#i'm not even good with the lore the blog exists because i was trying to pressure myself into actually reading the stories.

[thrilling-oneway]

man who the fuck let me be mod project-sekai-facts i'm not even a vocaloid fan

[causalitylinked]

You are valuable, you matter. Everyone has days that are hard, or even months or years, but things will get better. This message is to remind you that you are worthwhile and you are remarkable and capable. Remember that you have made it through much more than you thought you could. Pass this message on to ten followers to help them, too!

            unprompted asks. » always accepting!

( AHHH, LEVI... ngl, i'm honestly surprised you sent this to me when we haven't even interacted all that much yet, but as someone who rarely receives engagement from her mutuals while constantly dealing with assholes and being let down by very flaky partners, this message really means a lot to me? like, i'm aware it's a chainmail copypasta you probably didn't put that much thought into sending, yet at the same time, those last few days have been really hard on me. why, not only did i have to cope with the fact those i used to be friends with recently decided to get into my special interest they had hypocritcally once shunned me for being 'too into' a year ago, i also learned i was softblocked by a former inactive mutual for seemingly no reason despite the fact i actually bothered replying back to them, ic and ooc-wise?? honestly, 2022 had been a very trying year for me in general, and not even three months into 2023, i'm already tired, because it's like i just can't catch a break or hold onto partners, judging from how they would either deactivate, become inactive, softblock me, or retire from the rping scene altogether. seriously, despite being very consistent when it comes to replying, i have the worst luck imaginable when it comes to partners for some reason? to make matters worse, i often feel invisible on the dash, to the point where i'm constantly questioning myself... so thank you for once again reminding me that i actually matter and that my writing/portrayals aren't as bad as i believe them to be! )

@devildukem

[seyaryminamoto]

Azula's most overlooked characterization element

Why, hello there.

It is I.

And I'm back on my bullshit.

I didn't WANT to be. But a bunch of factors pulled me back in.

For the record: I'm not here to start any fights or light the fuse of arguments that I most likely won't have time or interest in responding to. What I AM here for... is to prove that there's something out there a bunch of people are delighted to sleep on because acknowledging it would render maaaany simplistic interpretations entirely invalid...

That group of people includes the fandom, of course. And the original show's staff. And the liveaction's staff, to a fault. Surely the TTRPG ones too. And absolutely, the comic book writers.

Hell, I'll even include MYSELF in that group, even though I'm making this post right now.

I found it really curious that I very recently saw this element mentioned in a pretty neat blog I follow, @atla-lore-archive, I absolutely advise anyone who hasn't checked out said archive to do it if you wish to understand a lot of the "extra lore" the fandom had access to, back in the old days when the turbonick ATLA site still existed and used to be the only source of deeper knowledge about the fandom besides the occasional interview that most people didn't even know where to track down.

But the funny thing is that the post I'm talking about proved that even Turbonick forgot about the people this post is about :')

And that would beeeeeeee...

*cue drumroll*

Lo and Li!

What makes Lo and Li an important subject to discuss?

Why, a lot of things. Among them, the fact that almost nobody brings them into the core focus of any analysis made about Azula's character. I've personally mentioned them once or twice I believe, mostly as negatives, there's but ONE positive aspect I've ever found of them: them being non-benders MIGHT be a reason why Azula isn't shown as being quite so obsessive with firebending supremacy as Zuko was supposed to be.

But that's very much the sole good thing I can think to say about them and it's completely subjective, as good as a headcanon, because we don't even KNOW if they influenced Azula in that sense!

Why do they seem to get overlooked quite as much? Why... let's start thinking about it, shall we?

Lo and Li are Azula's firebending teachers. As far as anyone can tell, they're also her advisors. These two people should be an essential part of Azula's life... but ironically, we seldom see them with her. Most times, Azula isn't around these two. Whenever she is? It doesn't usually look like she's having a good time.

And that's no surprise, considering her first scene with those two very much puts forward a dynamic of cold distance between Azula and her mentors: Azula is bending LIGHTNING. We have not heard of other lightningbenders until that point, and once the full show wraps up, there's only THREE (Azula, Ozai, Iroh). Out of those three? Only one is a fourteen-year-old girl. It's very easy to assume Azula's lightning is actually a skill she mastered unusually early in life, perhaps relatively recently, hence the practicing... but she's pulling it off. She's succeeding. She's doing something that genuinely catches a first-time viewer off-guard!

And Lo and Li's entire opinion of what she did is: "Almost perfect. One hair out of place."

This tells you the Fire Nation's idea of "imperfection" is... insane. Strict. Imposing. Unyielding. Unforgiving. Azula's reaction isn't to get angry at Lo and Li for saying what they did: it's to get angry at herself and try again.

But... that's not the only instance where we see Azula getting angry around Lo and Li.

The next few times Azula is around them, she doesn't seem to have much of an emotional reaction (one is when they tell her to find other allies, the other when they herald her as a great hero who returned home from Ba Sing Se). In the second of these scenes, Lo and Li are praising Azula as incredible, beautiful, all sorts of grand things...! And Azula smiles. She smiles at the crowd. She's not smiling at the old ladies who are praising her... she's mostly just happy to know her people are welcoming her as a hero indeed! Most the fandom would go "true! what an ungrateful bitch! She should've been happy that Lo and Li complimented her that way!!" Me? I wouldn't say that at all. Not just because I love Azula to pieces? But because the only information we have of Azula's dynamics with these two... doesn't seem compatible with the idea that what Lo and Li are saying here is for AZULA'S benefit.

Anyone who's had a hypocritical parent/caretaker/teacher must have endured awkward, horrible, unpleasant moments where this adult figure treats you like shit in private but in public holds you as this grand example, and a perfect child, and they never seem to stop saying they're soooo proud of you even though you NEVER felt that what they're saying is true. Maybe the first few times, you're naive enough to believe it. By the tenth time of incongruent messages? You start to realize they're talking you up as a way to make themselves look better. They're trying to show they're doing their job at raising you/training you, be it whatever it may. The praises are not FOR you... they're for a third person to hear and think "Oh, this adult's so cool, saying nice things about this kid they're responsible for! Nice!"

... You're starting to get the picture now, I'm sure.

Lo and Li reappear in the Beach. Azula is notably chill, enjoying the ride, talking casually with Ty Lee, telling Zuko to lighten up and to stop taking Ozai's choices personally, right? She seems... content. Relaxed.

Then, everything changed when Lo and Li attacked.

We don't even see why Azula is making this face at first. But she does it AT ONCE when their ship reaches the dock.

Who is there indeed...?

The stars of our post! :') if it isn't our elderly twin ladies... who brought Azula to a very disappoting beach house. And when Azula sees the house in question, she makes THIS face.

Judge however you may... even Ty Lee is weirded out by the beach house, going by that expression. Zuko and Mai aren't impressed either. But Azula? The look on her face isn't merely disappointment if you ask me... part of it looks a bit like embarrassment too? This isn't at all what she was expecting when she arrived (she has her old beach house for standards, which makes this extra underwhelming, I'm sure). She counts on Lo and Li to provide them with a place to stay, it goes implicit... and then this is what they do. It most likely isn't what she promised the other three in terms of where they'd stay, hence, I'd dare say there's a component of embarrassment here.

Shortly afterwards, we have our well known scene with Azula being utterly unconcerned with Lo and Li's apparent wisdom to the point of yawning over it. This, too, tells you she's just not interested in whatever those two have to say or bring to the table. Then, they show up again at mealtime and I think Azula just ignores them the whole scene.

After this? Lo and Li vanish until the finale. And what do they do in the finale? Why... it's the first time anyone expresses a verbal concern over Azula's wellbeing! Ah! A sign that Lo and Li have SOME affection for Azula! This time, you pesky Azula fans, you CAN'T twist this into a bad thing! For sure!

... Can't we, tho? :')

What IS Azula's reaction to: "We are concerned for your wellbeing"?

"My father asked you to come here and talk to me, didn't he‌? He thinks I can't handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord. But I will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history."

And here, my friends, is when we have finally hit the jackpot.

Lo and Li could have been Azula's Irohs. She could've had TWO of him! Then you'd say: "hey! Ozai is such a dick he let Azula have two elderly wise ladies guiding her but only gave one old wise dude to Zuko! Rude!" and it would be further proof of Ozai's favoritism of Azula, right?

... But actually?

Lo and Li are no such thing. Lo and Li aren't moral compasses for Azula in the least. Lo and Li are not beacons of wisdom that genuinely help her sort her way through life. Worth noting: THEY COULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN THAT WAY. They're not. They're not part of mysterious secret societies, they don't help Azula in any objective, significant, tangible way... there's very much nothing to say they EVER fulfilled the role Iroh did for Zuko. What role, then, were they fulfilling instead?

Why... I think we ought to listen to Azula, shouldn't we?

My take: Lo and Li are OZAI'S STAND-INS.

Someone's going to say "hey why would you assume that when Azula said this in the middle of a breakdown?? Surely she was just DELUSIONAL and PARANOID and ashdgkadhsgkjgh...!"

... Let me counter that one with a fun little analysis excercise:

WHY are Lo and Li Azula's firebending teachers and advisors?

The finale very directly tells us these two are not benders. We could've assumed they were! They're not: Azula's teachers are non-benders.

