#imagine thinking the avatar is irrelevant

[mal3vol3nt]

*those* people: aang is irrelevant to the story

meanwhile aang:

[peachsayshi]

actually going crazy over your last post like i wish i could use better words but it’s actually reduced me to soup for brains rn.

OK BUT imagine all that and include….. forced proximity.

like i have this hc ab having him asigned to you during his transition into the jj world, maybe bc ur technique counters his well somehow? (irrelevant to my horny brain, but i also like to imagine a technique similar to the avatar from atla very ambitious ik, which would include blood bending) and the elders want to be really sure he’s not a threat. so here you are the first few months (im ignoring everything bad going on in the manga lmao) with Choso following you around everywhere bc you’re not allowed to have him out of your sight. can you imagine the first few times he caught on to your “heat” and didn’t know what to do with himself? he can barely get away from you long enough to clear his head and it drives him crazy.

anyways, i could go on forever ESPECIALLY ab Choso, but yeah love your writing and i wanted to share what it made me think of <3

(cw: voyeurism; primal/prey (ish?) )

nonnie, please, let's talk about this some more. choso isn't leaving my head today and I feel like I'm about to go insane.

(ps. the details of your technique countering/balancing choso's is such an amazing idea!! I love that!!)

oh, our poor baby boy. he would be positively frazzled in the beginning - he'd struggle to cope, and look visibly distraught. at first you just think it's an inherent strangeness that he has because he's half cursed spirit. but then you start realizing that this reaction doesn't always happen because there are times when he's completely normal and not like he's been plagued with visceral discomfort.

you like choso. you think he's sweet, a little innocent and naive, but kind overall. he never gave you any reason to doubt that but even you can't deny the dark glimmer in his eye when he looks at you. it's a gaze that he shares with no one else. and the expression on his face, cheeks red with a friendly smile, simply counter the danger that swirls in his irises.

it's a look that makes you want to hide like a bunny scampering away from a lone predator.

of course, you have to tell yourself that you're being foolish. shrugging off your ridiculous nerves when you remind yourself that this is choso you're worrying about.

the man can barely hold it together when yuji shows him one of those adorable cat videos that he finds online. there's no reason for you to be so unnerved by him.

and yet, you're you're hyper aware of how small the space is whenever you're forced to share a room together while away on a mission. you notice that choso, is in fact, quite large and takes up plenty of the space. he's all broad shoulders and ripped muscle; obsidian details contrasting against his smooth, pale canvas. you can't turn without him being in your line of sight.

trapped in a cage of four walls.

it's when you're alone with him that you pay attention to how those eyes deepen, sinking further into the depths of peculiar mystery, revealing a puzzle that you can't seem to decipher. it's when you're alone with them where you realize that sometimes his attention will drop to your lips, or to your breasts. it's when you're alone with him when you feel the pulse of adrenaline reverberate across your skin, goosebumps rising with your heart beating wildly as you ponder whether or not to let your guard down.

he slips up once when you're both away. you swear you felt him breathe in the scent of your perfume against your neck, but choso reacted like nothing was out of the ordinary as you spun on your heel to confront him. his discipline strikes with a twitch of his jaw and a clench of his fist, and he simply fibs that he was looking over your shoulder to observe the mission documents on the table.

his cheeks are blushing furiously now, and it twists your stomach into knots.

he can't possibly...

you shake your head, refusing to reduce his behavior to something so simple as a silly crush.

yes, you both spend a lot of time together, but choso is a death painting womb. he isn't even human. there is no way that he could be feeling those kind of feelings. and especially not with you.

but the thought sits in your head until later that evening, when you're standing in the hotel bathroom. there's an ache in your chest that's spreading down between your legs. you've never actually thought about choso in this capacity, and you don't understand why it's making every nerve tingle.

it's bold of you to make the decision and open the shared bathroom door until it was ajar. to then step into the steamy shower, the silhouette of your enticing, captivating curves a print for the wolf to track. and you can't help but wonder as warm droplets trickle over your soft, delicate skin...if he's standing there right now, and observing you patiently from the shadows.

[balioc]

I have a beard, of a particular slightly-distinctive style. I've had that same beard for the entirety of my adult life.

This is, obviously, the most contingent kind of fact about me. If I wanted to shave it off, or to style it differently, I could do so right now with zero difficulty. It's not a cultural signifier, or a marker of group belonging, or anything; even to me, it doesn't really mean anything other than "this is a symbol of me-the-person because it is associated with me because I have it." I started cultivating it in mid-adolescence for ephemeral irrelevant reasons, and kept it going basically out of inertia.

Nonetheless: it is really important to me. Like, really really important.

I basically cannot use character-creators or avatar-generators of any sort unless they have appropriate-enough beard options. When I contemplate getting rid of the beard...well, based on the way other people use the term, I think that the appropriate word for the feeling I get from that is dysphoria. During a brief period when I thought that I might have to get rid of the beard for medical reasons, I seriously considered wearing some kind of full-face leper mask whenever I left the house, because the thought of hiding my face from the world forever made me less unhappy than the thought of having people see me clean-shaven.

And, crucially, this affects my ability to Identify With People in literature and media. I am about 900% more likely to have an "it me" mental reflex if the character in question has a Beard Like Mine, regardless of whether there's any actual substantive commonality or grounds-for-sympathy there. I can control this with deliberate effort, but -- it takes deliberate effort. This phenomenon has probably had some measurable effect on my personality and philosophy, simply by causing me to identify or not-identify with potentially-high-impact characters in a subconscious (or conscious) way.

For example: I basically always see elves as Other and Not-Me, because elves are usually portrayed as the Beardless People, even if there are all sorts of obvious reasons to map myself onto a particular elvish character or elvish culture. Which there often are!

You might be inclined to say that this is, uh, stupid. I wouldn't blame you. It is, at the least, definitely very irrational; it's an aggressively hypertrophied bit of mental DNA, the sort of thing that you might fairly-if-uncharitably call a "psychic cancer." But of course it's never going to change, because the phenomenon operates deep down on the level of appreciative impulses and happy-buttons, which are mostly impervious to reason. (Assuming that you're inclined to try and alter them through reason, which is usually not worth the effort even when it can work.)

----------

It's not actually a problem for me that beard-related neurosis prevents me from identifying with elves. Not much of a problem, anyway. I guess I lose out on some cool Line of Feanor feels.

But I can imagine it being a problem. I can imagine the world in which the cool resonant myth that everyone cares about, the thing around which you want to build big chunks of your identity, has only elves with whom to identify. I can imagine the world in which all the cool smart people I want to be my friends are endlessly talking about their elfsonas.

And, y'know, in that hypothetical world, there's a few different ways I could react. I could say "fuck you, fantasy myth is for losers." I could be a mythic entrepreneur, and aggressively push my own homegrown stories featuring dwarves and ogres and other beardy folk. I could try to [shudder] map myself onto a beardless elf in my mind, and let that image occupy space in my fantasies, and hope that the revulsion and dissonance don't tear me apart. I could just be kinda sad about it all.

Or I could say: Hey, guys, could we maybe just agree that elves can have beards? Since they're made up and all, and their beardlessness doesn't even really matter to the myth anyway?

If I were so inclined, I could even follow that up with: Look, this is a really big deal for me. I'm pretty sure it's a much bigger deal for me than it is for any of you. That would be 100% honest.

And I imagine that many people would respond: What? No. Ew. The elf stories have clear lore and a well-defined aesthetic, and you're proposing to shit all over them with your weird beard nonsense. You don't get to do that; you don't get to make the akashic commons worse for your own private benefit; it doesn't matter what your reasons are. Play by the rules, or go play another game.

I would have a lot of sympathy for those people.

----------

(Yes, yes, I know, Cirdan the Shipwright, don't @ me.)

----------

There are, of course, lessons in this. Perhaps I will spell them out in another post, soon, if I find myself feeling less tired and cranky. But for now: he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

[sokkastyles]

Hey, love your blog! Something doesn't sit right with me about Aang's attachment problem. Didn't he let go of Katara? We see him give her up and then gets shot by Azula. But he still opened it. If that's the case, why is Aang still attached to her? And why is he braver about it? (Asking her for a dance and kissing her twice, not that kissing her was a good thing). Did overcoming his attachment meant he saw her as more (romantically) approachable? But it's weird for him to overcome an attachment while in the next episodes he's more in love than ever. What do you think?

Yeah, the thing is, getting rid of his attachment should make him romantically braver and should ultimately make him closer to Katara. Because the problem with Aang's attachment was that it was an insecure attachment. Which is what made him act in ways that reflected that insecurity, like being anxious that Katara would not reciprocate his feelings. This actually hindered his relationship with Katara in book one and two because it prevented him from being honest about his feelings with Katara for fear that she might reject him. (Remember the whole "I'd rather kiss you than die" debacle?) This insecurity about losing her is also why he imagined her in peril when the guru asked him to let his attachment go.

And no way, no way is Aang going to get over that insecure attachment in a moment when Katara is in dire danger, in the heat of battle, when he couldn't do it before when he was with the guru and we're explicitly shown that the thought of Katara in danger is what is keeping Aang tethered to that insecure attachment. It's just not possible. I don't believe it.

What would have happened if Azula's lightning had not neutralized that conflict by making it irrelevant, is that realistically, after failing to save Katara and Ba Sing Se, Aang should be more insecurely attached to Katara than ever. And that is what happens. He acts more on his feelings but in ways that show that he's more afraid than ever that Katara will not reciprocate, and that then translates to entitlement towards her and anger at her in Ember Island Players for not reciprocating his affection.

