“You’re crazy, Vert. It’s freezing out here!” Nolo exclaimed in that ‘my body is fighting to keep warm so I’m running on pure adrenaline’ type of way. Vert laughed.

“It gets better the more you’re in it, man. Trust me!” And eventually, it did. By the time the sun had fully stretched itself up and into the sky, Nolo was finished shivering and actually starting to sort of get the hand of things. Well, it was more like boogie boarding, but that was one of the first steps. Besides, Vert was just happy to have someone out there trying.

Eventually, Shirako and Karma came to tag Nolo out so that he could take a rest. He’d almost been able to stand up on the board by the time he swam back to shore, which had Vert smiling ear to ear. The only one that seemed to be enjoying Vert’s surf lessons more than Vert, was Kurt. Every time someone went down, he’d let out an entertained laugh from the sidelines. Nolo was quick to get him back though, practically tackling the older racer into the sand the moment he emerged from the cold water, leaving them both scrambling for a sun-warmed towel.

Karma took Vert’s coaching like a champ. Hell, she was a natural. By lunch time she was grabbing almost as many waves as Vert was. Shirako on the other hand was having a harder time keeping up. That didn’t stifle his fun, however. No, as long as he had some music, he was fine. No matter how many times he wiped out.

Kurt was last to get in the water, and after laughing at everyone all day, the gang was eager to give him the same treatment.

“Surprised you actually made it out here. I was starting to think you couldn’t swim,” Vert teased as he pulled himself up to sit on his board. After surfing for almost the entire day, he needed a small break to catch his breath, and picking on Kurt was the perfect excuse.

“Oh, please. I’ve been swimming longer than you could walk.” Kurt shot back, rolling his eyes.

“Show us how it's done then,” Vert nodded at the board that Kurt was currently clinging on to. Their relationship had been a bit rocky during the World Race, but after Kurt had come to his senses and helped return the Wheel, a quick friendship had developed between the two. Kurt, although he’d never admit it, was happy to take Vert under his wing. It was sort of like having another younger brother, only this time, he’d make sure not to mess it up.

When the next wave came through, Vert was able to ride it with ease while Kurt was left struggling to keep up. A few wipeouts later, and the former Grand Prix racer was returning to the shore with his tail tucked between his legs. Fortunately, the rest of the Teku didn’t give him too much shit for it, despite him definitely deserving it. They all came to the conclusion that the ocean had humbled him enough for the day.

As the sun began to slowly sink its way back under the horizon, Vert finally made his way back in. Karma, like she had planned, was lounging on one of the foldable chairs, book in hand. Nolo and Kurt had taken to tossing a frisky back and forth, and Shirako was simply soaking up the sun and gently nodding his head along to the playlist he had curated for the occasion. All in all, it had been a fairly successful beach day, and Vert couldn’t wait for the next one.

——— Thanks for Reading ———

[dei2dei]

This is a piece by Mark Brooks (I believe called Surferheroes?) and it has been living in my head for the past few weeks (months?) while I muse over a surf competition/beach day fic for MK. Sonya with a SF board, Kitana with an Edenia board, Frost with a Lin Kuei board, Harumi with a Shirai Ryu board, Mileena with an Outworld board, maybe Ashrah with a Netherrealm board? If anyone does art with that idea in mind, for one/several/all of those chars, PLEASE @ me. The idea has just been lodged in my head, won't get out, and we even have Lifeguard Sonya from Deadly Alliance.

It's on my AUgust queue, or a just-for-fun piece sometime. I just can't shake the image.

[wonderholegifs]

Rhett & Link's Wonderhole

[cienie-isengardu]

Lo and Li and their (not) looking after Azula and Zuko in "The Beach"

I have talked a lot about Zuko and Azula lately because “The Beach” episode gives a lot of context for their relationship, but it would be a crime to omit the most funny detail (implication) coming from this episode: the presence of Lo and Li.

Those two older women were introduced into the series as Azula’s teachers (that definitely fueled her unhealthy sense of perfectionism) and some sort of advisors before the princess recruited Ty Lee and Mai on the hunt for Zuko, Iroh and later, the Avatar. The story alone gives little about Lo and Li, but considering their relationship and influences on the princess, we can assume they had, if not outright trust, then at least Ozai’s approval to keep an eye on his “precious”, prodigy daughter. As they were the only adults connected to Fire Lord and at whose house the Royal Siblings and their friends stayed in "The Beach" episode, I thought of them as not really nannies, but more like chaperones.