Has a single person out there ever asked themselves WHY this is the case?

How the hell is Azula, prodigy of the blue fire, epic lightning, cruel and powerful and precise and deadly bending... training under two elderly nonbenders?

Bringing this to a real-life example: do you remember what it was like when you were in P.E. classes and your teacher told you to spend 20 minutes jogging, and if you ever stopped you had to do 20 crunches and then get back to the jogging, and every time you stopped he'd tell you the same thing and you'd want that guy to vanish from the face of the planet? I don't know if that was only my experience, but I rather doubt it.

What did kids typically think/say when that happened?

"I wanna see that old fart doing the same shit he's making us do..."

It's a headcanon indeed to say that this is how Azula must have felt over Lo and Li, but it's VERY likely to be the case. But I'd dare say, in Azula's case, it's even worse because, to put it in another way? It's like taking programming lessons from someone who's never learned a programming language. They'll tell you you're getting things wrong without knowing how to help you get them right because they just DON'T KNOW what you're doing, and are outright INCAPABLE of what you're trying to achieve. They can't offer good guidance based on experience because they have ZERO experience on that subject! And yet they want PERFECTION from you! They expect it!

Lo and Li are these teachers for Azula. We only see them in one scene? And yet everything in the rest of the show suggests that they bring nothing important to the table for Azula, be it professionally, be it personally, be it emotionally... not in any aspect of life.

And this, if you ask me, is why the OG show barely ever brings them into scenes. Why the comics flat-out forgot they existed and even featured people like Sozin and Azulon in Azula's beach hallucinations but NOT the two ladies who looked after her and trained her. Why the live-action didn't even FEATURE them.

And us? The fandom? The fic writers?

I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I READ A FIC THAT HAD LO AND LI INVOLVED IN IT.

I'm not even saying as main characters, I don't even know if that exists, frankly: I mean as minor, or background characters. I have NOT seen those two be used in basically ANY fics I've read. I've scarcely used them in mine! In fact, I PURPOSEFULLY got rid of them early on in Gladiator because I didn't want them to sabotage and get in the way of Azula's progress as a character and I believed they'd do exactly that. They were an obstacle rather than anything useful, so I did away with them and then realized they could still occasionally serve some purpose in certain situations: I even had Azula visit them once and they were actually helpful! Fancy that! But... that's it. That's as far as I could go with them. I can't do MORE with those two because they're not characters one particularly feels compelled to work with.

And from what I've seen? That's the case for everyone.

So, I ask again:

WHY ARE THEY THERE?

WHAT IS THEIR ROLE?

WHAT IS THE POINT OF AZULA HAVING NON-BENDING TEACHERS?

Let's go further and further into logical thinking here, shall we?

Azula is a child. Fourteen years of age at the time she's introduced in the OG show.

Azula has no power over many things around her, particularly, her upbringing. That's in the hands of the adults around her. Her mother, up until she vanished, had some hand in it, then, it all falls to Ozai.

Ozai has been Azula's sole parental figure since Ursa left.

Ozai is the one who would reasonably call the shots regarding Azula's education, as all parents are wont to do... ESPECIALLY when he's a king with absolute power over his children.

... so, Lo and Li? Ozai either gave them the position as Azula's teachers personally, or someone else (Ursa) did, and Ozai either didn't WANT to remove them from the role (cue "Ozai being sentimental over Ursa" theories), or Ozai didn't give a flying fuck about who was training his daughter (cue "Ozai is an abusive dick without a heart or a brain" theories).

Anyone, of course, would likely interject here to say surely Ozai ALSO trained Azula himself because that's what he'd do with his favorite kid, right? See. I don't even disagree with that notion.

BUT IT'S A HEADCANON.

We have zero evidence that Ozai trained her! None! I totally will write that into Azula's backstory in many of my stories, but there's NOTHING in canon to suggest this actually happened and that Ozai was genuinely, actively, frequently involved in her progress as a firebender. Assuming he HAD to be is, still, a headcanon. You can't say that with any more certainty than mine when I say I believe Azula loves spicy foods. Does it seem to be something that would fit with her character? I think so! But if eventually canon goes "AZULA CAN'T STAND SPICY FOODS LOL JOKE'S ON YOU!" I... can't even say a thing about it. People's food tastes aren't reflective of their personalities. They really could do whatever they want in that respect. And that's the case for ANYTHING that isn't part of the show's storytelling or the character backgrounds or any texts we consider canon!

POINT BEING: Ozai, regardless of what you want to headcanon, had Lo and Li as Azula's teachers. HIS FAVORITE CHILD... and her only official instructors are two non-benders. Yang added Kunyo as an old instructor of Azula's when she was young, sure! But Kunyo was sooooo qualified that baby Azula was already kicking his ass. So, for that matter? He doesn't really seem to have been a cornerstone of her firebending development and the only other known teachers for Azula are Lo and Li.

For the last time: Azula's teachers are NON-BENDERS. AS CHOSEN, SANCTIONED, APPROVED AND ACCEPTED BY OZAI.

And with those two remarking on absolutely STUPID stuff like "one hair out of place"? Azula still became the incredible firebender she was.

Cue, now, the irony where Zuko was stuck in the basics 3 years after setting out of the Fire Nation... WITH IROH ACTIVELY SERVING AS HIS MENTOR.

You're not gonna tell me that Lo and Li would EVER be better instructors than Iroh, or are you? Because that makes no sense. Full-stop. Iroh is supposed to be the most profound and complete firebender thorughout the show because he's spiritually enlightened even though I admit I think that's bullshit and he doesn't just teach Zuko how to set things on fire, he actually makes him learn theory and spirituality and his teachings are more profound than just "ONE HAIR OUT OF PLACE".

So.

Banished as he is, disgraced and seen as trash by Ozai, Zuko STILL has a better teacher than Azula does.

... Is this LOGICAL? Is this NORMAL? Does this make SENSE?

If you think Ozai's favoritism of Azula takes the shape of "I'll give you every little thing you ask for, sweetheart, I love you very much, here, have ten million doll houses so you can set them on fire, and all the ponies you ask for and on your next birthday I'll buy you a baby dragon and you'll get your own region of the Fire Nation to govern and a fancy title..."?

Then Lo and Li, unfortunately, are right here to be a HUGE contradiction with your interpretation of Ozai and Azula's relationship.

Azula should have THE BEST teachers. Azula does not. Azula doesn't even LIKE them. Azula is openly shown to dislike them! To be annoyed around them, ANGRY when they're teaching her, she feels they're here to keep tabs on her for her father! In a sense, they're Ozai's SPIES on her! :')

Hence? Ozai's favoritism of Azula MIGHT not be what everyone keeps pretending it is. Maybe Ozai didn't do everything to make Azula get things EASILY... and to be fair? That's not what Zuko said anyway. People interpreted it that way... but that's not REALLY what he says:

"Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. "

Every line in this statement is absolutely questionable and all of it sounds like buuuuullshit to me. This is ZUKO'S perspective. And sorry not sorry, but it's tell-don't-show. People swear by his opinion of Azula and pretend he's absolutely objective about it. He's not.

But "Everything always came easy to her," does not mean "EVERYTHING WAS ALWAYS HANDED OVER TO HER ON A SILVER PLATTER." And yet this is what the fandom has constantly interpreted it as.

Azula might just be a prodigy. Maybe she started out ten steps ahead of her brother: this does not mean she needs no guidance, no training, no help. She's seen training herself over perfectionism in her very second scene of Book 2. And the guidance she gets in order to achieve perfection is actually, objectively, stupid.

This is what Ozai chose for her. This is an OBSTACLE for her growth, just as much as Lo and Li were obstacles for me when I was starting with Gladiator! Azula doesn't have it EASY: she just works herself so damn hard that even shit that should HINDER her does NOT do that. And even when her brother objectively has spent THREE YEARS with an advantage in the shape of being trained by one of the VERY BEST firebenders out there? Azula is still beating Zuko at it. With two non-benders as her teachers.

Where am I going with all this?

To the fact that Lo and Li are overlooked in just about every instance of the fandom.

To the fact that nobody includes them, and their influence on Azula, in their analyses of who Azula is.

I've seen a shitstorm rising over the Netflix characterization of Azula: SHE'S TOO ANGRY, they say. Non-stop. She's sooooo hysterical, all the time! She's just pissed perpetually!

Well. I haven't finished the show yet. But the scenes I've seen Azula in so far? They don't fit the fandom's view of Azula because...

... they're not taking Lo and Li into account.

As usual.

:')

Azula's reactions around Lo and Li being frustration, anger, irritation EVEN in scenes like The Beach, where Azula was FINE until she sees them? That shit is storytelling that went over sooooooo many heads, EVEN MINE! When I saw people going on about how canon Azula is... not insecure? Not angry? Has no frustrations and was only ever smirking 24/7? I... didn't feel that was right. I knew it wasn't right. And when I thought about it hard enough? I realized that one reason why this interpretation of Azula is IMMEDIATELY dismissable is because of Lo and Li: those two constantly made Azula angry. Even if that wasn't their intent, it's nonetheless the effect they'd have on her. And Azula didn't like having them around. She CLEARLY didn't appreciate them the way Zuko does Iroh, for instance! And this could be taken as a flaw on Azula's part... if we EVER saw evidence that these two ladies actually love Azula as a grandchild, or so. If we had any evidence that they actually have cared for her in ways nobody else ever did. If maybe the ones Zuko talks about, upon saying "EVERYONE LOVES AZULA" were these two! And maybe he was jealous of them! Maybe he wanted two old ladies to watch his every move and tell him his every flaw!

