#i can't think of any analysis from this episode rn

[ungodlysaltyinfrastructure]

Tripping and falling

ep 18

Siiiiogghhhhhhhh. I just woke up to this, and the only thing I gotta say, is Alux is so autistic about that firebird.

I was right in saying that he loves fantasy creatures >:]

But everything else is just character and world building. Nice and cozy, like the tavern. But story progression wise, it doesn't give us *a lot*. It does give us some things, like adding character to deer and rocky (because they've been pretty neglected since introduction), and there is that one snippet of the Wisp and petro at the beginning. But like, the title of the episode seems off. Like the presentation first hand, and then the actual content don't line up, so I can only assume that the title and thumbnail are meant to foreshadow something bigger in ep 19 or 20.

My best prediction is that 19 is going to be Petro centric. And 20 is going to be the season finale with the honeybee festival, and some goes horribly wrong because of some sort of butterfly affect by Petro, kicking off season 2 with Alux having to now find out what's going on in cozen. (And of course the gang going along with him.)

[buzzybee26]

I've seen people saying that this season marks a transition from serious with silly elements to silly with serious elements (particularly after the 1st 2 eps) but now that we've had a lot more of the season, I think this is wrong. This season isn't silly with serious elements, it's a serious season wearing the mask of a silly season.

Spoilers under cut

Space Babies looks like it's just "lol babies running space station, lol snot monster, lol farting space ship" at face value, but there's a lot more to unpack from how The Doctor relates the Bogeyman and being the only one of his kind to the underlying themes of abortion legislation and honestly a lot more to unpack than I don't have the brain power to write rn.

Devil's Chord keeps the silly tone, but destroys the world and does some important foreshadowing about Ruby and The One Who Waits. This is the one that leans most into the silliness, but it has the stakes to work with this analysis.

The plot of Boom is "The Doctor steps on a glowy land mine" which is a hilarious sentence and the next time preview for it was absolutely left us with a lot of questions pertaining to how that was going to be a full episode, but it ended up being a thesis on how organised religion, capitalism and war are some of greatest threats to humanity and they all make each other worse. Boom is played straight for pretty much the whole episode, but it looks like a pretty silly premise before you watch it.

The 73 Yards next time preview, whilst creepy, made the episode look a lot cheesier than it ended up being and they ran with this until the reveal that the pub goers were just messing with Ruby, after which we don't get any more stuff like uncomfortable close ups or characters expositing about local folk lore. The horror b-movie is a lie.

And now Dot and Bubble. The brightest episode of the season has the darkest ending so far. At first glance it certainly looks a lot sillier than it is with its bug-eyed monsters and "phone bad" aesthetic. This episode is all about deception. Ricky lies about the home world, Lindy lies about Ricky being alive, but there's more. The residents of Fine Time get the lie of Fine Time. The whole thing is about them looking past a vale to see what's really going on around them. The Doctor and Ruby get the lie that they will save these people. They go in, they try to help and the get cooperation for a bit, but the rich kids' pride and prejudice stops them. We as the audience receive the lie that these characters could be saved in the first place. The episode sets itself up to have a hopeful ending where the rich kids start learning to improve themselves as people in a new home that the Doctor brought them to. We get so focused on that narrative structure that we don't step back and look at the bigger picture. These people think they're so amazing because they don't waste resources with their consumerism and they have followers and they're stuck in a n environment that affirms their egos yet they can't even walk without their bubbles and they mostly get annoyed when the disappearances get brought up. Their egos are so overinflated and they're so used to being in an environment where they can only talk to other people who think and act like them, of course they're not going with the Doctor. They'll use him as long as they think they need him but they refuse to accept that they can't do anything by themselves if they're not in absolute immediate danger because they think they're so amazing. This feels like it should have a somber ending where we mourn the losses and look to a brighter future in the moment because of the tone and structure, but take a step back from it and there was no other way it was going to end.

This whole season has been a tonal lie that's been breaking down as we go and I really hope they do something cool with that idea.

[chnt-confessions]

i think i'm the only person in the entire fandom that has any genuine empathy for elijah, and i'm stuck thinking there's something deeply wrong with me for that. i feel like quite a lot of people split black on him (and joshua) and then split white on jedidiah, and sydney. the ONLY two options are to dehumanize or objectify him. no hate to jedidiah-likers, but jedidiah is not a victim. he doesn't act entirely the way he does because of trauma, he acts that way because he implicitly looks down on sydney. what kind of man jeopardizes the entire world for a man that he let gravely sick in the first place, only to gaslight and neglect him?? all this because of mommy and daddy issues that, like, 70% of the population has?? i had to headcanon extra issues and trauma for him to just to keep myself sane. i don't mean to invalidate his trauma, but he has lived such a privileged life and can easily go to therapy and yet. i'm sorry but it's bojack-horseman levels of "how tf do you expect me to feel bad for you? lmao." like, i need him to get better because people will likely die if he gets any worse, but other than i couldn't care less about this guy. i'm way more sympathetic to sydney because he's trying his best but he seems to have an empathy deficiency of some kind (it's not his fault but it is painfully obvious sometimes and i wish i could fix him but i have to fix myself first because i also deal with this); i also relate to the "feeling unlovable" aspect of things.