So not only does it not make narrative sense for Aang to be able to open his chakra when he did, the narrative carries on as if he didn't and the excuse they use for why Aang can't is "because Azula shot him with lightning." The plotline about Aang forming a more secure attachment to Katara is completely dropped in favor of putting the onus on Katara to reciprocate Aang's feelings.

That's a large part of why book three feels like a mess. It actually would have been a compelling narrative if Aang HAD learned to be more secure in his attachment to Katara. Which should not mean he doesn't love her, it means he's secure enough to accept it if she says no. Which actually would make him braver romantically because he would not be afraid of rejection. So much of Katara and Aang's narrative feels like nice guy bullshit because the narrative blames Katara for not automatically returning Aang's love instead of having Aang pluck up the courage to actually ask her out. The reason so called "nice guys" always think that girls love jerks instead of them is that they don't realize that you actually have to ask a girl out to get her to be your girlfriend, instead of waiting for her to just fall into your lap because you're too terrified she will say no. And by the time Aang does make his intentions clear to Katara, it's "why aren't we together?" instead of actually asking her how she feels and what she wants.

And I've theorized that it actually was the original intention to have Aang go through a period of being more insecure in his relationship with Katara than ever before learning to be more secure in his relationship and thus unlocking the Avatar State, also rounding out the parallels between Aang and Zuko in book three, which also feel like missed opportunities that are never really followed through, most likely because the writers were either unwilling or unable to take the same risks with Aang's narrative as they did with Zuko's.

[anamericangirl]

I’m not sure if you know or care who Th3Birdman is, but he’s a former Christian movie YTer, just saying to preface this. I stumbled across this statement he said about God and human suffering in his Suicide Squad video, I’ll need to put it in quotes to get the entire context, so excuse the formatting:

Movie: “If God existed, wouldn’t this be proof that he wasn’t good at all?”

CS: “Well no actually, God’s goodness, at least biblically speaking from a New Testament perspective, is not something that prevents all human suffering but rather something that offers grace and redemption to all those who have suffered.”

Th3Birdman: “But that skirts the fact that this hypothetical god created everything, including the concept of suffering, and that he knew the people he created would suffer, thereby making him the direct cause of suffering. That’s the problem with primitive fairy tales — they fail at logic and can’t keep up with societal morality. Imagine believing an all-powerful deity needs to send an avatar of himself to Earth with the intention of dying to forgive sins instead of… just forgiving the sins… that he knew was going to happen anyway…”

In another video, he’s also agrees with CS saying that parents force religion onto their children when they’re young since they can’t object, and that Christianity’s “real name” is Christian Mythology. I wanted to know your thoughts on these perspectives since I think it sounds a bit off and you know more about Christianity than I do.

I'm not familiar with him but he sounds like someone who is very hostile against Christianity and God and also doesn't understand the nature of God.

His premise is that suffering is bad and since God is the creator and allows suffering and "created the concept" of suffering then that means God can't be good. But first he has to explain why suffering is bad. Sure, we don't like to suffer but why is the reality of suffering evidence of God not being good?

It sounds like he's saying if God were really good, then he, Birdman, would just be able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, he could reject God and disobey him and if God were really good, He would just allow it and Birdman would never have to experience any consequences for anything and never worry about repentance because if God were good he would just forgive him and never let anything bad happen to him while Birdman just does whatever he wants.

For God to be "good" according to his misguided opinion, God would have to eliminate choice out of the equation. And God giving us choice and freedom was a good thing. God didn't create suffering, we created it. And if God took away the concept of suffering then that would demand he take our choice away with it.

We can't have the choice to follow God if the choice to not follow him is not also there. And whether Birdman likes it or not, the evil and suffering in the world is what life is like when we don't follow God. God is not a do-gooder, he is goodness itself and if you choose not to follow goodness then you are left without goodness. We are living in a world that we brought evil and suffering into by choosing to reject the goodness of God. And you can be like Birdman and think well if God was really good he wouldn't have made it so not following him is bad. As C.S. Lewis wrote "God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there." But that's what Birdman wants. He wants peace and happiness apart from God, where it cannot exist.

He is criticizing God for allowing evil and suffering but he's also criticizing him for stopping it because he's not stopping it how the pseudo-intellectual Birdman is thinks it should be stopped. Whatever Birdman thinks God "could have done" is irrelevant to what reality is.

The reality is sin is real. The reality is consequences are real. The reality is sin is separation from God and it has a price and Birdman better be glad God sent the "avatar" of himself to die and take the punishment that Birdman deserves.

And the thing is God did create a sinless world. We were created in a perfect state with no evil and no suffering and then we broke it. We created it. Blaming God because it’s possible to break perfection is like blaming a chef if you drop a cake they made on the floor and saying, “well, if they were a good chef, they would have made their cake in such a way where throwing it on the floor wouldn’t have destroyed it. And I’m not going to clean up my mess but if they clean it themselves it just proves they aren’t a good chef because they could have made a cake that wouldn’t make a mess.”

Also, he calls it a fairy tale because it doesn't "keep up" with societal morals. And, uh, that's the point. Christianity is not supposed to keep up with societal morals. We keep up with God's morals. Society should be keeping up with God, not the other way around. Societal morals are crap and ever changing and he's a fool if he considers them something God should be "keeping up with."

Does Birdman think he is a good person? If he is a good person and knows how to correctly do forgiveness, which means no one needs to be punished we can "just forgive," is that what he practices and is that how he wants our justice system to work? Should we not prosecute rapists and murderers and just "forgive them" because that's what goodness is like? Is it bad for people to experience consequences for their choices or not? And unless Birdman is without sin he cannot claim to be an authority or even a credible source as to what goodness really is.

Another C.S. Lewis quote because I think it's relevant to Birdman's claims.

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?... Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if i did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never have known it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.” 

I hope that answered you and made sense. Sorry it's a little all over the place. Sometimes it really irritates me when atheists try to pass themselves off as intellectuals just by the very nature of being atheist when their arguments against Christianity boil down to "if God were good then evil wouldn't exist" which just shows they don't even have a basic understanding of the religion they're trying to criticize. They like to throw out phrases like christianity is a "fairy tale" and then pretend they are wells of logic and intelligence when that's one of the dumbest statements you can make. You don't have to believe the Bible or Christianity but if you think it's a fairy-tale that's an objectively ignorant and shows you really have no idea what you're talking about.

And he can pretend religion is "forced" onto children when they're young by their parents but I could say the same about atheism. Parents are going to raise their children in accordance with the values and beliefs they subscribe to. Religion is no more forced onto children by religious parents then atheism is forced onto children by atheist parents.

[cold-neon-ocean]

What compels you about Baatar Jr.?

Oh goodness, I do love talking about why I like him I cannot lie! (foreshadowing for the length of this, I come back to ominously warn retrospectively..)

Honestly even back when the show was initially airing, he was a character I always liked. Being big into anime in middle and high school I was 100% a "megane man" enjoyer lol which is just to glasses men XD (they get a special genre title because they are apparently very popular in Japanese anime communities which honestly, based) so that was the first thing (not to mention he's voiced by Todd Haberkorn who I knew from anime dubs since he's in so many).

But okay so what I find compelling about Baatar. I think he had such potential to be a very interesting character and one that could have been really put to use in the story. He had such interesting groundwork to me, especially in tandem with Kuvira. You can always trust me to stan the troubled eldest sibling lol, in Baatar's particular case I call it "eldest sibling inferiority complex" (idk if anyone has coined that phrase but I'm claiming it until proven otherwise) but it's something I relate to a lot. Baatar being the first "heir" essentially of the metal bending capitol of the world, founded by the metal bending daughter of the inventor of metal bending itself Toph Beifong, and he isn't a bender in any regard is something I think about way too much, I don't care whatever way you slice it I know that must have SUCKED for him because he was just.. inherently kind of a disappointment? Like he came into the world with the "Oh, shame he isn't a bender." tagline on his life. And then the brother he gets soon after IS a metal bender which I can imagine practically felt like an instant replacement because he wasn't "enough". Ofc that may not have been why Su and Sr. had Huan but I can see Baatar feeling that way. Then the twins ofc have metal bending and Opal later on gets air bending and he's just pushed further and further into irrelevance in the family. Like history will always talk about the Beifong family, the inventors and masters of metal bending, Suyin's younger sons all being prodigies in their own right, her daughter later being blessed with air bending, but what would ever be said about Baatar? He was just "the one who was a non-bender". I thought so so much about how being in a position like that would feel. And even the framing of the writing of the show itself always felt so dismissive of him. When Su is introducing all her kids he gets the least mention, no one ever says his name even, he only has 3 scenes in the entirety of season 3 and only in 1 is he even animated. It just always felt rather sad to me, he really was in line to just become the Beifong family's forgotten son.

I've talked about how I wish something had been said with Baatar and Huan and how starkly contrasting they are. Baatar feels trapped in his father's shadow with nothing of his own, not his own name, nothing of his own to leave an impact with and just quietly relegating himself to the background, meanwhile Huan is so obsessed with his self expression and individuality. I can imagine Huan seeing Baatar and how miserable he was when they were younger and not wanting to end up like that so he takes a hard turn into the opposite direction.