Zuko and Azula faced Avatar and survived, Mai and Ty Lee proved to be capable of beating down full grown men one on one (or more precisely, one vs many). So fine, ok, Ozai may trust his kids to be able to defend themselves - if the thought about their safety even occurred to him at all. But Zuko and Azula are, and I can’t stress it enough, teenagers sent on vacation and teenagers may do stupid stuff for fun just to taste the little freedom granted them. So it makes sense to me that Lo and Li should supervise the Royal Siblings, because vacation or not, they are still prince and princess, the precious heirs to the throne. And like, Zuko is with his girlfriend (official fiancee?) and you can never be sure what teenagers in love and with buzzing hormones will do, right? Same with Azula, who as we learn through the episode, will happily grab the occasion to flirt with a  handsome, popular boy and the innocent kiss turned out quickly into her passionate rant: “Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in the entire world! We will dominate the Earth!”. 

Azula’s mind really jumped from casual fun (no harm done if Ozai won’t learn about it) to the conclusion that boy she knew for what? a few hours at best will be her boyfriend and part of the future (military?) plans and understandable Chen freaked out and ran away. The taste of freedom affected even Azula, our so emotionally composed, clever girl, because again, a teenager, adolescent curiosity, lack of supervision and buzzing hormones are a dangerous mix. 

(I suspect Zuko getting Mai pregnant would be less scandalous than if Azula - the princess - ended with a bastard child at the age of 14/15. If Ozai would even allow the kid to be born.)

And what Lo and Li were doing the whole episode? Either giving some cryptic speech about how Ember Island is a magical place or encourage kids.

“Time to hit the beach!“ they said

while never bothering going with kids there

(or did Lo and Li have fun on their own ignoring the bunch of their temporary wards?).

And when Azula, Zuko and Ty Lee talked about Chen and why Azula didn’t betray their Royal Family status (and presumably of going to the night party)? Again, the two old women did nothing besides giving some more cryptic advice and saying “to the party!”.

Like, they were totally okay that Fire Royal Siblings (in range of age from 14 to 16) planned to stay at house of unknown boy(s) for the whole night. Again, Zuko is 16, at best almost 17, but Azula is 14 (at best 15) and I don’t think this is an appropriate age to let a girl - especially the princess you are responsible for - go to a party with presumably much older boys. 

(Unless this is why Azula demanded Zuko, her older brother, to be invited alongside her? Not like he checked out if she is alright before he was kicked out for the fight with Mai over some guy but I guess, with a sister like Azula it is easy to assume she doesn’t need babysitting, because Azula could and would kick Chen or anyone else’s ass if they pissed her off). 

My point is, Lo and Li could give the girls and Zuko some serious talk or at least ask to be careful or anything the supposed chaperons should say (or like,  outright demand from Zuko to keep an eye on his younger sister and the noble girls as the oldest and you know, the guy). Because Azula is first and foremost a princess, the same as Zuko is the prince and like, the Royal Family does not need any teenage drama and scandal (and from the previous episode we know Azula and Zuko are now the public figures at the capital).

I’m not sure if perceiving Lo and Li as some sort chaperons to the “banished for a weekend” Royal Siblings was author’s intention or not, but there is something incredible funny how those old women introduced as strict teachers criticizing Azula for not perfect hairstyle while she is working on her lighting technique - a skill absolutely amazing to have at the age of 14 - won’t even bother to keep an eye on the same girl and just let the whole bunch of emotionally stunted and traumatized teenagers freely roam on the “magical” beach and go to night party to total strangers. It is pretty hilarious if not a bit sad. Because wow, Ozai did not give much fuck about any of his kids one way or another. 

Aaand this is what I get when rewatching ATLA as an adult lol.

I know this is animations for kids/teenagers, but what if Chen didn’t freak out? Would Azula be curious enough to experience something more than just a kiss? And well, we assume Chen and Ruon-Jian are in age close to Zuko & Azula (as if they were adults they would be enrolled into army, I think?) But there is still a room for them being older than Zuko who himself is two years older than Azula. Also, them inviting Ty Lee & Mai specifically for how they look without bothering to ask for their name and the way a group of boys cornered Ty Lee to the point she needed to chi-blocking all of them kinda gives me the feeling the party was an occasion for them to pick up girl for night or something along the way. Dunno if I read the scene/intention right but it gives that vibe I guess…?

[rooolt]

Need to see the teens do like regular teen things actually. Like could you imagine these fools trying to plan some sort of outing together. Normal and Link in the group chat in shambles trying to get everyone on track as scary replies with one word every four hours and Taylor seemingly dropped his phone off a bridge with the amount of texts he’s not reading. Normal constantly volunteering hero to drive them places despite not even asking her first and then never actually agreeing on where to go or what movie to see. Eventually they get everything all planned out, but then normal and Taylor remember they forgot hermie and making everyone stop to invite him and then he’s like the busiest person in the world so they have to uproot their entire plans. Idk do we see my vision

[opikiquu]

hhahhehehehahgeehshdgshheehehh HAHAHAHAHAH so i did the story

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

i still cannot believe that people actually read my posts. case in point: i got this notification (from @tumblemumbler, thank you) and laughed until there were tears.

it's true: i want to take fox mulder to the zoo. i'm guilty as charged. i wanna point at some lions and be like "woah", and see if he thinks the lions are amazing, or if he tries to play it cool and deny that sense of wonder you get from seeing a magnificent beast. is it so wrong to want to take a full grown man out to see the Creatures, and then watch him enjoy the gift shop.......? to find a nice little novelty tie with the funniest animal from the day on it...? to say, hey fictional man, let's put aside that decades long quest for answers on the existence of aliens, and marvel at some otters splashing about... now wouldn't that be lovely?