we have only seen elijah at his worst. the elephant man is elijah "mental breakdown, 2 years and counting psychotic episode" core; did everyone just assume he was born like that? and if he was, that would also make me sad tbh. he had a similar upbringing to jedidiah and yet he does not show it at all and i'm wondering what tf was different. he also generally sucks at being a villain sometimes (i.e. telling sydney his weakness, letting sydney go back to jedidiah, reacting way better than most people would when sydney told him that he couldn't get the journals). when jedidiah says "sydney, you're always fine." vs when elijah says it; jedidiah said it to gaslight sydney and because he feels bitter about the fact he's working so hard to keep sydney alive and can't use it to manipulate him (i'm joking but i'm also not joking), while elijah was just being a little acolyte and also he's symbolically the earth, so when he says the earth will catch him when he falls, he is fr. idk what snapped in him with the murder-suicide thing but considering that he is the earth, and unfortunately due to sydney's weird little mind and jedidiah's horribleness, the earth is, like, post-apocalyptic now so it probably has something to do with that (idk why he switched from stabbing to burning alive; probably cuz of the theatrics/j). anyway, he does suck and he needs to go back to russia and never come back for everyone's good, but i really do think he would be better than jedidiah could ever be (yes, even with therapy; i'm literally speaking facts/hj) if "everyday [wasn't] a living fucking nightmare." and i'm constantly like "._." whenever i remember that jedidiah is the reason "everyday is a living fucking nightmare." also i really wanna see someone do elijah/the elephant man analysis/interpretation that doesn't reek of disgust and hatred (or lust; do whatever you want, but i'm judging you rn), just for variety tbh. here is his official playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/389N5sUULTXFC63I3CSn7c?si=756dacaa18cd491c some of the songs in here are, like, "???" and i want to see someone's else's take on them (even elijah haters tbh) sorry for the essay, that's all i wanted to say :)

also im so happy that i can say this anonymously, thank you chnt-confessions for doing god's work, i love you platonically <3

(ABOUT THE LAST PART) no need to apologize and I'm really glad to make you happy!!

[finnickyy]

//SPOILERS FOR BIGB'S SECRET LIFE EPISODE 1 (ALSO KINDA LIKE ANALYSIS AND THEORY)

(if i make any grammar mistakes or typos, please tell me. I am very tired rn and can't be bothered to reread it) If this doesn't make any sense, I'm sorry.

Why did Grian want to team with BigB in DL so badly? They're relationship in DoubleLife was mostly based around secrets (cuz like, it was an affair), but why? Because if we look at earlier seasons, I don't think they interacted a lot. I know BigB was in Evo as well, so that means they've been friends IRL for a while. But that doesn't really constitute much in game.

If we look at Grian and BigB's thumbnails, they both have the secret keeper. While Cleo and Pearl also have it as their's, it's different, they're looking AWAY from the secret keeper. It's not the main focus. It looks more like a normal thumbnail.

While Grian and BigB's is different. The secret keeper is the main focus.

In Grian's, he IS the secret keeper.

In BigB's, he is looking STRAIGHT AT IT.

Obviously the everything about BigB's task was different. The animation was Red and Black (Grian's Color Scheme) and it wasnt interaction based like the others. It was to dig a big hole. Why? I don't fucking know. But what's interesting to note was him after the task. It was fucking hilarious, sure, but why? There was no reason for him to gaslight people. He was finished with the task. So why did he still keep it a secret?

I think this might be connected to grian SOMEHOW?

BigB was looking straight at the Secret Keeper, while Grian was the secret keeper. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! I think this is connected to the secret relationship they had in DoubleLife.

Also interesting note: BigB was playing ominous music whenever he was at the secret keeper. So yeah, he def has SOME KIND of connection with it.

Check out this person's tweet aswell, cuz they made me notice the task being grian colors.

[fraudulent-cheese]

I'm rewatching pahkitew island for the first time it came out! I like it a lot more than i remember. Do you have any favorites from that season?? (Returning to fandom anon from before lol)

You're asking the person known for being a big Pahkitew Island defender if i have any favorites from that season?

I mean fair enough, i really don't talk enough about them!!! I actually like a bunch of the cast, but i'd say my favorites are Sugar, Max, Ella and maybe Dave? At the very least i find them funny, and if we're mostly just taking canon into consideration that's one of the best things you can be. Both Sugar and Max have great lines; Sugar being more mischievous was a fun change of pace for an antagonist in this show, while Max is a little overplayed but he's funny for most of his screentime. Ella's a nice presence all throughout and. Maybe a hot take? I liked Dave being pathetic in episode 9. Granted i think Sky should've shut him down earlier but it's due to an established flaw of hers + it's still really satisfying when it happends so. whatever. ignoring episode 13 real hard rn if you can't tell

The most compeling characters for me are definitely Scarlett, Ella, and Topher thanks to @/Tpher's analysis of him convincing me that his story's actually pretty good outside of him being funny! Ella's just a delight and i wish she'd made friends on the show, and while i wish Scarlett more nefarious intentions were made clear earlier, she's a pretty good antagonist and i find it fitting most of her ire was directed at both Chris (who's very involved this season huh) and Max (because yeah i find him funny but he was actively bothering her the entire time. she should've punched him i think)

Also! Haven't mentionned either of them yet! Jasmine and Shawn are good also! They just don't stand out much in my brain which is pretty sad because they're both interesting characters :p

[forkaround]

BL Fandom is QUEER

So, I wanna make my individual post about Playboyy too. Throw my hat in the mix.