... Clearly I'm joking about that last thing, but anyway...

There's nothing to tell us Lo and Li were anything but Ozai's assigned watchdogs to keep control and tabs over Azula. That Azula's immediate reaction upon hearing that someone cares about her is "Oh fuck off, my dad sent you here because he doesn't trust me!" is... telling. It's not just paranoia speaking, even if it sure can be read that way! It's actually Azula's perception of those two, which is 100% supported by what we saw of the twins throughout the show, WHENEVER we did see them: their roles in Azula's life are indeed to keep tabs on her, to keep her under control, to pressure her into perfection, AS OZAI'S AGENTS! Seen this way, it MAKES SENSE for Azula to disregard their concern and immediately assume it's FAKE. She isn't even shown to doubt it, never questions that MAYBE they did care about her! She assumes they don't...

... And considering that, as far as I know, the official concept is that they BOTH LEFT when Azula banished one of them only? That they didn't contest her command, staying to look after her even if she only wanted one? I mean, clearly Azula can't tell them apart, so they could've taken turns: one watches over Azula for 12 hours and the other for the next 12 hours, I don't goddamn know! But they didn't do that. They LEFT. And if they left? It means they don't care remotely as much as they say they do. Not to the point where they'd challenge Azula's orders and help her when they KNOW she's not okay.

And all of this further supports my point.

When we see Azula in the liveaction being angry, bitter, irritable at Ozai's choices?

I see a reflection of the same dynamics that the OG too subtly weaved into Azula's relationship with Lo and Li. I see Azula reacting against Ozai's control over her because she feels it's DISTRUST. She feels it means her father STILL needs to be convinced that she's competent, powerful, ready to do his bidding. It isn't a case where Azula's irritation comes from wanting to rebel against her father... it's Azula wanting her father to UNDERSTAND that she's 100% his supporter and will put everything on the line to serve him and the Fire Nation.

And it's very damn easy to read that exact same thing into Azula's dynamics with Lo and Li as it is to see it EXPLICITLY STATED in the liveaction.

My point?

What the liveaction did is not nearly as much of a distant characterization choice as people think it is.

Ozai is Azula's Achilles' Heel. Everything she became, everything she grew up to be, was for his sake. He molded her to become those things and simply didn't give a shit about raising a daughter, he treated her as a weapon, and absolutely pitted his children against each other, just as much as OTHER adults in their lives did. But the impact of Ozai on Azula in the OG is easy to ignore. Why? Because we SELDOM see them interacting. Because we don't get that side of Azula's character fully explored. Because they didn't want to explore Ozai's character either! They were as cheap as they could be with all these aspects and so, only the people who really got into analyzing things on a deeper level would be able to say, without a doubt, that Ozai abused Azula emotionally with all the expectations and demands he put on his own child. Through the golden child-scapegoat dynamic that people have been bringing up non-stop in the past years.

So, proving herself to her father is what Azula wants to do, more than anything. Proving worthy of his favor, of his approval, is the closest thing she can get to feeling loved. Which is depressing as fuck. Azula gets zero affection: it's not even conditional affection, there's NOTHING for her besides approving words if she gets anything right. And this show's work with Azula's character? It was meant to make these things less invisible to all the fans who like to pretend none of it exists. And yes, I've seen them, crawling all over Twitter shitting themselves in fits of rage because how dare that show pretend Azula EVER had a bad time in her perfect flawless life!!

Well, the irony is that the OG gives you a smidge of evidence -- and yet that's enough -- to show that Ozai was doing very similar things to Azula in ATLA, and her reactions to it?

Huh. No smirks for Lo and Li.

No smirks for the symbols of Ozai's control over her life.

It's almost like the confidence, the smirks, the apparent ease with which she handles everything? Is a front that crumbles easily whenever it concerns the ONE PERSON with power over her life.

I don't believe, worth noting, that Azula's power comes from rage. I've seen people say that in fandom in the past and I find it a completely absurd take when Iroh himself spells out that her bending is about control, about precision, and it's Azula's FURY that makes her a sloppy mess in the finale. It's even INTENTIONAL that when she shoots lightning a second time, in her second establishing scene, THAT SAME HAIR FALLS OUT OF PLACE. She's still angry. She didn't get it "right" this time either. She's imperfect and she's trying NOT to be, but she cannot succeed. And upon bending lightning with emotions (rage/frustration)? That hair falls YET AGAIN out of place. Proof that she's not going to achieve the perfection she's being FORCED (indeed, by her father and the people who are here to represent him, Lo and Li) to strive for.

The liveaction had Ozai pushing Azula for a perfection she couldn't attain either. She's perfectly content in her cruelty at Ozai's side, right until she hears the Avatar was found and that Zuko has a shot at taking away the privileges she's been basking in so far. That she WASN'T nervous about this in canon is pretty damn obvious: OZAI SENT HER TO HUNT ZUKO DOWN FOR BEING A FAILURE. We never saw her reaction to learning that the Avatar was out and about. We have noooo idea what was canonically going on with her back then. The first time we see her besides the flashback is Azula receiving a mission that tells her she's STILL #1 and Zuko is no threat to her because Ozai thinks he's a failure. Thus? She had nothing to fear. Here? Ozai is actively using Zuko as bait to pressure Azula further. And if you're so confident in Ozai's good parenting skills as to believe he somehow WOULDN'T do that? Sounds like you don't understand the very basic and simplistic Fire Lod Ozai from ATLA, and that's not something to be proud of. So probably stop screaming your bad takes at the top of your lungs, because being incapable of understanding Ozai in canon is not a badge of pride, just saying...

FINAL POINT...

This post is not written expressly in the defense of the liveaction and its characterization of Azula. To this point, what I've seen of it doesn't feel WRONG or OFF unless you're the kind of person who thinks Azula is only capable of smirking and if she stops doing that she stops existing or something. Only people who cannot understand the depth, nuance, subtleties in Azula's story would ever be claiming that Azula's relationship with Ozai COUDLN'T be like this, or that Azula couldn't possibly be frustrated with her father or his choices when it's soooo clear what Ozai is going for, and why it's working. But in order to read Azula as a character capable of this range of emotion, frustration and ambition, all at once? You have to be able to treat this character, be it in the liveaction or the OG show, as a human being.

And that's what most the people criticizing this specific change are determined not to do. It's what makes them uncomfy. It's what rustles their jimmies.

Yes. I'm saying it in this very demeaning way because I actually find it quite ridiculous to be this insecure over the portrayal of a fictional 14yo in two TV shows. Whether the liveaction sticks the landing or fails catastrophically, I do not know... but I do know that if it's forcing a bunch of people to rethink Azula's character, and making them panic at the idea that she could EVER have human emotions, even if they're AWFUL human emotions?

Then I'm afraid you're only convincing me that, as bad as that show could ever get? It's getting SOMETHING right. I do love to see misinterpretations of Azula getting slammed in the face by the reality that all those beliefs, headcanons and takes in bad faith are actively, categorically untrue: none of which makes Azula a fundamentally good person, worth noting! But it makes it very clear that reading her as a one-dimensional basic villain, which is what the anti-Azula-redemption crowd actively does, is literally only possible if you overlook, ignore and fail to understand her character and her complexities, be it in the liveaction or in the original show.

There. I said my piece.

Another post, regarding the rest of the liveaction, is bound to come later. I'd say stay tuned but it might take me a while to write it at all. So... wait around and maybe you'll see it someday!

[turbulentscrawl]

Could we get some hc stuff for weeping? He never gets any love. Your work is amazing btw ♡

Thank you!

You know, before this I honestly kept forgetting he exists...but after doing a lore dive and doing these general hcs I'm feeling like he's going to become a favorite.

As a note for tagging, I typically use a character's human name for my blog's tagging system, but since "Joker" is a name used in so many fandoms, his will be "weeping clown x reader"

As always, if you guys like my work consider sending me a request!

Identity(V) Headcanons: Joker

-The acid which scarred him was only mixed with his colored face paints. The white base he uses didn’t harm him, so the scarring he has is mostly around his mouth and down from his eyes, following the shape of the red lips and teardrops he painted on. He still wears face paint most days to try and cover what he can of the scarring, but he’s paranoid about what he uses now. He keeps his paints locked away where others can’t access them, and always tests them on his arm before using them on his face.

-Joker has very little self-worth. It goes beyond basic insecurity, though he has plenty of that as well. His entire reason for living is based on the value he has to other people. At first, that’s restricted to just the way he can bring a bit of joy to the Hullabaloo crowds, and the few shallow friendships he’d made along the way. When Margaretha entered the picture, though, it began to twist into something even more unhealthy.

-He still has some remaining love for Margaretha, but he’s more withdrawn from her. He was disfigured, he did something horrible, and she left. But if it really came down to it, and he had no one else to talk him out of it, he probably would continue going to her whenever she calls, albeit with more inner turmoil. It goes back to that self-worth again; Margaretha makes him feel like he can be a valued protector regardless of not being very physically capable.