[lonelysatoru]

i actually don’t mind all of the “filler episodes” and “filler arcs” in one piece. i like having some time away from the plot in one piece and in all animes in general, and the fact that most animes now don’t call for extra episodes of fun before they ruin your entire day is a shame to me

[limblesstar]

coming up with a plot for cast away his wrath might actually kill me because like. what do you MEAN i cant just write episodes like its a tv show and have the scenes i want. sick and fucking twisted

[krytus]

a lot of tv shows are bold bc the 100 season 3 is a tv show. you are not the 100 season 3 though.

[ranger-kellyn]

i can't believe they fucking take that sword from sokka

[recovery-within-the-iris]

People whose favorite sans group is the bad guys/murder time trio: its a complex group of individuals with severe trauma and different views of how to approach the world around them. They are strengthened through found family troupes and although they have their issues they still come together for their purpose and lift each other up. Their goals make sense given their paths and seeing them grow to trust and respect each other through close calls, saves and little acts of kindness gradually moveing towards a more passifistic goal through rehabilitation/passive aus as they learn that becoming the evil that corrupted them wont satiate them is joyous. Their redemption arcs are well earned and loved and people dream of the unconditional love they have for each other. All headed by a tough and grumpy but loving and caring boss who treats them as individuals, mourns thier deaths and he himself learns he is worthy of love with the right support. Its edgy and hard but the pain is worth the softness in the end 😭

People whose favorite sans group is the star sanses: they are all just cute and loveable and always seem up for giving hugs. I feel unworthy of love, happiness and talent so being around people who show love loudly and vocally, litterally leak happiness and boost your talent because they love to see you grow makes me feel alittle less hopeless and alittle less worthless as they seem to jump at any chance to boost others :)

[belethlegwen]

The fact that this terminology has leaked into almost every other medium I can think of as it pertains to telling stories also kills me. Like, I'll joke and say I've made a 'filler chapter' or 'filler scene' but that's me just taking the piss. I've tried to stop doing it ever since people seemed to start taking it too seriously.

And a disaster for the discussion of non-anime TV shows in fandom.

"Cool-down episodes" aren't filler.

[theskeletoninthegarden]

Everyone is capable of loss, but I can't watch two people insist on eating 23 dollar single scoop vanilla ice cream at some bougie AF restaurant and feel bad that they're both struggling to find compatible partners.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

The Ronettes - Be My Baby 1963

"Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the US and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and has been regarded by various publications as one of the greatest songs of all time. Ronnie Spector (then known as Veronica Bennett) is the only Ronette that appears on the track. In 1964, it appeared on the album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes; the only studio album by the Ronettes (credited to "the Ronettes featuring Veronica"). Produced by Phil Spector and released in November 1964 through his label, Philles Records, the album collects the group's singles from 1963–1964. In 2004, it was ranked number 422 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

"Be My Baby" has influenced many artists, most notably the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who wrote the 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as a response to "Be My Baby". Many others have replicated or recreated the drum phrase—one of the most recognizable in pop music. As for the opening drum beat, drummer Hal Blaine stated, "That famous drum intro was an accident. I was supposed to play the snare on the second beat as well as the fourth, but I dropped a stick. Being the faker I was in those days, I left the mistake in and it became: 'Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!' And soon everyone wanted that beat." Sonny Bono and Cher were among the backing vocalists. Cher stated in a television interview, "I was just hanging out with Son [Bono], and one night Darlene [Love] didn't show up, and Philip looked at me and he was getting really cranky, y'know. Philip was not one to be kept waiting. And he said, 'Sonny said you can sing?' And so, as I was trying to qualify what I felt my … 'expertise' was, he said, 'Look I just need noise – get out there!' I started as noise, and that was 'Be My Baby'."

The song appears in the opening sequence of Martin Scorsese's film Mean Streets (1973), and the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The song appears in a fantasy sequence involving Kamala Khan in the Marvel series Ms. Marvel, in the second episode "Crushed". In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2006, the Library of Congress inducted the Ronettes' recording into the United States National Recording Registry. In 2004, it was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", where it was described as a "Rosetta stone for studio pioneers such as the Beatles and Brian Wilson." In 2017, the song topped Billboard's list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".

"Be My Baby" received a total of 86,9% yes votes!

[justmeclover]

I FINALLY GOT TO SEE THE STORYBOARD

and the scene i was waiting for was actually just animated over a bardbie movie clip :(

ITS STILL CUTE THO