For reference check out this and this post by @lurkingshan, @waitmyturtles, @technicallyverycowboy (I hope I've linked the first post right)

Strap up coz I don't think anyone is going to like what I have to say.

To the point of the first post:

Camp:

I can see Playboyy being Camp but it's not very good at that. Why am I saying this? Because without Den having tweeted it's Camp, I doubt anyone would be saying it's camp. In fact it's one of the first things you see when someone is saying Playboyy is Camp - that Den said it. If it was clear from the get go that clarification wouldn't have been necessary. I don't put any stock into what a writer tweets about. I only care what the show is telling me. And the show is saying 'I'm not very good at Camp'.

But I don't think this is a Cheewin problem. I don't think it has anything to do with his direction. Cheewin has produced stable pieces of work. SCOY, Bed Friend, SML, War of Y, etc. But then again, a director can't save a bad script.

As for the sex scenes I believe they are supposed to be like that. Mostly because the team can't quite figure out how to do underwear adverts.

Themes:

waitmyturtles has talked (In a diff post) about Playboyy working with Huge themes and I'd kindly disagree. Wealth Disparity has never been a new theme in Thai BLs. Though sex work is new, it's new only to BLs. What Playboyy is doing, the ground it's playing in, while it's revolutionary for inside the BL fandom, it's not particularly new outside of it. Why I bring it up? Because even then it's doing a bad job. They aren't reinventing the wheel and yet it's lacking.

I understand that this show is about sex work but I doubt it's target audience is sex workers only.

I think I've mentioned this before but if Playboyy just had a once over on the script I think it could do a better job to be a show. (No matter what genre or vibe you write, there are some basic elements to writing that are not being obeyed here, like characterization.) Den has been busy this last year, he had War of Y, Man Suang and Only Friends before this. All very heavy things. It's understandable that one can get tired. It would have been better if he has a second writer on this show especially since there are 16 episodes.

To the point of the second post:

I think even today BL fandom refuses to or at least often forgets that the people at the forefront of BL fandom, the people watching Playboyy and Last Twilight and Pit Babe and The Sign, are queer.

No one who is straight or doesn't like gay stuff is out here watching gay stuff. And no one who is watching Playboyy is here for a romance or 'chaste and tastefully abstract NC scenes'. We've all seen the trailer. We all know what's coming.

Playboyy can and should be compared to Only Friends because Den worked on both of them. We might as well compare Playboyy to War of Y (written by Den, directed by Cheewin) and Man Suang (co-written by Den). It's a fair comparison.

SandRay weren't a good couple. Neither are FirstSoong.

This show annoys me because it has potential. If it choose a thing to do it would have direction. But what it lacks is logic.

And yeah you can say camp =/= logic or whatever, but if I can disprove the claims this show makes with a single google search I think it deserves to be called out.

BL fandom is Queer but this show is Khichadi.

I might make a writing analysis of this show but I'm too sleepy rn. GN.

[welcometogrouchland]

luz noceda for the ask game

Anon you caught me right before I was Abt to go to sleep but I can't not do this. It's for my girl (feel free to send me more while I sleep btw these r fun)

favorite thing about them: LITERALLY WHERE DO I EVEN START. She's one of my top ten protagonists of all times. I love the lessons she learns, the way she learns them, I love watching her grow and struggle and thrive. I love her so so so much. To keep things simple(ish) I will say that my favorite thing about Luz (which I've mentioned once or twonce before) is that she's an objectively cringey, very ND coded kid who's still given the utmost love and respect from the narrative. She gets to be objectively fucking uncool and this story still loves her. And it's nice it makes me feel loved by proxy

least favorite thing about them: I mean, I'd say in season 1 it's the tendency to flatten the boiling isles and it's people into 2 dimensional tropes for easily comprehension, but that's also one of my favorite flaws of Luz and the narrative always makes an interesting point out of this attitude. Maybe it's the suicidal ideation bc it really scared me the first time I watched thanks to them. I knew nothing bad was gonna happen (within reason), this is Disney, but I was like DAMN THEY'RE GOING THERE!!!

favorite line: okay I actually cannot in good conscious choose one bc my friend once informed me that me and Luz just. Talk the same. Same silly idioms and phrases same whimsical expressions and syntax same humour, etc etc. It's a chicken egg situation and do not know who started it but I know that it's frighteningly accurate. So I'll just go for the safe classic "the only thing I've ever really wanted was to be understood" bc. Y'know. Best moment in the whole show and everything

brOTP: LUZ AND HUNTER DREAM TEAM I LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH!!!! OH MY GOD. Close second is Willow tho