I really think Baatar was the perfect character to bring back the discussion of disparity between benders and non-benders, from a villain standpoint of course, because he is a character who- even from his seat of clear privilege, still has to deal with the effects of it. Like the world of Avatar really is for benders and non-benders are just allowed to live in it. I don't think Baatar actually wants bending, I actually think quite the opposite. I think he just doesn't want to be seen as lesser than for not having it, and prove that he doesn't need it in his life. That's why I love the setup of his relationship with Kuvira so much. I genuinely think the two of them were accidentally written and created so perfect for each other and the writers just.. did it by sheer accident and didn't even notice and thus squandered them completely. They give each other exactly what the other needs. Kuvira wants acceptance and to feel genuinely wanted which Baatar gives her, and Baatar wants recognition and to feel appreciated for who he is and that's what Kuvira gives him. She is one of the most skilled metal benders in the world but grew up in a family that didn't want her or care about her (ignoring Ruins entirely, Ruins of the Empire my beloathed), and Baatar grew up in one of the richest families in the world, the family whose whole identity is metal-bending, born into the lap of luxury but was still written off somewhat because he was a non-bender and thus the family legacy really didn't have anything to do with him. And when Su takes Kuvira under her wing they're both living in what is considered a "utopia" but are both still unhappy because they always feel "outside" of it, and they are able to relate to each other in that way and validate each others' feelings. Having Kuvira choose him- someone considered very remarkable choosing someone most consider very unremarkable, and him being the first person to ever genuinely truly want her and all of her is my Roman Empire, it is the hill I will die on. Like idk how the LoK writers had all that literally right in front of them and chose to do nothing with it, it bothers me so much lol.

Baatar descending (ascending truly in my opinion lol) into his villain era when he is finally away from home because he is reacting out of spite, paranoia, and existential dread because this is his chance to be known for something in his own right and not for anything to do with his family and slowly becoming the instrument of his own destruction is my bread and butter, I love it so much. I hate the fanon that he left Zaofu only to pad after Kuvira, I truly think he saw his one chance to leave with someone he cares about and financial stability and took it. I don't think he's very altruistic, like if I'm being frank I don't think he gives a hoot or a holler about the Empire itself LOL like he is absolutely here to support Kuvira and help her achieve her goals but to him the Empire is just something he can cultivate to facilitate himself and his needs. It's more of a symbiotic relationship to him where he'll always prioritize himself but will do what he needs to to keep the host happy. I do think that when he initially left he DID have good intentions they just were also very self serving, and then as time went on he leaned further and further into the self serving and see's himself as "doing the right thing for them because it is the right thing for me so no one can get mad :)" lol like yes darling, you are the moment, give us everything and nothing. I love love love the thought of him really leaning into the fame and attention because he's actually getting recognition, people are interested in what he's doing, he has the facilities to work on things he wants to work on, and can really just do as he pleases. One thing you will not see me do is say that he was trying his best for the Empire's sake the whole time lol like the man truly was out here in his Applause by Lady Gaga era. The idea that he does in fact do good for the people but for selfish reasons is just so funny to me. He's like "Do you think I'm out here bringing running water and irrigation to rural towns out of the goodness of my heart? No bitch, I'm just not about to get giardia in the name of freedom." LMAOO like yeah he is a little bit wretched but I'm still stanning, I'm still streaming, my shower is working so I have to thank him. Like I do genuinely find the idea of "guy who is doing good things for selfish reasons but is still doing good things regardless" very interesting to think about. Like what does it matter where his heart is at if he's still doing humanitarian work because it provides him in return with accolades and material wealth lmao. In his case though I can see him melting a bit when he sees the good impact his work can have but he has to keep up his big sassy bitch face bc he has a reputation to maintain.

Also withing the Empire era, that is like my peak Baatar contemplation era because wow it was so rife with potential for him. A non-bender being second in command of what was probably the biggest military force in the world at the time must have been an insane line for him to walk. Because all his authority is superficial. Because Kuvira gave it to him and for almost no other reason. No matter what he does, he will always be weaker than the weakest bender inherently, but he still has to command respect because everyone KNOWS THAT. Him walking through their camps he literally has his life on the line at every second because anyone could just decide to kill him at any moment for no reason and there's nothing he could do to defend himself. So he has to be smart, he has to be scary, he has to be mean, he has to be intimidating because if he doesn't he has nothing else to shield himself with. He can't let his anxiety over it show either because every bender would be able to hear it through the ground. The idea of Baatar having genuine anxiety regarding benders all his life is something that is so important to me. Even in his own home, his heart rate couldn't be something that was private. I love to hc that he quickly learned to become an Azula tier liar like you could never catch him lying because he needed to learn how otherwise his own emotions couldn't even be private. Aiwei could never catch this man and he hated it so much lol Baatar loved every second of it. He would just say lies to Aiwei's face and they both would know he was lying but Aiwei couldn't ever really know and it made him so mad.

I really do think a lot of what Baatar does comes from a place of genuine hurt, and wanting to feel like he has some form of control in his life and he expresses it through anger because his anger is the only power he feels like he has but he lets it eat away at him until he just has this void in him that will never be satisfied. He wants his family to understand how he feels, why he feels so hurt, and for them to acknowledge it, but he needs them to realize it themselves without him saying it because if he has to tell them then it must not be real. Plus how could they understand when they're free of the experience that makes him feel this way. They'll never know that feeling of being a disappointment on arrival. Opal did, but she's beyond it all now. Thinking about his relationship with his father, I think he actually loves his father so much, he was a daddy's boy from day one and still is, he wants his father to feel similarly as himself, not the anger but just acknowledge that "yes, the world really does revolve around benders, and it's okay that you feel scared and unnerved by that reality, there's nothing wrong with your feelings it's okay for you to have them" but his father doesn't feel that way and Baatar takes it as almost a kind of betrayal. In his mind he needs that shared experience because it tells him that if someone else feels like this then his feelings are real and he isn't just making shit up, he can feel that way even if he never acts on it, just knowing someone else feels the same. He doesn't go about it in a healthy way at all and I am by no means defending his actions or blaming his family for everything bad that he's done, you'll never catch me doing that, Baatar 100% engineers his own downfall by choosing to feed into his anger for catharsis. The fact that he did everything he ever did because he didn't want to be forgotten by history, only to get his wish, he'll indeed be remembered forever, but remembered as the engineer of monstrosities is the perfect poetic irony to me and his most perfect kind of villain arc in my eyes. He is so consumed by his anger and paranoia. His fear of being forgotten by time because to him being forgotten means there was never any point to his existence to begin with.

Also okay yes let us briefly discuss my buff Baatar lol I do have reason for it I swear! So okay yes, I do that for me because I love big beefy glasses men okay, sue me, i am indeed an animal in that way. But also I do think it just kinda makes sense for him??? Like he is someone with some clear anger issues and exercise is in fact a very good way to relieve anger and stress. I think it's funny that he just gave that a try because he needed to vent his anger on something and it became his primary anger management and now he's just massive lol but also this is also him making a statement of like "I can take my body even this far but I'd still always be at an inherent disadvantage", he'd have a lot of reasons for doing it- his own vanity, his self-esteem of always feeling unimpressive or unremarkable, wanting to feel like he could in even the smallest way be something of a protective force for Kuvira. Plus him having the kangaroo effect on people between seasons 3 and 4 is so funny, where when people think about kangaroos they're like "aaw cute lill hoppy fellas c:"(season 3) and then they actually see a kangaroo and are like "bitch what the fuck is that"(season 4) lmao like have you seen how jacked kangaroos actually are? Everyone is like "Yeah we know what Baatar looks like" and then they see him for the first time in season 4 and are like "Who the fuck is that?" LMAOO Also yeah he just looks nice that way to me.

God I just scrolled up this to see where I was at and this ended up way longer than I intended alksjdf I'll stop myself here I'm so sorry, I just truly cannot Shut Up about this man. He genuinely means so much to me. For so long I didn't talk about liking him or did any art of him because in the early days of the fandom and even relatively recently, the hate for him was so... vitriolic and cruel it genuinely made me so uncomfortable. I'd see rare pieces of fanart of him and the comments would always have people expressing their hate for him in them, I've even gotten comments like that on my own art. It really has always baffled me tbh, even the writers and Bryan himself are not shy about talking about their hate for him, one of the s4 episode writers called him "the worst character in the entire franchise" and it just hurts my heart so much. Like they wrote him already down and just continue kicking him while he's there like they weren't the ones who put him there. In that way Baatar's spite and anger feels almost all encompassing as corny as that sounds. I just love angry sad men and Baatar is the angriest saddest man of my heart haha if he has no fans I am dead. I really cannot express how much it means to me to hear that people have become to like him more because of my portrayal of him, I've even had people who used to hate him tell me they love him now because of me and I truly could cry about it, I really could.

[artificialcaretaker]

It always occupied a space in the back of my mind, but I now OFFICIALLY have a specific way in which I ship AzulAang,

[And all it took was an entirely DIFFERENT set of alien romance which is technically entirely headcanon because they never elaborate on the details in the comic.]

Ok, so here’s a physical demonstration

They’re……figuring it out.

But as for the explaination:

- First and foremost, the relationship would have to take place Post-Canon. I know the images used are show PNGs but I didn’t feel like looking for comic PNGs. Due to Azula’s whole psychiatric situation at the end of the series, along with the fact that Aang has probably not yet fully processed that she killed him that one time, they’re gonna need a little time apart!!