-At his core, Joker is a very kind and sympathetic person. He cares about others, their wellbeing and happiness, and even in a world without the above self-worth struggles he would go out of his way to help people…

-But he’s become a bit jaded since the massacre. A bit angry, even. No one did anything when he was the sole victim. No one stood up for him like he stood up for others. No one cared about his disfigured face because now it matches his disfigured body, right? …but he makes himself swallow those feelings when they start to bubble over. He doesn’t want to be that person. He doesn’t want to add more cruelness to the world.

-He’s on the quiet side. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him mute, but he chooses his words very carefully. If ever he’s unsure of what to say he would rather say nothing than ramble aimlessly. When he does speak, it’s with long pauses and shifting, thinking eyes. Conversations with him tend to move at a crawl.

-He likes gentle people. Eccentric people are fun too, but he prefers gentleness if he must choose one over the other. He got along with Mike before the massacre, but events like that have a way of either cementing or shattering bonds and theirs took the latter hit. I think he’d get along well with several people in the manor, including Luca, Emma, Victor, Eli, and Helena. He’s not exceptionally close with any of them, but few people dislike his presence.

-He’s very good at telling all manner of jokes, but he rarely does anymore. That’s a development from before even the massacre; he was required to employ depreciating humor on stage, both of himself and others, and over the years it caused him to grow heavy with guilt. Now, he may shoot off a pun occasionally, but even that is rare. He really doesn’t like to be the one joking around anymore.

-He does still like doing tricks, though! They’re not his specialty, but he didn’t go all that time in the circus without picking up a thing or two. He’s more than happy to show off these skills if they entertain his friends.

-He’s really good at finding things? It’s basically a supernatural power. If you ever lose something in the manor, he’s a good bet to check in with before you tear your room apart. Honestly sometimes he just shows up to return things before someone even knows they’ve lost it.

-Joker is completely touch starved. At first glance it may seem the opposite, as he tends to move away from incoming contact, but this is only because he often doesn’t know what to expect. As far as kind touches go, he’s given more than he’s received, and always with a nervous, shaking hand. When he has some kind of relationship where contact is both safe and common, he’s attached to your hip.

-On that note, Physical Touch is the best love language for Joker. He also appreciates the other four, but touch is his favorite. He’s a very clingy partner who always wants to sit shoulder-to-shoulder or hold hands. If his partner is less than enthused about PDA, he’s okay with more subtle touches as well, such as hooking your ankles together under the dinner table. Rebuffing his desire for contact too many times can and will result in some seriously hurt feelings. A relationship between him and someone averse to touch probably wouldn’t work in the long run.

[tyrantisterror]

Top ten favorite Orcs? Either specific characters or a given setting’s take on the species as a whole.

I'm not sure I have enough strong feelings about Orcs to really make an interesting list of ten, but what the hell I'll try.

Tolkien's orcs - not just LOTR orcs, but specifically orcs as written by J.R.R. Tolkien - are pretty high up there for me. I've probably mentioned this more than enough on this blog, but I'm still moved by the moment in The Lord of the Rings where we get this conversation between two orcs when their bosses aren't around, where both of them commiserate with each other about how shitty being drafted into Sauron's war is, how they long to go back to their simpler life as mountain bandits, and how, maybe, if they could find a way to escape being caught by their superiors, they could run off and find someplace far from the war to settle down together. Their names are Shagrat and Gorbag, and later in the book one of the heroes finds them among a pile of dead orcs, their dream of a simpler life tragically unfulfilled. I bring this up because, for all the flak Tolkien's cosmology gets for codifying the fantasy trope of "Always Chaotic Evil" races, there's a lot more moral complexity to his "evil" races than most people think. The orcs we meet in his stories are universally pretty nasty people - even Gorbag and Shagrat can't conceive of a simple life that doesn't involve killing people for their valuables - but it's very clear this is a result of the culture they are living in, which, if you get nerdy and read up on the Lore (TM), is one that has been specifically designed by the Middle Earth equivalent of Satan to turn all living things in it into tools of warfare - a world that exists solely to serve as a vast machine of industrialized conquest and mass murder. And it makes them miserable. Orcs don't like living this way, even though it's the only way they know how to live. They are at once victim and villain, and that's explicitly the canon way to look at them in the text. So it kind of sucks that their reputation in pop culture - and how they're presented in most adaptations, including good ol' PJ's film trilogy - is as one-dimensional evil henchmen, because they do have more going on than that in the books themselves, and it enriches the themes of the story when those dimensions are included.

The orcs in Rune Factory are probably my favorite from a design standpoint. I'm kind of neutral at best with the standard "green skinned humans with optional tusks" look of most orcs. There's nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't thrill me either, existing in the same nebulous space as, like, traditional fantasy elves, dwarves, and hobbit expies - I understand why they're classics, but they feel kind of boring when you've got other options on the table. So seeing these guys when I booted up my first Rune Factory game was a revelation - finally, orcs that look INTERESTING! And they're so cute, these gnarly little Jim Hensen/Brian Froud style pig people. And they'll help you water your plants! A+ Tier orcs as far as I'm concerned.

Dungeon Meshi found a good middle ground between "gnarly boar people" and "humans with tusks" that I really like, and while the orcs aren't given a whole lot of focus, what world building we do get about them is pretty great, taking a lot of the classic orc tropes and giving them that Ryoko Kui caliber thought and detail that makes them so wonderful.

What else... well, ok, my brain still categorizes these guys as "goblins" rather than "orcs," but since the two are more or less synonymized in both Tolkien and the Rankin Bass adaptations of his work, I guess I can include them. They're one of my favorite designs for goblins of all time, and since I generally like goblins more than orcs, I guess this makes them my favorite orc design by default? I just love them, nasty little toad people.

The 1980 Return of the King movie in particular is one of the few adaptations that keeps Tolkien's sympathy for the orcs in tact, with Frodo even having a dream sequence about living in a world where his run in with orcs is fully pleasant, each of them waving at each other as they cross paths, content to share a beautiful world together.

And while it adapts the parts of the text that take place after the deaths of poor Shagrat and Gorbag, it still manages to work in a moment where the orcs lament their lot in life by way of the infamous "Where There's a Whip There's a Way" song written just for the film. I know this song is generally viewed as "bad" and corny and whatever, fuck that, I unironically love it. It's my wakeup alarm for workdays. I am these orcs five days out of the week.

What else...

So, like, kind of a cheat I suppose, but the Darkspawn in Dragon Age take a lot of cues from Tolkien's take on orcs, right down to seeming like they're just always chaotic evil at first glance, and also being the product of Supernatural Crimes Against Nature by semi-divine powers. And indeed, in Dragon Age Origins you're basically given no reason to view them as anything but evil obstacles to destroy, especially when you learn the body-horror involved in how they reproduce (it's more in the vein of Slither than Goblin Slayer, for those unaware - grotesque but, thankfully, not in that way).

But the big ol' DLC for the same game, called Dragon Age Awakening, throws a big monkey wrench in that view of them. We meet Darkspawn who are capable of speech - ones that have been broken free of the evil hivemind their species is ruled by, and, like freed borg drones, are now at a loss of what to do with themselves. They are, like Tolkien's orcs before them, a people who were made for war and violence, and yet still crave something more than that when given the chance to think about it. It's something that hasn't been followed up on much since, sadly, but it's a damn cool take.

What else...

I'm probably the only person who still remembers this movie, especially with any fondness, but I liked the orcs in the Warcraft movie directed by David Bowie's son. They were given a lot of nuance and I honestly think their parts of the film were by the far the best. Actually I remember liking that movie a lot despite some of its pacing issues, I should revisit it.

Ok that's not ten takes but I feel like there are at least 10 designs on display here so I'm calling this done.

[evil-general-john-macnamara]

hello i am EVIL general john macnama. i am like john macnamara but EVIL and BAD. you will be ATTACKED by me in your time of need. i will find you in the worst moments and tell you BAD ADVICE. do not expect me to be good for i am NOT GOOD i am EVIL. he/him.

ooc talk vvvv

this account is mainly satire! i will reply to asks but do not expect full in depth roleplay with loads of lore because that's not what this blog is for and i don't have that much planned here. i tag the posts as roleplay so people who don't want roleplay content by any means - even the low effort ones like this - can exist without this in the main tags. i'm not a roleplayer! at least not in public with people i don't know

this account was also started as a bit but got a lot more attention than i was expecting. because of that i went from expecting to make weird posts that disappeared into the void to actually answering asks every day

i was not prepared for this lol.

i'm keeping it up for as long as it goes because i still think the bit is funny but know that i'm not the most serious about this account and that if i one day stop using it that's just gonna be that

other than that general boundaries are that if you plan to send in an ask know that i could very easily be rude because it's part of the character, don't hold expectations and get disappointed if i shut them down (ie trying to flirt and getting rejected), and don't take the replies or comments seriously

i cannot stress this enough this blog was for a joke!

that's all :] have fun

[writers-potion]

hi! its fairy anon again, thank you for your suggestions! i know my story sounds very gore heavy with my fairy eating babies worldbuilding but i promise my tone is actually much lighter than that 😭 i was kinda trying to take inspo from old fae stories where children would get lured away and go missing because of fairy antics. but anyway! i really like the idea of a chamber where people cant really see what happens inside. it actually gave me an idea to take that a step further to say that no one in-world actually knows what happens to the babies, so people just assume they get eaten. the idea of babies being whisked away somewhere else somehow, and that the place they get sent is linked to the fairy's longevity, i think is a good way to get my lore across without being gratuitously gorey. id love to know what you think of that idea and definitely would welcome any ideas you have in addition if you have any!

also for clarification, you understood my worldbuilding very well but i made a mistake by saying "enslaved" instead of "imprisoned". each noble house has a fairy living in a cell somewhere in the head of house's estate, and each noble house gets one element. for example, my protagonist is the heir to the house that recieved the ice blessing. but also the whole "fairies eating babies" thing is a secret from the public, the commoners of this kingdom have been fed lies for generations about the ancestors of the nobility saving the fae from extinction, which resulted in the faries "blessing" them. this is their justification for why they should be the ruling elite, despite there being very obvious corruption throughout the nobility

"The Mysterious Cave" Trope

Hi! I'm glad that my ideas helped you :)

I think the best way to further develop this idea of babies being whisked away is to take inspiration from existing ones:

The Piped Piper of Hamlin Type

The imprisoned fairies sing/whisper an enchantment that lures children, who walk voluntarily down to their prisons at night.