OTP: you guys already know I'm here for lumity but I will let you guys in on the fact that when I first watched the show and was still on the early episodes of season 1 where Amity is a dick I was firmly on team willuz. I still love them <3

nOTP: Luz and Hunter. It's just really not for me, even if I can see why it appeals to others. I'm too attached to the familial reading of their dynamic and the doors that opens up analysis wise. Also my irl brother is a hunter kinnie and I just outlined my credentials for being a Luz kinnie so /j

random headcanon: she played guitar when she was younger! The one in the basement belonged to Manny and he'd sit her on his lap and show her simple chords and riffs. She got a ukulele so she could practice. Then when Manny died she fell off playing it bc it felt wrong doing it without him, even though she still played uke sometimes. She picks it back up though during the season 3 timeskip and post canon! Also she was born in New York and lived there til she was 2/3, at which point she moved around a few states until landing in Connecticut at the age we see in the thanks to them video diaries (I wanna say 7 or 8?)

unpopular opinion: I also think Luz gets characterized as more bitter/vengeful/surly than she really is, especially in fics set around season 3. She wants to be happy, to have fun with her friends, she just feels like doesn't deserve it. Also I low-key think Luz is like. A genius. Just in an unconventional way. She rediscovered a lost form of magic and then taught herself it all on her own. She probably struggles with long division but I mean it when I say she is literally a genius imo

song i associate with them: TOO MANY TO NAME MAN!!!! LITERALLY!!!!! The ones on my brain rn are sweet hibiscus tea by penelope scott, underground and life on mars by david bowie, people pleaser by yet to bloom, towards crescent park by bad moves and fine, great by modern baseball

favorite picture of them

Tie between the iconic "to be understood" frame (boarded by Emmie Cicierga) or like. Literally any Dana art of her but specifically the "see you in 2023" gif cycling through all of luzs most iconic fits. I love both of those sm

[algerian-lady]

It's funny to see iwtv trending again, it really takes me back, because that's what got me into the show to start with, some half year ago, I saw it trend on Tumblr and scrolled through posts for days until it hyped me enough to binge watch the two seasons in like 48h straight, I was like watch till morning, sleep shortly, go back to watching.

The show was unlike anything I've seen before, it was peak production, everything from the acting to the image, just everything was beautiful, I was obsessed but for some reason and because it was in a stressful time of my life, I kind of stopped fussing over it and completely tacked the memory of the show away for months on end.

But then smth (that I can't think of rn) kind of triggered that memory like a sleeper agent lol and I remembered I watched it (?) and was engrossed all over again, watching all the amvs, searching fanart, reading fanfics, rumbling to my sis nonstop, literally forcing her to watch an episode or 2, to watch the movie (which she preferred over the show for some reason, she doesn't find the show's actors to her taste which I found scandalous to say the least and yes my relationship is dub con with her when it comes to iwtv lol).

The funny thing is what made me go watch the series I didn't find while watching it myself, so it's better not to take other ppl's opinions before watching the series and just build your own opinion if you don't want the whiplash I got at my 1st watch. I short, i didn't think that any character was a good person at all, I was huddled up with Daniel glaring at everyone and everything and fearing for both our lives haha.

For example, the Fandom rn could make you enthusiastic to see loustat but then you watch and are completely horrified by what Ldpdl had to go through (and honestly while Loustat has it saving graces, rn rn if the show doesn't show progress, those aren't enough by themselves) like for the first season I was just like "run Lou! I'll hold him back just go! " and never trusted Lestat after that either, but yes ofc we need to see his pov but still.

Other relations aren't any better actually, they may feel off too so it's all uneasy, (like yay these two would be so cute together if we overlook the murder attempts yay) but I think that's the whole vibe the show is going for, nobody is 100% good or bad (differing degrees)and they have all done questionable things to each other, but here's where the Fandom is so fun, their analysis of each dynamic, reading between the lines, making parallels, pointing out the foreshadowing, it just makes you look at those different dynamics with a whole new eye.

Ps. Oh and minus Madeleine, their whole French was garbage I could barely get anything like literally lol, also appreciated the Algerians mention, thank you very much Daniel Molloy what would we do without you :'D (rant went offboards in the tags)

[cheswirls]

a:tla la thoughts 1.2

so i guess instead of a bucket list, aang's leaving it to zuko's notebook of info to guide their journey which really is different from the original and i'm not sure i like it. it seems more like a typical american drama plot segway instead of everything atla is. like uhhhh

atla was so meticulously crafted and everything had a thousand different meanings. it's why there's so many analysis videos nowadays on every possible angle in the show and why they're so long every time. the writing has been praised so highly and for good reason. changing elements just to change it and having them be less intentional and less meaningful than the original is not great and it reflects. like, using the notebook isn't a big deal, but at the same time, why couldn't they just have gone the bucket-list route? especially if it took up the same amount of time? now there's most definitely gonna be a long scene of zuko getting the notebook back instead of, like, something they could've fit in that they didn't.

the water scroll is fine. but if they're cutting the pirate episode, it makes me wonder how they'll handle certain things. the pirates come back later bc zhao hires them to blow zuko's ship up before heading to the north pole. iroh's white lotus tile is given attention in a way that's not in-your-face abt it's later importance. there are little things in each episode that come back later.

sokka saying momo would taste like chicken i get is a joke but it rly took me out of the moment. is there poultry in your ice village???? are there regular chickens like anywhere in your world???? afaik the only non-combined animal is bosco the bear and the main cast thought that was weird. the joke still could've been made while actually using an animal sokka would've eaten before and, y'know, exists in the atla universe. like why was that necessary. that line was really approved? no one questioned it all the way thru post? what?