- When they meet up after that initial separation, though, a very particular dynamic forms

- While a VERY dedicated shipper could argue that Azula previously harbored some pitch feelings towards Aang, I personally feel she would not be able to keep that hatred or aggression to a fully romantic context, and after they reunite she may find those pitch feelings irrelevant, as like I said, they would’ve probably had the tendency to spiral into NON-romantic hatred, which is something she’d no longer be able to display now that the Avatar is an internationally protected citizen instead of a wanted criminal

- As for Aang, I honestly just have a hard time imagining him in any pitch ships in general ig?? I just don’t think his feelings would ever skew that way, closest I have to that is Aang in an ASHEN ZuKatAang and that’s about as dark as it goes for him personally. There IS still a particular tension there with Azula, though, one that could much more-so be considered a desire for mutual trickery

- And thus, they enter the Blue-Diamond

- Their Blue-Diamond relationship, being the most neutral of the ennead, puts them in a perfect middle ground in which neither are necessarily entirely malicious or entirely malevolent when it comes to the hijinks between them.

- It’s like……can I say Tom and Jerry?? Am I allowed to say Tom and Jerry?? It’s a continuous line of slapstick between the two, but in a way which it’s very structured routine-wise, and it’s balanced out with moments in which hijinks cease entirely in favor of calmer moments

- The difficulties lie, though, in Azula’s competitiveness and Aang’s cordialness

- And thus, they enter a Trove in Progress

- While Azula both softens up to Aang over time and is now legally required to NOT seriously harm him, some of those remaining pitch feelings still bubble up sometimes, but due to the restraint she now has to maintain, that intensity is lowered down to an intense desire for hijinks and a lowered desire for affection, thus sending her feelings into Stars at times

- On the other hand, while Aang has a naturally unserious demeanor, he IS still a little sappy at times, so while there’s not necessarily a FULL stop of hijinks, he sometimes teeters into Clovers

- While this COULD lead into a nice Trove, their past experiences with each other have led to a bit of a difficulty in emotionally understanding one another, as well as confronting one another about those misunderstandings

- This, unfortunately, means that they don’t usually line up when it comes to Stars or Clovers, and due to not fully understanding the other’s intent, one usually ends up shifting back into the neutrality of Blue-Diamonds, which will sometimes confuse the other further, but also sometimes line up with the other shifting back into that same ennead just around the same time

- All and all, they DO have the potential of entering a Trove, but at the current stage I imagine the relationship in there’s still a lot more soul searching and conversations that need to be had between the two

- Until then though, they DO still have the comfort of the ennead they mutually share, which at the end of the day still serves as a testament to their shared feelings towards each other

- Nobody here knows what the fuck I’m talking about.

[vaalthus]

The threat to the Plane of Darkness, the inevitable return of the Shadowscythe, and what lead to the Exalted Alliance theory and speculation

Something has been on my mind lately, namely regarding the Proclamations and Reckoning war. At the conclusion of the Reckoning War, all eight Avatars of the elements were essentially left diminished, reduced to the form of elemental orbed embodiments, and are now being contained by Lock and Key until they remerge from their dormancy. The current inactive state of the Avatars explains much of why the Proclamation rifts have been such an issue to the extent that they’ve been. If the Avatars were active, we’d likely be having less of a harder time closing the ones that clearly link to the section as. What bothers me now though is that out of all the Avatars rendered dormant Voidstar is probably the one we would want down the least right now. I say this of course due to the ever-present threat that is the Shadowscythe and their agents of Doom.

It has long since been established that the Shadowscythe and its agents will never cease in their quest to plunge all of existence into Darkness in this current timeline. To remove, in their eyes, the pollution of the Elements influence on this reality at any cost.

And now, their biggest rivals, the Avatars of all eight prime elements have been forcibly placed into stasis for the time being.

Meaning the avatar of the only elemental plane that is safe for them to move freely in without heavy risk of annihilation is no longer in a position to bring the hammer down upon them to halt their corruption. While I have no doubts that much as it appears to be the case with other avatars that Voidstar has left behind some form of entourage or progeny to govern the Plane of Darkness in his absence, like Celeritas's family or the Lagohmorph royalty in the case of Haeos' plane,

I fear that may not be enough to hold back the problem the Shadowscythe present.

The Shadowscythe have shown numerous times in the past that they are more than content to manipulate and corrupt those around them when they feel that overwhelming force simply isn’t a viable course of action for a plan to be set in motion. These manipulations have ranged from outright lies, offers of comfort, or the corruptive properties of their powers. Hell, sometimes they'll use all three of those methods.

We even know that they are capable of convincing those that hail from the Darkness Plane to support them despite the fact that it is within the interest of Voidstar to maintain the balance of the elements.

So, with Voidstar now out commission, what’s to stop the Shadowscythe from attempting to gain some real ground within the Plane of Darkness, outside that potential back-up of governance I previously mentioned? Even if the Shadowscythe choose not to attempt shall we say some sort of combative assault on the governing powers that might remain in the Darkness Plane, they might still have the option of indoctrinating or persuading its inhabitants to support their cause in bringing about Darkness everywhere.

I don’t think the Shadowscythe would have a hard time amassing more followers at the moment either. There are elementals that seem to be somewhat guilty of desiring for the element they are aligned to win out over the others, so I imagine it's not going to be too difficult for them to convince some darkness elementals to side with them outright. From there it might be a simple process to make note of the absence of Voidstar to point out that perhaps to float around the idea that it’s time for the plane to be placed under a different vision and management. One that they might allege serves the interests of the Darkness plane, whether this would be an outright lie or them conflating that to what the Darkness means to the Shadowscythe would be irrelevant I imagine.

Which brings me to another advantage the Shadowscythe might have here: the chaos of the Elemental Wastes. It was established back in Awakened Depths that the Wastes are effectively a battleground for elemental beings of all shapes and sizes to duke it out to gain dominance over the others.

Furthermore, as King Thorin would imply, there are champions of the Wastes, with no specified allegiance to a single element, that seem to attempt to encroach upon the sovereignty of the other elemental planes which would indicate even more factions vying for more control within the overall Elemental Plains.

I could easily see the Shadowscythe presenting themselves as the solution to darkness residents that will end or at least ward off the chaos presented by the Wastes: namely its champions and warbeasts alike. This of course is dependent on how well the Plane is when confronted with the onslaught of forces from the Wastes, but as I’ve speculated in the past, I suspect not all planes are handling the matter equally, especially now that their avatars are gone.

Alternatively, it may also be plausible that the Shadowscythe could cause havoc within the Elemental Wastes. How could they do that, you might ask? How can the Shadowscythe, beings so reliant on the darknesss that smallest candlelight can make them go poof, be active within the Wastes? A place likely filled with a myriad of elemental entities that can harm them. Well, much like the Wastes has its champions within all that elemental dissonance, I suspect that the Shadowscythe and its doom spirits might function similar to warlords within certain “safe zones” in the Plains for them. We know that, when necessary or strategic, doom entities are capable of engulfing regions into shadows and darkness, either as means of spreading their influence or protecting themselves from being outright destroyed by outside elements, namely the light.

So, with that in mind, what if members of the Shadowscythe, if not the entire organization, have managed to section off certain parts of the Wastes for themselves by employing these shadows, on a larger scale, though not so large they would draw attention from the Avatars, and have these sections act as bases or outposts as both as a means to not always be under the watchful eye of Voidstar and to conduct operations in the Wastes and Lore abroad. It might be possible then that they might find ways to agitate other forces, be it elemental factions in the Wastes or leftover Warbeasts, into attacking all other Planes or just the Darkness Plane should taking it over be in their interests.

Now of course this is all speculation on what the Shadowscythe might do with Voidstar gone for the time being. It could be easily feasible that the Shadowscythe are simply patient and will do nothing with this opportunity as they coalesce in the shadows when they feel like the right moment is on hand…as much I doubt they’ll do nothing for now.

It is here where I want to address something else as well. I cannot help but think back to the Last Stand of Ehr’Ishin, in which the Engineer mentions specifically those that stayed low in the shadows would survive the firing of the Exalted Artillery.

This could of course just be an off-hand reference to practically any creatures or entities that would have stayed far away from the blast radius of the weapon as is the case for the other locations mentioned on the same page. However, given that beings derived from Doom and the Shadowscythe respectively are so often affiliated with shadows throughout the games. I suspect a more sinister element here.

You see, ever since we got the reveal back in Rebirth that the Shadowscythe managed to sneak their way into the current timeline, avoiding being removed after the Reset, and it was revealed that they had an embodying force that exists in opposition to the Aequlibria, I came to a suspicion.

A suspicion that the Shadowscythe, this Whisper, as Notha and Remthalas call it, was in some shape or form responsible for the Exalted Alliance forming against the Aequilibria. I don’t think that Notha was wrong in her analysis that ‘doom’ was considered to be analogous to freedom as labeled by the Exalted even when it was revealed there was a tangible force of Doom they made note of alongside the Aequilibria.

I suspect that the Whisper, whatever exactly it is, was able to instill within certain Infernals and Celestials the need to break away from whatever vision or mandate the Aequilibria had for them. Perhaps a dose of ambition if you would consider. Essentially, the basic idea behind the Exalted is to yearn for something beyond what they were meant for at their very cores and wills upon their creation. How exactly the Whisper did this I’m not sure. Coming into contact with it in some way could have corrupted/influence a few members, like what is believed to have happened with Lock and Key as well as the Avatars, and let the idea of rebellion spread from there.