The "fairy song" picks up a baby, cradle and all, and delivers it to the fairy waiting in their prison

After that, no one knows what happens to the kids who were taken.

The Arabian Nights Type

In this case, there will be some action required from the child/baby, which will open the doors to the fairy's prison

For example, multiple babies can be brought forth in front of the prison's gates. The first baby to cry will automatically get the gates to open, and he will be claimed by the fairy.

Goldilocks and The Three Bears Type

The child/baby to be given is kept for a while (you can decide for how long) in a special room, fed special meals (this can be related to the particular element that the fairy controls) to optimize them for...consumption.

After the baby has been fed/washed/dressed for the occasion, the fairy can be brought into the chamber, or the babies given away to them in prison.

The Sleeping Beauty/Rapunzel Type

This is where the destiny of the babies are determined even before birth.

You can have the loyalty pay for their magic by giving up their second-born to the fairies, or have the loyalty pay off peasant parents to give up their unborn child in exchange of lifetime's worth of wealth.

Alternatively, it can be the fairies who foresee the birth of the babies that they'll consume ("a girl born in -- at -- hour shall be given to me" and such), and as soon as they're born, they'll be claimed.

Hope this helps! :)

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

[illegiblewords]

Serious talk about meta under the cut.

I don't know who might need to hear it, but fwiw mental flexibility is a huge part of analysis (and interacting with other humans lol). You need to be able to account for multiple possibilities when examining a work, or understanding a social exchange. You need to be able to separate what is objective fact from your own subjective interpretation and judgment. The most negative interpretation is not automatically the most worthwhile or true. Someone throwing accusations around in-line with their own worst interpretations does not guarantee those accusations are warranted. You are not a bad or stupid person for disagreeing. Shit needs to withstand scrutiny. I don't always strike the right balance myself. I do the best I can but I'm definitely not perfect. Tbh I'm not beyond pettiness either--although I try to keep that out of actual analysis lol. There have been times I've griped to friends privately or blogged about how I felt (sans tags, with spoiler blocks so people can opt out). I've griped recently. I'm bound to gripe again in the future. Some level of griping is inevitable imo and I figure no one is 100% immune.

All that said, even if someone’s take isn't canon AND even if it's something I really dislike--I'd personally rather people follow their passions anyway. Hands down. I could be in the middle of a rant and my answer would still be that the subject of my frustration gets to exist. I'm not the boss and odds are we're going with different versions in our own heads. Discouraging another fan from creating due to my preferences or narrative approach would horrify me. I've seen fandoms where gatekeeping like that killed the creative community and it was fucking awful.

Not everyone is confident in their own judgment. Not everyone faced with a pissed off person trying to use lore and accusations like clubs will feel okay continuing with their own vision. Elitism and manipulation (especially through rhetoric) can be present within analysis. People are not being taught how to recognize those things properly. Analysts aren't always aware or invested enough to even be careful. It’s legit easy to get caught up in ideas or feelings to the point of forgetting about other people’s, and adjusting to account for alternate approaches takes some work. For me at least, I think having a 'no insults' policy and being super careful when it comes to absolute claims (assertions not qualified by 'I think' or 'it could be argued') helps.

Anyway. Just because a person calls something ‘meaningless’ doesn't make it meaningless. Someone pooh-poohing an observation you made doesn't make your observation less true or important. Employing a literary term doesn't mean that individual actually understands the term, how it works, or how to apply it. Which is to say nothing of romantic chemistry or whatever. I encourage readers to extrapolate on this. ‘Shallow’ could apply as much as ‘meaningless’. Denying parallels exist by itself doesn’t actually negate those parallels. Your version of a character may not be the same as the fan next to you’s and that difference doesn't have to detract. There's more I could say on the subject (I've edited out a lot) but basically--just because another fan isn't into what you're doing doesn't automatically make what you're doing wrong, immoral, shoddy, or otherwise less.

Seriously, vet shit. Question the entire premise an analyst tries to establish then decide for yourself if it holds water. Turn over word choices and assertions in your head before deciding if they're appropriate. Do it to me too. I don't care if someone is the holy goddamn emperor of analysts. Just because a person says something is good or bad, true or false, whatever the hell doesn't make it so. Just because a person uses a technical term doesn't mean they're discussing it effectively. Quality of argument matters beyond the packaging it’s wrapped in. It's important to protect yourself from people whose priority is enforcing their own preferences, including dismissing things they aren't partial to.

I just don't want anyone shamed silent man. Not even people whose takes drive me up the fucking wall. Neither I nor any other analyst is an authority here. And there are people who are absolutely ready to take advantage of other people’s insecurities to assert themselves. Might not even be malicious, just indifferent.

For me, analysis feels kind of like uncovering a dinosaur skeleton. I want to share the cool and exciting things I find with other people. Sometimes I might be sorting out what my own thoughts and feelings are. It's also possible to examine why you're uncomfortable with something, or why you love something another person hates, while making very clear what is YOUR READING and not THE READING. Offering a variety of possibilities is very different from presenting yourself as the only correct one. One note at the end when everything else was insulting and intolerant is like a band-aid over a wound.

EDIT: As a last point, that I'm throwing in just-in-case. If anyone reading this thinks they may have overreached and done stuff I've mentioned + feels shitty about it… that's still not the end of the world. It’s okay. This is hard stuff to learn and I really don't think anyone's perfect at it. Worth the effort though. Just gotta take a deep breath, acknowledge you're a fallible human same as everyone else, and do the best you can going forward. Life goes on.

[verosikastrikerstellaexcuser]

so I finally started watching Helluva Boss because of blogs like these and the critical community, cause I had gotten real curious about the show. (I just finished Loo Loo Land)

And its just so. interesting. Loo Loo Land is really fun (mostly because of Octavia, I get the hype behind her. #autism bird swag <3)

and just. Stolas man. I already know how he's going to end up like in the later episodes but MAN. they were cooking with him as an antagonist and UGH. its such a shame.

The whole 'wanting Blitz to be his bodyguard BUT HE ACTUALLY DIDNT NEED A BODYGUARD -he just wanted his Blitzy near him' twist thingie was so good! even if I went in it already knowing that Stolas could petrify people.

it just makes me so sad that he will be completly changed in season 2 TT also that conversation he had with Via at the end (before petrifying that imp) was nice as well! I would have loved for him to be morraly grey character, someone who you can sympathize for/with (idk which one is correct I'm not english) in certain aspects but also point out their flaws INSTEAD OF TURNING HIM INTO A DWEEPY LITTLE POS.

also Stella is very cool I like pwetty birb woman with anger issues 👉👈 (completly justified anger, i would be furious too if my husband coerced a guy into having sex with him)

also robofizz slayed hard even tho i had no idea what he was saying half of the time especially without captions that are just auto-generated and dont work that well for me TT

I’m telling you man, S1 is genuinely really good! It had such a special feel. Flawed? Yes, of course, but still GOOD, because I had fun watching it, which is. You know the point of entertainment lol. I miss the energy it had and how the lore felt really fun and intriguing back then, and how excited I was for characters like Blitz’s sister to appear. I miss how it didn’t choose characters to overly sympathize with for dRaMa~ and how in general there was less drama with fun whacky episodes like the cherubs one. Things have definitely changed and sadly HB has deteriorated a loooot in S2, but it’s still worth a watch to me because even though I’m a critical or at least critical adjacent blog I will stand by that S1 was good. S2 frustrates so much by comparison because there are still pieces there sometimes, of the S1 I loved… it’s just so ARGH. But, S1 will never disappear, it’ll always still exist at least so I take solace in that and try to enjoy what I can from what remains of the show.

[karmaisahumanbeing]

A little more about Karma?

// OOC: (this gets very long, I apologize in advance)

I sort of rambled a lot about Karma in the main post, but I still have a few things to say that I was worried about adding, because I didn't want it to be too long! (long like that sentence, gosh..)

Anyway,

From what we know about his story, he was sold to a slave dealer when he was only a child and then along the way, ended up in Ace's hold. He's completely given up by the time he meets Fyodor, as he tells our favourite russian "you should just give in."