okay after watching the whole thing :) it's ten minutes shorter than the first and i didn't like the writing but the acting was noticeably better. the director in charge of this one is clearly different bc no one is reading lines like they're reading lines. that being said, a lot of the dialogue itself is... not great. through the episode.

i think what i said abt episode 1 applies here too: i don't mind the changes, but i hate the additions. zhao being at kyoshi island is fine. maria zhang is super pretty and i love her as suki. but i don't like what they did with suki's character in this episode. the village being closed off and her mother being in charge and such like yeah it's a change but it's not bad?

what was bad was all the stuff with kyoshi herself. aang is only able to connect with past avatars at their shrines???? o.k. i didn't like any of kyoshi's dialogue. i really really hope that wasn't the spirit world her and aang were talking in bc 1) no explanation to a critical aspect of the atla universe and 2) it looks awful. the purple filter would be fine without the strange blur lighting effect that makes everything hard to look at. not to mention that if that rly was their attempt at the spirit world, it just looked bad bc i could tell that it was a plain regular forest they were standing in. it didn't look otherworldly at all, it jus looked like a poor attempt at a filter. when hei bai was introduced, the spirit world aang enters into is still the village, but we know it's not exactly because he's outside his body and he can't interact with anything in the physical world, which sets it apart even if it looks the same. i'll give it another chance but uh. not liking it rn.

also i rly don't like the direction they're taking the show in. so they're going to the north not to find aang a waterbending teacher but to stop some impending conflict he was given cryptic flashes of. getting a teacher is only a pro of going in the first place. which means it'll be a race to get there in time to stop whatever's coming instead of a journey, which imo sucks all the life out of the show. atla is supposed to be an adventure travel too, not just cut-and-dry solving the 100 year war.

i said earlier cutting the pirate episode is fine, but i did forget a key detail that they didn't add back in at all when showing katara practicing the forms in the scroll: she doesn't have her jealousy spat with aang. katara hasn't been immature at all so far, and i hope that changes bc it's such a key part of her character that she has to overcome and it rly shows how much she's grown through their journey around the world. aang's holdups abt practicing bending makes me think they're gonna cut out jeong jeong and aang being impatient to learn firebending which causes a world of conflict for him later on but is also a host of other things of importance that first get addressed - the first renegade firebender, katara's healing qualities, zhao's stubborn and head-first tendencies that cause problems later, and our first look at fire being not only destructive but an element that is full of life.

side nitpick but i liked sokka's outfit this episode (under his coat) but not katara's. idk if it's the pants on sokka's that sets his apart, but katara's looks too new. it's not worn at all, it's a lot more complicated than her outfit in the original show (which i get cartoons are simplified, but realistically, it rly does separate the two later on from the prestige of the north and the northern water tribe's people) and it looks out of place in some parts bc it doesn't seem authentic. like, it looks like fake material. if that makes sense? it needs to be rougher.

i hope they show roku at some point bc it seems like we're hauling it to the north so i wonder if they'll do the winter solstice stuff at all.

speaking of the writing tho! i finally know what's off about iroh. it's not paul and it's not his look or his voice or his mannerisms. it's all his speaking lines. some of them are not good. most of them are passable, i guess? none of them are iroh, though. it doesn't feel like things iroh would say. two full episodes in, and iroh hasn't said anything thought-provoking or even that would be deemed wise at all.

the sets are stunning still and the choreography is good, so again, it's really the writing direction that i have the biggest problem with. like, it's so easy to tell that bryke left early into production and that the letflix adaptation doesn't have the writer's room that the original atla did. the changes (mostly) would be fine on their own, but i feel like it's people getting in over their heads and deciding they want to add so much content that is ruining this adaptation for me.

also for a whole entire episode spent on kyoshi island, they sure didn't meld any other stuff into it as much as i thought they should've. and idk that i like the direction they're going with zhao.

omashu and haru's village are supposed to be stops before the winter solstice stuff, so i'm hoping they're done right if done in the same episode (hopefully not concurrently but they can share run time perhaps?)

real quick list of things i hope are given focus and not written out

katara's mother's necklace

the structure of omashu not being a flat city

katara getting haru caught by trying to help someone and this coming back to bite them in the ass

^ despite this, katara again trying to help someone to make up for her mistake (in a way that shows her resilience and compassion)

some nod to momo earthbending would be cool bc to me that is one of the funniest moments in atla s1

i want bumi to be silly goofy and trap katara an sokka in rock candy bc that was visually cool in the cartoon and i'd love to see it in live action cgi

bumi having aang guess his name and figure out for himself who the king really is :)