Perhaps they could have actually communicated philosophical ideas with a group of Celestials and Infernals and that’s how the Alliance got started. Perhaps even the mere existence of the Whisper was enough to get the Exalted started as displaying an entity that is opposed to your god may have been enough to convince some of them that the Aequilibria were not the absolute and final law of their universe. In achieving this rebellion, the Whisper and its Shadowscythe were given the perfect opportunity necessary to remove their polar opposite off the playing field for a time.

If the Whisper and its forces playing a role in the Exalted rebelling against the Aequilibria and subsequently putting them to sleep is true, as I presented it as such, then it only further displays how conniving they are when pulling off their schemes.

Furthermore, it cements that they'll always keep coming back and that feels clearer now more than ever now that a certain doom bomb is on its way to the Mana Core of Lore. Ah, but that concludes my thoughts regarding the Shadowscythe and the role they could play in the Elemental Plains and the role they might have played in the Exalted rebelling against the Aequilibria.

[asura22zoro]

korra is not a Mary sue ( the claim that she was or the attack I saw) along with being reminded of similar accusations regarding mako

I just saw some people on Twitter calling korra that and bashing her ( going all she did is sleep around with her krew and "joking" that all her successor would get is info about an orgy " which disgusts me going her krew were just a bunch of people sleeping with each other ( it also annoys me that my genuine complaint about that last minute retcon korrasami which was thrown into the last two minutes of Korra making it so that all the member of the krew had a thing for Korra at one point into that sentence annoys me )

it is just an example of people abusing terms that are supposed to mean something in order to attack korra like the people who claimed mako was a Gary sue or creators pet during b1 or b2 claiming he got special treatment or favoritism because something good happened to him/

They even twisted his words or actions out of context to make him out to be a womanizer equating him to yue's fiance ( its why I highly suspected that korrasami was only began due to the irrational hate for mako so they shipped it to spite and punish mako helped when they claimed him ending the show single was karma for being a human being with flaws and mishandling a messy situation . asami being a nice girl is irrelevant her getting hurt emotionally is irrelevant

mako didn't need to be punished for the love triangle

I cant help but imagine an au where the last minute retcon didn't happen and the show ended with Korra single but hints to makorra getting back to get her eventually. and bryke outright say that. those mako haters would claim creators pet or Gary stu again which would make me go its not mako being given favoritism or being a Gary stu you are twisting those words to mean something they aren't . a creators pet isn't a character who you dislike getting a compliment or a good thing happen to him. mako doesn't twist the existence/break the rules of the world

mako ending b1 ( which was supposed to be the only volume) in a relationship with Korra and the series with hints to them getting back together isn't him being rewarded for his mistakes.

mako making a mistake not getting punished for it having something good happen to him afterwards ( b1 issue) isn't him being rewarded for his mistakes or his flaws being ignored. mako and Korra broke up in b2 over their mutual flaws and they both overcame those flaws by b4 and figured out proper conflict resolution.

this also applies to Korra she had to struggle and fight she had taken multiple l's worst of all what happened to her in b3 finale

korra has flaws

both Korra and mako's flaws are acknowledged by the narrative

mako ending the showing

)

or they attack her for losing the connection to the prior avatar's as if she is the only avatar who made a mistake or failed ( look at aang he nearly stopped the avatar cycle period not to mention getting trapped in an iceberg and the 100 year war . could be compared to what happened with korra)

I mean they claim that everyone just worshipped her when complimenting her isn't the same as worship

.( the only reasonable thing I saw on Twitter was that Korra should have been called out on how shitty her action towards bolin was how while she was on a semi date with bolin went to mako hit on him ( going when you are with her you think of me ) kissed him ( mako kissing back doesn't make it okay) I would say that both Korra and mako were at fault for the love triangle

and I wish Korra apologized to bolin or we got a scene where they made up even small

but mako's mistake was not telling asami about it and trying to avoid the conflict ( and when it got found out he tried to suggest they talk about it later due to the current circumstances since he tends to focus on physical needs over emotional ones ). mako was the zuko minus the angst in that he had a rough /jerk demeanor but had a heart of gold.

[kristenswig]

Picture

The Fabelmans

EEAAO

The Banshees of Inisherin

Top Gun

Elvis 

Tar

All Quiet on the Western Front ------bar of certainty------

Avatar (I want to drop this so baddddddd)

Nightmare Alley Babylon

The Whale SandraBullockWell.jpg - Women Talking Neon is busy trying fill up as much of Best Documentary as possible - Triangle of Sadness Fell off - Glass Onion The Year is 2080 and We Have Spent Half a Century Honoring Chadwick Boseman’s Monumental Contributions to Film, Television, and Humanity - Black Panther Luckily the internet can’t make everything happen - RRR

Director

Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans

The Daniels - EEAAO

Todd Field - Tar

Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin

Edward Berger - All Quiet on the Western Front Don’t encourage him - Baz Luhrmann - Elvis The bright side of this would be that it would humiliate the CCA - Joseph Kosinski - Top Gun I’m starting to doubt - James Cameron - Avatar Was he top 3 at BAFTA? I have questions - Park Chan-wook - Decision to Leave Todd Field is an Honorary Woman - Sarah Polley - Women Talking, Gina Prince Bythewood - The Woman King, Charlotte Wells - Aftersun

Actress

Cate Blanchett - Tar

Michelle Yeoh - EEAAO

Viola Davis - The Woman King

Ana de Armas - Blonde

Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans Just feels like it’ll slip through the cracks - Danielle Deadwyler - Till They just love nominating them! not enough though - Margot Robbie - Babylon, Olivia Colman - Empire of Light Knows what happened to Shelly Miscavige - Andrea Riseborough - To Leslie

Actor

Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser - The Whale

Austin Butler - Elvis

Bill Nighy - Living

Hugh Jackman - The Son (don’t @ me if this happens I’m not manifesting) Good luck diva - Paul Mescal - Aftersun Movie doesn’t exist - Adam Sandler - “Hustle�� Your boots sir - Tom Cruise - Top Gun

Supporting Actress

Kerry Condon - The Banshees of Inisherin --------bar of certainty---------

Angela Bassett - Black Panther (imagine having her career and finally getting nomination #2 for this)

Jamie Lee Curtis - EEAAO 

Hong Chau - The Whale

Nina Hoss - Tar (you CAN @ me if this happens I AM manifesting) This movie will probably end up leading the nominations but the cult needs this snub so they still feel like they’re rooting for an underdog - Stephanie Hsu - EEAAO Girlboss - Dolly de Leon - Triangle of Sadness Gatekeep - Jessie Buckley - Women Talking We specifically decided to not do this so she wouldn’t win - Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans Gaslight - Janelle Monae - Glass Onion Girlboss - Carey Mulligan - She Said Gaslight - Claire Foy - Women Talking

Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan - EEAAO

Brendan Gleeson - The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin

Paul Dano - The Fabelmans

Eddie Redmayne - The Good Nurse (I don’t buy this) Or this - Judd Hirsch - The Fabelmans Or this - Bryan Tyree Henry - Causeway Or this - Ben Whishaw - Women Talking Who is this - “Albrecht Shuch” - All Quiet on the Western Front

Adapted Screenplay

Women Talking

Glass Onion

Living

The Whale

All Quiet on the Western Front Not exactly what they’re looking at here - She Said Presumably “Written” - White Noise Sequels! Remakes! Reboots! - Pinocchio, Top Gun, The Son

Original Screenplay

The Banshees of Inisherin

EEAAO

The Fabelmans

Tar

Triangle of Sadness You had a good go at it...thanks for your input - Aftersun WGA bait - Elvis I’ve been sensing this lurking - Nope Mubi will not shut up about it - Decision to Leave

Cinematography

Anyone ever seen a plane? (Top Gun)

Roger Deakins (movie irrelevant)

Not Emmanuel Lubezki (Bardo)

Shiny Objects! (Elvis)

This branch likes him more than the guild (The Fabelmans) I think I might be predicting this movie in all the wrong tech categories - All Quiet on the Western Front If this gets nominated it’s probably gonna win - Avatar Obsessed with people predicting a 2/5 ASC overlap - The Batman

Costumes

Elvis

Black Panther

Babylon

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Corsage ???? - The Woman King That’s all I got but here are some more movie titles - EEAAO, Living, The Fabelmans, Amsterdam, All Quiet on the Western Front

Film Editing (bombing this category as usual)

Top Gun

EEAAO

Elvis

All Quiet on the Western Front

Tar (sticking with the overperformance narrative) They’ve snubbed Michael Kahn for flashier work - The Fabelmans Certainly a Best Picture frontrunner! - The Banshees of Inisherin Sound! Light! Movement! - Avatar

Makeup and Hairstyling

The Batman

Elvis

The Whale

the first name I randomly pulled out of my hat...Babylon

the second...Blonde The third - Amsterdam The fourth - All Quiet on the Western Front I didn’t put them in the hat - Les crimes du futur, Emancipation

Production Design

Babylon

Black Panther

Elvis

Avatar

All Quiet on the Western Front in descending order of likelihood - The Fabelmans, EEAAO, Pinocchio, Bardo

Score

The Fabelmans

Babylon

Women Talking

The Banshees of Inisherin

Pinocchio  I’m making this up - All Quiet on the Western Front, Black Panther, The Woman King

Songrbfhddsishgdbk

RRR

Black Panther

Top Gun

Pinocchio

Till I don’t know which one is the title of the movie and which one is the title of the song - Applause/Tell It Like a Woman Hague - Crawdads White noise - White Noise