That gives us a few bits of information, especially if we embellish a little.

Karma is fatherless. Poor soul...

Seriously though, he doesn't even mention his parents when recalling his backstory. It's easy to assume he's never met them, or he ignores their existence because they were the ones to sell him off?

It's more of a headcanon i guess, but I assume Karma has gone through more than a few owners due to the fact that he's still alive when we are introduced to Ace. If he still had some fight left in him by the time he gets to the pm, Ace would have probably just killed him. Plain and simple.

I assume Ace's territory is underground, just because I can't see any windows around the place. Due to this, living with Ace would have added another level of helplessness and isolation.

This isolation would lead to Karma thinking highly of Ace, because while he's cruel and all that, if he says he's smart and no one disputes this then he is, right? he has fifty men by his side, and was organizing a mafia takeover. Ace was probably the strongest person Karma ever knew, so yes, he thought highly of him

Subsequently, if Karma were to have survived Ace's downfall via Fyodor, I imagine he would've spent a long time unsure of himself and just living day by day, trying to make decisions for the first time that were always made for him before.

Also, he overshares and trusts people with information about himself easily. I mean, he spilled his entire backstory to Fyodor WITHOUT A SINGLE PROMPT. he definitely has trust issues, but literally can't stop himself from saying things that can be left unsaid.

With a backstory like that, our current Karma has got to be a little fucked up, right? So, things I headcanon about Karma are:

He's completely socially inept. He never had to have conversations before, so he's not very good at them (totally not self projecting)

expect lots of "uuuh.." "You're... uhmm..." "... totally.. uhm..." kinds of things, and lots of sorrys!

To make matters worse, he has a lot of social anxiety, which sometimes becomes so bad it puts him in these states where he can't even talk.

not being able to talk makes him more stressed, to the point where he starts to shake, and he can work himself up to a panic attack pretty easily

He's jumpy around even the slightest mention of the port mafia, thinking that the entire port is after him and all that. he's extremely paranoid about it all

he doesn't know anyone by how they look, and he doesn't even know most of them by name. mentionable people he does know the names of is Chuuya, Koyou, and Dazai. he doesn't know Mori by name, because Ace always referred to him as "boss"

He knows next to nothing about the outside world. he's freshly escaped, and nothing is familiar anymore after years of slavery and being kept away from people.

honestly, he would probably be semi-illiterate, but that makes things difficult blogging lore-wise so I'm ignoring that

He thinks of Fyodor as his saviour, and looks up to him

He knows very well what money can do in this world, especially after living with Ace for so long, he's become a bit greedy and/or protective of what little money he has.

deep-seeded abandonment issues. totally not projecting.

i hope that all made sense. i might feel silly later and add more, who knows...

[oneofboth]

How is Benrey's relationship with Gordon (and Joshua if he's in this AU), since you mentioned he moved in with them?

Plus, there was a picture of g man and Benrey somewhere on your blog, what's their relationship like? Because typically I usually see them written to be at odds with each other, so I'm curious if their relationship is better in this AU.

And how's the Science Team doing yaaahhhh

This will be a really..really big post, dudes. / Это будет очень..очень большой пост, чуваки. Thank you for your question...s! First answer: Benrey's and Gordon's relationship has returned to normal. They had a lot of misunderstandings and various tough situations, but over time they got used to each other. Gordon became calmer about Benrey's miscarriages, knowing full well that he was just trying to "impress" him, and Benrey began to respect Gordon more and treats his situations with greater understanding. I can't say which of them is a top and a bottom, both tops are most likely (and they often have skirmishes on this ground). Oh, and yea, Benrey apologized for the hand, and Gordon forgave him. Benrey babysat Joshua when he hadn't moved in yet. Although Benrey never said directly what was going on with boy's father, Joshua understood everything perfectly and teased them. Benrey and Joshua are good friends, although Benrey has set himself the goal of being a cool father, but in fact Joshua does not see him that way and does not even want to imagine him that way. For him, Benrey is just his father's lover and a dude who can give cool gifts (and also cool teammate).

(Damn, he is so scared of Ben-Oh ok nevermind. / Черт, он так боится Бен-А окей неважно.) Second answer: The relationship between Gman and Benrey... can be described as a dynamic of the universe’s balance-breaker that goes beyond the world's limits, changing reality as he wants to, and not-quite-human, guarding the existing scheme of things and their framework and changing reality as he sees it.

Mr Suitcase was somewhat surprised to see the guard casually breaking into the stasis, which is why he began to closely observe the one called Ben-Rey.

Whatever the Gman's palns for Benrey were, it remained unshared, as both the man responsible and his little redhead sister had miraculously bonded with Tommy, and taking away his son’s friends would have been... somewhat tactless.

So, the mutual observation between the rulers of the lore with different views on what they are allowed to do continues, but already with both in the role of ""neighbors"", if you can call them a such. Gman accepts the existence of a blue prankster, and the other one does not mind to arrange a meeting with his new friend to beat him with all of his heart with a crowbar once more. But it is already a long-standing tradition - night, moon, and the sound of metal, as if someone had urgent fencing class. Also they meet in the evenings in a small kitchen after the fight and plan their next meeting there.

(This piece was based entirely on the same "red dot" rounds where we used to fight on the crowbars with gman's and benry’s skins and decided that it is now part of the post-canon) Is their relationship better in this AU? The question stands.

 (Photo in Benrey's album / Фото в альбоме Бенри) Numero tres: The first scientific team, in fact, is doing just fine after the accident. Tommy, although he was out of work for some time, was engaged in his hobbies and helped his father. And after that, the Gman put him in his place, which is why Tommy suddenly acquired a lot of businesses and money (he's a little scared, he doesn't understand where to put that money at all). Sunkist is alive, friends! Everything is fine with the perfect dog. Bubby, seeing at least something besides Black Mesa for the first time, where he was created and raised, decided to try everything in the world. He disrupted someone else's wedding, poisoned himself, vacationed in Miami, skydived, kissed a celebrity in the lips and even almost got wanted. However, over time, he got tired of such an intense life and lay low, returning to the roots. He worked in IT for a while, then he started working in some kind of laboratory again. Coomer..suddenly disappeared from all radars. Sometimes he appears, but what he has there is unknown. Darnold (he's part of the team too, right?..No?..) He sat in the ruined Black Mesa for a long time until his computer broke down and he just had to go outside to buy a new one. When he saw what a nightmare was happening there, he hurried back, but the survivors found him first. Now, although he does not want to, he works for them as a somewhat medic, helping in any way he can. He doesn't want to admit it, but he likes to do it. Forzen...It seems like he died. Or not? Perhaps he is still somewhere in the ruins of Black Mesa...

But hey, the guys are still talking! Once in a while they gather at a certain suburban area, roast meat and have a heart-to-heart chat. Bubby and Coomer are always arguing about which music to put on, Benrey is always trying to show off his muscles and always turns the table over (by accident, he just wanted to pick it up:( ), Gordon just roasts meat on the grill in silence and looks into the beautiful distance, while Tommy and Joshua play with Sunkist and sit in the gardens fountain!

/ Спасибо за ваш вопрос..ы! Ответ номер один: Отношения Бенри и Гордона нормализовались. У них было много недопониманий и различных жестких ситуаций, но со временем они привыкли друг к другу и притёрлись. Гордон стал спокойнее относиться к выкидонам Бенри, прекрасно понимая что тот просто пытается его "впечатлить", а Бенри стал больше уважать Гордона и относится с бóльшим пониманием к его ситуациям. Я не могу сказать кто из них актив и пассив, оба активы скорее всего (и у них часто стычки на этой почве). А, и да, Бенри извинился за руку, а Гордон его простил. Джошуа сидел с Бенри тогда, когда он ещё не переехал. Хоть Бенри и не говорил никогда прямо, что у него там с его отцом, Джошуа всё прекрасно понимал и угарал над ними. Бенри и Джошуа хорошие друзья, Бенри поставил себе цель быть крутым отцом, но по факту Джошуа его таким не видит и даже не хочет таким представлять. Для него Бенри это просто любовник отца и чувак, который может дарить крутые подарки (а ещё и играет круто в игры). 

Ответ номер два:

Отношения Джимена и бенри... можно описать как динамику нарушителя баланса вселенной, выходящего за рамки позволенного миром, меняющего реальность как хочет, и не-совсем-человека, котрый охраняет имеющуюся схему вещей и их рамки и меняющий реальность, как считает нужным.

Мистер чемодан был несколько удивлён увидеть охранника буднично врывающимся в стазис, отчего начинает пристальное наблюдение за индивидом по прозвищу бен рей.

Дальнейшие планы Гимена в отношении Бенри, какими бы они ни были, остаются нераскрытми, так как и виновник торжества, и его маленькая рыжая сестра чудесным образом хорошо сошлись с Томми, а отнимать друзей у сына было бы... несколько бестактно.

Поэтому, обоюдное наблюдение друг за другом властных над лором, но имеющих разные взгляды на то, что им дозволено, продолжается, но уже в ролия ""соседей"", если их можно так назвать. Дед смиряется с существованием пранкера, а тот не против назначить приятелю встречу, чтобы еще раз от всей души побить его арматурой. Но это уже давно традиция- ночь, луна, и звон металла, будто у кого то срочные сборы по фехтованию. А еще они собираются вечерами на маленькой кухне и уже там планируют следующую встречу.