[alien-girl-21]

this probably wont make sense esp. since im talking as someone whose only seen k5 and mostly through translations lol but it's like- k!Luzu hurts to watch because he's both doomed by fate and his own hands- mostly fate in k4 it seems but like that leads into him being set up to fail in k5 because he doesn't remember the full context of what happened to him in k4 so he ends up screwing over himself and his best friend- but also it's like- he could've stopped, he could've trusted Quackity to handle the mayoral position and respected him instead of acting behind his back, he could've supported his friend and tried protecting him without hurting him even if that felt riskier, he could've accepted that he fucked up and admitted to committing fraud, he could've resigned as mayor- when he's shown the video of all of his and Quackity's moments together it hurts but he still decides to keep going- but then again why would he back down when as far as his memories could tell him the pain he inflicted on Q seemed like a lesser evil then letting him become mayor even if it meant breaking their friendship and overtime his priority shifts from protecting Quackity from Karmaland to protecting Karmaland from Quackity and so he can't just give up now but-he doesn't realize or maybe just doesn't want to acknowledge that things at that it turned out this way because he betrayed him in the first place- that the fraud and everything that follows was all for nothing now. And the longer he keeps going the worse the war gets, but the worse it gets the more like Luzu feels like he's in the right for staying as mayor for the greater good even if it hurts- having strayed so far from why he even ended up here in the first place and like- BASICALLY It's like he was set up to fail from the start but he could've stopped but then again why would he at any point- his unhappiness in k5 is both his fault and not his fault like- omg I didn't mean to ramble this much I've just been thinking about k!Luzu a lot lately and it's driving me a little nuts this ended up longer then I wanted it to 😵‍💫 I wish I knew more Spanish to do a proper analysis on him (and the revolution arc in general) because his character is really awesome- I hope this was alright, I like talking about k!Luzu but the language barrier always makes me feel nervous to do so LOL (Also I just want to clarify I'm not like absolving k!Quackity of any blame here because uh he did a LOT of fucked up shit and I share a lot of general sentiments that I brought up here with Luzu with him- like they're both were screwed by shit out of their control but also like neither are totally blameless for their suffering- I have a LOT of thoughts about k!Q too, but I just felt like focusing on Luzu's side of the story rn because of the k4 posts lol and this ask is long enough 😵‍💫)

I accidentally wrote way too much, dorry

K!luzu is soo tragic once you start thinking about it ngl

Since karmaland 4 he did nothing but help people. Someone needed food? He was giving them as much food as he had. Vegetta wated to tame a cat but didn’t have meat? Don’t worry, luzu will let himself be stabbed so vegetta can have his cat, and so on and so forth, He has the biggest heart during the beginning of the series, not only for the heroes, but for karmaland as a whole. Hell, I mean, his house got blown up like 3 times in one day and he didn’t even bat an eye and forgave the people that put the mines there, even if he lost his pig, Manolo, for a while during the commotion.

He said that he wants to be positive and help everyone else in karmaland. He loves doing good things for his friends, he has an entire episode dedicated to cooking his friends�� favorite foods! And when rubius told him it was part of his electoral campaign he said that no, it was because he loved his friends.

I guess one of the most tragic things looking into k4 after knowing what happens after the elections and everything that goes on in kv are his interactions with the hermandad oscura and his first therapy session with auron. Since the hermandad oscura was formed, they have been trying to get luzu to their side, they have blown up his house, stole his pig, and made him steal so they could give him Manolo back. Thing is, luzu never acts exactly how they want him to. They blow up his house? Oh well, he’ll patch it up. They steal Manolo and ask for ransom that has to be stolen? He’ll just put a lot of signs saying he’s sorry in the most nervous way possible while taking one diamond out of fargan’s chest. It’s impossible to make him do evil in one way or another, and they are tired of it.

When they give him Manolo back, they say: “we have seen there is darkness inside you (…) someday, you’ll know more” which he does have, he has that darkness inside him, and it comes out after the election, and it goes full blast in kv. But they try once again, to get him to their side 2 episodes later, when they swap the fake Manolo for the real manolo:

Luzu: there’s no bad blood (between us) after this mishap. But I think we could make a deal because of this. Hermandad oscura: We’re going to do something we normally don’t do, Luzu. There is evil inside you. L: (snorts) okay? HO: We’re granting you a pact. You can do one evil thing. L: You mean I have to do something evil? HO: No, you can tell us we can do something evil, and we will do it. L: This is a lot of power; I have never thought of something like that. HO: The consequences will be yours. L: Okay, so you will be the instrument for whatever evil I want you to do? HO: Exactly. L: Can I say it now? Because I have an idea. HO: Yes. L: Well, I don’t know if you know, but there’s a new Karmaland member (…) There’s a new member in Karmaland, Auronplay, he just started, and I think it would be funny —I don’t want you to hurt him— I want you to do something to entertain him, to welcome him to Karmaland like the rest of us. I think it would be funny for you to block his house and make a treasure hunt to find something, with different tramps, so he has to fight for his life… what do you think? HO: It’s a good idea, but it’s your idea. Everything that happens now is your fault. L: Okay, but don’t kill him, if he dies make sure it’s his fault, not yours– mine.

So, the hermandad oscura does as Luzu tells them, and auron has to do his little quest for some items that the hermandad oscura put in a chest with a code lock in, and every single sign left blames luzu for what happened. But they end up making up after it, so it’s like nothing ever happened in the first place. No matter what they do until before the elections, it doesn’t work.

Then, during his first session with auron as his therapist, they have many moments that just punch you in the face.

Auron: I’ve heard you are a very kind-hearted person, that you are one of the few that enters conflicts and is always smiling (…) that’s what they say, that’s why I’m asking, why are you here?