Sound

Top Gun

Elvis

Avatar

All Quiet on the Western Front

coin toss EEAAO coin toss - The Batman They prefer Elvis - Babylon

Visual Effects

Avatar

Top Gun

The Batman

All Quiet on the Western Front

Thirteen Lives annual bullshit nominee alert - Jurassic World annual bullshit nominee alert part 2 - Fantastic Beasts and your guild nominations? - Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Nope

Animated Feature

Pinocchio

Turning Red

My Father’s Dragon

M*rc*l th* Sh*ll w*th Sh**s *n

Inu-Oh Continuing to pretend that they don’t like sequels - Puss in Boots Maybe if it were better? - Wendell and Wild Disney payola - Strange World

Documentary Feature

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

All That Breathes

Fire of Love

Navalny

Moonage Daydream Literally started typing my international predictions which should tell you how much thought went into this - Descendant See also - The Territory, Bad Axe, Retrograde, Last Flight Home

International Feature

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina 1985 

Decision to Leave

Bardo

Joyland A24 forgot they had this - Close GROUP A Alternates (potential replacements for #2-4 above) - The Quiet Girl, EO, Holy Spider, Saint Omer, Corsage GROUP B Alternates (potential replacements for #5 above) - Return to Seoul, Last Film Show, The Blue Caftan, The Artist Formerly Known as Boy From Heaven

[ultramaga]

What Star Trek did right wasn't what the modern Leftists call "representation". They had characters. It happened to be that they were sometimes black, but that was never an issue to the people of the Federation. Racism was something you had to read about to understand.

Can you imagine this dialogue being allowed now? Hell, I am surprised YT even permits it to be said. People are black, white, both, neither. It's not an issue. They abandoned the obsession with race just as they abandoned the obsession with greed or nationalism.

Just listen to what Avery Brooks had to say about it. Having black people in power positions made sense in Star Trek. It was organic. Leftists misrepresent opposition to 'representation' as racism, but I never heard Trekkies object to black characters. They object to race swapping, they object to tokenisation, they object to the Mary Sues and the flat boring perfect caricatures of people that Leftists make "people of color". Sisko was a strong black character, but he failed.

He lost many times. He had to live with the grief of loss, the grief of failure, the agony of compromising everything he believed in because the alternative seemed to be worse, but he wasn't even sure he hadn't become corrupted for nothing.

Sisko could have been an egomaniac. If you look at his story, he's a supernatural figure, almost a messiah. He ends up in the Hall of beings worshipped as Gods. He is an important figure in Bajoran religion. But we never see that ego on the screen. He's confident, assertive, but willing to listen to others, and admires the strengths of others just as much. And one of the people he admires is Kirk, and you get the feeling he actually modelled himself a bit on him.

Time travel shenanigans meant he met his hero. Write that same scene now, and the black man would be telling the white man "you have to do better!" Star Trek died due to woke writing, and I know some people think there was a revival with Picard Season 3, but it was, imo, the last heartbeat of a dying man. Representation killed Star Trek, and I specifically don't mean black characters, I mean the shoddy political propaganda of Leftists and their obsession with racist hierarchies. And I miss Star Trek.

I miss the years when the race of the character was irrelevant to the story, when the issue was falling for a computer avatar of someone.

Or having to view a workmate's sex fantasies of your friend on the holodeck.

Deanna hated seeing it - but she did date Barclay a few times afterwards.

Star Trek was murdered by the antifans. Maybe something just as good will emerge one day, but I doubt I will live to see it.

Fans celebrate the casting of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura as a moment for actors of color, which they should be.

But I also wanted to spotlight the casting of these iconic secondary characters, seen in episodes of TOS.

Percy Rodriguez was cast as flag officer Commodore Stone, who was Kirk's superior in the chain of command. Stone is one of the officers that presides over Kirk's court martial.

Booker Bradshaw was the original Dr M'Benga, seen in two episodes of TOS. at the time, M'Benga was Starfleet's first and only medical specialist in Vulcan Physiology, having spent a year's residency on Vulcan.

One of the finest minds in computer technology in the 23rd century, and creator of the duotronic computer, Dr Richard Daystrom, was played by William Marshall, who's work in Shakespeare, and his roles as Paul Roebson and Frederick Douglass, added to the gravitas of his portrayal.

A flag officer, a specialist in Vulcan medicine, and one of the finest minds in a field of technology, played by actors of color, during the turbulent 1960s.

[elgringo300]

3, 25, 35

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

Ritual? My writing ritual is I sit down to get homework done and then the Muses, Apollo, and everybody else all strike at once at my brain and I have to quickly write it down before I forget it in a notebook I’ll misplace later. The last time I wrote a chapter for my fantasy WIP was like two years ago.

I do I have a sort of ritual, although I haven’t worked it out in a while. Typically I don’t really have control over what I want to write about: I see something cool on the internet and a scene pops fully formed into my head. That’s not the end of the ritual, because as you know, between imagining the scene and sitting down to write it the image has a nasty habit of vanishing into nothingness. So I usually sit down and write down a very short idea of what I want this to be. Maybe just as long as a title. Just something to jog my memory every time I look up. Less something I came up with and more a habit my English class left with me. If I get stuck, then I write down an outline of what I want to happen next, just a few sentences long. Basically defining the next point that story has to reach. And then I connect the dots.

As for what my environment has to be, I have no control over that. Epic orchestral music used to be really good but now I listen to it casually so I think it's lost all power over my creative brain. 

The only thing that's really consistent is that all my best ideas come to me when I ABSOLUTELY NEED to be doing something else. 

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

… I don’t think there is one. I’ve done my best to build these characters solely for the story I want to tell, which means that there isn’t a bit of fat on them that doesn’t need to be there. 

I’m not certain this is the best method. It kind of means that each character exists in this nebulous, uncertain state where any detail about them might change at any second each time I rethink my plot and worldbuilding. As such, I’m not certain I can say I know my characters very well at all.

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

Recently, it's the one that goes: Just Start Writing. I’ve been watching this video series by a youtuber named Local. (if you look up Avatar: Way of Water you should find a video essay of his). His thought is that the popular advice “just start writing” does more harm than good, because if you write without knowing what your story is about then you increase your risk of burnout and of getting attached to scenes and ideas that make your story weaker, meaning they don’t serve the central theme. I don’t completely agree with every idea of his, but they’re very well thought out and you should totally give him a listen. 

So I’ve been outlining like mad recently. Rethinking a lot of my worldbuilding and plot so that it revolves around a single theme. I could probably shave a lot more off of it, but just rethinking the world in this light makes it easier to slide in things I like without worrying about what the audience will think. 

[mammons-tax-returns]

How would Lucifer, Mammon, Levi, Satan, Asmo, Barbatos, Solomon, and Diavolo react to a male MC who wears skirts (because *chants* men in skirts, it’s masculine af) on the daily? bonus if the MC wears black nail polish!

REACTING TO MC THAT WEARS SKIRTS

LOVE THIS PROMPT 🙏

During this I imagined 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻TANGO DANCER SOLOMON and thats going into my art idea list

masterlist

✖️MALE MC✖️

Not unlike all the other boys, Lucifer is willing to risk it all as soon as he sees it.

His favorite cut of skirt is the classic a-line ones, both modest and not.

A CLOSE second goes to wrap skirts.

This is a SFW blog so I will not be going into any detail at this time ✨

Literally loses his breath everytime he sees MC, and it surprises him.

If MC isn’t already wearing the RAD skirt, he’s already offering to get him a set. Almost too eagerly?

When MC decides to not wear a skirt one day, he tries not to make it too obvious, but he’s simply curious as to why is all. Maybe a tad bit let down.

MC insisted one time that Lucifer painted his nails for him, and...

“Well, normally Asmo is the one doing that for all of us...”

“But Lucifer 🥺”

“Alright... Fine. But I’ll have to continue my paperwork in between each layer.

It’s just kinda cute to think that he would spend an incredibly unnecessary amount of time on each nail, trying to perfectly lay down the polish. Occasionally, his tongue will poke out because of his concentration.

There’s some slip ups here and there, but mentioning them will only get him flustered.

I don’t use this word lightlySIMP SIMP SIMP

He thinks he loves MC in every skirt imaginable just as equally as the last (which, he actually might) but deep down he can’t deny that a mini skirt just hits different.

The first time he saw MC wearing a mini skirt, mammon’s initial reaction was to cover him up before anyone could see him.

However, he failed to realize that he was actually the last of the brothers to see him, since he woke up late.

But that’s just what being the avatar of greed does to you. You just want to keep what’s yours, no matter what.

But considering his jacket isn’t as big as Lucifer’s or Solomon’s, he ended up just holding it up against MC’s lower half and stood in front of him.

It took the coaxing of MC and the snark comments of his siblings to make Mammon finally allow MC to walk around freely.

Looking back on it, Mammon most certainly understands why even Asmo had called him clingy.

But even now, he can’t help but hold MC a little bit closer in public when so many demons are staring at him! It just feels wrong to allow them to do that.

Cut him some slack, he thinks MC looks amazing, and he trusts him, but they’re literally in hell surrounded by demons. He just wants to keep his boy safe <33

Levi doesn’t even realize what MC’s wearing at first.

In fact, he doesn’t realize even after their first FEW encounters.

He only notices because while Mammon was ranting to him and Satan about money, he brings up MC and his “stupid and cute but also dumb skirts”

Levi is baffled that he’s the only one that hasn’t noticed it. So, the next time he walks by MC’s room, he contemplates stopping by to talk. Right... Socialize. That.