(Этот кусок был полностью основан на тех же похождениях в точке, в которых мы привыкли драться на монтировках со скинами деда и бенри и решили что теперь это часть постканона)

Лучше ли у них отношения в этой ау? Вопрос открытый. Ответ нумеро трес:

Первая научная команда, на самом деле, поживает после аварии просто прекрасно. Томми, хоть и был какой-то период без работы, занимался своими хобби и помогал отцу. А после и вовсе гмен поставил его на своё место, отчего Томми вдруг приобрёл кучу бизнесов и денег (ему слегка страшно, он не понимает куда это всё девать). Санкист жив, друзья! С идеальной собакой всё отлично. Бабби, впервые увидев хоть что-то помимо Черной Мезы, где его создали и вырастили, решил попробовать всё на свете. Он сорвал чужую свадьбу, отравился, отдыхал на Майами, прыгал с парашютом, целовал знаменитость в губы и даже чуть не попал в розыск. Однако со временем он устал от такой интенсивной жизни и залёг на дно, вернувшись к истокам. Работал некоторое время в IT, потом вновь стал работать в какой-то лаборатории. Кумер..неожиданно пропал со всех радаров. Иногда он появляется, однако что у него там - неизвестно. Дарнольд (он же тоже часть команды, да?..нет?..) ещё долго сидел в разрушенной Черной Мезе, пока его компьютер не сломался и ему просто пришлось вылезти наружу покупать новый. Увидев, какой кошмар там происходит, поспешил обратно, однако выжившие нашли его первее. Теперь он, хоть и не по своему желанию, работает у них условным медиком, помогая чем может. Он не хочет это признавать, но ему нравится это делать. Форзен...вроде как он погиб. Или нет? Возможно, он всё ещё где-то в руинах Черной Мезы...

Но хэй, ребята всё ещё общаются! Раз в некоторое время они собираются на неком дачном участке, жарят мясо и болтают по душам. Бабби и Кумер вечно спорят какую музыку поставить, Бенри всегда пытается похвастаться мускулами и вечно переворачивает стол (случайно, он просто хотел его поднять:( ), Гордон просто в тишине жарит мясо на мангале и смотрит в прекрасную даль, а Томми и Джошуа играют с Санкистом и сидят в фонтане на участке! ---------- Pheeew it was a really good one, thank you again! Congratulations, if you read this all! It was fun to answer!! / Фууууух, это было клево, спасибо еще раз! Поздравляем, если вы действительно прочитали все это! Было весело на это отвечать! -Blue Opal / Alex (First's and Third answers, drawings and photo of GMan and Benrey / Первый и третий ответы, рисунки и фото с Гменом и Бенри) -PigelOn (Second answer / Второй ответ)

[iciatheguardess]

Hiiii it’s meeee elsie

conflicted Elsie

Look, you know as well as I do that I love TAOCC to freaking death

but like

I may have to partially step away from it after the current arcs are over.

these goofy goobers took over my life for the last three-ish months, and while I’ve had an amazing time, it’s…caused me to neglect other parts of my life, and restrict myself more than I should when it comes to how I am on this site. I’ve stated my intention to try and branch out multiple times but I never go through with it because I just…I have things to write here! I can’t! And yeah it’s fun but sometimes I get hurt even if people don’t mean to, like, I’ve gotten legitimately ill from this once or twice.

But I feel like even trying to step away a bit is somehow abandoning all of you or betraying your trusts. I want to stay friends with you guys, but my actual life and Irlsie has to come first most of the time, because I am not JUST Elsie, if that makes any sense. Elsewhere is and was always meant to be a sona for some interaction, maybe some friendos, but nothing this…involved, because I can’t put all of my social effort onto the internet because no matter what I do, the internet is not a completely genuine place, and I’ve accepted that. There are some parts of my personality I just don’t use. You don’t really ever see calm Elsie or mental illness Elsie or sappy Elsie, maybe once or twice, and that’s intentional. This is Writing Elsie’s blog, lol, but there’s other Elsie that needs to be allowed to exist outside of the internet, and I can’t neglect her or my actual life for the sake of this.

I honestly don’t know what to do here. I love these characters on a very personal level, and have poured my heart into them, and I don’t want to straight up leave them. Even only partially separating myself seems kinda pointless because I know what happens when someone gets really behind on the lore and has to be caught up on even just a day’s events to explain why Character A looks like this now or Character B is referencing this event, etc. etc.

But there’s a point where it’s not healthy anymore. Where things reach a place where I have to admit that this can’t be my entire life anymore. And I’m not entirely sure what on earth I should do about it…

If I do somewhat step back, it’ll probably be right after the vacation arc ends. i’m gonna pour my fluff loving heart and soul into that thing, don’t you worry. But you shouldn’t expect another dungeon or something like that from me unless I have a VERY good reason and a well formulated plan. Yes, I’ll probably still engage in shippery and fluff, as well as analysis, but mostly within the bounds of characters and dynamics we’ve already established, and not much farther than that. My one exception to the “after the vacation arc” rule would probably be Yelena’s arc, because of how long things in that section tend to take, for various reasons. Yelena’s arc is barely started, and stuff takes possibly days to move even a few hours in-universe. Sooooo….yeah, I wanna finish that, I’ve put too much work into it already to just stop it.

…dang this was only supposed to be a paragraph…

…pls halp, I have no idea what to do lol.

Ok. I've read over this a couple times.

First off, I'm talking to you as L here, and not Star. I am very, very proud of you for acknowledging this and understanding that this is getting unhealthy. I think it's very smart that you dont want to neglect your yourself irl and the fact you're saying this, and saying exactly what you'll be doing, I'm really proud of it.

To give you a clear answer, if it's going to help you irl then I think stepping back is smart. Especially from the trauma and angst, because that stuff hurts a LOT and it can be really, really detrimental and negatively affect irl things. What I DONT think is that it's betraying anyone. You need to be able to put yourself and your needs first in order to be your best self, and everyone understands that you can't be on tumblr 24/7 because, well, that's really really really really unhealthy and not good. I'm really glad you're telling me about this though so I, and everyone else who sees this, knows.

TAOCC is really great but there's a LOT of heavy things on here and with everything going on, it can be super weighing and really affect people irl. I can speak from experience because honestly, I'm in a similar situation. I won't speak much about that though. It's definitely addictive and can get really really unhealthy if you let it, and honestly it's not hard to let it.

I want you to do whatever you feel is best for you, no matter what that entails. Fei and Tails and Xeya and Kumo and so many others and I love you so much and do NOT want you neglecting yourself and your life irl for this- it's meant to be entertainment, not a lifestyle.

I think it's smart to finish Yelena's Arc before partially stepping back. And I think it's even smarter to not want to do another dungeon, because that whole thing was a massive angst-fest and I think it negatively affected people more than they care to admit. Shippery and fluff and minor things is a good boundary.

I'll wrap this up now, but again, I'm in full support of this decision because I want you to be at your best. You're right, you're not just Elsie. And it's not fair for you to only be Elsie when you're so much more than that. If stepping away from tumblr will help you take care of the other parts of your life that we aren't involved in or aware of, then please do so because no part of you and your life should be sacrificed for the sake of entertainment.

Again, I'm really, really proud of you for admitting this.

Please know we'll always support you and you're super important to all of us, so don't ever feel bad for putting your needs first. Irl things should always come first.

But no matter what always remember:

WE LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH AND YOURE SUPER IMPORTANT AND WE WANT THE BEST FOR YOUUU ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Everything I said is applicable for everyone else reading this too. Taocc is fantastic and we love it but it shouldn't completely take over your life. It's okay to take a break or step back fully if it means the best for your health and irl life. Please remember to take care of yourselves- and everything that Elsie talked about here is FANTASTIC self care. It may be hard, but it's also the best decision she can make for herself and may be the best decision for others too.