Luzu: I don’t know if you’re heard, but there’s going to be elections in Karmaland for being the mayor (…) the elections are coming up, and I’ve been feeling this pressure that grows, that I didn’t realize before (…) you know I’ve been preparing my campaign and some friends have betrayed me during this (…) I think that (everyone should have) free choice, you know? Everyone has to be the person they want, but of course, I think: what did I do wrong? What did I do? Because, of course, I made my friend react that way, so I don’t know what I did wrong and I want support so I know how to take this campaign. And if I become mayor, it’s because of you helping me with the pressure…

So yeah, he wants to be mayor, but he feels the pressure, and it’s even more when mangel, who was meant to be the creative director of the campaign, decided to form his own political party. And then you look at luzu in kv, he’s constantly saying to quackity that he shouldn’t mess around in politics, that it’s not worth it. Which I think lines in with what auron says next:

“This is a tricky subject, my father always used to say: ‘never talk about football and politics on the dinner table’. I have to say politics creates many betrayals, many enemies, it’s tricky, and you knew what you were getting into”

What does luzu say to quackity whenever he brought up running for mayor? That it’ll destroy his life, that it’s not worth it. In kv luzu accidentally became auron, he did not only become the therapist of karmaland, but he was saying stuff that auron had once told him to quackity, the naïve kid with a dream (in luzu’s eyes).

Luzu was betrayed, someone decided to step up last second in the election and run along-side luzu, his friends voted for them; his friend left him behind for the other guy because he had power. Luzu was failed by everyone he knew and he fucking snapped. He had flashbacks to this in kv, and that’s why he repeated his own history, to save quackity from what he thought was going to be a fate worse than dying.

Luzu is just surrounded by a narrative that’s always against him. He tries to do good; he tries to be positive, he tries for people to like him, see him as a friend. But it always fails, people think he’s the hermandad oscura, no way a guy is so nice just because; he gets betrayed in the thing that meant the most to him because of the need of power. But he still does good, I mean, if it wasn’t for him the members of kv could have never gone back to k4. Even in kv, if he didn’t trust anyone, he still helped them out, he was still there in all the events being friends with everyone.

Mucho texto, so I will finish with: tl;dr: k!luzu is doomed by the narrative and the narrative lets you know like it’s a slap on the face and I think cc!luzu should be praised more for his storytelling skills <3

[hellonoblesky]

hi dovie im writing that fanfic where albatross sneaks into soukokus bed. i need to know what his terrors would be about (im giving you a "PLEASE GIVE ME A CHARACTER ANALYSIS IM BEGGING YOU" look rn btw)

LOVe. LOVELOVE LVOE PEACE AND LOVE MWAH MWAH

SO. So. In the Trainwreck Trio au Albatross is the sole survivor of Verlaine's killing of the Flags, yeah? So he has nightmares n stuff from That alongside survivor's guilt, and a feeling of inadequacy because he couldn't save Doc who was the one person he really did think he saved there, and also bc they teased him for not being very smart all the time so he's like "AUGH why do I get to survive but all the smarter people died?? I'm not worth this, god DAMMIT" <- Which feeds into his nightmares and terrors, really sending him into a silly doom spiral of The Horrors

BUT ALSO the only reason Albatross even SURVIVES Verlaine's onslaught is that in this au Wollstonecraft was on standby for repairs for Adam, so Adam calls her and is like "HEY I THINK VERLAINE JSUT FUCKING MAIMED ALL OF CHUUYAS FRIENDS GO?? CHECK ON THEM PLEASE AND THANK YOU" so she goes in there with a team and they re-stabilize Albatross literally by having to move the majority of his organs and internal functioning system into a metal vessel and then working circutry and robotics through him so he's functional enough to pass as a normal person (given that no one pays attention to or makes contact to any part of him lower than his chest because it is Metal you knock on that man's stomach you hear Clanging)

^ This is important because alongside the Terrors and Horrors of watching pretty much his entire found family get torn apart right in front of him, Albatross begins a spiral into a state of questioning his personal humanity, the thought of "I should be dead I should be dead I'm not dead because of these machines in me I'm part of a machine now am I a Person anymore??"

Which feeds into a self-isolation that was originally fueled by his survivor's guilt and probably PTSD, because now he's like "Oh. oh those are normal people I don't think i. i deserve that. ok. hm. ok i'm leaving now."

AND TO HIM. TO HIM?? CHUUYA AND DAZAI BOTH FALL UNDER THE CATEGORY OF HUMAN. HE LOOKS AT THEM AND HE'S LIKE "Yeah... there they are,,, just normal guys..... not exactly the normallest of guys but they're more people than I am i think,,"

So, you remember that one post about dead albatross symbolysm? The kin awakening one? Yeah so the frantic sobbing-so-hard-he-can't-breath breakdown I mentioned he probably had at the end of that? That's like, within the AU timeline, so it's like

>SB Events >The Horrors (Self-Isolation Version) >Breakdown/Tipping Point (Catalyst for him being able to Begin to return to regularly interacting with people, starting w Chuuya) >The Horrors Pt2 (Adjusting to everything) <- This is the stage where the drawing I did takes place in! He's too unstable to just be able to Ask to stay over but he figures if he can Sneak in then it's fine >Dark Era (He's a lot better at this point but also he has an episode about Dazai leaving because Losing People Doesn't Go Over Well With Him) >Current day (Epic Gamer moment)

ANYWAY so the Terrors and Horrors you want to go for for ur fic are probably feelings of like. Feeling lost and struggling to find closeness but also being so close and Needing that closeness to someone, an unhealthy dose of anxiety but specifically the anxiety you feel when it's mixed with depression so it's anxiety but somehow?? Slower. Like it's definitely Anxiety but mixing it with Depression made it's constancy thicker so it's less a "fidget nervous gotta run gotta go fear fear fear" feeling and more of a "the swamp is swallowing me and the branch is just out of reach but if i can just move a little to the side here jsut a little", if that ??? Makes sense??

TL:DR: Survivor's guilt and a feeling of displacement. Horrors and terrors of the Depression stage of grief mixed with Anxiety

AND if you have other questions I can answer them :)!!!!!!!<333

[commajade]

i literally can't express how much key is actually at the top of the variety world rn his episode of i live alone where he visits his hometown was picked as the audience's choice for this television trends analysis program and they talk about what they think made ppl like it so much!

they talk about how key's hometown and friends from home is a part of himself he's never showed at all on broadcast and it's a staple of i live alone arcs that tend to be well received every time. he had very high viewership for this episode and they said it was very relatable to ppl who moved from their hometowns to seoul and that it was v fresh and emotionally touching, that there was something inherently moving about seeing him reminisce about his childhood before becoming an idol with his high school friends drinking soju and eating together. i can't find the full youtube clip rip i wonder if they said anything else!

it's rly funny cuz my mom thought the episode was boring for the same reasons everyone else liked it. kibum's concept for the episode was completely showing himself as a normal person, he's done with his promotions and his hair is black again and he's wearing very normal clothes and my mom was disappointed he looked so normal, she said "key should look like key!" meaning vibrant and high energy and glowing with star power. he styled himself to look like any other person who works in seoul and returns home for a weekend, that feeling of completely unwinding and returning to ur original self, getting ur accent back and being in the places u used to be and with the ppl who knew u first, escaping capitalist hell and going to somewhere a little softer and slower for a while. my mom is from seoul and moved to suburban california so she does not relate to that at all.

[underestimated-heroine]

I wish I'd taken a screenshot, but i saw a take recently about the episode where Aang and Zuko both learn about the shared history between Avatar Roku and Lord Sozin. The user basically thought that the point of the episode was that Zuko, like Aang, came from a lineage which meant he was capable of doing good. Like, they thought the point was, "the capacity to do good is inherited" and criticized the episode on the basis of that interpretation by pointing out that Azula was also descended from Roku. They brought some other points up I can't remember (if I find it I'll add it here without, like, calling people out) but their whole assertion was that the episode was flimsy and weak because of this.

To me it's pretty obvious that applying the "misplaced Good Dynasty descendent" narrative to ANY character in ATLA (as it applied to the character Harry Potter tbh...) is ridiculous. Aang even explicitly states the whole point of the episode:

If anything, their story proves anyone's capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation, have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance.

The user backed up their argument with the fact that Iroh revealed Zuko's relation to both Avatar Roku and Firelord Sozin at the episode's climax. But obviously, the reason Uncle Iroh did that was because blood relations were destiny to a still-lost Zuko, at the time. Iroh revealed Zuko's entire ancestry to make him face the reality that--even accepting the belief "blood is destiny"--nothing is so clear-cut. "Human beings are subject to their circumstances yet also capable of shaping a better future," is ATLA's most integral theme, imo.

Another, more controversial example of what I'm talking about is those (MANY, LOUD) people who say "Katara was right" when they cite the "Not-As-Much-Of-A-Jerk-As-You-Could-Have-Been award!" rant. People laud it as, like, a valid personal and cultural philosophy rather than as an understandable rant or a mood.

This is both wrong and pretty ironic, to me. Toph called her out for being short-sighted and selfish right after this rant. She was able to be practical and realistic about their goals, the greater good, and the fact that people can redeem themselves while Katara was blinded by a personal grudge to the point that she blamed Zuko for crimes he did not commit and had even been done to him. Her grudge earned an entire episode.

The fact that people think this show should've been more retributive and mercilessly punitive in regards to its morals is ludicrous to me. From every perspective. When you point out that Katara wasn't thinking of the greater good when she stood against Zuko joining the group, people want to say, "oh, so oppressed people should be obligated to forgive their oppressors and victims should 'give their abusers another chance', that's what you think the show was saying?!" like Katara and Zuko weren't fictional characters and characters aren't larger than life and like characters' actions aren't symbolic. Or like ATLA was a model for how every imperialistic 15-year-old socially awkward goth who's done fucked up things should be dealt with.

It's childish. It's a childish analysis of the story and it's a childish set of ethics in general. It's the perspective of someone who's taken a black-and-white view of morality and--by extension--the worth, potential, and capability of human beings both individually and collectively.

These are just 2 examples I thought of quickly. I see stuff like this all the time. I likened these kind of takes to "H*rry Potter Morals" because I feel that a lot of these interpretations of ATLA boil down morality & ethics in a way that's comparably simple and selfish to JK R*wling's bullshit takes on Right and Wrong.

I would bring up the Big Controversy with ATLA, too, but for rn I don't feel like getting into it. One day I'll make a post about it. Sorry this wound up being so long and thanks for asking!

Watching people interpret Avatar: the Last Airbender in the most childish, "H*rry Potter Morals" way possible is the greatest injustice I frequently suffer on this website