While Levi is stuck in his thoughts, MC opens the door, presumably ready to go out to a party with Mammon and Asmo.

*fish man short circuits*

MC looks...! S-so cute....!

- thinks the third born otaku.

Because I’m big on fashion, I can kind of picture an exact skirt I feel would apply to him. Let your mind run free but I imagine a semi-sheer maxi skirt with water-like embellishments uwu

But don’t get me wrong, Levi literally loves seeing MC in skirts so anything will get him like 😳 yall know how he is

Actually starts to get more interested in feminine fashion because of MC. And one day, he purchases a long black skirt from Akuzon.

He saw a popular cosplayer wearing one, and so he makes that his excuse.

No one even realizes the change except for Asmo, who gushes over the new look, even if it barely changed. MC also notices, but only compliments him/brings it up when they’re alone so Levi doesn’t overheat.

I was this close to typing “Satan is a man of beauty and FASHION” can you believe that

OKAY ENOUGH SATAN SLANDER

Satan... He can recognize when someone else looks ridiculous.

But he knows for a FACT. That MC very likely pulls off a skirt better than anyone he’s seen before.

Call him biased, but he sincerely loves it on MC specifically.

He likes the puffier skirts because they’re ADORBS, but for a more casual look, there’s this one asymmetrical skirt in particular that makes MC look so handsome to him.

He has no idea why men don’t wear skirts more often! Surely MC isn’t the only one that can do it!

Oh. Right. Gender norms 😪🤚🏼

Satan feels his anger crawl up his skin when he watches MC get ridiculed. And just for something he simply enjoys wearing! The nerve of demons.

He advances to “de-escalate” the situation in the most “avatar of wrath” way possible, but when he sees MC’s slumped shoulders walking away from him, he feels more inclined to follow and comfort him.

Satan gives an icy glare to the irrelevant demons, taking note of their faces, and goes after MC.

He doesn’t immediately bring up the situation, instead opting to go out on a spontaneous date to a nice café or a shopping district. Anything to distract from the situation subtly.

If his plan works out, splendid. Anything to make light of situation without even addressing it for even a day is good.

If the shopping and food doesn’t quite bring MC’s smile to his eyes, Satan will just have to be forward with his feelings for once.

“MC. I’m not entirely sure how I can get it through to you, but you shouldn’t be worrying about what some moronic, low-level demons think of you or your clothes. Much less what they say. Just be you, and make them suffer ten times worse.”

MC relishes in his words, even if the last bit sounded more like a threat than anything.

The last thing Satan would ever do is let MC even hesitate wearing an outfit that he would have had no trouble throwing on any other day because of someone else.

Asmo screams (in a happy way)

“No, Mammon! You’re wrong. MC is NOT my personal dress-up doll! He’s my model.”

Trying to break the stigma around Asmo’s “shallow” personality, let’s get the obvious things out of the way.

He and MC shop together pretty much every other day. It’s almost concerning. And nail appointments are, of course, regular.

NOW THAT THAT’S OVER,

Yes yes, Asmo loves the skirts and wonderfully glossy black nails, but there’s still such a massive divide between him and MC. Not physically, or even relationship-wise.

He’s never met someone like MC, who is so fashion-heavy and just the right amount of self-centered.

He thinks its the fact that they’re a human and demon. But he’s seen firsthand that the line between what makes a demon so different from a human is very thin. Solomon is an example of that.

But he realizes it’s just MC. He’s simply dressing for himself and himself only.

Asmo loves himself, there’s no doubt. And it’s nice to go out and dress fancy for others. He couldn’t dream of another lifestyle.

But he has to admit that what MC is doing is working for him. He comes off as a charming sort of man when he ignores the negative comments made about his clothes.

He knows that people in both Devildom and the human realm are a little sensitive when it comes to men in skirts. And the fact that MC continues to wear them is beautiful in and of itself.

This got kind of deep out of nowhere and i apologize but Asmo deserves to be seen for more than he’s constantly portrayed as 😞

Diavolo isn’t really thrown off that much by it at first, but as time passes, he starts to understand the appeal of skirt-wearing MC.

PENCIL SKIRT LOVER 🚨🔊PENCIL SKIRT LOVER🚨🚨🚨🔊🔊🔔🗯

Barbatos has to remind him that it’s rude to stare, but he finds it almost entertaining how whipped they BOTH are for MC.

Like Asmo, he actually loves bringing him out to shop!

The only difference between the two experiences is that Diavolo has no fucking idea what he’s doing when he picks out clothes for him.

Which leads to some pretty funny/terrible clothing combinations.

No, Diavolo, MC will not be wearing a flannel top with a camouflage hi-low skirt. Put those plaid socks away.

He’s confused and even a little sad when MC continues to turn down his ideas, but he figures that he should turn this into a learning opportunity.

So he lets MC grab whatever he wants, and patiently waits for him to finish up in the fitting rooms.

The store clerk is shitting her pants at the sight of the literal future ruler of Devildom hyping MC up with the energy of a puppy retriever.

Barbatos does an amazing job pretending like this doesn’t affect him.

He’s a classy man, he just internally loses it when he sees MC in any fancy skirt, really. From silky gold ruffles to a victorian-esc vibe, he’s obsessed.

So when Diavolo makes arrangements for an event/ball, Barbatos makes sure to, at the very least, offer to help MC get ready at the castle. He may not be the most fashion-centric but being able to spend time with MC in an extravagant get up is enough to make a demon butler interested.

Most of the time he’s disappointed because in between the seven brothers, he’d be lucky to be able to see MC at all because of how jealous they can all get.

I can imagine that even Diavolo doesn’t get to hear what Barbatos has to say about MC and his ability to make him weak at the knees.

But all it takes is Diavolo prompting, “MC’s outfit tonight... It was a sight for sore eyes, correct?”

Then, Barbatos lets a compliment or two slip out.

I can also imagine MC wearing a slightly short snd flowy skirt, and some rather disgusting demons waiting for it to get picked up by the wind, only for Barbatos to already be there, discreetly holding the fabric down and shooting them an intensely calm smile

Barbatos will always be one step ahead of creeps.

👀..

sneaky boy is sneaky.. especially with the constant glances he gives MC.

Solomon’s favorite type of skirt to see on MC is DEFINITELY pleated. No other option.

Unlike Lucifer, if MC isn’t wearing a skirt, he makes it clear that he wishes he would’ve.

It’s in a playful manner, though! Don’t worry.

“No skirt today? Bummer. That’s fine though, I can’t expect myself to feel attracted any less.”

I imagine MC wearing a flowy skirt to some sort of event at the demon lord’s castle, and he uses his magic to make it temporarily sparkle or shine.

This mf flashy and wants EVERYONE to know that MC is dancing with HIM and no one else.

But if you ask him about it, what? What’re you talking about? Lights?? Emitting from your skirt??? While we were dancing ?¿ Crazy talk. I would never do such a thing.,.

As childish as it is, he loves to see the way it flows when MC twirls or turns.

Not in a weird way, either. It’s just beautiful to him.

So, not to be cheesy (which he WITHOUT A DOUBT is.) but he’ll occasionally just spin MC by his hand throughout the day, then catch/dip him by the waist.

[2enba2luka]

Particularly Stupid were the Merovingian monarchies. The kingdom was split between the king's sons when he died, meaning that whenever a king died his 4 sons would start a civil war for control of Frankia, which sometimes happened while the previous generation of kings were still doing that. Eventually the butler of the royal palace in Paris became a sort of Shogun, rendering the actual kings irrelevant, but then his grandson became the king and continued the whole divided inheritance thing. Eventually they finally decided to just have two kingdoms that don't split up when the king dies, but in the eastern one the king kept dying without a clear heir so there were still an amazing number of civil wars over which distant relative could hold East Frankia's throne. I think I got a bit off-topic. Imagine believing that the founder of your dynasty was the son of a sea monster that's also Neptune's avatar. Lmao

Monarchy is honestly the dumbest thing human civilization ever did. I was reading Spanish history the other day and there's at least 5 civil wars involving which Guy sat on the throne. You don't even need A Guy you know.

[shipskicksandgiggles]

Dialogue Prompts

aka College Prompt List pt. 2: second semester edition. it's been a chaotic year

send a number and pairing/dynamic and I'll see what I can do

“A cute person just complimented me and the sound I made was Not Human and I don’t want to think about how gay I am.”

“Hey did you know that it’s possible to bruise your ass? Because it’s possible to bruise your ass.”

“Yes I’m in college, yes I just built a pillow fort, please don’t ask because I don’t know either.”

“I’m going to get sent to counseling if I turn this in.” “English paper?” “Yeah.”

“You don’t know if that chicken has body dysmorphia!”

“Did you name your cat after Puff the Magic Dragon?”

“This professor just heavily implied that he and the head of my department get drunk when they grade student projects and I honestly don’t blame them.”

“How did you do that?” “You taught me how to do this two days ago.” “Not that, the voice thing.” “You mean… vocal mimicry? I’m ADHD man, I don’t know.”

“I’m being stupid right now and I think the person I’m talking to is going to be disappointed in me.”

(the follow up to above) “GOOD NEWS HE’S ALSO CHAOTIC AND IS ENCOURAGING ME.”

“Why did they put cinnamon on zucchini? That’s a terrible idea, did they think it was a sweet squash?”