Alright- I think I covered everything. Don't ever feel like you're betraying us Elsie- it's not betrayal, it's self care. We'll still be here for you, always. Never forget that ❤️❤️❤️

[feelo-fick]

Phio I’m so curious about the fairy brothers

OH MY GOD UHHH WHERE DO I BEGIN... okay basically, general overview :

the fairy brothers are two highschool students trying to get by - meg (they/them) and diji (he/him).

meg is a theatrical wannabe diva and ghost hunter who can be a little ignorant if not arrogant. they only have one simple goal in life - to make it big, be famous, and be known and loved by everyone on the block! because of this, they highly value their image, doing comedically drastic things just to reach their goals. you could convince them of almost anything by putting the prospect of money and fame on the line. think mickbell-adjacent, but more showy and extravagant. they're also really passionate about their belief in ghosts, and they want to prove their existence through recording vlogs while trespassing abandoned buildings (with the help of their brother, of course).

diji is a meek and overly polite guy just trying to survive. if you met him he might seem a little boring at a glance, other than his outfit. he likes baseball and crafts and that's all he'll tell you. he doesn't want much, just to live peacefully and normally without many worries (ha, imagine that). really nice fellow though! sometimes he'll get excited and accidentally slam his tail into something, but overall he's got a very even disposition. he's like... happy ena and wirt kinda. diji's also just a liiiitle judgemental of the people/environment around him, and sometimes it slips out without him thinking, but he makes sure to correct himself unless it's unnecessary. dont get me wrong, he is genuinely a nice person and he's not faking all his kindness to cover up some evil personality — he just doesnt like attracting attention and is generally wary as an unofficial guardian to his brother. he's really protective of meg, and joins them on their ghost hunts to make sure nothing bad happens.

they're both broke and don't have a stable source of income, but they both have jobs. diji works several part-time jobs at convenience stores and cafes and it's... well, it's a living. he tries his best not to complain about it. he gets free though, so win! meg has the ghost hunting vlog channel, but as you can imagine it's not doing too well (i mean, the video quality is Quite Iffy) AHHAHA but yknow, they're dead-set on it succeeding, so A for effort.

diji makes most of the money, cooks most of the food, buys most of the essentials, etc etc. he wants to provide for meg since theyre the youngest of the two of them. not by much, probably around 3-4 years or so, but they've only got each other, so someones gotta take up the mantle of caretaker, right? meg haaates this though, they hate feeling coddled and they're in that stage of life where they're determined to prove themselves. they've both had a lot arguments about it.

but they still love each other, of course.

i'm planning on opening an ask blog for them and their story, so i'm trying not to share too much! i feel like this is a pretty good summary of them though :] also their designs aren't final... they're originally fandom ocs for the webcomic musical pipers and those are their designs in that universe, but i want to change them for this personal plot to make them more of my own :D thanks for the ask about them, i have sooo much to say but well... gotta keep it under wraps for now sadly, didnt want to clog the post with a big lore dump and give too much exposition.

[fountainpenguin]

Hey!

I love what you done with the fairly odd parents, it has to be the most in-depth fan made aus I have ever read. I actually haven't read all of it, because it kinda overwhelms me a bit. But the parts I have read have blown me away.

And I was wondering with "The Fairly Oddparents: A New Wish" being released are thinking of using it for your own au or are you going to leave the au as it is now?

I'm just asking because I know good you are at shaping and expanding a show's lore and characters, and I would love to read your interpterion.

Thank you, I'm glad you admire my work!

I don't even know where to watch the show, honestly; I haven't kept up with any news. The only reason I know it exists is because @zachbrightside keeps me in the loop. I'm hesitant to get my hopes up and I don't want to get pulled into fandom negativity, so I'm keeping my distance.

I'd like to watch it when I'm ready, but I can't confirm I'll treat it as canon. Those long worldbuilding posts took a lot of time and energy that I don't have as much as I used to. If people ask, I'm happy to discuss the worldbuilding for the Riddleverse canon, but I think I've answered everything that I needed to know as the author. I don't know what the missing gaps for readers are, but I'm happy to answer questions if asked!

- If I'm asked about the main show and spin-off media I'm familiar with. Please don't send me spoilers about "A New Wish," as I am trying to avoid spoilers. - For anyone planning to send Asks, please remember my policy is that if you come into my house and ask me a question, I will answer it according to my worldbuilding and/or personal interpretation. I'd love to chat about FOP, but remember that I'm in "book club brain" when answering Asks, and you should not send me asks if you're uncomfortable with the answer being "No, I don't see it that way" or "I didn't like how X was portrayed."

I'm planning to post some of my worldbuilding info to AO3 as a meta essay / lore essay, as I recently discovered that's allowed there, and hopefully that introduces people to some of my lore if they have an easier time navigating there than on my blog :)

I'm planning to do that starting next Friday, as I'm hoping Chapter 9 of Criminal Experience will be the last and then I can give my Fridays back to FOP stuff.

tl;dr - If new info about the magical beings is revealed, particularly the Anti-Fairy or Pixie cultures, then there might be a place for it in my current works, which focus on the cloudlands more than on humans. But I enjoy the cultures as they are, so I don't think I need to supplement them with potentially non-canon info from yet another spin-off.

Honestly, right now I just want to keep my head down and get the 'fics I have done before I get carried away on new ideas :) But I do incorporate the things I can (like adding Tyler to Timmy's family tree), so if something clicks, maybe it will make it into a 'fic.

[delta-orionis]

Tuesday Again No Problem 6/4/24

Tuesdayposting: Pride month edition

(jk it's just the normal tuesdaypost)

Listening

I put my Spotify liked songs playlist on shuffle and this came up- I somehow completely forgot I added this song, but I ended up liking it. I might explore some more of this band's discography.

Watching

Fallow... (I had full intentions to watch the new Well There's Your Problem episode, but I wanted to devote my full attention to it rather than just putting it on in the background, and I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet)

Playing

More of Rain World's expedition mode... I started an Artificer run today and was feeling pretty good about it until the game crashed at the end of a pretty lengthy and productive cycle. I took that as my signal to put my Switch down for the evening.

I will say, the Switch port is decent, but it is pretty unstable in places, most notably in Spearmaster and Artificer's campaigns. I'm not sure when the fixes will be implemented because I know updates on Switch are handled differently than they are on Steam.... I guess I'll see.

Making

I mentioned last week that I started a new ask blog for my Rain World OC, Three Stars Above Clouds. I've reblogged a bunch of old posts that I felt were relevant, and I answered some asks too!

So far I've only answered a couple, but I have a handful more waiting in my inbox. People have been asking really good questions that are making me think hard about the way Rain World's universe functions, and I'm having a fun time trying to come up with satisfactory in-character answers.

Given the fact that much of Rain World's lore is a mystery, and also it takes place in a universe where magic basically exists, some of my explanations for things might not make 100% factual sense. Like, why Rain World's stars are green, for example. The best thing I can come up with is that there's some chemical component in the atmosphere that scatters light in such a way that the stars appear green, but as far as I know, there's no physical explanation for that. It could also have something to do with the way Rain World's inhabitants perceive light. I'll keep thinking about it.

I also made a more detailed map of Three Stars Above Clouds' surrounding area:

This map doesn't account for differences in elevation, and only shows things above the surface. I'm planning to make a cross-sectional map to show off things underground like the subways and water pipes.

---

That's all for this week, thanks for reading!

[ccaptain]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER.

REPOST DO NOT REBLOG !!

NAME: sam!! yes with the !!. imperative (i'm joking) but I also respond to Zack!

PRONOUNS: she/her, they/them!

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: until I'm comfy giving you my discord IMs will have to do!

NAME OF MUSE(s): Kaeya Alberich. in fact, multiple Kaeya Alberichs. In his Fatuiverse, he named himself Ambroise Petrov. ...... I have a lot of verses ok-

BEST EXPERIENCE: OH, MAKING HIM A FUCKING. HSR VERSE. so many more interactions and people interested in my essential appropriation in the Enigmata path and lore..... sorry hoyov.erse. this is mine now. i'm making him friends and ships and i move the lore now

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS:

- Do people still read an heartfelt, emotional reply from their partners and don't come yelling in their DMs about it as soon as they can?? That's the highest thing that puts me off on my list of Things That Put Sam off and you won't get the same effort off me if this happens consistently! sorry.

- everyone but me has square icons...................... where is the rotund. where is the round. PLEASE @ MY FELLOW ROTUND ICONS COME TO ME I'M AFRAID (I love y'alls icons im jk)

- If you start acting weird/spiteful because you assume my actions are sending a message you don't vibe with, your best bet is coming to ask me directly what I was trying to do/say. Me reblogging an ask meme/headcanon I made multiple times during the day is not to desperately attract your attention and coercing YOU specifically into sending me one: most of my rp partners have wonky timezomes but still want to read what I wrote/try to interact and this is faster than sending links to 8+ people. If you don't plot with me/send me ask memes, then there'll always be next time. Don't overthink it and don't make it weird, I exist in my own space and do my own things and I'll be happy if you want to vibe with me.

MUSE PREFERENCES: muses who have been damaged emotionally and still come on top of it ''well'' while hiding some sort of traumas...... muses with masks, multiple layers. onion muses that get vulnerable and get peeled layer by layer, painfully raw by the end of it. muses with skewered morals who learn with surprise that they can think in other ways than the ones they've been taught. in fact, H:SR Kaeya is an amalgamate of everything I like in terms of muse's personalities smashed together

PLOTS OR MEMES:  MEMES. faster to plot on, versatile, takes the awkwardess of the first plot off entirely if we're trying to interact, and I can adapt them to almost anything. I wanna say both, but plots are harder to start due to busy lives expecially if those require a starter :( i wanna say that we can mix both... start a plot with an ask meme that turns into a thread. that I can do and is a very good compromise for me

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: 4 paras for each reply or assume I have been alien-napped by weird beings and switched with an impostor who wasn't left a script to follow to impersonate me.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: EVENING... if i'm not drawing or chatting with people or playing, I crack my fingers after my afternoon nap and kick in gear. lock in. ..... then I get distracted but that's another story

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): HOOO BOY I HOPE THE FUCK NOT. maybe i'm more like Wriothesley in terms of muses despite his blog collecting dust: I cope healthily and am normal? I think??

tagged by: i stole it from myself. ultimate thief level tagging: HMMMHMMHMHM who hasn't done this already... mmmmm @predvestnik and @dupliciti as usual but also @aguilareye @glacialswordsman and everyone else who would like to join in!