#i typed cour four at first lol

[alectoperdita]

can i recommend that you watch the witch and the beast anime? it’s enjoyable, even though the plot is very emoji shrug. the main characters carried me through until episode 4 when new characters showed up and became fodder for my kaijou dreams. the show gets better, if that helps you get through the first couple of eps lol.

I will say the anime wears its influences in the open (I see you there, Hellsing teeth shots). As for the plot, this is some old-school episodic storytelling. I'm sure the plot will pick up toward the end of the cour as these types of animes often do. I admit I'm lukewarm to Ashaf and Guideau thus far. They're both at least pretty to look out. It does feel like the first episode was misleading because I was expecting much more of buff Guideau smashing witches.

But I'm on episode four now! Phanora and Johan have shown up so 👀. And it's just turned into a zombie flick hahah.

"Johan handles all the manual labor."

RIP to Johan/Jou.

They're really just going to keep having their convo as Johan is forced to handle the entire horde by himself.

"Well done, Johan. You looked very dashing."

Oh he's so whipped.

Nooo!!! Johan!!!

I'm glad episode 5 is already out. 😭

Literally waited all episode for Johan to come back! I'm glad to see they are mutually possessive. 😈

[astarlightmonbebe]

in the shadow of a flame: book i recap

in honor of me finally finished chapter eight, aka the first chapter of the earth arc, i figured i would summarize what happened in book one: spirits, since it’s been almost two months since i last updated. 

anyways! if you haven’t yet read in the shadow of a flame, please check it out on ao3 - and please, don’t venture past the general premise.

the premise: an atla swap! au where ty lee is the avatar, and the rest of the fire nation gang ft yue are her partners in crime, i mean, traveling and training. our story begins with zuko on year three of his banishment, traveling near the southern pole on the wani. zuko is a nonbender, and is accompanied by his younger sister, azula, who is a master firebender and has been journeying with him for the past year. they are respectively 16 and 15. 

book one: spirits [ spoilers past this point! ]

( i ) an iceberg washes up on the wani during a storm. azula cracks it open with lightning to reveal ty lee and a sky bison (moshi). upon quickly figuring out she must be the avatar, azula and zuko discuss their plans, and decide to, instead of turning her in, they will accompany her and overthrow their father (fun and games! fathers, love your children or they will plot your murder). 

ty lee wakes up, finds out she’s been gone for a 100 years, and about the genocide. zhao’s ship comes, and he attempts to co opt their crew for the northern water tribe invasion. zuko refuses, and azula challenges zhao to an angi kai, which she wins. 

they depart from the wani and decide to journey to the northern water tribe so that ty lee can learn waterbending.

( ii ) they stop at the southern air temple and ty lee is confronted with the truth of the genocide of the air nomads/airbenders. she enters the avatar state, which azula manages to knock her out of, and there is a confrontation between her and the two fire nation siblings.

ty lee has her first firebending lesson with azula, where they deal with some emotions.

( iii ) they stop at an island for a night, where they get kidnapped by the kyoshi warriors. ty lee proves she’s the avatar, visits kyoshi’s temple, and has a visit with kyoshi’s spirit. kyoshi tells her to go to roku’s island.

however, zhao has been tailing them, and he attacks kyoshi island. ty lee connects with the unagi, but they still have to flee. 

( iv ) the gang visits roku’s island and discovers the dragons, who invite the three of them (yes, including zuko) to dance with them. azula and ty lee have firebending breakthroughs. 

ty lee visits with roku’s spirit and learns about her connection to the fire nation siblings. she continues to have a moral crisis about killing the fire lord.

zhao firebombs the island and they have to fly away on moshi again.

( v ) they stop at a neutral seaside town for supplies, but ty lee gets enticed by a merchant who promises rare artifacts, leading them right into a pirate’s lair. they get in a fair amount of trouble when ty lee tries to steal, but manage to get out before getting entirely kidnapped.

while running away from the pirates & having an argument, they have a run in with the yuu yan archers, who zhao has taken temporary control of. ty lee allows herself to be captured in a vain attempt to protect zuko and azula, leading to zuko dressing up as the blue spirit to go and rescue her. he manages to escape with ty lee, but not without getting nailed with an arrow in the shoulder (rip to zuko and his injuries). 

( vi ) when they stop in a small town, zuko gets his wound treated by a fortune teller’s apprentice (song), while azula and ty lee get some ominous fortunes from the teller. azula realizes the volcano is going to erupt, but due to the villagers not believing them, she and ty lee lavabend the volcano and have some tyzula feels.

they arrive at the north pole, where they are introduced to yue, who is a healer in training. ty lee starts to learn from pakku, and is frustrated with his misogyny, while azula is frustrated that ty lee has stopped learning firebending (for the time being) and lashes out. 

yue and zuko are kind of becoming friends, only for the fire nation to swim up.

( vii ) with the northern water tribe under seige, our core four hurry to reunite. yue leads them to the spirit oasis in the hopes that ty lee will make a spiritual breakthrough. she communes with la.

zhao sneaks into the spirit oasis and stabs azula, disrupting ty lee just as she begins to connect with la. yue, in a last ditch effort, gives her life force back to tui and kind of snaps, and ty lee is able to connect with la and push back the fire nation ships. 

tui relinquishes yue’s body, but remains in her soul, as yue is her mortal champion. pakku gives zuko spirit water for azula, and they take yue with them on moshi, knowing the water tribe will ultimately fall in a few days. azula is rejuvenated. 

in ba sing se, an unidentified man receives a missive telling him that the northern water tribe has fallen and it is time to take down ba sing se. the man is iroh, though this is only implied.

and that’s that! please check out the new chapter :)