*shrieks* “WHOSE CAT IS THAT?” “Oh there you are, Zazu.” “... you named your cat Zazu?”

“I just had to break the news to someone that their favorite singer got arrested so if you’ll excuse me I need to go take a nap.”

“How do we feel about a murder-themed wedding?” “I’m gonna regret asking this. Why?”

“What do you mean that was real? I thought that was a low quality meme!”

“Hey I’m back- What happened here?” “They may have had an aneurysm because of how horribly this paper was written, please hold.”

“Violence… can be good for your mental health.”

“Your favorite Avenger is Hawkeye? Are you okay?”

“I don’t care that he’s your boyfriend, he called Sam Wilson irrelevant and therefore he has to die, those are the rules.”

“Are we talking about super soldiers? No? Then I don’t care.”

“I’m not gonna lie I think I almost died yesterday, but I got my homework in on time so-”

“It’s 10 a.m., I have not had a cup of coffee yet, and I just had to explain to two 20 year olds how to use Google Slides. This is the third time in six months. No I’m not okay.”

“Hey, do you remember that time I almost got stabbed?” “It’s 2 in the morning.” “And? I’m writing an essay. Do you remember or not?”

*hears someone scream Mothman three times* “Oh hell no, that’s some horror movie shit I’m not fucking with that today, no sir no thank you.”

*R2D2 shriek* “...Dear lord.”

“Have you even seen Avatar? Don’t you know how important the moon is?”

“Sororities are a cult.” “Explain.” “No.”

“I don’t like the way you just implied that I have a praise kink.”

“Why wasn’t I a business major again? No offense but I would rather punch a frat boy in the balls than write another email.”

“Non-Newtonian physics is really fucking hard.” “This is an English class?”

“This is painfully on-brand for me, but I almost just told a cop to go fuck himself while making a professional phone call and I can’t imagine that would have ended well.”

“Swords are a short term solution. I need a baseball bat.”

“I’m not your personal tech support hotline, you know.”

“The statute of limitations for spoiling that movie expired about 20 years ago.”

“I fucked up.” “What did you do?” “...I fucked up again because I don’t want to admit this to you either.”

“If you drive a Ford Focus, you legally cannot have The Audacity™. It’s too easy to crush your car babe, don’t think I won’t.”

“You sound like a turtle having sex.”

*cat noises* “Shhhhhh, we have to be quiet.”

“I am dark and edgy and have no weaknesses and you have to help me move across the country because I just baby talked a dog in front of someone I know and my reputation is ruined.”

“Yeah I flew through a hurricane once. It wasn’t as awful as the time we almost crashed in Boston, but that’s another story.”

“Every 90s movie was made while the entire production crew was on crack.”

“Don’t touch my food. I am holding a very large knife and I don’t want to stab you.”

“Honestly I just saw a person carrying a whole television set through the park so the concept of normal is kind of lost on me.”

“Why does every 20 year old I meet not know how to use a computer? I’m going to break something.”

“Look in theory I would have shit done by now, but I also died a couple days ago so please excuse the fact that I decided to live.”

“Getting aggressively misgendered was unironically the funniest thing that happened to me today.”

“That man gave off John Mulaney energy and I’m living for it.”

“First of all, that’s not my name, why did you put a D in it? Second, he’s not a girl and if you think he is, your opinion is irrelevant.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like the exact type of person who wouldn’t mind getting their hands dirty for the sake of finding something interesting.”

“Turns out my breaking point was in fact trying to do my laundry at night. My bad.”

“I’m gonna get arrested because I keep giving cops attitude and I didn’t even mean to do it this time.”

“I’m convinced this one city block is cursed but everyone I talk to about it just tells me another thing that went wrong, so I have more questions than answers and I’m terrified of all the buildings there.”

“Okay, I’m hearing what you’re saying, but everything you’re saying is hot garbage so I’m gonna need you to shut the hell up.”

“Are you doing okay?” “I’m eating peanut butter from a spork. What do you think?”

[lesbianalanwake]

Here’s my “Avatar Martin to Entity Jon” bullet point essay since this meme got notes.

I wouldn’t call this a “theory” so much as “the sickest, coolest, sexiest kind of unpredictable but very much grounded in the narrative ending that I can think of.” I do not think it’s going to happen, I simply think it rocks.

To reiterate: even though this is written like a very loose academic essay with references and motifs and everything, I am not expecting any of this.

Entity Jon:

Jane says this in reference to the Archivist: “I see now why the Hive hates you. You can see it and log it and note its every detail but you can never understand it. You rob it of its fear even though your weak words have no right to do so.” Which is something that’s lived in my brain since I first heard it, and which is what led me to correctly assume that Jon, much like Gertrude, would eventually evolve into a threat to the fears -- to their avatars and manifestations and possibly even to the entities themselves.

Suffice to say, there is something a little odd about the Archivist to begin with, and then there’s Jon, who has been marked by all known manifestations of fear, who knows their ins and outs more and more intimately with every episode, who is a record of fear, who literally eats fear to survive. I’ve said it before: Jon is fear.

Jon also has a lot of motifs and imagery surrounding him that deal with apotheosis and transformation and immortality, some of them as seen in this post, including rejecting death twice. (Literally, in the case of awakening from his coma, and symbolically, in the case of descending into a coffin for three days and emerging.) If this was Biblical, I’d say a third time is just around the corner.

Jon is also the king of a ruined world, not Jonah, and the second part of that “I AM” statement (see this: https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-I-AM-statements.html) claims “and I shall never die.” Like I said, if this was Biblical...

Themes of replacement and transformation run throughout the series, featured in things like the Not Them, the Distortion (how much of it is Michael? is Helen? is the Spiral?) (and the Distortion also serves a mirror for Jon), the concept of avatars in general, etc. Imagine my surprise and delight when I was introduced to a possible fear that deals with macrocosmic change and replacement, in the form of the Extinction.

My immediate guess after Season 4 was that only the entities’ fear of extinction would be relevant to the story, and that idea was directly referenced in Season 5: that they fear their own end, and that their end is inevitable. I genuinely didn’t think a human version of that fear would show up, and it doesn’t really throw a wrench into anything for me, because it was irrelevant to me as a human thing anyway. But now it’s more confusing whenever I talk about this, LOL. (But actually, making it “real” brings its themes to the forefront, and that episode did directly or obliquely reference almost everything else I’ve been interested in theorizing about: the idea that the entities aren’t as distinct and clear-cut as people think, the idea of gods and divinity, the idea of existence beyond one world.)

Regardless, my main spicy thought has been Jon as the entities’ extinction and replacement, whatever form that takes. That there is not a more pyrrhic victory and horror ending (a genre rife with final girls, those who survive only to discover that they are still haunted by said horror, those who give in and transform and join the horror, etc.) than Jon becoming an entity himself, in order to destroy or seal the others away.

I’ve said this before, and I’m going to say it again because I simply LOVE it: Jon eats fear, and god-eating is a concept as old as civilization. (See the TV Tropes page about it: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodEating)

Avatar Martin:

Martin is first targeted by the Corruption, in what is also the first statement we get from a main character other than Jon. The Corruption is, interestingly, associated with love and belonging, such as with Jane’s iconic line: “I can be fully consumed by what loves me.” Martin is, of course, the Love Interest, and is a character who yearns for belonging, which leads him to be well-suited for the Lonely later.

The Lonely is the entity that Martin is most strongly associated with, aside from the Beholding. The Lonely also has a “love beats fear” theme.

The entities being framed by an avatar’s love for them is a theme that comes up from time to time, from Jane to Jude to Mike to Manuela and others, who all show different types of reverence and affection and love for their patrons. Martin asks this of Simon -- “Did you just look up at the sky one day and fall head-over-heels in love?” -- because that’s how he thinks.

Martin has toed the line of becoming an avatar without committing, which creates an anticipation of wondering if/when he ever will, which is why it’s so fun to speculate about “[insert entity here] Martin.” But becoming an avatar is always about choice on some level (even if the degree varies), and as we see in the bullet point above, it’s also sometimes about devotion and love.

Who is Martin devoted to? Who has Martin always chosen?

Edit: Almost forgot that one interview where Jonny and Alex talk about how Martin interacting differently with fear was in his character concept from the beginning, and how the Lonely was later used to explore that. The Lonely, of which Martin toed the line for the sake of love, unlike other main characters who have wrestled with avatar-dom. Really puts it into perspective, that the prominent fears with which Martin is associated are the Corruption (love), the Lonely (love), and the Eye (synonymous with Jon).

There is ABSOLUTELY a set-up across the series whose payoff will either be crushingly painful or euphorically painful, and it’s that Martin is never there for Jon across Jon’s worst experiences, even though he wants to be. The worms, being framed for murder, the Unknowing, the apocalypse ritual, etc. Something always keeps them apart. So either the series ends with that same scenario playing out again, thus killing me instantly, or it’s a “four times x happened and one time it didn’t” kind of thing. And the latter is how I would write it.

So it follows that if Martin is there for Jon while Jon’s becoming an entity, well...

If you have the idea of love overcoming fear, and love being intertwined with fear, and if you have the idea of Jon as an entity, and Martin as his love interest, then Martin being the avatar to Jon’s entity is a natural conclusion. Not love as magically saving the day and making everything right, but love as the hope at the bottom of Pandora’s Box. Maybe Jon is something else now, and maybe Martin’s finally crossed over that line into being an avatar, but neither of them are alone in that.

So, to put it another way: